Avengers: Wreckage
Chapter 40 (AIM WARS: One)
Alarms wailed in AIM's underwater headquarters off California's coast, lights flashing red as their defences went online.
"Argh!" Clymnestra Erwin cried out in pain as the base rocked with impacts and she fell out of her medical bed.
Cly had nearly died some years ago in an explosion, while trying to kill Iron Man. She SHOULD have died, but techs from AIM found her and put her back together. But it still took cyborg implants and a limited exoframe to restore her mobility...
Groaning Cly forced herself across the floor to her walking rig, then activated it, the braces snapping in place around her legs and back. With a grunt Cly got to her feet, then headed to a nearby console to try to find out what happened.
"Cly! Are you all right?" Monica Rappaccini's face appeared on the screen, the other woman actually looking alarmed.
"I'm alright," Cly waved that off, "what's going on?"
"MODOK," Monica said to her flatly as she explained, "he's leading a renegade faction of AIM against me."
(Because AIM was created and run by egotistical super geniuses, they often had rebellions and factioning. Several 'branches' of AIM had existed over the years, the most powerful currently led by Monica. But the cyborg MODOK aka Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing had control of another faction, and apparently hated Monica...)
The base was rocked by another explosion, nearly throwing Cly off her feet. "Ooof," Cly yelped, banging against a wall.
"Cly!" Monica yelped in alarm.
"I'm FINE," Cly bit out, her side aching as she tried to look unbothered. She continued, "What do you want me to do?"
"Get in the Firepower armor and launch," Monica ordered, "it'll keep you save, AND you'll be our best mobile firepower, so to speak."
"But what about you?" Cly demanded fiercely. She added dryly, "MODOK wants you dead, remember?"
"I have a force field, and if needed a personal teleporter built into my uniform," Monica reassured her. "I'll be fine."
Cly REALLY wanted to argue, but her friend was right. Damn it. "Okay," she then quickly added, "be careful."
"Will do. Now go," Monica ordered.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Monica grabbed a control panel, the black haired woman dressed in a green and gold AIM designed uniform as the base trembled.
"What about you?" Cly demanded. "MODOK wants you dead, remember?"
Monica was touched and a bit surprised. She knew Cly was focused on her revenge on Tony Stark, and felt oddly warm that she cared enough about her to worry. "I have a forcefield, and if needed a personal teleporter," Monica reassured her. "I'll be fine."
"Okay," Cly then quickly added, "be careful."
"Will do. Now go," Monica ordered.
The base shuddered, and another siren went off, signalling a water breech. Lovely. Monica gave the command to evacuate the base, even as she hurried down the corridor.
'WHY did MODOK decide to hit us now?' she mused as she hurried to a life pod. Yes, he hated her, but spending these resources on just getting her didn't make sense. 'Stark?' she wondered, then shook her head. Not his style.
A panicking AIM scientist got in her way, so Monica casually blasted him with a beam weapon built into her glove. She left the smoking corpse behind then hurried to the life pods. Her executive passcode unlocked a reserved life pod, and she climbed in.
'Of course,' Monica realized, 'the cape-killer tech!'
AIM in general was obsessed with Tony Stark's technology, and she imagined the idea of actually getting WEAPONS made by him was even more of an enticement. It certainly made sense that MODOK would want to grab any tech he had created.
Monica strapped herself in then launched, the sudden surge of g-forces pushing her back into the command chair. After a moment she brought up the pod's weapon systems, even as she took in the situation around them.
MODOK-AIM forces were attacking in humanoid undersea armor and attack subs, firing at her undersea base. Her AIM loyalists were fighting back, in both the weapon equipped escape pods, as well as mecha of their own. The sea around them was a swirling mass of weapon detonations, explosions and clouds of blood.
As she was watching, the bulky, grey Firepower armor launched, and began to use the large ion canons on it's arms to mow down attackers right and left.
"Damn it, Cly, I wanted you to run," Monica muttered.
As Monica brought the guns on her pod online, she wondered when SHIELD and the local super heroes would get involved...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"What the HELL?" Carol Danvers blinked, the blonde seeing flashes of light out on the water off-shore.
Her communicator buzzed.
"Yeah?" Carol replied.
Olivia Stane said briskly, "There's some kind of pitched battle going on off-shore. No idea what's going on, but the Governor has asked us to look into it."
"Got it. I'll get out there and investigate," Carol nodded as she hurried up to the building's roof.
"I've called Thunderstrike, she's on her way," Olivia sounded amused, "I think I interrupted her and her girlfriend."
"Ha," Carol smiled as she got to the rooftop.
"We'll launch War Machine and Brass as soon as we can," Olivia added, "be careful."
"Will do," Carol summoned her energy powers and transformed, switching her street clothes for her black and gold Warbird outfit. In a burst of energy, she took off into the morning sky.
"Holy shit," Monica Stewart blinked, having been up there, behind the water tower for a smoke. "Carol is a SUPER HERO?!"
Still unaware her secret identity was blown, Warbird soared over LA, then out over the ocean, swidtly reaching the mysterious lights. Lights she quickly realized were an under water battle.
'Fuck, I can't breathe underwater,' Warbird started, when a mech burst from the ocean, then shot at her.
"DIE HERO!" the voice came over speakers.
The first shell hit Warbird and exploded with enough force to throw her backwards. Warbird recovered fast though, dodging shots then closing with the armor and ripping the front open with her bare hands.
"Eeep," the man in a yellow uniform gasped, wearing a odd, almost beekeeper like helmet.
"AIM," Warbird recognized them instantly. She pulled him out of the armor then dangled him by one hand, "Tell me what's going on, or I drop you in the ocean."
"We... we're hunting the renegade Rappaccini! For the honor of AIM, she must die!" the man gasped out.
"Ah," Warbird sighed. "So, AIM civil war stuff?"
As they were talking, more explosions went off bellow them.
She activated the stunned AIM dude's life jacket, dropped him in the water, then decided what she should do.
"Warbird!" Thunderstrike called as she soared up, carried by her enchanted mace.
"About time," Warbird teased.
"This TOTALLY interrupted some morning nookie," Thinderstrike admitted and Warbird laughed quietly.
"Supervillains are SO inconvenient," Warbird noted as more mechs burst from the water, but were shooting at each other.
"What's the plan?" Thunderstrike asked, diving in to seperate them.
"Keep them from killing each other, and us," Warbird said dryly.
"Good plan," Thunderstrike smashed one out cold with her mace.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Ma'am!" Rachelle Burroughs hurried into the office.
Victoria Hand nearly choked at the skimpy top and mini-skirt her second in command was wearing. "Yes?" she managed.
"Big fight off the coast," Rachelle reported, passing her a tablet. "AIM tech mecha."
"Well, at least we know where AIM is now," Victoria muttered. She studied the video, "Different branches of AIM?"
"We've identified the mechs, some are from MODOK's branch, others are either generic AIM tech or from Rappaccini's group," Rachelle confirmed. She cleared her throat. "Force Works has already responded, we've sighted Warbird and Thunderstrike on scene," Rachelle said, changing the image on the tablet.
Victoria fought down a surge of annoyance at how fast the supers had responded. "Get any free agents mobilized," she said, getting up from her desk, "we need to try to grab Rappaccini."
"You're going...?" Rachelle asked.
"We don't have enough agents for me not to," Victoria said, "hold down the fort, and keep me updated."
"Aye ma'am," Rachelle saluted as Hand hurried out.
To be continued...