Marvel Iron Age: S.H.I.E.L.D
Reprisal Part. 6
Power Station,
Under Lake Michigan:
Ngumi and her team are surrounded by, Creed's miles beneath Lake Michigan. This is were the city received most of their power and it was her job to shut it off. When they got here they stumbled upon a trap, and now were engaged in a savage fight for survival against these feral mutants.
“F@#% you!” John yelled firing a shot that took off part of a Creed's head. He fired several shot into the group of mutants. His set of twin mass accelerator pistols leaving gaping holes in the clones. “God, damn.” Only slowing them down.
Esperanza, one of Alan Bryce's shadows fought them with a staff she carried on her belt. Relying on acrobatics and quick hit and run strikes. “You know you're only pissing them off!” John said, shooting a Creed behind the Shadow's back in the chest.
Ngumi quickly sliced off the Creed's head, and swung to her left; slashing another charging Creed between the eyes. “I have to agree.”
Esperanza thrust her staff into the crotch of her opponent and flipped backwards while two other Creed's charged and tore into the other. “No killing, that's the rule.”
John shot another round into a Creed and preceded to take off it's hands with two well placed shots. “Dumb rule.” He said running to the cat walk above and firing at the mutants.
Esperanza grabbed, Ngumi by the waist and shot a line at the railing, zipping them up and away from the, Creed's below. “Alan's rule, not mine.”
John loaded more clips into his pistols. The Creed's below them roared made their way up the cat walk from both sides. Ngumi held her sword at the ready, blood from the battle stuck to her blade and gleamed in the light. Her breathing was calm and a smile came as the, Creed's continued their approach. “John I want you to find a weak point in that dome. Use those cybernetic eyes of yours, for something else besides staring at my ass.”
He looked up at the dome. “Hey, I wasn't...” It was energized and inside of it, held a man that was shackled and bound inside of it. Some how energy was being siphoned from him. As he observed in seconds he noticed an arch of energy the normal eye wouldn't see. It lead straight to a large, crystal held above him. “Okay, yeah I was.”
John shot the crystal at its weakest point in the center. Shattering into large pieces that crashed into the catwalk and into several Creeds. Crushing a few of them and collapsing the structure. The team tumbled to the ground floor, avoiding the massive shards that crashed all around them. One very nearly taking off John's head. Esperanza fought off two Creeds, with little success. The are too fast, too strong... well almost as fast as her. She could just barely evade their attacks.
Ngumi, hit the floor with a hard thud, a sharp pain in her side seemed to pulsate to every nerve in her body. She looked down. A small piece of railing went straight through her abdomen, just under her ribs. Four Creed's etched closer to her, like sharks smelling blood in the water. She picked her self up, her sword still in hand. She pulled out the piece of railing and began to bleed rapidly. Ignoring the pain, she readied her blade.
A sensation comes over her, like a whisper in the back of her skull. It was reptilian in nature and had a calming affect. She let it take control, ignoring the pain. She charged the Creed's giving no thought to the risks in her injured state. “Ngumi!” Esperanza called, kicking a Creed in the face.
“She can't hear you.” John said, scanning the room. Creed's were all over the place, healing from their injuries, and circling the group. “Some kind of blood rage-- dark passenger, blessing from death-- I don't know what she calls it.”
John looked up, the sphere was gone. The man in side was barely conscious, his restraints were gone and the glass cylinder lowered him to ground floor. Leaving a path for them to get through. “Come on!” John shouted running to the man. Esperanza looked back at, Ngumi who was completely enveloped in her fight. Seeming to enjoy every moment.
She followed after, John. Avoiding rejuvenated Creeds along the way. When she got their, John was all ready examining him. The man was shaved balled, and malnourished. His body had bruises all over. His most distinguishing feature was a rapidly healing burn mark on his head. It read: Makkari.
Ngumi still fought her opponents in the meanwhile. She weaved out of the way of their attacks, returning with one of her own. Decapitating two of them. She left her self open and was punished for her mistake. A Creed dug a set of his claws between her ribs, while the other left a deep gash on her lower back. She sunk her blade in left the eye of the, Creed in front of her, and tore it through the right side. Blood splashed her face as she fell to the floor. Her legs giving in. The Creed stood above looking hungrily at her.
It roared raising it's hand for the killing blow, that she eagerly anticipated. Where she would finally meet her gods embrace. As the claws came down it's head exploded. She was again denied death. “Ngumi, we've got to go!” John said, picking her up. “Damn, damn. We're gonna get you out of here.”
She sheathed her sword, letting John throw her over his shoulder. John shot at a few Creed's who began to creep towards them they seemed overly cautious and hesitant. Esperanza helped the man toward them. His recovery time was amazing, his injuries were almost fully healed, and he walked with a limp, and stumbled as he took a step. “This guy is a freak. He wasn 't even breathing !” Esperanza said, amazed by the stranger.
The Creed's started to back up from the group, allowing them to meet with each other. “That is only the half of it.” The stranger says. “Who... are...”
“No time to explain!” John said laying, Ngumi down. Blood started to pool around her and she started to lose color. “F%@$!”
The Creeds began to howl and roar, seeming to be in pain. They clawed at their collars and scattered through out the room. The entire station began to shutter and quake. John looked up, lake water was seeping into the the station and the ceiling began to fracture. “We need to get out of here! Right now!”
John bandaged, Ngumi's injuries as best he could and helped her to her feet. She was unresponsive. There was a door way on the other side of the room, beyond the cylinder that held the stranger. The team ran for it, water began to stream all around them.
Ferrum HQ:
Holland and his team are pinned down at the Ferrum building. Elizabeth lost control of her powers and has been laying a path of destruction around the building. Iron soldiers attempted to answer her attack, but were stricken away by her powers. Some of them being crushed in their armor. Ones that got through attempted to capture Holland, but due to the magnetic interference there armor was nearly useless.
“Boris how, Doc?” Holland called, taking cover behind a hover car. They crashed infront of the building after, Elizabeth tore the transport in half. Holland was sure he had a broken ankle as his left leg felt like he was walking on jelly. He tried to make sure no iron soldiers got to, Elizabeth.
“Dead, Commander. He's wedged into the cockpit, I can't tell where he begins and the transport ends!” He says, throwing a hover car at an iron man.
Holland was knocked out of cover by an explosion. An iron man launched a missile at him. Luckily it was off course or it would of hit him directly. Holland tried to crawl away from him, as the iron man sluggishly marched towards him. “Gotcha!” Boris said triumphantly as he grabbed the iron soldier in on of his massive hands. There was a quick and sudden crack as the helmet was crushed beneath his hand.
Reached out to grab, Holland. “Commander are you--” Blood splashed on, Holland's face and the terrible sound of bones cracking echoed in his head. An armored hand burst from, Boris' chest.
“Boris!” Holland called. Another hand shot through and slowly parted. Ripping the agent in half. It was an iron soldier managed to get past, Elizabeth. He raised his hand and fired a repulsor blast that tore through, Holland's armor.
Power Station,
docking bay:
John and Esperanza managed to get back to their submersible, with their injured. The station was flooding and parts were collapsing around them. The Creed's renewed their attack, while John did his best to fight them off. He was low on ammo and only had one of his guns left. “These damn things don't give up!” He said, shooting one of the mutants in the head. Another charged him, knocking him on his back and biting into his arm. The bones in his arm cracked beneath the Creed's powerful jaws. “Argh!”
Esperanza climbed out the submersible and ran to aid, John. “Get off of him!” She kicked the Creed in the face, knocking him into the lake. “Oh god.” She whispered at the sight of John's arm. Blood spurted out of the nub of his arm. She helped him to his feet as the struggled to get to the sub.
“Looks like I'll never learn, stair way to heaven.“ He groaned. Holding on to his arm.
“Shut up, I'll get us out, just...” An overwhelming force from behind the pair knocked them over. They were surrounded by four Creed's. John shot on in the eye, while Esperanza climbed back to her feet and rolled underneath the two in front of her.
Fearing for her life she ran toward the submersible. Several gun shots were ended by a blood curdling scream. As she climbed down the hatch. Catching a glimpse of John Somerset, being torn asunder.
Ferrum HQ:
A gun shot exploded in the distance, the iron man fell to Holland's feet. Another shot shattering it's helmet. The sky around Holand, roared and the ground shook. Above him a fleet of large ships took to the sky. Taking a closer look, he realized they were anything but. “Sentinels!” Hundreds of them were in the sky and landed all around the building,
The all fired energy blasts from the palms of their hands without care for collateral damage. Hitting Elizabeth head on. The blue aura around her intensified and the transport, buildings around him and the sentinels drifted forcefully into the air. Her blue aura enveloped the area, and everything made of metal whirled around the Ferrum building. Slamming into each other or tossed farther into the city.
Holland got up and ran toward her, stumbling a number of times before falling to the ground. “Elizabeth!” He yelled, as he tried crawling toward her. She was in the sky, her powers being out of her control. Alan Bryce injected something into her that made her lose control. He'd never seen this much power. Where ever she flew buildings were either crushed or pulled from their foundations. “Damn it.”
More sentinels flew in, to which Elizabeth replied by tossing a building at the giant machine. “So I'm not the only one drawn into this battle.” A voice said in front of Holland. He looked up, he was a black man, he was carrying a pulse rifle and offered a hand to the Shield agent.
Not questioning it, he took the man's hand. He stared at him for a moment. He seemed vaguely familiar, like an old photograph. The man looked at him the same way. “Do you know me stranger?” The man asked.
“The Kashmir war, you... forget it.” Holland sighed. He looked up, Elizabeth was battling sentinels, pouring more power out. “We have to stop her.”
“No need, Shield agent.” A cold and detached voice said from behind him. It was, Alan Bryce. He abandoned the transport before Elizabeth lost control. Holland bit his lit so hard he split it open.
The commander took a swing at him, landing a right cross on his jaw. “Bastard!”
Boris and Doc were dead, and as far as he knew so was Ngumi and John. Alan returned the attack with a knee to his gut and an elbow to the back of his head. He whipped around to face the other man Holland had been with, his gaze being met with the barrel of a rifle. “You tossed me off a building mask. Then you had me locked up.”
“The assassin?” Alan smacked the rifle away, kicking him in the face and knocking him on the ground. Alan picked up the man by the neck and tossed him aside. Holland seeing an opportunity, tackles Alan to the ground and land several rage evoked punches on him. Alan countered by hitting him in the throat and rolling him off.
A gun shot ran out and Alan was hit in the arm. The other man was back on his feet, and held a mass accelerator pistol. He puts another shot through his knee cap. “Argh!” Alan winced in pain as he dropped to his knees. The gunman held the gun to his head.
“Don't!” Holland yelled.
The man didn't fire. “Ghede is it not?” Alan says knowingly. “You tried killing me. I'm familiar with your work, usually they'd be cleaning my blood off the stairs at city hall. You couldn't pull the trigger this time. Why?”
Ghede paused for a moment and asked, “Can you stop her?” he gestured to Elizabeth, who at this point was tearing sentinels and iron soldiers out of the sky and tossing them in every direction.
Ghede noticed a light humming and turned around. A black glider flew in faster than he could move and he was hit be it, and audible crack being heard over the explosions around them. The glider whipped around and carried, Alan off toward Elizabeth. Soon he was out of sight as a bright flash of light blinded, Holland. A force strong enough to send him off the ground and flying several yards. Bouncing off the ground, he was sure several of his bones were broken.
He couldn't move, the sky above him flashed with red and orange. Fire seemed to fall from the sky. There was no sign of Elizabeth's aura and the explosions around him were deafening. He looked down, the leg of a sentinel had him pinned. He tried to push it off, but it wouldn’t budge. He called his team on his communicator, but no response was given. He was alone.
Epilogue:
Holland survived the, Chicago mission. He was confined to the med bay for the time being. The rest of his team was not so fortunate. Doc and Boris are dead, John is missing, Ngumi was listed in critical condition, and Elizabeth is in a coma. Commander Holland found himself in a new base, as the Triskelion was compromised. He spent several weeks in the new med bay because of his injuries. Reading the reports of the mission. Ferrum is calling the “Chicago incident” an act of terrorism and several of the “perpetrators” are listed in the news as follows:
Augustus Holland: [Leader of terrorist cell, missing, dangerous]
Ngumi: [lieutenant in terrorist cell, missing, extremely dangerous]
Elizabeth Maximoff:[Mutant, approach with caution]
John Somerset:[Killed]
Boris Reinhold:[Killed]
Theodore “Doc” Cole:[Killed]
Ghede:[Wanted in connection with terrorism]
Their faces, his team were all over the news. Protests against them and any rebellion raged. They were still pulling bodies from the ruble, but the number of dead has risen into the hundreds. S.H.I.E.L.D reports also list a number of operations have been compromised in Europe and all missions have been halted by Carol Danvers as a result in the days after. They had to be extremely careful now, more than ever before. Hundreds of former volunteers quit, leaving shield weak in, North America.
Holland turned off the projector in front of his bed. He couldn't watch it anymore. His team was being demonized, their names desecrated by the media. “Bastard!” He spat. Alan Bryce, had got whatever he was looking for from Ferrum head quarters, at the cost of his team. He agreed to aid shield, in any capacity. Holland personally wanted to make a trip back to Chicago and kill him. Carol kept him on leave and medical supervision.
“Commander?” Carol says quietly as the door to his room slides open. She visits everyday for a couple of hours, sometimes talking and other times saying nothing.
“Yes, Carol?” He says, looking over to her. He smiled, she wore old blue jeans and a v- necked tee shirt. Her face was smudged with black. “You're a mess.”
“The engine on the carrier needed some work.” She said walking over to the sink. “A new toy and a new base. Doom really went all out, this time.”
Holland scoffed.”Until he has no use for us. We're just lucky he allows a large number of agents to be put into shield.”
Carol splashed water on her face, rubbing it to remove the grease. “When he's not using shield as his secret police.”
She walked over to, Holland. “How do you feel, Augustus? I know you don't want to talk about it.”
“I don't.” He grunted.
Carol nodded. “We wont then.” She sat beside him on his bed, holding his hand tight. “But I'm right here when you do.”
He looked at, Carol. She had caring eyes and her touch was gentle. “You always have been.” He reached up and wiped a strand of hair from her face. “In all these years, you've been the only constant. The only thing that’s stayed the same, in this world of supermen.”
Carol leaned in, “And that wont change, soldier.” she put a lingering kiss on Holland's lips, while he returned it with one as gentle. He rapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her over to his side, holding her tight as they kissed. Not wanting this moment to end.
The Labs of Mr. Sinister:
Sinister looked at his newest test subject with a mixture of contempt and wonder. He was involved in an attack at Chicago, where a project he ran is being used against him by a shadow. He was forced to shut it down. Contemplating his revenge on the ones responsible. But in the meantime he had two S.H.I.E.L.D agents at his disposal. One was brought to him from the Rockies and the other was a man barely alive.
The man was brought in torn apart by a team of, Creeds. His limbs were severed and he was even partially eaten. “Yet you survive.” He said with venom. “Interesting.”
He walked among the both of them, observing the woman as she lay asleep due to the sedatives and the man, being kept alive by a machine. He clasped his hands together, elation shown on his face. “Lets see what I can do.”
The End... For now
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