45 Technomancer in MCU #38

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Chapter 38

Technomancer in MCU

Previously

After me, of course. I still believed in the supremacy of well-built technology against raw brute force.

The Hulk would disagree but he was not here so I can count this as my win.

"Alfred, let's go meet Blackagar Boltagon, shall we? Inform Daisy to meet us in the hangar in an hour."

"Affirmative, sir."

_________________________________________________________

Main Hangar, Asterisk

–Daisy "Quake" Johnson–

BEEP! BEEP!

Her eyes snapped open as she woke up instantly at the sound of the alarm.

Today was a very special day.

She was finally going on a mission without a commander.

And that too with the Big Boss!

Oh, her teammates were going to be so jealous when they heard about this.

Suck on that, Yo-Yo.

Hurriedly getting ready, she made it to the Main Hangar an hour before schedule.

As is the case most of the time, the Hangar was a hub of activity.

Multiple jets landing and taking off at the same time.

She could spot a few aircraft carriers docking at their stations, probably for periodic docking procedures.

She heard it in one of the boring lectures compiled by Alfred that their aircraft carriers are basically floating cities and can go years and maybe even decades without stopping for maintenance but Alfred, paranoid bastard that he was, insists on doing quarterly maintenance to make sure all of our forces are at 100% and ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.

She smiled and waved at the technicians and pilots who previously wouldn't have spared her a glance but now, greet her with all the respect.

It was all due to the badge.

Being in Frank Castle's personal hit squad is a feat that is almost impossible to achieve.

Being publicly acknowledged for that position is a reward all on its own.

A grouchy voice speaks into her ears, "No need to be so smug. I have already informed Frank of your tardiness regarding the morning training and he has assured me of the quote, "Taking care of your lazy ass, unquote."

And just like that, the smile was wiped off of her face.

"You just can't see me happy, can you?" she grumbled to herself, stomping towards the designated jet they were going to take for today's mission.

The comms were suspiciously silent after that.

Come to think of it, even the Hangar had gone completely silent.

She have never even heard of that happening.

Turning around to investigate the cause, she came face to face with the Big Boss.

"Ah!", she shrieked and jumped back, creating distance between them.

He only looked at her with a smug smirk.

She became all red, embarrassed at the fact that he was able to sneak up on her so easily, despite that being the first lesson Frank grilled in them for a whole month.

Oh man, she was so dead when she came back from this mission.

Regaining her bearings, she took a deep breath to calm down and after clearing her throat, she saluted him and said, "Special Agent Johnson, reporting for duty, Sir!"

_________________________________________________________

–Ed–

As I looked upon the red-faced, clearly flustered form of one Daisy Johnson, I could only shake my head in amusement.

It was a far cry from the combat recordings I saw on the way here. Far from being the badass that her team members described her as.

Ah, she was still saluting me.

I remember telling Alfred to issue an organisation-wide notice that strictly prohibited that.

I guess, he forgot.

I chuckle at her situation and tell her, "Please, we don't do that here. I believe there is a notice for that somewhere in the common notices section on your user terminal. I don't like being saluted to. I am actually not much older than you are, so I would prefer if you simply called me Ed."

She gasped at that, clearly surprised at my forthcoming attitude.

I wonder what my image is among the members of the community with whom I do not interact on a regular basis.

"I can not possibly do that, sir. The best I can do is call you sir," she replied to my request.

I deadpanned at her answer.

She stared right back at me and refused to budge on the issue.

Ah, so she does have some spine.

Then again, you have to when you work directly under Frank Castle.

His team consists of primarily enhanced people and from all the testimonies I see of his recommended team members, I can clearly make out a common pattern.

Extreme fear of Frank Castle.

Fear of a man who is by all means a certified badass and yet just that, a baseline badass.

Trained to the peak of human limits but still very much within human limits.

Then again, his powers help him level the playing field when it comes to enhanced people.

And when you are on the same level as him, he absolutely demolishes you, not leaving you with any will to retaliate against him even when you gain your powers back.

His powers were a huge surprise.

Frankly, I was surprised that he even had an Inhuman gene and even more surprised when he took up Alfred's offer to undergo terrigenesis.

I was against it as I didn't want my top team leader to get a defective power and lose his current combat prowess, but he was adamant.

Now, I am glad he did so.

He came out with the powers of complete power negation.

It didn't enhance his physical capabilities in any way but damn did it increase his threat level.

He can, in theory, depower the Hulk, if he was pushed to his limit.

That is a dangerous powerset.

Alfred also found an unintended positive effect of his powers.

The longer an enhanced person remains under his field of influence, the stronger their powers become.

That's half the reason he trains any member under him without their powers.

The other half is that he is a sadistic bastard who would stop at nothing to shape up the people under him to prepare them for the grim realities of the world.

"So" Daisy's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "Shall we?", she said while gesturing to the jet behind her.

Right, that was the standard issue jet for me.

Fortified to the nine hells and filled to the gills with any and all advanced tech that Alfred could cram into.

And with him, you could never tell how much of it is in the jet.

A perfectly fine jet but I had other plans for today.

"No, change of plans," I replied to her.

At her quizzical look, I gestured behind me, to the two hoverboards being brought by one of the technicians, Sam, was his name.

Standing steadily on one of them, I thanked Sam and said to her, "We are going to be taking these."

Her eyes shot wide open as she pointed at those, "Please tell me you are not serious?"

My only answer to that question was a mischievous smile.

_________________________________________________________

The Royal Palace, Attilan

–Medusalith Amaquelin–

Seeing the reports sent by Maximus, her stress levels broke all of their limits.

He wants to kidnap the Avengers using Lockjaw and then have Black Bolt kill them.

She rejected them but kept them to show to her foolish husband who still believes that Maximus is just a little "lost" and not absolutely hell-bent on destroying Attilan as it is, starting with his own brother.

He cannot speak without destroying the very surroundings but he is somehow also blind to his brother's jealousy over his powers and his throne.

Someday, he is going to slip and she will be there to watch him get executed for betraying Attilan.

If only the elders on the genetic council came to their senses and stopped going along with his hair-brained schemes.

Just as she was about to turn in for the day, as the humans on earth like to call it, somebody came rushing through the door.

It was one of the palace guards.

Already in a foul mood from Maximus' antiques, she asked him coldly, "What is it? You better have a good reason for your breach of decorum?"

The guard seized up, clearly terrified of her but managed to squeeze out, "Your Majesty, there is an intruder at our gates. He was flagged by the system as a priority RED. We were to contact the highest authority for that but His Majesty was unavailable and you were the next highest authority."

She was already up and rushing towards the exit as soon as she heard his words about the RED protocol.

It was a series of protocols made recently that only had a few members in it.

The members of the Avengers were in it and so was Ed. The true powerhouses of the planet Earth who could threaten and/or destroy Attilan on their lonesome.

As soon as she was out of her office, she called out, "Lockjaw."

Lockjaw appeared and as soon as he did, she touched his head and with their limited telepathic connection, he understood the destination and they disappeared from her office with a bright flash of white light.

They appeared inside the main barrier control room.

Immediately, she heard the commander rush towards her and speak in a quite flustered manner, "Y-Your Majesty!" and then he bowed to her.

In this urgent situation!

"Speak! What is happening"

He stood up properly and gestured towards the screen at the center of the console and said," Just a few minutes ago, during one of our routine scans of our surroundings, we found two small objects headed right towards us."

"That sent an alarm right up the chain towards me. Then I ordered a focused scan of their rough location and this image came up."

The screen showed a photograph, confirming her worst fears.

She immediately rounded on to Lockjaw and said, "Lockjaw, go and take Crystal to the bunker and then bring my husband here."

Lockjaw woofed and disappeared.

She seriously hoped that this would not turn into a hostile situation. If it did, she didn't think that their species would be able to survive after today.

The screen showed two individuals riding one of those hoverboards she had seen on the shows frequently watched by Crystal. One of them was Ed and the other woman was an unidentified variable.

Still, the fact that she came with Ed makes her a dangerous person by default.

"Is there a live feed?" she asked the commander.

He nodded and ordered one of the juniors to show the feed.

The live feed soon started on the screens, probably through a drone that followed them.

"Can we communicate through these?" she asked him.

By this point, they were barely a few minutes away from being visible through the barriers surrounding Attilan.

He soon handed her a mike and she immediately spoke through it, "HALT! You are intruding on Attilan's sovereign soil. Please return. Attilan has closed its borders for now."

Hope blossomed in her heart as the live feed showed both of them stopping and the woman discussing something with Ed.

He made a pondering face but after a while, looked directly at the camera.

Her heart nearly leaped out of her throat at that and she looked around to find her powers had activated involuntarily, turning her hair into an assortment of deadly weapons.

Ed then mouthed "No" towards the camera and then continued on his journey towards them. She could see the woman trying to persuade him but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Eventually, even she gave up and rode alongside him, passing the illusion boundary layer of Attilan.

Just as she was about to plead again, her husband appeared in the room with a flash of light, accompanied by Lockjaw and Karnak.

They must have been in the middle of a spar, as she could see a thin sheen of sweat on Karnak's face.

She hurriedly clasped hands with him, conveying all the information she had regarding the situation to him through our limited telepathic connection.

Usually, she was only able to get feelings or short bursts of Positives or negatives on the matter at hand but with physical contact, she was able to supercharge their bond for a short time to get all the information across to him so he could make an informed decision.

Understanding soon filled his face as he got the gist of the situation.

He then signalled Kornak and Lockjaw to empty the room and clear the path to the entry gates.

She held his hand and asked him, "Are you sure? We discussed this possibility but this is too soon. We are not prepared enough."

He simply smiled and held her face, stopping her in her tirade.

Seeing his confident smile, she stopped worrying, "Very well. Whatever you do, I will be here with you."

He smiled and walked towards the entry gate.

The entire area was in the process of being evacuated and by the time they reached the gates, it was completely void of any people besides both of them.

Lockjaw and Karnak soon appeared behind them in a silent show of their support for the King and Queen of Attilan.

She heard a slight whining sound behind her and turned around to see the obnoxious face of Maximus flying here.

Before she could talk to him though, Black Bolt signalled to Karnak and Lockjaw.

Shock and confusion were reflected in their demeanours but next they nodded at each other and moved.

 The next scene left her mouth agape.

Lockjaw teleported next to Maximus and kicked him in the back, sending him flying off the hoverboard.

He was sent flying right into the kick of Karnak, knocking him out in a single move.

Lockjaw then teleported his unconscious body somewhere and returned right next to her.

Blown out of her mind at the spectacle, she turned to her husband for an explanation.

He seemed to predict her question as he smiled and raised his hands to sign to her when they both heard an unfamiliar voice.

A voice that raised dread in her.

Both of them simultaneously looked towards the voice, originating from inside the barrier of Attilan, and found themselves facing Ed.

And the woman with him, who was looking at Ed with an annoyed face.

"Seems like one hell of a welcome party, King Black Bolt. Gotta say, seeing Maximus getting his teeth knocked out was a great welcome present. My impression of you has risen by a notch."

He then cheered towards them by raising his glass, which he brought out of nowhere?

Her husband stepped forward to greet him and she hurriedly followed him to help him communicate with Ed.

As soon as Black Bolt was about to signal something, Ed raised his hands and tossed something towards them.

She activated her powers and she could feel Karnak and Lockjaw all tense up, ready to move at a moment's notice at the perceived threat.

But Ed just raised his hands in mock surrender and gestured towards the small ball? And said, "Relax! It is just an advanced translation device. It will help your King speak."

Before she could voice her disapproval for that, her husband picked it right out of the air and hesitantly, uttered his first word in years.

"HELLO"

She shielded her eyes in preparation for the absolute destruction that would follow whenever her husband uttered anything but found herself looking at Ed's grinning face.

He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and said to a clearly surprised Black Bolt, "Told you!"

She was not going to like Ed, she was certain of that much.

_________________________________________________________

Word Count - 2648

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