Haven: The Broken City

On the planet Competalia, a scientist named Anathema had unlocked the secret of cellular enhancement, allowing anyone on her world who wished it to gain super-powers. She called her free process "Becoming Competalia," but failed to mention the ennui and lack of will that came with the procedure. Using her augmented and devout followers to further her wishes, Anathema conquered Competalia, and imprisoned anyone who opposed her. Most ended up in the prison city dubbed Haven, specially built to serve as a ghetto for political prisoners.

As the years passed, a desire for freedom grew amongst the prisoners. A secret Alliance was formed between soldiers (Amun, Valadin,) scientists (Siv, Ignetia) and politicians (Sedga, Katalia) to pursue their own genetic augmentation experiments, but this time preserving their subjects' free wills. Everyone locked in Haven underwent the treatment, gaining sometimes spectacular and other times useless new abilities. An unfortunate side effect was that some subjects went mad and turned against their people.

Eventually, Amun and Valadin devised an escape plan, not from Haven, but through it. Alliance scientists devised a means to transform Haven into a ship of passage that would allow it to rip free from the planet Competalia and travel elsewhere. Havenites saturated with too much energy from their augmentation volunteered their lives to power the city-ship.

The Havenites did escape, and years passed as they flew toward their planned home, an uninhabited world. However a sudden engine failure spelled disaster, and sabotaged landing gear caused Haven to crash land on Earth. Before coming to a halt atop the former location of Coast City, California, hundreds of thousands of human and alien lives were lost. Most of the Alliance also perished, forcing the recruitment of new members. Havenite forces, with the aid of the U.S. Army, the JLA, and the Luthor Administration, began the slow rebuilding process.

For many months, Haven remained in the U.S.A., and President Luthor even looked to recognize it as a U.S. city. Anathema eventually located her former prisoners, but was defeated through the combined efforts of the Alliance and the Justice League of America. At some unrecorded point, Haven ceased to remain in Coast City, which was itself rebuilt. The current status of the Broken City is unknown.

Created by Ashley-Jayne Nicolaus, Matthew P. Schuster and Ariel Olivetti