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#4
OCT 10 |
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“Planetary Strike” Part Four
Wiccan knocked on Director Braddock’s door with only enough force to be heard by himself. He wiped away the remainder of the tears he had let loose only a few minutes before. Then, building up a bit more courage, he knocked harder. When he got no answer, he turned to walk away. “Come in, Wiccan. I had some music going so I didn’t hear you.”
Walking into the room, Billy saw the neatly piled stacks of paper on Braddock’s desk. “With all that’s going on, I’m shocked you can even find time to breathe.”
Brian sat back down behind his desk and began to shuffle through more papers. “I’m having to manage a meshed together army. Music is about the most calming thing I can find right now. So, what can I do for you?”
“I heard abut what happened on Earth-521 and I want permission to go on a retrieval mission after this one is complete.”
Stopping his work, Brian said, “That world has been declared off-limits to the M.D.A.”
“Then let the mission be one off the radar. I have to get there.”
“Why? What’s there?’
“Someone I care about. I can’t just let them rot.”
Brian intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on them. “You know I can’t risk you getting killed off world. If an investigation was done, we could face sanctions. I don’t want another world taking over our operation here.”
“I’m going to go whether you give me permission or not, but I felt the need to at least let you know.”
Brian sat back in his seat and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew love struck when he saw it and Wiccan was definitely that. Whoever was on Earth-521 was someone he cared a great deal about and Brian felt like a royal arse for not letting him go. But there were regulations and rules that had to be followed to ensure that this world’s A.R.M.O.R. remained in compliance. A question nagged at the back of Director Braddock’s mind though. What would he do if it was Meggan?
“I’ll authorize this under the table, but you’re not going to go alone. You tell Portal what’s going on and convince him to come with you. I can’t order him to go so if you can’t convince him then I won’t let you go.”
“Are you serious? Portal is the most selfish, bull-headed man in this entire organization. Asking him to do anything for someone else is like asking the Necronima to come down from the sky and drop into my arms.”
Brian laughed at Wiccan’s passion. It was obvious that the two didn’t like each other, but if he was going to allow an unauthorized action then he was going to get some benefit out of it. Portal and Wiccan putting aside their differences would be for the greater good. “You are an intelligent man, Billy; I’m sure you’ll find a way around this little dilemma. Was there anything else I could do for you?”
Wiccan tried not to lock his jaw and gave a half-smile. “Not at all. Thank you for letting me do this.”
“No worries. Just don’t make me regret it.”
Portal moved his black checker a space forward and said, “I hope you know that you’re going down.”
Gaia shook her head. “Not a chance, hotshot. This isn’t going to be like UNO.”
“Thought you knew, babe, I’m the king of board games!” Portal laughed. It felt good being able to get away from the stress of A.R.M.O.R. for just a little bit, especially when a big operation loomed over them. He didn’t like the idea of Gaia being in danger, but she seemed to be okay with it. And there was no way he was going to make another objection to it because a nuclear Gaia was about as bad as a super powered alternate Stalin knocking on your door. (Portal could make the comparison from experience).
Gaia laughed at her boyfriend’s boast. “That’s only because you can be as stiff as one most of the time.”
“Hey! I can be fun, just not around this A.R.M.O.R. crowd. They’re all too hypocritical for me.”
Moving a red checker forward, Gaia reached behind her and grabbed her can of Pepsi off the kitchen counter. “And was it really necessary to go off on Billy like that?”
“He had it coming, trying to dictate to me how to tell my own story. He’s exactly what I’m talking about. They make these excuses for people who happen to be valuable or share some of their mutual interests, but want to burn everyone else by the stake.”
Taking a sip of her soda, Gaia asked, “You don’t think that you might be taking this a bit too personal?”
She was well aware of Portal’s trust issues. Ever since he first discovered his powers people had been trying to use and manipulate him. He’d had to learn to fend for himself and be suspicious of anyone who claimed they were trying to help him. She thought it was a miracle that he had even found his way to A.R.M.O.R. It just spoke to the strength of Brian Braddock because he was able to convince the immovable skeptic that he was on the level. In that way, Gaia would forever owe him a debt of gratitude because Braddock keeping to his word opened up Portal to allowing himself to feel again.
“I don’t like seeing people getting railroaded and that’s exactly what’s going on in the M.D.A. right now. We’re helping this world not because it’s the right thing to do but because it is useful to us. Does that feel right to you?”
Gaia knew where he was coming from an in a lot of ways share his sentiments, but she also knew that the M.D.A. had to be practical. There was no way they could help every member world whenever they had an internal problem; if they did, the resources of the M.D.A. would be stretched to nothing. Maybe in time when they had enough member worlds the resources would be there, but that just wasn’t an option at the moment. Portal wasn’t going to accept that for an answer though and that’s why she loved him. His heart was bigger than he allowed people to think.
“I know what wouldn’t feel right to me, Charles. Letting an entire planet full of fugitives potentially escape back out into the Multiverse to make who knows what kind of destruction. And personally, I don’t feel like tracking them all down again.”
Portal folded his arms across his chest, looked into a corner and gave a slight huff. “I don’t feel like it either.” He hated it when Gaia managed to find a way to always be right.
Gaia spotted out of the corner of her eye, the ghostly figure of Wiccan moving through her door. “You know, you could have knocked.”
Wiccan solidified and said, “And if you knew it was me would you have answered?”
Portal smiled. “Yea so I could sock you in the mouth.”
Wiccan could already feel his patience flying out the door, but he had to do this. “I am here because I need your help, Portal. I have a friend on Earth-521 and I have no intention of leaving him there to rot. Brian has given me permission to track him down, but only if you agree to come with me.”
Gaia responded for him. “Are you crazy? We have no idea what condition that world is in. What you’re asking him is suicide!”
“What kind of friend is it?” Portal asked. He had his suspicions about Wiccan and had heard plenty of rumors. So now he intended to get confirmation from obvious desperation.
“Would you leave Gaia behind?”
She knew what Charles’ answer was going to be right then and there. “Oh no you’re not! You can’t!”
Portal rested a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll talk about it when we get back. We need to make it through this current assignment before we can start thinking about anything else.”
“Don’t coddle me, Charles; I’m not some silly school girl.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, one that was very red. “I’m serious. We have to go fight off an armada and I don’t want you distracted thinking about something that might not even happen.”
She cut her eyes with feminine fury at Wiccan. “If my boyfriend ends up with a scratch on him because of you, I’m going to turn your guts inside out.”
The scary thing for Wiccan was that he knew she was completely capable of doing it. “Maybe he’s right. We should just wait until the current mission has been resolved.”
“See? We agree on something. That’s a start isn’t it?” Portal said with a boyish grin that Gaia couldn’t help but to yield to.
“Ok ok, but soon as we get back we’re talking about it,” Gaia said as she looked down at her watch. “We need to move to the Dimension Core. Only got a few minutes to go.”
Cracking his knuckles, Wiccan said, “Well, I can get us there in a few seconds.”
“No need,” Gaia interrupted. “I figured out how to teleport a while back.”
A rainbow light covered the three of them and they were gone with a loud popping noise that vibrated the room.
The Dimensional Core was Earth-792’s connection to the Mukuru and thus its connection to the many universes making up the Multidimensional Alliance. Every A.R.M.O.R. unit (or whatever their equivalent designation was) had been given a core based on the technology found on the Mukuru, which was thousands of years ahead of anything that could be found on Earth-792. It was why A.R.M.O.R.’s secret had to maintained; if any government found out the level of technology that they possessed they would want to pilfer it all in a New York minute. Braddock refused to let that happen.
The Core itself was an apparatus that connected to the mainframe of the Mukuru. It was surrounded by what appeared to be a sphere of thick red matter, which was really a combination of compressed spatial, temporal, and gravitational energies. The apparatus drew upon these energies to create the gateways that A.R.M.O.R. would travel through to access their destination. The whats, hows and wheres of the machine were lost on Braddock, but he knew that it was sophisticated on a level that only the smartest men could comprehend.
Brian looked around at the five teams he had assembled and noticed that three were missing from Field Team One. “Where are Wiccan—”
A flash of rainbow light came from the back of the room and Earth-792’s Paranormal Expert stepped through. “We’re here, sir.”
Director Braddock nodded and turned to the amethyst colored gateway that was just opening. Slinging a laser rifle across his back, he said, “We’re going in people. This isn’t going to be our normal operation. I want you all to be prepared for casualties…even amongst us.”
He had brought to light the silent fear that they all shared about what was to come. Gaia gripped Portal’s hand with all the love she could muster. She wanted nothing more than to go back to her room and keep playing checkers. Wiccan had no intention of dying because there was someone who needed him. Death would not claim him just yet. Motormouth saw that steely determination in Billy’s face and couldn’t help but to grin. He was ready for war and, by the Queen, so was she.
Brian saw the mae and women before him praying that he was wrong and all of them would come home. “Let’s move! I don’t think Alise wants to wait for us much longer.”
A.R.M.O.R. Moon Base
Earth-97701
The Human Blizzard stood watch over the Dimensional Core controls while Alise Parker kept a firm eye on the gateway itself. He looked up to her with blank, white eyes and said, “We’ve got an incoming transport.”
“Earth number?”
He looked down at the controls. “Just a second…looks like its Earth-792.”
Alise sighed. “Finally. I was beginning to think I was going to have to take charge of this operation.”
Presidential War Chambers
Southern Lunar City of Saint Orleans
Three Hours Later
T’Chaka was not used to this privy room being so full of people. It was only meant to seat five and currently was occupying twenty. The Directors of his world’s A.R.M.O.R., S.H.I.E.L.D., S.W.O.R.D. and X-Force were all present, along with his three Fleet Admirals. The other twelve people were the Directors of A.R.M.O.R.’s from other worlds that were going to be helping him in the defense of his solar system. He knew that it was going to be a bit daunting having to deal with this many personalities, especially with all the information he had just heaped upon them.
“Are you sure, sir, that it was wise to let loose all those entities that we worked so hard to keep locked away?”
That was the voice of Fleet Admiral Banner. He was a decorated military veteran who had led many successful campaigns against the forces of the Magus. If there was anyone who was going to have a problem with some of his recent choices, T’Chaka knew Banner would be it. Banner absolutely believed in the power of Earth’s present forces to push the Magus into defeat. T’Chaka wished he had such confidence.
“I did what was needed to preserve our solar system, Admiral. The forces that the Magus has leveled at us require such action.”
Director Braddock rubbed his chin for a moment and kindly interjected. “No, they don’t.”
A mixture of audible gasps and hard stares came the direction of Brian. T’Chaka narrowed his eyes and said, “Care to explain what you mean, Field Commander?”
“I have read over the detailed analysis of the Magus’ forces until I have it memorized. It is a powerful force, but nowhere requiring the unleashing of Heralds, Horsemen and Sentinels. So that means only one thing. There’s more to this attack than you’re telling us.”
T’Chaka loosened his tie and said, “Clever man. I had hoped to keep this information strictly amongst my people.”
Alise didn’t care for more secrets. Was that all government was? “What’s going on, Mr. President?”
“There are traitors in our government loyal to the Magus so I had to make sure that I could figure out who was loyal. I am confident everyone in this room is trustworthy. The Magus strikes at us with one hand we can see, but he moves with another that he hoped we could not.”
Fleet Admiral Banner’s white hair seemed a little thinner. “A sneak attack?”
“Precisely,” T’Chaka said as he reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle of brandy. He started to pour himself a shot before he continued. “The Magus has created a hypergate that will open right in the middle of Los Angeles. He’ll be sending forces through there to start wreaking havoc.”
Director Jameson of Earth-2075 didn’t quite get it. “But who else could he be sending in? I thought your report said all of his forces were being compounded in this frontal assault.”
“They are. All the forces we know of, but it would appear the Magus has resurrected things he would have rather kept buried too.”
Alise put a hand to her mouth and could barely utter, “Oh no.”
Fleet Admiral Yashida sunk in her seat. “The White Gods.”
T’Chaka threw back his shot. “Indeed. The White Gods of the Quists are coming to bring their brand of divinity to Earth.”
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To Be Continued...
Next: In A.R.M.O.R. #5: The chess pieces are being moved into place and the game is about to begin. And just where is Noh-Varr and why does it concern Earth-792?
Author's Note: So this issue was a fun one to write. I really liked digging into Wiccan a bit more and Braddock is developing naturally for me. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m writing him close to his past appearances, but I’ll let my readers tell me if I need to adjust. As you can see, I’m throwing a lot of elements into the mix for this first arc, but most of them will be touched on in passing or be part of my supplemental materials. I want the focus to remain on our A.R.M.O.R. guys. But anyway, stick around because the fun is about to get started.
A.R.M.O.R. of Earth-97701
Director Alise Parker - She became the leader of this organization after the assassination of the last Director. It was a contested appointment as she was seen having been handed the job because of her close friendship with the President. She is a bright, bull-headed, if not naïve Director.
The Human Blizzard - Jonas Butterfield was a lead scientist at S.H.I.E.L.D. when he was attempting to create an organism that could survive in absolute zero. It was a task everyone considered him crazy for trying and after a freak accident he found himself gifted with a liquid water body that allowed him to survive in absolute zero. He had accomplished what he set out to do, but he could no longer have a normal life because of it.
Phobia - A former Colonel in X-Force that was court-martialed after she ordered Shi’ar civilians be fired on in an attempt to a save a fellow officer. She was locked up in X-Force’s Fort Creed on Ganymede when Alise pulled some strings to get her placed in A.R.M.O.R. The two’s parents had been friends and she felt that she couldn’t let the woman rot. Phobia is less than grateful.
Integer - An enigma that no one can seem to wrap their head around. Integer has been around since the 20th century, but it’s never really clear what his agenda is or what his plans are because of his strange nature. The only people who have ever really understood Integer have been robots and even they find him to be confusing. He was already on A.R.M.O.R. when Alise arrived and she made no qualms about him staying.
Maxine Shaw - She’s a member of A.R.M.O.R. at the express request of the five Governors. Arrogant, rude and pretentious just about sum up the woman and most of her family. As heiress to the trillion-dollar Shaw Inc. Empire, she thinks of her assignment in A.R.M.O.R. as something to pass the time until she is fabulously rich.
Terra 5 - The fifth in a series of earth-controlling androids created by Joe Pym right before he died. The androids were given tot the government as a gift of atonement, something that the Pym family has been trying to achieve ever since the fatal mistake made by their ancestor which set loose the Magus on the galaxy.
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