Asgard Ruins Perimeter, Oklahoma - 17:22PM, 24th August
James slid down the slope opening fire causing the thralls to scatter as the rest of the team slid down behind him. They had faced low intensity opposition all the way to the ruins of Asgard and now they were finally in sight. As the team crashed through the final wave of opposition they bolted into a collapsed hall and vaulted into a church crushed beneath the wreckage, the stain glass windows sticking out like jagged knives from the walls and ceiling. Panting Victoria sat down on a pew as the rest of the team blocked the entrance from any further thrall incursions.
"You know you didn't have to bring that thing with us." Geode said snidely, "Still you held up better then Ghost he could barley carry the case for more then five minutes."
"Physical lifting isn't my speciality, that's why we have someone with more broader limbs like War Machine to carry stuff like that." Ghost spat back.
"It's hard to believe that I missed this." James told Natasha as they moved the alter to the back of the church, "Still I suppose being in a coma and then almost being killed multiple times in Botswana might do that to a man."
"You know the rest of us aren't getting out of this." Natasha replied as Toxin moved a font and blocked up the final hole. "Osborne injected us with a deadly suicide weapon, as soon as we complete the mission we are dead. And with Tate left behind we have no chance at getting the antidote in time." she added.
"Don't be so sure." James told her, "If the mission goes to plan Osborne is going to give us the formula of his own free will."
Osborne's Camp, Oklahoma - 17:52PM, 24th August
"So that's what happened, we were attacked by Chemistro and Airborne, we crashed, I blacked out and by the time I came round your sick little pervert had dragged me half way back to base." Tate told Osborne as he removed the dented pieces of armor he was wearing. "Honest Mr. Osborne I had no idea we would be ambushed like that."
"Any evidence for her story O'Grady?" Osborne asked wearily.
"Well I've never met Airborne before but I remember seeing a file on Calvin Carr and he was defiantly there. As for the black-ops team, they must have high-tailed it as soon as the Zeus crashed because they were gone. Daken and Brigade are still on their trail even though I thought it better to return to base." Eric answered, "I believe her sir and not just because she has a pretty face." he explained as Tate glared at him, her eyes boring through the man's chest.
"Very well, O'Grady take five and then come back here I have another assignment that I need you to take care of." Osborne ordered. Eric quickly scampered away and Osborne grabbed Tate by the arm and rolled back the sleeves of her flight suit, "Ms. Williams you're not fooling anyone." he spat as he threw her hard onto the floor. "I know why you're here and I'm not going to give you the formula I used on your friends."
"I'm not here for them Osborne." Tate answered through gritted teeth, "HYDRA abducted my son and sold him as a biological weapon. He was purchased with gold confiscated from the Strucker account by HAMMER. I want your help to find out who's responsible and punish them."
"So you want to be part of Internal Affairs?" Osborne said before bursting into laughter, "Yes because I'm going to allow that." Tate bowed her head before placing a gold bar at Osborne's feet.
"That's proof; not all the money came from Strucker's coffers, the US treasury is investigating whether or not HAMMER had anything to do with a raid on Fort Knox." she informed him smiling sweetly, "You see you might be in control of all the armed forces but the internal affair board is still free to operate as they see fit. The Oversight Committee is losing faith with brilliant God Slayer Osborne, they want to know he's," she paused, "clean. You can't stop me from investigating and I'd rather hope you would have the intelligence to help me rather then hinder because as you know, women can be very fickle."
"If you're trying to blackmail you'd better be sure that your going to get away with it." Osborne snarled
"Actually the answer I was looking for was, 'yes Tate oh most fair and magnificent woman, I would gladly help you with your investigation', Tate stated. Osborne growled under his breath his hands crushing the sliver of armor plating he was carrying.
"I'll take that as a yes." Tate said, "Oh by the way, if I were you I'd find something to placate me with. When I get angry I make the Hulk look civil." she added as she walked out of the command tent. Passing Antman chewing on a chocolate bar she smiled before muttering, "Good Luck he's in a really bad mood."
"Great," Eric moaned as he headed nervously into Osborne's Tent.
Dilapidated Chapel, Asgard Ruins, Oklahoma - 17:59PM, 24th August
"So this," Victoria said pointing to the blinking holographic map of the ruins of Asgard, "Is the Thrall Control Tower, we take that down and we reduce the Asgardian Army's size by over 50%."
"And give Osborne the signal to terminate us at his whim." Toxin added sulkily.
"Does anyone think that we might get epilepsy if we stare at hat map too long?" Ghost asked, "Because studies show that we are all in danger of it's effects."
"Jesus Christ." Victoria swore, "I am working with a gaggle of retards. If you had all done as I said we wouldn't be in this problem. We're all looking at a no-win situation, we're dead either way so stop your whinging and forget about the epilepsy because whatever the hell your worried about we have worse problems." she yelled slamming her hand into an antique gold cross mounted around the table where the map had been set up. Almost instantly she started cursing before kicking the cross away.
"Hmm it is as I feared." Ghost mused, "HAMMER is replacing all its top operatives with Vampires."
"Seriously Ghost." James announced, "We all saw Victoria trek over sun baked plains, if she was a vampire she would have burst into flames or at the very least sparkled."
"Sparkled?" Geode asked, "What does that mean? As for the burning hand I'm certain that the experiment preformed by Zola. Some faire folk such as elves and pixies have a severe allergic reaction to metal."
"He he sparkled." Ghost snickered, "What that means Geode is that James has a poor choice in movies."
"Enough." Natasha snapped, "All of you stop bickering." she ordered, "Victoria how painful is your hand?"
"It's healing, and quickly." she announced, "Still that limits my plan of placing thermite bombs on the tower's foundations and burning them out. And since Tate is elsewhere then we don't have immediate access to any oven bake plastic explosives." she added.
"If the tower is made of any kind of mineral I should be able to turn it to sand. The only problem is that some magical structures have the nasty ability to recreate themselves. It's the reason why Asgard usually reforms so quickly as long as Odin or Thor was within the cities walls then regeneration took less then a day." Geode informed them.
"Logan do you have any ideas, I mean you have done this longer then any of us." Natasha asked.
"Something stinks and the reek is getting stronger." Wolverine announced.
"What is it?" James asked, "Thralls, Asgardians or is it just the fact that Ghost hasn't washed for five years."
"Worse then that, it smells like my son and he's not alone." Logan told them, "Judging from the scent he's travelling with Stonewall, Deadpool, The Lizard and Turncoat Tate."
"Of course Project Brigade." Victoria moaned, "Your not wrong Logan." Wolverine growled as she mentioned his name, "Osborne met a young soldier called Thorne who sacrificed himself twice to save Osborne from Deadpool. Osborne took his body and Baron von Blitzschlag turned the corpse into a DNA sponge. Any genetic material can and will be added to the roster of profiles for him to use in battle. The body itself was reanimated by machinery and computing powers. I had no idea that the project was in anything but it's infancy though." she added.
"Then let's rip this techno zombie's head off." Logan announced unsheathing his claws. "It's bad enough Osborne sent us to our doom but now he's sending his Avengers to get in our way."
"You forgot about the assassins that Nike hired." Toxin added, "Airborne and the bad Chemistro are a clear indication that she knows we're back in the game."
"I have an idea." Victoria said nervously, "Let's not be here when our enemies arrive. This church is practically a kill box and I for one would rather save the day and then die instead if dying before saving the day." she added wrapping an Assault Rifle in a cloth before holstering it on her back before slotting some frag grenades in a bandolier. "Now let's get this show rolling, the faster we move the less chance that Wolverine Junior and his Corpse Buddy won't catch up with us."
Yeah if only it were that easy." Wolverine snarled as the team picked up their gear and headed towards the buckled doors at the front of the church and Asgard's Interior.
Osborne's Camp, Oklahoma - 18:22PM, 24th August
Scourge stomped past a broken down M1 Abrams Tank towards the pair of women dressed in desert camouflage waiting by the checkpoint. As he arrived the guards quickly saluted and walked further down the fence line to give the commander his privacy.
"Commander Sir." One of the women said saluting smartly.
"Relax Bile I know why you're here." Scourge answered, "Who's your friend?" he asked.
"Ubermesch 022," the woman replied snidely, "But I was given the code-name Redback by SHIELD since I was the anti Black Widow. Now where is 021, scans show she's in the camp."
"The Internal Affairs woman I presume." Scourge asked Bile.
"Yeah Tate Williams herself." Bile replied, "No messing around with hormones this time, a bullet through the brain will suffice in this scenario."
"You understand that if Osborne catches you or Doctor Williams somehow evades your assassination attempt, that I can do nothing to help you. I have my loyalties and Osborne cannot even for one moment consider that I have been disloyal to him." Scourge explained, "As I mentioned to Moult, should you be interrogated you are not to mention anything about my off-base activities, do you understand soldier?" he asked
"Yes Sir." Bile replied loudly as Scourge waved the guards back to their post.
"Your free to head inside." Scourge replied removing a large hunting knife from his ammo belt. "As for you two." he sneered at the guards, "You two know to much." he answered jamming the knife in one before snapping the neck of the other. "Your sacrifice hasn't been in vain Marine." he told the dead bodies as Bile and Redback headed into the HAMMER command post invisible in the crowd of army units milling around and preparing for the next big assault.