JLA Watchtower (Archive)

Professor Hank Henshaw stands in his lab, working on the quantum ring device he and his wife had been building over these past three years. Terri had just left the lab to see their little boy, brought into the visitor area by his grandparents no doubt. Hank smiles. Such a bright kid, with such a brave new world ahead of him. Lord Havok and the Extremists locked away in the sciencells of the Lantern Corps, Earth at peace for the first time in an age.

He's about to rearrange some circuitry on the ring when a deafening crack behind him makes him stand upright. No machinery back there. That was the sound of someone breaking the speed of sound. His right hand goes for a screwdriver; the only weapon to hand. Hopefully if some malign speedster has broken into the lab he's completely ignored Terri and her parents.

"Whoever you are, this is a government facility. Security will be here in seconds." He slips the screwdriver into his sleeve and slowly turns around to see a man clad in tight scarlet and gold, and another dressed as one of the now defunct Green Lantern Corps.

Across planet Earth on every major television network, every radio and every live stream using satellites to broadcast, the head and shoulders of the Cyborg Superman appears. Using his mastery over technopathy he broadcasts his message.

"People of Earth. Some few of you may know me as Hank Henshaw. I am also known to many as the Cyborg Superman. To most however, I am seen as the destroyer of Coast City."

The backdrop behind Henshaw's face turns to an image of the emblem of Neo Rann, rippling as if in the wind. "Not long ago I was released from my imprisonment on Oa by the Green Lantern Guardians, who assured me of my freedom. Wanting to start a new life for myself and for my friends, fellow outsiders, we met with representatives from species all over the known galaxy. It was made clear to us that a great threat existed in the universe, and this threat was known as Rann. A planet whose technology rivals even that of the beings that invaded Gotham City in your United States of America in recent months. With charters from multiple intelligent races and conglomerates I ended the Rannian threat, and occupied their abandoned territory."

An image of Neo Rann's position in the galaxy compared to that of Earth replaces the emblem. "Neo Rann poses no threat to planet Earth. We simply wish to build a home for outsiders such as myself. Yet at this very moment we are under attack by so-called heroes of Earth, including Green Lanterns who had until recently condoned my freedom." Henshaw raises a fist. "Once again I say we pose no threat to Earth, but were Earth attacked would you not make a retributive strike? I want it to be known that if the hand of Neo Rann is forced against Earth it is a reluctant gesture, and one forced by the aggression of your metahumans and the galactic vigilante squad known as the Green Lantern Corps. Any deaths on your world due to Neo Rann's reprisals can be laid at their doors. I offer peace providing they withdraw from Neo Rann this very instant."

Henshaw clenches his jaw and a solitary tear rolls down his cheek. "Please make them stop the violence, for we do not wish to harm anybody upon your planet. If we are forced to take actions, the blood is on the hands of the men and women you call your heroes. All we want is peace."

The transmission is cut, and back on Neo Rann the image of Henshaw turns to Malefic and smiles.

-

What do the people of Earth think of this?

The Cyborg Superman had been flying through the galaxy for weeks, occasionally catching a hyperbeam to a local planet or hitching a ride on a rocket to a moon, but ultimately he had one destination in mind. That destination would be Rann.

Many years ago, Hank Henshaw had made a plan with Mongul. That plan involved Coast City becoming the pilot seat of a new Warworld, with the two of them at the helm. Alas, the plan did not come to fruition and despite Coast City's destruction, nothing came of it. That's not to say there wasn't a Plan B however, and upon exercising his strength and intelligence down in Fawcett City to check how foolproof the heroes of Earth truly were, he decided that it was far too much of a trial to attempt to make Earth his Warworld.

Without Mongul's aid, Plan B had to be shared with some new intergalactic menaces. Specifically, Despero and a rebel faction of Psions. They had all come to an agreement; Rann would be the new Warworld, and with it they would be able to dominate a large portion of the galaxy. With the help of Dr. Sivana and the technology behind Chemo, Henshaw now had the science needed to take control over the planet, but an invasion would be required first.

Arriving at a heavily wooded and uninhabited portion of Rann, the Cyborg removed his cloaking device and entered the underground tunnel that led to the work he had been doing for these past years, after Despero had taken his consciousness from Oa. Henshaw stood before his war-machine, the device designed to produce a robotic army of Chemo-like soldiers to take on Rann's defences.

Hank grins, and feels the clap of Despero's hand on his shoulder. It's always useful to have allies, whether they be runt humans like Sivana or the beast from Kalanor himself. Someone should always be there to take the fall if it all goes wrong. "Are we ready?"

Hank Henshaw was a noble soul, once upon a time. A friendly, loving, kind and devoted man, with principles and steadfast morals.

And then the Kryptonian went and stripped them all away when he created a solar flare that disrupted Hank's rocket, resulting in an accident that led to the death of his friends, the death of his wife, and his permanent mutilation. This all led to his eventual becoming, of course. And now he would have it no other way.

The Cyborg Superman rides in the back of an armour-plated van with Sivana, the launching device for his Chemo-weapon prepared for readying, with the bomb itself kept separately in the possession of the Shade. The van has been especially designed to withstand the toxic dump, so that the trio could watch the devastation from ground zero, and oh, what a sight it would be. Looking at Sivana as the little man tinkers with the launcher, the Cyborg actually smiles. "Would it be wrong to tell you I feel alive for the first time since... A long time?"