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Marvel 2000 Presents
Excalibur Vol.2 #20
Siege of Magic
Part 1
Battlefield Diplomacy
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Avalon, United States
"What's the situation?"
Two rows of soldiers poured past Joey Chapman, out of Excalibur's based and into their recent acquisition, the multi-ton flying warship dubbed 'The Resolute'. Chapman followed them inside at a brisk pace while his LMD assistant Delphi briefed him on the threat he and his team faced.
"Two weeks ago, the government of Mongolia lost communications with a small town on the border of the Gobi Desert. It took them about a week to notice. When they sent several teams of people to investigate, no one reported back. Finally, they asked China to send in a team," Delphi removed several photos from the file and handed them to Chapman, "they weren't anymore successful. Finally, China resorted to satellite. As you can see, the result was… unexpected."
Chapman looked at the photos and then back to his assistant, "They programmed you for understatement. Is Excalibur assembled?"
"Everyone but Hellios, sir," Delphi answered, "he was…active last night. I have our Italian contingent searching for him as we speak."
"He's been nothing but an irresponsible ass since he got his memories back," groused Chapman. By now the two had reached the bridge.
"That may be sir, but he's also the most powerful member of Excalibur. His presence on the team is responsible for ten percent of our funding."
"Please, don't remind me," Chapman took his chair on the bridge and sighed heavily. The first test for his new team was now underway and if he had to be honest, he wasn't looking forward to it. Chapman remaining director of the Excalibur program would hinge on their performance, and he wasn't certain that they would perform to expectations.
Plus, of course, the fate of the world might depend on them.
But life was what happened when you had other things planned, as Chapman's dad might say. He motioned for the crew to begin take off, took his seat and girded himself for the conflict to come.
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Silverclaw fidgeted in her seat. Her nerves were always a little jangly before a battle, and riding in a virtually untested, multi-ton flying battleship did nothing to sooth her.
So instead of dwelling on the possibly dangerous flight and likely upcoming battle, Silverclaw turned her attention to one of the newer members of Excalibur, the African Warrior known as Kamau. He was sitting across from her, his eyes closed though his body was like coiled steel, ready to move at a moment's notice. Unlike other members of Excalibur, Kamau wasn't sporting a costume per say.
He wore brown and green camouflage pants, a chain around his left hand, a necklace of various religious icons, including both a cross and Star of David, and little else. He was barefoot, no vest, but his body was painted with white chalk. His head was painted so that it resembled a skull, while he had the picture of a lion painted over his heart while his right arm was painted so that it looked as if an anaconda had encircled it.
Silverclaw marveled at the intricate designs, the attention to detail. But she did a double take when she saw the designs suddenly move.
"It is a custom of my people to paint themselves before engaging in ritual combat," Kamau explained, his eyes still closed, "I use my powers to apply the chalk. I have also found it intimidates my enemies."
"Oh, that's cool," answered Silverclaw, trying to play off the fact that she'd been caught staring at a teammate. A teammate build like a brick house and half naked, but still…, "my dad gave me my costume, said my mom, a goddess created it."
"Interesting," Kamau said dispassionately.
"Yeah…" Silverclaw cleared her throat, and then looked around. Union Jack was examining his gun, Cybermancer was running a system's check, while Sabra, Darkstar and Scarlet Scarab just milled about.
"Hey, where's that Commando guy?"
"He's…prepping something for the mission," answered Union Jack. Silverclaw blinked, and wondered if she'd imagined the disbelief in Jack's voice.
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Gobi Desert, Mongolia
"We're descending now, sir," reported the helmsman of The Resolute, "scanners indicate hostiles on site. Bringing up on the monitor now."
A screen flickered to life in front of Chapman, displaying a scene that might have stumped lesser men. But Joey Chapman had seen a lot in his time as Union Jack. Werewolves that carried automatic weapons, vampires that walked in the sun and foul mouthed pixies. So what he saw on the monitor didn't phase him.
Much.
Laid out on the desert before The Resolute was the oddest collection of creatures Chapman had ever seen. In tight, disciplined groups were centaurs, giant cyclops, elves and mythological creatures of every shape and size. Not a single one carried a modern weapon, but none of them were any less threatening because of it.
"It's like someone militarized a damn Harry Potter book," observed Chapman.
"Orders sir?"
"Send out a drone. Imprint a hologram of myself, interface it with the main screen, and lets see what that gets us."
Chapman waited patiently as his men followed his orders, and watched expectantly as the drone was launched. Costing some three mission dollars, the devise was the size of a soccer ball. With an anti-gravity devise and holographic projector, it made a passable diplomat when the situation demanded more an exceptional amount of caution. Its outward appearance was that of a silver orb, giving it a sleek, peaceful appearance. With the touch of a button, it was released from a missile chamber and flew towards the gathered horde slowly, peacefully.
One minute later, Chapman was using his hand to shield his eyes from the light produced by the probe's sudden and violent destruction.
"Seems like they're spoiling for a fight," sighed Chapman, "fair be it from us to be rude to these new comers. Patch me through to Excalibur's ready room. We need a better plan than just rushing them like a bunch of football hooligans."
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Three minutes and one hastily explained plan later
"…understand?" Chapman asked.
"Understood, Director," Union Jack affirmed with an air of annoyance, "I've prepared actual landing zones, not just read about them in books."
"Good," A panel on the far end of the room slid open, and Excalibur found themselves blasted in the face with fresh air, "now get to it."
Kamau didn't bother to wait for his teammates as he ran towards the open hatch and leapt into gravity's embrace. The African Warrior hit the desert floor at terminal velocity with all the grace of a meteor. He was on his feet in seconds, and reached out with his powers.
To both his left and right, six mounds of earth rose from the ground. Twelve feet high, a vertical face on the front and an easy slope on the rear, they were excellent gunnery positions for Excalibur's regular forces.
With that accomplished, Kamau looked towards the enemy. Dwarves, centaurs and giants were the least of the army. Behind them lay giant Cyclops, winged gargoyles and demons with snarling, gnashing teeth and a hunger for blood that radiated so strongly it was almost physical.
Kamau willed his diamond blades into his hands in a reverse grip, and crouched down as he prepared to strike. He took one cleansing breath, and then willed a column of stone to shoot up from under his feet, catapulting him high into the air.
The enemy army saw him coming, and some of the quicker soldiers raised their spears in anticipation of Kamau's return to earth. More than a dozen elves let fly their arrows with laser accuracy at the young mutant.
Spears and arrows shattered against his rock hard skin, and as soon as Kamau touched earth again, he swept outwards with his diamond blades. With edges barely twelve molecules wide and powered by muscles reinforced with solid rock, they tore through six elves with glistening chainmail armor as if they weren't even there.
Kamau summoned a cloud of dust and glass around his body and then willed it outwards with the force of a hurricane. Dwarves, elves and other soldiers screamed as tiny particles of sand and glass tore at their flesh and eyes, rendering them blind, helpless.
His foes now blind, Kamau unraveled the chain on his left wrist and began to spin it with the speed of a helicopter blade. He curved his swing downwards, and sent it tearing through three centaur archer without stopping.
The battle field was beginning to cloud with dust, but with his connection to the earth, that barely impaired Kamau's ability to sense the battlefield. The footfalls of his enemies sent ripples of vibrations that his powers carried to him instinctively, like sonar. As long as they stood on solid ground, no one could surprise him.
So when he felt the earth beginning to rumble beneath his feet, Kamau didn't need to see the size of the shadow that fell across him to know exactly what was approaching.
The captain of the 31st division was a three stories tall Cyclops by the name of Alek Win'ters of Clan Win'ters. He earned his commission through a combination of strength of mind, body and character. His height gave him an unparallel view of the battlefield, his strength enabled him to fight for his men and his willingness to die for them made them willing to fight for him. And what he saw in Kamau was a dangerous killing machine that his men couldn't hope to stop. With war club in hand, the Captain moved to save his people.
Kamau sensed the giant coming but gave no sign of it, and continued his rampage as the behemoth stomped closer and closer. Within seconds, the giant was within range.
Kamau willed his chain to stop instantly, where it hovered in midair for a second before it was sent flying towards his giant enemy's singular eye. It plowed through the organ, killing the captain instantly, and didn't stop until it reached grey matter. The end of the chain then morphed into a hook and latched onto the outlining of the eye socket.
Pulling with all his impressive strength, Kamau brought the captain tumbling down on seven of his own men.
The ground ran red around Kamau now, but the mutant warrior barely paused to notice. He was in his element now, and would not, could not stop until all who stood against him were dead.
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"That's a man who knows his business," stated Union Jack as he hopped off Darkstar's platform, "alright team, here's the plan. Darkstar, Cybermancer, I want you two cutting a path through those blighters. Hit and run across the front lines. We need to buy Excalibur's regular forces time to set up."
"Understood," replied the two.
"Sabra, would you be a dear and start us off?"
Sabra turned towards and clapped her hands together with all her impressive strength. The rush of air pushed the first wave back. Scarlet Scarab brought up his hands and unleashed a tsunami of crimson energy that pushed back the second wave.
Union Jack pulled out his pistol, activated his energy dagger and charged into the breach, followed quickly by his teammates.
Cybermancer looked over her shoulder and saw a half dozen hover-platforms descending with over a dozen men on each, all armed to the teeth. She then primed her gauntlets and began blasting away any threat that dared approach alongside Darkstar. Excalibur's regular forces might be the key to containing this invasion, but only if they were given a chance to set up a perimeter. And the only way to do that was to hold back an entire army.
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Aboard The Resolute
Chapman watched the action unfold, and tapped his foot impatiently as a team of technicians scurried about.
"Well?" demanded Chapman for the fifth time, "What in the hell is taking so long? We need to get them out there, now!"
"We're trying sir," answered one of the technicians, "but the HERMES system requires an enormous amount of power, and we haven't been able to install another generator for it yet without disrupting our anti-gravity engines. Just another…there!"
"Finally," Chapman sighed. He activated the ship's comms. system, "attention stealth squad, our teleporter problems have been fixed. Prepare for a quick trip, and bring up back something nice!"
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Ten Minutes later
Major Lien Bre'ak stepped into General Mc'lean tent. The aged Elven General at the center of the make shift war-room like a statue stood at the head of the table. Maps and troop deployments were scattered across the table in a semi organized fashion, each one watched by a division commander. General Mc'lean simply nodded in acknowledgement, and the Major gave his battlefield report.
"Things on the battlefield are odd, to say the least," began the Major, "Preliminary reports state that our forces have met resistance from a small militia supported by several augmented soldiers. At the moment, we can only confirm that two of them were using magic, though have received reports that the first soldier fielded was a skeletal avatar of death. I've dispatched a special agent to deal with it."
"Good. Do we have any intelligent on that floating steel structure they came out of? What are its abilities, anything of the like?"
"No sir. We have people scrying the craft now. We've managed to penetrate it with no difficulty, but haven't been able to make sense of what we've seen. They appear to be using magic solely through channels."
"Interesting," General Mc'lean rubbed his chin, processing the information, "send an order through the ranks. Capture the enemy at all costs, no fatalities, no matter what. We engineered this skirmish to take their measure. But we can't do that if we don't understand how their magic works. We need captives to interrogate, hard information!"
"I understa…" Major Lien stiffened in mid sentence, and had just enough time to glance down at the blade that was stick out of his chest, just next to his second heart. By then though, his blood was swimming with poison that attacked all his vital organs at once.
"Amazing coincidence," Shiva removed her blade from her victim, allowing him to fall, "that's just what we're here for too."
General Mc'lean cursed the fates as he saw four oddly attired individuals step into his tent. It wasn't just that they'd found his command post, it was that they were able to approach it so casually. He had no doubt that the guards posted outside were dead, but despite his keen elven senses, he hadn't sensed a thing.
"I'm afraid I have to ask everyone to surrender immediately, I'm going to have to insist you come with us," stated Junta. He didn't expect his offer to be accepted, but it never hurt to open a deal strong, "I can promise that you will not be harmed and be accorded all respect due men of your stations."
Everyone gathered in the tent looked to their General for guidance and when Junta saw that, he smiled. He thumbed a switch on his belt, and almost instantly dozens of explosions could be heard.
"Persona, get going. Guishen, Shiva, do your thing."
Persona Grata shifted her form into a perfect replica of the General and then stepped outside, immediately barking orders. They were vaguely worded orders that might have confused the soldiers that knew the General well, but Persona Grata carried herself with authority and in an emergency like this, no one would dare question a superior.
Meanwhile, inside the tent, Guishen went left while Shiva went right. Guishen's foes looked to be human, but were armed with medieval weapons, chainmail and everything else one might expect from a society that hadn't moved past the Dark Ages. Guishen grabbed the man by the wrist before he could remove his sword from its sheath with one hand and with the other, grabbed the man by his hair and slammed him face first into the table. The second and third man on his path to General Mc'lean were dispatched with mechanical efficiency and rendered unconscious without any unnecessary pain.
In contrast, when Shiva was done, the side of the tent closest to her battle was covered in blood. The poison mistress stood atop the corpses proud as she turned her gaze to the General.
"Peacefully, or in pieces?"
General Mc'lean simply growled as he unleashed a bolt of emerald energy that would have taken Shiva's head off if she hadn't instantly transformed into mist.
"Oh hell!" Junta kicked the table into the General, and began madly thinking of a plan that would allow them to capture the General (they needed the information in his brain like a plant needed water) when he saw Guishen leveling his pistol out of the corner of his eye.
"Guishen, wait!" Junta called out, ten seconds too late. Guishen pulled the trigger and Junta felt his stomach drop as the General went down.
"Damn it Guishen, we needed him alive!" Danny snapped, "We're being attacked by the cast of Dungeons and Dragons and we need to know why!"
"He is not dead, I merely grazed him," Guishen reported as he holstered his weapon, "I took the liberty of scanning the men that I downed. I am afraid that the General won't be able to give us too much information. He is not popular with the ruling class."
"He can broaden our horizons if nothing else," Junta replied as he took a silent breath of relief. He reminded himself that Guishen was once an internal security agent of China and they tolerated little less than perfection.
"We need to leave immediately," Guishen removed some plastic ties from his belt and went about binding the General's arms behind his back, "Persona Grata will not be able to keep them away from this tent much longer."
"Should we care?" Shiva materialized atop the table, sitting lotus style, "it's not as if she can keep her charade up forever."
"I'm surprised you care," said Junta.
"Of course I do. She's my kill."
"Hmm. Chapman," Danny spoke into his communicator, "we're ready for extraction. Make like Scotty."
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The Resolute
Chapman gritted his teeth, and wished to God that he was standing next to Junta at the moment instead of simply relaying orders, "I'm afraid that isn't possible, Junta. The HERMES teleporter needs additional time to recharge. Can you go to ground for fifteen minutes?"
"Sure. Would you like me to deliver the moon while you're at it?"
"A simple no would have been enough," Chapman sighed, "You have flares, correct? Wait three minutes and then signal. I'll send in Darkstar for pickup and we'll go from there. Good luck."
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"Good God, three minutes in hot enemy territory?" Junta gritted his teeth, "that man has been out of the field way too long."
Naturally, that's when another soldier walked into the command tent, eager to receive his orders, "Commander Krosp of the Elite 4th Division report…"
The man/cat hybrid barely had time to gasp as he saw Shiva dive for him, a bundi dagger in each hand.
Shiva hit the man with all her weight, wrapped her legs around his waist and held tight. She moved quickly, and before her foe realized he was under attack, Shiva had furiously driven each bundi dagger into his neck half a dozen times.
Commander Krosp stumbled and then fell backwards, dead. Shiva stood up, covered in the man's blood and then with a glance found that she was surrounded by four of his compatriots. One man had a pair of flaming swords, the second man was a cross between a bull and a human with a total of three fingers on each hand, a green skinned woman who held tight to a metal staff with a jeweled top and lastly, an armored dwarf who carried two mean looking axes.
"Well?" asked Shiva, well aware of how she was covered in the blood of their friend.
The man armed with the flaming swords moved first. Shiva sidestepped the first slash and slashed the man's wrist lengthwise with a backwards slice barely deeper than a paper-cut.
She pushed herself to the side and spun. Leaping up at the last second, she shoved one dagger into the mouth of the man-ox. The warrior bull moved with a surprising swiftness as he lunged for Shiva, but only grabbed air.
Shiva rematerialized in front of the green skinned woman and the dwarf with a throwing star in each hand. She swept her hand outwards, letting them fly. One nicked the thigh of the jade woman and the second just scratched the cheek of the war dwarf.
"Goodbye," smiled Shiva.
"If you think such meager wounds will stop elite warriors as ourselves…"
Shiva licked her blades as she grinned, "Some people need to disembowel to kill, or the perfect shot. Me, I just need a little cut, a scratch."
The man with the flaming swords passed out first, followed by the dwarf. Shiva watched intently, always fascinated by the death throes of her victims. To her surprise, the man-bull creature reached out to the jade skinned woman and called out her name before they expired. Shiva felt a shudder run down her spine as she realized that they might have been lovers.
"Lets go!" Danny ordered, the General slung over his back.
The three of them ran parallel to the invader's camp. Stealth wasn't possible and running further away decreased the chances of the HERMES teleporter being able to pick them up. The best they could hope for now was that everyone no one noticed them long enough to score an evac.
"They have the General!" someone yelled.
Junta sighed, and stopped in his tracks. A running battle wasn't a battle that he wanted to fight.
Guishen saw horsemen approaching, and unholstered his dual pistols. With inhuman accuracy, he let loose a dozen shots only inches from the horse's hooves. The animals stopped as quickly as nature would allow, and began to buck wildly as they began to understand the danger of their master's actions.
At his back, Shiva was slicing arrows out of the air with her hook swords with so much ease they might have well been paper airplanes.
Junta glanced over his shoulder, and saw a half dozen soldiers, eight feet in height, green skinned with pointy teeth and nasty looking clubs running towards them.
He didn't bother to warn his two teammates, they were already busy. Concentrating, he focused a small bundle of the anti-gravity particles that saturated his body into his bo-staff and swung it towards the ground. The wave of anti-gravity particles caused a cloud of dust to shoot towards the soldiers, who grabbed their face as sand particles became wedged in their eyes.
"Damn it, Chapman, hurry up with that extraction!"
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Sabra, hero of Israel and trained Mossad agent, learned a long time ago to never meet a situation with disbelief no matter how outrageous it appeared. Her training and instincts told her to both fight and observe, and that's exactly what she did.
So when she knocked aside a humanoid bull, she didn't blink. When three troll like creatures ran towards her, Sabra treated them like any other foe, raising her wrist launchers and sending a dozen paralyzing needles careening at their face.
When a warrior broke his sword over Sabra's shoulder, she caught the offending blade in midair, swung the broken blade backwards and rammed it through her attacker's throat without a second thought.
Sabra set her needle launchers to automatic , noted the position of her allies and began firing. The needle launchers on her wrist were charged with a special energy that paralyzed the human nervous system and though the army that surrounded her was far from human, Sabra hoped that it would still have some effect.
And to her relief, it did. The legions of warriors that had been close to smothering her scrambled backwards, desperate to either escape the effects of the needles, or what they feared they might be.
Sabra glanced at her teammates, and accessed the situation. The ground was littered with dozens of fallen warriors, creatures of all shapes and sizes laying unconscious or worse on the ground. Union Jack, Silverclaw, Scarlet Scarab formed a small circle with air support from Cybermancer and Darkstar.
Though they looked winded, Sabra could see that they were still battle worthy. Unfortunately, from what she could see, so were the legions surrounding them.
"We can't keep this up forever," stated Sabra.
"We won't have to," answered Union Jack, who then yelled, "Excalibur, airborne!"
Sabra heard a rumbling, and instinctively grabbed Union Jack, carrying him into the air with her.
Sabra and Union Jack watched as a modified M1 Abrams tank barreled through the enemy ranks like a bull through fine china.
Hell, modified didn't begin to describe the vehicle in Union Jack's mind. Each end carried its own rocket launcher. The front was adorned with six blades of no ordinary steel that sliced through anyone who had the misfortune not to move out of the way. And riding a lot of the thing was Excalibur's newest American addition to the team, Commando.
"Our American friend is certainly well equipped for a frontal assault," remarked Sabra.
Union Jack rolled his eyes, "Set me down on the tank and then backup Scarab. We need them occupied as long as possible. But call for an extraction if you get pinned down or can't keep fighting. Our regular forces should have them contained by then."
"Understood," Sabra matched speed with the tank, set the British hero down and then set off to find Scarlet Scarab.
Out of the corner of his eye, Union Jack saw Darkstar peel away from the battle and head deeper into the enemy camp. Rock fought the urge to radio her and demand to know what she thought she was doing, but he reminded himself that she was an experienced hero and wouldn't have broken formation without just cause.
"Aim for the head," remarked Commando, "they don't seem to like it."
"Imagine that," remarked Union Jack.
A man in gleaming silver armor leapt over the blades of the tank of if they were a simple bump and landed on the front. With a sword on one hand, he stalked towards Commando.
"Surrender, I am enchanted with invincibility against all blades!"
"Thanks for the warning," Commando leveled his customized Desert Eagle at the man and put a single bullet between his enemy's eyes, "I almost feel guilty when it's this easy."
"Well, it appears that we have some volunteers to deal with your issues," stated Union Jack, "we have big incoming at three, five and eight o clock."
Commando looked around, and saw the enemies 'Jack was referring to. Three giant Cyclops, twelve feet tall, four feet across, built of solid muscle and necks so thick that it was almost impossible to see where the neck began and the shoulders ended.
"Pay attention, Rock. You're about to see my slingshot."
Commando turned his head towards each enemy, tapped the side of his helmet and then smiled. Union Jack didn't need an owner's manual to know that Commando kept a small, high powered aiming laser in his helmet, similar to how Special Forces soldiers aimed airstrikes.
The rear rocket launchers let fly three missiles and completely obliterated the three monsters. Rock was both surprised and disturbed to learn that the missiles carried a dual payload of napalm and explosives.
"Hang on," Commando said in a tone that meant it wasn't a mere idle suggestion. Union Jack hooked his arm around a handlebar on the top of the tank and then nodded to Commando.
"Maneuver strafe F one. No friendlies," Commando spoke into his collar.
Two powerful chain guns emerged from the front of the tank, and let loose a hail of bullets that literally cut anyone standing in front of them in two.
"Laser guided missiles, anti-gravity units to increase speed, depleted uranium bullets," Union Jack listed off the technical observations as a way to settle his nerves, "what don't you have on this thing?"
"You'd be surprised," Commando answered. The tank stopped spinning, and then rolled forward with speed impossible for any other rolling weapon of mass destruction. Dozens of enemy soldiers were crushed underneath or smashed aside. While the tank weighed less than it had any right to, its mass was easily double that of a normal tank, "remove the room needed for a crew and you can add almost anything."
"…good to know."
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"Darkstar, this is Chapman. I need you to pick up Junta's squad. They have a prisoner we need."
"Understood," answered the Russian mutant. Almost immediately, Darkstar darted over the battlefield like a bullet, trying to pay attention to both the homing devise installed in the wrist of her costume, and to the battle raging both below and in front of her. Despite all the carnage that was being unleashed, Laynia was fascinated by how many different creatures of myth just seem so casually laid out before her.
"Surrender, or be destroyed!"
Like, say, the four dragons arrayed before her.
As creatures of myth went, the dragons didn't exactly live up to expectation. They were large things true, were only twice as thick as the average house, the length of their bodies was at least a dozen yards long and their wings stretched out some eighteen year in both directions.
They were nothing to scoff at, but Darkstar suspected that she'd prefer these things to the epic sized dragons of myth. And their riders…
Darkstar did a double take as she realized that these beasts had no riders. They were the ones who'd threatened her!
"I will not," Darkstar recovered quickly, "but I extend the same offer. You are trespassing in this reality. Stand down, or I will be forced to kill you."
A gout of flame aimed at Darkstar's stomach was their answer. The Russian mutant climbed above the flame, and retaliated immediately.
Lashing out with her powers, she encased the head of the farthest most dragon in darkforce. Within the span of a blink, the creature was overwhelmed by darkness. He could see, smell, and hear nothing. To everyone of his razor sharp senses, it was as if the world had disappeared, fell away in the blink of an eye.
Primal instincts kicked, the snake-like dragon began flailing without concern to who was around and slammed into his pod mate next to him. The two dragons became entangled and within a split second, gravity took over.
"You'll pay for that!" hissed the third dragon.
Darkstar created a wall of darkforce. The second the flame died, Laynia shaped the wall into a blade and then it flying towards the dragon. The creature ducked it's head, assuming Darkstar's intent was to cleave his skull in two. The ebony blade then curved and sliced through the bone of his left wing, and sent the beast plummeting to the ground.
"Primate monster!" screeched the last dragon. He came in hard and fast, and Darkstar barely reacted quickly enough to save her life. She blasted the dragon back with a stream of pure darkforce with no style or finesse, but it wasn't enough.
She watched the beast rear it's head back, ready to let loose a wide gout of flame when inspiration struck. She reached out with her powers, and just before the creature was about to expel the flame from its lungs, she created a clamp around it's beak-like mouth.
A split second later, there was a flash of heat and light, then ash and bone that fell to the ground.
"Chapman, I'm in position," Darkstar reported.
"Understood. Stand by…"
Several tense seconds ticked by. Darkstar was starting to get just a little nervous before she heard Chapman's voice over the radio again.
"Flares deployed. Maneuver alpha. Is this understood?"
"It is," Darkstar shot towards the green smoke like a bullet.
Junta, Guishen and Shiva were fighting back to back with their prisoner in the center. Unlike her other teammates, Darkstar saw that they were simply trying to hold back their enemies, not fighting to kill or win.
Well, except for Shiva.
"Finally!" spat Junta when he saw the Rusian mutant, "teleport us out of here already!"
"I'm sorry Junta," Darkstar landed in between the members of the Stealth Squad and created a dome of darkforce, "teleporting anyone besides myself has a…disturbing effect on the individual lately."
"How then do you plan on extracting us?" asked Guishen.
"Though I cannot teleport groups anymore, the strength of my darkforce has increased dramatically," Darkstar answered. "Chapman, I'm ready."
There was a brief pause, and suddenly it sounded as if they were in the middle of a firing range. The earth shook, there were a dozen explosions that rattled their teeth, and then finally, silence.
Darkstar dropped the shield, and the members of Excalibur took in the scene before there. There were dozens of fresh, smoldering craters all around them, body parts and weapons scattered like twigs.
"I cannot believe it," hissed Shiva, "The Resolute fired on our position! They fired on us!"
"We were safe," Darkstar reassured her, "but if it's all the same to you, I'd rather debate the tactic back at base, and not on the battlefield."
"Agreed. Sooner we get back, the sooner we can get back to picking this guy's brain," said Junta.
Darkstar encased them in a bubble of darkforce, and then sped towards Excalibur's airship. Despite the general loathing she felt for the man, Darkstar was thankful that they had him to direct their counter attack in situations like this. Union Jack was an excellent leader, but the necessity of him being in the field also hampered his view of the bigger picture. Only by taking care of both could Excalibur hope to be effective.
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"Sir, Darkstar and the Stealth Squad are aboard. Darkstar and Shiva have both redeployed to the main battle."
Chapman nodded, "Good. What about the battalion commanders?"
"They report that they have just about secured a perimeter around the enemy army."
"Understood," Chapman steepled his hands and began to organize his thoughts. When the perimeter was established, he'd call back Excalibur and try to reopen negotiations. Armies, even magical ones, didn't just appear out of thin air. They had leaders, objectives and everything else an army required to function and keep discipline.
Chapman knew, not suspected, but knew as a certainty that the battle raging on the desert before him was a distraction, nothing more.
But waiting for the other shoe to drop was becoming maddening. If the enemy had an army that they could casually field, what else could they do? What were they?
"Sir, we have incoming!" reported a sensor operator.
"What is it?" Chapman demanded.
"I…I don't know. Long range scanners just picked it up. It looks like a jet…no, a missile…no! Si, it's…!"
&&&
Hellios landed on the desert floor with the force of a low yield ballistic missile and all the grace of a cannonball. The impact sent mythic logical soldiers flying in every which direction.
Hellios dragged himself out of the hole, and rubbed his head gingerly. His head was ringing, and it wasn't because of his less than graceful return to earth.
"…never should have drunk a tub of Russian vodka," muttered Hellios. He rubbed his drowsy eyes as he looked around, "…did I arrive at the right place…?"
The war club of a giant crashed down on the head of the solar powered hero.
"Flying gnat," grumbled Battletooth, leader of his mighty war clan, "with pests like this, I'm amazed they kept us in reserve so long."
Battletooth tried to lift his ancient war-club, a family heirloom that had been used to smite tens of thousands of enemies, but to his surprise, it wouldn't budge. He gripped it tighter and began to put his back into it, but still the weapon remained entrenched on the ground, where it had smacked the flying human.
Battletooth did a double take when he felt the weapon torn from his grip, and before he could reclaim it, the club was sent hurtling through the air, where it smashed into his jaw with twice the force required to render him unconscious.
With an angry growl, Hellios took to the air, bobbing and weaving (though not intentionally) as he rocketed towards the remaining giants, his eyes smoldering with solar energy.
&&&
Kamau, trench knife in hand, swung his at the goblin enemy who had the misfortune to be standing in front of him. The razor sharp edges of the diamond blade punched through his skull starting at the mouth, splitting his head in twain. Swinging upwards with his other hand, the blade sliced through the shoulder of an elf who thought that his chainmail armor would guard against any blade.
Stomping his feet for effect, Kamau unleashed 5.6 earthquake for thirty feet in every direction. It was as if someone had suddenly picked up the ground, thrown it into the air and let it fall back down again. Soldiers were thrown from their horses, archer's dropped their arrows and heavily armored knights were pitched backwards on their ass.
Kamau stood tall, his chest heaving in equal parts exhilaration and exhaustion. He concentrated for a moment, drawing the earth into his body, healing the minor wounds and the easing the strain he felt on his muscles.
"The first person to stand dies," roared Kamau. He punctuated his statement by casually strolling over to a defiant dwarf, his diamond trench knife cutting through the soldier's metal axe effortlessly.
"And those already standing?"
Kamau turned his head towards the voice, surprised (though his face didn't reveal it) that he hadn't sensed the man. But when he saw the speaker, Kamau realized that 'man' was a generous description.
The flesh of his enemy was chalk white, with blue veins visible on both his neck and face. He stood six feet tall, wore nothing but torn black pants and carried an axe engraved with symbols that pulsated with energy.
"When I'm finished, they won't be."
Kamau charged at his foe, who swing his axe in a lazy swing that might have taken his head off if the African warrior hadn't smoothly ducked under the swing. Kamau lashed out with his knives, slicing through his enemy's side as if it weren't even there.
Kamau spun as he came around and willed a small section of earth to shoot upwards underneath his feet, slinging him into the air. Kamau swung his foot up, and then brought it crashing down on his enemy's skill. Bone snapped, flesh tore as the skull was smashed down his shoulder and the man slumped to the ground.
"Not impressed." Spat Kamau.
"The feeling is mutual."
Kamau took a step back without and felt a shiver of horror, a feeling that he thought he'd never feel again, as he watched his enemy climb to his feet, the man's skull still pressed down his shoulders.
"I am a Death Knight," hissed the unholy creature, "and it will take far more than that to end me."
Kamau held his knife in a reverse grip and snarled like an angry beast, "Whatever it takes, I promise you, I have it!"
&&&
"Finally…" muttered Chapman as the battalion commanders gave their report. His troops had secured a parameter, cutting the army of ghouls, trolls and other creatures of myth off from civilization (such as it was).
"Alright, tell Excalibur to stand by. I want to wait a few minutes, then recall Excalibur and begin bombarding the army with low yield mortars. When that's done, they should be softened up enough to listen to reason," Chapman paused to reflect on his orders, "or to finish off completely. Maybe by then I'll be in the mood to be diplomatic…"
"Sir, we're getting new readings…!"
"…it just appeared, sensors can't get a single thing!"
"Director Chapman, look!"
Chapman gazed forward and a split second later, his jaw dropped to the floor. Where there had been nothing but empty sky and desert, was now a massive, floating island that literally shined like the perfect diamond. Walls of flawless crystal served to protect gleaming, golden towers. Impossibly bright buildings with architecture lifted from the Middle Ages towered above the walls while dragons, pixies and all other kinds of impossible beasts littered the skyline.
And standing in front of this immaculate was a blond haired man over twenty stories tall. He wore golden armor that looked as if it could belong to King Arthur and spoke with a voice that somehow cut through everything.
"That…is…enough…!"
One the battlefield below, Kamau stopped his knive only inches away from the neck of the Death Knight and listened.
"I, Lord Darkstorm, lord and rule of the society of E'u'atha, have sent my people below to take the measure of this world!"
Silverclaw clasped her hands over her ears and tried to will the invasive voice away. As she listened, it felt as if every cell had been invaded by the man's voice.
"Now that I have, I demand to know, why have you so brutally assaulted my homeland!"
Sabra observed the man with dispassion.
"I await your answer!"
Chapman watched both the image and army disappear in the blink of an eye. The giant floating island remained, containing God only knew how many more soldiers and weapons. Chapman knew from the beginning that his foes used magic as a weapon but up until now never imagined to what extent.
The fact that their enemy apparently relied upon magic, a discipline known not only for its power, but subtlety made Chapman feel very, very nervous.
"I think I'm in the mood to be diplomatic now."
Next Issue: Unicorns, dragons and pixies, oh my! Excalibur find themselves up against an enemy unlike any other and pissed off! Good thing a special guest star is there to help!