Issue #2 (April 2018) Written by Jake Hawkins Featuring:
Black Panther
Man-Ape
Shuri
White Wolf
Namor
Baron Von Strucker
DEEP IN JABARI TERRITORY
“OVERCOME! CONQUER! RAMPAGE!”* The leader of the Jabari tribe and wielder of the mythical white gorilla strength, M’Baku, led the chants himself as he and a coalition of reinforcements sauntered towards the frenzied battle taking place in the middle of the mountain passage. Flanked by three of the Jabari’s greatest warriors, each with the skull of the rare animal that was their tribe’s totem to symbolize their rank, M’Baku couldn’t help but sneer as his eyes fell on the three Wakandans who had foolishly come to his territory.
* [Translated from Xhosa]
“General Okoye! This is no place for a warrior of your legend to die. For me to crush your skull in these mountains will bring me no pleasure. However, you have caused us great shame here, and thus my duties as the Man-Ape will be fulfilled today!” M’Baku taunted his adversaries, much to the approval of his clansman, who roared at their leaders boast.
“How did you capture those Americans, Jambazi? You know the ramifications of the treaty, you Jabari aren’t allowed out of these mountains.” Shuri pressed the Man-Ape, stepping forward with her fingers itching at the triggers of her plasma cannons as she stared into the hate filled eyes of the Jabari tribe leader.
“You ask questions you will not live to see the answers to, Princess. I will personally deliver your body to Haramu-Fal just for having the audacity to step this close to where I lay my head.” M’Baku pointed a massive finger at Shuri, who didn’t waver one bit in the face of the Man-Ape’s attempt at intimidation.
Okoye stepped in front of the Princess, her spear at the ready as the Man-Ape and his reinforcements surrounded the three of them, cutting off any chance at escape. “Aneka, get the Princess out of here, no matter what happens.” Okoye instructs her fellow adored one as she prepared to engage the enemy alone.
“I say this with every bit of respect, but do not be a fool. No one is leaving here without you!” Aneka stressed to the Dora Milajae leader.
“Your obligations lie with the throne and the country, not me! You will do as you are instructed.” Okoye spat back, her eyes still on M’Baku as she formed a plan of attack, her soldier’s mind always at work.
Shuri grew tired of the posturing and stepped up next to Okoye, blasting a tree behind M’Baku that came crashing down between himself and the Wakandans, crushing one of his guards in the process. Aneka took Shuri’s surprise attack as a call to action, taking off with Olympic athlete level speed across the mountain forest floor and scooping up one of the stolen energy staffs as she closed in on one of the Jabari. Catching him off guard, she drove her dagger into his abdomen before turning and tossing her blade directly between the eyes of an attacker attempting to jump her from behind. She activated the energy staff as a few more came after, swarming her as quickly as they could.
Shuri blasted a few clansman out of her path as she leaped over the fallen tree and lunged at one of the elite Jabari guards, who side stepped the Princesses kick and swung his rungu at her head. His attack is blocked by the spear of Okoye, who counters with a kick to the midsection followed by a quick throat chop with her spear. The other two guards charge the pair of women, the man in front diving out of the way of a blasts from Shuri’s cannon while the other pounces at the Princess. A blow from his rungu to her ribs sends Shuri sideways however she rolls with the blow, popping to her feet and letting a huge blasts loose with the combined power from both cannons she had been charging up during M’Bakus posturing. The guards eyes go wide as the blasts comes at him, his fate all but sealed when the Man-Ape leaps in front of him, barely getting them both out of harms away in time.
The plasma charge hits the side of the mountain, and chunks of large rock formations fall on to the impromptu battlefield. M’Baku and his guards scatter as Okoye grabs Shuri by the arm and they rush into a thicket of trees. On the other end of the passage, Aneka fights off another Jabari, her will not faltering an inch as she smacked one of the oncoming assailants across the face with her staff. She could hear his jaw dislocate as her eyes found the rocks cascading down upon where she last saw Shuri and Okoye. She stared frozen in horror as she considered the plight of her sisters, her heart breaking as she was powerless to help them.
“Aneka, here! Quickly!” She was shaken from her trance by a familiar voice as she looked to her left and saw Okoye and the Princess. She dashed towards the both of them, and they all used the chaos around them to try and make their way back down the mountain and to the safe house undeterred.
M’Baku watched the fleeing Wakandans rush deeper into the forest, excitement growing in his chest as he relished the opportunity to hunt them down. “Archers, to the frontline! The Wakandans do not make it off this mountain, or the Man-Ape will feed on your flesh tonight!” Jabari archers took the lead as M’Baku and his forces took off into the forest after their prey.
Aneka, Shuri, and Okoye kept their steady pace through the forest, arrows flying past them as the chants of the Jabari echo throughout the mountains. An arrowhead whizzed past Aneka, scratching her cheek and narrowly missing going through the back of her skull. She doesn’t stop moving, merely ducking lower as they try to keep the distance between themselves and the White Gorilla clan. Suddenly she collapsed onto the forest floor just as they made it to a clearing, her nose bleeding and her body wracked by convulsions.
“Beloved!?” Okoye stopped in her tracks and dropped to her knees next to Aneka, as she and Shuri tried to administer first aide.
“She’s having a stroke. We need to get her to one of our facilities immediately. Help me carry her.” Shuri moved to gently pull Aneka up but Okoye brushed the Princess back, scooped up the fallen Dora in her arms and tossed her over her shoulder. They turned to continue their descent when she realized they had once again been surrounded by the remaining Jabari forces and their rabid leader.
“Princess, General. As much as you both deserve an execution for your many sins against the Jabari, it does not have to end this way for you. I am no fool, I am not blind to the considerable strength and intelligence of you both. Okoye, pledge your allegiance to me here and now, lead my great army to the victories the Jabari deserve. Princess Shuri, you would make a fine wife. Renounce the ways of Bast, your golden city views. Join me in these mountains and together we could rule every inch of this continent.” M’Baku’s proposal is met with looks of pure contempt and loathing from the pair of Wakandans, Okoye’s concern for the convulsing Aneka growing by the second the more time they wasted.
“I hope you can come to grips with your foolish decision once you enter the Djalia. Archers, take aim.” M’Baku took a step back as a line of archers prepared to fire just as the King’s Quinjet roared over the mountains, hovering just above and right behind where his sister and the general stood.
M’Baku shoved one of his archers roughly out of his way as he took a few steps in the jets direction, a look of unbridled rage on his face. “HARAMU-FAL! Come here and face your reaper. You, whose bloodline has disgraced my tribe for centuries. You, who have led a nation to ruin and spat in the face of my ancestors! Your diseased legacy will end right here on Jabari land with the deaths of you, your kin, and your most beloved adored ones! This is where T’Chaka’s tyranny will be decimated!”
The ships bay doors opened from the bottom of the vessel, and everyone’s eyes were on T’Challa as he appeared at the end of the ramp. His face became covered in the mask of the panther as he leaped from the jet, landing in front of Okoye and the others.
“Take her straight to the capital!” T’Challa instructed Okoye, who nodded and headed towards the ship that had just lowered itself to the ground. Shuri hesitated for a moment before reluctantly leaving her brother and boarding the ship after Okoye. Moments later the Quinjet took off, leaving the Black Panther to face M’Baku and the remaining Jabari.
“M’Baku, were I a different sort of man, I would have had no problem putting my intellect and every ounce of power at my command to wipe you and these Jambazi from the face of Wakanda the moment I sat on the throne. But I have been far too lenient when it comes to your ilk, and now you have much to answer for today Man-Ape.” The palm of the Panther’s right glove glowed purple as he unclenched his fist and an energy sword materialized in his hand. The archers readied their bow’s as the Panther began to fearlessly saunter forward, but M’Baku gestured for them to back away as he rushed in, letting out a roar that felt as if it shook the mountains to meet the man he had hated for as long as he could remember.
T’Challa rolled beneath a wildly thrown left hand by the Man-Ape, generating one of his patented energy daggers in his other hand and driving it into M’Bakus calf. Enraged further that the orphan king had drawn first blood and with uncanny speed for a man his size, he turned and nailed the panther with a front kick to the chest that sent him sprawling across the ground. T’Challa barely had a moment to recover as Man-Ape was already air born, narrowly missing smashing the king to a pulp as he hammered both fist down towards the Panther, who rolled away and leaped to his feet. Man-Ape roared once again as he charged at T’Challa, sensing he had Damisa-Sarki reeling from his earlier blow. The Jabari clan watched eagerly, chanting the tribe’s motto as encouragement for their vaunted leader with renewed passion. Each member of the White Gorilla clan knew full well the outcome of the bout in front of them would shape their foreseeable future.
T’Challa leapfrogged the charging Man-Ape, tossing a handful of marble sized pods that stuck to M’Bakus back. Before he could turn to mount another attack, the pods exploded and sent the Man-Ape careening back into the forest with breakneck speed, taking out a slew of trees before coming to a crashing halt. A few of the Jabari took off towards their mountain sanctuary as T’Challa continued marching forward. Some of the archers foolishly fire at the Panther, who doesn’t even acknowledge them as he stalks after M’Baku and the arrows bounce harmlessly off his suit. One of the elite guards brazenly charges T’Challa, swinging his Rungu wildly. T’Challa sidesteps his blow with little effort, snatching the guard by the back of the neck with one hand and ripping an arrow from the quiver of one of the archers with the other. He plunged the arrow into the neck of the guard, his eyes on the forest as M’Baku had recovered and came charging back out for another round.
T’Challa dropped the guard and generated an energy spear in each hand as he lunged at the Man-Ape, launching one of the spears at him with precision accuracy. The blow landed square in M’Bakus chest, knocking him off balance. T’Challa went for the kill, attempting to drive the second spear through his head when he is caught in mid-air by the throat. M’Baku levels the Panther with a series of crushing headbutts. He rears back for one more, his aim to cave T’Challas skull in, but he is caught coming forward with a knee straight to the chin that staggers him once again and causes him to drop the king. T’Challa seizes the moment to launch himself at M’Baku once more, this time putting both palms in his chest and unleashing the kinetic energy that had been building up in his suit. The force slams M’Baku flat on his back, knocking him unconscious from the tremendous impact and leaving a small crater from where the massive monster of a man had fallen.
T’Challa turned to the few remaining Jabari as his helmet dissipated, revealing the King’s face once again. “For as long as I have been this nations ruler, you Jambazi have made every effort to destabilize and destroy the peace the rest of the realm cultivates. Now you have gone too far, foolishly following a man who promises you only what his heart desires, not what will see his people prosper, not what will keep them fed. And yet even his own selfish prophecies, he fails to fulfill. Out of respect for the pain past kings may have caused you, I have done nothing by try to mend if not all out repair the immense strain between the Jabari and the rest of Wakanda. But after your false god’s actions on this day, things must change drastically.”
From down the mountain a squadron of Hatut Zeraze emerge into the clearing on sky bikes, led by Akili. They all land next to their king as another empty sky bike auto pilots it’s way to a landing near T’Challa. Akili’s men set a pod in the grass which expands after being activated by the War Dog leader’s Kimoyo card into a large Vibranium reinforced container. The men lift the still unconscious M’Baku into the container and an energy barrier seals the top shut as they board their bikes once again. T’Challa boards his as Akili rises into the air, lifting the container with him and holding it in place behind his bike with a short wave tractor beam.
“You have twenty-four hours to vacate these mountains, as tomorrow the forces of the nation will converge here. Any Jabari still in this territory will be brought to the golden city to face trial right alongside their fallen hero.” And without another word, the Panther and his War Dogs took off back down the mountain.
FORMER SHIELD OUTPOST ÎLE SAINTE-MARIE, MADAGASCAR
Hunter stood on the beach, the sunset in front of him was beautiful, but it didn’t have an ounce of his attention. He had just heard from his scout in the White Gorilla Clan that T’Challa had taken M’Baku captive. He was displeased, as he was hoping his brother would come out a bit more worse for wear once he had supplied the Jabari with tech from an old Wakandan safe-house his men had raided. It didn’t matter he reasoned, as T’Challa would be too concerned with M’Bakus prosecution to see what he would soon be blindsided by. Hunter took solace in this fact just as his guest’s warship rose from the ocean depths. Namor exited from the top of the ship, accompanied by Queen Marrina as he made his way down and onto the beach.
“King Namor, Queen Marrina, thank you for accepting my invitation.” Hunter’s innate charm came to the surface as he bowed politely in front of the rulers of Atlantis.
“I have several matters of my utmost concern to attend to, Wolf. I only agreed to meet with you out of respect for your brother and the nation you call home.” Namor replied tersely. A slight grimace cracked through the suave façade Hunter was wearing.
“Right this way.” Hunter led them into the large building once occupied by SHIELD that had been abandoned after an attack by Hydra he had brokered a few years before he went to prison. A slew of his men patrolled the perimeter as they entered.
Once inside, they made their way into a defunct war room, a large monitor sat to the left, displaying various clips of footage taken from Atlantis over the last six months. Namor pushed past Hunter and quickly made his way over to the screen, his fists clenching tighter the more he watched.
“Where did you get this?” Namor demanded as he rounded on the White Wolf.
“I intercepted these transmissions from a Wakandan safe house near your palace. Apparently the respect you have for my brother does not extend in both directions.”
“They have spies in Atlantis?” Marrina pondered aloud, coming to the kings side in an effort to quell his rising anger.
“Don’t be so surprised, its what I would have done. It’s something I wouldn’t have expected from T’Challa, but nevertheless I can’t say I blame him.” Hunter lamented just as Namor crossed the room and lifted him off his feet by the neck.
“How many of your people are in my kingdom, Wolf? Choose your next attempt at being clever carefully.” Namor threatened, his fingers beginning to crush Hunter’s windpipe.
“Let him speak.” Queen Marrina advised, putting a hand on Namor’s shoulder. Namor looked into the eyes of the woman he loved and dropped the White Wolf, his anger subsiding slightly for the time being.
“My brother is known for being extremely thorough, so I cannot give you the answers you seek. I suggest you go straight to the source.” Namor was ready to storm out of the room when he stopped abruptly, a last question lingering on his tongue.
“Nothing I have heard about you has ever given me the impression you’re this altruistic, if it all. Why have you given me this information and betrayed your people?” Namor questioned, his anger giving over to suspicion.
“Because it’s been long past time Wakanda was restored to the nation it always needs to be, and my brother’s mockery of the values our home was built on must be dealt with before I can do just that. Furthermore, they ceased being my people a long time ago, but that will change.” Hunter flashed another smile, this time in Queen Martina’s direction. Namor stepped in front of Hunter, going almost nose to nose as his well known temper flared once again.
“I will not be a rook in whatever game you are playing here, Wolf. Should the answers I seek lead me back here, I will not hesitate to destroy you and every surface dweller who dares follow you.” And without another word Namor stormed out of the room, the Queen right on his heels.
BIRNIN ZANA A FEW HOURS LATER
Ramonda watched from the medical research wing of the palace where she sat next to the unconscious Aneka as T’Challa and the Hatut Zeraze returned to the capital, soaring through the skies above the golden city. They landed their bikes on the large helipad on top of the palace. A few members of the palace staff came and took care of the crate holding M’Baku, one of them using their Kimoyo card to activate a tractor beam of their own and pull the Jabari leader to the cells beneath the palace.
W’Kabi rushed past the palace staff to greet Akili and the King, whose panther costume melted away as he approached his chief of security.
“My King, the serial numbers on one of the stolen energy staffs matches one’s I’ve found in a cargo manifest from a few years ago listed in our database. They were being stored in our safe house located near Hell’s Kitchen.”
The three of them enter the palace and step into an elevator that takes them down to the medical wing. “Was my Uncle not assigned to this detail since he represents us at the UN?” T’Challa asked as they stepped out of the elevator and made their way down the hall toward’s Aneka’s room.
“He was. His last report came a little over a week ago. There was nothing unusual in that message. I have tried to make contact with him several times since I traced the stolen weapons back to that particular base but he has not answered.” W’Kabi froze as he entered the room Aneka was being tended to in, his eyes darting back and forth between the bed and his wife Okoye, who had several lacerations on her face and arms but had yet to receive medical attention herself.
She was too distraught over the well-being of her sister in more ways than one. Aneka was the younger sibling of W’Kabi, who Queen Ramonda and Okoye had found years earlier wandering the fields of Alkama after a ruthless attack on her village by the Jabari. She remembered the hard days when her husband heard the news of his home, she recalled every line of stress on his face as they laid his parents to rest and they sang mournful praises for Bast to see them safely to the ancestral place. She was shaken from her apathy as she heard W’Kabi from the hallway and he entered with the others.
“How is she?” T’Challa asked as he greeted his mother with a hug and made his way over to where Okoye sat.
“She’s recovering. If we hadn’t got her to the ship in time to stabilize her, I’m not sure she’d be with us.” Ramonda responded, a voice barely above a whisper as she took Aneka’s hand.
“Okoye, W’Kabi, I am sorry I did not get there sooner.” T’Challa apologized but W’Kabi waved him off, putting a hand on his best friends shoulder.
“Anything from the Englishman?” He asked as he finally raised his head again, changing the subject back to business of the throne.
“Whoever hired his group wired transferred their pay through seventeen proxy accounts. However the attack by the mercenaries and the Jabari obtaining our old weapons occurring almost simultaneously can’t be a coincidence of any sort.”
“You believe whoever hired those men are responsible for arming M’Baku and his savages?” Okoye finally spoke, eager to get to the bottom of whoever had caused the recent string of events.
“We don’t have enough pieces to this particular puzzle for anything right now to be considered more than speculation. Akili, W’Kabi, and Okoye if you are feeling up to it. We will leave for New York tomorrow morning and investigate the safe house for ourselves.”
“There is something you should know my King. The Jabari prisoners were Americans.” Okoye informed the King, who upon hearing the information raised an eyebrow.
“We have already sent them back on one of our commercial flight jets and contacted the president. But what I would like to know is how those zibi(Xhosa for imbeciles) managed to get American hostages across the country and that deeply into the mountains without us noticing for so long?” W’Kabi seethed, his usual level headed demeanor giving way to his frustration.
“Keep your head brother. We will have our answers sooner than you think.” T’Challa assured his friend before turning to his mother.
“Where is Shuri?”
Ramonda shook her head slightly before she replied. “Once she knew Aneka was going to be ok, she entered her quarters and has not been seen since.”
Shuri sat at her desk studying the three-dimensional hologram schematics of a land based hovercraft she had begun developing over the past few days. Her Kimoyo bead band glowed as a video message from her brother emitted from her wrist.
“Are you busy?” He asked gently.
“I suppose not, I’m just trying to appear to be.” She replied honestly. The doors to her room slid open and her brother walked in, standing behind her as he marveled at the design she was tinkering with.
“I don’t know which of you is placing more of the blame on yourselves for Aneka, you or Okoye.” He cracked dryly as a chair hovered over to where he stood and he took a seat next to his sister.
“You know Okoye briefed me before I came up here. Father and Bast will see how you carried yourself out there today and bless us in the days to come.” Shuri smiledp weakly, appreciative of her brother’s attempt at lifting her mood.
“You sent out a press junket on the Kimoyo network that you outlawed the Jabari from the country and forced them to disband.” Shuri stated, to which T’Challa nodded in return. “Mother won’t be happy about this.”
“I informed her of my decision before I came to join you all in the mountains. But you are right, she was very displeased. I do not regret my decision in the slightest. The Jabari have grown less and less humane as the years pass, and if my people and anyone who ventures near our borders are to be safe than I must take the necessary precautions to see that they are.”
“This will only bolster Changeamire’s crackpot theories he loves to teach that we always have been tyrants, whether we believe so or not.”
“Let Changeamire teach his ways. His opinions are not anything I haven’t heard whispered here nor anywhere else I have walked. Talk is just another burden of the crown, and I shall shoulder it as I do all the others.” T’Challa stated boldly. “We are planning a trip to the states tomorrow to further the investigation into our stolen tech. You are more than welcome to join us.”
“Maybe brother. I am not sure I feel up to carrying the weight of another’s life in my hands should we come under any fire abroad. I can’t fathom how you do the things you do day in and day out, T’Challa.”
“What is it you mean by this?” T’Challa eyed his sister curiously.
“You constantly throw yourself at whatever danger may be hurdling in not only your direction, but anyone in the vicinity. The will it must take to never lose faith in yourself no matter the obstacle is something in you I have always admired.”
“Don’t admire me Shuri. Admire yourself, as the strength I need to be the man I feel I must be is only bolstered by my love for you and those I deem my family. It is these bonds that any king needs to rule without losing sight of his way. Take the night to think about it, should you change your mind we leave at noon tomorrow.” T’Challa stood up and kissed his sister on the forehead before waving her goodbye and leaving.
SOMEWHERE ABOVE CAIRO, EGYPT
A massive SHIELD helicarrier made it’s way through the night sky above the city of Cairo as Baron Von Strucker watched from the bridge.
“Sir, we are less than three hours away from Birnin Zana!” An agent informed the leader of Hydra, who merely nodded as a way of dismissing his subordinate.
“We have the White Wolf hailing us sir.” Another Hydra member sitting at the ship’s control panel alerted Von Strucker.
Moments later the face of Hunter appeared where the massive front window of the helicarrier once was.
“Baron Von Strucker, I do hope the transportation is to your liking. It was the only thing I could find short notice capable of carrying all your people’s equipment.” Hunter greeted Von Strucker, his usual snide grin on his face.
“You continue to surprise and amuse me, Wolf. Keep up this level of aptitude and Hydra will continue to have great use for you. You could easily be one of our higher ranking officials.” Von Strucker attempt to recruit Hunter fell on deaf ears.
“Your cult is no different than any other cult, and I am far from interested, though I appreciate the nod of respect. Have you tested the device I had sent over to you?”
“We had a successful test run over Dubai a few hours ago, which is roughly the same size as Birnin Zana. After we pilfer the city, whatever ashes remain are yours per our agreement.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Best of luck to you, oh and hail Hydra and all that of course.” Hunter ended the video call, turning back to the guests in front of him, US Army General David Weller and US Secretary of Defense Christopher Marks. “I apologize for the interruption gentleman, where did we leave off?”
“You were giving us a reason why we should trust the word of a man who just finished having a conversation with someone who is on both SHIELD and Interpol’s top ten most wanted list.” General Weller answered gruffly, fidgeting uncomfortably in his chair.
“You’ve recently had a group of tourist from your country who were vacationing in Cape Town returned to you from a very harrowing hostage situation. But they aren’t the only US citizens to go missing in Africa over the past few months, they are just the first your press has gotten wind of.”
“I hope this isn’t the beginning of some sort of naïve attempt to intimidate us.” Mark’s suggested as he stood up from his chair.
“I don’t need to intimidate or threaten anyone Mr. Secretary. As I tell anyone I attempt to enter into business with, I am here to present opportunity and nothing more. Your people have been taken hostage by the Jabari of Wakanda. It is where the ones who arrived in Washington earlier today were on their way to when my brother saved them. But I know for a fact that there are still hostages stuck in those mountains, and I am here to let you know that if you want to come out on the other side of this situation smelling like roses, tonight will be the perfect and only opportunity to get your people into the country. I am well aware of the real reason some of your operatives are currently being held in Jabari territory, and I am sure you wouldn’t want my brother nor anyone else stumbling across that particular thread.”
General Weller hesitated for a moment as Mark’s sat back down.”It appears you have our attention, go on.”Hunter poured himself and his two guest another drink.
T’CHALLAS QUARTERS THE ROYAL PALACE
T’Challa stood at his work bench, rewiring the circuitry in the arm sleeves of one of his suits when his Kimoyo card lit up with a notification that read “Incoming video call from Ororo Monroe.”
“Connect us, Kimoyo.” T’Challa ordered the operating system that ran the entire country as the face of Storm appeared in front of the King.
“I spoke to your sister briefly earlier. Is Aneka okay?” Ororo asked, still uneasy with T’Challa after their last conversation.
“She will be okay in a few days time. Have you considered my offer since we last spoke?” T’Challa asked, a note of hope in his voice.
“You mean since I yelled at you and you didn’t listen as always? No, no I have not. And I didn’t call you to get into that, so if that’s your plan I’m hanging up right now.” Ororo answered defiantly.
“My love, I know you don’t have faith in us. And maybe you never have, but I told you I would do everything in my power and more to prove to you I am worth your time and effort. I merely ask you open your heart to me once more and allow me the opportunity to prove it.”
“And I have told you countless times, it’s not what I want right now. Maybe in my future, when I am ready for that life. But not right now, and not anytime soon. Besides, I know you’ve been busy. Why can’t you be happy with her?” Ororo prodded, putting T’Challa on the spot.
T’Challa finally put his tools down and gave Ororo his full and undivided attention. “Because she isn’t you, and I can’t keep up the foolish task of trying to replace you.”
“Then let me go. Because all the pleading and coaxing won’t change my mind.” Ororo stated flatly, an answer that deflated T’Challa. Before he could reply, the video feed cut out and the palace went dark. A confused T’Challa quickly went to his bedroom window, where he watched as the power outage spread throughout Birnin Zana. T’Challa sped from his room without a seconds hesitation.
In the top of the palace, the heads of the Wakandan military had begun to gather in the central command center. Okoye and W’Kabi barked orders at various technicians to get the power back online as the King entered the room where most military operations where usually overseen by himself. Akili sat at a nearby computer console as the various screens in the room came back to life.
“Palace generators have kicked on, my King.” Akili notified T’Challa as he approached.
“How did someone manage to knock out our entire grind under our noses?” T’Challa demanded, a fury in his tone that was rarely heard.
“Our radar is picking up something massive sitting about 48,000 feet above the city, scanners are picking up a electromagnetic net emitting from the craft.” Shuri noted as she entered the room, a radar of the skies above Wakanda flashed from her Kimoyo band.
“T’Challa the front gates have just sustained heavy damage. Reports are flooding in from our ground troops that a slew of Hydra tanks are attempting to storm the city.” W’Kabi informed the King gravely.
“How is it they’ve managed to send a message through the EMP net?” Okoye wondered, turning to her husband.
“The rangeless communicators were designed to be protected against such a weapon should we ever need to employ one of our own in battle.” Shuri answered, her pride in her work shining through even under the dire circumstances.
“Akili take the war dogs and turn those tanks back. Keep them from reaching the city’s central plaza.” Akili nodded and took off immediately after hearing T’Challas orders. “Okoye and W’Kabi you are with me. Get a team ready, we are going after the root of our problem.”
Okoye exited the room as she headed to assemble the Dora Milajae for the task at hand as W’Kabi approached the King. “My King, this is indelible proof your earlier suspicions hold weight.”
“That may be true, but this sudden attack leaves me with far more questions than it does answers.” T’Challa answered regretfully.
“How come, brother?” Shuri questioned after overhearing the exchange between the two of them.
“If Hydra had wanted to come for us they could have chosen any time. But why now? Von Strucker wouldn’t chance an attack this brazen unless he felt universally confident about his chances at success.” T’Challa deliberated out loud.
“Then he is far more foolish than I was ever led to believe.” W’Kabi stated proudly as he tore off after his wife. T’Challas suit began to spread over his clothing, the mask of the panther coming across his head last.
“Shuri, stay here. We’ll need you at the helm of things should anything go south on one or multiple fronts. Is Mother safe?”
“She is sitting with Aneka. I’ve stationed guards on the entire corridor.” T’Challa nodded in approval at his younger sisters quick thinking as he departed and headed to the jet hanger that sat behind the palace.
In the middle of Birnin Zana, the tanks of Hydra cut a path through the city as their cannons fired energy grenades erratically, decimating the lavish buildings of the science and medical district. Hydra ground troops fired at Wakandan citizens and reinforcement soldiers alike, pinning down the latter with their rifles as they continued to march through the capital. Akili and the Hatut Zeraze roared onto the scene from the palace on their sky bikes and firing plasma bolts at the tanks that didn’t do more than cosmetic damage.
The tanks let loose with a barrage of cannon fire at the group of war dogs, knocking a few out of the sky and even nailing another with a direct hit. The flaming sky bike came crashing down to earth with alarming velocity as citizens and even some Hydra troops scattered to get away from the crash.
“My king we are having significant trouble curtailing their ground forces. We have successfully evacuated this quadrant but they are steadily making their way towards the palace and central square.” Akili called T’Challa over his communicator just as he swerved away from the rifle blast of a Hydra trooper.
“Do whatever you can to hold them off. I’ll send a bit of support in your direction until I can have air reinforcements put them down for good.” T’Challa answered over the broadcast frequency, unbeknownst to him the White Wolf himself sat in the home of a Nigandan dictator M’butu listening to every word spoken by the King and his compatriots over their communicators.
“The EMP was a smokescreen for me to piggyback off their frequency and patch onto their Kimoyo telecommunications network completely undetected.” Hunter explained as he pressed the heel of his boot onto the neck of M’butu. The dictator cowered on the ground of his own bedroom, the servant women he had his men bring to him sat cowering in the corner half naked, trembling before the man who had burst into the room a few moments ago.
“Please. Whatever it is you have come for, I’m sure we can reach some sort of understanding!” M’butu groveled between sobs, but Hunter merely put a finger to his lips, signaling the shell of a man to silence himself. Hunter gestured with a nod of his head for the women to leave, and they didn’t waste another moment as they tore from the room.
“Years ago, you helped Klaw get into the great mound, as a result of this my father was murdered and my life was upended. Make no mistake you will pay the ultimate price for your role in those events. However for now, you will be my puppet. The longer you serve your purpose sufficiently the more time you have to live. Have I made myself clear?” M’butu managed to mumble out something akin to “Yes” as Hunter’s malevolent smile appeared on his face. Outside, Hunter’s men began executing the various guards who had been standing watch around the dictators home whilst the rest freed the women and children who had been crudely stuck in small cages no larger than your average chicken coop.
In the skies above Birnin Zana, Okoye and W’Kabis Quinjet led the air team comprised of the adored ones best pilots as they headed toward the aircraft causing the blackout. “Shuri we are approaching the target.” Okoye let the princess now as they proceeded forward.
“Excellent General, you can fire whenever you are ready.” Shuri gives Okoye the green light as her hands flow across one of the control panels keyboards. Okoye’s jet fires a homing beacon that seemingly gets stuck mid air before bursting into an explosion of electricity and fire. As clouds and smoke disperse, Okoye and the adored ones see what was being hidden right before their eyes, a SHIELD helicarrier.
“Your missile worked Princess. T’Challa, Shuri’s destablizer has knocked out one of their engines, causing their cloaking device to short out!” Okoye called out, the excitement and nerve wracking nature of the battle getting to her.
“A SHEILD helicarrier in Von Strucker’s position, equipped with technology sophisticated enough to keep Kimoyo offline for an extended period of time. I’ve had enough of this charade already. Shuri, the war dogs require assistance holding backs those tanks and their ground support troops.”
“Is the assault cat ready to be deployed in the field?” Shuri asked excitedly as she spun out of her chair at the control panel and rushed out of the room and to the palace elevators.
“I ran my last few tests weeks ago, it is ready. Bottleneck their support troops and keep them in that quadrant of the city, we can’t risk the battle spreading any further.” T’Challa instructed her and she hopped inside the lift and pressed a button before it began to descend.
In his own Quinjet, T’Challa let the autopilot take over as the table full of weapons lowered itself from the jets ceiling and stopped at the waist of the King. T’Challa grabbed a few items before his Kimoyo bead glowed and the bottom of the ship opened up.
“I am boarding the aircraft now. W’Kabi, await my signal. Okoye, have the Dora’s focus on the ships engines. Their shields seem to be malfunctioning now that they have to compensate for losing a turbine. I am preparing to board. Going radio silent.” T’Challa shut off his communicator as he dove from the ship and through the clouds towards the helicarriers deck….