The remainder of the Jotun fleet; sixty-four craft, most of them with some level of damage; all fled from the lunar region. Whatever weapon had produced that deadly sphere of supergravity must be avoided; if anything could be salvaged, it must be. Whatever it was, the enemy couldn't dare to use it on earth; it would be... catastrophic.

The vessels began dropping through the atmosphere around the south pole; all moving to a new landing site; but some of them had not been able to survive the atmospheric entry due to their earlier damage. Six of the massive starships would end up breaking apart on entry, their debris scattering across hundreds of square miles of the lunar surface.

The ones that made it through landed on the surface, kicking up clouds of dust and debris as they settled in; at a different landing site from those already on the surface. The Jotun quickly set to work, starting repairs on their craft; as their lighter Attack Craft moved to conceal the position; the humans lacked anything in orbit at this stage to observe them. Hopefully, these craft could remain hidden, for now.

If they were even more lucky, the humans might assume those debris were the entirety of the fleet, and give them time to repair and plan an escape.

***

Eyeball wasn't able to see just what had happened; but the consequences were obvious. For a few seconds, his sensors had suddenly registered something more massive than the sun on the other side of the moon. Something enormous; the moon and the earth had both actually moved towards it, as had Dragonslayer, the fighter detecting the acceleration related to the real sun and recommending corrections; corrections which were complete nonsense, as they hadn't been built with the idea that the earth's own orbit would change.

The conclusion was obvious. Ascension was right; Spike had been here to take out the Jotun fleet. And he'd just done the job. He... was probably flying back to earth, riding in some tiny spacesuit, at the moment.

He glanced behind him. On earth, Butcher and Spike fighting would be... devastating. Butcher, if he really was a Titan now, probably wouldn't die in the process of killing Spike; but Spike's death throes would end up killing half the planet... or more. Out here in space? Butcher could likely kill Spike and then just... get recovered by Eyeball.

He knew Butcher would be willing. The kid looked up to Eyeball, liked him, and generally went along with most things he suggested. Still called him 'boss' half the time. But.... no.

Not only were his instincts... most likely his power, working on his subconscious... screaming at him that this was a bad idea, not no, but hell no... but... it just didn't seem right. The world was in ruins. There likely wouldn't even be a country left down there. Maybe they were enemies in the past, but Spike was a decent guy; and, well. Maybe he would need the Titan to finish off the Jotun. They might still have something dangerous in store.

In fact... if his subconscious was so upset about the idea of killing Spike... that meant there must be some other threat he'd need Spike to deal with. It'd never really been this clear before. Was this because Apollo was gone?

He blinked; the communications console in Dragonslayer was lighting up. On... a US military frequency.

"Accept call. Go for Dragonslayer."

"Dragonslayer, this is General Bates. Can you give me current operational status on your craft? We've lost most of our space-capable equipment and may have use for some assistance."

"General! Glad to hear you're alive. Nicky tells me the navy took out most of the Jotun before they could reach La Famiglia... or the west coast... and the survivors ran like hell. I'm on the way back from picking up Butcher, and... Dragonslayer is currently at 99% capacity for fuel, 100% for armaments, and 99% for environmental. Minor aerodynamic surface warping from re-entry, but she can make it a few times before I need repair."

"Ninety-nine... How much fuel does.. Doesn't matter. Or... it might. What's the effective range of that bird?" Clearly, the general was already reviewing the possibilities. Had she taken off and still had that much fuel? Most of the fuel of any given flight was in take-off, how did that work?

"Its space, general. Give me a few days and I can setup a camp on Pluto. My people did some great work on this one; I can fly the whole route there and back at a full G of acceleration, nice and comfortable." He smiled. Extradimensional spaces were such a lovely cheat for this nonsense. There were even enough spare parts he could make himself a cozy emergency shelter there, pretend to be Pluto's first colonist.

"...We'll talk about that in a few. Can you scout out the Jotun positions in Antarctica for us before they have time to settle in? We don't have anything that can reach the area for another few hours."

"One moment. Butch! You okay with diverting to fly over Antarctica for some scouting? Can't be the most comfortable back there."

The communicator automatically added Butch to the call. "Oh, sure. Hell, you can drop me off if you want down there, I'd be fine with killing some more crabs."

"Nah, lets do this right. If you and your mom showed up on your own, they'd scatter like cockroaches. We need to surround em first, then let the heavies drop on em like a ton of bricks. General, I'm diverting. I'll be over the area in about ten, then landing at La Famiglia in thirty. Butcher will be air-dropping somewhere nearby; I'd appreciate if you could send a chopper for him."

***

When Almasi entered the throne room, he was.. well. Terrified would be the word. Hopeful would be another. Africa now belonged to the Emperor of Iron.. entire nations had surrendered just seeing the abomination that approached their borders. And... with every step of the way, the Emperor had been asking Almasi what he wanted to do... with his kingdom. What he'd need to prepare, to have an army ready for the next step of the conquest; when the Empire conquered South America.

He was acting as if his conquest of the world was now a foregone conclusion. The few who had stepped up to resist had collapsed almost immediately. One of the scientists who was working on the ship; a Doctor kline; was speaking when Almasi passed the threshold; he stopped, to listen.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"And, well. Honestly, your majesty.... the Jotun thought it was unstoppable without the Disrupter that we also recovered. This Nanoplague is usually referred to as a sort of... ultimate weapon. Spray it over an enemy city and just... follow it with a Disrupter. When you reach the other side, you have a pile of raw materials to use for construction, and no more enemy city. We recovered a few more missiles containing samples, if you need them."

"No... Unfortunately, it seems my abilities cannot control them the way they can wires or even genuine liquid metal; they simply look like liquid metal. I can only control the outermost layer at any given time. While the substance can't destroy the Throne, it can distract me greatly from fighting. Make sure the Disrupter is prepared and ready to activate."

"Of course, your majesty." The scientist bowed; and backed away, as Almasi stepped up.

The Diamond King took a deep breath. "Emperor. I've come to make a request."

"And that would be? We're currently cleaning up the damage caused by the Jotun's earlier assault. A disturbing number of my subjects have died. In addition to the machines, we must, of course, make certain the Jotun have been eradicated."

"Well, Emperor.... We've recovered the scanners used by the Jotun. We've determined that they can pinpoint the communications the machines share with each other; what forms their... hive mind. While we lack the firepower and equipment to act swiftly on what we've found, if you would be willing to assist... I can see us eradicating the machines within the day. However... the machines are currently assisting in the battle with the Jotun, and even with rescuing survivors in the coastal cities. I've instructed my people to follow the machines, and observe, but not combat them as of yet. The machines are actually deliberately keeping some of our people near their combat units, in the event the Jotun arrive with another Disrupter.. which means we should be able to inflict dramatic damage with our initial assault."

He glanced around. "If you so order, we will move on the machines. We can destroy many of them in the initial waves, thanks to this positioning... but their heaviest concentrations will inflict prohibitive casualties on our forces. And the sensors also show the machines have bases off the coast, deep beneath the oceans, which we cannot reach with what we have on hand."

The Emperor extended a metal tendril up from the floor beneath his throne... and used it to scratch himself beneath the chin, as he studied Almasi. "Interesting. It would be best to destroy the undersea facilities first. The Jotun seem to have retreated, for now, and I will need people for the invasion of South America. I want a clean sweep. I will provide you with Jotun weapons, Disrupters, and samples of this Nanoplague substance. Gather your forces, and inform me when you are sufficiently prepared. I will destroy the underwater facilities as soon as you begin your attack."

***

Valkyrie looked at the ancient temple; or the ruins of it; as she climbed the rubble, trying not to further damage it too much. This place... had been devastated while she was playing anti-space gun, hanging out on top of a mountain in Europe... and now here she was, atop another mountain in Asia, looking over what was left of a once proud country that had over a billion souls the day before.

How many did it have now? Would there still be an India or Pakistan tomorrow? She turned to look down the mountainside.

One of the starships she'd destroyed had self-destructed around her, obliterating a giant chunk of the city she'd been trying to defend. Her boots had actually shorted out at one point; leaving her buried, trudging through concrete and shattering it apart behind her as if it were a trail through the mud, until they'd kicked back on; and that was nothing compared to the crater beneath that ship. The crater she was currently looking down on, on the edge of a broken city.

Granted... if she had not destroyed that Starship, than the entire city would have been eradicated, along with all of its defenders. If she had not been where she was, throwing projectiles into orbit, the enemy would have been able to freely move around the world. Not that it did much good. Europe, Western Asia, North Africa..... what parts of them were still intact would all suffer dramatically from the fallout over the coming years.

As she studied the area, there was an abrupt flash to her left. Raising her fist, turning towards it; she came to a stop. Tall, fit, beard, quiver full of 'Lightning Bolts'... Zeus. Again. "If you've come to flirt with me again, I'm gonna be blunt. I can and will deliver your wife what's left of you after I'm through in a can, and she'll thank me for it."

Zeus laughed as he stepped closer. "Oh, no! I'm here to congratulate you. I just got word about your son. Do you know how rare you are? Not one in a billion, or ten billion. One in a trillion. Not just a Titan... but a fertile one! And whose children become Titans! Do you know how many of the old Titans could boast that claim?"

Valkyrie glowered down at Zeus. She wasn't much taller than him; but unlike his sandals, her boots had heels. "I wasn't aware of any. Is there a point to any of this?"

"The Titans ruled for hundreds of thousands of years; likely over a million. Technically, they might not even have been what we call Homo Sapiens; you could say the Titans predated humanity. A time that is truly inconceivable to even someone like me, who has been around for tens of thousands. During all that time, out of the billions of humans who suffered mutations, only a tiny count survived, an even smaller count gained powers, and the number that became Titans, well. Less than a hundred in over a million years of.. Hominid? History."

He took another step closer. "And you are the only one ever to have a Titan for a child. One of only a few Titans who was even fertile at all. You... are the mother of the future. Quite possibly the foundation of what humanity is destined for. Can you tell me... who is the father?"

She crossed her arms. "Who was the father is the question. No longer in the land of the living. And if this is going where I think its going, you won't be yourself, for much longer. If there were going to be a candidate, I've got a short list of possibilities, and it would be artificial insemination. Besides, Butch isn't a Titan... yet. He might be, when he grows up."

Zeus gave a nod, spreading his hands, trying to seem as jovial and nonthreatening as possible. "Actually.... He is now. Hephaestus passed me the news; Eyeball just recovered him from orbit, apparently he pulled a... You." He glanced down at the ruins, and what was left of the starship. "And the moment he boarded, they knew he was a Titan and jetted for space. I suspect they would have tried the same with you... but, well. You carry enough Neutronium to actually slow them down."

"I was wondering if you'd like to tag along. The Olympians are going to be heading for a meeting with these Americans, setting up a line of communication between them and China, and your son is likely to be there; or nearby, at least. Would be more convenient to ride the chariot rather than just jump, yes?"

Valkyrie frowned.. Wouldn't Butch have contacted her, or just come to see her, if that had happened? She'd mentioned the point when she, as a teenager, had crossed the threshold from simply being superhumanly strong to infinite strength, and the caution he'd need to take... she tapped her wrist. "Odin. Apparently there's some sort of meeting off in the Americas. You want in?"

A soft crackle of static.. then.. "Sorry, lady Valkyrie. I'm heading back to the circle to re-work the ritual and direct everyone down to... Antarctica. I'll keep in touch and arrange for, hopefully, one last battle to take care of all this. As devastating as its been, it would be a miracle if we can clean this up quickly."

Valkyrie sighed, and glanced at Zeus. "...No thanks. I'll be waiting for you when you get there." She crouched; adjusted herself to optimal leaping position with the ease of long practice... and suddenly vanished. The mountaintop shook, a sonic boom erupted right at Zeus's feet.. and he shook his head, smiling at her departing form.

Of course he was transparent in this. He was one of the oldest, strongest, metas on earth. He had hundreds of children, thousands of grandchildren, hundreds of thousands of descendants. But... he could always use more.