Chapter 48: Battle Start

As Adam disappeared from within the Prometheus to handle Kaecilius and his band of sorcerers, the SPARTAN soldiers and their teams also readied for battle. Eve was displaying the Dark Elves retreat from Asgard, this allowed each team to move efficiently and quickly into position.

Four drop pods had been refitted into ship to ship boarding pods, each pod could carry 25 marines and would be able to punch thru enemy ship hulls with ease, allowing the marines inside easy access to an enemy ship.

The UNSC didn't have such technology originally, since they would never board a Covenant ship unless they absolutely had to, and even then they only would send SPARTAN soldiers over to do such a thing if it was needed. Adam saw this as a flaw, many SPARTAN soldiers were lost during transit from the UNSC ship to the ship they were boarding.

So one of the first things Adam designed were boarding pods, this would ensure he would be able to quickly and easily take over and steal ships without completely destroying it. They were heavily armored so would be able to take any offensive thrown at them, while being equipped with plasma and adamantium cutters to get thru the toughest hulls.

Taskmaster and Yelena were within the same boarding pod since the two would be heading in the same area, while Taskmaster went after Malekith, Yelena and her team would take the command center of the ship.

Steve was heading for the Armory to ensure the dark elves wouldn't be able to adequately arm themselves to defend the ship. Bucky would focus on the engine room and power generators to ensure systems couldn't be brought back online. Natasha would be aimed towards the main data servers for the Arc.

During the scan of the Arc, which allowed the UNSC to map out the ship in its entirety, it was found that the database for the ships systems and the database containing all dark elf knowledge and DNA information were separate systems.

This was to ensure that should the ship find itself in a very bad position, they could destroy the data or separate it from the main ship, while not effecting the ships ability to fight back or buy time for their knowledge to be sent off safely.

So Natasha would be sent to ensure nothing happens to the main goal of Adam, all the dark elf knowledge they have accumulated over eons.

After the four boarding pods were loaded, all personnel took their positions and strapped in for safety, the impact and subsequent puncturing of the enemy ships hull could be quite violent at times.

A screen inside the pod showed the boarding parties exactly what was happening, Malekith and many of the Dark Elves had fully retreated from Asgard and were leaving while the Asgardian army continued to fire on the large ship that had appeared just outside their land.

A few of the last ships weren't able to make it onto the mothership, the Asgardian soldiers had became desperate to do as much damage as possible in retaliation for the damage caused by them, seeing they were about to escape, they began to focus fire more rather than being spread out and attacking any they saw.

This focused fire had overwhelmed many of the shields that these ships had, so the last few ship were utterly destroyed before they could enter the safety of the much larger shield of the Arc Mothership.

As the last ship entered the Arc, it began to initiate the cloaking system, as it moved off under the fire of Asgardian defenses it slowly disappeared and activated its engines to head to the jump point to go to Midgard.

Sitting on his throne, large black scorch marks marred Malekith's body and face from the missile Adam had fired, Malekith sat there unperturbed by his condition. A manic glint was in his eyes, his sole focus was on the feeling he had from the Aether, it had called to him.

"We must hurry, the Convergence is nearly fully upon us. Thankfully the center of the Convergence is on Midgard, after I retrieve the Aether we will then go to the location on Midgard and finally return this foul universe to its original state!" Malekith shouted excitedly as Algrim entered the command room.

His figure was a bit dirty but not overly injured, dark gas emanated from the wounds in his body as the Kurse Stone healed him and attempted to devour him at the same time.

"Algrim, my most loyal follower, I know you wished to continue your fight with that Asgardian Prince. However, I pulled us back with good cause. The Aether, I have found it! We have killed many Asgardians already, now we will get the ultimate revenge. They shall die seeing this precious universe become devoid of light. My only regret is that Buffoon Bor is no longer around to see his precious Asgard fall." Malekith said as he stood up and welcomed Algrim back.

"You couldn't have waited a few more moments? I would've been able to kill that Thor had you not ordered the retreat." Algrim said in annoyance, he wanted to kill Thor for not allowing him to kill the Queen.

"Do not worry my friend," Malekith said as he descended the stairs from his throne, which caused Algrim to quickly kneel, which after Malekith approached him was helped to stand by Malekith as he continued, "Asgard will fall. For as long as you remain, you shall not bend the knee to anyone. Once I have returned darkness to this universe, we will return to Asgard, we will have our revenge. Perhaps I will torture Odin's wife and make her into a test subject for new biological weapons and let him watch, we will crush the Asgardians and sacrifice them to the Dark Mother, their blood will rejuvenate the darkness and we will once again begin to be born a new." Malekith explained his plans to Algrim with a menacing grin spread upon his face.

He wanted to harm Odin the most, he was the son of his enemy, originally he wanted Frigga's death but since that failed he decided to do more harm than death alone. He wanted Odin to suffer by watching his beloved face a fate much much worse than death itself, he knew many existences that would offer him much for a chance to bring harm to the Asgardian Queen. Odin had many enemies.

"Yes your highness, that does sound appeasing. I shall rip that God of Thunder limb from limb and make him watch his mothers fate alongside his father. But I get to swing the final blow to her before my fall, I want to relish in their expression as they watch me kill her slowly and painfully before I meet my end." Algrim said thru clenched teeth as his fists tightened.

Algrim had lost his own wife during the massacre, he had tried to bring her aboard along with their child but circumstances and unforeseen events had not allowed him to retrieve them. They, along with their planet, were utterly destroyed by Bor and his armies, it was why he willingly became a Kursed.

Algrim wasn't the only one who felt this way, all aboard felt the same, little did they know that this was all planned by Malekith. These followers weren't random dark elves, they were all hand picked by Malekith, he knew what would happen when Bor arrived, in fact he counted on it.

He was the cause of the delays and "unfortunate circumstances" that arose when the crew tried to retrieve family members. He knew he would need a united army, one willing to throw away their lives for him in a moment without hesitation, if he was going to accomplish his task.

What better way than to stage the ultimate revenge plot? Make a show to rescue as many as possible, when in fact it was a calculated and strategic rescue, saving ones that benefit himself while using the enemies own hand to solidify their loyalty to him, giving him their unwavering support, even if he asked them to die; they would gladly do so, if it meant they would have their revenge in the end..

Malekith returned to his throne slowly before responding to Algrim's request, "I shall allow it, so you must ensure all your fellow brothers who have suffered get their chance to do as they wish to her before that time comes. I want Odin to suffer as we have all suffered, do what you wish to the Prince, kill him or enslave him. Odin's life is mine to end, the Queen and Prince is yours." Malekith said regally which caused the other dark elves to give a shout in triumph.

They all began to imagine the pain and torture they would inflict upon the royal queen of their enemy civilization when it was their turn.

"Ready our ship Algrim, once we arrive in Midgard, you along with a team of chosen elites, will join me in retrieving the Aether. Although unguarded, I do not wish to take chances. The planet Bor hid it on is a gaseous planet, the magnetic field generated by the metallic core along with the constant electrical storms within the atmosphere don't allow accurate readings within. But I can sense where it is, even now I still feel the Aether, it knows the time is almost upon us. The Aether has the same goal as we do." Malekith ordered as his eyes glazed over a bit, the implanted thoughts activated to continue the ruse Adam was playing to lure him in.

"Your Majesty, we are approaching the jump point to Midgard. We will be at the coordinates you provided in twenty minutes." A dark elf said as Algrim made his way to choose the team of soldiers to bring.

Meanwhile, on the desolate surface of Io, one of the larger moons of Jupiter, Kaecilius and five other sorcerers were chanting a spell as they magically drew sections of a large spell circle.

As the rocky moon shook and rumbled outside from the gravitational forces the moon endured from it's host planet Jupiter, within Mount Morabita; a volcano on Io named after the astronomer Linda Morabito who had discovered it as being the first confirmed active volcano on the moon, Kaecilius and his followers worked in peace within the mirror dimension, unaffected by what was happening in the environment outside.

'I can't believe that Master never allowed the use of this book, the power contained within is immense, after I deal with this outsider, I will study this as well as the other book I stole from that hypocritical Master of mine.' Kaecilius thought to himself as he carefully read the incantations aloud.

Using magic to connect himself with the five other sorcerers, he was able to direct their actions in completing the spell circle as he read from the book. Contrary to what is shown in the movies, Kaecilius was not stupid or overly confident, otherwise he wouldn't have progressed in magic as quickly as he did, the spell he was using to connect himself to the five others was one of his own designs.

When Ancient One had responded to his inquires on how to bring back his wife and son, her response is what caused him to create this spell which linked him to others. If he couldn't handle the power required alone, if he linked others to him, sharing the burden required to wield such power, then he could meet the requirements to do what he wanted.

It was a vicious spell, not only would it tie the others life force to his own, upon completion of the spell, any remaining life force within those connected to him would be pulled into himself, killing all who were connected to him, empowering him.

Kaecilius would absorb their essence, adding their own magic potential and energy to himself. He would be able to modify his own potential and magic capacity, something that shouldn't be possible. Not only would he gain more magic, but he would be able to absorb their lifespans, becoming immortal in a way. As long as he connected to others and stole away their life force, he would continue to grow stronger and adding more years to his life.

When he connected with the followers he took from Kamar-Taj, he did not inform them of the end result of the spell, they were under the impression the link temporary, which it was in a way since it did link them but the objective wasn't just to link, but to merge Kaecilius' life force with theirs.

'The spell is almost complete, soon everything will be in place, his soul, rich in magical potential will be mine. I will use his soul and my masters to gain the strength I need to bring back my wife and son. I will devour the universe if I have to in order to bring them back.' Kaecilius thought to himself as the Darkhold began to float above his hands.

Each of the sorcerer continued their chant as Kaecilius pulled out a ceremonial dagger from within his robes. Closing his eyes, Kaecilius began to picture the magical symbols needed within his mind as he brought his other hand to hold the blade of the dagger, ready to cut his palm to draw the blood needed to interlink the various spell circles that made up the whole.

Just as the image had began to solidify, it was shattered by a calm voice which Kaecilius recognized instantly, which was why all that concentration broke instantly. He couldn't understand how he had been found, and at such a critical moment, the words said both infuriating and scary since it implied knowledge he shouldn't have.

"Oh, looks like I really did come at a bad time, for you that is Kaecilius. Know that it brings me joy with what happens next."

Kaecilius watched in horror as two large guns emitted a green arc of lightning, and Adams suit began to open panels and began to charge laser weapons at various points.

Before they could register what was happening fully and mount a defense, all hell broke loose in that instant.