A.R.M.O.R. #1

Planetary Strike Pt. 1

Law #1- The Non-Interference Law

Clause 1: The M.D.A. (Multidimensional Alliance) will not interfere in N.D.A.'s (Non-Dimensional Activities) unless those N.D.A's pose a direct threat to the agenda of The M.D.A. A council of Directors putting it to a majority vote will determine this exception.

Clause 2: N.D.A. interference is allowed when first encountering a world to prompt that world into M.D.A. membership. The Lead Director encountering that world will determine the stopping point of that interference.

Clause 3: The Lead Director can only be overridden by a 3/4s vote of 200 randomly chosen Directors.

THE BLEED (The Mukuru- The Center Chamber)

An elderly Battlestar waved his hand over a large square red button on the floating computer screen in front of him and a resounding blare went through the giant, egg-shaped chamber. "This Director's meeting is being called to order."

The chamber was large enough to fit two thousand and every floating chair was filled. There were far more than two thousand Directors, but trying to fit all one hundred thousand into one meeting would have been insanity. Instead, every meeting would randomly chose two thousand to meet and any decisions issued would be disseminated to the other directors.

The chairs were lined vertically up and down the walls of the chamber. Each chair sat a Director of the M.D.A., but they were too far away from each other to communicate on a low-key basis. They had to speak through microphones directly to the assembly. The separation of the chairs prevented side chatter and potential tension.

The elderly Battlestar leaned forward into his microphone creating some feedback as his beard rubbed against it. "We are here to discuss the matter of the peril facing Earth-97701 and our security prison. But before we get to that, has there been any news in regards to Fugitive 227?"

In order to address the assembly, a Director had to press the red button on a floating computer screen interface each one of them possessed. Then it was up to the Presidential Director to decide the order of who spoke.

Battlestar looked down at his interface and saw the list of those who had pressed their buttons. "Delegate from Earth-1455 you are free to speak."

Norman Osborn leaned forward and spoke into his microphone. "We have tracked Dawn to Earth-9154 and she is hiding amongst the populace. There is no M.D.A. presence on that world so we would be going in with little to no intelligence. Unfortunately, my team isn't quite equipped to handle a cosmic threat with meager intelligence about the world we're walking into."

Battlestar nodded. "Delegate from Earth-27538 you are free to speak."

Swordsman lifted up his facemask, revealing a young Kurt Marko and said, "Dawn is from my world. We can help in bringing her in."

"Then we'll allow you to lead some of the squads into Earth-9154 to retrieve her. Mission specifics will be worked out later. Now, we turn to the main matter at hand. Earth-97701 is where we currently house all of our dimensional fugitives, as everyone here knows. That universe's Mars has been converted for us into a massive security prison for our use, but that prison now stands in grave danger. We're going to have to decide what to do. I will let the delegate from Earth-97701 open the floor."

A young woman with blue crystalline skin tapped her microphone, not being use to such archaic technology, and spoke. "My Earth has been at war for nearly 25 years against The Magus and his army. Our allies, the Shi'ar and Uncreated, have been defeated and now we stand on the edge of attack. My world will not survive a direct attack from The Magus' army without aid and I think we all know what will happen if my world falls. The prison will be taken and there is no telling what The Magus will decide with those criminals. The M.D.A. could be facing a very serious problem if that was to occur. This alliance needs to help us survive."

Battlestar leaned back in his chair and rubbed his beard. He knew the threat was grave, but more than one voice needed to be heard. "Delegate from Earth-28651 you can go ahead and give us your thoughts."

Lula Kravinoff held no sympathy for the woman and her world. She was a descendant of Parker and deserved none of her pity. "Our resources should not be used to help this world win its war. I suggest we evacuate the prison and spare our valuable people unnecessary harm."

After her, a version of Namora was called forward to speak. "My world has the technology to destroy the Mars planet and still maintain a mostly non-interfering role."

Alise was fuming. They were talking about her world like it was already doomed. Was no one going to stand up for her Earth?

"Delegate from Earth-792 you have the floor."

Captain Britain took a breath and said, "We have to help our fellow Earth regardless of how dangerous it may be. We have no right to simply destroy one of their planets and trying to evacuate the prison will take far too long. How can we even risk allowing one of those fugitives escaping? And what world is willing to become the new prison for these criminals? I know my world certainly isn't. The M.D.A. has a policy of non-interference, but this would very clearly impact us on a number of levels."

Battlestar smiled. "Then let us put it to a vote. Do we directly interfere in this affair or seek some other option?"

Captain Britain was glad that The Presidential Director had allowed him to have the last word. He could only hope his words would be enough to save Alise's world. His A.R.M.O.R. had worked with her world in the past and she was a valuable asset to the M.D.A. To let her world fall without a fight would be foolish. So with hope in his heart, he pushed his red button once to express favor for the first choice Battlestar presented.

After a few minutes of bated breaths and mumbling curses, Battlestar was able to look down at his interface and see that all the votes were in. Looking up, he leaned forward into his microphone and said, "With a vote of 1176 to 824, the M.D.A. will assist Earth-97701 in the defense of their world. You will receive notification in two standard dimensional days if your world is going to be involved. But I can tell you who the Lead Director will be. Earth-792 will lead the charge for us."

ATLANTA, GA Earth-792 (Home)

Portal reached across the table and sat his hand down on top of Gaia's. "It's been such a long time since we actually got a chance to sit down and just enjoy the day."

Gaia looked at him with a teasing smile. "Sentimental? That just doesn't suit you baby."

"That's before you had me all gaga eyes."

The noise of the crowd around them prevented the couple from getting spied on. While The Cheesecake Factory wasn't Atlanta's fanciest restaurant, it was certainly one of its most crowded. There wasn't a day when the place wasn't wall to wall and the young couple loved it. Anonymity was sacred in the circles they traversed with. At A.R.M.O.R. HQ they were celebrities of a sort so their relationship was constantly buzzing around the installation. Gaia didn't mind the attention seeing how she spent much of her life in solitude, but Portal wasn't a fan of it. He had never been shown a great deal of fawning from anyone so he was naturally mistrusting of it.

Their waiter came to the table and brought Gaia a glass of strawberry lemonade. She took a sip of it, pushed it to the side and said, "Sometimes I wish our work didn't have to be secret. SHIELD operates in the open and I don't see why we can't."

Charles buttered up some of the complimentary bread. "People aren't ready to get a full glimpse at the work we do."

"That's bull baby. These people see superheroes fight on a regular, deal with all sorts of hidden societies and even alien invasions. I'm pretty damn sure they could handle what we do."

Portal shrugged. He was trying not to laugh because his girlfriend's cussing never sounded natural. She had picked it up during her brief time with Generation X, but she only used it when trying to stress a point. Cussing's original purpose. So while he loved his girl's enthusiasm, he just wasn't buying it. "And if they could then what? Do we let them travel to other worlds? Could you imagine the immigration nightmare we'd have from that? Let's say there was a utopian world out there and people demanded to be let into it. I don't even want to think what Republicans would try to do if A.R.M.O.R. was made public."

Gaia let out a long sigh and played with her napkin on the table. "I guess you're right. I just hate having to be bottled up. I spent a very long time being trapped somewhere all alone. It would be nice to get some attention every now and then."

Portal reached his hand across the table and put his hand under Gaia's chin. He lifted her head up so they could see eye to eye. "Isn't my attention enough?"

She laughed and pushed his hand away. "Of course it is Charles. You know that. I guess I would like to meet more people is all. I feel like I've missed so much."

That prompted Portal to ask the question he had been holding off months to ask. He just wasn't sure the response he would get, but he had received conflicting reports. "Just how old are you Gaia?"

"Well, I knew that question was coming sooner or later," Gaia said, but she stopped because the waiter returned to the table with their entrees. When he was gone, she started again. "As far as I know I'm over 500 years old, but time was fluid in The Universal Amalgamator. So I don't exactly feel it you know? I just know I missed a lot of time."

"So you were alive in The Middle Ages?"

"Well, I don't think it was called that in my dimension," Gaia said. Portal's face froze and she could tell he was trying to lock his expression. "Yes, I'm not from this dimension either."

Portal was almost starting to wish that he hadn't asked now, but at least she wasn't pissed with him. He always figured the words women and age should never be put into the form of a question. "So why stay here then?"

Gaia let out another long sigh. "I just liked it better here I guess. Sometimes I think about going back home, but I'm not sure. Wouldn't exactly call it a nice place."

Portal read through that. Something horrible was back on her world and it was enough for her to stay here. "What's wrong with it?"

Gaia looked down at her meal and stabbed into her chicken breast with a fork. "I rather not spoil dinner with the details. I'll tell you later."

"Ok," Portal knew he was going to get as much as he was going to get. There was no need to push for more and besides they were supposed to be on a date. He was a royal jackass for bringing it up in the first place. "So what kind of cheesecake you want to get?"

Gaia lit up like the past couple of minutes hadn't even occurred. "Oreo of course! Can't believe you would even ask silly."

Holding up his hands in mock defense, Charles said, "Just wanted to be sure. Figured you might have finally got some sense and decided to like strawberry."

"Whatever. My Oreo rocks and you know it!"

THE MUKURU (Presidential Director's Office)

Captain Britain shifted uncomfortably in his seat in an attempt to get himself relaxed, but no position seemed to bring the feeling he was looking for. "Sir, I'm just not sure that I'm the right Director for this job. Leading F.C.E* operations is one thing but taking on an actual Planetary Combat op is not something I think I can do effectively."

*(F.C.E. -First Contact Expedition)

Battlestar chewed on his pen for a moment and leaned back in his leather seat. "I think you can my friend. My world most certainly could have used a Brian Braddock. At least one of your caliber."

Brian ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. "I appreciate that Director, but I don't think I can do the job."

"I've read your history Brian. You've dealt with many serious threats on your world. You can handle this. Trust yourself and the people who will support you."

He wasn't sure if he was the person that Battlestar made him out to be. Leading an intergalactic alliance was a far cry from battling against Jim Jaspers, but the Director didn't look like he was going to budge either. "Ok. I'll do it. So what am I up against here?"

Battlestar opened up his desk and handed a blue vial to Brian. "The liquid in there is from Alise's world. She says if you drink it you'll have all the necessary information downloaded into your mind. Something to do with Egghead Particles or something to that effect, but she assured me it's perfectly safe."

Brian had worked with Alise enough times in the past to trust her word so he popped open the vial and threw its black contents down his throat. A burning sensation rushed down his throat, but the liquid had no real taste to it. He looked at Battlestar and said, "Maybe it takes a while to kick in."

Right then a rush of images and names pushed their way into Brian's psyche. Details and names that seemed familiar in some places, but completely out there in others. He knew who worked for The Magus and who made up his hierarchy of generals. The people who protected Earth-97701 and their allies were now firmly planted in Braddock's mind. President T'Chaka. The Seven. Steam Soldier and more were all familiar faces to him.

"Director Braddock? Are you alright?" the elderly Battlestar asked from across his desk. His wrinkles seemed more pronounced when he was worried, but considering that he had lived long past his expiration date it was excusable.

Brian put a hand to his head and shook it before taking a long whoosh of breath. "That was a rush! Didn't quite expect it, but I'm fine. So I guess it's time you tell me what A.R.M.O.R. units you're going to give me."

Battlestar smiled and three hundred years worth of wrinkles seemed to fade away. "Now that's more like it."

NEXT ISSUE: Brian briefs his team on the threat that they face on Earth-97701.