Issue #4
"THE NEW GUARD"
Part IV: Strangers in a Strange Land
By David Wheatley and Dino Pollard

GW Bridge is an Agent of SHIELD. He's also a former teammate of Cable's. He's seen many things in his day. But now, after seeing the Alaskan tundra alter from snow-covered fields to lush, scenic greenery and the climate changing from freezing to hot, he has realized that there are still some things that can surprise him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Alaska supposed to be, as Fury put it, 'colder than a bitch in heat'?" Tsunami asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. From the control room aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, Bridge flinched. He didn't like Leyu Yoshida - her temper was just as bad as her brother's. Even worse when you added into the fact that she was a female teenager. Still he knew that having her along now was better than later - she did not yet know her brother was missing, and that he had attacked Florida and then Phoenix in the States not so long ago. The reports from SHIELD was that someone had visited her 'parents' - or rather two Agents of SHIELD assigned to the place, by the United Nations, thinking that it was something to do with the Excalibur project. The reports suggested it had been Exodus, and that gave Bridge cause for concern. But that was the future, right now, there was something weird going on.

"As a general rule, yes," replied Bridge through the Armory suit.

"Useless..." Sabra muttered.

"What was that?" Tsunami asked.

"I said useless," Sabra repeated. "If you wish to contribute something - contribute something useful. Don't waste our time with complaints."

"Oban..." Tsunami muttered.

"Oh brother," said USAgent, quietly, but not so quiet that Leyu didn't hear him and she shot him a vicious glance.

"You picking anything up?" Union Jack asked, before things could progress further. He seemed to be one of the few who were actually here and wanted to make the most of it, and if that meant being the peacemaker, he'd do that.

"Readings are all over the place," Bridge replied. "High energy readings are coming from the north, though. That seems like the best place to start."

"What about Hellios?" Savitar asked.

"These energy readings could be what's interfering with his comm-link," Armory noted. "So, chances are he's up north already. If not, he's a big guy. He can take care of himself." He hoped so anyway, though he knew that Nick Fury had chosen the people for the team, and he wouldn't have chosen anyone who wouldn't be able to hold their own. However Fury wasn't in charge of this group - he was and he knew what he wanted them to do. "Darkstar, I want you to fly ahead for recon. Sabra and I both have technological-based flight, and I'm not too sure of their reliability. Your Darkforce abilities give you a wider range than Savitar and Tsunami. Report back once you encounter anything, understand?"

Darkstar nodded and flew off towards the north.

"What about the rest of us?" Savitar asked.

"We wait until she reports back," Armory replied, patiently.

"Great leadership," Tsunami muttered.

"It's called stealth, kiddo," USAgent stated. "Can't just run in if we don't know what's going on."

Armory was a bit surprised that John Walker came to his defense. Of everyone on the team, Walker seemed to have the most disdain for SHIELD. Probably due to the fact that Fury saw him as nothing more than a third-rate Captain America, something that Walker himself felt on some level. Maybe that was why he was so annoyed at having Fury point it out.

"Any clue as to what could be causing this?" Union Jack questioned, looking at Hauptmann, trying to bring him in to the group, trying to get some kind of team together here.

"Nein," the Hauptmann replied. "Doesn't make any sense."

"You're tellin' me, mate," Union Jack noted in agreement. He was a rational man, he knew what was ou there and he was a scientific mind. He knew things such as magic existed and he'd been helped in this new role he had established by someone who was also well versed in the combination of science and magic, but he was nowhere near as confident with that as his mentor was.

"Hold on..." Armory stated, placing a hand near his head. "Darkstar?"

{{ You might want to get here quickly... }}

"What is it?" Armory asked as the group for the first time truly paid attention to what was going on out there.

{{ I... you have to see it for yourselves... }}

"Copy," Armory stated and turned to look at the rest of the Excalibur team. "Enough lounging around, people. Time to go to work."

Armory's thrusters engaged and he flew towards Darkstar's position. The Hauptmann, Union Jack, and USAgent followed on foot. Tsunami was about to join them.

"Yoshida, let's get one thing straight," Sabra stated.

"What's that?" Tsunami asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"If you ever call me a bitchy old hag again, I'll tear your arms off."

"But I di--"

"I can speak Japanese," Sabra broke in. The anti-gravity unit under her cloak engaged and she followed Armory. Tsunami waited a few minutes before joining them. Under her breath, she muttered the word "oban" once more, except this time, Sabra didn't hear her and Tsunami gave an almost imperceptible smile.

<hr size=5 color=red>

Laynia Petrova is the daughter of the villainous Presence. She's a former member of the Champions. She is a member of the Winter Guard. She's a mutant who controls the Darkforce.

None of these prepared her for the sight of an ancient city in a forested area - in the middle of Alaska, no less.

Her only words to describe it are, "Bozhe moi..."

She turned when she heard the hum of machinery which came from Armory.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Looks like a city," USAgent replied. Darkstar ignored him and continued to look at Armory.

"What is that?" she repeated.

"I wish I could answer that question," Armory replied. "This is definitely where the high energy readings are coming from." Back in the Helicarrier, technicians entered in the data that Bridge requested on the landscape. The information, maps, topography, atmospheric conditions, altitude and all the data he could need flashed across his retina. Except it wasn't enough and it explained nothing "This shouldn't be here. It should be the research outpost." Whether he was talking to the team or the technicians, Excalibur couldn't say and before any of them could press the matter a man dressed in medieval-style clothing approached them.

"You cannot pass," he warned. The majority of the team were stunned by the sheer audacity of the man to say this, for they could tell he was no match for them all. Except one. The USAgent drew one of his guns and pointed it at the guard.

"Fuck off," he stated, sardonically. .

"They are trying to attack the Empress!" the guard shouted. Several other warriors dressed in similar clothing rushed forward. Bridge noticed something familiar about some of the warriors. He recognized them from somewhere. He immediately requested information on the research teams, which the technicians on the Helicarrier scrambled to transfer into the Armory's memory files.

"Good move," said Leyu sharply, though everyone ignored her.

"Any thoughts on what we do now?" Union Jack asked.

"You mean aside from kicking some ass?" USAgent replied, running forward.

"Oh, now there's a good lad," Union Jack stated, with a grin beneath his mask. The two powerless members of Excalibur launched into an offensive, relying on weapons and fighting prowess to combat the warriors.

Darkstar projected beams of Darkforce energy, using it to keep them at bay. There was much that remained unanswered about these warriors, the city, and the miraculous terraforming of the landscape. She chose to hold back until she knew all the details of what was going on, which she hoped would soon become clear. That and whatever had affected the landscape may have affected the people who had been working here and these warriors could simply be pawns in someone else's game, which meant she would be easy on them. She knew what it was like to be used by someone much more powerful than herself.

Sabra seemed to share similar sentiments, if perhaps not for the same reasoning. However, even her pulled punches carry with them a great impact. But that's to be expected from a woman who went toe to toe with the Hulk. Due to this, she was content with relying on her gauntlets - which unleashed paralyzing blasts, stopping their attackers from a more permanent harm.

Tsunami, on the other hand, didn't seem to care. Despite her bravado and temperament, none of her teammates could deny the fact that her water-based powers were indeed quite impressive and she used them to great effect. Bridge watched and wondered where she had received her training, for like Sunfire before her she did not have the tutelage of someone like Charles Xavier. She too had turned her back on him, and as far as he could tell she had made the right choice, though he suspected that Xavier could have drilled some kind of respect in to her. It was something he would have to look at when they got home.

The Hauptmann was content with absorbing the kinetic energy the warriors expanded against him. When necessary, he returned it in the form of concussive force blasts. But most of the time, he used it to boost his own vitality. He was being conservative - the battle was far from over and he did not want to overplay his hand too soon. The master behind this - the Empress, who had been mentioned before the conflict had begun - was obviously a being of power, with great thrall over the people.

Savitar was also trying to use his powers conservatively. However, when one can generate intense flames, it can be a bit of a liability in a battle when you're trying to stun your opponent as opposed to killing them. There was also the fact he was still on probation and his recent past still overshadowed him. If he could show his reticence in the fight, and how he had gone out of his way to do as little dmage as possible, it would work in his favor.

While Bridge reviewed the files, Armory was switched to automatic pilot mode, utilizing repulsor blasts to keep the warriors at bay. In the Helicarrier, the information had Bridge requested flashed over his retina quickly. He reviewed the photos of the research teams, and then cross-referenced them with the warriors that the team was fighting and he realized where he had seen them before.

"THEY'RE THE RESEARCH TEAM!" he shouted after taking control of Armory once more, amplifying his voice with the suit to ensure that everyone heard him and hopefully held back enough so that the people they were here to save wouldn't be harmed.

"What?" Sabra shouted back over the noise of the battle.

"They're the research team!" Armory repeated, wondering why he'd bothered. "They must be under some sort of mind control. This is where the research outpost should be."

"I suspected something like that, but we needed confirmation," said Darkstar, pleased that her earlier reluctance to harm these people was justified.

"So how do you explain the jungle fever?" USAgent asked.

"I... don't know..." Armory replied. "I've processed this information and SHIELD researchers are trying to find out if there are any metahumans who match the profile." There was a side note that they gotten from Department H about Alpha Flight and the X-Men which the researchers were chasing up and hoping to get something more on it.

"So how do we stop these blokes?" Union Jack asked, as he leapt over one of the warriors and kicked another, while at the same time backhanding another of them. "In case you didn't notice, they're not exactly the friendly type, and they don't seem to want to stay down, either."

"Allow me," Darkstar stated. Her eyes became pitch black as the warriors vanished.

"Wow..." Savitar said. "What did you do?"

"I teleported them into the Darkforce dimension..." Darkstar replied.

"I'm impressed," Armory stated. He'd read the file and he thought he knew everything about her, but this had been a surprise, though Darkforce powers were by their very nature unpredictable. "I didn't know you had that kind of power."

"I don't..." Darkstar replied. Her breaths were heavy and deep. "It takes... takes a lot... out of me... I'm not sure how long I can keep them there, though. It requires a great degree of concentration." Armory turned away from Darkstar, considering this and hoping she would be able to keep them all at bay while the rest of them dealt with whatever was going on and walked closer towards the gates. He lightly pushed on them, and they opened. So far, things were going fairly well. Perhaps this team could actually work out and he wondered how merciful God was feeling.

"Let's continue on," he stated. Before he took the next step, a powerful energy blast sent him reeling. By the time he got to his feet, something hard and fast struck him. He quickly realized the only thing that could move that fast and punch that hard.

Hellios hovered a few feet above the ground, arms folded across his chest. His eyes were glowing brightly. His clothing, however, was altered. It was similar to the clothing worn by the warriors and Bridge's heart sank as he knew that he'd lost one of the team to the enemy and he wondered how easy it had been to subvert him. At least he was glad he wasn't actually there, and was instead a long way away from the armor because that would have really hurt. A quick system check confirmed that the armour was in working order and as he regained his feet he got a better picture of what was ahead of them. His movement systems were okay, but the repuslors were offline as were a couple of the sensor arrays as well as his vocal processor and he knew he had to reboot the system, and quickly.

Behind Hellios stood a young woman. She wore a necklace around her neck, which glowed brightly and crackled with energy. She was the Empress that the warriors referred to earlier. Armory focused on it, and determined that it was the source of the high energy readings.

"You have taken away my warriors," Empress stated, her voice majestic in tone, and echoing with power obviously an after effect from the necklace. "A shame. But, you will serve nicely as substitutes."

The necklace unleashed a surge of energy, and he regal clothes fluttered in the breeze that was created with the surge and the team shielded their eyes from the light, all except Armory, who's optical sensors automatically compensated so that Bridge was able to see. As far as he couple tell there had been nothing obvious about the flash of light, and that worried him because that kind of power would have an effect and he quickly moved to observe the rest of the team. The light had now faded, and the team was also looking about each other, there was nothing wrong yet, but there were some very strange readings being given here and Bridge was getting more concerned by the minute.