The Battle For Asgard

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Ever since the blue beam that they'd witnessed descended from Thanos' ship, the Sanctuary II, and promptly returned to the ship, it had been as though the entire planet, Asgard, was holding its breath. Not a single animal made a sound, every person was deathly still and quiet, even the very breeze had died off.

Loki and Heimdall stood, watching and waiting on the great stone ledge just in front of the doors of the hidden, all-but-forgotten, fortress in the wilds of the planet. By their estimate, the ancient fortress now housed between five and six thousand Asgardian men, women and children from all walks of life but mostly commoners with a few warriors scattered in for good measure.

"It's beginning," Loki said quietly, although in the silence, his voice almost boomed down the canyon between the two mountains that hid the fortress.

He was undoubtedly correct. Two, four, eight great dropships disengaged from the Sanctuary II and plummeted towards the planet. Their enormous size and matte black colouring was enough to ensure that anyone seeing them would cower in fear.

But that was not all that Thanos' forces had planned. As soon as the dropships were clear, the ship fired. A rapid series of half a dozen bright orange pulses blanketed one particular location, a location that Heimdall knew all too well.

"You best be right about knowing a way to get the people of Asgard off this planet," Heimdall stated.

"I will play my part; have no doubt of that," Loki replied. "I trust that you will do yours?"

In answer, Heimdall simply drew his sword which had been strapped across his back. He then held it, point down, both hands on the hilt. His eyes closed and a fierce, determined expression appeared on his face.

"All Father, let the Dark Magic flow through me once more," he implored.

Loki watched as Heimdall's body went completely rigid, his face betraying a look of intense pain. The Gratekeeper grimaced, his teeth bared in an eerie parallel of a living corpse.

And then Loki felt it. Magic. Dark magic. It gathered, twisted, swirled, condensed until, all at once, the bright beam of rainbow light burst from the heavens. It slammed into the ground like a pillar of fire for a second, two and then dissipated.

But what it left behind ...

"Brother!" Loki exclaimed.

"Loki?" Thor asked, clearly shocked. "But I saw you killed."

"A ruse," Loki replied, holding his hands out wide. "You know me. God of Mischief?"

And then Thor was striding across the distance and grabbing him, hugging him and, if Loki didn't know better, he would have sworn that his brother was crying!

"I thought you dead. We all thought you dead. I mourned. Again!" Thor was saying into his shoulder.

"Yes, well, I was greatly touched," Loki replied.

And then Thor stepped back and punched him hard in the face. Loki, having not expected it, was slammed to the ground. His jaw now aching, he rubbed it and looked up.

"Feel better now, do we?" he asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes, I do," Thor replied and reached a hand down towards him.

Loki had half a mind to ignore it but the ache in his chest disabused him of that notion and thus, he allowed his brother to haul him to his feet.

"No wonder I'm feeling so drained," Heimdall said, now down on his haunches, his forehead against the blade of his sword even as his hands still rested on the hilt now above his head. "I had not intended to transport so many."

Now that Loki looked, he could see what the Gatekeeper meant. Apart from Thor and the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, all of who he expected, there were eight Light Elves and two others, clearly from Earth all still gathered where the Rainbow Bridge had deposited them.

"Are you alright, my friend?" Thor asked, resting a hand on Heimdall's shoulder.

"I just need a minute," Heimdall replied.

"Well, I must say, you kept up your end of the bargain," Loki commented.

"Bargain? What bargain is this?" the human in the red cape, blue robes and a goatee that reminded Loki of that annoyance, Stark, asked.

"And who might you be?" Loki asked interestedly.

"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange," the man replied.

"He is a Sorcerer from Midgard," Thor supplied.

"Really? You know magic?" Loki asked, now a lot more interested in the man.

"Yes," Doctor Strange replied with some determination in his voice.

Loki raised an eyebrow. It seemed the man wanted to challenge him. Which could be quite fun. Under other circumstances. Of course, if the right opportunity presented itself ...

"And I'm Carol Danvers," the woman in the red and blue suit with gold piping and a star on her chest reminiscent of the Kree military said.

"Charmed, I'm sure," Loki replied.

"You never answered, Brother," Thor said. "What bargain are you talking about?"

As part of his answer, Loki swept a hand to indicate that Thor look inside the ancient fortress.

"Asgard isn't going to be a safe place to be, not with Thanos' army about to begin a war against our sister's army of undead Asgardian warriors," Loki replied. "I know a way off the planet that doesn't involve the Bifrost. Heimdall's contribution was to ensure that the people would be protected when we moved. He brought us ... you and your friends."

"With two armies standing between here and the Gateroom, I can see how we'd need another option," Thor nodded.

"If I am correct, the Gateroom no longer exists," Heimdall said as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Explain that!" Volstagg insisted.

"Just before Heimdall summoned you, Thanos' ship fired on the planet. It was centred on the where the Gateroom was," Loki replied.

"By the All Father," Fandral whispered.

"Then our task is clear. We protect the people as Loki leads us through one of his secret passages," Sif stated, drawing her sword from its resting place in her shield.

"Easier said than done, I suspect," Loki replied.

"Leave that to us, you just lead the way," Thor instructed.

"How many people are we talking about?" Doctor Strange asked.

"More than five thousand," Heimdall replied.

"That's not going to be easy, moving that many," Carol stated. "And it's going to take a lot of time."

"We do what we must," Thor replied. "Let's get them organised.

Loki watched his brother stride into the great hall. No sooner had he been recognised than a susurration swept the room as people scrambled to their feet and surged towards him.

"He truly is their King, isn't he?" Sif said.

Loki looked at her and then back at Thor and sighed. As much as he played at being King, there truly was no doubt who the people preferred, who they loved, who the true King of Asgard was.

"Where exactly is this passageway?" Heimdall asked.

ooo00ooo

Hela stood on one of the higher balconies of the palace and looked out and down at the glorious sight before her.

Her army, her Legion, was arrayed for battle, their lines perfectly straight, their weapons at the ready. Thousand upon thousand of them stood there, ready to follow her every command.

Further afield, on the outskirts of the city, eight massive dropships had landed, most in the water. Doors had opened and creatures unlike any that Hela had ever seen before had poured from them and just seemed to keep coming. Their very bodies were dark grey and they either had six legs or two legs and four arms. Or was it four legs and two arms? In the end, it really mattered little to Hela, however they were constructed, they would soon taste Asgardian blades and die.

Oh, she was so looking forward to this, especially when she lifted her eyes to see the devastation that the Mad Titan had already wrought. The Gateroom had been utterly destroyed, obliterated in the first strike. The Rainbow Bridge had been damaged beyond repair and was now nothing more than a pretty jetty that led nowhere.

Oh, how they were going to pay for that.

Leaping over the side of the balcony, Hela tumbled once, twice and then landed on the back of her beloved Fenrir. The great wolf twisted his head to look back at her.

"Good boy," she said, stroking his head. "You can feast on those creatures very soon."

She didn't need to issue a command to him; the wolf knew what her wishes were.

Warriors moved aside as Fenrir stalked towards the front of the battle lines before closing the gaps once they'd passed.

Before long, Fenrir had reached the very front of the Legion of Asgard and Hela dismounted, slipping down his side to stand there, ready for battle and war. As she stood there, she surveyed the opposing force. It was impressive, she decided, but nothing that her Legion hadn't dealt with before.

Hela smirked at what she was seeing. Her forces held the city. Easily defensible and it was their home, so they knew the terrain, even if it had changed somewhat in the two millennia that she'd been 'away'. Thanos' forces, by contrast, had their backs against the sea. They were boxed in with no way to retreat except for the ships that they had come in.

Whipping out her hands to either side, Hela conjured a pair of extremely sharp, very long swords.

"Attack!" she whispered.

But such was her control of her Legion, that it was enough.

As she, herself merely strolled towards the battle, her Legion surged forward around her and passed her while Fenrir raced ahead, his great paws eating up the distance with every leap.

For a half minute, the only sound was that could be heard was that of pounding feet, by both armies, as they ran at each other. And then the front lines collided.

Asgardian metal met the flesh of the creatures that made up Thanos' army and began cutting them to pieces. But the creatures were also giving as good as they got, using their extra limbs to force their way through the lines and even leap straight over the first of her warriors to land on and crush the warriors there.

Limbs, both creature and Asgardian, were being torn off or sliced through. Blood splattered the ground and roars and screams echoed in equal proportion.

A pair of the creatures managed to make their way through the lines, aiming straight for Hela. Their fierce snapping of their jaws, the spittle dangling from their mouths, though, fazed her not in the slightest. Her swords flashed. The front hand of one was lopped off. The neck of the other was slashed. A weave, a dodge and then she struck again, this time plunging one blade into the heart of one beast and completely decapitating the other.

Leaving the blades where they were, Hela simply conjured a pair of daggers and threw them, catching another creature in the eye, dropping it instantly even as she fended off another vicious but sloppy attack.

She'd just dealt the killing blow on the third attack on her person when a noise overhead made her look up.

Three great circular ships zoomed past, directly over the battle and straight towards the palace.

"Now that's just cheating," she commented.

ooo00ooo

The long line of people stretched hundreds of metres back. Even huddled together as they were, the weaving line simply couldn't be any less, not with there being so many. Getting the column moving had taken a surprisingly small amount of time, especially considering how many people it involved. The warriors that they had were mostly spaced out in the middle, with the 'big hitters' divided between the front and back of the refugees.

Suddenly, the sound of cries, screams, yells and weapons, although faint, reached the people and caused everyone to pause.

"The battle has begun," Thos stated, his hand gripping the handle of Stormbreaker tightly enough for his knuckles to go white.

"Easy brother," Loki said. "That's not our fight."

"It is a battle for Asgard," Thor growled.

"No," Heimdall replied quickly. "That is a battle for a city, a pile of brinks and mortar. This, this is Asgard."

Thor looked back at the thousands of people that Heimdall was pointing at. The people that made up the heart of Asgard. Most were commoners. All looked extremely weary or fearful or a combination of the two. Those that saw him, lifted their heads slightly and he could see their faces ease as their confidence in him counteracted their fear.

"We are Asgard," Heimdall continued. "As long as we are together, remembering our stories, our traditions, our history, then it matters not where we are. Any place can be home. But we, the people, we all are the heart."

"I hear you, my friend," Thor replied. "Thank you"

"Now that all the mushy stuff is out of the way and one of our best fighters isn't going to go off and abandon us, can we keep moving?" Loki asked.

"How far away is this passage?" Thor asked.

"The closest – which, mind you, isn't the safest – is a good four, maybe five hours walk at the pace we're going," Loki replied.

"And then even longer to get everyone through," Thor mused. "That's too long."

"Well, unless you know another way to move from here to there faster without ships, we don't have much choice," Loki snapped. "Not even you with all your strength could get us there faster, even by summoning the Bifrost. We're too many."

Thor's eyes narrowed. "You're right, Brother, I couldn't get us there."

Leaping up, Thor rocketed into the air and then straight back the way he'd come, making sure to stay only a couple of metres above the people, low enough to not be spotted by those they wanted to stay hidden from. Finally, the end of the column came into sight and he slowed, landing in a crouch.

"Thor?" Carol asked. "Is there a problem?"

"We're too slow," he replied simply.

"You have a better idea?" Doctor Strange asked.

"Yes, Sorcerer. You!" Thor grinned.

"I can't open a portal to a place that I don't know," Doctor Strange stated.

"I am aware," Thor replied. "Carol, I'm going to need you, too. My apologies, Sorcerer,"

With that, Thor stepped forward, wrapped one arm around Doctor Strange and rocketed into the air and straight back along the column once more. A glance confirmed that Carol was flying right behind him.

"Next time, tell me you're about to do that!" Loki snapped as they landed at the head of the column.

Thor simply ignored him.

"You do know that my Cloak of Levitation could have simply flown me here without you manhandling me, correct?" Doctor Strange snapped.

"My apologies, Sorcerer, I was not aware of that fact," Thor replied.

A nod was enough to say that he'd been forgiven.

"Heimdall, keep the people moving in the right direction," he commanded. "We'll be right back. Carol, Sorcerer? Loki, you're going to hate this."

Loki's startled expression put a grin on Thor's face.

"Hate what?" Loki asked suspiciously.

Thor, though, simply grabbed his brother and shot into the air.

"Thor, what in Odin's name has gotten into you?" Loki demanded.

"The passage. Where is it?" Thor demanded.

"Keep going straight," Loki sighed.

With Loki directing, it took a bare three minutes to fly the distance that it would take them to walk four hours.

"This is the place," Loki said. "Down there. That cave."

Spying a ledge, Thor landed and released his brother who promptly staggered away.

"I hope we don't have to return the same way," Loki said.

"We won't," Thor promised before turning away. "Loki says that that is the entrance to the passageway."

"Where does it lead?" Carol asked, peering into the crack in the rock that was barely large enough for a person to enter.

"Loki?' Thor prompted.

"Vanaheim," Loki replied.

"It's going to take time to get everyone through there," Carol pointed out.

"I know. Which is why we need to get the people here faster," Thor replied. "Doctor?"

"That I can do," Doctor Strange nodded.

Thor watched him slip on his sling ring and begin waving his arm in a circle. Instantly, sparks began forming and then the circular portal that Thor knew he was capable of creating was there.

"What magic is this?" Loki asked, peering through it to see Heimdall and the front of the column of Asgardians.

"Sorcery," Doctor Strange replied. "Now, I suggest you get those people moving. Holding this open for so long is going to be draining."

"Loki, you stay here with the Sorcerer and get the people through the passageway," Thor instructed. "Carol and I will keep guard on the other end."

With that, he and Carol stepped through the portal.

"Listen up, Asgardians!" Thor bellowed. "The passageway is through this portal. But you need to hurry, it cannot be kept open indefinitely."

It took very little direction after that to get the first of the people stepping through.

Thor nodded. They just might have a chance.

ooo00ooo

"I really don't like the look of that mess down there," Peter said as he stared at the monitor.

The city looked to be a roiling, rolling mess of bodies and creatures – Outriders, Gamora had informed them that the creatures were called – all fighting each other. From one end of the city to the other, from the edge of the sea to two-thirds of the way back to the palace, the entire area was blanketed by one massive battle.

"We could blast a few from here," Rocket suggested.

"And target who?" Peter asked. "Thanos' shock troops or those reanimated dead Asgardian soldiers. I, for one, don't particularly like the idea of either of them winning."

"Kill them all!" Drax stated simply.

"As much as I like that plan, there's one flaw," Peter replied and finished with a stab out he forward viewscreen. "That!"

"Peter's right," Gamora said. "At the moment it doesn't seem that Thanos realises that we're here. The second he does, he's going to be after us. Or more specifically, me! I was a Daughter of Thanos, remember? And I have no intention of going back to serving him ever again."

"We would never allow that to happen," Mantis assured her.

"I am Groot," Groot agreed.

"Thank you and I appreciate it but Thanos might not give you a choice. Right now, our best option is to stay where we are until we can work out what's going on down there. That undead Asgardian army is currently protecting the Stone. Let's just hope that they can do the job," Gamora said.

ooo00ooo

The great Q-ship smashed straight into the palace, knocking columns over like skittles and vaporising any warriors that happened to be in the way. Finally, it came to a stop, mere metres from the throne.

The instant that the door retracted, two of the Children of Thanos leapt out.

Cull Obsidian, the biggest and strongest of them all was most disappointed to find that the area was completely empty. With a disappointed grunt, he let the head of his great, makeshift axe fall to the floor.

"This way, I believe," Ebony Maw said, waving a hand to the right.

With that, he led the way, hearing the heavy thuds of his partner bringing up the rear.

Movement and a skittering preceded a phalanx of Asgardian warriors – living ones, this time – appearing from around a far corner. The seven raised their shields and lowered their spears so that they protruded between the gaps in the shield and began slowing advancing as a unit.

Maw gave them one bored look. While Cull Obsidian

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net