In the waning sun of the evening, Doom made his way through the jungles of Wakanda. Behind him, a triwall-sized device hovered silently as it followed its master. Doom had created a massive capacitor for the zero-point energy projector that would allow him to breach the Wakandan shields. The device had to be large to absorb the massive amounts of energy the shields would output. Even then, it would only open a small breach for a few seconds, allowing him to enter undetected.
Unfortunately, in order to remain undetected, the device wouldn't be able to vent the captured energy; he would have no way to escape the city without bringing the shields down.
It had only been a few days since the global summit. Besides the zero-point capacitor, he finished his new armour incorporating Stark's technologies. His new armour was somewhat bulkier, with thickened plates especially around the shoulders, protecting the newly incorporated technologies.
Doom had chosen dusk for a reason. It was likely that a curfew would be in effect for the besieged city, and most citizens would be clear of the streets ahead of time. By the time he brought the energy fields down, it would be late at night, throwing the defenders into confusion as the Skrulls launched their attack. The last thing he needed was the aliens to fumble their assault, as they did when they first attacked Wakanda.
As he pushed through the thick foliage, the translucent glowing border of the blue energy field appeared. There were numerous areas around Birnin Zana where the shied manifested at the border of the jungle, and it was simple enough to find one that provided good concealment, made easier by the fact the Wakandas thought their shield was impregnable.
With a wave, he ordered the capacitor to run through its start-up checks as it hovered into position. He weaved a sorcerous illusion around himself as the device powered up, and pulled his hood down over his face, wrapping his cloak about himself. To any curious glance, he would appear as an old Wakanda man in a shabby robe. With a few more button presses on his wrist console, his armour emitted a small amount of EMF radiation that would slightly interfere with any nearby cameras. Enough to conceal him from electronic detection, but an attentive and quick-witted observer could detect a pattern as the cameras were disrupted.
Admittedly, it was a chance, but he suspected the long months of siege would have dulled the senses of the defenders. He heard a chime as his projector finished its start-up sequence.
INITIATE Y/N?
He stepped beside the shield and ordered the device to begin. A small orange border opened in the blue shield and quickly widened to man-sized. He dove through and the hole closed behind him seconds later.
It was rather anticlimactic, considering the ultra-advanced technologies involved in the interaction. What mattered was he was inside Birnin Zana.
The vegetation bordered a suburb, and Doom made his way past the Wakandan homes onto a mostly-deserted street. It seemed his estimation was correct, and most of the Wakandans had retreated to their home for the coming night. It was fortunate for him; the fewer who saw him, the less chance his sorcerous disguise would be foiled. Even he could not fight his way through a whole city.
As he walked toward the denser urban core, he observed how the people had been handling the siege. It seemed that a sense of normalcy had returned to the city. Street vendors were packing up their stalls, late shoppers were returning home, and parents called their children back from playing outside. It was only natural; after a year of alien attack, the people would return to what they knew. And with no breach of the shield, the population may even grow complacent. The human organism could grow to tolerate the most absurd circumstances, given enough time.
Two hours had passed as the suburbs gradually gave way to the dense buildings of the urban center. The sun had nearly set, and the glittering windows of the skyscrapers reflected the waning twilight. He was struck with a pang of lament for the innocents that would suffer for their King's lack of wisdom; considering that T'Challa was handed the title by accident of birth, Doom wondered if the man even truly cared for his people.
Doom had struggled and suffered among his people and, through heroic action, willed Latveria into existence. T'Challa had merely inherited his nation; a mediocre hereditary sovereign who was about to bring ruinous end through his stubborn refusal to accept Doom's forthcoming reign.
"T'Challa, you fool," he whispered to himself as he approached his goal: the west-most generator complex.
A pair of guards stood at the threshold of an armoured door. The complex was a large multi-story building at the edge of the urban center. It was built in the same smooth afro-futurism style as the rest of the buildings, and a blue stream of energy floated into the sky, melding into the translucent shield dome.
The guards were dressed in the typical style of Wakandan militia; blue tribal robes, short spears and Nguni shields, the primitive forms of which belied the advanced technologies that would allow one of those soldiers to face down a main-battle tank from any other nation.
He approached them slowly, hunching and hugging his arms around himself. His illusion would begin to fail as he got closer, and the sooner they turned their attention to him, the sooner their conscious minds would dismiss the enchantment.
"What are you doing here, elder?" the first guard said cautiously as Doom closed within a few meters. The man was gripping his spear in both hands. He wasn't aggressive, but had adopted a pose of guarded readiness.
Doom's armour translated the Wakanda dialect well-enough for him, but he couldn't speak without his accent giving him away. Instead, he held out a shaking hand, palm up, as if asking for alms. Just a little closer though...
The other man pointed his spear down the opposite street as he spoke, "You must leave, now."
Doom was just about within arm's reach, so he chose to stumble and fall in front of the two men. That closed the distance just enough.
As he caught the end of his stumble, Doom explosively twisted, swinging his left hand, back-handing the first man with his gauntlet. As the guard spun to the side, Doom coiled the same hand and struck the other man's sternum. The second guard let out a sound of dull surprise as the servo-enhanced punch shattered the bones of his chest, driving shards into his heart as he suffered a massive cardiac contusion. The man let out a small gurgle blood as he tried to speak, before slumping down.
The first guard groggily turned back to Doom, blinking rapidly as he tried to recover from his concussion. With another sudden twist, Doom delivered a right-hook to his temple. He felt the joint sunder and the other guard fell to the ground, incoherent.
Not wasting any time, Doom held his hand over the nearby door control. His systems wirelessly accessed the controls, and encryption breakers went to work. He could easily blast open the door, but the discharge of his weapons systems would surely set off nearby detectors and raise the alarm.
Instead, he bent down and picked up one of the fallen guard's Vibranium spears. He was alone in a hostile city, with a great deal of super humans who had tried to kill him in the past. More critically, he would need Storm and her apocalyptic powers distracted by fighting the alien assault, or escape would be impossible for him.
Today discretion was the prudent path. He tested the weight of the weapon, and readied it over his shoulder as the door slid open.
There was a gentle ding as the portal opened, and he scanned the rather spartan foyer. An uninterested-looking guard was seated at the reception, and the man lazily looked up from his console. Doom threw the spear and it penetrated just above the guard's suprasternal notch, punching clear through the man and embedding itself in his seat. The guard spent a few confounded seconds fruitlessly pulling at the spear before he expired with a gurgle.
Doom hurried down the hall at a light jog. Integrated sonar units built a basic map of the halls as he moved, and helpful Wakandan signs directed him to the main reactor chamber. He encountered no other guards as he loped down the halls; it would have been the start of the night shift, and most of them were probably at various strategically-located barracks.
The halls were dull and metallic, quite at odds with the rich colours and intricate design of the city. He passed vacant break rooms and offices, and for a few moments, he even dared hope that he would reach the generator without discovery.
He had been running for ten minutes before he reached the reactor observation deck. The cavernous reactor room could be seen through the large pane of glass. He took a moment to look through the window; a catwalk one level below him stretched over a five story drop. The catwalk led to, and circled, the massive Vibranium core. The core monolith of alien metal was massive; nearly four meters in diameter, and twenty-nine meters tall.
All told, that single piece was worth over four-and-a-half trillion American dollars.
Complex floating rings moved up and down the metal as ethereal energies were extracted. The Wakandan reactor used a combination of chemical and nuclear reactions with the near-miraculous metal to create an ultra-efficient energy system that could last for over a thousand years before the core had to be replaced.
It was tragic that he would have to destroy it.
As Doom descended the nearby ramp, he passed a guard-station. He cursed as he realized he stumbled into discovery, as half-a-dozen guards milled about. A couple were looking at him in complete surprise. He took advantage of this confused moment; outstretching a hand, he fired bursts of short, emerald beams from each of his fingers. The crackling darts of energy filled the room, punching cauterized holes through the men.
Suddenly, the alarm blared. As he expected, the Wakandan sensors picked up his weapon discharges. By his estimation, he had gotten close enough that he should be able to complete his mission; there would still be a short period before the guards would be able to organize a response to the alert.
Leaving the guard station filled with smouldering remains, Doom ran down the ramp and reached the portal to the catwalk that lead to the reactor. As he entered the reactor room his sensors read a small jump in heat and alpha radiation as he approached.
He ran across the catwalk and found the access console that directly controlled the Vibranium generator. The monolith towered over him, humming with power as he opened a pouch on his belt and retrieved a hand-sized computer. This device would override the reactor systems, and order it to adjust the reaction from the meticulously balanced one it was created for.
The Wakandans surely would have created fail safes in their systems that would limit the ability of the reactor to unbalance its own reaction, so Doom anticipated having to guard his addition to their systems. With his new command, the reactor would cease refeeding the Vibranium, and it would be transmuted into radioactive lead in several minutes. He quickly set it about its task.
As he did his work, he felt a 'presence' probing at the edge of his thoughts. A powerful telepath, likely Emma Frost, was psychically reaching out from somewhere. With a force of will, Doom shut down the intrusion. She must have been some distance away, or casting her attentions widely, for him to do so without great effort. But now, the defenders of this place would be alerted to his presence.
A new alarm blared, and the lights in the reactor chamber blinked and dimmed. Rotating red emergency lights flipped on as the reactor began a terminal reaction. Several of the floating rings surrounding the Vibranium monolith glowed brightly as they absorbed the excess electrons, without returning them to the metal.
After a minute one of the rings loudly hummed before its capacitor exploded and showered him in sparks.
The explosion seemed to alert more guards, and another squad of militia advanced on him from the opposite catwalk entrance. It seemed that each entrance had a small guard post, and these ones turned back when the additional alerts around the reactor core were updated.
The catwalk was fairly tight, with a perilous drop on each side, and they could only advance in group of two men wide. The front rank had pulled their cloaks forward, triggering hidden force field generators that shimmered in front of them. Behind them, the second rank had their spears leveled at Doom. He had to twist and take cover behind the reactor monolith as blue energy blasts pulsed past him. The guards were firing in a well-aimed and deliberate fashion, taking great care to not hit the reactor components.
He quickly popped out from the other side of his cover, and fired his improved heavy plasma cannon at the ranks of guards. His newly enhanced weapons let out a bassy "THUUVV" as the jade beams easily punched through the shields. The squad was vaporized, their skeletons briefly silhouetted in the bright beam. Small motes of green energy danced about in the wake of the particle beam as their charred remains collapsed into ashes.
Satisfied that he was alone for the moment, Doom returned his attention to the computer. He cursed when he saw that the fail safes in the reactor systems were still attempting to kick in, despite his attempts to permanently disable them. He would have to wait here and ensure that no-one tampered with his device. It would be nearly eight minutes before the process was irreversible; a long time to wait when a cities worth of super-heroes wanted you dead.
Again, he felt Emma Frost's telepathic probing, stronger and closer this time. He shut her out of his mind again. Now she would know she was dealing with someone of strong will, even if she hadn't quite identified him specifically yet. Of course, she wouldn't realize she was dealing with the strongest of wills until she was much closer.
So he waited. He crossed his arms and watched his internal chronometer count down with excruciating slowness. All the while, he felt the psychic presence of Frost approach, likely accompanied by whatever other superhuman freaks and degenerates that T'Challa deemed fit to send his way. The only upside was that Emma Frost's telepathic persistence gave him an indication of how close they were; unfortunately, it was with the growing intensity of a migraine.
It had been nearly five minutes, when the psychic pressure grew atrociously strong, and Emma Frost, Deadpool and Wolverine ran onto the catwalk. Frost put her hands on her temples as she turned her powers upon him. Logan sprinted down the catwalk, adamatium claws extended. Deadpool yelled some nonsense as he drew his pistols, but Doom had no time for such drivel.
With supreme effort, Doom managed to resist Frost's attempt to seize him, raising his gauntlet and firing a plasma blast down the catwalk. Logan slid underneath it, his soldier skills serving him well. Emma covered her face, and transformed into her nigh-invulnerable diamond form. Even still, she was knocked her off her feet. More importantly, she was unable to use her telepathy in her altered form.
Doom let out a heavy breath as he felt the immense mental pressure relent. Logan rolled to his feet and continued to charge forwards, leaping into the air, claws cocked ready to sever whatever they touched. Likewise, Deadpool followed him, firing from his hand guns.
Bullets harmless pattered into his shields, and Doom fired a barrage of energy bolts from each finger in a wide arc down the catwalk. While the small energy blasts couldn't kill the mutants, they would slow them down. As he did so, he pointed his other hand at the catwalk; he fired a sustained blast into it, and the thin metal melted away.
After a moment, he had cut through the catwalk, and the sudden loss of support caused the other side to collapse. Frost and Logan tumbled down the falling walkway, sliding as it gained sudden steepness. Deadpool managed to keep his footing, sprinting, until the catwalk broke away in a sound of twisted metal and he flung himself through the air at Doom, sword drawn as the two other mutants fell down the multistory height.
Doom took a moment to aim at the airborne man. He had little time for this bothersome creature and blasted a hole through his torso, sending him tumbling into the abyss. That idiot yelled something about Willie-Coyote as he fell.
Doom looked over the edge and regretted that the mutants would likely survive the fall. It would take more than that to kill the X-Men, but it at least bought him some-
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" boomed a voice behind him, interrupting his thought.
T'Challa had arrived by the opposite entrance, which now had the only remaining catwalk. He was accompanied by three of his Dora Milaje; members of his harem, and deadly bodyguards. Each of the warrior-women was sworn to give her life for her potential husband.
Doom checked his chronometer; only two minutes to go.
Turning back slowly, he answered, "I gave you fair warning T'Challa."
"I will tear your throat out for this treachery!" he replied, extending his Vibranium talons and sprinting down the catwalk, his bodyguards trailing behind him
"Treachery!?" he spat. "Doom offered you friendship, and now your people will pay for your defiance!" He fired a pulsating beam at the onrushing man.
T'Challa ducked the blast, scuttling to the underside of the catwalk in a smooth motion as his claws easily found purchase in the metal. Two of the Dora Milaje leapt into the air, avoiding the blast, but the slowest was vaporized. Her Vibranium spear was all that remained from her as it clattered to the floor.
"This is merely an act of war!" Doom yelled as he smashed a crackling fist into the floor, electrifying the catwalk. Both of the remaining Dora Milaje jerked and smoldered as the arcs of power flowed through them, but T'Challa, with alarming alacrity, swung himself one-handed from the underside of the catwalk, flinging himself up and over.
Doom looked up as he tried to follow the feline silhouette as it sailed over his head. He saw a glint of steel, and managed to put his arm in the way of a claw that was headed for his face. He felt as his forearm plate was gouged; T'Challa's claws passed right through his shields and dug into his plate like as if it was little more than tin.
Immediately upon connecting with the ground, T'challa twisted and sprung up with preternatural speed delivering a clawed uppercut. Doom awkwardly leapt back just as the tips of the claws began scored his breast plate.
Fully extended as he was, T'Challa had left himself open. Taking his opportunity, Doom delivered a sharp punch just underneath his ribs. Half a moment later, he fired his plasma beam, and T'Challa was thrown back a few meters.
With a deft twist, T'Challa landed in a crouch, one claw held in front of his face with malicious intent. Some of the top layers of his suit smouldered, but the Vibranium mesh absorbed most of the energy. Glowing purple lines faintly circled his suit, storing the force to be unleashed later.
A proximity alarm went off in his helmet, and Doom twisted back; the movement fouled the attack of the surviving Dora Miaje and her spear glanced off of his shields. She had fully extended into the stab, and he was able to step into her guard. She was badly burned and too slow to avoid him, and Doom reached out and seized her by the (surprised) face. He fired a plasma blast and her headless corpse fell to the deck.
"It seems none of these one were worthy to be your wife-" he said, but he was cut off as T'Challa tackled him.
The two rolled along the catwalk in heap. As they stopped, Doom saw the talons descend at his face. He caught each wrist and his servos whined as he struggled against T'Challa's super-human strength to turn the claws away. It became clear that they were trapped in a stalemate. He fired his mask lasers into T'Challa's face and engaged his jets, pushing the man off of him as he flung himself off the catwalk.
Doom controlled his fall and ascended past the catwalk. He pointed down accusingly as he spoke. "Even now you spit on my mercy!" Another explosion of sparks from the generator punctuated his words.
"What madness do you speak of now!?" T'Challa shouted, standing up slowly.
"Doom has destroyed your kingdom, and you pursue vengeance instead of saving your people!"
When he didn't answer, Doom continued: "In my compassion, I chose to give you a short period before this reactor fails; enough time that your leadership may save a number of your people. A mercy; from one sovereign to another."
T'Challa looked ruefully at the rapidly failing machine. "Your mercy is as grotesque as your face, Doom."
"And you are as injudicious as your tongue is sharp!" he answered, feeling piqued at the insult. "Now choose: stay here and die by my hand as your people are annihilated, or save whom you can as Wakanda is scattered to the winds."
T'Challa clenched his fists as he stood frozen for a few moments. Suddenly, he turned to leave and said, "Whatever throne you envision for yourself, I will bathe it in your blood," He then dashed out of the generator chamber, one hand on his ear as he organized the evacuation of his homeland.
Much as Doom wished to tear T'Challa's impudent head from his shoulders, there was a reason he left him alive; with the Black Panther leading the remnants of the Wakandans, they would remain a thorn in the side of the Skrull Empire.
The Skrulls would level the critical infrastructure of the city, which included this building. He calculated that within a half hour the shields would be unable to repel the firepower of the alien cruisers. Doom flew to the domed roof and with a blast of energy created an exit. As he approached the breach, powerful winds buffeted him and billowed his cloak.
He was greeted by an apocalyptic vision as he landed on the rubble and beheld his works.
The sun had set, but it was brighter than when he entered the reactor; massive energy blasts rained down from the skies as battle cruisers bombarded the city from low orbit. The overloading shields seethed dark red as they absorbed prodigious forces from the sky. Already large gaps had manifested in the failing shields as all available power was rerouted to the zones suffering bombardment.
He could see several breaches in the distance at ground level, and flares of various energy based small-arms lit the battle zone. Skrull troops would be storming through the gaps, spearheaded by elite Super-Skrulls.
To add to the cataclysm, a massive swirling hurricane was forming, and howling winds tore through the city. The tempest was stitched by ball lightning and the thunder from the tremendous electrical storm almost drowned out the rain of laser and plasma from the heavens.
That would be the work of Ororo Munroe, better known as 'Storm'.
She was likely attempting to foul the targeting sensors of the alien ships and force them to remain at altitude. While it wouldn't be enough to halt the destruction of the city, it would buy enough time for an effective evacuation to be executed. It was good that she would be so focused on the aliens; the wrath of the Queen of Wakanda was not to be trifled with.
One could see why primitives would venerate her as a divine being as he watched the biblical tempest coalesce over the battle.
Yet it was his works that had brought this all to pass.
"Such are the wages of defiance," he said, as if quietly informing the world, before taking to his escape.