The Players

Part Four: Generals

the 61^st tale of agc

written and created by Mark Bousquet

NOTE: To assist new readers with this "jumping on" arc, I've created a section for the Generals of the Army of Doom on the Cast of Characters Page, accessible from the AGC main page.

2201 / AUGUST

THE EVERYTHING ENGINE - THE VIEWING TUBE

Adam frowned from watching the monitors before him.

At a time when the Kings needed to be at their strongest to defeat Doom, one King, Franklin Richards, was sobbing inside an open cell in Chronopolis, and Asgard was led by a new, untested King, Beta Ray Bill.

At a time when the Rulers of the Everything needed to be united to lead their people forward, the Kree and Shi'ar were withdrawn, and the Humans and Skrulls were cutting secret deals.

At a time when the Asgardian Council needed to be at its strongest, it was coming apart behind the scenes. Kree Ambassador Kovar was meeting with Shi'ar Imperial Guardsman Glimmer Girl for midnight rendezvous. Shi'ar Ambassador Ash'lin plotted against Kovar and with contempt for Majestrix Deathcry. Skrull Ambassador Skrull 4 maneuvered Moonstar, Ash'lin, and Kovar from their offices, and implanted spying devices in each. Each night, he meets with Earth Ambassador Cable to review the stolen information.

Skrull 4 has also agreed to assassinate Captain America, at the time and choosing of the United League of Nations.

It was all very troubling.

"It's all very troubling, isn’t it?"

Adam glanced down from his platform in the Viewing Tube to see the Magus, an evil future version of himself, floating up to meet him. "Magus, you are unwanted here."

"Only by you, lesser me. Only by you." Magus smiled, coming to stand on the small platform. "The Three Ladies of the Engine seem to quite enjoy my company. Even if it is only to keep you from going back out into the world. Ironic, isn't it? That once you received all the answers to all the questions, you lost the power to act. If you do, well," Magus smiled, "you become me. Not that me is all bad, mind you, but I doubt I will be able to convince you of that."

"Why are you here?"

"This is all very impressive," he waved his hand around at the screens that extended for miles up and down. "Not very … active, though, is it, Warlock? Sitting here and watching. Rather mundane."

"You didn't-"

"Why, to watch, of course. You didn't think the Everything only wanted one witness to the end of existence, did you? That would be tragic. All of life ending, and only one man to appreciate it all? Heavens, no, Warlock. Even for you that's too much pressure." Magus looked to the screen. "Who are the players that will make up the next row of blank monitors?"

"The Generals."

"Well," Magus smiled, sitting down in Adam's seat, "let's get this show started, shall we?"

DAIMON HELLSTROM & BRUUNHILDE

ARMY OF DOOM

CHRONOPOLIS - THE HORSE STABLES

"Dreadful," Daimon wrinkled his nose at the stench of the winged-horses around them. "Bruunhilde, that you fail to smell like hay and excrement is some of the greatest magic I have ever seen."

"Spare me, Hellstrom," Bruunhilde snapped. "Did you receive Doom's plans this morn or not?"

Hellstrom's face turned serious. "I did, though I did not speak to him."

"Neither did I," Bruunhilde admitted, "but I do not need to see him to put my faith in him."

"Nor do I," Hellstrom nodded, "but I wonder about our non-human allies. How long will Set, Hela, Pluto, and Mephisto take orders from a missing King?"

Bruunhilde frowned. "This has been one of my greatest struggles since 'switching sides.' The lust for power in 'villains' makes it difficult to keep everyone focused to the same goal. Petty grabs at power from those desperate to achieve a higher rank, or higher glory, work against the common good."

"But it is that same desperate savagery that makes them useful in the first, Angelux. If they didn't lust for power, they would be fighting against us, not for us." Daimon stepped out of the way as winged horse nearly bounded into him. "Watch yourself, wench," he scoffed at the unseen Angelux that held the reigns.

The Angelux turned the horse, and Daimon saw the flashing ionic eyes of Attumidunn staring back at him. Daimon kept his eyes locked on hers as she walked past, then easily switched his view to her legs as she walked away from him.

"Delicious," he praised. "Do you not feel the lust for power radiating off of that one, Bruunhilde? Attumidunn is one of us. Asgard has wasted her."

Bruunhilde nodded. "Agreed. Moonstar has always been a better fighter than teacher. Attumidunn fights with great abandon, but her technique is raw, sloppy. She needs discipline."

"Kinky," Hellstrom gleamed. "Can I watch?"

Bruunhilde shot him a disgusted look. "Watch your tongue, Hellstrom," she snapped, though her eyes could not hide her lust. "She could be the key to our battle."

"If we can convince her to fight, or to give us any information," Hellstrom frowned. "Unfortunately, the Ceremony of Dark Angels that I performed on her brings with it only her soul, not her loyalty. My darling Hellcat has informed me Attumidunn is unwillingly to do either."

It was Bruunhilde's turn to frown. "I am not yet convinced we can trust Hellcat, either."

Daimon waved her concern away with a swipe of his hand. "The woman has spent nearly two centuries trapped inside a soul cage, Bruunhilde. She doesn't care who she fights."

"Just make certain she doesn't put a knife in my back, son of Satan," Bruunhilde warned.

Hellstrom folded his arms across his chest, "I can assure you, woman, that Hellcat is loyal to me."

"That does not make my concerns go away."

Hellstrom smiled, and bowed slightly. "Well said, Bruunhilde. I suggest, then, that you keep her as far away from you as possible during our upcoming attacks."

"I plan to keep your entire demon army between us, Hellstrom," she glared, before turning to go. "Make your preparations, Hellstrom. We make war in one month. Let us hope our non-human allies stay loyal in the interim."

PLUTO, SET, and IKARIS

ARMY OF DOOM

HADES, THE UNDERWORLD

"We should move on Asgard at once!" Set roared, slamming his fist against the wall.

"If attack was the right move to make, Doom would order it," Ikaris replied, his arms folded across his chest.

"How can you be so certain?" Set spat, turning violently towards the Eternal.

"Silence," Pluto ordered. The three generals of Doom stood together inside a cavern, deep within Pluto's realm of Hades. "Patience, Set," the Olympian ruler said as he clasped his hand on Set's back. "We must trust Doom."

"Why?" Set asked. "We have barely seen him since his escape from Kang, and now he sends us orders that require even more waiting?

"Doom has entrusted the three of us with the most dangerous aspect of his plan," Ikaris reminded him. "Our concern should be that we don't have enough time to prepare, not that we have too much."

"Bah!" Set snorted. "My troops are ready for battle at any time! And now we learn from Apollo that Asgard has all but allowed the Army of Doom to set up a permanent residence on the Plains of Ida! Why do we not press this advantage?"

"Tell me, Set," Pluto asked, "how many grand victories have you ever won? Doom has conquered the Shi'ar Empire. On his own. If he requests us to wait, then we shall wait."

"For how long?" Set challenged. "This is already our third delay! What if-"

Ikaris cut him off. "Enough! The price of inclusion was absolute loyalty, Set. If you cannot meet this price, you can be replaced."

"Will you remove me, little man?"

Pluto shoved Set hard against the wall. "He won't have the chance, for I will stake your soul to the wall and feed it to my dogs before he could raise a defense. We have waited lifetimes for this opportunity. I will not stand idly by while you ruin it for us."

Set shoved the Olympian back and left in disgust. Ikaris turned to Pluto, smiling. "I will enjoy killing him."

"You will wait," Pluto replied angrily, "until his services are no longer needed."

"Do you think," Ikaris asked, smiling, "that Asgard would try to recruit him to their side if they realized he was an agent of Chaos fighting alongside our side of Order?"

"My greater concern," Pluto said quietly, looking towards the door that Set had exited through, "is that Doom can control him long enough for him to outlive his usefulness." The Olympian ruler turned back to Ikaris, "I trust you will not have a problem with my command in our upcoming attack?"

Ikaris shook his head. "None."

Pluto nodded. "That is good. Perhaps I will give you the honor of killing Set, after all."

Ikaris laughed. "Perhaps Doom has already given me that honor, Pluto." Ikaris turned thoughtful. "Tell me, Olympian, do you agree with Set? Do you think we should, at this moment, be attacking Asgard."

Pluto's eyes alit with rage, "Most assuredly. Their defenses have never been weaker."

AMORA THE ENCHANTRESS

ASGARD

THOR ODINSON HALL OF PEACE

"Amora, thank you for coming in."

The Enchantress didn't respond as she was ushered into the throne room of King William of the Beta Ray. "I do not know if you are aware, my King," she said the last word bitterly, "but there is an encampment of enemy troops just outside the city in the Plains of Ida."

"I am aware of that," King William nodded. He looked hard at the beautiful Asgardian woman before him; age had barely touched her, and she looked as beautiful now as she ever had.

The King hoped she would prove as deadly.

"And now word comes to me," Amora continued, "that Asgard's defenses are so depleted that troops from the Council worlds will be coming here to aid in the Golden Realm's defense."

"That is true, as well," the King replied.

"Outrageous," she sneered. "That Asgard has fallen so low-"

"-is a sign of Odin's arrogance," Bill stood his ground. "Asgard was not prepared to meet the challenges of war when its greatest warriors were gone. There was no one waiting in the wings to step to the fore. It is why a human now leads the Valkyrior, and a cyborg now sits on the throne." Bill moved down from the throne to approach Amora, "Though I can assure you the sooner I am done with this seat, the happier I will be."

Amora raised her hands half-apologetically. "Forgive me, Bill. I know you do not seek the throne, and, truth be told, I am certain you are a better man for the present than our rightful heir, Brono. Where is our future king?"

"With Angelica Osborn and Eshir Maximoff," Bill explained. "He seeks the Celestial Messiah."

"A fool's quest," Amora snapped.

"Perhaps," Bill admitted. "But it is to his benefit that he is away from Asgard for the time being. While he has ruled well as the Norn King, he has not tasted the political turmoil of the Council. It will do him good to be out in the universe, seeing things first hand. He will be a better King for it in due course."

"Any word of K'Zan?" the Enchantress asked. Amora did not have an easy relationship with failure, and the fact that she was incapable of tutoring K'Zan in the magical arts was a thorn in her side.

The King shook his head. "None. Since agreeing to become a Herald of Galactus, there has been no word from him, or about him." He looked hard into the Enchantress' eyes. "But that is not why I called you in."

"Then what?" she asked.

"It is about the troops that are coming to help defend the Golden Realm," Bill replied. "I am placing you in charge of them."

"Me?" Amora asked, surprised. Though it had been ages since her loyalty to Asgard had been questioned, neither Odin nor Balder had ever given her a prominent position during the Eternal War. "What about Moonstar? Or yourself?"

"We have too many other duties," King William replied. "Asgard needs someone who can devote their full attention to its defense. As of now, Amora, the safety of the city is in your hands."

"What of Doom's troops on the Plains?" she asked.

"Remove them at your whim."

MEPHISTO, HELA, and GENERAL OCHKEN

ARMY OF DOOM

COMMUNICATIONS ROOM

General Ochken walked into the communications room, sweat beading on his balding blue forehead. He was a man of principle, a man who turned against his own government because he believed, deeply and completely, that the Supreme Intelligence was not the rightful ruler of the Kree people.

He was.

He was the elected leader of the Republic, a man who had spent time as the Kree Ambassador to the Asgardian Council, and had a lifetime of service to his people as a politician. He believed, fully and completely, in the right of the Kree Republic, a democratic society that treated all Kree as equals when it came to deciding who should rule them.

Perhaps he was a fool to ever believe that the Kree wanted a democracy - they wanted strength, and the Empire gave them the appearance of an easily definable strength. As an Empire they were imperialist, seeking to expand their influence outward whereas the Republic sought to strengthen the Kree inwardly.

Ochken believed he had done the right thing by opposing the Supreme Intelligence.

He was just uncertain that he had done the right thing by siding with Thanos. At the time, it was the only way he believed he could save the Republic. He was disheartened and disappointed that Asgard hadn't stepped in to save the Republic, but then, they were a monarchy, after all.

In hindsight, the decision to side with Thanos was made hastily, but there was no time to wait. Ochken couldn't afford to hold any longer when his people were in danger.

"Are you ready, yet, with those reports?" a goddess of Death asked.

Ochken looked up at the two Generals in the Army of Doom he was serving under: Mephisto and Hela. This new war, the War of Order and Chaos, was beyond him. The return of Doom was beyond him - all he had wanted to do was secure a free democratic society for his people, not take part in some intergalactic war. But now he was caught in a current from which there was seemingly no escape and as he approached Hela, the Norse Ruler of Hel, and Mephisto, the so-called Lord of Lies, he had never been more acutely aware of his responsibilities as leader of the Kree Republic.

"My intelligence personnel have prepared a full briefing for every Secretary of Defense of the Allied homeworlds, Hela," General Ochken said proudly, coming to stand before them. Whatever doubts Ochken felt inside of him would not show itself in this public forum. He might be more politician that soldier, but he was still Kree. He doubted, as he looked at the two horrific creatures before him, that either had ever spent much time taking orders or dealing with the tight regulations Doom had them working under; Hela and Mephisto, in their own ways, were as out of place in the Army of Doom as the Kree Republic.

"Please," Mephisto drolled, "do not keep us in suspense any longer than is absolutely necessary, General."

"Of course, Mephisto," Ochken nodded, sliding a disk into the computer bank before him. He punched several buttons and the image of a Kree General appeared before them. "General Van'Rogg. The right hand man of the Supreme Intelligence," Ochken explained, feeling the pain and anger churning in his gut. "Highly loyal to the Supreme Intelligence. Unlikely to be turned."

"Yes, we could have figured that out for ourselves," Mephisto said with a bitterness in his voice, "or else he would already be here alongside the rest of you traitorous Kree."

"Enough, Mephisto," Hela cautioned. "His defenses, Ochken?"

"Impeccable. Hala is the most well-defended of all the homeworlds."

"It is lucky, then, that we have you to assist us in breaking those defenses down," Hela remarked.

"Yes, it is," Ochken replied, feeling a pit develop deep inside him. He turned back to the computer bank, "Next is Gladiator, Defense Minister for the Shi'ar."

"He's still alive?" Mephisto asked, surprised.

"Barely," Ochken nodded. "Our intel believes he is confined to a wheelchair and going blind in one eye. The conservative half of the Shi'ar Empire worships him like no other, however, and his word, to them, is as good as law. It is possible we can force him into a mistake if-"

"Yes, yes," Mephisto waved his arm. "Next."

"Minister Jakool leads the defenses," Ochken spit the word out, "of Skrullos 2. He is of the minister class and very young. No military experience."

"Then why is he in defense of a planet?" Hela asked.

"Emperor Vog is unstable," Ochken replied. "Jakool is as likely to be replaced tomorrow as he is to have a statue built in his honor. Last, we have Earth." Ochken let out a deep sigh. "Earth presents the most unique challenge. There are three layers of defense for most targets we would want to hit: local, federal, and planetary. The local defense comes in the form of superhuman protectors, the federal defense comes in a combination of military and superhuman, and the planetary … our best reports indicate that the United League of Nations has entrusted the planet's defenses in the hands of a solitary defense system. But since Earth has been basically free of intergalactic attack for 175 years, we are uncertain of who, exactly, runs this organization, or even how many people make this organization up, where they are located, etc."

"Does this program have a name?" Mephisto asked.

"Yes," Ochken replied. "It's called Vision."

Mephisto and Hela exchanged a quick glance between them and Ochken caught the sudden, though slight, downturn in their emotions. "What is it?" he asked.

"Get this information to Doom at once," Hela ordered, but would reveal no more.

AMORA the ENCHANTRESS, GLIMMER GIRL, COLONEL UMAGONG, CHAUNCERE, and GENERAL EDWARD RHODES

ASGARD

THREE DAYS LATER

WARRIORS THREE TRAINING CENTER - MISSION ROOM

Amora the Enchantress stood at the head of a small table inside the Warriors Three Training Center located a stone's throw from the Plains of Ida. Before her stood the recently arrived leaders of what King William had called the Rainbow Defense: 1,000 troops from the Allied nations of the Council for the Defense of Asgard.

"My name is Amora," the Enchantress spoke to them. "I hath been given charge to defend the Golden Realm. Thou will report to me." She gave them an icy smile. "So report."

Glimmer Girl went first. "There are 500 Shi'ar troops at your disposal. As per the orders of the King, they are currently being held in a Shi'ar spacecraft just outside the entrance to Asgard. They have been divided into five regiments of 100 soldiers apiece, each led by an Imperial Guardsman."

"Excellent," Amora nodded her thanks. "Next? Colonel Umagong, let us hear your words."

"The Supreme Intelligence, in order to thank the Council, has sent 1,000 of Hala's finest-"

"Colonel, there will be no rhetoric spoken at this table," Amora interjected harshly. "Thine government was asked to send 500 troops. No more. No less. Thou may decide which 500 will stay, and which will go."

"Very well," Colonel Umagong said bitterly.

Amora turned to General Rhodes, who reported in a crisp, unreadable tone. "Earth has sent 250 Force Works commandos, 125 X-Force shock troops, and 125 SHIELD operatives. The Force Works battalion are ordinary, human soldiers equipped with the finest Earth tech. X-Force operative are mutant soldiers, and the SHIELD operatives are for intel and infrastructure."

The Enchantress nodded her thanks. "Are the Skrulls ready to meet the request of Asgard's King?" Amora asked.

"We are, madam," Chauncere replied. "Although I am afraid that it will take some time for our troops to be battle ready. Since we have only recently received our new homeworld, Emperor Vog thought it best to use troops that were being held on Hala and Chandilar as part of the Skrull Refugee Act. It appears that the Shi'ar and Kree were using our soldiers as farmers and miners instead of as the warriors they are. It will take a short time for them to regain their fighting form."

Amora nodded. "Understood. Gentlemen, Glimmer Girl," she said, changing course, "thou art here to defend the Golden Realm. At the first hint that any ulterior motives are in play, thou wilst be removed. I want your troops on the ground, in their assigned barracks here at the W3 Training Center, and ready to go in two days."

Amora looked around the table, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "There is a small band of regiments of the Army of Doom encamped not four miles from this very spot, holding the ground between here and the Forest of Midgard.

"Within the week I want them removed. Prepare your troops for battle. We make war in seven days."

THE PLAYERS to be continued …

Attumidunn is one of us. Asgard has wasted her.

Y G G D R A S I L

comments to bousquet22@earthlink.net

Mark Bousquet

6 March 2003

Northern Bear Productions