ISSUE 429
| MARCH
YEAR
THREE
ISSUE 429 |
|
|
One moment dusky emptiness. The next, with a shaft of light from another place, a slender ship, scarred by fire and death, enters our solar system and streaks towards Earth. The most advanced technology of a galaxy-spanning empire guides the ship, but technology fails when ambition overreaches and now all its computerized intelligence has been stripped away, reduced to one last command: find the Avengers. And the ship falls towards Earth.
"Oh my god!"
A woman's shocked face fills the page, her eyes wide as she stares at what she can hardly believe. What has startled her so? We pull back to find this ordinary citizen of New York sitting on a bench in Central Park, her children, who a moment ago had been playing, now gathered around her in shy surprise. All of them are staring at the muscular red body of the Vision who, wearing shorts and a Boston Pops T-Shirt, is standing next to her.
"My apologies, ma'am," the Vision says, crouching and pulling a baseball from under the bench. "I did not mean to startle you, but I'm afraid I misjudged that last pitch." Smiling, he turns to leave.
"You...you're that Vision guy! You're an Avenger! Oh my gawwd! Quick, Teddy, Janey, go say hello, you don't mind if I take your picture with my kids, do you Mr. Vision?" Vision attempts to politely extricate himself, but to no avail, as the woman pulls a camera out of her voluminous purse. While she tries to arrange her nervous children, Steve Rogers approaches, a large smile on his face. After the terrible events of the last week or two [told in New Warriors Annual #5 and Avengers #428 - Jean Claude Van Plexico] it felt good to finally be back in the swing of things, good to spend a relaxing day. He had hoped the barbecue would provide some relaxation, but even that had been tense [Avengers West Coast #103 - The Beezer].
"Smile Mr. Vision, c'mon, Teddy, look at me, look...what the..?" The woman lowers the camera in surprise, and Vision and Steve Rogers both turn to look at what has surprised her this time. A speck of light in the sunny sky, growing larger at an alarming rate...a space born fireball headed towards the unsuspecting citizens of New York.
"Vision, you..." Before Steve Rogers (aka Captain America, the Sentinal of Liberty) can even finish his sentence, the Vision is off the ground, racing as fast as he can towards the earth-bound missile; every second counts, as Vision well knows from his years as an Avenger.
"Avengers, this is a red alert, I need all available members in Central Park now!" Cap commands into his communicard as he races accross the park towards where a school group on an outing is milling, confused at the light in the day sky. "Everyone, listen to me! Evacuate the area immediately! Remain calm..." He continues to shout orders, knowing that the fate of everyone in the park rests on the shoulders of the android avenger...the Vision.
Who for his part is high above the city, about to come in contact with the approaching rocket. Still, this sort of thing has happened to him before [such as in, say, Avengers #63 - I'm Not Stealing From Roy Thomas, I Swear It Scott] and his calm never wavers. Having calculated the objects trajectory, the Vision now has a few moments before it intercepts his position, and he puts those moments to good use, contacting the other Avengers. "Ms. Marvel, are you receiving me?"
"Yes, whats going on, I'm over Queens now, coming as fast as I can."
"Can you see the object approaching from the north west?"
"...yes, I see a ball of light."
"That is our object. It appears from here to be a man made device travelling at a high rate of speed...metallic outer shell is reflecting sunlight...I will attempt to slow it down, but I suggest you arrive as soon as possible."
"I'll be there." Vision has no more time for talk, though, as the object (which he recognizes as a small ship of Shi'Ar design half a second before it collides with him) suddenly tears through. The nose of the ship passes through with no effect, as he in completely intangible, and a moment later he is standing inside the control cabin of the ship. It takes a split second for him to solidify enough to remain inside the ship, then he bends himself to the task. Taking in the ruined interior and the lack of any life in the cabin, Vision quickly assesses the possibilities. Though he could try and steer the ship, if the condition of the control room is any indication of how damaged the rest of the vehicle is, it would be futile. Further, though he has some experience with Shi'Ar vessels, he is not a qualified pilot. Dismissing the idea of trying to steer the ship, Vision has one option; a moment later he acts. Racing to the head of the ship, Vision slowly dematerializes himself to the point where his molecules are directly intersprsed and intermingled with those of the nose of the Shi'Ar destroyer. Then he begins carefully lowering his density, becoming lighter and lighter...
It is not a trick he has tried often before, and never to such a scale. A tightwire act: maintaining enough cohesion to stay inside of, part of the ship, while lightening his density enough to affect the weight of the ship. For that is his aim; to become as one with the ship, so that when he becomes lighter, the enirety of the ship beomces lighter. It is a supreme effort and, he knows, a doomed one, for at best he can hope to lighten the ship but a little, slow its momentum perhaps by a few seconds. But that is all he can try, and so he does, becoming one, merging with the alien metal, feeling his arms, his legs seem to stretch and fade and merge till the ships wings are his and he begins to lose conciousness from the effort...
And then he is caught. He won't know it until he comes to in a few minutes, but Ms. Marvel has arrived, just seconds before the ship would have crashed into Central Park at such a velocity that it would have acted as a small atom bomb. He wont know for a few minutes that his effort provided just enough time to save a milion lives from certain death. And when he finds out, he will simply nod, for that is, after all, his job.
Still, thats then. Now, the Avengers are gathering around the battered and red hot hulk of the Shi'Ar life pod. As Namor and Yellowjacket fly in, Captain America has already commanded Ms. Marvel to use her powers to siphon off the excess heat, which she does. A moment later the exhausted, unconcious Vision drops from the front of the ship; while the concerned Yellowjacket gathers him up and begins checking his vital signs, Dr. Amazing and the Beast arrive on a skycycle and the Avengers are assembled.
"Okay, any ideas what we are dealing with? Carol?" cap turns to Ms. Marvel, remembering her extensive experience in space.
"This is a standard Shi'Ar life pod, one of their larger types. These markings," she points to some faded and scratched paintings on the hull," indicate that this pod was launched from a Imperial Destroyer from the Second Fleet of the Shi'Ar Imperial Navy."
"A lifepod? So there could be injured soldiers aboard." Without hesitating, Cap turns to the ship and orders Namor and Ms. Marvel to open it up, forcefully if necessary. Protecting the lives of those aboard must be their first concern. A moment later the door, which had fused shut in the long descent to Earth, has been torn free and Cap is about to enter, when suddenly a figure staggers into the doorway.
"...Avengers, must...you must...Rom..." And, clutching her bleeding side, Deathcry collapses.
Hours later, the Avengers have gathered to choose a course of action. Deathcry has slipped into a coma, providing no more information than her cryptic remarks; she and the other Shi'Ar who survived the trip are now in the sub-basement, under the watchful eye of Dr. Kincaid.
"This situation provides quite the dilemma for us. Hank, I believe you said you had salvaged some of the life pod's memory banks?" Cap says, turning to Yellowjacket. Pym nods and presses a button; a moment later a large view screen descends from the ceiling and the Avengers all turn their attention to it.
"The computers were heavily damaged, but Beast and I managed to retrieve some footage." he begins playing the video feed, a choppy image of cruisers fighting tiny figures. "What we appear to be viewing is a Shi'Ar attack on Galador, the home world of Rom. These figures you see here", he says, pausing the footage, "conform to the information we have on Spaceknights which, I have to say, is very little. Still, there is some audio feed, not alot, but it appears to back up this supposition. There is some talk of an insurrection and some demands made by Rom, then an order to attack. Thats about all we've managed to decipher, I'm afraid." Pym ends the tape with an apologetic shrug, but Cap waves off his apology.
"You've done a fine job, both of you. So what we appear to have here is a Shi'Ar strike against Galador. Any thoughts on this?"
"Well, Cap," Dr. Amazing says, "Not to play devil's advocate, but I have to wonder how this concerns us. I understand that we have some relations with both Rom and the Shi'Ar, but this doesnt seem like a situation that warrants our intervention."
" I have to disagree," Namor says, standing. "All the people of Earth owe Rom and Galador a great debt, one we can never fully repay [You've read Rom #65 and 66, right? Right? Well, what the heck are you waiting for, go get them! NOW! - Van the Man]. We have seen the Shi'Ar's warlike ways and their aggressive disregard for what is right and wrong; I feel we have an obligation to step in and help Galador."
"It is true we have a debt to Rom," Vision says quietly, " but I must point out that it is not Rom who has come seeking our aide. We also have a debt to Deathcry, who, though never technically voted in, acted as one of us for several months. Don't we owe Deathcry and therefore the Shi'Ar our attention?" Namor isn't very pleased with this and is about to respond when he is cut off by Cap.
"This is the crux of the situation. For whatever reason, Deathcry felt a need to involve us in this situation. Though normally I would be loathe to involve Earth in these matters, it is true that we owe both Rom and Deathcry. Before we can take any action, however, we need to know what the situation is. Therefore I suggest that we travel to galador on a fact finding mission, and once we arrive we can evaluate the situation, whatever it may be, and decide on a course of action at that time."
Thoush some of the Avengers are unsure, they all reluctantly agree that they should at least assess the situation to see if action needs to be undertaken. Beast wonders how they intend to get to Galador at all, but Cap assures him that he has some ideas along those lines, and within a few hours we find the Avengers aboard a special space-worthy Quinjet, blasting beyond the moon's orbit.
"I'm still unsure how you propose to get us to Galador," Hank McCoy says. "Though this ship is technically capable of making such a journey, it would take approximately 25 million years even at top speed, and I daresay they will have worked things out by the time we arrive."
"I think we'll make it." Cap says with a smile. Hank shrugs and turns, looking out the window.
"Yaaaah!" With a cry Hank leaps instinctively, landing on the backof Cap's chair and curling into a protective ball. Staring in , his nose pressed up against the window, is the face of Quasar, who now begins laughing at the Beast's surprise. Within a few minutes Quasar has been let aboard, briefed and is ready for action.
"Thanks for the help, Wendell," Cap says, clutching Quasar on the arm jovially.
"It's not a problem, Steve, you know I'm always available for Avengering...as long as it's off planet," he adds with a bit of a frown. "Anyway, it's good to get away from the same old same old."
"Tell me, have you heard anything about the situation on Galador, or in the Shi'Ar empire as a whole?" Cap says, sitting and leaning in close. The other Avengers gather around as Quasar speaks.
"I've heard a few things here and there. After the end of the wraith war Galador didn't really have many resources left, and they had almost no manpower. They did, however, have the remnants of the Spaceknight Squadron, several hundred of the most powerful individual warriors in the galaxy, each with over 200 years of battle experience. Many neighboring systems were afraid that Galador would try and invade in order to gain the resources they needed to rebuild, but Rom proved to be as capable and peaceful a leader as he had been during the war. Rather than risk what little he had left, Rom simply turned the planet over to the Shi'Ar empire as an autonomous protectorate; they swore fealty in exchange for protection and help in rebuilding. It seemed to be working out just fine."
"So what's caused this outbreak? Rom doesn't seem like the kind of leader who would frivolously instigate such a conflict."
"No, he's not, but I'm afraid nobody really knows what's caused this. Problems seemed to start after the Shi'Ar sent a new advisor to Galador about a year ago. Details are pretty sketchy, but I guess he and Rom didn't get along too well. I don't know much more than that, except something changed drastically about a month or two ago, and then this war broke out. Afraid I don't know anything more."
"Well, thats alot more than we knew before," Cap says, standing and pacing a bit. "I think we'd better see for ourselves what is going on. Whenever you're ready, Avengers." The others all nod and gather themselves; a moment later Quasar opens a quantum bubble and the Quinjet vanishes...
...to appear moments later in the middle of a firefight. High above Galador a handful of Spaceknights are locked in combat with an equal number of the Imperial Guard, while Shi'Ar battle cruisers and destroyers launch salvos at the surface and act in support of the Guard. Mere seconds after the Quinjet appears a figure veers towards them, a metallic blue knight with an arm of pure glowing energy.
"Stand down, we come in peace!" Cap shouts, counting on Quasar to relay his words through the vacuum of space.
"Who are you?" The knight says, arm levelled like a cannon at the Quinjet.
"We are the Avengers, we come representing Earth..." Cap's words have a surprising effect on the spaceknight, as he visibly starts.
"The Avengers? ...he told us you might come. I must go and inform our leader of your arrival. For your own safety I suggest you remove yourself from this area at once and do not approach our planet again unless our leader, the Greatest of Spaceknights, requests your presence." The knight whirls and launches himself back towards Galador.
"Rom knew we might be coming? How on..." Yellowjacket begins, but he is cut off.
"We've got more pressing concerns right now," Cap says, as suddenly a figure appears on the viewscreen: Admiral Senshian of the Second Fleet.
"Avengers, your presence here is an unasked for distraction. You are once again interfering with internal affairs of the Shi'Ar Empire that do not concern you. I command you to return to Earth immediately, else face our sanctions."
"Admiral, we are here on a peaceful fact-finding mission, if you could..." Before any more discussion can take place, though, a wild salvo of lasers from an attacking Shi'Ar cruiser suddenly sheers through the fuselage of the Quinjet.
"Quasar! Hold us together! Ms Marvel, you've got to..." but the sudden decompression flings Cap into a bulkhead before he can give any more orders. Trailing energy, the fatally injured Quinjet tumbles towards Galador, it's passing noted and dismissed by the otherwise occupied warring factions.
In the palace, where generations of Galadorian kings, queens and leaders had held court, the armored form of the warrior called the greatest of spaceknights stands, gazing impassively at the viewscreen before him. The arrival of a portion of the Imperial Guard has caused a shift in the balance, and his people have taken many casualties. With a flick of his silvery hand, he turns to speak with the spaceknight who waits.
"Say again, Weronna?"
"Sir, the Avengers are here, as you anticipated. Their vehicle has been shot down by Shi'Ar forces, we don't know if anyone has survived yet..." The silver man brushes this concern away.
"They are the Avengers, I'm sure they can survive a simple crash. Bring Earth's mightiest heroes to me." Weronna salutes and leaves her leader with his thoughts.
The Quinjet lies in a crumpled heap, silent for a few moments, a forlorn plume of smoke trying feebly to rise into the humid Galadoran sky. A moment of silence, then there is a cry, and with the rending of metal the door flies free and Namor the Avenging Son steps into the light of a foreign world. A moment later Ms. Marvel and Quasar join him.
"Clear out some of this underbrush, we need some space here," Quasar commands, a note of authority in his voice. Carol raises an eyebrow at his assuming command, but Namor merely gets to work and a moment later Ms. Marvel joins him, the two of them levelling small trees and clearing the scrub away with power blasts. Quasar nods and ducks back inside the twisted cabin. For a moment he stands, cursing silently at his own foolishness. So much time spent traversing the spaceways alone had taken off his edge; he should have been ready to protect the others from the attack. Then his eyes have adjusted to the light and he has no more time for recriminations.
"How bad does it look?" Quasar says, turning to Beast, who is bent over the prone form of Captain America.
"It's not good, we need to find some medical facilities. Dr. Amazing will be okay, its just a concussion and a broken arm," Hank says, nodding to where Dr. Amazing lies, somewhat dazed, "and Yellowjacket just has alot of bruises and sprains, but Cap here...well, he's not in immediate danger, but if we dont get him to some facilities soon, I'm not sure."
"Okay, we need to move them out of here." He waves off Beast's protest. "I'll use my bands to keep them completely stable, don't worry. But this ship isn't structurally sound and we are in a war zone. So..." Quasar and Beast carefully begin moving Cap and Dr. Amazing outside while the Vision helps a limping Yellowjacket through the jagged doorway. Namor and Ms. Marvel have cleared a large area, and in this space Quasar gently rests Cap and Dr. Amazing.
"Alright, the two Hanks, you work on Cap and Dr. Amazing. Vision, Ms. Marvel, Namor -- we four are the most mobile and least injured. We need to establish our location and find help. Vision, I want you to scout for Galadoran dwellings, find..."
"That wont be necessary," a voice suddenly says, and a moment later three spaceknights appear atop the ruined Quinjet. The Avengers turn, ready for action, but the lead knight raises a hand placatingly. "We come in peace. I am Weronna, the Cloaker. This is Eom, the Healer and this is Corm, the Defender. We have been sent by our leader, the Will of Galador and the Greatest of Spaceknights, to bring you to him. Will you come?" The Avengers are slightly wary, but they know of Rom's generousness and after little debate they agree to come. Quasar carefully lifts the injured Avengers on a platform and the battered team gratefully limps towards the Galadoran capitol.
Meanwhile, high above Galador, the day's battle finally ceases and the Shi'Ar forces return, their leaders gathered to council. In the vast war room of the Second Fleet's flagship, a hundred captains and aides gather to hear the words of Admiral Senshian. With a curt nod to begin the meeting, the old Admiral hoists his bulky form out of his seat and he begins adressing the crowd.
"Our forays today accomplished their primary goal. The Imperial Guard members who arrived yesterday from the throneworld were able to take the measure of the Galadoran forces. The Spaceknights have centuries of experience, but their technology has become slightly outdated. I believe we can exploit their weaknesses, namely their lack of numbers, and..."
A sudden gasp goes up from the group, and Senshian turns to see the cause of the commotion. Standing in the doorway, cape still fluttering from his hurried arrival, stands the acclaimed greatest warrior in the galaxy...Gladiator.
"Gladiator..I...I was not informed of your arrival, we did not..." Gladiator waves Senshain off.
"Lilandra has decided to make an example of Galador and this Rom. We acted in good faith and he and his people have broken it. Thus I have brought the rest of the Imperial Guard with me and tomorrow we shall crush these Spaceknights." He pauses to let his words sink in. "Tomorrow...Rom is mine."
The Avengers, escorted by the three Spaceknights, arrive in the ruined capitol of Galador. All around are the broken ruins of a once majestic city. Some small buildings have been rebuilt around the palace itself, but for the most part the city has been left in ruins, a mute testament to those who have fallen. The Avengers travel wordlessly through miles of wreckage before they finally arrive at the awesome palace.
"You injured parties can come with us, we shall see to their needs," Eom the Healer says, gesturing to a small building at the base of the stairs leading to the capitol. "I shall personally be sure they are taken care of." Quasar nods gratefully and a few minutes later, the injured Cap and Dr. Amazing left behind, the other six Avengers head into the palace.
"Our leader is no doubt anxious to see you," Weronna says as they mount the last steps. " We are all curious; he has spoken often of his time on Earth and most especially of the mighty Avengers." She stops briefly to open the double doors leading to the throne room.
"I didn't realize Rom was so close to the Avengers," Beast says quietly to Vision.
"I am a bit surprised as well, for we only worked together on one occasion. Very curious." They fall silent as the doors open and Weronna leads them into the throne room where the spaceknight leader waits. Weronna bows as the silvery figure, his back to the Avengers, clicks off the viewscreen he was studying.
"Hail Rom, I am..." Quasar suddenly falls silent, shocked, as the silver knight turns to face them.
"Dear sweet God, no." Yellowjacket chokes out.
"Avengers, may I present the Will of Galador, our warleader, the Greatest of Spaceknights...Ultron-17."
Next Issue: Uh-oh.