NOVEL WEB Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Earth-695
Meanwhile, on Earth…
Tony Stark was having the time of his life, he had the pleasure of becoming a student again as he learned from the Virtual Reality network in Ceres Space Dock, the space station created by Komand’r’s AI in orbit of Earth. He was slowly getting to learn how to get to the nanoscale level.
Already, Tony put on hold building more suits. He was busy studying and coming up with force fields, he got to build emitters and create a 180° field cover. The billionaire also discovered that a full covering forcefield was hard to come up with and that he might need to find a mathematical solution to this problem.
It was all buried in that knowledge that was given to him to study, to catch him up like his friend, Princess Blackfire had told him. The problem was that he had a problem with the way the knowledge was indexed; he resolved to create an AI for this express purpose.
While he thought that, Tony was interrupted by his trusty JARVIS. [Sir, there are three SHIELD agents on the porch.]
Tony sighed, since he became responsible for this damn space station, the government and its agencies have been bothering him all the time. At this point, nothing would get done if they interrupted him at the most inopportune times… “Which ones?”
[The Director, Mister Fury, Agents Barton and Coulson.] The cultured voice reported to him while also showing a holo-screen showing the three agents outside his doors.
Before Tony could decide what to do; he saw his wife-to-be, Pepper, open the door for the agents. “Phil, what are you doing here?”
The inventor sighed; Pepper shouldn't bypass security like this; it could have been people disguised as the three agents who wanted to assassinate him.
“Good morning, Miss Potts. Is Doctor Stark home?” He heard the smooth voice of Phil Coulson greet his fiancee on the speakers.
Tony poked a button to the intercom in the house, activating the one at the door and said, “Pep, bring them all in!”
“Sure, Tony!” He heard the redhead say.
“Nosey spies… but at least they are useful for something.” Tony mumbled as he locked the holo-table in his workshop. It wouldn't be good if someone infiltrated his lab again to steal his research. Obadiah Stane has been a lesson that he can't forget.
He moved toward the door leading out of the workshop which was located in the basement. He went up the stairs and locked down the entrance to his basement workshop, two shutters closed down on the door. Tony had learned his lessons well and beefed up security around and inside his house; that purple man incident won't happen again. JARVIS was given more teeth and access to the hidden defenses that Tony had recently built.
The billionaire turned toward the short corridor that gave the view to the living space inside the house. When he arrived in his living room, Pepper was serving tea to Phil Coulson, while the director of SHIELD, Nick Fury, stood before the panoramic window overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The other man, Agent Barton, stood behind the sofa where Coulson was sitting.
Slowly walking in while straightening his black band t-shirt, Tony greeted his guests. “Gentlemen, I'm surprised to see you this early, what's up? Do you need more of my services? If it's to give you more access to the space station-”
“Stark, this isn't the time for power play. We have a situation…” Fury turned toward him, he looked serious.
He walked up to tony and handed him a file full with pictures showing the solar system, and a planet in particular; it was Uranus and an object had been spotted by the Hubble telescope. Its trajectory showed that it came straight for Earth. Tony frowned as it showed a triangle-like shape with sharp edges.
The billionaire looked from the files to Fury's Lome eye. “New aliens are coming toward us?”
“We don't know, that’s why we need your help.” The Director said with an uncertain tone.
“You shall have it.” Tony said without hesitating. “Now let's roll out the red carpet for our guests.”
~/.\~
(Hela Odinsdottir)
Hyper dimension
At the same time
Meanwhile in Asgard…
Hela marveled at the ship-shaped construct she entered with Thor. It was working on a completely different paradigm as an Asgardian ship. Seeing similar beings like Komand'r still made the Goddess of Death wary, but they seem to be less powerful than her.
Compared to them she felt weak, constrained; following her, there was the handle of the weapon containing her powers following her in a ghostly fashion. It was taunting her, each time she tried reaching out for it… her fingers phased through it.
Thor noticed as he put his hand on Hela's shoulder. “Don't worry, elder sister, you will get your power back. I was like you before… I was brash, my ego as big as the moon, but eventually, I saw the error of my ways. Komand'r and my friends helped me become the warrior I am today.”
The ravenette batted away his hand and glared at him. “You assume you know me, Thunderer? Just because we have the same father doesn't mean that I recognize you. Odin may have taken my power, but I will beat this, I will get back what was taken from me. Even lessened as I am, I am still better than you, who needs that little toy hammer to channel your own powers. I pity you.”
Hela delighted in the pain her half-brother was showing; but the young prince quickly got back his smile as he said, “I guess that I will need to prove myself to you, sister mine. Komand'r has an arena on board, I will bring you there later.”
Hela frowned, something was wrong with that man… he really expected her to be a good sister to him? Not with him being a tool of Odin. Crossing her arm under her breasts, Hela harrumphed. “A fight? Just after the one with Komand’r?”
It was hard for Hela to admit that wasn't she wasn't at 100% right now, but Komand'r was powerful and had a mean right hook. Thor perked up at Hela's own admission and said, “Ah you're right, I will wait for you to recover first.”
This surprised Hela, she wouldn't have let her enemy rest: once again she didn't know how to react to her half-brother's behavior. So she defaulted to harrumph and put on airs. “Excellent, you can be reasonable, let's schedule it for tomorrow.”
It was at that same moment that a woman shaped missile bowled into Thor. “Thor! You're here!”
The woman was tall, as is the norm for Asgardian women; beautiful and her hair was a shade brown. Her body was quite voluptuous as well, the blue skin-suit covered by some kind of white coat showed off her body. Hela saw her half-brother catch the woman by the waist and twirl around with her. “Jane! I am glad to see you.”
The Asgardian Prince put her down and hugged her; then the woman, Jane, began to pout and coquettishly said, “You're a difficult man to catch, you know that?”
Hela rolled her eyes when Thor took Jane's hands and kissed her knuckles. “Unfortunately, I have many duties, mine love.”
Jane blushed and averted her eyes from him while pushing him away. “Excuses, excuses… well at least you're here now.”
The woman finally noticed Hela's presence. Finally! “Hmm who might this be?”
Thor quickly placed himself between the two of them and introduced Hela. “This is my elder sister, Hela.”
Jane's eyes opened wide and made a perfect curtsy and introduced herself in full. “Oh, it's nice to meet you, Princess Hela. I am Jane Foster, the navigation officer on this ship.”
Hela was touched that someone showed her common courtesy, this woman wasn't so bad. “Interesting, well met, Jane Foster. Tell me, how is it on this ship?”
Jane straightened her position and stood tall and seemed to search for the right words to explain herself. “I joined only recently and because I am Blackfire's friend she allowed me to come. The Hyperdimension is a wonderful ship, its technology is beyond everything that we know; the interior is bigger than it shows externally because of the spatial folding technology inside.
As for the people? They are pleasant to speak with and very helpful and… um how to say it. They are very sexually liberated if you catch my meaning…”
Oh yes, she understood perfectly, even more so when she had noticed Komand'r looking at her backside when she thought Hela couldn't see.
“Did one of them make a pass at you?” Thor's voice was controlled and he wasn't happy about that news.
Jane panicked when she heard his voice and quickly and honestly replied, “Well, yes. But don't worry! I made it clear that I am seeing you and am not interested.”
Hela laughed, this situation was like watching a play. The freeman girl meets the dashing prince. *How quaint. But now I have a way to control Thor; Jane will make a good pawn.*
Thor looked at Hela and Jane, his voice was tight. “Let’s find Lady Komand'r… I find myself having more things to talk about with her.”
Jane had a nervous expression on her face. “Thor…”
Pulling her forward in the direction of the crew quarter, Thor walked with purpose; Hela followed the two lovers, wanting to see someone's suffering beyond her own. It was a trait of her personality that she had cultivated since she was young, Odin had encouraged it.
They took the nearest turbo-lift and arrived at deck 2 where the crew quarters were located. The captain's cabin was located right at the center of the deck; they passed many Midgardian and Tamaranean crew mingling in the rest area. Some of the Tamaranean women wore outfits showing a lot of skin, absorbing the artificial sunlight produced by the lighting in the recreation areas.
Hela finally understood what Jane meant when she said Tamaranean are free spirits, some of them didn't even wear a top. The midgardian girls mimicked some of them and started cuddling with them openly; this surprised Hela a bit… still they didn't fornicate in public that was still something.
They arrived before an ornate door, Thor placed himself right next to it and said, “TALI, I and my party wish to speak with Lady Komand'r. “
[Querying for permission.]
To Hela, the voice was similar to Komand’r’s but it sounded… off; cold and toneless. After a moment, the voice rang again and said, [Permission granted.]
The door swished open and the gold luster in the room reflected on how opulent and palatial the cabin interior was. The walls and ceiling were made of marble, with gold engraving.
The stairs leading inside were made of gold floating platforms, anti-gravity seemed to be part of the theme of the furniture. Hela could see that there were a lot of flowers on display, even free-floating holographic flames in the background contributing to the lighting. The decor was pleasant to look at, so much so that Hela praised it, “Nice Cabin.”
“You!” A blonde haired Asgardian woman stood up, shock written all over her face and pointed her glowing green hands at Hela.
The blonde sorceress shot her with Eldritch beams of magic which… splashed harmlessly against a radiant shield of magic interposing itself between the two women. Hela smirked, Komand'r had been truthful and really did protect her.
"I will give you a five out of ten on the spell attack, I've seen better." She taunted the sorceress.
With a meaty sound, Komand’r’s palm met her face and she floated between Hela and Amora who looked quite panicked and afraid. “Amora-love, Friend-Hela... why don't you both calm down?”
The sorceress, Amora, walked up to Komand’r and pointed a finger at Hela. “My Lady! She's Hela, the Goddess of Death! She's a genocidal maniac!”
Hela rolled her eyes, she was used to being reviled; after all she did slaughter civilizations and her father's enemies. Komand'r put a hand on Amora's shoulder and said in a soft voice, “Amora, I am technically branded as one too.”
The Goddess of Death froze, and remembered what komand'r had told her when she lay defeated, on her back.
***
The Sun Goddess didn’t show any sign of discomfort as Hela strangled her and she spoke with care as she said, “I was in your place once, conquering my enemies for my people and in the end… I too was betrayed by loyal hands. That is why… Hela, whatever you may be, your story doesn’t end today.”
***
*She's like me? I need to know more.* Hela was intrigued by what she heard, and decided to investigate later.
Amora's eyes widened, then she walked up and wrapped her arms around Komand'r. “No, you're different!”
Hela felt a bit of jealousy at that moment, Komand'r seemed to have surrounded herself with people who believed in her and thought that she was more than a killer. Komand'r lifted Amora's face with her finger under the sorceress’ chin and kissed her on the lips, the sorceress blushed and stepped back from her.
Hela heard the mischievous voice of her half-brother ruin the lovely scene. “I am impressed, Lady Komand'r. You won over Amora quite fast.”
Komand'r gave a look to the Asgardian Prince showing that he should stay in his lane. “Thor, please, don't make it worse.”
Thor laughed. “Ah! Don't be so embarrassed my friend.”
Komand'r zipped toward him and lightly punched him and Thor slammed into a wall, still laughing and he said, “I felt that!”
The Tamaranean finally smiled and floated to him and helped him up. Then everyone started partying and filling themselves with food appearing out of nowhere on the table. Hela was standing in a corner watching Komand'r interact with her lovers and her friends; she couldn't imagine why the Tamaranean Princess was playing those socializing games. Some people were boring to speak to, but Hela could appreciate how strong those people looked, even more so the short haired blonde in white skin-suit.
Hela started to spy on the conversation Komand'r was having with the ones called Darcy. The brunette stared at Hela, her gaze lingering on her body. “She's hot… Fire, is she one of your new conquests?”
Hela could be considered as such, but Komand'r denied it while wrapping her arm around Darcy. “No. Hela is my new subordinate; I have enough lovers, thank you.”
She was rebuffed, that was a first for her. Anyway, she wasn't in the headspace to think about romance; Hela needed to recover her power.
~/.\~
(Commander Koldonn)
Komand’r’s land
Asgard
He was happy to be out there on the planet and to be able to organize the guard details of his captain's. He was doing all the recruitment in the meadhall of the Green Hill village on her highness’ land. The people were thankful that there was a new Lady in power, even more so when they erected an atmospheric dome around the village which turned winter weather into that of spring.
The lands given to Komand’r have a dry continental climate, with a large variation between summer and winter temperatures. Komand'r hoped to make the land more hospitable for her subjects by crafting a bigger weather manipulation device which would not impact the surrounding lands controlled by other nobles.
Koldonn was sitting at the table right next to the stairs leading to the second floor of the mead hall. There weren't a lot of applicants amongst the veterans coming to join her highness’ bannermen; the youngest Asgardians were enthused though, the male joined as warriors and the women as magic users of varying strength.
Koldonn had used the lure of Prince Thor and Amora often participating in joint operations with them for this recruiting drive. He promised access to magical tomes, excellent training facilities, victorious banquets at the end of missions and a really good monthly pay of ten gold.
The synthetic Tamaranean was going to interview the last of the hopefuls. His name is Skurge and he was a powerfully built asgardian man with tattoos on each side of his head. His personal armor was well maintained and showed signs of light repairs.
Koldonn put his PADD on the table between him and his hopeful. “Well met, Skurge.”
The Asgardian sat up straight as he greeted back. “Thank you for having me, sir.”
Koldonn nodded, then linked his fingers together and stared at the Asgardian with interest. “You volunteered to join her highness’ Bannermen, might I inquire why?”
The hulking Asgardian sighed, his armor jangling a bit. “Certainly… Since I was young, I always desired to join the good fight and defend Asgard. After Lady Komand’r’s speech at the All-Father's banquet, I decided to lend her my axe in her quest to save the universe. I want to be remembered as one of her helpers who destroyed the threat to us all.”
The synthetic Tamaranean nodded, his lie detection protocols didn't ping once, the man was completely sincere. He was also idealistic and seemed like a genuine good person. “I understand.”
But Koldonn would still make him go through the Murder Deck boot camp simulation. He grabbed his PADD, unlocked it and consulted the dossier he had access to thanks to her Highness Komand'r. Born in Asgard to a stonemason father and a mother who was a baker, Skurge had one ambition throughout his young life, to prove himself as an Asgardian warrior worthy of being remembered. Skurge trained to eventually become a soldier within Einherjar, prepared to sacrifice his own life for the protection of the throne and his fellow Asgardians.
So far what he read matched what the Asgardian had told him. Koldonn put down the PADD on the table and smiled as he said, “Your services in the Einherjar speak for itself, you're an exemplary soldier and a good warrior. We will take you.”
This was the first time that Koldonn saw childish glee appear on the face of such a grown man. Skurge slapped the table, stood up and said, “You won't regret it, Commander.”
Koldonn followed suit and held his arm to the Asgardian who grabbed it with his own. The synthetic Tamaranean asked, “Do you have any special needs or wishes that we can fulfill?”
The man let go of his arm and turned into a shy boy as he asked, “Can… can you allow me to take some of my stuff?”
Raising an eyebrow, Koldonn asked, “Stuff?”
Skurge replied, “I am a bit of a hoarder you see.”
TALI who had been spying showed a picture of Skurge's house and how it was filled with knick knacks. The Commander then smirked, he finally understood. “I will see what I can do. Space isn't a problem.”
~/.\~
(Lorelei)
Lorelei was happy, she was finally leaving the dreary boredom of Asgard. Nice place, there was a lot of magic to learn at the Queen's Academy… but the prejudice against magic users made it so that she and other women like her weren't trusted.
Discrimination was such a vile and petty thing; it slowed progress and advancement. Asgard was such a static society that it wasn't even funny, despite all their accomplishments, the people still thought that being a warrior was all that mattered. At some point in her life, Lorelei had wanted to fix this hypocritical dichotomy in their people but thanks to her sister, Amora, Lorelei was talked out of lashing out and trying to fix this problem as it was endemic in their society.
Right now she stood before the restored magical tower of her sister, sitting on a hill next to the magic school she had come up with to train the asgardian girls who joined the crew of the Hyperdimension.
It was a majestic circular building with a domed roof, the architecture was also unique; it must be good to be loved by a princess. *Amora always had all the luck compared to me.*
Floating magical lights surrounded the building, contributing to its magical atmosphere. There were pixies flying around and some girls in uniform were gardening; they were more utilitarian than beautiful, it was a dark blue knee-length dress with a corset tightening at the waist and short mid-calf black boots. Some of them had a brooch of golden or silver color on their chest.
Obviously this showed that some kind of ranking system had been established, Lorelei needed to know more. It was at this point that Lorelei felt herself being hugged by someone. It was Amora, and Lorelei was happy to see her. “Sister! I’m so glad to see you. Nice school.”
They kissed each other's cheek, and Amora asked with a hopeful tone, “Lorelei, you’ve come to pitch in?”
Lorelei's eyes opened wide and a slow smile spread on her lips. “Like… become a teacher here? Is that an offer?”
Her sister nodded fervently, Amora looked quite tired. “Yes.”
Wasn't it what Lorelei had been wanting? Work, a fulfilling activity which would stave off the incredible boredom of her life on Asgard. Lorelei nodded and held her hand to her sister. “I accept, I have nothing to do anyway…”
Amora shook her sister's hand and slapped her right shoulder playfully. “Excellent, I will give you a premium room to put your things in.”
This was a tremendous opportunity, Lorelei realized as becoming part of the teaching staff also translated to have a big position in the command structure of the Hyperdimension. The redheaded sorceress was giddy at the prospect of learning new things or going to fight enemies.
“But first…” Amora's hand tightened on Lorelei's and the enchantress said with menace in her voice, “Lorelei, I will be cross with you if you ruin my current position with my Lady, you better not try anything that would jeopardize our family's interest. Understood?”
Lorelei realized that not only was her sister being serious, Amora was actually threatening her. This has never happened before and showed how serious Amora was about Princess Komand'r. And by doing this, the avenue of climbing the ranks of the school through her ability to enchant people was definitely closed. “V-Very well, sister.”
Amora sighed in relief and her usual smile returned. “Good, now let us go.”
Lorelei found it hard to smile back but she did it; their family was tied to Princess Komand'r through marriage, jeopardizing it would mean to either be put on house arrest or be banished. The redheaded enchantress was led to the dining hall where Komand'r was giving a speech to all the newcomers.
Princess Hela and some of her staff were right behind her.
“Good morning, I extend a warm welcome to all those gathered here today, including our esteemed teachers, and students. I’d like to express our gratitude to Queen Frigga for joining us. We feel privileged to have such a great figure in our midst!
This day, as I am sure most of you would know, marks the great opening of the Enchantress Institute Of The Arcane. All of you have come here to learn and be useful to our Kingdom, Asgard. I won't lie to you, you'll be tested, broken down, but each time we will rebuild you. In the coming months, you will be taught different initiatives with the help of planned classes, going from magical theory to practical war magic.
I hope these subjects and training will help you grow and become stronger as well as smarter than your present capacity.
Thank you for being such a wonderful audience and let us give a huge round of applause for my manager/the next speaker.
Hope you have a wonderful day ahead!
Thank You!”
Princess Komand'r floated and left the podium where Queen Frigga took her place and began to speak of the lesson plan. Lorelei liked the fact that Princess Komand’r’s speech wasn't long and tedious, she even went to the point. The Tamaranean saw Amora and Lorelei and flew toward them, she landed right before the redhead and put her fist on her hips. “Hello, sister in law! I am glad that you decided to join us. Your help will be sorely needed.”
Lorelei thought that Tamaranean was too peppy for her own sake… what did Amora see in her?
~/.\~
(Shayera Thal II)
???
???
She had known that this had been too easy and now? Now she had fallen into a trap. Why would the police chief allow her to take an old Nth metal patrol? The patrol had started so well… her XO was telling her about a string of pirate raids on their colonies.
The perpetrators always took the people and the goods they produced. This couldn't go on as the material and economic fallout slowly created a recession in the core worlds of Thanagar. The Ruling Council had dispatched similar patrolmen all over their territories.
They eventually found the raiders and defended against them, but it became clear that those ‘raiders’ were organized and well equipped. She guessed that a powerful individual or organization was preying upon her people. It was at this point that she realized that she was bait as Nth metal was rare and attractive, so the Ruling Council wanted to trace the origin of the raiders.
As to prove her right she noticed how the Nth metal of the ship was imbued with a peculiar energy signature. The wing men weren't the toy of the council, so she was rightfully angered that she was used as a sacrificial lamb. Taking precautions in case she was captured was important. Those precautions took the form of a drone bay that she had installed on an off-grid space station three star system away from her patrol grid; she splurged on the most expensive model of drones with the best interstellar range to broadcast her position.
Even if the ship was taken and she was captured, those raiders would eventually be found and her drones would help track her down.
It was three days later that her worries were well founded as five assault ships and a large carrier with Citadelian design attacked her. It wasn't even a battle, the patrol ship didn't even graze the hull of the assault ship facing hers, they possessed powerful shielding technology.
She had no choice but to surrender…
A/N: This is the start of the new Arc, we will read more about stuff in space and eventually see how the galactic community works in a merged DC and Marvel universe.
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