Hawkgirl: First Flight

 

Disclaimer:

 

Hawkgirl and related characters belong to DC Comics.  This is for the fans of the animated JL Hawkgirl, Shayera Hol (look for the Green Lantern and the rest of the JL to appear in later stories).  Now, on with the story!

 

Chapter I: Byth’s Chase

                “Officers of Thanagar!  Byth’s ship is exiting the atmosphere!  Follow him!”

                “Yes sir!” came a chorus of voices.

                Shayera Hol spotted her quarry’s ship at ten o’clock and adjusted her position until the targeting screen locked onto the ship.  Byth Rok had broken into a research facility and made off with some top-secret government technology. Shayera, a member of the Thanagarian Police Force, had been dispatched to intercept the thief.  Unfortunately, the ship Byth had ‘borrowed’ was much faster then most of the law enforcement vehicles.  Shayera looked to her left and her right.  Her wingmen had all fallen behind her.

                A voice rang into Shayera’s ear.  “Hey, Magpie!”  The voice was undoubtedly Katar’s.  She grinned; he was the only one that could call her by that nickname.  “Don’t get too far ahead of us!  These ships can’t handle the stress of space for long.  Disable his engines now or pull out!”

                “I’m so close!  Hold on, Katar.”

                “Officer Hol,” came a voice from the intercom.  Shayera frowned.  The party was about to be crashed.  “We have a ship waiting just outside the atmosphere to intercept Byth.  Halt your pursuit!”

                Shayera looked ahead.  Byth’s ship was so close…she could pull it off, couldn’t she?

                “Magpie!  You’ve been ordered to halt!”  Shayera couldn’t tell if Katar was mad or amused.

                “Sorry Katar.  I’m almost there!”

                Shayera armed her missiles and sped forward.  She could hear one of the other officers talking to Katar.  “Captain Hol, should we follow?”

                “We have our orders.  Stand by and be ready to shoot.”

                “But should we stop Officer Hol?”

                “Stop Magpie?”  Katar laughed.  The other officers joined him.  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

                The talking stopped.  Shayera smiled.  Her ship groaned at the stress, and then the last bit of cloud disappeared as she entered the cosmos outside the atmosphere of Thanagar.  A warning light lit up on the control panel—she had about seven minutes before the hull ripped apart and she would be stranded in space.  Byth’s ship was designed for space travel and wasn’t shaking like Shayera’s smaller ship.

                She could spot the police spaceship, the Hunter, farther up ahead.  It was much larger than her ship, with massive gun turrets aimed at Byth’s ship.  “Drat!  They’ll get to him before I do!”

                Suddenly, the left side of Byth’s ship lit up, and a laser from a giant cannon fired at the Hunter.  The Hunter split in two before exploding.  There was an eerie silence, as sound does not travel in space.

                “Officer Hol?  Report.”

                “The…the Hunter’s gone.”

                Katar’s voice rang in her ears again.  “Magpie, can you fire at Byth?  Do it NOW!”

                Shayera fired two missiles at Byth’s ship.  Both were intercepted by lasers.  “Captain!  His ship—he was able to destroy the missiles.  What kind of ship did he steal from that lab?”

                Katar didn’t answer, but Shayera could see on her computer screen that he was receiving a private text message.  His voice was frantic when he began talking again.  Shayera had never heard him shout like that.  “Disengage!  Magpie, get out of there!”

                “What?”

                Shayera saw another of Byth’s gun turrets—it was thinner and shorter than the cannon that attacked the Hunter—aim outward, away from the planet and Shayera.  It glowed white as it began to charge up.  “What is he doing?”

                “Shayera!”

                “Hold on, Katar, I’m turning around now!”

                Just as Shayera turned her ship and prepared to fly back to the hanger, a bright light shone behind her.  Shayera spun around and was too shocked to scream as a massive energy wave ripped through her ship.  Her head hit the ceiling and she fell unconscious

*              *              *

                Meanwhile, down below, Katar Hol and his wingmen were monitoring the situation on their computers.  An energy signature could be detected.  A big energy signature.  Byth’s ship disappeared of the screen, followed shortly by Shayera.  Katar adjusted his headphones.  “Officer Hol?”  No answer.  “Shayera?”  Still no answer.  “Magpie?”  Katar swore at the lack of response.  “Aerie HQ?  This is Captain Hol.  Abort mission.  Mission failed.”

*              *              *

                “What is taking the Captain so long?”

                One of Captain Hol’s officers shrugged at the general.  “He spent extra time up there, looking for visual conformation.  I dare say the Captain would still be up there, but his fuel cells were low.”

                Katar entered the room.  He was still in his blue uniform, but he had removed his helmet.  His massive gray wings were carried directly behind him.  The feathers were also ruffled and raise—Katar was angry.

                “Please follow me to the debriefing room, Captain,” said the general.

                Katar followed the general until they reached a large room full of video screens.  A few had news, but most had security cameras or satellite maps of Thanagar.  The general sat down at his desk and motioned for Katar to have a seat in front of him.  He refused and remained standing.  “My magpie—Officer Hol is dead and—”

                “Officer Hol is still alive.”

                Katar sat down, shocked.  “What?”

                “That blast didn’t kill her.  It was a piece of technology our scientists were developing.  Byth must have activated it.  What an idiot.  Even if he knew how valuable the things he stole were, he’d never find a market for them.”

                “Wait—that blast—I saw—there wasn’t any ship left!”

                “Captain, you know we Thanagarians are an advance people.  And we tire of living on one planet.  That ship was a prototype.”

                Katar lifted an eyebrow.  This was confusing.  “But we already have spaceships.”

                “Yes…and none of them can even get past the moon.  This one can travel through an dimensional rift to another corner of the universe.”

                “Then Shayera…”

                The general waved his arm a-matter-of-factly.  “Her ship must have been caught up and traveled with Byth.  An interesting side effect.  I will have to notify the scientists about this…”

                “Well, then where is she?”  The general looked down and did not speak.  “Sir, where is she?”

                “Haven’t you figured it out, Captain?  We can’t trace the ship.  And even if we could find her, we have no means to retrieve her.  I am sorry to inform you that your wingman, Officer Shayera Hol, has been declared Missing in Action.”