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#16
OCT 13 |
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“Planetary Strike” Part Sixteen
Cairo, Egypt
Moonstar felt in paradise amongst this battlefield. As the Horsemen of War, it was her duty and pleasure to take part in whatever battle was near her. The will of Apocalypse demanded such and she took to her duties with tremendous vigor. That drive is what pushed her to find pretty that she alone could destroy. So she ran to a part of the city where her allies were scarce and she would be able to cause the most damage.
She stood now in front of what was once a pristine orphanage painted in reds and browns, but now it barely stood up on its foundation. The Grimeak had taken to rummaging through it looking for whatever citizens they could feast on. Standing outside of the building, War cried out, “Come and find prey with a bit more bite.”
It wasn’t long after the proclamation was made that dozens of the Grimeak crawled out of the building. Their three-pronged feet crushed the earth beneath them leaving footprints wherever they stepped. The creatures’ arms dragged along the ground like dead weight, but War knew that it was anything but. She would have to be careful about engaging these creatures in close quarters. If the arms of clawed feet didn’t rend he flesh then the four wicked tails could. And if nothing else, the creatures black scales looked rough enough to draw blood.
Still, War felt exhilaration surge through her as the creatures gathered in front of the orphanage by the dozens. She knew that this wasn’t all the Grimeak in the city, but the Horsemen preferred to imagine that this was it, her against the whole of a White God’s army. It was truly a battle the Master would have approved of, if only he could have been here to pay witness to the glory of it. Yes, that was the greatest tragedy in all of this. Apocalypse deserved to play a hand in the grand battle for Earth’s fate.
Swords of pure mental energy formed in war’s hands. The weapons shimmered pink and were weightless in the hands of the Horsemen. When she first learned the art of manipulating her abilities into manifesting malleable mental energy, the things she created only hurt individuals on an astral level. Upon being taken under her master’s wing, she learned how to harm on the physical level as well. And her illusions, with enough concentration…stopped being illusions altogether.
And so she concentrated and as she did so a pack of wild wolves appeared behind her. They were six in number and more akin to cows in size than wolves. The creatures were the stuff of nightmares and they were going to be war’s soldiers.
Preparing for the coming blood lust, Moonstar crouched low and said, “For Apocalypse I give this sacrifice.”
And they charged.
Uranus Orbit
The explosion of Selene’s ship crashing into the Magus’ was indeed a brilliant one and rocked the entire battlefield. Almost as much as the large explosion on Uranus’ surface. Morg saw the explosion and knew that it would not be enough to destroy the Magus. He broke away from his fellow Heralds despite their protests and made his way to the explosion. With his body spanning axe in hand, Morg searched through the fiery wreckage of the collided ships like a stalking tiger.
But today would not be his day to be the predator. A purple hand clenched itself around Morg’s neck and its fingers grew to achieve a full grip. The herald felt a tremendous cold to match the plains of Devlin XXI traveling through his body. He knew who had ambushed him, and despite the inner chill managed to utter it. “Magus.”
“Were you looking for me, Morg? How incredibly foolish to do so alone,” the Magus said as he prepared to crush the Herald’s neck. He had grown sick of all the interference in this battle. If not for the Heralds and the other resources called upon by Earth, the Sol System would already be his. He would make Morg the first example of his wrath.
“Hardly alone,” Dark Angel said as her attack group came up on the Magus’ left side and she unleashed a blast of white cosmic energy at him. The Human Blizzard added in his own power as two powerful streams of cooling might erupted from his palms.
The two attacks struck the Magus in the face and sent him reeling away from Morg. Half of his face had been frozen solid and all of his hair had been blown away by the assault. He threw out an arm at his assailants and wildly sent out a wave of bubbly black cosmic force. Morg flew in front of Dark Angel and the Human Blizzard, deflecting the attack with his axe.
With an arrogant, malicious grin, Morg said, “Come now, Magus. Surely, you have more to offer than that.”
Three versions of Shalla-Bal flew over the Magus and coated the tyrant in a green gas that quickly turned acidic. The dictator’s flesh was turned to goop and his bones were melted to slush, but everyone knew better than to think he was dead. Hurt, yes, but hardly dead. Before the gas had completely dissipated The Magus had reformed himself. His wounds appeared to be gone, but he looked tired.
“I have never encountered so many who wanted an early grave,” the Magus said.
A version of Valkyrie, garbed in red and black, stood at Dark Angel’s side. In her hand was a black hammer with the face of Odin engraved in it. “You will be handing out death to no one else fiend. Have at thee!”
The Garm-Cerebro’s Ship
Gaia was in the company of three demi-gods as they fought off the hard-light constructs of Cerebro in the Garm’s central coolant system. There was Agasa, son of Hera. Then came Shigei, son of the Hawaiian war god Ku and Chival, son of Ptah. They were Gaia’s companions in battle and had so far done all in their power to keep her out of harm’s way. The protection was slightly nerve wracking for the young woman as she was positive she was more powerful than all of them.
Still, it was interesting to watch the demi-gods in combat. They were like Fluid dancers as they cut through the constructs of mutants from the 20th and early 21st century. Gaia’s time and probably the three men’s time as well, but they were nearly two centuries ahead here on Earth-97701. Of course there were minor differences here and there. Her world had no versions of Agasa, Shigei or Chival. Three more hunks was something her world could probably handle doing without, but Gaia wouldn’t mind a few more additions.
Agasa had olive skin and silky black hair that stretched down to his back. He wielded a blue diamond sword that matched the dragon bangles wrapped around his wrist. Along the back of his black tunic, the tip of a blue dragon tattoo poked out into his neck. His eyes were amber and had a piercing quality that screamed intensity, but his personality was anything but.
Shigei’s short spiky, blonde hair gave off a playful quality and it managed to fit in well with his brown skin. He had a golden baton blade in each hand that he whirled and cut with expertise. The demi-god’s large black boots were trimmed in gold as well as his translucent white tunic. The man’s rippled chest clung tightly to the thin fabric as he bobbed and weaved through Cerebro’s creations. It was like watching a frantically beautiful child at a playground.
Chival had a brick red complexion and jet black hair that men twice his age would kill to have, but his eyes were completely black without pupils and his lips looked like they had been filled with ink. It was strikingly odd appearance but he still managed to be attractive. There was a hunger behind those eyes that made a woman wonder exactly what it was that he craved for.
Chival’s axe clashed with the staff of a construct of Callisto. His weapon cleaved the staff in half and he cut into her cranium. The construct dissipated in a trickling shower of light. He quickly dodged the blast of Havok construct and slashed it across the throat. “They’re so life-like. It’s hard of them of them as fake.
“I’m sure Cerebro is counting on that,” Gaia said as reality-altering, rainbow colored waves of energy emanated outwards from her hands. They made contact with a group of constructs and turned them all to stone. She had learned more control over her powers since joining A.R.M.O.R. but it was nowhere near to the point where she knew what she could be. At her fingertips were the abilities to alter any and everything she wanted, but it was all about control. If she exerted herself too hard, she had no control over what could happen. It was a frustrating prospect for the young woman.
Shigei stabbed one of his blades into the stomach of a Shadowcat construct. “Ahh, well, I never really cared for the X-Men anyway!”
“Never got the chance to know them,” Gaia said she blew a hole into the chest of a Mimic construct. She turned to Shigei and smiled. “So I’m not attached.”
“Trying to make me fall in love?” Shigei playfully asked with wink as he dodged the psi-blade of Psylocke construct. The blade rushed by the demi-god’s face and he thought it might have been hot, but there was no temperature to be felt. He grabbed the construct’s wrist and slung her into the path of Gaia, who vaporized her with a single blast.
“Nice little toss there,” Gaia said as she caused the ground to rise up around three other constructs and swallow them whole. They had been teleported to parts unknown and truthfully Gaia was none too concerned where it was. These creatures weren’t real and she wasn’t going to give them the time of day.
Agasa rolled in front of Gaia and blocked the blast of a Cyclops construct with his sword. Gaia shook her head because she could have easily dispelled the attack. Just to prove her point, she blew a kiss at the Cyclops construct and watched it explode into a bunch of orange butterflies. She patted the demi-god on the shoulder and said, “See? Not so helpless.”
“Maybe not, but I won’t let you get hurt if I can help it.”
«Humanoid subjects, surrender now or force me to destroy you. »
The A.R.M.O.R. agents turned to see that they were facing Magus’ general, Cerebro. He stood at nearly seven feet and was as wide as three men. Blinking white nodes of varying sizes covered the robot’s brown and beige metal plates. A blank face with two singular white eyes was staring at the group of four. «Surrender now. »
Chival swung his axe over his shoulder. “Fat chance.”
Shigei joined the chorus. “Come over and make us.”
Gaia stepped in front of the three men and telekinetically ripped the robot to pieces. Each piece she turned into bunny and they scurried out of the room. Turning back to the demi-gods she shrugged. “Sorry to make that anti-climatic.”
Shigei laughed. “Works for me. Better than what Ant-Girl could pull off.”
Chival playfully shivered. “Just don’t let her hear you say that.”
The Lensherr Mansion
Switzerland
Governor Lorien Lensherr knew that the battle for Earth was well underway. He thought about what fate would befall those he had known as he sat alone at his dinner table. As he pressed his wine glass to his lips he heard the slightest creak of wood and said, “I knew you would eventually find your way here.
President T’Chaka stepped out of the shadows in the traditional Panther uniform of a Wakandan soldier. In his arms, he was carrying a double-barreled Wakanda energy rifle. Each barrel was large enough to slide a fist in. “You knew it was going to come to shit. Too many deaths are on your head.”
T’Chaka let loose a shot from the rifle, but Lensherr pushed himself away from his table just in time and threw himself to the floor. The blast knocked away a large chunk of the table and sent hundreds of splinters into the air. T’Chaka quickly let loose another round at Lensherr towards the floor, but by then the mutant governor had erected a magnetic field around himself. He had inherited a lesser form of his greatest ancestor’s power.
Not relenting, T’Chaka let loose round after round on Lorien’s field until was too much for the Governor and his shield failed him. Exhausted, he bowed his head and waited for the killing blow from T’Chaka but it didn’t come. Looking up, the Governor saw that T’Chaka was surrounded by at least forty men and trying to blast them away one by one.
Each man was garbed from head to toe in black with only the lower halves of their faces visible. On their backs were white skulls and green emerald necklaces hung from all of their necks. Lensherr immediately recognized who they were and knew that his allies had not forgotten him. They were the Coven and represented the best of his lover, Selene’s, servants. Completely devoted to her, they would protect all that was precious to her.
T’Chaka rolled out of the crowd of Coven men surrounding him and began letting loose blast after blast until his gun was finally depleted of energy. He would have to give it time to recharge. The President tossed the weapon on what remained of Lorien’s dinner table and two swords extended from his wrists. “Can’t fight your own battles, Governor?”
Lensherr laughed and pushed his white hair out of his face. “Magus does not forget his friends!”
The Coven members blew out smoke from their mouths and from each cloud they crated they pulled forth a scimitar. Even the ones that T’Chaka had blasted had recovered and were equipped with a weapon. T’Chaka had taken he time to cunt hem and knew that he was facing fifty-six men; fifty-seven if you counted Lorien, but the President barely felt the need to include that coward.
Lorien saw the odds that stood against T’Chaka and said, “Your arrogance has found you your doom, Mr. President.”
T’Chaka looked up briefly at the roof and said, “I wanted this to be a battle of honor, Governor, but did you think for one moment I would be foolish enough to come here on my own?”
The roof of Lorien’s mansion exploded and dozens of S.W.OR.D. agents rappelled down from swirling teleportation portals. Vulcan had allowed T’Chaka his moment of boldness in front of the others on the Pantheon, but ere was no way he was going to allow Earth’s leader to step into a hostile situation alone.
A S.W.O.R.D. agent named Doora landed behind President Stark. Doora had been a Kree defector who was genetically manipulated with a number of local Kree predatory species. So he had looks that were quite fearsome and his voice was raspy. “Are you all right, Mr. President?”
“Fine, Dora. Just cake care of the riff raff.”
“Yes sir.”
T’Chaka set his sights on the Governor and charged.
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To Be Continued...
Next: In A.R.M.O.R. #17: T’Chaka and Lorien have their duel! And Cairo continues to be enthralled in war.
A Look into the Life of Mindbender Pt. 2
Plain Starsmore loved his sister greatly and hated when she left, but he came to wish that she had never returned. When she came back she was part of Rogue’s newly formed Brotherhood of Mutants. Xavier didn’t feel that Palin was ready for combat operations, but Palin demanded he be let into the New X-Men to confront her. Xavier knew that he wasn’t going to be able to stop the teenager form coming into conflict with his sister so he made him part of the team.
The New X-Men, along with the Silver and Blue Squad, confronted the Brotherhood of Mutants in Berlin. It was a pitched battle that resulted in a few deaths on more than both sides. Palin soon found himself in a heated psychic battle with his sister that resulted in her death and him absorbing her psionic abilities. Palin found himself back at square one again, but this time he turned to his father instead of Xavier.
What Palin didn’t know was that Tara’s corpse had found its way to the home of Miss Sinister on Mount Wundagore…
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