Moon mission

Blackagar Boltagon, or Black Bolt, the king of Inhumans and the ruler of Attilan was sitting lazily on the throne with his wife Medusa by his side. In front of them, Black Bolt's brother Maximus was reading a document sent from Earth.

"So they know of our presence on the moon and want to create diplomatic ties with us?" Maximus asked after he was done reading the document.

Black Bolt's voice was a weapon that could send out sonic blasts containing unknown particles, so he could only communicate through telepathy. He looked at Maximus with a frown through slightly squinted eyes.

"As you can see, they have requested a meeting with their so-called Emperor Doom. It is said to be a diplomatic visit to begin talks between us and the Earth Federation." Black Bolt's voice rang inside Maximus's head.

"They have already begun setting up bases on the moon and even started mining operations. Humans won't take long to lay claim over the entire moon and colonize us. That is how humans are and you know it. We can't give in to them." Maximus growled.

Medusa who had been listening to the brothers answered for her husband this time, "Then what would you have us do? Fight against the humans? You know full well that we are in no way a match to the forces on Earth. Even more so when they are united like they are now."

The Inhumans had been keeping an eye on Earth all this time. Until recently, the Earthlings couldn't stop fighting among themselves. It was a good thing for the Inhuman race that the humans were preoccupied with their internal conflicts.

Although they had many people with unimaginable powers, the Inhumans weren't even a match for the mutants if it came to a fight. Until the recent mysterious depowering of the mutants, they had a population in the millions while the total Inhumans in Attilan were less than two thousand.

"So you are going to bow your heads to the humans? We are Inhuman royalty, we can't give in to the humans." Maximus shouted.

"We haven't even met the humans. Why are you getting so excited? There is no reason to believe that humans will try to take control over us. Although many Inhumans live on Earth, we are a separate city-state." Black Bolt telepathically tried to calm his brother down.

Medusa echoed the sentiment, "That's right. We shouldn't jump to conclusions without even meeting the human leadership. Although we aren't as powerful as they are, we aren't weak enough to be ignored. They won't be unreasonable."

Although Medusa said those words, she didn't completely believe them herself and she knew that her husband was skeptical about the situation too. From what they knew, Victor von Doom was a tyrant who had somehow democratically become the ruler of Earth. His personality was known to be anything but reasonable.

"You would bet the continued existence of Attilan on the whims of humans? This is outrageous." Maximus shouted angrily and left the throne room in a huff.

He had never liked his brother Black Bolt. Everything in life had come easy to Black Bolt since his birth. Black Bolt was born strong with better genes and his Inhuman abilities were one of the strongest in their race's known history.

Maximus on the other hand, lost his Inhuman genes when he was in the process of trying to awaken them. He became a normal human. Black Bolt then married Medusa, whom Maximus had liked for a long time.

And to top it all off, Black Bolt was made king when he didn't even want it. He was reluctantly placed on the throne when Maximus was doing all he could to attain that throne.

Maximus didn't like how things were going. Despite his years of planning and committing so many despicable acts, the city of Attilan and the status of royalty itself were in a precarious situation. Would the humans let them remain as an independent city-state? Maximus didn't believe it for a second. Like the mutants, they would be assimilated with the humans too.

…..

Doom, Savant, and Cypher appeared in front of the floating city of Attilan that had remained hidden from Earth. It was about the size of a small city and hidden inside a large crater.

"Wow! How can something this big be hidden on the moon? Why didn't we know about the existence of something like this for so long?" Cypher asked while admiring the large metallic structure of the city of Attilan.

"What do you think? The existence of Wakanda or Atlantis was just recently discovered on Earth. That too when they made their presence known by themselves. When you can't find countries hidden on Earth, do you think you can find a small floating city on the moon?"

At Savant's slightly mocking answer, Cypher shrugged and laughed it off while continuing to observe the city. Doom was looking at it with some interest too. "The level of scientific progress seems to be significant if they have antigravity technology to keep that thing floating and an energy source to power it all. It would be interesting to study the internals."

Doom couldn't keep his scientific side from being curious about the technology of the Inhumans. But a voice interrupted the conversation between the three, "We would be happy to show the Chancellor of Earth around our facilities. Welcome to Attilan, Your Excellency. I am Medusalith Amaquelin, Queen of Attilan."

The red-haired Medusa teleported in front of the three men with a dog by her side. It was Lockjaw, the pet of the Inhuman royalty, and their transportation mode as well.

"Thank you. I am the Chancellor of Earth Federation Victor Von Doom, as you know. These are Savant Smith and Douglas Ramsey, my attendants and aides for today. It is my pleasure to be able to meet you and visit this unique place." Doom spoke formally. It was respectful but not overly so.

"Ah, yes. Let's move to the palace for now. We can take a tour of the city after we meet the king and have some refreshments. Lockjaw." Medusa turned to the large dog almost the size of a baby elephant.

Doom and his party could feel some kind of space power trying to pull them away from their current location. They could have resisted it if they wanted to but they let the power take over and teleport them over to the palace.

"That was an interesting teleporting experience. A dog with teleportation can be considered a Pokémon right?" Savant muttered while looking at Lockjaw.

Pokémon as a cartoon existed in this universe as well. Cypher who was busy looking around the new space that he was teleported into turned to Savant with a strange expression. "You're starting to think of strange things again. That is someone's pet, man."

"Doesn't mean I can't admire him. Who's a good boy? You, you're a good boy." Ignoring the room full of Inhumans and a king who was staring down at Doom, Savant began scratching and playing with the large dog. Cypher facepalmed with a sigh.

"You have very interesting companions. Welcome to Attilan, I am Blackagar Boltagon, the king of this place. I am unable to speak for personal reasons to pardon me for using telepathy." Black Bolt's voice rang out in the minds of everyone in the room.

"Not at all. I am the Chancellor of Earth Federation, Victor von Doom. These are Savant Smith and Douglas Ramsey. Please don't mind him, his eccentricities are beyond my control." Doom introduced himself and his group formally to Black Bolt and his people.

Savant wasn't getting any reactions out of Lockjaw who just sat down flat on the ground lazily. When he heard Doom's introduction of himself, he stood up and complained, "That makes it sound like I have no etiquette at all. I am honored to be in your presence, Your Majesty."

Savant's exaggerated formal bow made the atmosphere in the room very awkward. Cypher looked up at the ceiling to avoid the stinging gazes while Doom just sighed.

Fortunately, Medusa and her sister Crystal seemed to find some humor in Savant's actions and laughed lightly, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "You are an amusing man Mr. Savant."

Savant smiled at Medus, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."

But some people were dissatisfied with the whole ordeal. Maximus scoffed, "Even the attendant is blatantly mocking us. Their attitude towards us couldn't be any clearer."

Maximus was standing with the council members who supported him. Even those who were neutral to Maximus and his persistent courtship to support the legitimacy of his rule sympathized with Maximus' words.

Although Maximus spoke in a whisper, he hadn't tried to conceal his voice in any manner. He meant for the entire room to hear what he had to say. And from the reactions, quite a lot of the people agreed with him.

"Oh, forgive me if I offended you, I didn't mean to mock you. I was just lightening the mood."

Black Bolt nodded in acknowledgment of Savant's apology, "It is fine. There was no offense. Shall we all sit down for the discussion? The food will be brought out shortly."

Things calmed down quickly after Black Bolt's declaration and everyone sat around a table. The Inhuman royalty and their closest aides sat at a table with Doom's group while the rest sat around them close enough to listen to the conversations.

Although it looked like the arrangements were made for the discussions to be heard by everyone easily, it was a psychological tactic to surround the trio and put some pressure on them. It also acted as a security measure if Doom's group made any sudden movements.