"How we doing?" said Bridge as he came in to the command office of Forge.

"We are doing fine," said the SHIELD Director. "The rest is going to hell, but we're fine." He sighed as he looked at his new look office, an office designed so he could do his job more in line with what his superiors at the UN wanted. The battle in Greece between Excalibur and the Greek Super Soldiers was just over two weeks ago, the loss of Pete Wisdom and Katherine Pryde to Hydra just under. Adding to that the damage suffered to the Behemoth in the battle with Godzilla and Fin Fang Foom, he'd been called to task, and some redefining of his role had taken place.

It was generally agreed that SHIELD as an organisation was too large for him to deal with properly and he worked through a number of sub-directors, or what he had called Project Directors. Before hand, Forge had endeavoured to visit all of the projects once a week and that had led the Security Council to consider the fact he may be letting other things slip by him. Forge had argued for him to be in charge, he needed to know what was going on at all times and the meeting had lasted two days before a compromise was reached.

Each Project Director was now connected to Forge's office, their computers and the computers of their staff feeding in to the main room and each office was under Forge's careful eye. He trusted the staff to do their jobs but he needed to know what was going on so that he could keep a check on things. The walls were covered in monitors so that he could call up anything he didn't quite feel was right. It was not as personal as he wanted, but it would do. He had also installed a data feed in to his bionic arm so that he could upload the main points of the information of the day to his brain while he slept, using the same pathways to his brain that commanded the bionics to work. 

He looked at the Excalibur Commander and he knew why he was here. "How's the trial going?"

"Dr Day Vangela," said Bridge, his voice full of disdain, "is unrepentant and she wishes the Arab bitch had died in the explosion like she was meant to."

"Wonderful," said Forge. Day Vangela had been the doctor assigned to help Sabra heal from her injuries but at the same time Vangela had been plotting her death in what seemed to be retaliation for the attack on the World Trade Centre. The fact that Sabra was from Israel and Jewish was beside the point. Vangela had a point to prove and she felt by striking at Excalibur was the way to do it.

It was lucky that the bomb had gone off in the face of one of the Hellios agents and not Sabra, who was not as shaken up as others might have been. Vangela had been arrested and was now facing a SHIELD tribunal, whose powers were the same as any military court, but could be applied only to active members of SHIELD. It was not something that Forge could attend personally as he'd been ordered not to as it was felt he was too close to the case, but he wanted to know what was going on, and Bridge had been giving his testimony.

"Attempted murder," said Bridge. "She's going away for a long time."

"Good," said Forge. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. I want to talk to you about something."

"Oh?" said GW, sitting down. "What's going on?"

"I'm working on redefining a few things within SHIELD and I want to see how things sounded to you."

"What's on your mind?"

"I want to create a section of SHIELD to do what the X-Men don't do anymore."

"Stay shut up?" said Bridge, thinking of the spectacle that had been the announcement of X-Corp.

"No," said Forge, with a suppressed smile. "I meant policing things in terms of mutant activities. If the current situation with the Shadow King is anything to go by, we're seriously unprepared for anything that could happen."

"You're talking about the XSE," said Bridge. "I saw the reports and such."

"I am talking about the XSE," said Forge. "Funded and supported by SHIELD but independent, other than their head of operations reporting to me."

"I thought that's what X-Force was," said Bridge.

"It is, but it needs more strength in depth. It needs a clear-cut training programme. It needs changing." Forge looked at him. "You're a former SHIELD Director, you're the lead for the Excalibur Project and your opinion will carry a lot of weight amongst the others. What do you think?"

"Where would Excalibur fit in to this?" Bridge asked. "We're the UN answer to the Avengers, sorting out crises and such that the normal heroes might be in danger of upsetting the status quo. A SHIELD unit that goes in and sorts that out anyway..."

"Mutant issues only," said Forge. "Excalibur shouldn't be affected. I can't guarantee, though, because it's outside my remit."

"Understood," said Bridge and he steepled his fingers. He had seen firsthand what could happen, he had witnessed Operation: Zero Tolerance and been in command of SHIELD when they had been in to shut them down. Since then, there had been little to no agency looking in to the affairs of homo-superior, dealing with the threat of mutant terrorists. It did need doing, but was SHIELD the right way to go? Then again, who better?

"Question - what does XSE stand for?"

"Damned if I know," said Forge. "I'm working on it."

"Huh," said Bridge, expecting some fancy acronymic meaning. "I'll back you. It's a good plan, and it does need doing." Forge nodded.

"It's still a plan for now," he reminded. "There's a long way to go yet." Bridge nodded and stood up. "You're going to get ready?"

"Yes," said GW. There was a developing situation in Europe. Doom had returned and was making hostile moves against his neighbours, including Symkaria. Though Symkaria was not exactly an active member of the UN, Doom's recent actions and Forge speaking on their behalf had ensured that Excalibur had been mobilised and sent in to Eastern Europe, especially as their profile within the European Union had been raised after the last mission. It was a defensive mission, to ensure that if Doom got rambunctious he would be made aware that the United Nations were watching him.

"Good luck," said Forge and Bridge nodded. Luck was always needed when dealing with Dr Doom.


Silver Sable was in the conference room with King Stefan of Symkaria, and her father Ernst, who was normally in charge of the military operations of Symkaria, but she had been put in charge now as their military was now comprised of enlisted Symkarians and Silver's Wild Pack. Their mercenary duties had been suspended for the moment until the crisis with Latveria was dealt with, more or less. It was the most secure room in the city, and it was also the command point for Excalibur, so Sabra was also in the conference while the rest of the squad were patrolling the borders around Latveria. 

Hungray, Croatia and Serbia were also concerned about Doom's activities, especially the new weapon he had, as they were Latveria's nearest neighbours and they had spent a long time putting themselves back together after years of war and unrest in the area. The destruction of Feasalburg had been shown on the world news networks, and though Doom had denied he had fired the weapon, everyone knew it came from Latveria. And there were being many questions asked about how Doom had gained a sentinel army, an army that now stood at the borders. 

The UN had petitioned Doom to cease his hostilities and Doom had laughed and, because once he had dealt with the minor countries, they were worried they would be next. Serbia was as concerned as Hungary and Doom had said that any incursion in to Latverian territory would be an act of war and he would respond in kind. The Wild Pack had been thusly hired by their neighbours to patrol and ensure that Doom did not go any further, but they were no match for the Sentinels. That was where Excalibur cam in.

As Silver checked on the status of the various Wild Pack units, Sabra looked at the screens. The technology of the conference room had been spliced with the SHIELD satellite feeds. Darkstar was with USAgent in Hungary, Honey Lemon had accompanied Union Jack to Serbia. Savitar and Hellios were in Croatia and Hauptmann and Armory were in Romania. Sabra was working the Armory system while Bridge was Stateside and she was amazed herself by what the system was capable of.

However, so far Doom had done nothing to the neighbouring countries, other than Symkaria, and it was thought that was down to the presence of Excalibur. Doom would indeed risk the wrath of the UN, but Excalibur could and would so serious damage and they would pull in SHIELD and then things would get ugly. It was the situation between Latveria and Symkaria that was the concern to most people because if Doom chose to invade, then there would be little that could be done.

"All teams report that Doom is keeping quiet, but the Sentinels have everyone on edge," said Silver as Stefan nodded.

"There has been no word from Doom or any of his people," he said. "I have tried petitioning him, but there is a cold war between us that may escalate."

"We did what we felt was right, Stefan," Silver said, seeing the concern on his face as to how they had come to this place. "The LNDP were a legitimate refugee cause and it would have been wrong to turn them away. I made a mistake in sending in the Black Widow and we have not heard from her since."

"There is a rumour that she is in Russia," said Sabra, interjecting. "Darkstar's husband is looking in to it for us, unofficially." Sable nodded.

"What does SHIELD believe Doom's next move will be?" asked Stefan.

"We believe," said Bridge as he entered the room, "that Doom is waiting for something. His incursion at the UN Building to get Reed Richards was an open act of hostility towards the United Nations and he will no tolerate our presence for much longer, but the presence of Excalibur keeps people in a comfort zone."

"So what do we do?" said Silver.

"I've discussed this with Forge, who has been speaking with his bosses at the UN," said Bridge. "This comes from the Secretary General himself. The UN feels that there should be a covert mission in to Latveria, to take down the sentinel controls and more than that - we need to decommission his weapons. If the playing field is levelled then we can move away from the area, otherwise we're going to be here a long time."

"Our last incursion failed," said Sable.

"Yes," said Bridge, "which is why we need to be careful on this one. More than likely Doom will be expecting it, which is why he has the Sentinels there. As a proportion of my team have mutant abilities, they would activate them on crossing the border. Plus we don't know where there are more of them stored. Doom's not a man to play all his cards at once."

"How do we do this then?" Sabra asked. "We know from our operation at the Latverian embassy that he can block HERMES."

"We also know that the sentinels have been adapted for his needs," said Bridge. "Forge went over the plans and he's got this in mind." He placed a CD in the computer and Raul Quentino came over in the chair he designed after he had been injured on a Wild Pack mission. He was the technical genius behind most of Silver's technological armoury and he knew what he was looking at.

"I can do that," he said. "Yes, I'm sure we can. What else do you need?"

"Silver, we'll need an operative of the Wild Pack," said Bridge. "I want Sandman."

"Ever since his ordeals at the hand of Ashley Kafka, he's been off-duty," Silver said. She thought back to a conversation she'd had with Spider-Man, a conversation that he'd used to tell her that William Baker needed her, not as an employer but as someone who needed a friend. He'd not told her everything, but she had used the Wild Pack A-Team to hunt down their former member and though it had taken everything they'd had to find him, they'd done so and they had worked hard since to undo the damage done to him by Kafka and the Wizard.

She had sent him to infiltrate the Frightful Four but she had not realised he had been compromised until he had been arrested and sent to prison, and there was nothing she had been able to do to free him. Then she had lost contact with him when he escaped and it was only when Spider-Man told her what had happened that she went after him.

"I understand that," said Bridge, "but he's got powers that we could use. He can arrange things for us well enough."

"Who else is on the strike force?" asked Sable. 

"Darkstar, Hellios, Union Jack and Honey Lemon," Bridge replied. "That way we still have people on the outside patrolling. If we don't make a move now, Doom will do something in the future we'll have no chance against."

"And Symkaria will be first," said Ernst Sablinova, Silver's father. "This needs to be done. History is littered with moments where we did not make the first move and despite everything we have done, look at Hydra now - all because nobody took the threat of their origins seriously."

"You are correct, old friend," said Stefan. "I think it is a move that needs to be made. We have come this far."

"I will ask Sandman if he wants to do this," said Silver, concerned that this was happening so quickly. A plan had been formed and it was time to get everyone together and make it happen.


At the United Nations building, the Secretary General smiled. This was almost too easy. SHIELD were distracted, the world was focused on Latveria, and Dr Strange had been humbled before his power. The Sorcerer Supreme was unaware that anything had ever happened.

The only thorn in his side was the accursed Shadow King, but it didn't matter. The signs were there and it was only a matter of time. All the players had been accounted for and there was nobody on Earth who could stop the Ascension. This world would belong to his masters, and through them, it would belong to him.

It was just a matter of time.


"Here you go," said Quentino, as the strike team assembled. "These devices will enable you to get past the sentinels undetected." Forge's creations had been very clever in their construction, rendering the wearer invisible to all detection capabilities the sentinels possessed, especially the metahuman ability detection ones, for which Darkstar was particularly grateful. Whatever arsenal they had been given it would be difficult to pit it against the Darkforce, but since Darkstar had taken down the Queen Invisible, it was a given that Doom would have been working on something for her. "I've had others sent to the rest of Excalibur."

"Good work," said Silver as she looked at the five members of the team. "Sandman, you don't have to do this."

"Gotta start pulling my weight again, Silver," he said. "I got a lot of things to make up for and if I can help these guys, then it's start."

"Second chances are what Excalibur is based on," Bridge said. "Ask Savitar. Okay, now you know what to do and how to do it. We know that there are Doombot patrols across the country, but we don't know how they've been enhanced since the obtaining of Sentinel tech. However we all know they were dangerous before."

"If something goes wrong, you are on your own," said Ernst. "Make no mistake, if you fail, then we all have and it's going to get bloody and you'll be dead before we are."

"Comforting," said Bridge. "We know the risks, we know the stakes we're playing for. Doom's not someone who is easily stopped and this setback may only be temporary, but it will show him we're not willing to put up with this anymore, and if he wants to keep going, we'll slap him down."

"Good luck," said Silver and then Operation: Sword Stroke began.



Forge looked at the data on the Sentinels that had been retrieved. It had occurred to him as he watched the screens that he had missed something, and he had cursed himself for doing so. The new breed of Sentinel had to have been manufacture over here, because the designs were over here. Which meant there had to be prototypes out there somewhere and on US soil. 

That officially made it SHIELD business and he knew he had to do something about it. He activated his science console and tapped a few keys, suing the data he'd collected from the designs, and the readings he'd been sent from Union Jack and Honey Lemon via Armory. There was a frequency between them, like a sentinel version of telepathy and Forge used what he knew to quickly build something that could be added to the computer systems and be used to detect any signals on that waveband. He hooked it up and tapped in to the satellites and scanned the United States and a signal came to his attention. A large signal and he focused in on it. 

Georgetown, Massachusetts.

That was where they were, and a spectro-graphic analysis wouldn't reveal much more than that, but there were very few places there that you could hide a sentinel army. Ideally he'd send in X-Force but with the team depleted as they were, it needed something else, someone else and Forge smiled. He knew just the person. Or should he say people. He pressed the comm button to his assistant.

"Angela, could you get me Sharon Carter. I've a job for her. Then see if you can find Tony Stark..."


"So far so good," said Hellios as they made their way in to the Latverian countryside, heading for Doomstadt itself.

"The devices are working fine," said Union Jack, softly. They had also been covered in a layer of dark force so that they were masked from any prying eyes and that was good enough.

"So you're a silicon based life-form," said Honey Lemon to Sandman, and Baker nodded. 

"There was an accident at a nuclear plant. Got hit with radiation and was transformed," he said. "I've used my powers for a lot of bad things in my life, and I've not done a great deal of good. I thought I was getting somewhere when I helped the Avengers but things went bad, and now I'm here - trying to make amends."

"A worthy goal," said Darkstar. "The power of the atom has much to atone for. Mutant powers are just the tip of it all."

"Guys..." said Rock, "look at that."

"You have to be kidding me," said Sandman. "How many Doombots are there?"

"Dozens," said Rock, using a pair of micro binoculars. "Looks like there's something going on in the area. They don't seem to be after us."

"What is it?" asked Hellios. 

"A light show of kind," said Rock. "And it's widening."

"A dimensional rift," said Honey Lemon, watching. "It's all that I can think of to fit the description.

"I think we have a problem," said Darkstar and they looked at her to see her sweating. "I can't keep the Darkforce in check. There's a disruption..."

"The Darkforce is drawing the rift this way!" said Rock in realisation.

"And the Doombots with it," said Hellios. "We're in trouble..." Then a figure fell from the sky and landed on the floor with a thud. Hellios flew over to see who or what had just arrived, thinking he would be able to handle anything that came their way better than the others and he could see the man was normally a fine of fine clothing, but it had been ruined and his face was scarred and not recognisable as a face.

"It could be Doom," said Hellios to himself, "but then why are the Doombots that interested. And why is there no armour?" Then his covering failed and his normal form was available.

"INTRUDER!" said a voice and Hellios could see the Doombots had him and the others surrounded. "YOU HAVE VIOLATE THE SOVEREIGN SOIL OF LATVERIA AND DESECRATED THE WILL OF DOOM! FOR THIS YOU WILL ALL DIE!"