Chapter 46- Preparations for Entreatmeant

  Over the South Atntic Ocean –-Aboard Helicarrier Beta 3- October 24, 2008 (21:10 Zulu)

  Danielle ‘Dani’ Moonstar- (Mirage)

  The metallic echo of her steps bothered her, no matter how she walked the carrier halls were always loud to her ears. Although not as noisy as whoever was running up behind her. Dani turned sideways so if the person needed to pass they could, but they slowed to a walk when they saw it was her.

  On instinct, she readied her powers, but kept them inside her, for now.

  “There… you… are.” The male agent gasped.

  She didn't recognize him, but his ck of badges told her that he was a fresh member of the crew, and also probably lower-ranked than her. "Here I am." Dani agreed, but didn’t press him since he clearly was still out of breath.

  She had just been on her way to a quinnjet, and was tired from a long day, but she also knew she could sleep during the upcoming eight-hour flight.

  “Change in…personnel.” The man mutters, before offering her a radio.

  She shifted her rucksack on her back, before taking the radio and pressing the activator and saying. “This Special Agent Moonstar, what is this about me getting a change in personnel, over?”

  There was only a brief silence before someone on the other end spoke. "Agent Grey has been puking over the st six hours, and we had to repce him. Agent Chambers will be the transtor for your mission instead, she was informed two hours ago and should be able to meet you at the transport, with no deys."

  Dani was hurting her hand with how tightly she was holding the radio, once they were done speaking she pressed the button again and asked. "And why wasn't I told two hours ago, or six hours ago when he first threw up?" Of course, she knew what their response was going to be, because she knew where she was two hours ago.

  “Because you were in a meeting with the Director at that time.” The person on the other end told her. Not that she was in the meeting the entire time, but she knew she also couldn’t say that to them.

  It was things like this st-minute change, were why working for an agency can be so frustrating. Not that she faulted the man, people get sick, but she also warned everyone on the team that missions like this were very important and made sure they were all fit for it beforehand.

  So Dani took a deep breath, before smming the radio into the gut of the poor agent beside her. Then she turned and continued to move towards the flight deck.

  At the hanger door, she reached over for a gas mask, and made sure everything was secure before turning the handle and braced before pushing it against the onrushing wind coming at her. As Dani took her first step outside, she pulled the tightening strap on her rucksack again. Unlike Agent Grey, she liked to make double checks making sure it didn't fly off, or any other kind of mistake could occur. Then she made her way to the quinnjet.

  An ‘At-ready’ agent closed the door behind her, and saluted her, as Dani strutted towards a pair of women. Both were stowing bags into the awaiting transport’s storage, while a pair of men disconnected the fuel line still attached to the craft.

  One of the men shouted over the wind. “You’ll be good.” Before he and the other man retreated out to the safe sides of the craft. Then Dani climbed up ahead of the two women.

  With the much reduced wind, the mutant felt safe to drop her bag, but waited for the other two women to climb up and into the craft and for them to close the door, before removing her mask. Once off she shook and unknotting the braids of her long hair.

  The taller of the two women, wore a helmet instead of a mask, and removed it, before pointing at the newbie and asking. “What happened to Grey?” Her long blond hair was somehow still perfect. Dani guessed it was because she bought proper gear, as opposed to everyone else using the provided masks.

  "Apparently he has the flu, Bobbi," Dani told the woman.

  Bobbi, aka Barbara Morse, was the muscle for this mission. She has not only been trained since a young age by her mother, Susan who used to be a SHIELD feild agent. Additionally when the young woman had been tasked to investigate a possible corrupt scientist, as said man apparently worked at the college she was attending before going to SHIELD academy, and Bobbi knew him. So she poked around in the man's b.

  She risked everything when she discovered that he was doing underground human experiments on students. So Bobbi being Bobbi, volunteered. Luck must have been on her side, because instead of killing her like it had for dozens of other students, she came out of it Enhanced.

  “Everyone buckled in back there?” Another female voice came from the cockpit.

  Instead of answering all three women, found a seat and strapped themselves in. Once done, Dani shouted up to the cockpit. “You’re all go to go May.” A moment ter the women had to sit back, as the jet took off at full speed to get enough lift.

  They remained quiet for a time, as the craft twisted and shifted about in the air to get them headed towards their destination. Then Agent May reported from the cockpit. “We steady, you can move about if you want.”

  The newbie took that as a cue to remove her mask, and her long dark ponytail came undone in the process. The girl looked fresh out of college, even younger than Bobbi. She wore a standard SHIELD agent's uniform and had a pair of bags at her feet. Her long dark brown hair looked well cared for, and she had the clearest blue eyes Dani and ever seen.

  The young woman cleared her throat before addressing her. “Umm, I’m Agent Julia Chambers, and I wasn’t briefed or nothing, dey just told me to pack my bags and board dis quinjett." The young woman's thick New Yorker accent came out clearly to the other women.

  Dani sniffed before asking. “What’s your clearance level?”

  “I’m a level five mam.” Agent Chambers admitted.

  The mutant and the Enhanced shared a look. Bobbi shrugged, before unbuckling herself.

  Dani then asked the newbie a follow-up question. "How many nguages do you speak Agent Chambers?"

  “Thirteen, mam.” The young woman answered. To which Agent Morse whistled. “I’m something of a polyglot.”

  "They did say that they would make exceptions for the transtor," Bobbi muttered, before digging out a neck pillow from one of her bags. Agent Chambers frowned as she watched the Enhanced woman sit back and close her eyes.

  Dani snapped to get the girl’s attention, before warning her. “We are going to a confidential level eight clearance meeting, Agent Chambers. That means if you repeat anything that you see while on this mission to anyone, even your bunkmate back on the helicarrier, you may spend the rest of your adult life in prison. Do you understand?”

  The young agent’s eyes went wide as she nodded she did, before she asked. “How did you know that I have a bunkmate?”

  "Everyone level five and below has a bunkmate on the carrier," Bobbi said from the peanut gallery.

  The mutant really wanted to copy the blonde woman and go to sleep, but she was the team leader. So she told the woman the bare minimum. "With that said you got it easy, before the meeting starts you will listen and try to gleam anything and everything that is being said around us. Now you will need to brace yourself, because you will see humans, mutants, bioengineer life forms, and possibly even aliens in attendance at this meeting. Do you understand?"

  Again Agent Chambers nodded, before asking. “Yes, but what do I do once ta meeting starts?”

  Bobbi answered for her. “Nothing. Once the meeting starts the host has a means to make everyone understand each other. So your job is over when they arrive, and of course, they always arrive st… Oh, and don't bring any weapons with you or do anything stupid. The host is known for executing people for vioting the rules."

  “I don’t have any weapons. I failed combat training at the academy.” The young agent admitted.

  “Great, one less thing to worry about. Now we have an eight-hour flight and a twenty-minute hike after it, before we get there. So get some rest." Dani told the young woman, before digging out a sleep mask and putting it on, before ying down on the bench that she had all to herself.

  Savage Lands- Man-Ape Settlement- outside Chief’s Longhouse, Date Unknown (Late Night)

  W’Torri ‘Hard-case’, Chieftain of the Reformed Man-Apes Tribe-

  Hard-case looked over the gathered human female sves before him. There were over thirty, and most of them looked injured or underfed, and all of them were filthy. The Man-Apes only respected strength, and sves such as these were beneath even children, because children could eventually become strong. So they often received the worst treatment.

  As he looked over them, a warrior to his left asked in poor English. “Wel?”

  “I’m looking.” The chieftain snapped at the man. Then he started pointing and said. “Her, her, her, her, her, her and her. Those stay, the rest can go back to their work.”

  Red Lion cult warriors moved in about the crowd and started seizing the women that he had picked out. The Man-Apes may be stronger, faster, and much more durable than his cult warriors, but they were also dumber than a rock. Only a handful of shamans could really understand instructions, and doing actual manual bor was too much beneath them.

  So Hard-case started his own branch of the Red Lion cult among the limited human male sves that he had. They had to fight and kill to enter the cult, and kill again to get their tattoos. Without proper ink, they had to get additional kills to earn repcement tattoos. So the former mercenary kept his people busy.

  Admittedly a few of the beastmen had also joined, and they stood above the regur beasts of the tribe, but they were still too dumb for a task such as this.

  The discarded women were gd to be allowed to leave, and the seven that remained were too scared to really speak. Yet the chieftain had a duty to fulfill. So he tapped into his new essence, and allowed it to fill him, before he asked. “How many of you have survived fifteen winters?”

  Hard-case knew that asking them their age would be too difficult for them, just as much as he knew that with the essence in him, they all understood him. Then after a moment two of the women raised their hands.

  He released the essence. It was, after all, a limited resource. "Those two stay, the rest can go."

  The five rejects literally ran from the scene, while the two selected would have fallen to their knees, if not for his warriors grabbing them mid-fall and forcing them to stand. Once they were steady again, the men looked at him for further orders.

  Orders that Hard-case was more than willing to give them, as he said. “Take them inside and into the heart of the temple.”

  The four men nodded, and dragged the now struggling women past him and into the longhouse. He was about to turn to follow them, when Mik-nail approached him. The youngest Man-Ape shaman asked him. “Why do you need such weak woman? There are stronger ones among the sves.” It still surprised him how fluent the beastman could be in a modern nguage.

  “Those women are not pure. She wants a pure host.” The chieftain stated.

  “Why?” the shaman asked.

  "Because the Red One can make the one she chooses strong," Hard-case told them honestly. This caused the shaman to nod and was about to leave, but he added. "Tell the other shamans that one of them must accompany me tomorrow."

  “Accompany to where?” Mik-nail asked confused.

  “To the Tower of the God Syers.” The Enhanced told him. he knew it odd that the beastmen saw the mages as god killers, but considering the memories that his goddess had shown him of what 'Grandmaster mages' could do with their magic, it wasn't that far of a stretch to think that they could kill a god with their abilities.

  The young shaman seemed to frown at his answer, although it was hard to compare a Man-Ape expression to a human one. Still, the young beastman nodded before turning away. As Mic-nail left, he muttered. “I will tell them. Someone will go with you.”

  Then the chieftain turned and entered the longhouse. He moved passed the room, they had seen more use once he started his new cult of warriors. Originally it was just a means to hide his temple built inside of the mountain behind the settlement.

  He walked the familiar steps to the concealed entrance. One of his warriors triggered the torch lever he installed to open and close the means of entry, so Hard-case didn't have to break stride as he walked into the cave mouth of the temple.

  He pressed on, ignoring the side chambers that his Man-Ape warriors had dug out. Then, there at the water stream the head priest of his cult finally paused to take in the sight before him.

  The two women had been stripped naked and were being scrubbed clean by his cult warriors. The shorter more developed of the two girls with her brown hair had accepted whatever they were going to do to her. The taller skinnier dark-haired, dark-eyed girl swung and fought whenever she could to be free of the soap and brushes his men were using on her, thus why she had four of the six men on her instead of the others only two.

  As he watched he felt a presence enter the chamber.

  He looked up to see his goddess descend in spirit form and sit atop her throne behind the altar. The lion-headed woman was dressed with only a pure white strap of clothe wrapped around her breasts and a simple tied skirt covering her groin and upper thighs. In one hand she held a golden cup, and an Egyptian khopesh in the other.

  Hard-case knew if the others were to look at him right now, his eyes would be glowing at them. However the chieftain didn't care, instead he dropped to one knee, and greeted his goddess. "Hail Hathor.”

  The warriors looked at him, and then forced the two girls to kneel towards the altar too, trusting his statement as fact.

  The goddess, left the weapon and drink behind her as she rose to her feet. Once standing she asked. “You found me two virgins. Good, good.” Her words were like the sweetest music to his ears, yet only he could hear her. None of his cult members had grown enough to be allowed to.

  "Luck seems to be with us," Hard-case admitted.

  “You have used my tokens to expand your essence, yes?” she asked him as she looked over the two girls.

  “I have kept one, should I need your assistance.” He answered her.

  Hathor rubbed her chin, and then a breast, before reaching into her skirt towards her privates, before responding. Once she did, the goddess’ eyes seemed gzed slightly. “Fair enough… If you value your men, send them away. I am about to test them, the girls need to be both acceptable to me and my other half, and they will lose themselves to him.”

  He bowed his head further before ordering his men. “Leave us, the goddess wishes to interview them alone.”

  Fear covered the faces of his warriors as they ran and bolted from the room. ‘No wonder none of them are good enough for her.’ Hard-case thought as he watched his men retreat. Then a growl was heard by him, the two girls, and by one of his men too slow to leave.

  To his eyes, she didn’t fully change into her male half, but rather she just donned the armor of a warrior. Her clothes darkened and turned into a red leather vest and skirt, while her hair grew into a full beard for a moment. But it was enough.

  The one warrior charged him from behind. Hard-case took the hit like it was nothing, before elbowing his chest, breaking the man’s sternum. Then he followed it up with a backhand to his face, driving the poor man’s nose into his brain.

  All the while the two girls punched, bit, cwed, and kicked the shit out of one another.

  ‘Whoever lives will make an excellent host for her.’ Hard-case thought as he watched the naked women tear each other apart.

  AnnouncementThere is an interlude next Tue, so expect a bonus chapter Thur.