Hellfire Invasion (5): Fight for the tower

"You look exceptionally calm," Cyborg threw me a question as we walked down the boxy metal corridors of the Watchtower passing by hundreds of staff.  

I shrugged and smiled at him, "If I can't keep my head cool I can't expect to survive. No powers." 

"No…" The half-metal man spoke after a pause, "You did not hesitate to knock her out." 

My lips drew a hard line and presented a sorrowful face, downed brows, scattered eyes, only for a second, selling my guilt was important, but being seen as someone who can't cope with it would draw sympathy, and with sympathy, eyes, eyes that would one day see me though me, "Starfire, haven't known her for long, but she is not a glory whore. She acted like one. It was as if someone had read her memories and made a shoddy attempt at fucking us over…" 

Shoddy attempt, yeah… it was not shoddy, only Batman noticed, I only managed because he helped. It was not shoddy was it? It was good then…my stomach turned the wrong direction, the imposter got caught because Batman helped, what about other imposters? 

My feet froze as my eyes ran to all the staff walking around, the air suddenly felt colder, and the feeling of it filling my lungs–sand sharp and chilly gnawing at my soft flesh. A slow realization dawned on me. 

We were fucked. 

The attack was global, everyone super in this station fought somewhere. And now they were all here, many with barely a scratch. 

How…many of these came back as sock puppets? 

I felt it, the phantom noose slowly tightening around my neck. Around the League's neck. 

That phantom had to sta—I was torn out of my thoughts with a tap. My eyes instantly snapped to him, Cyborg, his tap quickly turned to shake me by my shoulder, "You okay?" 

"Yeah." 

He shook his head, "No you're not. We're going to the medical bay."

Shit, no, no backing down, if the Justice League loses Trigon kills the Earth and I fucking live on it. 

Pushing his hands off I shook my head, "Don't worry, I was just creeped out over the thought of losing my body." 

He hesitated a bit before ultimately digressing, "Look, if something feels off just say okay?" 

A half-hearted nod was all he got, he was never getting anything from me, what if he was infected too? Exposing that I suspected the infection with my neck in the crushing distance of his metallic arms was not a good idea, because if he was infected I would be fucked. 

More than that, the Justice League crew, Batman probably knew about the body snatchers, no need to throw myself to the wolves. 

Besides, as we reached the I already had my objective: Help Stop Trigon. 

Cyborg for his part did not show anything that would make me suspect he was possessed. 

"We are here," Pulling me out of my mind he gestured to the one door that stood out from the rest with a pair of crossed swords on top of a diamond shield drawn on a steel door. 

The door slid up, allowing me in, and just as I stepped in it slammed down behind me dumping me into a dark corridor.

Then the darkness came to life as a synthetic voice bloomed. 

/User Identified: Mira Wayne./ 

Probably an AI. 

/Please walk forward./ 

I followed its words and as I took my first step the corridor started to let in light, the door like two jaws parting the door opened its teeth separating from each other one by one.

Soon I could see my destination 

/Please step in./ 

A round…no hexagonal room with welding cranes attached out from each bend. Vents running up and down the sides of the room, like exposed veins pulsating with each beat perhaps pumping coolant? All wrapped around the spine like pillars in between the walls that climbed out of the room. And then at the centre of it all a circular platform marked by a crimson-red outline. 

I stepped in. 

Then from the ceiling, a panel came down and displayed itself to me.

/Please select your desired equipment. Voice or text both applicable./ 

A list started forming but my eyes did not go to it but the scrollbar on the side of the touch screen, it was a tiny dot.

God damn this list was big, my lips turned up. I knew exactly what I wanted.

"One pistol—needs to be able to penetrate at least a few millimetres of steel. All lethal." 

As per my words, the list was shortened until five were displayed. Only five? 

A Degale look alike, probably what I had been using; A Five-Seven; a revolver, a fucking plasma pistol with a 'C' shaped design that looked like it was made for aliens. And finally, something that really caught my eye–A hand cannon-looking beast, with a bulbous front heavy barrel and a massive knuckle guard over a thick handle. It looked like it packed a punch and the stats did not disappoint, 50 cal, Jesus. 

I could carry what? A hundred and twenty rounds for this over twelve magazines? And it roared like a beast when fired…and fighting Trigon was not going to need subtlety. 

Really it's all power and no grace. I love it. 

Tapping the screen it was selected. I had a second weapon, now for the primary. 

"Assault Rifles and Snipers."  

Again the screen changed, this time there were even fewer choices than before. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly there were no Kalashnikovs but it still had all the Western stuff. 

I wanted a 7.62 or an anti-material rifle. But just thinking of the logistics of a sniper and the tactical inflexibility made me quickly reconsider. It would be big, it would be clumsy, and hard to fight with in CQB. 

Hence it all ended with my hands picking out the 7.62 Sig-716, the standard military issue with a hybrid sight. 

It would allow me to sit back and snipe while my team did all the super dangerous fighting. 

Then came the utility which quickly ended with Frag and Stun Grenades. I already had some from the Army anyway.  

At last, the most important part, the armour…in which I was given no choice. 

/Armour selection-No specific design for this user, activating standard JL Armour…Please spread your arms. And take off your clothes./ 

I followed. 

Then everything came to life. 

/Armour-Standard JL issued under code M7/ 

The crane arms stretched away from their position and the ceiling parted as parts held by lumbering metal arms descended. 

First came a battle dress, a second skin. It was a full-body suit, spandex-like but thicker. 

The zip was open from the back and the mechanical arms came towards me. And slid it onto me. I didn't even have to do anything as I was soon dressed in a black skin-tight suit, which while completely normal on the inside and outside had a layer of gel sandwiched in between. 

/Gel layer. Base of the armour. Able to take significant thermal damage, blunt trauma and maintain the user's body temperature./

Then the canes came into use. They moved dexterously, nothing like what one would expect from their stripped-down design, layers of strings wrapping around a central skeleton, and small ventilation lines running all around it. 

They brought metal, thin, small plates of it.

First, they went for my arms, putting two metal plates parallel to each other with my arm in between. Then the metal was pressed. Wrapping my arm in a vice grip, then welding the metal plates together. They did it all over the suite only leaving the parts that ran over my body joints, opting to just cover them with more kevlar. 

It was like my body was being entombed in metal but that was not true, I felt light. 

The crane moved all over, a weld here, a weld there, another down low and again at my collar. 

After two minutes most of the cranes retreated, and one last piece: a collar, a neck bind that would keep my head attached to my body but it was not just that, attached to it was a tail of metal plates that weaved and bobbed in the air. 

It was then unceremoniously slid down onto my neck, and the wagging tail was clamped onto the back of my waist. A moment later I realised what it was, a line of removable metal that protected my back, where the zip was. Heck it was not a tail, it had just been designed like that to allow for full movement of the body while protecting the only unarmoured part of my body, the back zip. 

/Light Duty Armour installed…confidential alloy armour, very light-weight and durable./

And then came the helmet. Almost looking like an off-road biker's helmet, it came in all its glory as it was placed atop my head and then slowly slid down. Till my whole head was wrapped up in a thick layer of JL-grade protection. 

Finally, like Excalibur being presented to King Arthur, the ground opened up, and out came my guns, and the cargo belts where the ammo was carried. 

The hand cannon, Magnum, went into the slot built into the side of my waist, and the cargo belt was wrapped around it. And last but never the least the Sig went over my shoulder with…my thoughts were cut off as the station shook. 

An earthquake shook the ground beneath me.

Then the synthetic voice fully bloomed in the side of my ear. Probably inbuilt coms. 

/Code Red Sun./

/I repeat, Code Red Sun./ 

/Superman is attacking the Watchtower./ 

Trigon was going to make his bid to get Raven. And the whole station was about to descend into madness. 

When we defeated the hoard at the Carnival, we sold a fight to Satan, didn't we? 

A Satan who has Superman under his palm. 

This was gonna be one big mess wasn't it? 

I took a deep breath. 

"Hell, it's about time." 

———

——

—

The Watchtower was a durable colossus made to be able to function even if it was gutted in half. 

Right now it was the same durability that was keeping it alive. 

That and her defenders. 

"Wonder Woman, Captain Atom, Shazam take Superman," Martian's voice was the picture of calm as he ordered his three most powerful assets into space. 

As Superman landed another hardened punch into the side of the station the outermost honeycomb of the armour gave way. His fist pushed through the metal just a little deeper than he had before. 

He pulled his fist back, ready to do even more damage he stopped and kicked the station, launching himself off as a beam of scorching radiation passed by where he was a moment ago. Captain Atom. 

Again he could not maintain his course and quickly incinerated an incoming shield from his left. Wonder Woman was there. 

Quickly he turned around and parried a punch that almost connected with his stomach, instead delivering his own into the attacker's stomach. 

His eyes caught the hero's face and he drove into his host's memories, Shazam. 

Three heroes, all three heavy hitters. All out of the watchtower. Good. 

Inside the watchtower, "Cyborg, situation?" Heylel asked him as soon as she stepped out and he shrugged, "Just as you heard. Superman is attacking but we have Wonder Woman, Atom, and Shazam on the case. It will be fine." 

Giving him a nod she eyed the rest of the corridor, all different reactions, too different to ever pick out a pattern, so that left her with only one option, "I will go back to the Titans." 

He didn't mind but added, "You should check with Bats on the bridge first though." 

She did not acknowledge it but she started tracing her steps back quickly enough. 

———

The situation as I arrived near the bridge was getting stranger by the minute, the staff numbers had nose-dived, barely a hero…heck barely a human in sight. 

But no alert had been hailed yet, the radio was in a state of pin-drop silence.

This all drew many conclusions for me, none were good. 

As I rounded a corner the last person I had seen was two minutes ago. 

My hands immediately went to the radio but I stopped myself, that was a bad idea. These body snatchers kept the victims' memories, they had brains too, so they were probably watching the radio. Maybe even took it down. And I did not trust anyone here to ask for help. 

What should I do? Simple, cut to the source of the problem. And what is the source? Trigon and Raven. 

Reaching the last corner before the main bridge I slowed myself down to a crawl. 

Two unmoving shadows peeking out the corner.

I lowered myself to the ground and tried to listen, nothing was coming to my ears, which was absurd, there were hundreds of people there. 

Information, I needed information, but without my foragers, I felt so blind. Keeping myself collected I pulled out my phone and quickly opened the camera app. Sliding it against the wall, allowed me to peek at the situation. 

A closed bridge door and standing there were two transformed freaks over a dead body smearing the floor in its blood. Possessed beasts with jaws hanging barely holding on due cheek muscles. But not hounds, they were more like corpses than anything.

Now there were few ways to proceed, kill them and possibly alert all the people inside. Who, in the worst-case scenario, would all be my enemies. 

Or do nothing. 

While it was tempting as heck, Earth couldn't be lost as long as I lived in it. 

So do something it is. I sighed and my mind went to work. Creating a forager required energy, something I did not have right now. 

Thinking again and again my head did not come up with a brilliant idea to deal with it, just a risky one. 

That the laws of physics still worked. Whatever was going on in there that kept the sound from going out should have also kept the sound from going in. I was going to bet on that. 

I pulled out my Magnum and coiled both hands around it. It was big, it was bulky and I was going to kill. Standing up I pulled the gun, flicked the safety off and burst out of cover, my gun already aimed at one when they noticed me. 

This thing was really a hand cannon, the moment the bullet connected the first of those things fell headless onto the ground, its blood dying the metal surfaces red. 

The other one lowered itself onto the ground but met the same fate as his friend. One cannon shot from my gun and one more dead enemy. 

Moving one hand I immediately went to my Frag Grenade, if something rushed out of there it was going to get a faceful of that. 

Thankfully nothing did. So, my gamble paid off? Good. Now let's find out what's going on behind that door. 

[A/N: Any feedback you guys want to give?]