NOVEL FROG Arc Seventeen. Chapter Four Hundred Ninety-Three. Line In The Sand
As Yon-Rogg boarded his shuttle he was unaware that the ship had already been boarded. Not just the ship, but all the forces of Earth prepared to counter the Kree invasion.
Wrath was in the air, with Cyclops and Vengeance already working on a plan. Once in the air, Vengeance had calculated the ideal spot to hover. They only had one jet and only one long-ranged attacker. Scott would be pushed farther than ever today. Once the jet was in position, both Cyclops and Vengeance exited a top hatch. She wrapped several arms of symbskin around him, anchoring them both to the top of the jet. Now all there was to do was wait.
Carol, Emma, and Jean waited at the meeting point. Carol knew with Yon as an accuser, nobody would survive. The Kree hated anyone and everything that wasn't Kree, and the Earth would be destroyed. This time she would make sure Yon was dead.
Teams assembled across the globe. Non-powered stood with Powered as they awaited their foes.
In New York, Wanda was having problems of her own. “Stephen, this isn’t the time to be stubborn,” she said, as she stood in the doorway of the Sanctum.
“It is, and for good reason.” Stephen summoned the cloak of Levitation. “I found Wong, and due to interference when we fixed reality, he wasn’t returned back to his original state.”
Wanda furrowed her brow, “He is an enemy now?”
Stephen nodded, sadly. “I cannot leave the Infinity Stones undefended. Especially against a hostile force that seems intent on taking over the planet.” He smiled and raised his eyebrows. “But, as I will be busy, and the sanctum wards will be monitoring for enemies attacking, then,” he paused, waiting for Wanda to figure out his plan.
“I am free to do what I like if you are busy of course,” Wanda said.
“Of course,“ he replied with a smile. He took a deep breath. “Take care, Wanda. I know it’s bad out there, but it could be a lot worse,” he said softly.
Wanda pursed her lips and nodded. “I will Stephen.” As she walked to the door of the Sanctum, and floated from the ground, letting Hexen cover her. “And you too.” before she floated out of the door.
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The four members of the Star Force waited patiently in the back of their transport. They had been punished, while Yon-Rogg had been promoted. A fitting punishment had been to send them for re-education. A combination of brainwashing, by the Supreme Intelligence itself, and cybernetic augmentation. Done without anaesthetic. Pain was an important reminder that they had failed. That they were weak, and now they were pure.
Only Yon-Rogg remained whole. The Accuser cult disallowed augmentation of any kind. Only the connection point to converse with the Supreme Intelligence itself was allowed. They all sat in silence, waiting until they reached the surface. The Accuser had history with the Earth's mightiest hero, and he would watch her suffer at his hands.
As such, the pilot had orders to ignore any enemy craft in the air. The friend or foe systems marked a single ship entering the lower atmosphere. Unable to deviate from his orders, he sent its location to the cruiser overhead. Once the battle started, it would be the first target for the fighters. A single craft would prove no match for the might of the Kree Armada.
⁂
Fury noted the ship as it flew past, and while he maintained an active lock on it, he knew it would not go well if he fired. Parker had already notified him to leave that ship alone. Carol, Jean, and Emma would be taking care of it. Concentrate on the smaller craft and make sure nothing gets past to the ground. It was a tough call, but right now, they only had enough Powered to deal with the fallout in the US. Other countries were busy scrambling their own heroes and were on their own.
It wasn't going to be an easy task, as there were five large ships. Each one was impressive but it was the huge mothership that made a helicarrier look like a kid's toy.
Every agency was scrambling. The New Avengers, The Thunderbolts and the Gamma Troopers. Charles had sent word they were preparing to defend Genosha, and couldn't spare anyone. He'd even heard Pym broadcast along with that other idiot, Richards.
Teams were being readied, but the attack had already started. He agreed with Parker, this time it was the heavy guns they needed. The military could help, but the fighting was on a completely different level. This was a super-powered war.
“Hey Fury, sending you some drones. They're slaved to your fire controls, so they should provide some help. But uh, you break them, you're paying for them,” Tony said over the comms.
Fury snorted, “Sure, I’ll bill Parker, but thanks. How's it look on the ground?”
“Not good, the cruiser they took out destroyed ten blocks, and we’re managing. We have Pepper, Vision, Friday and Jocasta managing ground support. Right now, it's clean up, but while they work, we need to keep them safe.”
“I know, but uh, how's it look up there?” Fury had his own radar, but he knew Tony was receiving telemetry from multiple sources. If anyone still had working satellites it would be him.
“Not good, the sky’s clear except us and them, and there are a whole lot more of them,” Tony replied with a huff.
“Yeah, fourteen billion dollars worth of satellites destroyed in a few seconds. They just swept the area with a high-intensity beam and they were gone.”
If Fury had been attacking a planet, he would have done the same. In fact, he would have done a better job. He would have taken out every single satellite in orbit. The Kree had only cleared the area where they were stationed. They had left enough satellites that Stark had repurposed some of them to act as relays. Even though he had simply stolen them, nobody would complain. The population could live without GPS if it meant communications were still online.
“So, tell me straight, how bad?”
“Us plus a hundred drones. So, it's bad,” Tony replied. “With the government taking most of my stuff, I can send out drones to a few of the worse-off areas, but it’s not enough.”
“Only a foolish insect would admit defeat before Doom has entered the battle.”
Fury rolled his eyes. “President Doom, so glad you can join us,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Join you? I am defending my embassy, and if that overlaps with the flight plan of your insignificant force, then so be it. Be aware though, that I will not tolerate any debris falling on it. You have been warned.”
“I guess Doom's helping, in his own way,” Fury noted.
Tony snorted, “Yeah, always a charmer. Good luck and, yeah, if we make it, I think I’ll hold a huge party at Stark Tower, make sure you can come.”
As Doom's Doombots filled the sky, Tony redirected the Iron Legion out into the other States. Even with the few minutes it would take them to get there, he could still save lives.
Fury laughed. “Inviting Parker?”
Tony snorted, “That jackass will do something stupid, save the day but probably die and get a big statue. If he lives, I guess I can invite him.”
“Well, now I have to live. Seeing you and Parker in the same room, I wouldn't miss that for the world.”
Tony laughed but the com channel shut down. Fury took a breath. “Right people, we’re not waiting. I have contacts on multiple fronts, dispatching drones to cover us, Cyclops. Do your best, and Maria, keep him safe, okay.”
Tony patched into the Rescue channel, “How's it going?” He asked Pepper. Sure, she was still salty at him, and he knew it wasn’t for dating Maya, it was for trying to date them both. But right now, this was more important.
“It’s not great." Rescue paused, "Tony." She sighed, "Look, I know the protocols, idle chatter is distracting. Call me if you need help, but keep the channel clear." Pepper cut the line.
That was the plan. The Iron Legion was set to intercept and destroy anything in the air. He just hoped that it would be enough. Thankfully Coulson pulled his head out of his ass. The Civil Aviation Authority intervened and everything was grounded. Even the military jets were restricted while Iron Man and Fury were fighting. They might be able to hurt those fighters, but without a definite yes, they were just a distraction.
Streaking up into the atmosphere, Iron Man summoned a suit of armour for his suit of armour. The God Buster armour slammed around him. This was his baby. Sure he might have lied a little bit about using the Vibranium, but it was worth it. It stood at over two metres tall, with enough firepower to make War Machine melt with envy. It had to be, it was for fighting Thor if he ever became a threat. Which made it perfect for blowing up spaceships.
Four arc reactors on the back whined and lit up. As they did, four massive pylons split away and formed a defensive shield around him. Tony grinned. Wait till I can brag to Parker about this. “Holliday. Set all cameras to record. The public should see just how amazing I am.” It was a smug lie. Tony was recording this for posterity. Maybe there would be a little more footage of Iron Man, but nobody should ever forget today.
“They’re starting their run, Fury. Get ready.” He broadcast and got the ready signal back. He could stop some, but it would still be up to the rest to finish the job.
As the fighters from the cruisers poured out, huge orange beams of repulsor energy arced out. Two of the giant pobs behind him charged and swept the area taking out dozens of ships.
The quinjet backed as fire from a fighter streaked past. As the radar on the quinjet slowly filled with red dots, Fury knew the battle had begun.
Small fighter craft, one man with light armaments shot past them. Fury evaded while Cyclops made short work of them. They had no shields and even hitting them with just the concussive blast stalled them out.
These were the simplest of ships, an engine, two guns and not much else. Cyclops knew his beams could be strong, but these had no armour. "Hey, these are fodder. Make sure everyone knows to keep something back for the bigger fish."
It seemed like there were hundreds, pouring from the ships like angry insects. In the distance, Cyclops could see explosions as the ships engaged the Iron Legion.
The sky was filled with whistling craft as they streaked past. Each one trying to launch their payloads at the ground. Their orders were to cause devastation but not to destroy. The Kree Empire needed new slaves for its war efforts. Even if the humans managed to resist, the Kre had come prepared for war.
Over the comms, he was being bombarded with reports of the battle. The Kree were now launching assaults on the major cities the missiles had failed to destroy. Wakanda was being attacked, but were holding their own. Russia had Augments in the air as well. China and even Britain were fighting back, and the Kree were taking heavy casualties.
The single craft got a lucky shot, and chaff and flares streaked away as missiles exploded nearby. Even the small debris that peppered Cyclops was held at bay by Vengeance. She was his anchor to the shop, but also his shield as he worked. She kept a watchful eye on what was coming close enough to hurt him.
"We got wave two," he heard Iron Man shout and the small map in his visor lit up. He almost choked as hundreds more dots suddenly appeared, covering the entire sky. “Filter, all enemies within one kilometre.” As the map changed. It was still over a hundred ships, and the task seemed daunting.
“Hey, Hill." She raised an eyebrow, he never called her that, preferring to say her name, “Marry me once this is over yeah?”
“Not the question I was looking for,” she replied.
“You said to be fearless, so yeah, once this is over, we’re getting married.”
Vengeance snorted. “Figured I’d have to ask you, so sure. City hall though, try and get me in one of those meringue things, and I’ll gut you.”
“Sure.” As a ship began its attack run, Cyclops let a beam of red energy blast forward and it exploded. It was followed by more, and soon the sky was filled with red beams. Each one hit a ship, and each ship exploded. The sky around the Quinjet was now cleared, but his HUD showed there were still more than a hundred craft. Cyclops took a breath and worked out the path to each one. Before he was about to fire, Vengeance squeezed his shoulder.
“You know, the hero usually dies after something like that.”
Cyclops laughed. “Yeah, this isn't a movie, and if I died, you’d kill me.” Then he fired, and the sky filled with red.
