Excalibur #11

"Yes?" said the small oriental gentleman who answered the door of  the house on 177a Bleeker Street, in Greenwich Village, New York.

"Good afternoon, Wong," said Forge. "Is Stephen at home?"

"Ah, Forge, forgive me, I did not recognise you at first. Please come in."

"Many thanks," replied the SHIELD director. "This is George Washington Bridge, he works for me and it is on his behalf I've come to speak to Stephen."

"Ah yes, I know the name," said Wong. "I shall inform Doctor Strange of your arrival."

"Thank you," and the two men watched as the manservant walked away and up the stairs.

"Doesn't the Doctor know we're already here?" asked Bridge

"Quite probably," said Forge, "but it's polite to ask." The two men stood in the hallway of what was a rather nondescript building to look at but what was in reality anything but. The building was built on a focal point where many magical rituals had been performed and Forge could feel the power in the building calling to the shaman in his soul.

This was a place he had visited on several occasions and he had always been impressed by the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Master of the Mystic Arts. This house had been destroyed and moved and altered and Forge knew that the Sorcerer Supreme had paid the price time and again for the life he worked on.

"My dear Forge," said the Doctor as he came down the stairs.

"Stephen," said Forge and the two men shook hands. 

"And this must be Colonel Bridge."

"I am," replied the field leader of Excalibur.

"I wish this were under better circumstances, my friend," said Forge, as Strange led them in to his lounge. "I suspect you know why I am here."

"Yes," said Stephen. "Darkstar. I felt the disturbance to the planet when it happened and Laynia Petrova was the main suspect. I had hoped it was not what I thought, however..."

"The island of Kalymnos is gone, destroyed," said Bridge.

"Not totally," said Strange as Wong brought them tea. "Thank you, Wong."

"If Darkstar has become one with the darkforce then I need to find a way of getting her back."

"I don't even know if that is possible," said Stephen. "She may have become an actual part of the darkforce dimension itself, and if that is the case we may not be able to bring her back."

"We do know she was able to interact with our dimension," said Bridge, as he drank the tea. "She saved the life of one of my people. I've lost too many already because of one mission. I need to save her."

"Redemption is something to which I can relate. I will research this for you, Forge. I will let you know in twenty four hours whether I can help or not."

"Stephen, there is one other thing," said Forge. "I'm intending to go and find out how she is, if she is there. However I do not know of any incantations that would open a portal."

"That is because the only known one is held in the books of the Vishanti. There are a few people who know it, but less who will tell you of it. If I cannot help you bring her back, I can at least take you there."

"Thank you, Stephen."

"Not at all. Colonel Bridge, I am not inexperience in the matters of the Darkforce Dimension. The problems some years ago were darkforce orientated and with the help of many heroes, we were able to turn back the darkness. I will do everything I can."

"Thank you," said Bridge.


"Interesting," said Reed Richards as he looked over the proposals. Hauptmann, Savitar, Agent and Union Jack were over at the Baxter Building.

"Is there a way?"

"As you may be aware," said Reed, "there was a spate of darkforce problems, created by a man named Henrique Gallante. It involved many heroes, including the Avengers, X-Men, New Warriors, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, or more specifically Ben and Johnny. After the events I looked in to the Darkforce Dimension, in a figurative sense."

"What did you find?" asked Union Jack.

"I found out some basic scientific principles, but in all honesty not a great deal. Because the darkforce was being directed by a sentience person and was not actual living energy, it was not possible to determine if there was an actual defence against pure darkforce. In it's home dimension, the darkness is living and grants people on our dimension a portion of it's powers, similar to the way the Juggernaut draws power for the Ruby of Cytorrak."

"So it's basically a God?" asked Agent.

"No, it is beyond our definition of God. It would be the creator of God."

"And it has Darkstar," said Hauptmann.

"However," said Richards, "there may be a way - The neurosword of the Black Knight kept the darkforce at bay for a short while, as did the radiation powers of Firestar."

"Radiation?" asked Savitar.

"Yes," said Reed. "Powers akin to your own, if I'm right. I'd like to do some tests."

"Certainly," said Savitar.

"May I watch?" asked Rock. "There may be a way of adapting my body armour."

"I have no objection," said Reed with a smile.

"I'm going to swing by Avengers Mansion," said USAgent. "See what they have in their files."

"Of course," said Reed. "However, be advised they have not had an easy time of late."

"Neither have we, Doctor Richards," said Hauptmann. "I'll go back to SHIELD."

The team had a game plan.


The Helicarrier had limped in to New York in the wee hours of the morning, battered and seriously damaged after the confrontation with the Destroyah. Yes, they had made some serious gains from the operation, which would please people and such, but Forge was not happy and it had taken him most of the morning to find out what was going on, creating schedules of repair and looking at what they could do to ensure this didn't happen again.

In fact he was furious that this had happened, and there was one man who bore the brunt of his anger. Gabe Jones.

"Mr Jones," said Forge as he sat behind his desk at Headquarters.

"Director."

"Let's play back our conversation from yesterday."

"Forge? We have a situation here. Dr. Demonicus has us captured, and his base is pure adamantium. Godzilla is here, and a monster under Demonicus' control is killing him."

"Agent Jones, we have more situations at stake than yours. Greece is still recovering from the attack by the Death's Head Commando's. The United Nations is having major problems with Magneto and we're still not at full strength."
 
"I don't give a damn about Greece or Magneto! Listen, Forge, all of humanity could be at stake here! Get more men, get Excalibur, get the Avengers, get anybody. We need our most powerful forces here, and we need it now!"

"Excuse me, Agent Jones, we do not just call the Avengers. We do not just call Excalibur and we are low on men. You've been trained to handle these kinds of situations, I suggest you use the training." 

"Listen Forge! I've been an agent a lot longer than you have! Perhaps when you have a few more missions under your belt, I'll respect ya like I do Fury! But right now, you're just some guy who the liberals in Washington gave a job to so the mutants will feel better!"

"Really? The Helicarrier will be with you shortly." 

"That's better, Forge".

Forge stood up.

"Have you any idea of the trouble you are in, Agent Jones?"

"I stand by my decisions."

"So do I, and I will not tolerate insubordination and more than I will tolerate bigots in SHIELD. I may only be 'some guy who the liberals in Washington gave a job to so the mutants will feel better' but I'm in charge here. And you're fired."

"You can't do that to me," said Jones. 

"I just did. You're off the, team, Mr Jones." He highlighted the Mister. "Next time, think before you shoot your mouth off. Get out of my sight." He turned away.

"I'll take this up with your superiors." Forge ignored him and heard the door to the office slam as Jones left. That left a bad taste in his mouth, but Forge was damned if he wasn't going to do everything he could to ensure that he used his position to run SHIELD better and make the world a bit more tolerant. Change your attitudes, or else. He felt more like Magneto, than Xavier.

"Oh, Charles," he said. Then he heard the door open and he turned to see Natasha Romanoff and stood from his chair. He was covering the ass of the idiot who'd told British Intelligence that they couldn't have her. Forge had punished that fool, but now he had to deal with Black Widow.

"Please, Miss Romanoff, have a seat,"  he gestured to the chair that Gabe Jones had just vacated. 

"That's Romanov," she said as she moved over to the chair. Forge looked at her curiously, not quite understanding.

"Pardon me?"

"Romanov. With a 'v'."

"I'm sorry, Miss Romanov," he said, annoyed at himself for letting his tone sound sarcastic. The Gabe Jones incident was still grating on him and he tried to calm himself.

"No problem, Mister Vorge."

"Forge."

"Pardon me?"

"Forge. With an 'F'. And no Mister. Just Forge." That was mature he told himself and counted to five

"Oh. I'm so sorry...Forge."

"Ahem...anyway, Miss Romanov, what may I help you with?" Forge knew exactly what she was going to say - almost word for word, and they both sat down.

"I would like to know," she said, her tone calmer than he had been expecting, "why when MI-5 put in a request to SHIELD for my help, they were told that you were 'unwilling to loan me out at this time'?"

Forge flexed his robotic hand and covered it with his own hand and rested his chin on his hands. "Well, you see...I had just gotten command of SHIELD, and felt it best that I get a handle on all our resources before I let any of them be used by outside agencies." He was lying to her. He didn't want to do that, but he didn't have a choice and he inwardly winced as her eyes narrowed. He could have phrased it better, he mused.

"Resources? Forge, let me explain something to you. I am a freelance agent. I work with SHIELD, nor for SHIELD. Now, I don't even do that. I quit, Forge." She stood up and Forge knew he had lost this one but he had to try and he stood as well. She didn't work for them, so she couldn't quit. It was a tenous argument to use, but it was the only one he could come up with.

"Wait, you can't qui-" but he wasn't going to get the chance to try as Natasha put her hand up and cut him off.

"I just did. From now on, if you need me, you can contact me here." She took a small card out and placed it on the table then she turned and began to leave, but she stopped a moment and looked back at him, raising a hope that this might leave the door open.

"Oh, yes...I just hope when the time comes that you need me I'll be able to 'loan' you my services. Good Day, Director." His hopes were dashed.

"Black Widow, wait!" he called, but she was gone and he sat back down. "Shit."

"Not having a good day?" asked Bridge as he stood in the doorway.

"There are so many idiots in this organisation it defies belief."

"You get used to it. These idiots have been here a while." Bridge sighed.

"How did you do it?"

"Lurched from one crisis to the next until they removed me from the job," he said.

"Helpful," said Forge.

"There's a rumour you fired Gabe Jones."

"Yeah, I did. I won't tolerate bigotry, Bridge. 21st century, it's time people realised that."

"Good luck. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I spoke with Reed Richards this morning. He thinks he's found something that can help, thanks to Savitar and USAgent."

"It's hard to believe these people couldn't stand each other when they met."

"One of these day's I'll tell you tales about the X-Men," said Forge. "Agent got the schematics for a neuro weapon and Savitar's powers have properties that can keep the darkness at bay. We've a shot at getting her back."

"Great."

"It's not all good news. X-Force returned last night. It's Nick - we've lost him." Bridge's eyes flashed.

"Define lost."

"He's joined Hydra, as their field leader or something," Forge closed his eyes. "He's gone, and the next time we meet, he'll be trying to kill us."

"Jesus," said Bridge, going pale. "How much does he know?"

"Everything, except being in charge. I think. I'm not sure what they did to him." The info was sketchy at best, because of what had happened on the island. X-Force had been cleared for duty and they had the day off to recover. It would be good for them to relax.

"What happens now?" asked Bridge, softly. He could scarcely believe that his friend had been turned that easily.

"The United Nations has put a warrant out for his capture. It's dead or alive."

"They can't do that." Bridge knew the UN had limits to their orders.

"They did," said Forge. He had been stunned by the order as well as the swiftness that it had been given. "I thought you should hear this from me, rather than the grapevine."

"I appreciate it," said Bridge, gaining a measure of respect for Forge. The man was working hard and it wasn't going well for him, but he carried on anyway. "So what do you want me to do next?"

"Prep Excalibur. Richards will be here in about an hour and we'll go over the technology we'll use in the Darkness Dimension. The Armory suit is still out of action, but that's not a problem anyway - it couldn't have been adapted in time."

"Have you heard from Strange?" asked Bridge as he got up. The mission needed the powers and skills of the doctor.

"Not yet. Oh, and Bridge?"

"Yeah?" Bridge turned to look at his boss.

"When we're done we need to talk about replacements."

"Replacements?" He didn't understand.

"For Tsunami and Hellios."

"Ah," now he got it. He hadn't even thought that far ahead. They hadn't even got Leyu Yoshida's body back yet. "I'll give it some thought."

"Thank you, GW." Bridge nodded and went down to the medical bay where Sabra was still in recovery. The doctors held out hope that she would be able to walk, and she did have sensation in her legs which was good. She just needed to gain her strength. Hauptmann was with her.

"Hi," he said as he entered the room.

"Sir," she said, but Bridge waved it away.

"GW."

"Ruth," she said.

"How are you feeling, Ruth?"

"Tired," she said. "And sore, but I am alive and that is something I didn't think would happen."

"I'm pleased you are," said GW. "Have you..."

"Heard? Yes. I'm so sorry. Please convey my condolences to their families."

"I will. I need Hauptmann, though. We're a go to get Darkstar."

"Good," said the German and he kissed Sabra on the cheek. "Stay well."

"Thank you, Jorge," she said. "GW." Bridge nodded and led Hauptmann out.

"Jorge?" he said.

"My name."

"I didn't know."

"You didn't ask."

"Fair point. I hear you did well yesterday, helped out with the Dr Demonicus situation."

"Yes," said Hauptmann. "I'm not as clever as the others, or connected, so I needed to do something."

"Good work, Jorge," said Bridge and put his hand on the German's back. "Let's see if we can keep it up."


In Greece, the Ministry of National Defence met to discuss the loss of their national hero.

"The loss of Nikos Hrisalis is a significant blow to our super soldier program," said the Minister. "The President is not pleased, especially as the invasion that occurred was what the program was supposed to prevent."

"There were flaws within the program," admitted the chief scientist. "However we have been able to modify the serum and we believe that we can synthesise it so that we can create up to a dozen super soliders."

"A dozen?" said the Minister. "How much?"

"The same money we have now."

"Do it. Hellios will live again."


"Forge."

"Stephen," said Forge as he looked up. "Thank you."

"You may speak to soon," said Stephen. "It is possible to extract Darkstar from the dimension, but there is something occurring, something we may not be able to stop."

"What is it?" asked Forge.

"I have consulted my books, and used the mystic Eye of Agamotto to determine what is going on. Laynia Petrova has been chosen."

"Chosen?"

"Yes, you see the living darkness grants power to its users and Darkstar pushed herself beyong her natural limitations, invoking more power than she could control. She did not become one with the darkforce, she became part of it's dimension."

"She gave herself to the darkness..." said Forge, understanding.

"A living sacrifice," said Stephen. "A sacrifice that was accepted because the Darkforce Dimension is dying."

"How is that possible?"

"I am uncertain, but something has happened to the dimension and as it is a living entity, it is capable of death. It requires Darkstar to mate and give birth to a new darkforce dimension. Not in the way we perceive mating, but a merging of two beings to create another."

"Procreation, the way of life," said Forge, thinking back to his encounter with the Phalanx and how his powers had given him the ability to perceive them. "I assume that the new dimension would rise from the ashes of the old, which would take Laynia with it?"

"Yes, the natural order. This is not totally unprecedented, but the fact remains that if Laynia does not accept her fate, the darkforce dimension will cease to be."

"Does she have a choice?"

"Yes, she does. It is a question of knowing if she is aware of it, Forge."

"Then we'll find out. Will you join us, Stephen?"

"Of course, but be advised that we will meet resistance in this endeavour," said Dr Strange and Forge stood up. It was time to get Excalibur and go to work.