Dragon's Claws #26

"Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy
And moon-struck madness.."
- John Milton, 'Paradise Lost'

The War Master Prime looked up from his console as the guards brought Thanatos forward.

"Jones." He didn't attempt to hide his contempt for the human, however he was curious as to why his agent was here on the Moonbase. "I don't believe you were summoned."

"Had not choice, Prime," came the reply. "They found me out."

The War Master Prime shook his alien head. "You assured me that it would not be a problem. You assured me that you could take care of it. You assured me that you were protected by the Bane."

"I know, I know, but there was something that none of us counted on. Pen Dragon's back, he's spent 300 years in hiding, watching and waiting and he exposed me." The Prime's eyes narrowed. Pen Dragon. An unknown variable in this war, one who had been turning the tide of the war against them ever since he appeared. "You told me he was dead."

"He was, but he's back. You need to understand, death is not always the end of people on Earth."

"So I see," the Prime said. "However that won't be an issue soon. The time for deception is over. You, your masters and this world will soon be crushed under our heal."

"Wait, we had a deal…" Jones started to say but one of the Martians struck him across the back of the neck.

"Did you really think we would honour any deals between ourselves and the Bane?" the Prime said, with a low, throaty chuckle. "You were their agent on the outside, waiting for us to come here, to aid us as you could. Perhaps the Bane had forgotten it was their actions that brought us here in the first place." Centuries ago, a lone alien on Earth had been slaughtered by the Red Lord, but it had let off a warning cry, before it had died and it had summoned it's race to this world, to investigate and conquer. They had been stopped because they had been unprepared, and somehow in this timeline they had not returned as they had done in their own. Their own race were out there, somewhere, waiting.

It was the plan of the War Master that should they fail in their mission that their race would be alerted and that they would come and finish what they had started. The war for Earth would not end with them, there were always contingencies.

"You were going to betray us?" Jones said, thinking that's what the Bane had been planning as well.

"Of course," said the War Master. "We haven't been examining the Barrier to find a way through, we were looking for weaknesses in the Bane. The Barrier will fall, the forces of the so-called Green will see to that, and we will be waiting, however we are interested to see how the destruction of this satellite will affect the status quo beneath the Barrier. It should be quite devastating beyond it."

Thanatos's eyes went wide in horrified realisation. "You can't be serious, you'd destroy the Earth!"

"Eventually it would die, however the survivors in the ensuing chaos will make ideal slaves, and we can and will rehouse them. Mars is being terraformed even as we speak, and eventually it will be the third planet in the Sol system." He clicked his fingers and one of the guards brought forward a box. "However you pose a tangible threat. I have always been aware that your so-called Destiny Force would make you a powerful foe, but I know that using it drains you. You are weak, Jones, and that weakness makes you vulnerable, especially to this."

He opened the box and retrieved the Spear of Destiny and Thanatos knew he was in trouble. This was the spear that allegedly pierced the side of Christ upon the cross, the blood of the so-called Son of God falling to the ground and creating the Destiny Force, unleashing the genetic power of creation within humanity. This Spear of Destiny was the one physical weapon against the Destiny Force and the War Master thrust the spear in Jones' side, skewering him and the blade emerged through the other side of him.

"Prepare the evacuation of the Moonbase," the War Master ordered. "Leave our agent here to die. There's nothing he can do to stop us now." Jones lay there, trembling as he could feel himself dying again, but through sheer force of will, he kept himself alive. He'd never be able to get the power he deserved if the Martian's destroyed mankind. He just needed to stay alive long enough to think of something…

"I don't get what's causing the instabilities," Kate Pyrde-Rasputin said as she reviewed the data that was coming in to Limbo. Ever since the convergence triggered by Necrom, Widget had been working, tracking all the changes. This time line was supposedly sealed off, but Widget had been able to travel to other timelines and gather the members of Excalibur. The Living Tribunal had investigated this breach and concluded that it was due to Widget's nature, and seeing as the robot was now the living computer core that monitored the timelines, the Tribunal had left everything as it was, while he inspected the changes that had been wrought across the universe. However thanks to various things such as the manipulations of Jaspers, of Jamie Braddock, of Necrom, the disruptions caused by alien who had been sent in to the past and the recent crisis, time was not only fragile, but Kate was only just able to hold everything together with the resources of Limbo. However, whatever was causing the problems was seemingly invisible to her. "It doesn't make…" then she saw something she hadn't seen before. "Oh no."

While she was making moves to protect the timeline, other forces were working against her. Lady Kang, the heirs of Immortus, they were trying to gain control of the timeline. Things were delicate to say the least, and they were changing faster than she could anticipate. That was where instabilities were being formed and for every thing she fixed, something else appeared to create problems, and now she knew why. Two opposing forces, working at either side of the Barrier and everything she had been doing to fix things had been working to damage the time stream. How had she missed this? What had happened, and she checked the log of recent events. Something had happened, something had been placed within the time stream, a source of protecting the timeline to a certain extent and it highlighted the things that she had missed, the forces against her. Everything she had done to stop the aliens, to ensure that time was secure, it was seemingly for nothing. Whatever Ravonna had done had kept her away from the gaze of Limbo until the Black Knight had used the power of the Green to protect time. Kate and Ravonna had both been working to change things, and the two of them had created conflicts that were damaging time, and for the first time since being trapped within the mutant slave camps, she felt helpless.

"Kate," said a voice, rousing her from her despair, "it's Pen." The spirit form looked up at the console and if she'd been able to pass out with the shock, she would have done. Pete Wisdom, Pen Dragon, was dead. He was gone. "Kate, you daft bint, pick up the sodding phone!"

"Pen?" she replied, finding her voice. But how?"

"Ask Widget," he said. "Merlyn set this all up, long ago, using Brian, Widget, you and me, but it'll wait for another time. I need you to find something amiss in the time stream. An anomaly that doesn't look like an anomaly but it is."

"Are you insane?" she said, her frustration becoming anger. "Pete, time is fragile and there are outside forces trying to take control of it all. I can't find what you're looking for, because there's too much damage. I need you here, to fight for me, to stop Ravonna and..."

"No," Pen interrupted. "Kate, there are other forces at work on that end. Our job is to ensure the Earth isn't conquered by the Martians and if the Pendragons need us to help out with the crisis, Brian will let us know. He and I talked about this, and he believes the plan to be sound, but then again, the tasks aren't unrelated, which is why I need to find a hidden Martian base, and it has to be in the timestream, almost a bridge between their timeline and ours."

"A time platform," said Kate. "But how would they have hold of that technology?"

"It's the key to everything that's happened," said Pen. "It's how they came to our timeline, it's how they got the idea to invade. I'll explain everything later, but right now we need to find it."

"I'll get back to you," she said. "And Pete? Welcome back."

"How do you know what's going on?" Roberto asked, as Pen signed off, letting go of the St Christopher pendant he'd used to contact her.

"I spent a lot of time watching," said Pen. "And seeing as how the original Rick Jones isn't here, then he has to be somewhere, because they covet the Destiny Force as well as the Bane and Thanatos. Ahab had a base in the time stream that had allowed him to bring his forces from his era to ours. I know you know that, so why would it be difficult to assume that the aliens don't have one as well." The moonbase of the aliens was very much deserted, and Pen was worried. There was no way the aliens could have known they'd have been following Thanatos, so why was there nobody here?

Kaine could see his mentor was thinking, and he tried to explain things further to Roberto. "We need to stop the aliens either before the Barrier falls or before the next time war begins. This universe won't be able to take another extensive time war without consequences, so while it's going to happen, it needs to happen quickly. It's why we had to free the heroes, so they were ready for the fight. The Green know of what's going on, as"

Pen focused his mind, using the mental link supplied by Elena. She was paired with Jack, which left Sam and Jessica. "Anything?"

"Nothing," said Jack. "They left in a hurry, that's for sure."

"Likewise," said Jessica. "Pen, this place is empty. You sure we're in the right place?"

"Oh yeah," said Pen. "I've had this plan in mind for a while, no way it's going to wrong now."

"Something is very, very wrong though," Jessica said. "I can feel it."

"We've found something," said Jack, suddenly. "It's Thanatos."

"How do you know it's him and not Rick?" asked Jessica.

"Because he has a spear run through him," replied Elena. "And he's not dead yet."

"On our way," said Jessica and Pen in unison, and they followed Elena's mental beacon. Thanatos was being sat against the wall, blood leaking from his wounds.

"What happened?" Jessica demanded.

"War Master Prime is cutting his losses," Jones rasped. "The war is being lost."

"Tell me everything you can," said Pen, crouching down and looking him in the eye. "I know you work for the Bane, but it's not in anyone's interest for the aliens to succeed."

"The aliens use the vacant home of the Watcher in their timeline to travel through time. They found out how to operate it in their universe and were able to adapt it to come back to this era. That's how they took the Inhumans so easily."

"Can they use it to get home?" asked Jack.

"No," said Thanatos. "They don't have the technology to recreate their time device in this era, and they can't control where they appear. Something went wrong when the Barrier appeared, it threw the orbital track of the moon, creating the weather disruptions. Also things have happened to make going back impossible. The time travel technology allows them to go one way and one way only."

"That would track," said Pen. "Going back is easier than forward, and with the current disruptions, there's no guarantee you'd be able to get home. Tell me, is their portal through time stable at this end?"

Thanatos coughed. "Yes."

"That's where they are," he said. "That's how they brought their armada through when it was needed."

"But they can't go back," said Sam. "It was a suicide venture."

"They didn't expect to lose," said Dragon. "If I hadn't come back, and you lot hadn't lived they would have done. Think about it, you'd have been killed either when you were getting Nomad, or in the attack on SHIELD, or when you were captured in Genosha." Each of the team knew to whom he was referring. "And God knows what would have happened if the alien who went back in time had lived."

Thanatos nodded. "That is why they have to win. War Master is going to blow up the moon and return to his people in this era, leaving Earth a ruined orb."

"Can they do that?" asked Sam.

"Not on our watch," said Jessica. "We have to stop it."

"Agreed," said Pen. "You call it…" He staggered and dropped to his knees. "Merlyn…" he croaked. "You never said it would be like this." As he was wracked with pain, Jessica felt something else.

"The Barrier, it's gone," she said. "I can feel… I can feel it."

"You're a Pendragon heir," said Eto, helping Dragon up. "You're connected to the British Isles in a way few others ever have been."

"I sense my mother," said Sam, softly. "My family are down there…"

"They won't be for long unless you stop the aliens from blowing up the moon," said Pen, waving off Kaine. "Me and Rick are going to have a little chat, I'm no good to you until I adapt to the status quo." Jessica nodded.

"Jack, see what's on the Martian systems. Elena, can you use your mindfire to reveal physical truths, not mental ones?"

"We'll soon know," the young Russian said and she focused, using her powers to search through the complex. "Found it. The aliens have access to the weaponry of the Moon, and they're going to overload the main power core that's buried within the Moon."

"The build up will cause a chain reaction that will shatter the rock," said Jack. "Not to mention the shockwave that's going to rip in to the Earth, followed by the comets and asteroids slamming in to the place."

"Let's go!" Jessica ordered, and she glanced at Pen. "Pen. Don't kill him. I want to see him tried for his crimes."

"Oh, I have no intention of killing him," said Pen. "In fact, I'm going to make sure he begins to pay right now…"

"How the hell do we stop the moon from blowing up?" asked Sam as they hurried. "The weapons here are beyond anything we've got."

"There's always a way," Jess answered. "Pen's shown us that, so let's deal with it. Though I'm not adverse to Jack hitting it with his shield. Though how we'd absorb the energy is another matter."

"That's it," said Roberto, snapping his fingers. "I can absorb the energy, if you can get me in to the power core." They stopped and looked at him. "It's the only way I can think of, but if you've a better idea, let me know."

"Where would the core be?" Jack asked. "We need to find it, and I'm going to guess we're running out of time."

"Follow me," said Elena. "The truth will guide us." She set off and there was almost a sparkle surrounding her as she moved.

"This is going to get interesting," Kaine said, softly as the rest of the team moved out. They couldn't see it, yet, but there were changes occurring within the team. Jessica had claimed her birthright, Jack Monroe had embraced a long denied destiny, and Elena was also appearing to become more than she was, a spirit of the truth. The fall of the Black Mass Barrier had aided that, because the changes that had been wrought underneath the Barrier were slowly taking affect on the rest of the planet, slowly but subtly. He could feel it, he was used to it on Otherworld but Earth might not be ready. Had the Bane gained a tactical advantage in the great war, or was something else going on?

As they got to the core, they came across some minimal resistance from several Martians who had been left behind to ensure things went according to plan, but it was very minimal and they were soon dispatched.

"If I have this right," said Jack, examining the dials and such, "the core's about to go up like a flare, the feedback will destroy the weapons and send out a shockwave that will fracture the mantle of the Moon."

"Then stay back," Roberto said. "Get out of here, I'll open the core and go inside."

"You'll be killed!" said Jessica. "I can't let you do that."

"One life for many," the mutant replied. "Pen found a way back, why can't I?" He looked at her. "Besides, there's plenty of people waiting for me on the other side, and I might make it."

Jessica looked at him and accepted it. There was nothing else they could do. "Sam, coat him in something, that might protect him for a little while." Sam nodded and the others started to get out, leaving Jessica and Roberto looking at each other. "You don't have to do this, Bobby."

"I do," he said. "As someone once told me, what is, is. Now get out of here."

"I can take the radiation," she said. "For a little while and someone needs to close the door behind you." Roberto nodded.

"Let's do it."

"I don't have the power!" Thanatos squeaked as Pen Dragon lifted him up by the throat.

"Yeah, you do," said Pen. "It's keeping you alive. The Destiny Force might not be everything you used to muster, but it's pretty good going. We need ships, vessels, not many but enough to start fighting back. You can create them, and you'll do it now."

"You promised you wouldn't kill me."

Pen's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, but I'm a lying bastard. Didn't you know?"

"The Bane…"

"The Bane's not an issue."

"Oh, but it is," said a voice, and Pen turned. "You're alive."

"Necromon," said Pen. "The Red Lord. Whatever you're calling yourself these days. Loser's my preferred title. You do keep getting your arse kicked."

"You're bold without Excalibur in your hand," the Red Lord said, recognising the imprint of the sword on the man and he surmised what had happened. "However we have a common foe."

"The aliens? What? You're not ready for them? After having all this time to prepare?"

"As you say, I keep getting my arse kicked, and we were not ready for this. The Barrier should still be up, but no. And the Pendragons have vanished."

"Oh, they fucked it up…" said Pen, closing his eyes. "They weren't supposed to do that."

"Yes," said the Red Lord. "And while I can protect much, I can not do it all. I propose a truce. The fact you're still breathing makes it an inviting offer."

Pen was sceptical "What? You're going to help us?"

"No, you will owe me a favour. I give you this, and you will stop the enemy, and then we will finish what is between us." He produced a jewel.

"The Black Diamond."

"At least a shard. Enough to restore the Destiny Force to create your ships. In return, I want Thanatos."

"I'll give you the means to pull anyone from any time, from any reality, or even recreate life?" Pen laughed and then he tilted his head to one side for a moment. "Done."

The Red Lord smiled, and he gave the shard to Thanatos. "Do as he commands." Thanatos nodded to his master and focused.

"There's a small fleet of ships in Genosha and at the various resistance bases," Thanatos said. "It's all I can give you."

"Fine," said Dragon and he looked at the Red Lord. "I'll see you soon enough."

"After I kill you a second time, have the grace to stay dead." The Red Lord grabbed his minion and the two of them disappeared. Pen shook his head and gathered the Spear of Destiny from the floor where he had discarded it. The one weapon that would stop Thanatos, but he had another plan in mind, the one he'd had when they came here. If Thanatos could create ships, then they would find Rick Jones, the real one and he would infuse the Destiny Force with the people of Earth and they'd repel the Martian Masters for the last time.

Then the team appeared, all but Roberto.

"What happened?" he asked, but the silence was deafening.