Post by redsycorax on Feb 7, 2023 2:35:07 GMT
On Earth-500, social and technological change are a few decades ahead of the datum. The Justice Alliance is its core group of metahumans, while the Young Defenders are their youthful proteges. The absence of a nuclear arms race and widespread environmental reforms have led to a prodigious, advanced space programme. It is now February 2023, and humanity is about to explore Jupiter's frozen waterworld satellite Europa for the first time. But how will it work out?
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EUROPA: ANCILLARY JAA RESCUE VESSEL PINION:
"I can't believe that we're out here. It's been decades since there was a spaceborne accident."
Superman nodded: "Sure, given that thankfully Kara and I spotted those loose o-rings on the Challenger and Columbia shuttles in time. It was close timing, though. Another few seconds and everyone onboard would have died."
Superwoman nodded: "Let's just be thankful we were on hand. And to answer your question, Aata, the radiation from Jupiter over there is affecting Kal and my telescopic and x-ray vision. Given it's a waterworld and you can communicate telepathically with Earth's marine lifeforms, we decided you were the best person for the backup contingency mission in case anything goes wrong over there. So, are you picking up any telepathic sensory impressions?"
Aquaman shook his head: "That doesn't mean they're not there though, Kara. They may not have psionic capabilities and be psi-null due to Jovian radiation intensity. Speaking of which, how is it affecting your superpowers?"
Superman looked out the portal:
"Fortunately, most of our Kryptonian abilities are imparted by yellow ultra-solar radiation, although we'd have impaired superstrength if we descended low into Jupiter's atmosphere. Hermes, J'Onn, Jose? Are you detecting anything?"
EUROPA ORBIT:
"Nao, meus amigos. Like your visual powers, there's probably interference interfering with my power ring, or else the ring's weakness, mycorrhizal fungi, is in abundance down there in the Europan subsurface oceans. J'Onn, your telepathy operates on a different psi wavelength than Aatas. Are you detecting anything?"
"I wish I could be more certain. I am detecting what appears to be akin to cephalopod cognitive ability."
"So there is life down there?"
"Hermes, what about you? Was Europa inhabited by any lifeforms in your universe?"
"As J'Onn has just confirmed, yes, there was an Oktapoedi civilisation beneath the ice surface there. However, like Terran alternate histories, there may have been historical divergences when it came to Europa's sapient cephalopods too. I've got some telepathic linguistic resources from our Europa, but it's anyone's guess whether it'll be able to decipher these Europans language. Let's hope so."
But watching them from afar was something altogether inhuman and hostile, awaiting its opportunity to strike...
DISCOVERY IV:
Discovery IV was the fourth vessel to traverse the solar system in search of possible life. The first two vessels of that name had reached Jupiter in 2001 and 2010, while a third such vessel made it out to Neptune, exploring the surface of Triton. However, while Discovery II had discovered life on Europa thirteen years ago, the question now was what life forms existed. The Justice Alliance radioed their findings to the orbiting main spaceship, which sent down a driller to the satellite's surface. It was intended to penetrate Europa's frozen surface and then survey its oceanic depths. However, at that moment, an ominous shadow fell across the landscape.
"Captain Jeremy Verdeschi to base. There is a humanoid lifeform on Europa's surface. Repeat, there is a..."
"Kal?"
"Great Vathlo, Kara. It can't be him. Not after all this time!"
As she trained her telescopic vision on the distant satellite, Superwoman shared her husband's bewilderment: "Starbreaker?"
"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Green Lantern replied
"So this being is a product of accelerated evolution from sun-eater life forms?" Hermes Trismegistus said, powering up his expeditionary suit and moving into position in front of Discovery IV:
"We met this character shortly after we came to Earth when he attacked Rann. He'd possessed the body of Adam Strange, a Terran, and like his larval form, he feeds on planetary and stellar energues as well as psionic input from entire civilisations." Superman explained.
"Oh, blazes. The Overlords have a thorough dossier on Starbreaker. He's wiped out thousands of inhabited worlds."
"We don't have beings anything like this in my own universe of origin. The Sun Eater species is extinct, for one thing."
"What is he still doing here? The Overlords banished him to a defunct older alternate universe where entropy has run its course and there's no matter or energy left to consume!"
"Or so you thought. Do you dare to take me on, any of you? It is long since time that you perished, all or one!"
"You're a mass murderer who's committed untold genocides because of your hunger for energy. We can and will vanquish the likes of you. We've done so before. If your quarry is the cephalopod civilisation of Europa beneath us, then forget it. You will not succeed any more than you did when you attacked Earth in the past."
"Such courage, Kalel of Krypton. Did you forget that I defeated you, the woman and the speedster then? I can easily do so again."
"And have you forgotten we've defeated you three times beforehand?"
"I tire of this futile dialogue. This satellite will yield itself to me and after that, I will move inward, past your inert and dead bodies."
"You'll have to get past us first."
"I have killed several Green Lanterns beforehand, human. You will not be the first."
"At least sun eaters behave instinctively, they lack sapience and their share of responsibility isn't as great as yours. You could easily feast on stars and protoplanets in star nurseries. On what possible basis could you excuse criminal genocide across an interstellar scale?" Superman persisted.
"You need a lesson in humility, Kryptonian." Starbreaker said, as he unleashed a prodigal red sunburst at Superman and Superwoman- only for Green Lantern to create a force screen into which the attempted bombardment was handily absorbed.
"You dare thwart me?!" Starbreaker roared at Jose Hernandez
"One thing, tall dark and gruesome. If you're as omnipotent as you make out, then why are you even engaging with us in conversation at all? Why not take what you want?" Aquaman entered the exchange.
"I will not be defied!" Starbreaker screeched, at which point Hermes nodded to his colleagues.
"Starbreaker is bluffing. He may have consumed some remaining white dwarves in that cosmos where he was imprisoned, but he's running on empty. They wouldn't have been much of a meal for him."
"Silence!" Starbreaker turned his enmity against the alternate Earth military officer. To his horror, he realised that the energy was being dissipated as he bombardment intensified. He tried to break off his attack but it was in vain, as he found he could not do so. With a last, despairing howl of despair and rage, the self-styled "cosmic vampire" shriveled into a grey, desssicated husk and collapsed onto Europa's icy surface.
As Hector notified the Overlords of the Universe about their new prisoner, Superman shook Hermes hand:
"Nicely done, Hermes, but how...?"
"Simple really, Kal. When I realised that this was the adult form of a sun eater, I realised that there were some things that even he could not consume, such as a black hole. So I used the holer tech in my suit to open a controlled singularity. When he tried to retaliate against me, rage overcame judgement and rationality, and he ended up consumed by the only thing that he couldn't feed upon."
"How did he get out of his original universe of imprisonment, Hector?"
"The Overlords tell me that they made one crucial mistake. They assumed that a high entropy, dying universe would be sufficient to hold him. It wasn't. The only reason he was able to show up again was because there must have been just enough matter and energy there for him to consume to power one final visit back to our universe. They won't make that error again."
"And there he goes..." As Aquaman spoke, there was a momentary emerald flash and Starbreaker was gone again, assigned elsewhere in the multiverse.
And several minutes later, two of the sapient species that shared Earth and Europa's solar system made first contact and humanity's fate and purpose changed forever.
UNIVERSE NINE GOOGOLPLEX:
Immeasurably far from any universe that harbours life or matter, Starbreaker's husk rotated in an absolute zero void. Here, in a decrepit wholly dead cosmos, there was no remaining matter or energy left, not even subatomic particles, or black holes, and consequently, time and space themselves had ended. Had Starbreaker been conscious, he would have been aware that he was surrounded by utter blackness and silence. Except for the imprisoned cosmic vampire, nothing else existed. Or ever would again. And for eternity, that defunct funereal cosmos was where he would remain.
THE END [1.10 PM, FEBRUARY 8, 2023]
++
EUROPA: ANCILLARY JAA RESCUE VESSEL PINION:
"I can't believe that we're out here. It's been decades since there was a spaceborne accident."
Superman nodded: "Sure, given that thankfully Kara and I spotted those loose o-rings on the Challenger and Columbia shuttles in time. It was close timing, though. Another few seconds and everyone onboard would have died."
Superwoman nodded: "Let's just be thankful we were on hand. And to answer your question, Aata, the radiation from Jupiter over there is affecting Kal and my telescopic and x-ray vision. Given it's a waterworld and you can communicate telepathically with Earth's marine lifeforms, we decided you were the best person for the backup contingency mission in case anything goes wrong over there. So, are you picking up any telepathic sensory impressions?"
Aquaman shook his head: "That doesn't mean they're not there though, Kara. They may not have psionic capabilities and be psi-null due to Jovian radiation intensity. Speaking of which, how is it affecting your superpowers?"
Superman looked out the portal:
"Fortunately, most of our Kryptonian abilities are imparted by yellow ultra-solar radiation, although we'd have impaired superstrength if we descended low into Jupiter's atmosphere. Hermes, J'Onn, Jose? Are you detecting anything?"
EUROPA ORBIT:
"Nao, meus amigos. Like your visual powers, there's probably interference interfering with my power ring, or else the ring's weakness, mycorrhizal fungi, is in abundance down there in the Europan subsurface oceans. J'Onn, your telepathy operates on a different psi wavelength than Aatas. Are you detecting anything?"
"I wish I could be more certain. I am detecting what appears to be akin to cephalopod cognitive ability."
"So there is life down there?"
"Hermes, what about you? Was Europa inhabited by any lifeforms in your universe?"
"As J'Onn has just confirmed, yes, there was an Oktapoedi civilisation beneath the ice surface there. However, like Terran alternate histories, there may have been historical divergences when it came to Europa's sapient cephalopods too. I've got some telepathic linguistic resources from our Europa, but it's anyone's guess whether it'll be able to decipher these Europans language. Let's hope so."
But watching them from afar was something altogether inhuman and hostile, awaiting its opportunity to strike...
DISCOVERY IV:
Discovery IV was the fourth vessel to traverse the solar system in search of possible life. The first two vessels of that name had reached Jupiter in 2001 and 2010, while a third such vessel made it out to Neptune, exploring the surface of Triton. However, while Discovery II had discovered life on Europa thirteen years ago, the question now was what life forms existed. The Justice Alliance radioed their findings to the orbiting main spaceship, which sent down a driller to the satellite's surface. It was intended to penetrate Europa's frozen surface and then survey its oceanic depths. However, at that moment, an ominous shadow fell across the landscape.
"Captain Jeremy Verdeschi to base. There is a humanoid lifeform on Europa's surface. Repeat, there is a..."
"Kal?"
"Great Vathlo, Kara. It can't be him. Not after all this time!"
As she trained her telescopic vision on the distant satellite, Superwoman shared her husband's bewilderment: "Starbreaker?"
"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Green Lantern replied
"So this being is a product of accelerated evolution from sun-eater life forms?" Hermes Trismegistus said, powering up his expeditionary suit and moving into position in front of Discovery IV:
"We met this character shortly after we came to Earth when he attacked Rann. He'd possessed the body of Adam Strange, a Terran, and like his larval form, he feeds on planetary and stellar energues as well as psionic input from entire civilisations." Superman explained.
"Oh, blazes. The Overlords have a thorough dossier on Starbreaker. He's wiped out thousands of inhabited worlds."
"We don't have beings anything like this in my own universe of origin. The Sun Eater species is extinct, for one thing."
"What is he still doing here? The Overlords banished him to a defunct older alternate universe where entropy has run its course and there's no matter or energy left to consume!"
"Or so you thought. Do you dare to take me on, any of you? It is long since time that you perished, all or one!"
"You're a mass murderer who's committed untold genocides because of your hunger for energy. We can and will vanquish the likes of you. We've done so before. If your quarry is the cephalopod civilisation of Europa beneath us, then forget it. You will not succeed any more than you did when you attacked Earth in the past."
"Such courage, Kalel of Krypton. Did you forget that I defeated you, the woman and the speedster then? I can easily do so again."
"And have you forgotten we've defeated you three times beforehand?"
"I tire of this futile dialogue. This satellite will yield itself to me and after that, I will move inward, past your inert and dead bodies."
"You'll have to get past us first."
"I have killed several Green Lanterns beforehand, human. You will not be the first."
"At least sun eaters behave instinctively, they lack sapience and their share of responsibility isn't as great as yours. You could easily feast on stars and protoplanets in star nurseries. On what possible basis could you excuse criminal genocide across an interstellar scale?" Superman persisted.
"You need a lesson in humility, Kryptonian." Starbreaker said, as he unleashed a prodigal red sunburst at Superman and Superwoman- only for Green Lantern to create a force screen into which the attempted bombardment was handily absorbed.
"You dare thwart me?!" Starbreaker roared at Jose Hernandez
"One thing, tall dark and gruesome. If you're as omnipotent as you make out, then why are you even engaging with us in conversation at all? Why not take what you want?" Aquaman entered the exchange.
"I will not be defied!" Starbreaker screeched, at which point Hermes nodded to his colleagues.
"Starbreaker is bluffing. He may have consumed some remaining white dwarves in that cosmos where he was imprisoned, but he's running on empty. They wouldn't have been much of a meal for him."
"Silence!" Starbreaker turned his enmity against the alternate Earth military officer. To his horror, he realised that the energy was being dissipated as he bombardment intensified. He tried to break off his attack but it was in vain, as he found he could not do so. With a last, despairing howl of despair and rage, the self-styled "cosmic vampire" shriveled into a grey, desssicated husk and collapsed onto Europa's icy surface.
As Hector notified the Overlords of the Universe about their new prisoner, Superman shook Hermes hand:
"Nicely done, Hermes, but how...?"
"Simple really, Kal. When I realised that this was the adult form of a sun eater, I realised that there were some things that even he could not consume, such as a black hole. So I used the holer tech in my suit to open a controlled singularity. When he tried to retaliate against me, rage overcame judgement and rationality, and he ended up consumed by the only thing that he couldn't feed upon."
"How did he get out of his original universe of imprisonment, Hector?"
"The Overlords tell me that they made one crucial mistake. They assumed that a high entropy, dying universe would be sufficient to hold him. It wasn't. The only reason he was able to show up again was because there must have been just enough matter and energy there for him to consume to power one final visit back to our universe. They won't make that error again."
"And there he goes..." As Aquaman spoke, there was a momentary emerald flash and Starbreaker was gone again, assigned elsewhere in the multiverse.
And several minutes later, two of the sapient species that shared Earth and Europa's solar system made first contact and humanity's fate and purpose changed forever.
UNIVERSE NINE GOOGOLPLEX:
Immeasurably far from any universe that harbours life or matter, Starbreaker's husk rotated in an absolute zero void. Here, in a decrepit wholly dead cosmos, there was no remaining matter or energy left, not even subatomic particles, or black holes, and consequently, time and space themselves had ended. Had Starbreaker been conscious, he would have been aware that he was surrounded by utter blackness and silence. Except for the imprisoned cosmic vampire, nothing else existed. Or ever would again. And for eternity, that defunct funereal cosmos was where he would remain.
THE END [1.10 PM, FEBRUARY 8, 2023]