Merchants of Death

Chapter 23





Once they had eliminated or captured all the Vampire Slayers in their Hellmouth facility the Imperious Industries security forces turned their attention to the V.S.A. Headquarters in Scotland. The Scottish castle's few defenders were no match for Omega Squad and Imperious Dakar's other elite forces, and the fortress soon fell to the technomancer.



Now the leader of the Vampire Slayer Alliance was being dragged in chains to Dakar. Wondering where it all went wrong.



~I shouldn't have sent most of the girls on the mission we needed more people defending the base...or maybe that was the problem...if everybody went maybe we could have won and I wouldn't be here~ Xander Harris thought, unable to keep from tormenting himself with might-have-beens.



Harris was so lost in his own private agony he didn't even notice that his journey had ended. At least not until one of the guards present jabbed him none too gently in the back.



Xander looked around and realized that he was in a small room surrounded by armored guards. Standing in front of him was a Mind Flayer, which Harris had recently learned survived by eating human brains, though the leader of the V.S.A. still vastly preferred it to the being standing beside it.



"Dakar" Xander breathed hatefully.



The muscular physique, scarred face, and weird eyes were all too familiar to Harris. Recognizing this as the man most responsible for the death of Willow, Faith, and probably Buffy. The leader whose forces were even now tracking down and eliminating every member of the Slayer Army that they could.



Xander had never hated a person more in his life. The only thing that kept him from launching a suicidal attack on the businessman was not a fear of death. It was the bitter knowledge that he probably couldn't hurt the technomancer anyway.



"So you're the new leader of the Slayer Army...I thought only girls could be Slayers...but maybe I'm wrong to assume that you're a boy" Imperious said rudely, closely watching Xander to see how he reacted to the insult.



"I'm a boy but I'm not sure what to call a guy whose soul-mates with a squid" Harris shot back.



Dakar laughed, a sound that set Xander's teeth on edge. Then the technomancer affectionately rubbed Udragoth's hairless head as he said "little Udragoth here...nah he's more of a pet."



Some of the guards looked away, because occasionally their boss was too creepy even for them.



Dakar's manner abruptly became more businesslike as he said "enough chitchat...where's Esme Cuckoo?"



Xander stared at the bigger man in honest surprise as he replied "the telepathic blonde girl?...I thought your people snatched her before the attack."



Esme Cuckoo had disappeared shortly before Imperious Industries had attacked the V.S.A. Headquarters. Harris had simply assumed that one of Dakar's people had taken her, being rather preoccupied by the full scale invasion of his castle.



Captor and captive stared at each other for one long moment. Both of them asking themselves the same thing.



~Where is Esme Cuckoo?~



*****



Esme Cuckoo woke up slowly, feeling as though her mind was engulfed in fog. Muttering blearily "huh...where am I?"



"The New York City branch of Wolfram & Hart...we should be safe here for now."



The blonde telepath opened her eyes and stared at Selene in surprise, looking around to see that they were in some sort of well appointed office.

Remembering what had led to her capture as her drowsy mind woke up.



"The Slayers...they realized what we were doing" Esme correctly guessed aloud.



"Yes those vile girls betrayed us before we could turn on them...Rosenberg herself took you down and tried to do the same to me" Selene replied, her crimson eyes alight with malice as she thought of what she would like to do to the redheaded witch.



"So the Slayer Army DIDN'T go to war against Imperious Industries" Esme complained.



The psychic vampire laughed evilly before replying "no those young fools attacked Dakar themselves...even as we speak he is killing them one by one."



"So why are we here instead of with him?" the witch-in-training asked her mistress.



A look of hatred twisted Selene's beautiful features as the ancient witch thought of all that Dakar had done to her. The wounds to her pride just as raw as when she had (futilely) begged Imperious for mercy.



"Because that cowardly shadow of a man attacked me when I appeared weak before the trull Willow Rosenberg...capturing and trying to execute me...I only just escaped from his disgusting minions" Selene indignantly declared, still outraged that Dakar had the gall to treat her that way.



Esme processed what Selene was saying as she fingered the chair where the witch had placed her. Knowing her teacher well enough to guess that Selene was not as blameless as the old predator was implying.



The Black Queen calmed herself, the patience she had acquired over millennium telling her that losing control now would be counterproductive.



"But Dakar does not know that I still have an agent near him...poised and ready to strike at my command."



Despite her ageless beauty there was something inhuman about the expression on Selene's face and the look in her eyes as she spoke. An ancient and well developed cruelty that even a talented youngster like Dakar could not match when it came to torment and torture.



*****



The other side of the dimensional gateway appeared in a forested area, as the army of Knights in Silver and Spellguard emerged from the portal they struggled to find room among the trees. The addition of the universal travelers, Chrissy Lera and her lover, Lady Alustriel and her top mages, and Drizzt Do'Urden only made things more crowded. Fortunately the soldiers soon found a concrete road, which at least gave them room to march.



Chrissy of course immediately tried to take charge “now we need to figure out exactly where we are...this is probably Iberia but I have no idea how far the capital is from here so we should cast location spells to figure out where Neroka is.”



“Um Chrissy” Marian said awkwardly as she pointed at a traffic sign, that had a white arrow and the words Neroka: 10mi.



“Oh” the necromancer said in embarrassment. But she recovered quickly and added imperiously “then we need to march the army that way...quickly before we lose the element of surprise.”



The High Mage would ordinarily have a great deal to say about a foreigner ordering her army around when she was present. But Alustriel Silverhand was hardly at her best right now, appearing tired and disoriented even to those that didn't know her.



“Are you all right your majesty” Emma Frost diplomatically asked, hoping that one of her most powerful allies wasn't going to collapse on the verge of battle.



“Of...course madam Frost...I am simply used to purer air than the kind in this country” the monarch of Silverymoon said unconvincingly.



Emma Frost inhaled deeply, smelling the slightest trace of car exhaust.



“That's pollution dear...one of the byproducts of modern civilization...its nasty but you won't even notice it after a few days” Emma said coolly, not needing her telepathy to know that Alustriel was lying to her.



As a Chosen of Mystra Alustriel Silverhand had been closely tied to her goddess since before she was born. Now for the first time, she no longer felt the presence of her goddess, an absence that left her feeling weak and alone, rather than the self assured woman of power she normally was.



~By the gods is this how regular folk feel all the time?~ Alustriel wondered.



*****



The first meeting between Angelus and Angela was tense. Mainly because the cyborg elf felt that his female clone should never have been created in the first place.



Now they were meeting in Imperious Industries main facility on Terra One, alone except for Alita Impala, and the dark elf female had no desire to get involved. Fortunately for her, both cyborgs were so preoccupied by each other they barely noticed that she was there.



Impala was certainly paying attention to them though. Neither cyborg were wearing their armor (clad only in their underwear) and the butch elf woman couldn't help admiring their cybernetically enhanced bodies. Especially Angelus's muscular form, eying the handsome elf with obvious interest. Angelus probably would have appreciated seeing a woman look at him like that for the first time since he became a cyborg, but the Chief of Security was too consumed with anger at the moment to notice.



“How could Dakar create a pathetic replica like you without evening talking to me first?” Angelus asked dangerously as he stared at his clone.



Angela stared back before replying, searching through her template's memories as she tried to figure out the correct response. Knowing that this was a critical moment.



~I don't want to fight him he's just as powerful as I am...but if I suck up to Angelus he will just despise me...Angelus loathes toadies and respects strength~ Angela thought. Keeping all that in mind as she replied “what kind of stupid question is that?”



“What?” Angelus barked in outrage.



“Think about it...you know Dakar well enough to know that he never does anything without a reason...but why would he tell me?...I'm just the experiment not one of the experimenters” Angela replied coolly.



Angelus studied his clone silently as he mulled over her words, staring at her athletic yet feminine form as he brooded. Thinking that Angela would be attractive if he didn't know what she was.



~Is this what I would look like as a woman?~ Angelus asked himself.



Angelus finally broke the oppressive silence by saying calmly “but you have suspicions.”



“Of course...I think that Dakar probably began work on me as a replacement for you in case you didn't survive having your brain transferred to a new body...or he might have created me as a way to fully test out your body's basic design without getting you killed in the process...it was probably a combination of factors” Angela admitted.



“The boss does always say that no one's irreplaceable” Impala added.



Both cybernetic elves stared at the female soldier. They had been so caught up in their confrontation that they had almost forgotten she was in the room. But as usual Angelus recovered quickly.



“You're defending her?” the male elf said coldly.



“Listen chief the girl has a point...none of us can help how were made...besides give her a break...Angela's less than a month old...plus your the closest thing she has to a daddy” Alita replied seriously.



The words made Angelus look at Angela in a new way, and he evaluated the clone again as he considered it. Seeing how his features were oddly (yet attractively) mirrored in Angela's female form.



“How many Vampire Slayers did you kill today?” Angelus asked.



“Over a dozen” Angela replied proudly.



“Some of them even had weapons that could hurt her” Impala said supportively.



“Do not underestimate our defensive systems” Angelus shot back dismissively, but the cyborg was nevertheless intrigued. His clone 'daughter' was apparently a warrior like him.



Angela seemed to follow his train of thought and said firmly “I am a soldier too.”



“We shall see.”



Angelus began to put on his armor (which he had left on the floor), noticing how it appeared identical to the armor that Dakar had given Angela. Once he finished 'dressing' the cyborg turned to Angela and said “change the name...Angela is merely a feminized version of mine.”



“I know...I think that Dakar gave it to me just to piss me off and see how I would react” Angela answered, warily watching her template until he left the room a moment later.



“Well that was awkward...I hate it when the boss doesn't tell me about things like this until the last minute” Impala said as soon as Angelus left.



Angela turned to the dark elf and asked “does it bother you that I'm a clone?”



“Hell no...my best girlfriend wears size three thousand shoes so who am I to judge?” Alita replied casually.



“Well you do seem to have a thing for cyborgs” Angela said just as casually.



“What're you mean?”



“I saw you checking out Angelus” Angela answered in a teasing tone.



Alita was too butch to blush, and even if she wasn't the elf woman was too dark skinned for it to show. Nevertheless Angela got the impression that Impala was doing it on the inside.



“That obvious huh...well what can I say?...Angelus has always been a tough bastard...now he's a damn fine looking one too” the dark elf replied with a sigh.



Angela shared her own thoughts on attractive males at that point, and as the two elf women gossiped about men the young cyborg realized something important. She had made her first friend.



*****



As soon as the army had started marching towards Neroka Storm had called upon her powers. Creating a thick fog to hide the movement of so many people.



Of course the fog also prevented the soldiers from seeing what was in front of them, but that didn't matter very much at this point. It was a straight march to the capital of Iberia, and the forces of the Knights in Silver and Spellguard were eager for battle. Even though they had no idea what kind of opposition they would be facing.



*****



Selene had been hoping that Wolfram & Hart would help her fight against Dakar and his company, but the lawyers had protested that they were “facilitators not fighters.” They offered to help her make contact with mercenaries and other people that might be useful in a war against Imperious Industries (for a fee of course), but were unwilling to risk their own necks to help the ancient witch.



Though Selene acted outraged the psychic vampire was not really that surprised. After all she would do the same thing in their position.



The truth was she had mainly gone to the NYC branch of the law firm so that she and Esme Cuckoo could recuperate in a relatively safe place for a little while. But the Black Queen was too proud to simply ask for shelter (and Wolfram & Hart was not altruistic enough to give it).



Now Selene and Esme were back at the Hellmouth. Brought there by a spell that the witch-in-training could barely pronounce, let alone understand. Though the blonde telepath was more concerned by what would happen if Dakar and his people found them.



“I really think we should do this another way” Esme said nervously.



“Hush child” Selene replied automatically as the two women approached a side entrance to the Imperious Industries facility.



To Esme's relief there were no guards posted near the door, though Selene had not expected anything different. Confident (as always) in her ability to direct those around her.



A lone man was there to greet them.



Alan Orwell was one of the wizards hired by Imperious Industries to study and master the magic Selene used to create portals to other dimensions. Shortly after becoming an Imperious Industries employee the lonely Orwell had been seduced by Selene, and at her urging had done all he could to delay and hold back the research on portal creation.



After being defeated and traumatized by Dakar, Selene had frankly expected the technomancer to have killed or imprisoned Alan for his actions by this point. But apparently Imperious had not been able to wrest as many of the witch's secrets from her as he thought, for the love sick Alan had instantly responded to Selene's telepathic communique when she had tried contacting him hours ago, proving all too willing to help the witch in any way that he could.



Selene rushed over to the portly wizard and embraced him, bending her head down so that the shorter spell-caster could passionately kiss her. Saying huskily a moment later “thank you dear Alan you have no idea what that beast Dakar would do to me if he caught me again.”



After a long embrace Alan pulled away from Selene and said “we have to move quickly...I could only arrange for a five minute window before more guards show up.”



The three magic users entered the facility right after that. Knowing that any more delay could spell disaster for all of them.



“Can you sneak me through the portal back to Iberia...me and my sweet Esme should be safe there” Selene lied, using a girlish tone that Esme despised but that her infatuated lover ate right up.



“Yes...I'll probably have to hide you and your girl in crates before you go through but it should work” Alan replied confidently, doing his best to impress the beautiful Selene.



Despite being rather short, fat, and nerdy Alan Orwell had proven himself a caring (if rather inexperienced) lover and had done everything Selene had asked of him competently. The ancient witch almost regretted the fact that her plans required that Alan die soon.



*****



Under the cover of fog the army of Silverymoon and its allied forces were marching quickly towards Neroka. They were on the verge of entering the capital city, so Emma Frost, leader of the universal travelers, wanted to make sure that all her people knew the battle plan.



“As soon as we spot Selene Storm I need you to hit her with everything you have...we need to keep that old witch distracted and off balance.”



Storm nodded grimly, the former African goddess wasn't enthusiastic about assassinating an enemy, but she saw the necessity.



“Girls you and I need to focus our power on Selene's mind...if we allow her to concentrate she will flee or summon monsters to fight us” Emma said as she turned to her daughters Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe.



“Yes mother” the Frost girls replied in unison.



“Mystique you and She-Hulk have the most important job...after my family and Storm wound and distract Selene you two have to get close and destroy her body...remember how much damage she can absorb and not to let her touch you” Emma told the two physically powerful women.



“I know Emma” Mystique said irritably, for this was at least the third time Emma Frost had told them all this.



“You need to take this seriously Raven...if she can kill Wolverine she can murder any of us” Emma warned.



That shut Mystique up the way few things could. Because despite the fact that her relationship with Logan had always been stormy at best, Mystique had always been impressed by his ability to survive seemingly anything.



“But we will succeed...Selene has only survived this long by running and hiding whenever the odds turned against her...the old bitch claims to be immortal but if there is one thing I learned from my time with the Hellfire Club and the X-Men its that anyone can die” Emma assured her team.



*****



Though the fog hid the army of Silverymoon from sight, it could not hide their heat signatures from Iberian sensors. Moreover the fog itself was very suspicious, leaving the Iberian Minister of Defense Alberto Francisco in a difficult position.



“What do we do sir?” one of the minister's aides asked Francisco.



The Defense Minister looked around his big office anxiously. The truth was that Alberto Francisco was in over his head. The only reason he had been appointed Defense Minister after Rosenthrall died was that his Mind Flayer backers considered him a reliable puppet. Alberto certainly didn't know how to handle a potential invasion.



“Do you really think its an attack?” the minister asked his personal staff desperately.



“A large group of people are moving on the capital under the cover of an obviously unnatural fog...they have not bothered to issue any warnings, threats, or demands, and in fact have made no effort to communicate...doesn't that sound exactly like some kind of surprise attack?” one of the soldiers present said, doing his best to hide the contempt he felt for his panicking superior officer.



Francisco nodded glumly, everything the man had said made far too much sense.



Alberto was paralyzed by indecision. Thinking that if no matter what he did if it turned out wrong (as was all too likely) everyone would blame him.



“Sir we must do something.”



His subordinates words seemed to unfreeze Alberto, and the minister said “send a report to the Palace and ask for instructions.” Thinking that no matter what went wrong they couldn't blame him if he was just following orders.



*****



The army of Silverymoon looked like something out of a fairy tale as it entered the city of Neroka (Storm's unnatural fog dissipating as they did so). The ranks of knights in shining armor, cavalry mounted on magnificent warhorses, and elaborately robed mages seemed almost too picturesque to be real.



Even though the Iberian people were all too familiar with invading armies (despite the relative peace the Lera regime had brought in recent decades) the invading force looked nothing like a modern army to them. Many of the watching civilians thought it was some sort of parade and actually cheered as the army of foreigners marched down street.



But the peaceful invasion of Neroka couldn't last.



A city cop stood directly in the path of the marching army. Blowing on his whistle and commanding the invading force to stop.



The man was nervous, he was armed only with a handgun he had never fired (except during training) and he knew that he couldn't stop the 'parade' by himself unless they listened to reason. By he had sworn an oath to uphold the laws of Neroka, so the police officer kept telling them to “stop in the name of the law.”



Under other circumstances the soldiers of Silverymoon probably would have stopped. But this was war (besides most of them couldn't understand what he was saying anyway).



The cop had virtually no warning before an arrow flew through the air and rammed into his chest. Staring down at the arrow shaft protruding from his torso in horrified surprise. Too shocked to feel any pain yet.



When the 'enemy soldier' did not immediately go down a Silverymoon wizard unleashed a fireball. Engulfing the man in flames before he could even scream.



But other people screamed as they saw the police officer violently killed in front of them. Fleeing in all directions as they tried to get away from the foreign soldiers, inciting panic as word spread that the capital was being invaded.



*****



A human like Xander Harris had no real defense against Imperious Dakar's powers. When the technomancer used his Mind Flayer familiar to probe Harris' mind the leader of the Slayer Army could do little to resist.



The horrible experience seemed to go on forever for Xander. The demonically empowered cyborg would simply ask him a question and then telepathically search Xander's mind for the answer. Not even giving his prisoner a chance to lie or remain defiantly silent.



“Sir I have urgent news from Iberia” an Imperious Industries employee said as he entered the interrogation room.



“Yes...what is it?” Dakar said curiously as he stepped away from Xander Harris.



The messenger looked around the grim little room before speaking, assuring himself that there was no way anyone could blame him for what he was about to say. Then announcing as calmly as possible “unknown forces have invaded the capital and they are apparently fighting their way to the Presidential Palace.”



Dakar did not react outwardly, completely suppressing any impulse to panic or get angry through willpower and clever cybernetics. Saying only “have they issued any demands or threats?”



“No sir...they are mainly just...marching...somewhere” the messenger said lamely.



~Is it the Illuminati?...or has Magnus decided to take my business because I wasn't eager enough to share it?...what other factions have the resources and nerve to pull such a thing off?” Dakar asked himself. Trying to calculate which of Imperious Industries and Iberia's enemies was most likely to stage such an invasion (although the technomancer was uncomfortably aware that he was dealing with an awfully large number of x factors).



But at the moment the primary issue was not who was attacking Dakar's base of operations in Iberia, it was how to deal with that attack. Unfortunately for the businessman his company had just finished deploying most of its security forces against the Slayer Army, so the majority of Imperious Industries troops and military hardware (other than company merchandise) was out in the field on Terra One.



“Order all security forces in the field to report back to the main Terra One facility now...all operations against the V.S.A. are to cease immediately” Dakar commanded, wondering how bad the situation would get before his forces could effectively respond.



Xander Harris, who had overheard the conversation from his position on the floor, laughed bitterly and said venomously “guess were not the only ones that hate you scarface...we may not have been able to take you down but someone will.”



Dakar studied his chained and helpless prisoner, looking into Xander's exhausted face and hate filled eyes. Asking himself if there was any reason to keep the boy alive any longer.



“Udragoth...feed.”



The Mind Flayer instantly responded to its masters words. Walking over to Xander Harris and leaning down to grasp his shoulders in its four fingered hands. Its facial tentacles reaching out to grasp his head.



“Man your ugly” Xander muttered defiantly as he got a glimpse of Udragoth's round little mouth, that was filled with sharp teeth. Feeling claustrophobic as his head was completely surrounded by the Mind Flayer's tentacles.



The second and last leader of the Slayer Army died as Udragoth's tentacles and teeth burrowed into his head. Sacrificed merely to feed the latest version of the illithid.



*****



With the rush to get as many Imperious Industries troops from Terra One back to Iberia as possible it was easy for Alan Orwell to sneak Selene and Esme Cuckoo through the inter-dimensional portal.



He simply packed the women into a crate, put the crate on a trolley, and wheeled it through the portal. So many people were doing the exact same thing (minus the hidden women) that no one really paid any attention to another load going through the portal.



Of course there were security procedures to prevent that sort of thing. But Selene and Esme had bypassed most of them thanks to being let in, and the other security measures were being ignored thanks to the emergency.



Now Alan Orwell was wheeling the crate through the Iberian portal facility. Before long he found an unused office and went in, tapping on the crate as he said “its safe now girls.”



Then Alan went to look for a crowbar or something else that he could use to open the crate. Not trusting any of his spells to get rid of the wooden box without hurting the women inside.



As Alan turned away the crate came apart. The individual wooden pieces dancing away from each other at rapid speed, undone by the power of Selene.



The beautiful witch majestically rose as the crate came apart, not so much standing up as floating to her feet. Esme tried to imitate her teacher, tripped, fell on her butt, and smashed her head against a desk.



“You okay?” Alan asked in concern, worried that Selene's disciple had hurt herself.



“No...I think I have a concussion” Esme whined from her position on the floor.



The wizard moved to help, but Selene stepped in front of him before he could. Saying sweetly “Alan dear...does anyone else know were here?”



“No my sweet...I made sure to involve anyone else as little as possible...I'm the only one that knows you're here” Alan reassured his lover.



Selene smiled beautifully and then leaned down to kiss the shorter spell-caster, molding her lush curves against his portly form. Doing her best to get her younger lover aroused.



But despite his mounting lust Alan was a skilled wizard so he sensed it just before Selene began to feed. Orwell tried to pull away, but Selene suddenly griped him with inhuman strength, unwilling to let him out of her embrace.



With Selene's tongue in his mouth the foolish wizard couldn't even scream. Eyes wide with terror as the witch drank him down, his body reduced to nothing but dust in seconds.



“Delicious” Selene murmured as she rubbed the dust into her cleavage (which was prominently displayed by her immodest black dress), her nipples hardening beneath the material as she savored the lust and fear Alan Orwell had felt in his final moments.



Esme stared at her mentor in horror as she got to her feet. Saying in disbelief “why did you do that?...he was helping us...I thought you liked him.”



Selene appeared annoyed by the question as she answered back “he might have told someone else about us and we shall need complete surprise when we attack Dakar...besides while I was fond of dear Alan the boy had outlived his usefulness.”



Then the witch walked out of the office, Esme moved to follow, but her thoughts were consumed by a single question.



She had assumed (like Orwell) that she had a strong (or at least important) relationship with Selene. But how long would it be before the witch decided that the apprentice had out lived her usefulness too?



*****



Imperious Dakar knew that he was losing control of the situation.



He had just received word that Selene had escaped the med lab where she was to be executed. The witch had left behind an illusion that showed her still imprisoned, but as soon as the researchers tried to experiment on her some more the magical farce was revealed for what it was. But Selene's illusions were still real enough to kill three of his scientists.



And no one could find Doctor Durga, leading Dakar to suspect that Selene had killed him.



Now as an army marched through the streets of the capital to his location Imperious received more bad news. In the form of video feed from security cameras along the route that the foreign army was taking.



Imperious Dakar prowled around his Command Center, staring at the images on the monitors as he mentally compared them to pictures he had already seen. Calculating just how badly the odds were stacked against Imperious Industries.



Angelus, who had joined his boss in the Command Center as soon as he heard that there was an emergency, said what Dakar was thinking “those are the X-Men who attacked our Terra Nine facility...and that appears to be Christina Lera herself.”



“Yeah...Selene warned me about how dangerous they could be but it appears I underestimated the little bastards” Dakar replied.



~If The Phoenix is here we stand little chance of defeating her...but there is no where else to retreat to...if she can reach us here in this supposedly virtually impenetrable dimension she can reach us anywhere...we must deal with Chrissy and her new allies and hope that Jean Grey does not interfere~ Dakar thought. Showing no outward sign of his grim thoughts.



“Tell our special forces that the Chrissy Lera imposter is the priority target” Angelus commanded his security people. Not wanting word to get out that Chrissy was leading an army against the capital instead of in sitting in the Presidential Palace.



“They are ALL priority targets” Imperious added as he waved at the images of the Frost family, Storm, Mystique, She-Hulk, and of course Chrissy Lera.



“Especially the telepaths” Dakar said firmly as he imagined what someone like Emma Frost could do to the minds of his people if given a chance.



*****



The army of Silverymoon moved quickly through Neroka. Word was speading rapidly that the capital city was being invaded, so people fled whenever they saw the forces of the High Mage. The Iberian army could have made the Spellguard and Knights in Silver pay dearly for every city block, but it did nothing, paralyzed by the indecisiveness of its leader.



Now the army was within sight of the Imperious Industries portal facility, and standing on the roof of that building was Alita Impala.



The dark elf was a lifelong soldier, and probably the best sniper that Imperious Industries had. That was why Dakar had chosen her to take the first shot against the invaders, and shown her images of the priority targets.



Impala used her Weapons Encyclopedia to summon a Gamma One Assault Rifle to her hands. Despite the name it was more of a cannon than a rifle, and had the size and bulk to match. But more importantly, it was capable of firing a wide variety of ammunition and had a sniper scope that allowed the user to lock on to a target at least two miles away (assuming that there was nothing in the way).



Despite her lean frame Alita was relatively strong and had no trouble getting the weapon into position. Employing its digital sniper scope to scan the approaching army for her targets.



~Not there...not there....is that the She-Hulk?...no that human has brown skin...and any one of these people could be the shape shifter...I am never going to find them at this rate...not there not there...not ther-wait...that looks like the Frost bitch and her daughters...and their just standing together out in the open like that...God that's stupid...but it makes my job easier~ Impala thought as she took aim.



*****



Emma Frost was saved by blind chance.



She had been talking to her daughters when one of the Knights in Silver had asked her a question about enemy telepaths. Since he seemed like a decent sort and it was a reasonable question she walked over to discuss it with him.



Unfortunately her pregnant form was not the most graceful and she tripped on an empty can of pop. The soldier she had been talking to caught her and tried to help Frost back to her feet, showing her the consideration his mother had taught her son to display towards women (especially pregnant mothers).



That was when the explosive round Impala fired reached them.



Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe Frost were all standing together, ready to combine their psychic powers and use it against their enemies at a moment's notice, and prepared to change to their virtually indestructible diamond forms at the first sign of physical danger.



Unfortunately they had no warning before the small but powerful bomb hit Phoebe (who was standing between Mindee and Celeste) in the chest, detonating on impact. The explosion killed Phoebe and her sisters instantly, as well as the soldiers standing closest to them. Only the fact that the soldier who was helping Emma Frost to get back on her feet was standing directly between her and the explosion saved the telepath. His body absorbed most of the explosive force coming her way and gave her the precious seconds she needed to change to her diamond form.



But the explosive force was still strong enough to knock the diamond woman back several feet. So that she landed ungracefully on her back.



~Mother what happened?...where are Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe? Why can't I FEEL THEM ANYMORE?~ Sophie silently wailed inside Emma.



Emma said nothing, the truth was she didn't know what was going on either. There had been some kind of explosion, she was throw aside, and now she couldn't feel the presence of her daughters either.



Something that had also been knocked away by the explosion caught Emma's eye, and she reached for it in a kind of horrified fascination. Hoping that it wasn't what it looked like.



It was Celeste's blonde head, her fair features permanently stuck in an expression of surprise, her dead eyes seeming to stare straight ahead, as blood gently oozed out of the area where her neck had once been attached to the rest of her body.



“No no no no” Emma whispered as she clutched the head to her bosom. Feeling her own grief as well as Sophie's as she realized that her daughters were dead. Crying for the first time ever in her diamond form.



As though that first shot had been a signal, weapons all over outside of the portal facility building suddenly opened fire. Apparently trying to decimate the army in front of them through sheer concentrated firepower.