A/N: Review responses are in my forums as normal. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. And now, as a handful of you guessed, play time is over. Fate can rarely be denied.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Inhuman
"I heard Taryon talking to the Overseer," Ion said. "We're going to be deployed soon."
Quake blinked herself fully awake and lifted her head off of Ion's chest. She'd been listening to his heart as he held her. He, though, was looking down at her as she clung to him in his cramped sleeping cage.
She could feel the metal diodes of his hand implants against her bare back and shivered. "Do we know where?"
He shook his head. "No, but we're not going to have any identifiable Kree gear, so it's going to be off their books."
"About time."
Their slave chips were...odd. Quake hated their masters with a passion. However, not once did she or any of the others ever even think of rebelling. It wasn't that they were punished for thinking it, but rather the chips didn't allow them to think about it at all. Instead, she dwelled on the overriding desire just to do something else.
The chips did not stop them from forming relationships-as present circumstances proved-but it kept them from thinking about home. It kept them from trying to dwell on what their life was like before. Only the present mattered; only the glory of the Empire.
Site knocked on the closed door of Ion's cage. "Overseer's twenty minutes out," he called.
Quake stole another deep kiss before pulling on her blue jumpsuit. "See you in assembly."
"You bet."
She slid out of Ion's cage, which was the second of three stacked in the rearmost column. A total of ten similar columns of three cages each occupied the left wall of their dorm, each eight feet long and three feet high. Another three identical cages occupied the right wall, with the common assembly area between. She saw Site further down the opposite wall, giving similar warnings to other couples. Their masters did not care who paired with whom, but they did not ever want to see it. And Site's eyeless quantum vision gave them all plenty of warning.
Sky snagged a quick shower; Bic joined her after a few minutes. The shorter woman had a grin on her face. "So, you and Ion? He treating you right?"
"He'll do."
Bic chuckled a little. By the time Quad and the other girls came in, Quake was done. "Overseer'll be here in ten," Quad said as she pulled off her jumpsuit for her own shower. "Bender said we're to assemble in five."
In the common room, the inhumans were quickly dressing in their black under armor. None were afforded their own equipment while within the dorms, though they had all trained for the past few months in every weapon the Kree could find, in addition to their native powers.
Months...Quake could not even remember how long she'd been there.
"Attention!"
Bender's voice snapped out like a whip. The slim man was the only inhuman there who did not have a chip. She'd heard rumors that he was actually Hydra, and had volunteered to go with the Kree as part of Hydra's initial deal with the aliens.
It wasn't a surprise, then, that he served as the Inhuman commander underneath the Overseer.
Taryon himself entered, flanked by two other Kree. The first was the towering, bald Overseer. The second, though, made Quake's stomach clench instinctively.
The newcomer eschewed the normal greens or golds of the Kree and instead wore broad-shouldered black armor. Over his head he wore a hood that made him look like an executioner. His chest plate glistened with freshly painted red symbols, and in his hands he carried a massive hammer. He stood taller even than the Overseer, and his face bore black paint in menacing patterns.
"You have a teleporter," the towering Kree said. He growled his words, as if just being among lesser creatures offended him.
"Yes, Accuser! Site! Attend!"
Site shifted his eyeless head a second before he flashed with dark energy, and appeared a split second again two feet in front of the Kree. And then, because he was both a slave and smart, Site knelt down with his head bowed.
All of them learned that lesson months ago.
"How many can this slave teleport?" the menacing Kree asked.
Site remained silent-high ranking Kree never talked directly to slaves.
Taryon ducked his head respectfully to the larger figure. "Site can teleport as many as ten beside himself, Most High. His power works through quantum entanglement, which also allows a limited omniscience in his surrounding area. He is one of my most useful of our battle slaves."
"The Supreme Intelligence ordered the manipulation of lesser species halted two thousand years ago," the Accuser said.
"And we have obeyed, Most High. These are the genetic legacy of those last experiments. We even found a whole colony of fully realized inhumans on Terra's moon. Naturally, we liquidated it according to the Supreme Intelligence's directive. Can't have space-faring Inhumans threatening the proper order. I submitted my proposal for this project to the Supreme Intelligence in full accordance with the laws and customs of our people. I am, as ever, a loyal son of Hala."
"They will obey?"
"We have their behavioral chips set on maximum. They are not even capable of thinking of betrayal. And as you have seen in our presentation, they are among the most lethal fighters we have."
The Accuser's dark eyes scanned their lines. "Recent experience has shown those chips are not as perfect as you slavers seem to think."
Taryon bowed. "As you say, Most High. However powerful my slaves, none approach the Unnamed One, nor any daughter of Thanos. If I may, we have had great success with the battle slaves in the past. More importantly, their chips were made using Krylorian components, to mask their origin."
"Very well. Assemble ten of the most powerful and skilled to accompany the teleporter. Equip them with the best gear you have available. They leave within the hour."
"It shall be done, Most High!"
Taryon gave a sharp nod to the Overseer as he escorted the Accuser out. When they were gone, the Overseer glared around the room. He bellowed. It was, in fact, his normal speaking voice. Even when speaking to Taryon, he seemed to shout. "Site! Bender! Tank! Quake! Ion! Morph! Bic! Lighter! Hellfire! Quad! Camo! Assemble at the armory. All others, back to your cages!"
The eleven of them-the team of ten and Site himself-left their dorm. Outside, the harsh white light of Secundus Orbarii's suns baked the hard earth under their feet. They jogged not just because the Overseer would yell if they did not, but because doing so got them out of the suns' burning light sooner.
The Kree found the twin suns refreshing. Even the darker-skinned inhumans tended to get burned after five minutes of direct exposure.
The Kree housed the armory in the same style of geodesic dome-shaped building as the slave dorms. All around the training camp, Quake saw thousands of other slaves training. Most were actually other Kree whose families sold them into slavery to resolve debts, or were remanded to slavery for crimes committed. For those, their terms of slavery ended after thirty years, after which they were treated as citizens of the Kree Empire. And from the perspective of a race with an average lifespan of 150 to 200 years, 30 years was not an unreasonable term.
Quake had no doubt that she and her fellow Inhumans would never be free again.
Once in their fully enclosed armor, bristling with weapons, the Overseer led them out of the armor and out of the camp entirely. They walked toward a ship that waited for them just beyond the walls of the camp, in a low valley that separated the camp from the nearest Kree colony. Though Quake was no expert on ships, this one looked like an eagle with outstretched wings, only its wings were red, blue and gold.
A single figure waited. Quake could not tell if she was Kree or not because, just like them, she wore concealing dark armor and a helmet. The Overseer stepped to the client and handed her the master chip controller. "As agreed," the Overseer said, loudly. "Ten of our finest inhumans, and a teleporter as well."
The woman slipped the controller into a pocket on her belt. "Come on, slaves. We have work to do." The helmet obscured her voice, giving it a synthetic tone.
The Overseer stepped back and glared at Bender. "If you do not succeed, die well for the glory of the Empire!"
"We will succeed," Bender said simply.
~~Titanomachy~~
~~Titanomachy~~
They never saw the pilot. A screen was pulled across the cockpit. Site, however, didn't need eyes to see.
"The pilot is human," he told them. "Quinn. He wears Ravager colors. He has no idea where we're going, only a set of coordinates."
Moments later, the ship began to jump through space. They did four or five jumps at a time, then flew in normal space for half an hour or so, before jumping again. Quake sat beside Ion, wishing she could hold his hand. Her vambrace tended to augment his own electrical power, shocking them both.
She didn't know anything about space travel. Her memories prior to the slave camp were hazy at best. So she didn't know if all the jumps they were making were normal or not. Eventually, though, they stopped jumping.
The woman who was their new master stepped into the common area. "Keep helmets on. I do not want to see any faces, and if the pilot sees anyone's face, that person will die. Do you understand?"
Their conditioning required that they answer, and so a chorus of "Yes, Master" rang out through the hull.
"We'll be in normal space for thirty-six hours. Facilities are below deck. Two at a time only. Food will be whatever you've been rationed. For now, settle down and rest."
As miserable as thirty-six hours in full gear sounded, the truth is every one of them had been through far worse. After all, there were sixty trained inhuman battle slaves. But there were four hundred total inhuman candidates when they were taken.
Thirty-six hours was nothing.
~~Titanomachy~~
~~Titanomachy~~
The world they landed on felt like something out of a fairy tale. In the far distance, more an impression than a clear sight, was a soft white glow of a massive crystalline castle. All around the stark granite of the mountains they climbed, they were surrounded by open, airy forests with massive trees strewn in shimmering gossamer moss.
Clouds like cotton candy floated across the cerulean sky. In the distance, a shimmering sea lapped at a wide beach of white sand. It was the most idyllic place Quake had ever imagined. It was a shame they spent their time there climbing a mountain.
Their temporary master was far, far stronger than a human, which meant she was either Kree or something else. Quake saw her pull herself up the side of a cliff one-armed with almost no effort at all.
Site acted as their safety net, teleporting ahead to safe ledges and then using his omniscient view to ensure no one fell. It was an exhausting climb, even for slaves pushed to the peak of human conditioning. But finally, they reached a large ledge just under the snow-line.
They barely felt the cold through their space-capable armor and helmets.
The man came out of nowhere, as if the shadows of the narrow cave at the back of the ledge just coagulated into a person. All the Inhumans stood and went on guard, only to freeze. Quake's mind whirled painfully, skirting the edges of her chip's tolerances. She wanted nothing more than to pull her weapons and fire.
But they had no orders to do so, and the first part of their conditioning was to take no action without orders. She could see Morph visibly shaking with the desire to kill the newcomer. He had family in Houston.
Loki of Asgard smirked at them. "You're late," he said.
Their assigned master kept her helmet on. "They aren't actual Kree, so it took them longer. Deal with it."
Loki waived his concern away. "The passage will be long and difficult. It is no easy thing to climb the branches of Yggdrasil. Will they be able?"
The woman shrugged. "They're slaves. They'll either make it or die."
"Indeed. Well, come this way."
Quake followed their master, Bender and Site into the cave. A split second later, she collapsed onto what felt like crushed gravel. She blinked tiredly, trying to understand why she was so exhausted. All around, other members of the team also stumbled about as if they'd just gone on a three day combat drill. Even their temporary master seemed winded.
Loki stood over them with a smug expression and no sign of exertion. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"I remember nothing!" Their master sounded furious.
"Of course not. You were climbing through the very veins of existence. The memory of it would rot away your brains until you were left gibbering imbeciles, or until your hearts exploded. There is a reason Asgard does not protect the secret passages-only the most powerful Asgardians can use them. Unless, of course, you have a guide."
"We're here, then?"
Loki's chin lifted proudly. "We are. Deep under the palace, where few mortals have ever been. It will be a long, arduous climb, but you will emerge inside Odin's vault. It is the only way to avoid Heimdall's sight. You will have only a brief time to get to Odin's chamber and kill him. With Odin dead and the Tesseract in your master's hands...well, that would seem to conclude our business. Assuming your slaves are up to the task."
"I can kill Odin," their master said. "But know this, Loki. You live only because Father determined it was not your failing on Terra. But if you betray us, there will be no rock nor star you can hide behind that will shield you from Father's wrath."
"Indeed." Loki dismissed the threat. "Well, shall we, then?"
It wasn't until Quake saw the Asgardian shimmer away that she realized she'd been looking at some type of projection all this time. The others were too tired to care. After a brief rest that was as much for their master as themselves, they began the arduous task of climbing up into the palace.
When they arrived in the vast, dark cathedral, Quake began to have a feeling they were violating a sacred space. Their helmets provided a detailed, full color view of the unlit space, revealing the hundreds of thousands of byres that held the mummified corpses of Asgardian dead. She very carefully did not look at the massive, furred corpse near the center of the chamber.
They crossed quickly, following the flickering image of Loki's projection. He stopped them at the far side of the chamber and pointed up. "There is a balcony near the top," he said. "This is where your teleporter might come in handy."
With their unnamed master's nodding helmet, Site disappeared in a flash of dark energy. He appeared again a second later. "It's there."
"Take us," the woman said.
Their master made eleven passengers, which strained Site's power. He gasped a little as he transported them into the small, unlit balcony. The active scanning capacity of their helmets were not able to penetrate the depths of the sunken necropolis, and Quake was just as glad not to have to look at the dead any longer.
Loki flickered here like a ghost, never visibly in motion, but rather just standing at points ahead of them as they moved through unlit caverns that felt as old as time.
When they reached the cavernous space that held Odin's Vault, which hung suspended like a giant saddle over a thousand foot drop, Quake saw why Site was so important.
"Ready yourselves," their master hissed. "We need to get into that chamber."
With orders issued, Bender nodded sharply and then made a point of inspecting them all as they pulled their weapons. Despite the armorer's warnings, the vault just screamed CQC. And up close, Quake's vambraces and power was her best weapon.
"Lighter, scout," Bender whispered.
With a nod, Bic's paramour floated off the ground with his power and levitated over the void. Moving by inhuman power rather than any mechanism, he was a shadow within the shadows, avoiding the torch-lit entrances on either side of the vault. Quake had to reassess the size and distance as he continued to drift further away until he was little more than a speck.
Through their entangled helmet coms, she heard him report. "Two guards on either side. No clear line of site between them, but sound carries."
Bender nodded to himself. "Lighter, do you have a lock on the guards?"
"No clear line of sight from the top," came the reply.
"Hard way, then," Bender said. "Site, can you get Quake between the far-side guards?"
"I'll have to jump to Lighter first, they're just outside of my vision."
Quake knew exactly what Bender planned.
"Good. Place her, then come back for Tank and Morph for the other two. The rest after that."
Quake made her way to Site's side. He placed a hand on the pads of her shoulder and a second later, in a flash of dark energy, they stood atop the vault. "You'll be facing the vault doors," Site warned.
A second after that, they stood between two tall, powerful Asgardian soldiers. Quake lifted her vambraces and unleashed her power. Compressed shockwaves of sound and air struck each man like a massive hammer, knocking both clean off their feet and over the rails of the bridge that connected the vault with the walls beyond.
Site was already gone. In the air, her helmet's powerful sensors caught the sound of a brief struggle. She, however, was already moving into the vault.
Quake skidded to a stop when two more Asgardians turned to face her. Long spears flashed golden light; she dove headfirst down the stairs and rolled back to her feet as the nearest of the soldiers swung his staff. She had only a second to raise her power baton before the spear struck.
The blow snapped her baton like a twig and then struck the armor plate of her side. It felt like a hammer hitting her in the side and lifting her up. She flailed in the air as she flew over the edge of the descending stairs. Instinct and training had her hands forward where a blast of her power slowed her fall. She struggled to pull a breath over the grinding agony of her ribs.
Behind her, the air exploded in blue electricity. Ion stood with his hands extended and his diodes flaring as the concentrated electrical burst struck the soldier that hit Quake so hard. Bic and Hellfire jumped on either side, Bic blasting flame while Hellfire used a specially designed whip to extend his exploding power.
The man who struck Quake screamed as he burned and twitched. His partner fired his staff weapon with terrible accuracy. He targeted what seemed to be the greatest threat.
Quake didn't have the breath to scream as the golden blast struck Ion in the neck, right under the chin of his helmet. Ion flipped backward, almost decapitated by the blow. Hellfire used the split second to snap his long whip out. It struck the remaining guard's chest, transferring the explosive power into the armor.
The second guard didn't even have a chance to scream.
Their master arrived just moments later at a jog. Quake ignored her as she limped up the stairs and knelt down beside Ion. For a brief moment, she found herself grateful for his intact helmet. The blast had destroyed most of his neck, leaving only a thin strip of skin, tendon and muscle to connect his head to his body.
Her chip worked all too well. She couldn't even find the desire to cry. All she felt was numbness.
"Are you combat capable?"
She blinked up at Bender, and the plasma gun he held pointed to her head. Despite knowing full well he would kill her without a moment's hesitation, her chip compelled her to answer. "Broken rib. I'm at sixty percent capacity."
Bender continued to point the weapon at her for a long, painful moment before stepping back. "Advise me if you drop further."
"Right."
Their master arrived from the depths of the vault. She apparently had what she wanted. "I need an infiltrator to the dungeons," she said.
"Camo," Bender decided. One of their number stepped forward. Unlike the rest, this one wore a holosuit. She removed her helmet, only for her tightly curled black hair to straighten and her suit to shimmer until it was an Asgardian they looked at. She walked down the steps and pulled a fallen horned helmet onto her head, took an Asgardian spear, and ran from the vault.
"Heavy weapons from this point forward," their master said. "We move by teleportation where possible. Our mission is to kill the King of Asgard."
Alarms began to blare all around; Quake's helmet sensors picked up the sounds of shouting voices and heavy boots. She drifted toward Site, as did the others. Just as the first Asgardians poured into the vault, they disappeared in a flash of dark energy.
Moments later, they appeared in a large, domed chamber with golden walls and soft, effusive light. Quake had just a moment to separate from the others when a giant, bearded man shouted "Intruders!" and punched their master in the helmet.
The helmets were carbsteel molds, designed to withstand both energy and kinetic weapons. The giant man hit the master so hard her face plate shattered and she flew backward into their midst. Bender reached up and employed his telekinesis, attempting to paralyze the giant Asgardian, while Quad split into four duplicates of herself and brought her weapons to bare.
A second person fell into their midst, moving with the grace of a dancer as she wielded a short, glistening golden sword. Quake had only a moment to duck as two of Quad's duplicates lost their heads. Bender switched his target, but the moment he did the giant whipped out an axe from a holster on his back and swiped up, bisecting Bender from crotch to skull.
Quake lifted both vambraces and unleashed her most powerful blasts. The giant, as strong as he was, could not withstand physics. The power sent him sprawling against an odd bed that held an old, sleeping main within a golden field.
Doing so gave Quake her first look at the woman. She was older, dressed in a silken gown that seemed more appropriate for a dance than battle. Blood stained it as she quickly killed Quad's duplicates, and then Quad herself.
Hellfire snapped his whip at her. The woman flicked her hands, and dark energy burst in the Inhuman's face, causing his head to snap back as if punched. Even through his armor, Quake heard the sound of his neck snapping. In the same motion, the woman spun away from Tank's acid spit and Morph's expert kick, ducking and moving with deceptive grace.
In that moment, the giant returned with his axe and a battle roar. The blade came down on Tank's shoulder. In a blow that could have cleaved a normal person's torso in half. Tank's Inhuman power was able to absorb the blow as Tank himself brandished an Aekon power knife, slicing through the giant's armor.
The giant gripped Tank's throat with one hand, and with the other ripped the blade from his hand and punched it into Tank's chest. The initial blow made no more progress than the axe, but somehow the giant continued pushing. Tank could resist high caliber munitions and power weapons.
But the slower the impact, the less his resistance.
Bic flicked fire, only to scream as the woman cut off an arm, followed a moment later by his helmeted head. Morph absorbed the properties of the floor and managed to stop the woman's sword with only a chip of polished marble. He threw a punch, but his hand passed through an illusion.
The queen appeared over their injured master, her sword flashing.
Quake blasted her.
Tank screamed as the giant slowly drove his own knife through his chest. Quake's hands shook as she pulled her rifle and fired into the giant's temple at near point blank range. Even in his death, he finished Tank off, and both men fell dead to the floor.
Site appeared in the room just as the older Asgardian woman regained her feet. Her sword flashed faster than Site could react to, cutting deeply into his side and stomach. He flashed away again, but his appearance provided the distraction that the injured Master needed.
The woman wielded a pair of plasma pistols, firing each one in rapid succession, twelve shots in three seconds. The woman-likely Queen herself-had no more chance against the withering fire than the giant had against Quake's. The plasma bursts burned through her body as she stumbled back. She was dead of a final shot to the head before she even hit the floor.
The door opened behind them, and Loki strode in with Camo a step behind. The Inhuman's solo mission now appeared clear. Unlike his illusion, the real man's hair was tousled and a thin streak of blood marred his smooth cheek. He did not wear fine armor, but rather plain woolen breeches and a tunic. The newly freed Loki stopped just inside and surveyed the chaos.
Of the ten inhumans selected, Bender, Ion, Quad, Tank, Hellfire and Bic were dead. Lighter slipped in beside Camo while Morph checked the bodies.
"Well, that didn't go as planned," Loki noted. Something in his voice sounded different to Quake, like a sheathed dagger. The man very intentionally did not look at the fallen queen. "Your orders were to kill the king."
Their master ripped off her damaged helmet, revealing a bald blue head and black-in-black eyes. She bristled with cybernetic enhancements. "Your king was guarded. You said only his wife would be with him. You didn't say she was a warrior!"
Loki spun about. "She was a Asgardian queen, you pedantic imbecile! She fought wars your master can't even imagine!"
"She gave us no choice," the blue master declared.
"Yes, of course." Again Quake heard that sheathed dagger in the man's voice. She drifted closer to Site while the others continued to police their fallen.
Loki walked to the bed and stared down with a blank expression at the old man within. "Well, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, now, does it? You have the Tesseract?"
The blue woman relaxed, totally missing the veiled threat in Loki's tone.
Quake weakly knelt down beside the profusely bleeding Site and took his hand. He moved his helmet, seeing her with his power. His fingers squeezed hers briefly.
When Loki struck, he did so with the golden staff that lay propped against the back of the bed. He swung it around with an expert hand and unleashed a beam of golden fire that cut their master in half at the waist. Nor did he stop, sweeping the powerful weapon across Camo and Morph as well. Camo's inhuman power was a shape changer, but nothing more. She died instantly.
Morph retained the properties of the marble. The beam caused him to explode like a bombed statue.
"You fool!"
Somehow, their master still lived, and it was that fact alone that prevented Quake and Site from leaving. They could not leave their master, and would die fighting for her if she just ordered them to. Their chips left them no choice.
The master didn't even notice them. "Thanos will kill you for this! He'll raze your worlds into dust and make your death last for eons!"
"Perhaps. But he'll do it without my Tesseract, and without you."
The staff flared, and the blue woman screamed a second before the beam vaporized her upper body. He walked toward her with the staff in hand, and knelt down to pull at a pocket at the back of her weapons belt before he removed a glowing blue cube. As he stood, he saw Quake and Site.
"Sorry," he said as he somehow glimmered before their eyes into the same exact shape as the old man in the table. "No witnesses."
Site had them gone a split second before the golden fire killed them both.