Site Alpha Bravo Whiskey[]
It was two weeks before HAMMER forces released the scene and allowed civilian rescue teams and the Oklahoma National Guard into the crash site. Many people had been angry about Osborne's slow reaction time and Melissa reckoned that the government had pressured him into making this decision. During the two weeks a lot had happened; HAMMER Teams had entered the ruins of Asgard and several people from both sides had been recovered. The first to be found was Eric O'Grady who had accidentally become trapped in a completely sealed chamber. Later the same day the Invisible Woman was removed from the wreckage in a coma. More often then not though it was dead bodies that were being extracted with the list of dead heroes expanding every day. Most tragic was the removal of Captain America's body which was quickly bundled into a blacked out HAMMER Transport that was later found burnt-out on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
"Melissa, we have to go," a voice whispered in her ear. Looking over, Melissa saw Abe dressed in combat fatigues with an M16 slung across his shoulder.
"Okay." she whispered as she settled a baseball cap over her head, her hair dyed auburn in an attempt to hide the charismatic pink streaks. With her hair now covered it was time to enter the relief camp and get inside the ruins of Asgard. While the National Guard were now in charge it still wouldn't be easy as Osborne had ordered that all super-powered beings who were not members of HAMMER were to be shot on sight. Hopefully the fake IDs that Fixer had been working on would pass the test and get them in. More worrying at least to her own thoughts was the sonic harness attached to her neck. The pink highlights could be overlooked but nearly everybody in the country would recognize the device even if Fixer had claimed to have found a way to cloak the device. With the makeshift checkpoint getting closer Melissa knew that she would just have to hope that whatever Fixer had created would work.
"Identify yourself, solider," the gate post guard ordered his bored face covered with a multitude of insect bites.
"Private Jensen, sir," Abe replied, saluting as he spoke, "Command ordered me to escort Dr. Sterne here into the ruins." Melissa had to stifle a laugh; the sonic harness under her shirt was beginning to vibrate rapidly against her skin.
The soldier peered at Melissa and picked up his radio, "General Greene, are we expecting a Doctor Sterne on site." There was a brief silence and the soldier nodded before replying, "Okay, yes sir."
"Dr. Melody Sterne, why are you here exactly?" he asked Melissa, suspicion creeping into his voice.
"Yes sir," Melissa responded, "I'm an expert in acoustics, and thought my recent breakthrough in sonar tracking could help locate any survivors."
"Hmm, your credentials check out, I just need to scan your bag before I can let you in," the soldier stated as Melissa handed him the bag containing a range of technological gadgets that Fixer had stored inside.
"Mr. Darnell, would you do the honors?" the soldier said, handing the bag to another soldier who suddenly began to glow purple as he passed a hand over the surface.
"All clear," he replied after running his hand over the bag twice. He handed Melissa the bag before staring at her neck. "Nice tattoo, doctor," he stated, his voice crackling with energy.
"Alright Dr. Sterne, head on in but stay with Private Jensen," the soldier said before waving them on.
Neither Abe nor Melissa talked until they reached the lift, where a chunky young woman in an impossibly tight silver jumpsuit was standing waiting to take them down into the ruins. "So you met X-Ray, huh?" the woman stated as they got in.
"Yeah," Melissa replied, "I thought HAMMER and all those freaks moved out when the National Guard took over."
"They did," the woman said, "but Osborne managed to persuade the National Guard to leave a few Meta-Humans on site in case there is any trouble."
"Has there been any trouble?" Melissa asked.
The woman stared at her before looking at Abe, "No everything is fine, err...who are you?"
"Doctor Sterne," Melissa answered. "But everybody calls me Melody," she added a big fake grin spreading over her face.
"No, we have had no trouble, Melody." the woman answered, "This is a disaster site, albeit a weird one, not a war zone."
"What do you mean weird?" Melissa asked.
"Well, we sent a team down on Tuesday who came out twenty minutes later but had aged three years," the woman began. "Or that nice lady fire-fighter from Green Bay who went down on Friday and came out dressed in armor claiming to be the reincarnation of Gondul the Valkyrie."
"Oh, that kind of weirdness," Melissa said sarcastically, "I am a scientist...Rhonda," she said peering at the woman's name tag, "I don't believe in magic, it's childish, for one thing to believe in gods and fairies."
"Hmph," Rhonda replied before pulling a lever, "I believe this is your stop, Doctor Skeptic. I hope nothing happens to you," she added bitterly before pulling the lever to send the lift back to the surface. As she ascended out of view, Melissa opened the bag and pulled out a short bronze cylinder which she planted in the ground before flicking the switch on the side.
"Okay, we're ready to go," Fixer announced over the concealed headset. "Mel, if you can send a sound pulse through the cylinder." Melissa sent a quiet pulse of energy through the device. "Good, Abe, the 3D map should be arriving in your PDA now."
"That's a lot of tunnels, Fixer, can you track life-forms to narrow down the search area?" Abe asked.
"No, but if you and Mel equip the sensors I supplied I should be able to monitor the local area for a range of things, including thermal signatures and energy discharges. How's your throat and chest, Mel?" he added as Abe slipped a headset with an attached sensor over his forehead.
"Everything feels okay," she replied, "You used sonic phasing to recess the harness into my body to get through inspection."
"Yes, although it didn't work as well as I hoped. X-Ray noticed it when he scanned you," Fixer answered, "I will track his radiation signature so we know where he is and keep an eye on things from up here."
"You two can talk about it later," Abe said calmly, switching on the tactical light mounted on his rifle. "Let's see if anyone is left down here."
Descending through the Broxton-Asgard ruins was eerily quiet and both Abe's tactical light and Melissa's glowing energy pulses seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness. It was half an hour before they found the first body, an Asgardian Warrior by the look of his armor, whose flesh had mysteriously melted, leaving a clean skeleton behind. As they traveled deeper they stumbled across more bodies, mostly skeletal Asgardians and HAMMER Shock Troops, until the pair reached what had once been a main hall. The space was still ornately decorated; the marble walls shining as the lights passed over them, the shields and swords decorating the edges still hanging as if the space was untouched by not only the search teams but the fall of Asgard itself. At one end was an alter with a body lying on top, while thin fingers of white mist swirled around the area almost like a gossamer curtain flapping in the wind.
"Is she dead?" Abe asked
"Core Temperature reads 37°C so she should be alive," Fixer answered, "Mel, get the camera on her so I can get a proper look."
"Great," Melissa moaned, "Look's like I'm on Sleeping Beauty duty." Edging up to the alter, Melissa looked down at the beautiful blonde woman her arms crossed over her chest as if sleeping, while her robe, that looked like it had been formed of the purest lake water, flapped slightly in the mist.
"I think this is or was Mockingbird," she eventually said, "I pretended to be her a while back when I was Screaming Mimi."
"Facial match is confirmed," Fixer added. "Mel, sing a note, will you?" Choosing a B note, Melissa sang a bar. "Her heart appears to be beating, but apart from that she looks dead. When you hit that note, Mel, nothing happened, not even a spike in her brain waves."
"What about the costume, that's not her regular one," Abe commented, "It could mean that somebody has been here. Is there anything you can do to find out, Fixer?"
"Background scans show only three sets of footprints, two of them are yours, the other is a bare foot track that leads only to the alter. None coming back so I guess they might be Mockingbird's. I did notice a rock composition change on the floor by the third pillar from the altar, Abe, do me a favor and check it out."
Abe moved up to the pillar and bent down to examine the floor, "Nothing here but an old dish or something."
"Bear with me guys, that dish has trace elements of adamantine and vibranium."
"It can't be." Melissa gasped as she walked over to where Abe was crouched. Abe rubbed the dust off the shield to reveal a single white star with blue and red rings around the outside. Nobody dared speak as Abe picked up the shield and placed it against the pillar.
"What do we do with Mockingbird?" Melissa said, tearing her eyes away from the shield. "Do we move, hell, 'can' we move her?"
"I have no idea," Fixer replied, "I work with machines, not people. Scans show that she is in a coma, so I would lean against not moving her without the proper equipment."
"Do you think there are others like this?" Abe asked
"Maybe, this chamber should have had more traffic then three people," Fixer stated, "Somebody should have found her before us. And surely when they removed Captain America's body they would have taken the shield and her out of here."
"So you're saying that we should leave her?" Melissa asked, a scowl on her face. "That's barbaric, Fixer, even for you."
"I'm just saying that Mockingbird seems healthy, apart from the coma of course, and that we don't know enough about this place to move her. We could kill her if we take her off the alter." Fixer argued.
"What do you think, Abe?" Melissa asked.
Abe didn't answer; he had raised his M16 and was facing the door, ready to fire. From the doorway, a massive shadow loomed, staring at them through the twilight.
"I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you." the shadow said in a gruff voice.
Apperances[]
Characters[]
- Thunderbolts
- Melissa Gold / Songbird
- Abner Jenkins / MACH V
- Paul Norbert Ebersol (Voice Only)
- HAMMER
- Norman Osborne (Mentioned Only)
- Rhonda (First Appearance)
- Another unnamed agent
- Oklahoma National Guard (First Appearance)
- James Darnell (First Appearance)
- Barbara Morse (First Appearance)
- Eric O'Grady (Mentioned Only)
- Susan Storm (Mentioned Only)
- Steve Rogers (Mentioned Only)
Items[]
- Captain America's Shield]] (First Appearance)
- Acoustic 3D Mapping Device (First Appearance)