[Unnamed Island, Barents Sea]

[June 21, 2023]

[10 AM]

In the Arctic Ocean resides a small, nearly unknown island of rock and ice. During the summer months, it is ice-free. A perfect time and location for clandestine affairs.

Located between Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya, was an uninhabited island of rock. The island held no life and I shivered despite my Protect Gear generating heat.

I stared at the shining sun and shivered. Ice-free did not mean warm. Today was a nice -18 degrees C. Far colder than the 30+ average I was used to.

The unnamed island was surprisingly flat. Though I suspected it was done by Doom and his legion so robotic creations. Who knew how long he had been prepping for this day.

Even now, a small army of them stood beneath what looked like an incomplete dome. The skeleton of the superstructure towered over us. The concrete was plated in thick metal that had pieces of ice slough off in icefalls.

The ice collected into a massive bowl of bedrock below up. Around the perimeter was the Jade Falcons. A full legion with everything we could spare.

Soldiers in 5th generation Protect Gear.

The new experimental Astartes, a heavy Protect Gear. They were like baby scopedogs.

Second generation Scopedogs. Tougher, better armed, and more than a handful of test units.

The new M800 Scorpian tanks with the Impulse Main Battle Cannon. Well armored, well-armed, and filled with fancy tactical equipment.

The new Decider Vertical Tank. A cross between a Sentinel frame and tank’s armor and armaments.

The crew were hard at work digging entrenchments. We had to ensure maximum coverage for whatever came out of the bowl.

I had a few reserve cards as well. Just in case things got out of hand, but those things were never tested in live combat. Powerful, but could explode and kill us all.

Doctor Doom looked comfortable in this frigid weather, as did his companions. Doctor Strange was serious as he held a multicolored ball of light in hand. It peered through it and into some plane of existence that I could never comprehend.

He was in deep discussion with Doctor Strange. The two men used magic lingo that I couldn’t follow. Memories of otherworld creations did not lead to linguistic abilities.

Doctor Fate stood to the side, silent as he stared at the dimensional projector that hung above us all. Zatanna stood with Raven and the two whispered jokes and laughed as they waited.

So many pillars of the magical world. A piece of me wanted to strike up a conversation, and to try to lure them to Val Verde. We were powerful with science, but oh so naive with magic.

I instead looked up to the gigantic tuning fork hanging upside down from the center of the dome. This was what were to guard… or destroy if it became necessary.

“I must remind you of the dangers you will face in the other realm,” Wong warned.

The chubby Chinese man flipped through a hovering book. Each page showed a floating picture as if it was a hologram.

Magic was crazy, and I resisted the urge to try recruitment again. Though I could offer them land, and food. The real communities were already self-sufficient.

“You are our last line in case things go wrong, Wong,” Doctor Strange said as his cloak ruffles in some invisible wind. A living artifact if I recall properly. It granted him effortless flight and some form of defense.

“We are aware of the dangers,” Doctor Doom said as he stared at the two. The rest nodded along as they watched the various creatures displayed.

I stared at them as knowledge tickled my mind. The odd, sometimes helpful, mostly useless knowledge.

They showed monsters of various types. An odd fusion of technology and demonic flesh.

Fuck. I tensed as I recognized these creatures well. A type of hell dimension where evil flowed like water in a river.

The possessed. The basic demons. The Imps. The Mancubus. The Cacodemon. The Hellknight. The Revenant.

No mention of the Cyberdemon but I would bet my tiny empire that our luck wasn’t that good.

I hung in the back with Candice, Kori, and Kara. Most of the deep plans and strategies involved mysticism. So we chatted amongst ourselves.

The Jade Falcons were here to shoot anything that moved. If it came out of the portal, kill it. Something that we were very good at.

Whatever Doom was doing today, it was probably both stupid and dangerous. I had kept out of the spotlight for good reasons. Unleashing demons on Earth explained why so many magical powerhouses were here now.

The world Super Powers was still so very tall. An ivory tower. Val Verde was strong, but it couldn’t fight the whole world… yet.

I smirked as I looked back up. Hopefully my legacy would be one that allowed Val Verde to break this shackle and embrace the galaxy as a whole. Val Verde could finally see the peak of those towers.

With open arms, or military might… I would leave behind a legacy for the children of tomorrow. This I swore.

The feeling of my mortality was quite deep today as I watched the troops move. The dark green, and black power armor. Gen 5X Protect Gear. The best that Sue could craft.

No matter the problem… we would deal with it. Sure it was at best some 40% as powerful as Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor.

One on one, we were but an annoyance to the brilliant and egotistical man. Yet 40% across a thousand professional soldiers and it was suddenly a different story.

This of course didn’t factor in our new Tribranium V alloy. Casual tests had yielded superior durability, and flexibility depending on the power available.

Not even Tony had access to this unique form of Vibranium. Vibranium K was an odd hyper liquid that froze solid only at -200C. Not useful on its own… but paired with our existing Tritanium Alloy very well.

Turns out having dedicated R&D whose sole purpose was weapon design could solve a lot of problems. Of course, most problems could be solved by having a lot of resources.

This was something that not even Stark could boast about. Kilo Tonnes of raw resources that could be squandered as desired. R&D was like kids on a sugar high, and every previous project that was placed on hold waswere now greenlit.

Last I heard there was four new labs being carved in Val Verde’s Lunar Subterranean area. Not to mention the new 3D printers Sue had approved, and built.

“Supreme Leader.”

I broke out of my musings and turned to Doctor Strange. Everyone was now looking at me.

“Doctor Doom has assured me that you will be able to contain any demons that come out. They will be mortals. Essentially possessed, and mangled lifeforms. You must ensure that none escape.”

I met the man’s hard gaze and nodded. He was right to use a serious tone. I took no offense as I probably looked so odd to them. A mortal man who had wandered into a mystic fistfight.

“Wong will have a detonator as a last resort,” Doctor Strange said. He pointed to the various boxes plastered around the tuning fork. I assumed it was full of either C4 or magical C4.

“Your military forces will be invaluable. Some of the creatures may be mystically resistant. A problem for us, but not for you. My comrades will provide the magic muscle for everything else,” Wong said as he closed the books.

“Nice and simple. If it comes out, shoot to kill,” I summarized.

The six focused on my words and nodded. Nice and simple indeed.

“That sounds about right,” Wong agreed.

“Indeed. Shoot everyone that comes through. Strange and I will be able to exit on our own. We have a means of safe transport to a predetermined location,” Doctor Doom said.

Doctor Doom turned to look at Doctor Strange. The man hummed as he tapped at his chin.

Doctor Strange nodded. His mind whirling around several key things. “Yes. Once we are safe, the portal will close. Whatever is following us out however, keep shooting that.”

I nodded. I didn’t want to see what could be following them. Images of a towering, cybernetic minotaur flashed through my mind.

“We will be entering Hell via a proxy gate. This will mitigate the dangers to Earth, but will not eliminate it,” Wong explained.

My girls and I blinked at the statement. “Excuse me… Hell?”

It was easier to play dumb. I didn’t even need to act shocked, horrified, or surprised. I hope the day would never arrive when literally ‘Entering Hell’ was tame.

Wong frowned and turned to Doctor Doom. “You did not tell them?”

“There was no need. They shoot anything that comes out, and ensure that the portal stays open,” Doctor Doom said as he stared at Wong.

Wong bristled at the man’s tone.

“The Jade Falcons will do its job, and ensure we kill everything that comes out to the best of our abilities. Your mystical prowess will ensure your safety as we do what we do best. Vaporizing the center of the island chunk by chunk,” I injected.

Doom was egotistical, but he could back up his words. Wong was also strong, but this was not the time to quibble.

Information was important, but Doom most likely left it out to keep me from bowing out. Which I wouldn’t. A promise as Supreme Leader must be kept, or die trying.

Some of our more recent predecessors were weak-willed. Val Verde did have leaders of character and dedication. They were probably Hydra agents, but you could not refute their zeal. They dedicated their lives and careers to ensuring the prosperity of the country.

Some would call it foolish, but the tenants of the Greater Good was built on faith and honor. Sacrifice was a part of every citizen's foundation.

Hydra had tilled, seeded, and grown resilient saplings. I had simply ensured that we moved outside of Hydra's jurisdiction.

“We will be done the last bits in a few hours,” I said as Friday whispered updates into my ear. The comm piece was full of incoming information.

The engineers were installing micro-power plants across the rim. The Impulse Reactors were spread evenly across the rim. This would grant us a constant stream of power to ensure saturated attacks.

The problem would now be how well the equipment could take the strain? How quickly could the new armors take continuous use? How well could we fight the legions from a subsection of a tech-organic Hell?

“The portal will be open, regardless of your time frame,” Doctor Doom warned.

“We are ready now, Doctor Doom,” I said with a level tone. As level as I could make it. “Extra precautions however, never hurt.”

I knew that the man was under high stress, but I was also no fool. We had a deadline, and we were ahead of schedule. Years of dealing with VIPs had given me a snark that I couldn’t fully contain.

“Apologies, Supreme Leader. I meant no disrespect,” Doctor Doom said and turned his head away.

Doctor Strange and Wong’s eyes widened in surprise. They turned to look at me as if I was a figment of their imagination. Wong even rubbed his eyes at me.

Doctor Doom noted it absently. His mind focused on the portal device above and the eventual portal that would form below.

Val Verde was ready. Doctor Strange was ready. The rest were ready. As for himself… he had been ready years ago.

Now he had to wait as the seconds ticked by. He reinforced his focus. His childish snapping was truly uncalled for. A momentary lapse of control due to the stress of this situation.

Just one button and he would enter the bowels of hell to rescue his mother. Even if Mephisto himself stood in the way, the demon would learn to respect Doctor Doom.

————

Chapter 60: Highway to Hell (1979)