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#10
NOV 11 |
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“Planetary Strike” Part Ten
Hala
Orbital Observation Deck
Adding all of their ships together, even the cargo ones, there was only an eighth of the Kree fleet left to guard Hala. That disturbed Cpt. Sinora Manoi deeply, but the Magus wanted to crush Earth and felt that Hala was relatively safe. He had been left behind to make sure that homeworld was guarded from any unlikely attack, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to do it with his relatively small amount of ships. The forces he had under him wouldn’t be able to repel a large attack, but the Magus felt that no attack was coming.
Being under that man’s thumb had done nothing positive for his people. It had been providing them much in the way of protection, but the Magus had sucked the resources of his world dry. The Kree Empire was struggling before the Magus had come, but at least it was still proud. Once they allied themselves to him it was nothing but a downward spiral. The Kree now cowered in the face of the Magus and were no longer the proud people that had once been.
Certain voices in the Kree government whispered of being rid of the Magus once and for all, but they were fearful to act now. The spoils of Earth would be too great and Kree would support them with such a grand victory in sight. Earth had been a thorn in the side of the Kree for decades and now, to see them on the cusp of defeat, was too powerful a propaganda tool for the Magus. Manoi hoped for their defeat, but hoped that neither the Magus nor his generals returned from the battle.
Dozens of components buzzed and whirred at him from the control console of the deck. They were bright green, indicating he was receiving multiple communications from ships in the area. Leaning forward, the elderly Kree said, “Open the lines."
Eight screens popped up in front of him and they were the faces of all his subordinates. He was surprised that all of them had contacted him at the same time. Something had to be wrong and fear bubbled up in the captain’s stomach. “What’s wrong?”
Firmly planted on each of his officer’s faces was the same expression: it was the look someone had right when they realized Death was coming for them. Then he knew. “Who? And how many?
Grappling with the words, one of his officers replied, “The Shi’ar, sir...and it looks like their whole fleet.”
Hala’s meager protection would not be enough; the Kree homeworld was soon to be at an end. Manoi hoped all the more for the Magus’ victory. Otherwise, the Kree would go from a proud people to a slave race. “Try to attack all critical systems. We’ll see if we can take a few of their best down with us. If we can hold them off long enough, then the people on the surface may be able to prepare a defense.”
Justifiably, one of the officers was furious. "The Magus has doomed us all! Homeworld has been left wide open because of his stupidity.”
Kree were warriors, but they weren’t fond of suicide attacks. They did not think so little for their lives as to just throw them away in a pointless, futile battle. Still, they had no options. No Kree would abandon Hala to blatant, open attack, and surrendering would only find them all just as dead. They would not let history label them as cowards.
Lifting himself up in spirit, Manoi said, “I don’t know about anyone else, but I will not let Hala fall this day!”
The Magus may have left their homeworld, but they would not.
Cairo, Egypt
The Nubian looked up at the approaching White Gods and asked, “Which two do you want?”
Amiri laughed. “We’ll let them decide.”
Tabir of the Endless White Forest leaped off of Awjalu’s wing and slammed into the ground. Deyunja did the same and landed next to his fellow White God. The two charged at Amiri with claws and an axe in hand. Nur ran to them headlong and flipped forward into the air. He landed on Deyunja’s shoulders and drove his blades into the White God’s neck. The Lord of the Rotting Hand let out a terrible cry as he fell to the ground, swinging his gigantic axe wildly.
Seeing his injured comrade, Tabir swung right at Deyunja’s head in hopes of slashing at Amiri, but his unnatural claws missed the descendant of Apocalypse by inches. Amiri rolled away from the attack and his red tattoos began to pulsate. Nur’s muscles started to bulge wider and the bones in his face became more pronounced as his shoulders expanded to compensate for the added muscle and his legs were about to burst from his pants.
Tabir eyed Amiri widely with his loopy eyes and licked his entire face with a long purple tongue; golden blisters seemed to cover the entire length of the long appendage. It was a sickening sight, but amongst the Quist that tongue was revered as a sign of long life, and the pus of those bumps was said to have great healing properties.
Amiri wasn’t interested in finding out if any of that was true because when he looked at that tongue all he saw was a weapon. A weapon that was more likely to snap his neck than to keep him living.
“You move fast, but you won’t be able to run forever.”
Amiri rolled his chest back and then clinked his two blades together. “Does it look like I’m trying to run?”
“Brave, but foolish. Your courage shall be the end of you.”
They had to be holding back. Amiri was sure of this because he hadn’t even exerted himself against them. It was either that or the tales of their might were greatly exaggerated. Knowing his luck, Amiri did not think he would be blessed with such fortune. So why were they holding back? What were they waiting on? Unless they were the kind of predator that preferred to play with their prey.
“Neither I nor this city will know its end today. You would be best served going back to the Endless White Forest.”
Tabir flashed his claws and licked his face again just as Deyunja was rising from the ground with his wounds completely healed.
The Coldwitch - Selene’s Command Ship
The docking port of the ship was completely empty because all of the fighters it once housed were now deployed in battle against Earth’s forces. That was why no one noticed when dozens of lights of varying colors started to pop up around the port. They ranged from bright greens to dingy grays, but out of each light stepped a member of the M.D.A. but now they were better classified as a soldier of the organization. Lady Ororo stepped out of white light next to Wiccan, who had his hands on his temples with his eyes closed. She felt the mystical energies emanating from him.
Wiccan pulled his hands back from his head and took a deep breath. “The wards in this place are incredible. I wasn’t able to hide our presence from every one of them, so we’re still going to have to be careful.”
Sister Grimm of Earth-8871 walked up to Wiccan with her Gibborim Staff in hand. “We should try to break more of them down before we move. Leaving them up is asking for Selene to trap us.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time,” Wiccan replied. Selene’s wards were intricate and required a great amount of effort to break down. It was like unraveling a complicated knot of barbed wire; pulling it apart was already hard enough, but you had to worry about cutting yourself along the way. “The wards that are still functional will just have to stay that way."
Grimm capitulated to Wiccan because he was the leader of this mission, but she honestly felt that he was putting all of them into far too much unnecessary danger. There was no telling what Selene had waiting for tm on this ship. The woman’s dark magic hung in the air like a rotting carcass. She had seen her fair share of dark magic before, but this magic was complex and elaborate; one string weaved around another in long, wild patterns. It would not be easily banished or defeated.
James Howlett, Master of the Wild Winds on his world, stepped forward. “So we’re here. What now?
“This ship is too big for us to track down Selene together. We’re going to have to split up. There are fifty of us so five squads of ten should just about do it. Lady Ororo, James, Sister Grimm, Draco and myself will lead them," Wiccan said.
In the back of his mind, he was still trying to unravel the wards of Selene, but it was a futile task. It would require his full concentration to do any good and he was more likely to trip one of them than dispel it.
Cairo, Egypt
The Nubian commanded the air to blow each one of Awjalu’s serrated feathers past him. He was flying high in the air and had to either dodge or cut down the deadly feathers of the White God. The feathers were starting to come with more speed and frequency and it was starting to tax him to avoid them.
Knowing that he had to go on the offensive, the Nubian shot out a fireball from one hand and sent it searing through the sky right at Awjalu’s head. The White God twisted out of the way of the attack and the fireball went tumbling to the ground.
Thiugh it missed, the fireball had opened up an opportunity for the Nubian that wasn’t there before. Awjalu taking time to avoid the attack stopped him momentarily from delivering any of his own. So within that window of opportunity, the Nubian summoned a small cyclone that swallowed Awjalu and set him into a whirlwind. Unsheathing his sword, the Nubian focused on making the wind carry him across the sky so he could deliver his weapon right into the heart of Awjalu the Light.
The leader of the Clan Akkaba let out a guttural roar as he flew into what he hoped would be a fatal blow against the White God. He never reached the cyclone that he had created, however, as a sickening squish reached his ears and his body was thrown off balance and upwards.
Looking down at his chest, the Nubian saw a large blue spike sticking trough it .The last thing he saw was a ship coming across the skyline and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He fell like a rock out of the sky and slammed into the frail wooden stand of a merchant selling chickens by the cagefull. Crashing into the stand head fist obliterated his skull and wood shards were sent in every direction.
Amiri had witnessed all of this, but knew that there was nothing he could do for his soldier. The eyes of Tabir and Deyunja were fixed upon him. Very soon all of the White Gods would be looking upon him as a target. If he was going to go down though, he had every intention of taking one of these monsters with him. Because he imagined they would soon stop toying with their prey.
“Your friend was quite soft,” Mulzeta said as the blue spike that had entered the Nubian flew through the air and back into the White God’s mouth. “His blood is quite bitter.”
That was when Amiri heard the roar of the spacecraft above him and saw a dozen blasts of hot pink lasers rip across the sky and into the White Gods. It sent up a haze of dust and prompted cries of pain from the deities. Looking up, Amiri recognized the ship because of the Spider-Man picture plastered across the bottom.
Then a microphone enhanced voice echoed across the vicinity. “Hands off my man.”
Amiri smiled and said, “Alise.”
Uranus
The white portals opened up all around Vulcan, the Omega Sentinel and the Deathloks, and dozens of Kree soldiers poured out geared up in the same armor as the ones that had initiated the attack. Vulcan flew to the Omega Sentinel and scooped her up in his arms. “Seems our estimate of a thousand was off.”
[[I calculate three thousand four hundred thirty-one Kree soldiers]]
“Must you always be so precise?”
[[It is my nature.]]
Vulcan took them high above the battlefield. He knew the Deathloks could hold their own for a while. “Well, I have a plan to thin those numbers out a bit.”
[[If your plan is to involve me then make it quick]]
“Have somewhere to go?”
[[My systems are under attack from Cerebro. Going into shutdown mode. Will reboot soon as it is purged from my hardware]]
The Omega Sentinel’s eyes went dead and she became dead weight in Vulcan’s arms dragging him down a couple of yards before he steadied himself. Cursing under his breath, Gabriel was forced to think of a new plan, for indeed his old one had hinged on the Omega Sentinel’s involvement.
Icarus made his way through the throng of battling Kree and Deathloks headed straight for Vulcan. His light sword was I hand and it looked far sharper to Gabriel than it had a few minutes ago. He wondered if all weapons enhanced in quality when they were about to kill you? With the Omega Sentinel in his arms, he wasn’t going to be able to dodge a single attack from the lieutenant of the Magus. S.W.O.R.D.’s commander was going to have to improvise, but luckily he hadn’t climbed his way to the top by being unable to think under pressure.
When Icarus grew close, Vulcan smiled and said, “Catch!”
He hurled the heavy body of the Omega Sentinel through the air and she slammed into the approaching warrior like a battering ram. The Sentinel’s arms wrapped around Icarus’ neck and the two flailed through the air like a bird with one wing clipped off. It was almost comical to watch the waving of limbs, but Vulcan knew that Karima could handle the punishment.
Swooping down, he grabbed the Omega Sentinel’s ankle, swung her through the air and smacked her body right into Icarus again. The former hero flew back from the blow with his head spinning wildly and, before he could get his orientation again, the robot came right at him square in his chest. Icarus flew upward like a ball having been struck by a bat.
Vulcan reached his hand up and lobbed a heat blast at Icarus that matched the power of the Sun’s core. It struck Icarus right in the face and vaporized his head clean off. The lieutenant’s body fell into the chaos of Kree and Deathlok below. Gabriel felt no remorse, but knew that he would have to inform Blue Marvel of the death. The two had been friends once.
Looking at the state of the battle below him and the offline Omega Sentinel in his arms, Vulcan knew what he had to do to end this. He was just afraid to do it.
Cairo, Egypt
Amiri was both elated and horrified that Alise had found her way here to help him. He didn’t want her involved in a fight with creatures as vile as the White Gods, and he hoped to live long enough to kill Stark for letting her come here.
Her vessel circled overhead one more time and dropped more laser blasts down on the injured White Gods. Amiri wanted to yell at her to leave this place, but he knew that it would be in vain. First, she couldn’t hear him and, even if she could, it was obvious she had made her mind up. Alise was an immovable rock once she had her mind set on a certain goal. It was infuriating to say the least, but that fire made Amiri fall in love with her.
VOOMPH! VOOMPH! VOOMPH!
Amiri looked behind him and saw that two familiar faces had teleported into the city along with a few reinforcements. Perhaps today wouldn’t be his day to die.
“What’s the situation, Nur?” Josiah Rage asked.
Fire Mage smirked and still managed to look hardened. “The White Gods toss you around enough?”
“I have lost rhe Nubian, but help arrived before you,” Amiri said pointing up at the sky. “I suppose she still cares about me.”
Josiah Rage shook his head. “A Nur worried about love...on today of all days.”
“At least he didn’t do it in front of a crowd,” Fire Mage said as she walked past him and eyed the crater that she guessed the White Gods were in. “Alise has pretty good aim.”
VOOMPH! VOOMPH! VOOMPH!
More S.H.I.E.L.D. and X-Force soldiers arrived, along with those A.R.M.O.R. Agents that had been given to Rage and Fire Mage as back-up. Amiri recognized some of them, but they didn’t have time for pleasantries.
Amiri sheathed his blades and grabbed Josiah’s arm. “I doubt Alise’s attack has done any real damage. They have been holding back.”
At that moment, the ground rumbled underneath all of them and Fire Mage said, “Guess it was true, then.”
Josiah’s eyebrow perked up. “Holding something back?”
“Nothing I thought important. Some eggheads predicated that the White Gods would need to recharge their batteries first before being at full strength,” Fire Mage said as she looked back at Amiri. “Probably only reason you’re alive.”
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To Be Continued...
Next: In A.R.M.O.R. #11: Who makes a sacrifice for the greater good? And who is touched by the heart of evil?
The Armies of the White Gods
The Vilelyn of Awjalu- They are the loyal soldiers of Awjalu literally forged from the hate in the god’s heart. They carry forth his will with venomous mouths and sharp swords.
The Ladies of the Rotting Hand- These women serve Deyunja loyalty. Once a peaceful sect of priestesses, they earned Deyunja’s wrath for spurning his advances. He cursed them to be his dark companions for all eternity.
The Grimeak of the Vanished Valley- The Grimeak are dark, animalistic creations born from the imagination of a rabid worshipper of Multzeta and offered up as a gift to the god.
The Forest Dancers- Tabir’s secret magicians who are the gardeners of the White Forest. Their magic nurtures and maintains the fragile divine ecosystem that Tabir has created.
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