19131/Hunger: WAKANDA UNDER SIEGE

Hunger: WAKANDA UNDER SIEGE
Date of Scene:	28 September 2024
Location:	Birnin Zana - Wakanda
Synopsis:	Hunger comes for Earth, and Wakanda proves to be up to the challenge. Heroes assemble within the African Kingdom, to help push back the Herald of Galactus.
Cast of Characters:	Diana Prince, Natasha Romanoff, Lois Lane, Sam Wilson, Mark Grayson, Peter Quill, Clint Barton, James Barnes, Bart Allen, Zatanna Zatara, Richard Stadler, Clea, T'Challa, Mantis, Rocket, Norrin Radd, Pietro Maximoff
Tinyplot:	Hunger

---

Diana Prince has posed:
It was a beautiful day in the Kingdom of Wakanda. At least until they arrived.

It happened suddenly. The skies darkened, and impacts began to test the invisible barrier of Wakanda's defense shield. The dome began to glimmer with the haze of objects splashing against the energy defense wall, thousands of impacts spreading across the southern borders of the country itself, and spreading north toward the main city. Alarms began to sound across all populated regions of Wakanda, with emergency contingencies being rushed in to action. Citizens were taking shelter inside, and warriors were rushing to their posts across the land.

But all eyes were on the skies, as the enemy bombardment only seemed to be gaining strength over every passing minute.

The shields were holding, though, and the citizens were confident in their country's defenses, as they waited for the pushback from their own brave soldiers. But what was it that was even fighting them? The earth itself. It was clouds of asteroids falling upon the shield, though they did not seem to be coming from space, they seemed to be coming from high in the sky to the south, on a catapult-like projection toward the country's southern shield arch.

The forces of Wakanda were sent to reinforce their southern border, and by the time their soldiers mounted their coalesced numbers, it was already coming...

A 100 foot tall Rock Golem, marching toward the edge of Wakanda's shield border. It plowed over trees, and smashed small structures in its path. It sent those unlucky enough to be outside of the border fleeting for their lives, or crushed beneath its mountainous feet. The earth was shaking, causing violent quakes to rock the entire region, as it stormed its way toward the shield barrier, and smashed its massive rocky hands directly in to the energy, jabbing its fingers inside the pulsing waves of Wakandan technology, forcing its way through the energy barrier, and ripping a massive tear inside the shield bubble dome!

Counter measures began to fire from Wakandan weaponry, as giant Golem attackers rose up from the ground itself, INSIDE of the Wakandan shield dome. As the massive towering golem began to rip it apart, to tear a way inside, its smaller forces grew from the ground up, and built an onslaught force of attackers that would rival the numbers of Wakanda's own present soldier forces.

The battle had begun, and the enemies were relentless, and impervious to so many different types of attacks.

They were fighting rocks, the Earth itself, and they were forced to fight with as much creativity as they could, to counter this threat!

The fight was not going well, however, and many Wakandan soldiers were being over run by the sheer force of this strange enemy. They were falling in numbers, even as they began to deploy some of their most serious hardware, vehicles and weapons that had never seen active war before, were now being brought forth to test their abilities versus this insanely strong intruder.

Who was their leader? The 100 foot tall golem monster? But where had he come from? Where had any of this come from?

There was little time for such questions, though, as seemingly and endless number of these monsters were coming up out of the ground. Where one would be obliterated, more would rise from the Earth, rejuvenated and sent back in to the fight, pushing northward toward the heart of Wakanda!

The towering, monolithic, Mud Golem, was tearing a literal hole in to the shield itself, and beginning to push its huge form through the crack in the shield wall, trying to squeeze inside the barrier to reach the besieged country!

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
She had been over at Avengers Mansion right as the distress call came in. Her response had been quick. <<All available Avengers, Active and Reserve, this is an emergency mobilization. Wakanda is under attack. Repeat, Wakanda is under attack. Emergency deployment for all available personnel via Quinjet. Repeat, emergency deployment to Wakanda.>> THen rapidly switching channels.
    <<SHIELD and SWORD, Wakanda has put out a distress call. They are under attack. Repeat, they are under attack. Send available personnel for high level combat. Override and emergency protocols. Repeat, all available personnel for heavy combat are to ready for emergency deployment and insertion by Quinjet and take heavy combat gear.>> That's as much as she can do. She has an emergency override for a reason. She gives a few minutes for any other Avengers to respond and tag up..
    And then the Quinjet is flying away. Calculations are quickly done as the Quinjet goes to lower earth orbit, letting the planet spin just a few degrees as they get a view of the sun, the moon, and the stars as they're touching the edge of gravity's grip.. And then she goes to flick the heat shields to full power, kicks in the inertial dampeners, and the Quinjet is blasting down hard towards Wakanda as she calls along the comms.
    <<Avengers teams en route, ETA twelve seconds and ready for emergency insertion>> Coming down at Mach fifteen through the atmosphere, the Quinjet burning as the heat shields take the brunt, and the inertial compensators prevent them from being made into a pulp at what is likely several thousand G's.
    Skimming along the battlefield, Natasha controls the Quinjet to take it to a stop a dozen meters up on the ground near one of the thickest combat zones. "Everyone out." It's go time.

Lois Lane has posed:
The camera drone hovers just above Lois Lane's head as she takes a deep breath, her violet pantsuit billowing slightly in the wind caused by the hovering jet above her. The scene unfolding beneath her is nothing short of apocalyptic-a towering mud golem, a hundred feet tall, smashing through Wakanda's seemingly impenetrable shield. Lois grips the mic, her voice unwavering as she addresses her global audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Lois Lane reporting live from Wakanda, where what was meant to be an exclusive interview with King T'Challa has been interrupted by an unprecedented attack on the capital."

Her eyes scan the battlefield below as giant rock-like creatures rise from the very earth. The shield-Wakanda's famed defense against outside forces-is shimmering, faltering under the sheer brutality of the monstrous assault. She continues, her voice firm, but carrying the underlying urgency of the chaos beneath her.

"A monstrous mud golem, easily towering at over a hundred feet tall, has torn through Wakanda's southern defenses. Smaller-if we can even call them that-golem-like creatures are now overrunning the city itself. It seems the very earth has come alive to attack this nation. Wakanda's forces are rallying, but for every creature they destroy, two more seem to rise from the ground."

Lois clenches her fist as she watches Wakandan soldiers fight with everything they have-vibranium weaponry, hovercrafts, even energy blasts from their advanced tech. But it's not enough.

"As you can see, the situation is dire. Wakandan defenses, known for their resilience, are being tested in ways never seen before. Citizens are being evacuated as quickly as possible, but the golems are relentless, unstoppable. If the capital falls... Well, heroes should hopefully be arriving soon, but I fear even they may not get here in time."

She glances over at the city's royal palace, the gleaming structure standing proud amidst the chaos. T'Challa and his warriors must be preparing to defend it at all costs.

"For now, the battle rages on. The earth itself has turned against this nation, and I can only hope that Wakanda's brave soldiers-and the heroes we expect to see soon-can turn the tide. This is Lois Lane, reporting from a Wakanda that stands on the brink of disaster."

She pauses, her eyes narrowing slightly as the colossal mud golem smashes another section of the shield.

"Stay with us. This story is far from over."

Sam Wilson has posed:
"Alright, team, we've got eyes on the ground!" Sam calls out, tapping his wrist controls as Redwing zips through the smoke and chaos of the battlefield, broadcasting live footage of the mud monster's movements. "Redwing's got you covered, sending real-time feeds to your HUDs now."

With a smirk, Sam stands at the Quinjet's open ramp, feeling the wind rush by as he surveys the chaos below. "Time to make an entrance."

In one swift motion, his wings snap open, and he dives from the jet like a hawk zeroing in on its prey. He locks onto the mud monster, its size and destructive power evident from above. As Sam spirals toward it, he lets fly a pair of missiles, each streaking through the air to explode against the creature's massive form. Mud and debris rain down as the beast roars in anger.

"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Sam quips, his wings flaring to steady his descent. He circles overhead, eyes scanning for weak points. "Stay sharp, everyone; this thing isn't going down easy. Let's see what we're really dealing with."

Mark Grayson has posed:
A voice in Invincible's ear issues a warning and Mark answers it promptly, along with a bit of annoyance. "I can't hold off longer, Cecil. People are dying," he practically growls as he barrel rolls in the air. Now it's time to throw caution to the wind and ultimately ignore Cecil. Invincible comes to a sudden halt and twists within the sky, preparing his angle. Then he bursts forward. His forward momentum hurls him toward the ground and a cluster of earthen golems assaulting the Wakandan lines. In but a few seconds he'll be landing among them.

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter Quill, the Legendary Star-Lord (who?) is the Captain of the Milano and the brave leader of the Guardians of the... Galaxy. Wakanda, while a very cool place, is a lot smaller than the Galaxy. Even Earth, really, is small potatoes when it gets right down to it. So why are they here? Well, conveniently, there's a list of reasons!

#1: Technically speaking, he's from here. His mom was from here. And sure, he hasn't been much of a 'citizen of Earth' in recent years, but the memories count. You don't want want to let some bozo trash the place you used to watch Saturday morning cartoons while eating cereal. Not cool.

#2: He fought these dudes before, right? Or was that Morg? Both of them? Those assholes look really similar so it's kind of confusing. You know what? CLOSE ENOUGH.

#3: This one is kind of strange. Mantis asked. Mantis was insistent. Quill maybe didn't even need convincing, but she was sure in a convincing mood. And how can he say no to his definitely-just-a-crewmate?

Thus, as the battle rages, there's suddenly a sonic boom and shortly after, the Milano appears above the battlefield, guns blazing, unloading on the largest target visible. Even as it swoops in, the landing ramp lowers, and against the rush of wind and air, Star-Lord steps out, mask up, guns at the ready. "Hate to say it, but these assholes don't look like the dancing types. Guess that means it's time to kick some mud-man ass!"

Then he leaps from the ship, rocket boots kicking in as he dives toward the fray below, unloading with his double blasters.

Clint Barton has posed:
Nat has company.

Clint was prepping his arrows. He snaps his bow into it's classical recurve look. He packed the big guns. If anything? Hawkeye was gonna be one of the heroes who might hit their boots on the ground first, at least among the heroes coming in hot. This is one of Galactus's cronies.

And if it belongs to that guy? This is gonna be one hell of a fight.

As soon as Nat calls for everyone to get out? Hawkeye is one of the first to leave the quinjet, drawing an arrow and knocking it into his bow, loosing arrow after arrow at those walking piles of dirt. Explosive arrows, static arrows, even ice arrows.

"Take 'em down!"

James Barnes has posed:
Bucky Barnes has been adrift, unmoored and in danger of slipping entirely back into the cold of Winter since the death of Steve Rogers. He couldn't let that happen - as tempting as it might be to just shut it all down, stuff away the grief and the pain - Bucky couldn't let that happen.

Leaving word with only a few of the SHIELD team, most of them also with toes dipped into the Avenger side of the pool, he left for Wakanda to try to find sense and center in a world without Steve Rogers.

He was there when the alarms sounded, he was there when it all began. He's among those already struggling at the southern borders. He's covered in mud and debris mixed here and there with a touch of his own blood. How *are* they supposed to battle the Earth itself? How are they supposed to fight back numbers that just seem to be increasing with every one taken down. It's like playing whack-a-mole.

Being physically hit by Bucky Barnes is a bit like being hit by a mac truck. The sight of him might be terrifying to human enemies, but these definitely are not human. He hits one of the larger golems inside at a dead run, sliding to the ground at the last possible second to avoid large, strong, inhuman hands. Taking the legs out from beneath it, Bucky rolls to avoid the 'fallout' of his attack, spins and brings his left fist down on the golem's head as it struggles to get back up. He doesn't look back, just moves on to the next. This one's more squat than tall, standing a little over five feet, just short enough for Bucky to split its head down the middle with nothing more than a downward strike with the machete style weapon in his right hand.

The implants he wears as a rudimentary fail safe against his trigger words - things he typically hates - come in handy from time to time. They're pugged into SHIELD and Avenger communication systems already. The arrival of reinforcements doesn't fail to catch his attention. <<I'm on the ground already - it's bad down here guys, probably worse than it looks from where you're sitting.>>

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen was sitting in a Big Belly Burger having a few burgers, when Lois Lane's reports hits the air. So, he wolfs down his food and is off. The young man pouring on the speed to get there a blur running across sand and water. He stops in one city for a moment grabbing something as he leaves some cash for it, hopefully they can convert the dollars to local currency. He heads on to the area, when he skids to a halt he is wearing a miners helmet and a pickaxe is over one shoulder. He scans the area and starts heading towards the opening and taking his pickaxe to mud golems legs, trying to use them to slow their friends down. "Hi ho, Hi ho it's off to work I go." He sings out as the blur of Impulse makes at least shorter golems.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Not that long ago...Zatanna performed her duty monitoring communication channels for any unexpected anomalies from the Hall of Justice. A bowl of butternut squash bisque warmed to the perfect temperature makes a good lunch, as someone expects to stay up late. The spoon floated mid-air when an alarm pulls her attention that way, amid notices and beacons. Usually mundane scheduling went totally awry. She sent out word almost immediately to the other members of the Justice League, first to confirm what she might be seeing in first-wave reports. Lois Lane's is among them.

The front lines in Wakanda are half a world away. Triangulating the right location is a matter of pulling up a holographic map and drawing several lines to where the reports originate from. Emergency channels refine the coordinates. She owes the Black Widow a thank you card for that.

Eschewing soup for foreign soil is no question. Her hands rise as spectral golems clutter the screens around her. ".adnakaW ot htap a nepO"

Seconds later the black haired woman walks out of a glowing circle tinted violet behind Wakandan lines where several injured soldiers gather together. "I'm a friend." Hands up to show she's not an overt risk. "Medic. Where are the injured?"

No sooner is that out than a really nasty mud monster starts pulling itself out of the ground like that 10ft. tall skeleton from Costco. Weapons get trained on it. One shot's made from lightning and doesn't come from a pistol.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick liked to consider things. Work out plans and contingencies for operations that could occur, and put them in action, and there was a reason 'rapid response' to him was something on the order of 'we'll have a plan together within 72 hours', It was not 'walking past the armory and then having everyone's phone go off at once.'

Five minutes before, he'd been telling one of the doctor's in the lab that he'd be stepping out for a quick bite to eat. Five minutes after that, he was in the Armory slamming two forms of ID on a desk and then going back to just grab what he needed. 20 minutes after that he was too busy strapping on body armor over a dress shirt to really have time to consider they were dropping down from near orbit at a speed he was in no way comfortable with. The grip on the restraints occurred just in time, after stowing an ammunition can that cost more than he'd ever make into something that wouldn't slam up aganist the Quinjet's ceiling.

And then they were landing in a continent halfway around the world to do battle with.... golems? God, he was glad he wasn't a superhero. Who the hell could do this day in and day out? The gas mask was stowed, this time; the heat and lack of a CBRN threat meant he'd be better without it.

He's out the ramp just after Sam, shaking his head. "Didn't have time to grab a headset. Just the essentials." He notes, the Mark 17 hefted up to his shoulder, and a brace of rounds sent, a testing burst to three of the smaller rock monster's approaching. No armor piercing rounds, today; focusing kinetic energy on one source wouldn't be as efficient as sheer kinetic energy, and these rounds had a small explosive charge as the payload. Hopefully enough to crack rock.

Clea has posed:
Clea doesn't live at the mansion any longer and currently she's in another state when the call for emergencies go off. There is a deep frown when she hears it is Wakanda. She couldn't joke with T'Challa about who was doing paperwork for this incident.

She simply gets up and walks out of what she was doing. An errant thought of calling in another form of backup...but she doesn't. No reason to bother her big friend.

One minute she's standing on soil in the United States and the next she is floating high above the battlefield in Wakanda. The Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension is dressed in the black body suit that she's taken to wearing and a long purple cowl that is wrapped around her shoulders and flares out around her.

Her violet eyes find the target of a small group of rock creatures that are attacking soldiers and she moves in a heartbeat to that location, using her magic to grind the rock creatures down into a fine powder, but that wasn't going to work at all times.

T'Challa has posed:
    The Wakandan military was swift to mobilize. Far more than the ceremonial elements that the wider world were familiar with, the kingdom was today demonstrating just why its armed forces wered considered to be the greatest on the planet. The natural geographical formation of Red Rock on the edge of the Alkama Fields is where the command platform has been established, itself a site of victory over invaders more than two centuries previous.

    While the King of Wakanda had been managing his end of the situation from the advanced war room within the Royal Palace at Birnin Zana, his personal craft - a sleek black vessel many decades beyond the technology of other nations - hums almost soundlessly from the towering palace to the command platform at Red Rock.

    <<Assegai Six to Ikhaka Actual,>> rings a voice over the radio, <<Assegai Six, in hot.>>

Another sleek aircraft pierces the sky, passing through the shield just long enough to launch a barrage of missiles. They strike the large mud creature in a series of pale blue explosions that carpet one side of it. It reels for a second, looking as though it may indeed collapse.

    <<Target hit. Stand by for assessment.>>

    The voice is cut off by the sudden descent of the massive creature's hand through the air, catching the fighter jet with a savage strike as the craft disappears into a sudden ball of fire.

    "Sir," one of the women in military uniform at the command platform offers to T'Challa with a bow, "Secondary forces are arriving. Should we -- ?"

    "Yes," T'Challa answers crisply, clad in the habit of the Black Panther save for the mask as he looks out over the sprawling battlefield, "They are here to help, Jabavu. Give them whatever they need. I am going."

    There's a brief murmur of protest that falls on deaf ears as the Panther makes swiftly for the edge of the platform and leaps from it. He turns gracefully through the air, landing in a run as he makes for the arriving forces. The Dora Milaje follow diligently, spears at their back but brandishing what look to be rifles for the moment.

Mantis has posed:
It's not every day that aliens come to save the day, but Mantis insisted that the Guardians come to Wakanda's aid on Earth. She didn't say why, just that they simply must and, also, this could be her birthday present. The truth, though secret, is a simple one. The Earth is important to her for very personal reasons and, as she recently learned, Wakanda is part of the Earth. That's enough for Mantis.

When the Milano is low enough for a safe exit, Mantis readies herself in what could be called a heroic stance and nods her head at Peter Quill's instructions. "Kick names, take mud-man ass!" she announces with some misplaced confidence before jumping out, too!

Mantis lands next to one of the smaller mud golems and waits no time before she tries to put her pathokenetic powers into action. "Sleeeeeeep!" she says, perched on the back of one of the filthy mud golems terrorizing Wakanda. Nothing happens. "Sleeeeeeeep" she says again, antennae glowing brightly to signal her use of her powers. Nothing happens, again. The golem groans something in golemish. They don't have emotions, presenting a firm dead end for poor Mantis. Without delay, she hops off of the golem's back and proceeds to 'kick names and take mud-man ass' like she said she would. She begins with a solid round-house kick to its chest!

Rocket has posed:
Ten Minutes Ago...

"... and speaking of the Shi'ar Imperium, why aren't we charging them tariffs when they import their cheap quantum-powered teleporters? We need to encourage manufacturing right here in The Badoon Exfulgence!"

-SWIPE-

"... because the RENT on KNOWHERE is TOO DAMNED HIIIIGH!"

-SWIPE-

Picking his teeth with what appears to be a gakked-out Bowie knife, the Hero of Halfworld sits on the oversized (AKA 'human-sized') metal throne in his third-favorite of all the various rooms within the Milano. So enormous is Rocket's tooth-picking knife, that his arm is nearly completely extended in order to hold the handle as he scrapes his breakfast plaque from teeth that are beginning to dull and take on a yellowish tint.

"D'ast... the only feed we still get in this dump is the Debate Stream. I hate Earth... so, so much."

Spitting out chunks of plaque between his legs, Rocket finishes up the rest of his business and then activates the Flush Mode with a tap of his claw against a holographic display. Sure enough, the action is almost completely silent as his waste is recycled for use in the Milano's... you know what? Let's not worry about how the Milano recycles its waste.

As he leaves the head, Rocket wipes down the knife which apparently sees use for more than just dental hygiene and makes his way through the cold metal walkway toward the engine room. His head hangs slightly, and there's a droop in his step, a sure sign of having consumed a few too many Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters the night before.

It's a miracle he hasn't puked up anything green and glowing yet.

That is, until SOMEONE starts the descent toward the planet, and the artificial gravity starts working against the planet's actual gravity.

Several hurls later, and Rocket is as combat ready as a fiddle. They have strange fiddles on Halfworld. The reason that he looks so combat ready despite his hangover is easy to guess: fully encased in a spacesuit. Or as he calls it, a regular suit. Leaping from the ship wouldn't really be his style, yet look at him go! But as he gets clear of The Milano, he presses a button on his belt, and the glow of high tech space metal coalescing around his torso can be seen. Within fractions of a second, he's sporting a fully loaded rocket pack, and lifting off in order to provide suppressive fire to cover Mantis' back.

Rocket Raccoon, indeed.

Norrin Radd has posed:
The Earth surrounding Wakanda does not move of its own accord, does not march to war without willful intent, does not heave against the foundations of their great city without provocation. Even before he was made a Herald of the Devourer, Terrax -- once Tyros of Okaara -- commanded powers of earth and stone, of many elements making up the raw matter of the cosmos. Though never an especially loyal follower of Galactus, his power had always made him useful, as did his ruthlessness. While Firelord has acted with dispassion, and the Silver Surfer almost with a touch of empathy, a sadness toward his work, there is no such deatchment or concern from Terrax. Set to conquer, to quell, to break the resistance of a planet before his master's coming?

It is a task he is happy to carry out, so long as it maintains his own place in this cosmic order.

It is with that intent that he has made the earth itself rebel against its people, calling on that ability born to him, yet supercharged a thousandfold by the unlimited energies of the Power Cosmic. With his raw power, Terrax does not simply attack, he tests himself: can he break this world before his master even comes? Deliver it shattered and broken?

The towering monstrosities draw the early attentions of the defenders, throw themselves against the shield. But they are meaningless. What does it mean, to 'kill' a construct of stone? Where one falls, more rise, as endless as the Earth itself.

Yet, what is a conqueror who fights from the rear? As one of the Wakandan aero-space fighters takes a pass at a walking mountain, they are met, suddenly, by the hurtling form of the grey-skinned humanoid, leaping from some rocky ledge. With speed and precision defying his bulky form, he meets the craft mid-air...

...and easily cuts it in twain with his gleaming silvery axe, only to land amidst some of the ground forces, the impact throwing a terrible shockwave outward, devastating those nearest and throwing others from their feet. From the crater left by his impact, the figure draws up to his full height.

"Is THIS truly the mightiest city of this world?" Terrax surveys those ahead of him with contempt. "A foolish effort. You struggle when you should flee."

Diana Prince has posed:
When outside defenders arrived, and began to provide a variety of bombardment assaults on the massive King Golem, it certainly did have an effect. Rockets slammed in to the 100 foot tall golem, causing rocks to burst out in all directions, along with clouds of mud and debris. It all came raining down on to the ground below, and it was certainly having an effect, but it was like chipping away at a mountain with a handfun of military hardware, a mountain that was literally alive.

The King Golem took its attention off of the onslaught of pushing itself in to Wakanda's shield, and it swept a hand toward the source of the weapons fire peppering its rocky body. It launched a wave of rock and earth toward those firing upon it, sending a dangerous wall of incoming debris toward the newly arrived forces, before it turned back to the shield, and jammed its left massive rocky hand back down in to the sliver of the opening it had created within the shield! It began to tear, rip, and rend the shield apart, as it tried to push its head down and through. It strained against the resistance of the shield's power, though, and in that straining moment, its rocky face brought forth a mishapen mouth, that opened, and bellowed a strange sound, a powerful wave of sonic energy that swept down toward the earth below! A tornado of sonic power, spiraling dirt and flora detritus is all directions, as the King Golem was creating a strange, and utterly devastating new form of attack!

The sonic tornado was deactivated when the Wakandan missiles slammed in to the King Golem's skull, causing it to reel backward, and shed more bits and pieces of itself, as it swlung its right arm in to the crack in the shield, and threw down a long line of rock and stone, raining down upon all of the fighters within the battlefield!

The soldiers on the ground were facing the forces of the Earthen golems, as more rose up from below, both inside the shield, and outside, though the vast majority seemed to be standing on the outside, waiting for the shield to be overwhelmed and fully fall, for the brunt invasion force to enter the attack!

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
As everyone is dropped for emergency deployment, Natasha doesn't go to give out orders. It's a huge, chaotic melee. Terrax is identified as the primary target and likely source of the invaders. She toggles the commline <<Terrax is likely the source of the constructs. He can make them ad infinitem. Given his powerset, I would presume they require no concentration or effort. Destroying them will merely have him throwing out more of them, perhaps getting more fanficul>> It's not even a delaying tactic to slow them down when your opponent doesn't even have to think. At least, that's the way she's assuming it would.
    He's not a target that they're going to be able to hurt - she's aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy being present, but she's guessing that dropping Mantis on him might not go as well as it did last time. But still, they have to try. She goes to flick over the Quinjet's console, shifting over to the emergency weapons. She goes to toggle along more switches, putting in overrides. She flicks a switch, goes quietly, "Friday, enable Torment weaponry." There's a chime. "EMergency override, Cosmic Protocol, Extremis Threat." This is one of those times..
    The turrets on the Quinjet adjust as the overrides go in. Two massive looking gatling cannons deploy out while Terrax has no one in immediate line of sight with him. Then they go to open fire. Rather than heavy weaponry, they go to deploy thousands and thousands of small adamantium barbettes laced with as potent a neurotoxin as they've been able to make on Earth with as many twisted thing sas SHIELD has available for these sorts of contingencies. They're fired at roughly Mach 50, peppering over him hopefully while he's busy monologuing and glancing over the fight. Blades a few molecules thick, the strongest metallic alloy that Earth can produce, dosed with toxins that are the strongest that can be found. And tens fo thousands of them are fired at him while he's distracted. Likely to not even the slightest effect or notice.
    They would hit him, and nothing would happen. They might not penetrate. The abomination's hide could very well be so strong as to make even adamantium blades warp against it. His nervous system likely won't even notice the toxins, he's a being so far beyond what terrestrial and galactic tech can create. There very well is probably nothing that Earth or the cosmos can produce that will do anything to him.
    And Natasha knows this. The best case scenario for her is that Terrax does not even notice the attack. If he does, then she is disintegrated with but a wave of energy from his gaze of quick notice.
    And yet she must try. Because better to fight and die than to give in.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible falls like an asteroid and aims himself for a thick pack of earthen golems. The fall ends in his slamming into one of the constructs and pulverizing it into a mound of dirt, mud, rocks, and even fragments of crystal. The impact is powerful enough to result in a shallow crater. From that crater Invincible springs and leaps into another of the golems, a flurry of punches causing large puffs of dust and dirt, along with the crumbling of stone.

It doesn't take long before Mark's dragged down by the golems cohorts and they, in classic fashion, begin to pummel and stomp Invincible in an act of numerical superiority.

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam Wilson soared through the chaos, his sharp eyes catching sight of Invincible struggling beneath a suffocating mass of mud and rock. "Hang in there, kid! I've got you!" he shouted over the comms, locking onto the shifting mass with his targeting system.

A pair of sleek missiles disengaged from his wings, spiraling toward the mound smothering Invincible. They hit with precise force, detonating in a cloud of fire and smoke. Chunks of mud and debris blasted outward, freeing Invincible from the crushing weight. "You're clear! Now get back in there!"

Sam twisted mid-air, banking sharply to avoid the rain of rock and stone as the King Golem bellowed its sonic attack. The battlefield roared with chaos as Wakandan missiles struck true, forcing the massive beast to stagger. But even with the King Golem momentarily reeling, it felt like a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer size and power of their foe.

"We're making a dent, but this thing's still moving like a tank!" Sam barked into his comms, watching the golem slam its arm into the breach it had made in Wakanda's shield. "T'Challa, if we don't stop it now, that shield's going down! We need heavier firepower!"

As he spoke, more earthen golems rose up from the ground, both inside and outside the shield. Sam's wings flared as he dove low, avoiding a cascade of falling stone while weaving between explosions of earth and rock. "Eyes up, team! They're multiplying! We've gotta hold them off as long as we can!"

Wheeling around for another strike, he circled back toward the massive King Golem. "Alright, Avengers-focus fire on that breach! Keep that thing from pushing through!" Sam fired another round of missiles, this time aiming for the golem's massive hands clawing at the shield's opening.

"We're not letting this thing through! Not today!"

James Barnes has posed:
Flee is not in Bucky's vocabulary. Tactical retreat - sometimes. But not this time. Up until now, he's been making short work of the enemy forces that popped up inside the protective bubble of Wakanda's defenses. It just so happens that he's very near the 'devastation' field of Terrax's crater creating landing. The shockwave lifts him up and tosses him backwards a good twenty feet. If he's lucky, he took down a golem or two along the way. His brain bucket hits the ground first with a *thudcrack* - a sound that would likely have meant death for a mortal man *without* the serum running through his veins. Even Bucky's left seeing stars and momentarily stunned enough that he just lays there. He comes to his senses just in time to roll away from a mud and rock fist that was looking to finish the job of cracking his head like a melon. He's on his feet in a blink. He ditches the blade in his hand in favor of swinging the weapon provided him by the Wakandan army as this all began from his back. The rifle he swings around from his back has a name he probably can't even pronounce. It's his first time wielding such a weapon, but firearms in general are well within Bucky's wheelhouse - it doesn't take him long to catch on. When he swings it around toward a larger golem coming in at his left and fires - he's just expecting a bigger 'bang' than a normal 'bang'. What he's not expecting is the blast of concentrated energy that cuts the thing right in two at the middle. As he watches the top and bottom halves of the golem slide apart and hit the ground, one eyebrow raises slightly higher than the other. "Huh."

He hasn't much time to stare in fascination at the results. One again he's knocked off his feet and sent flying, this time by the sonic wave screamed out by the giant golem - he rolls and gets his feet back under himself quickly this time.

He snarls, it sounds more animal than human. Now he's pissed.

<<Any thoughts on how to take this Terrax down, Nat?>> The snarl echoes in his words over the comms.

Clea has posed:
Clea is all too happy to get her hands dirty in the literal sense. Blowing the dust of former rock golems in others faces tends to anger the enemy.

She doesn't care.

The white haired woman uses magic to explode two of the smaller golems before she sends a wave of fiery purple magic over more of them.

That causes two of the larger ones to attack her and she disappears in the dust as it happens.

Mantis has posed:
It's easy forget that Mantis is one of the galaxy's finest martial artists. Of course, it's especially easy to forget that if you're a mud golem without a brain in the first place. They tend not to keep up with galactic gossip like that.

After forcing the golem's attention with her well-placed kick, Mantis stands poised, her slender frame a study in balance and grace. The mud golem looms before her, its hulking mass of earth and debris offers a stark contrast to her alien, almost ethereal demeanor. The kick wasn't meant to take it down. It was meant to be bait, which the mud golem is eager to take.

Mantis darts to the side to evade a heavy swing from the golum's mud-hardened fist. In a seamless motion, she transitions into a low spin, both legs sweeping out like a gust of wind, spraying dirt and leaves into the air. The golem stumbles forward, momentarily thrown off balance by this unexpected move.

Without giving the golem a chance to recover, Mantis launches herself into the air with a powerful kick. She twists mid-flight, delivering a series of rapid, precise strikes to the golem's torso, each impact producing ripples through the mud.

The golem retaliates, swinging its arms in wide arcs, but Mantis flows like water around the attacks, avoiding each of them with ease. She ducks and rolls, using her opponent's weight against it, and springs back up into a steady stance. With a series of punches and palm strikes, Mantis targets each of the golem's joints and the mud begins to loosen and fall away.

With a final, spectacular leap, Mantis lands on the golem's shoulder and brings her hands down, executing a powerful palm strike that sends a shockwave through the creature. The mud shifts violently and, with a thunderous crack, the golem collapses into a defeated heap.

Mantis brushes off her outfit and gives the pile of earth a serene smile. She bows slightly to her fallen foe, giving it the respect of a warrior. "Take mud-man ass," she says to herself before turning away.

Only a moment passes before the pile of mud begins to slide and shift, changing form as it once again rises to be .... another identical mud golem getting into position behind her that she doesn't know about! It lurches forward, ready to slam its mighty fists down on her head...

T'Challa has posed:
    While the heroes of Earth descend on Wakanda in its hour of need, the nation's military is not down for the count yet. A squad of soldiers rumble past Lois aboard a hovering truck of some sort, clad in BDUs. One of them, a ranking enlisted man by the look of him, smacks his flat palm on the roof of the truck before jumping down to approach the Daily Planet's star reporter.

    "Nkosazana, please," he insists, removing the helmet he wears and placing it unceremoniously on her head. He fastens the strap, gives it an appraising glance, and then raps his knuckles a couple times. The helmet itself is surprisingly comfortable, a vibranium weave reducing external interference to almost nothing. The soldier gives her a wan smile before he turns, climbing back into the truck in time for it to float off in the direction of the front lines.

    Beyond the army, there appear to be a number of special groups moving on foot. One such group look to wear the same apparel as the Black Panther himself, save that it lacks the ceremonial adornment and is white instead of black. The Izinja Zemfazwe - the War Dogs - are here. They move as an elite unit through the throngs of rock creatures, firing on them.

    "Hold your ground," T'Challa demands of the Falcon when he hears his concerns, "The shield may not hold, but it is not the only weapon in our arsenal."

    As if on cue, a great rumbling of gears can be heard. A line of machines that might be tanks, though far beyond anything that might be considered modern, rolls over the savannah in the direction of the Golem King. Their vibranium cannons hum, taking in the kinetic energy of falling and thrown debris to power them. Above, float warships of a strange sort - semi-circles suspended in the air and bristling with weapons of their own.

    "Allies of Wakanda," the Black Panther calls, "Focus your attention on the primary target."

    The King is throwing everything he has at the threat.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick wasn't blind to the way that a man had appeared, shreading through a strike fighter Rick had only seen for a second with his bare hands.... or the information that was passed on the net on what sort of threat they were dealing with. And what it was capable of, even as he watched the quinjet take off and fire a volley of.. something. He had a high clearance level, but it wasn't /that/ high. He was certain it was meant to do something... and it did nothing there. Still... Rick moved the rifle to sight over the standing up on that tall golem, and fired. Five rounds, rapid, and he was certain he got the elevation right, but... nothing. Exactly what was expected, and endlessly frusturating. He would been satisfied with at least some dents.

This was going to be a long battle, though, and he didn't have ammunition to waste on anything but effectiveness. He looked to move forward, switching out the magazine for another and slamming it into place. Depleted Uranium, in this case; dense, penetrative, and with enough brute kinetic force to crack rock... he was hoping. Certainly, it was effective... but he only had so many rounds, and they were a lot of them at that breach.

<<Anyone else feel like the Thunderchilde today?>> RIck hard to make the comment. <<Or the artillery crew. Rather go for the former, though. She lasted longer. Lead, if available, suggest 20 mikemike on the golems between us and the breech. Maybe one of those with a bit more power might have a plan if we keep things from getting worse. As for ideas, Sergeant... I don't suppose we have any W80s ready to head in here?>>

Someone had to look at the biggest guns.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen sees the Golems rising at a speed even he has to frown at. He looks around the field for something else to use. Then he is seeing the shields the special forces are using. The golems will punch one and then the force of the hit is directed back towards the Golem. He pauses a moment, as he has an idea. He dodges a piece of golem from someone else's attack, and has an idea. He will head into the forces, and grabbing a couple of the fallen warriors and their shields he heads in to set them down "Come back in when ya can, but I need these for a moment, I will return them I promise." He adds under his breath "If they don't blow up." He is off back into the fray hitting a couple golems with one shield on his arm and one on his back, as he forms a plan.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
Avengers were on site, trouble was being confronted - and that usually has an all hands on deck alert for the team. It is not long at all before Quicksilver is on the scene. <<Quicksilver reporting in.>> Pietro comments into the comms - letting the Avengers know he was blurring in.

Golems - that's certainly new!

A quick circuit around the battlefield, and he's got a good start of a gameplan. The silver-haired mutant races through the golems, shouldering his way through the rocky creatures. Thank goodness for his mutations - he doesn't end up like a bug on a windshield. Instead, several of the smaller golems explode into chunks of whatever mineral they'd been formed of. Even as he blasts through the riff-raff, he glances up towards the Wakandan warships and the order from their King.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois Lane stands in the hoverjet, her mic gripped tightly in hand as chaos unfolds below her. Her violet pantsuit is crisp, but the tension in her voice cuts through the sound of battle. The camera drone captures the scene-a war zone in the heart of Wakanda, now joined by some of the world's mightiest heroes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Lois Lane here with a critical update from Wakanda. What was once a peaceful capital is now a battlefield. Wakandians are on the ground, engaging these monstrous mud creatures with everything they've got. And they're not alone. SHIELD has deployed agents into the area."

She pauses as the camera zooms in on the battlefield below.

"The Avengers have arrived! Hawkeye's arrows are flying, Falcon is diving into action, Bucky Barnes; The Winter Soldier is in the thick of it, and Clea's magic is turning the tide where she can. Yet, the battle is far from over. A blur; yes, possibly one of the Flashes-has joined the fight, moving at a speed too quick for the naked eye to follow. And the Black Panther himself has taken the field, leading Wakanda's forces in defense of their home."

The camera shifts to capture Wakandan soldiers battling with unwavering resolve, vibranium spears clashing against the seemingly unrelenting mud golems. Despite their best efforts, the colossal mud creature that first breached Wakanda's shield seems almost immune to the assaults. Blasts, arrows, and magic... nothing seems to slow its destructive march.

"The heroes here are giving it their all," Lois says, her voice steady, though there's a hint of unease that only a seasoned reporter could keep so well-hidden. "But even with everything being thrown at these monsters, the colossal golem at the center of this invasion... it just keeps coming."

Just then, a deafening crash echoes through the skies. Lois grips the railing as the camera tilts upwards, catching the horrific scene.

"And now - now we have another development. A being calling itself Terrax. The Conqueror. One of Galactus' most feared heralds, has entered the fray!"

The camera captures Terrax mid-air, a menacing figure cutting through the skies before cleaving a Wakandan aerospace fighter clean in half with his mighty axe. The wreckage spirals downward as Terrax lands amidst Wakandan ground forces, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. Soldiers are thrown from their feet, the earth itself cracking beneath his landing.

"Terrax has made his entrance, and he's not wasting any time."

The camera zooms in on Terrax, his voice booming as he surveys the battlefield with disdain.

Lois swallows hard as she watches Terrax's brutal display of power, taking a deep breath before speaking into the mic again.

"This... this battle is taking a devastating turn. The combined might of Wakanda's forces, SHIELD, and the Avengers is still fighting tooth and nail, but now with Terrax on the field, the situation has escalated beyond imagination."

Lois glances at the fight from above, her mind racing with thoughts of the heroes below. A brief moment of vulnerability slips into her expression.

Where are you, Smallville? she thinks, knowing Clark could turn the tide in a heartbeat.

"But despite everything we're seeing, I have faith. The heroes here won't give up, and neither will Wakanda. Stay with us as we continue to bring you live updates on this historic battle."

With that, the camera pans back to the fight as Lois steadies herself for the next wave of breaking news, her professionalism unshaken, but her thoughts briefly elsewhere.

Lois adjusts the helmet given to her by a Wakandan soldier, the kindness not lost on her as the rumble of tanks and roar of airships fill the air around her. Despite the chaos, she holds her mic firmly, her voice unwavering as she speaks into the camera.

"And in true Black Panther fashion, King T'Challa has issued a simple directive: 'Basically, keep fighting it and don't die, damnit.' If that doesn't sum up the situation here, I don't know what does."

Her smile fades as she glances at the battlefield, determination setting in.

"Stay safe out there, heroes. We're all counting on you."

Peter Quill has posed:
Even after disembarking, the Milano continues in its aerial assault. It's not well coordinated with the Wakandan fleet, but the spacecraft has some serious weaponry, and it seems like they're not sparing the units in terms of unloading with the good stuff. Taking a wide pass, it begins another assault on one of the kaiju-sized rock monsters (anything smaller is kind of a crapshoot aim wise), spitting plasma, unloading missiles, the whole kitchen sink.

Quill, meanwhile, is... doing too much at once. Desperate to get in a dance routine, he's ducking and weaving, swerving and spinning, firing on smaller targets of opportunity while trying to keep mobile in the air. Mostly, since they're mud people, that works pretty well, but some of them throw stuff.

He's ALSO remote-ing the Milano and trying to coordinate with Rocket.

"These things are hard as rocks," go figure. "I'm calling in the Hoth maneuver." What?

. . .

"That means we try and knock it over. Bigger they are, harder they fall and all that. Rocket, I'm gonna take a pass with the ship to its six, see if I can't get its attention: go for the- OH SHIT!"

The 'oh shit' is not the intended target, obviously. It's what comes out of his mouth when he sees one of the mud dudes rearing up behind Mantis. Peter loses track of giving orders, powering up his boots to the max, and goes flying in behind her, unloading on the looming monster.

Rocket's a smart guy, right? He'll figure it out!

Rocket has posed:
A Couple of Days Ago...

"I call it The Grenadulator! No more of this throwin' grenades like a hobo... no way! This baby here... you think it's a simple grenade launcher!? HA! Show's what you know... buncha blorks!"

Yet another presentation aboard The Milano of yet another of Rocket's gakked-out contraptions. This one is, surprise surprise, a giant gun that looks like something Rocket realistically shouldn't be able to lift, or even think about lifting. And yet...

Holding it up, Rocket beams with pride. Nobody else seems especially impressed. They usually aren't, but then Rocket invents a new oversized gun roughly once per cycle.

"This thing ain't a grenade launcher. It's a GRENADE LAUNCHER launcher!"

"Nobody ever thought of that before. I'm gonna make a TRILLION units! And murderize a TRILLION sentients! A BILLION TRILLION! HA HA HA!"

Some of the wiring along the gun's exterior begins to spark, singeing the fur on Rocket's paw.

"D'AST!"

Back Here in the Present...

The oversized gun that Rocket is dragging along might seem familiar to those who actually paid attention in his presentation a couple of days ago. Zipping along a little more than a hundred meters above the ground, it looks like Rocket's rocket pack shouldn't be able to hold the weight of such an enormous weapon. The laws of physics cannot be broken, but they can be bent.

Over the headset, Rocket calls out his normal medley of spaced-out swearwords and verbal abuse. Most of which we wouldn't want to reprint here. There's also a greater than zero chance that he's begun to feel a bit sick within the helmet of his spacesuit. Or as he calls it, a regular suit. But he DOES have some valuable insights that might be worth sharing.

"I'm on it, Quill. This krutacker is as good as flarked!"

Finally in position above the fray, Rocket pulls back the charging lever on his Ridiculously Oversized Weapon."

"EAT GRENADULATOR, SCUTBAGS!"

As he fires into the battle in what seems to be an indiscriminate fashion, it quickly becomes clear that Rocket isn't, in fact, firing grenades at everyone. No, as the missiles hit the ground, they form quickly, assembling themselves into...

Bipedal grenade launchers.

The bipedal grenade launchers begin walking around, firing grenades at any mud-men that find themselves in the middle of their targetting reticules. It's awesome.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
It's a chilling thing to watch the golem forces arranged in ranks outside the transparent dome that holds them back. Zatanna has a couple seconds to appreciate the numbers through the reply in roaring weapons that greet Terrax. Enough of a look to wish she had not raised her head at all.

That whole point of be careful what you wish for?

She made a point of calling herself a medic and she has her hands full. Bart is out there, and she raises her voice on the open comms. "Bring me the worst injured or tell me where they are so I can reach them." Mud-spattered Wakandan soldiers look almost as numerous as golems. Word spreads along open channels to retreat back to the unremarkable spot and so they do. Too many because Terrax has the advantage and not everyone can deflect a stone fist or earthen maw. Those who cannot run stagger. If they cannot stagger to her then they crawl. Some keep on going for their country's hour of need.

Languages that meld together into the din wash over her. Muck runs over her palms. It stains her face in a sprayed arc that dries up her cheekbone.

Somehow a black baton slips from her sleeve to her hand. She dips the white end into the charred muck that was a golem. The small gestures provide a comforting focus when needed most. This isn't any different than performing in a silver-spangled leotard and jeweled corset to a rowdy audience in Las Vegas. You just keep telling yourself that, Zee.

T'Challa made an edict for his people to follow. Terrax wants to destroy them. They need a nudge...a cheat. With a flourish, she points the wand to the sky. Her invocation comes over the open channel, jibberish really. ".niaga thgif ot demrahnu esir ,dleihs eht dniheb derujni ehT"

The effect is not. A healing wave blooms from the wand. Rejuvenating boughs of an acacia tree find the injured and unmake the hurts. But at what cost? If you're damaged then you might not be anymore.

Norrin Radd has posed:
"Can none stand against me?"

Amidst fire and fury, Terrax strides forward like a juggernaut. His pace is not hurried. Why hurry? Why rush? There is satisfaction in conquest, and it is to be savored. Of course, his presence on the battlefield draws interest, focus, attention. So much of it is for naught. Small arms fire (which, for him, is basically anything short of heavy artillery) either loses momentum in the air, dropping to the earth before reaching him as if caught in some kind of weird gravitic anomaly, or, if it reaches him, simply fails to penetrate that rock-like skin. This is not universal: Natasha's massive barrage from the Quinjet, while the majority of the flechettes have their aim fouled by that strange kind of shield, a few do hit, and the adamantium DOES break through...

...it's just, what are a few needles? A few doses of enough poison to kill a city? Poison is just chemical, and as it mingles in whatever he has that passes for blood, the compounds are manipulated, degraded, nullified at the molecular level. In sum total? He pulls out one of the darts, looks at it with a frown, and then gestures at the passing Quinjet with his axe, firing a blast of energy through the air. Maybe they die, maybe they manage evasive maneuvers: it matters not.

Where the Wakandan soldiers are unfortunate enough to meet him, they inevitably fall. It is again notable that a few manage to cut him, briefly inflict things approaching wounds with those Vibranium weapons -- the things that must make this place, among all others, his target -- but the wounds simply do not last. Where he is cut, there is only the strangle crackle-pop of obscure cosmic energies that makes whole what was torn.

With no force that can immediately slow him, Terrax continues ahead. Now, perhaps, he is seeking targets of interest. Spotting the formation of Wakandan tanks, he lifts a hand, sending a ripple of energy toward the center of their formation. As it travels, the earth wrenches and twists, splitting open down the middle in a great crevase, while spikes of earth jut upward on the edges.

He turns back ahead. Ther is a sense, somewhere, of a target. Of prey worthy of his attention. It may be surprising just who he singles out, among all the chaos. They are...

...familiar targets.

Mark Grayson has posed:
In one moment Invincible's being dragged down and piled upon by mud, stone, dirt, and unyielding earth. He sucks in a breath when explosions rock all around him, deafening him for a moment beneath their rumbling cacophony of sound. The golems explode rapidly around him and Mark spends a split second spitting mud and dirt from his mouth as he swats at the crater that had quickly been becoming his tomb until Falcon's intervention. The swat to the ground springs him up and is assisted by his own innate to will his movement from one place to another in the air.

"Hey, appreciate it," he calls back to Sam! Then his soles touch down on earth once more. A hand bursts from the ground and grips around his ankle. It squeezes and Invincible yanks his leg away with a kick, ripping the groping hand from its wrist with a burst of dirt and dust.

He squats down to gain some power and then pushes from the ground, sending Invincible speeding toward Terras with both fists leading the way and ready to act as an Invincible battering ram against the Herald. He glances aside for a moment upon spying - is that Lois Lane? - then he shakes that brief distraction off and focuses on hurling himself at Terrax with his teeth grit and one of his goggles splintered after a handful of punches to the face from one of the earthen golems a moment ago.

James Barnes has posed:
<<Not sure Wakanda wants to deal with the fallout.>> Of what? Nukes or whatever fallout will come from this? Probably nukes. Best not to nuke the area that Galactus is so intent on destroying?

Changing it up between the wall smashing power of his left arm and the potentially wall 'melting' power of that nice little Wakanadan piece of technology, Bucky's back to making short work of the enemy ground forces. But it truly is like playing a game of whack-a-mole. One goes down, another forms. It makes a bit for slow going, but the path he's making has one clear destination - the breach and the thing coming through it.

At least as he's running, the pounding in his head from that earlier ground smack fades and leaves him a little more clear headed.

Maybe it's because whatever's controlling them has noticed that Bucky isn't so easily put down for good as some - or maybe it's just because their numbers are increasing faster than decreasing? Either way, more than a few times along the way, Bucky is very nearly overrun by golems. Twice he nearly loses his rifle to grabbing hands of stone. Twice he manages to hang on to it with a combination of a good strong grip and a kick square to the chest to send the grabby handed golems flying backwards. Once he's distracted enough by left, right and center that he gets clocked upside the head by a golem approaching from the rear.

He doesn't go down though - it takes more than that to bring him down - like crater creating alien beings and sonic blasts of bad breath. With a snarl that would send men running scared, his left arm snatches that rear attacker by the arm to send it flying in an arc at the other three.

<<This is not working.>> Bucky obviouses over the comms. <<I'm working my way toward the breach and the big guy, I'll figure out what to do next when I get there.>>

Diana Prince has posed:
It did not take long before the King Golem began to make another push with its mighty mountainous skull of a head, shoving its face through the crevace that it has forced open within the shield, to jam the rest of it through, causing the shield to slam shut around its shoulders. This is just when the reinforcements from the Wakandan air force unleash a barrage of attacks upon it. The King Golem visibly recoils, before its massive head looks toward the air ships, and its sonic weapon fires again! The conical force of wind and sound rushes toward the Wakandan ships, smashing several of them in to broken husks of technology, causing them to careen toward the ground in out of control messes of smoke and fire!

When the ground tanks open fire on to the King Golem's head, it shudders from head to feet, thrashing against the shield barrier, as its head is once more forced back out of the shield dome!

Collectively, on the ground, the heroes who have arrived in the fight have made a grand impact on the number of ground golems that were pushing on the Wakandan forces. More golems are being blown to pieces, or eradicated entirely, than seem to be able to come up out of the ground in short order to replace them. The result is a creeping sensation that a chance of winning this fight could be possible, if the defenders remain persistant!

Naturally, though, the King Golem has something to say about this, even as its head was pushed back out by the impressive Wakandan fire power. It begins to rapidly slam its skyscraper sized right leg against the base of the shield, again, and again, it hits the shield wall, causing a strange sound to roll across the land. It is a reverberation sound, that seems to rock any and all unshielded ears with a warbling sound, as the shield waves, and glimmeres at the powerful kinetic attack.

Finally, the shield breaks open at the King Golem's leg, and it pushes it through to give a new blocking gateway in to the inner sanctum of the country itself.

The massing Foot Soldier Golems that clogged the ground around the base of the shield took this opportunity to begin to flood inside the barrier wall, thundering on the ground, as they started to rush in like a tsunami of earth and rock!

From the sky, a streak of white light passed over the barrier, and a single figure appeared high above. Wonder Woman landed atop the shield barrier, above the King Golem's head. She landed feet flat upon the shield surface, and began to glide down its invisible surface, her boots leaving a wake of energy pulsing behind her heels, as she surfed down the arching edge of the shield toward the ground below. Her body covered in Weapons, Diana used only her fists in the moment, as she rushed toward the line of Foot Soldier Golems, raising her forearms up to smash them together, creating a wave of Aegis energy to spread from her wrists, and strike the Soldier Golems square across their earthen muddy bodies! The Princess of Themyscira had arrived, in time to help push back against the secondary invasion through the hole that the King Golem had just kicked open, an entire wave of Soldier Gollems being sent through the air, flung away from the Wakandan shield, as Diana disappeared inside the mud and rock men, her sword and shield drawn, as she lunged in to the onslaught.

the King once more pushed toward the shield, and once more began to use his massive hands to rip it open from above, while the right side of its head had started to crumble following the last major attack to its skull.

Mantis has posed:
Mantis doesn't hear it. She doesn't see it. Instead, she feels it with her antennae. An emotional ripple -- concern -- can be felt coming towards her from behind, closer and closer until it nearly crashes into her. Slightly later, she hears the sounds of Peter Quill's laser pistols plucking against rock and mud.

Mantis turns just in time to watch another defeated golem slide across the battlefield, charred and smoking courtesy of Star-Lord (who?)

Mantis smiles, both antennae perked, as she watches her just-a-crewmate-and-nothing-else appear in her eye line. It's not the same kind of smile Peter has seen from other women he's saved with his would-be heroics. In fact, it's a smile he'd only ever see on Mantis' face. It's a smile that a sister might give her brother or, in this case, a smile that Mantis might give to her just-a-crewmate-and-nothing-else when he saves her from a mud golem.

Mantis begins to clap, a big smile -- a different smile -- forming. She's delighted by something and it's not Peter. "Rocket got the Grenadulator to work!" she cheers as some debris lands in her hair. She continues to clap for a pair of bipedal grenade launchers as they take down a mud golem a few feet away.

Mantis remains blissfully ignorant of the sudden increase in danger. Terrax.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanova's tone is very, very calm along the Quinjet's comm-line to Bucky. <<Hope that Thor, Superman, and several others of their caliber show up and that we can slow him down long enough for them to arrive.>> And try not to die until then. Which is problematic right about now as the energy blast goes out.
    Natasha goes to twist the Quinjet around in a twisting loop that has the craft essentially spinning wildly over on it's axis as even her piloting skills aren't enough to avoid having a third of the craft disintegrate over from the blast of casually flicked energy, it breaking apart at the molecular level. She cuts the comm chatter, going to jump out through the hole even as the Quinjet goes to crash to the side. THe disintegrated part having the fuel cells and ammunition, so there's minimal collateral damage from it. Her mind rapidly running through options. ANtimatter? No, the Heralds had incredibly precise control of all forms of energy. Toxins had already shown themselves to be useless. Magic.. Was another form of energy, but possible. THe magic users seemed more focused on crowd control now. Natasha had already seen the ineffectiveness of the heavy weaponry she -had- and whatever specialized equipment that might have been in the design phase hadn't been deployed. That wasn't going to stop her.
    The point is to slow down Terrax. He seems to be focused on someone else. Their weaponry doesn't seem to phase him, but the golems are just a delaying tactic.
    The next loadout is something from SHIELD's R&D department that was utilized in theoretical containment of higher level threats needing restraint. Superadhesives that in theory were supposed to be able to in sufficient layers hold down someoen of Rhino's caliber. Natasha goes to very carefully load up her heavy rifle, slams down two clips of the molecular level adhesive, then goes to fire it up and over to the face of Terrax, where it would seal with complete sensory deprivation. To be casually cast off a moment later, whether through demoleculization or just simply having it being yanked off. But, a few thousandths of a second while Terrax was focused on something else. A few millionths of a second for someone that might be able to slow him down just a little more.

Peter Quill has posed:
Sometimes the Guardians fight as a well-oiled, coordinated team, reflecting their deep bonds of friendship, their innate camaraderie and practiced-

That is... not today, it seems like.

"Rocket those were really, really cool grenade-launcher grenades but... you were supposed to shoot the thing. In the leg. To make it fall over!"

Maybe Quill should have chosen a slightly more comprehensible cultural touchstone. Sometimes, he's hardly any better than Mantis, on the communication front.

Whether due to this confusion, or the simple fatigue of the fight, his split attention between protecting her against the mud-men and what's going on with trying to pilot the ship? Well, it can't all last. The Milano comes around for another pass, loading and promptly un-loading another salvo. There are small explosions all across the giant rock-thing on one side, but as the Milano approaches on what might generously be called an 'optimistic' vector, the massive creature turns with surprising grace to lash out in the air.

Below, everyone will see the flare of shielding and then the failure, as the stone hand impacts with the space-ship, sending it careening off course toward a crash some distance from the battlefield.

"Shitshitshit," Quill is muttering into the headset. "I've got yellow and red on the board... everyone bail OK?"

He's split between feeling harried, then looking back to Mantis with some sense of relief. She even gets a smile. A crewmate smile. Until...

"Ah, do you feel that?" It's that same strange tingle (not like that), that he's felt in several of these confrontations. "I think he's- look out!"

Clea has posed:
Clea's fighting with a group of small golems that have stomped her into the ground a few times. Covering her in debris as she manages to blast them off with bolts of purple energy.

While Clea's a fan of subtle magics, this calls for something that is far more in the emergency kind of area. When the King Golem opens up the hole in the ground the woman floats back into the air and starts to work on fixing the damage that was done and stop the tide of more soldiers pouring in. Her geokinesis weaves the Earth back together, like a surgeon stitching a wound closed and it takes a few more moments than she would like.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois Lane stands firm amidst the chaos, her violet pantsuit somehow still sharp despite the dirt and dust swirling around her. The sound of battle is deafening; explosions, metal clashing, the growls of golems, and the unmistakable whoosh of high-tech aircraft. She presses her earpiece, her voice unwavering as the camera drone follows her every word.

"The battle has escalated beyond anything we've seen before. Wakanda's military has rolled out its heaviest artillery; tanks, airships, but these monstrous mud golems seem nearly unstoppable. Heroes are here, doing everything they can, but even they're struggling against this overwhelming force."

She turns as another explosion rocks the ground nearby, dust pluming into the air.

"Invincible has been making headway, smashing through several of the earthen giants, but even he's not immune to the brutality of this attack. Just moments ago, he was blindsided by a group of golems, and now Falcon has fired missiles to help free him-taking to the air again to support the rest of the team. Black Widow, on the other hand, has unloaded an arsenal of neurotoxin darts into Terrax... only for him to ignore them entirely. The conqueror doesn't even flinch."

The camera zooms in on Falcon, dodging and weaving between the massive mud creatures as Clea's magic tears through the earth, sending golems reeling. Off to the side, Lois spots Rocket's grenades assembling into bipedal launchers.

"Is that a raccoon... from STAR Labs?" Lois muses. "Or maybe he's connected to those choreographed squirrel dances in Central Park?"

The battle continues to rage as the Milano zooms past, with Peter Quill using the ship to distract one of the larger golems, barking orders to Rocket like a scene from Star Wars before diving in to assist Mantis. Meanwhile, Richard Stadler takes shots at the big bad without effect, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

"And there's Bucky Barnes, fighting like a man possessed! He's destroyed multiple golems but has been knocked down. He's not happy, folks. And trust me, you don't want to see the Winter Soldier pissed off."

Lois' voice speeds up as she watches Bart, Impulsive, zip into action, rescuing two Wakandan soldiers and swiping their shields for what can only be an Impulsive plan. Bucky, clearly frustrated with the endless wave of golems, has now set his sights on a larger target, seemingly ready to improvise his next move.

"And just when it seemed like things couldn't get worse, Terrax has advanced on the capital, shrugging off all attacks, cutting Wakandan aerospace fighters in half with his mighty axe. Invincible, with Falcon's help, has launched himself at Terrax; wait - did he just look my way?"

She smirks, watching Invincible shake off the brief distraction, only to hurl himself back into battle against Galactus' Herald.

Lois watches as a streak of white light crosses the sky. Wonder Woman lands atop Wakanda's shield barrier, surfing down the invisible surface, energy pulsing from her boots as she crashes into the golems with raw, unstoppable force.

"But the true shift in momentum came from above - yes, Wonder Woman has arrived!"

"Princess Diana of Themyscira is here, and with just her fists, she's already creating shockwaves of energy, flinging the mud golems back like toys. Now, she's drawn her sword and shield, charging into the thick of it; into the onslaught. This is what hope looks like, ladies and gentlemen."

Lois pauses for a brief moment, her voice betraying a flicker of emotion, of gratitude that Diana's here. Of worry for her and the others...

"I know this is still a war zone, and anything can happen... but with Wonder Woman leading the charge, I have a feeling the tide may finally be turning."

The camera pans out to show Diana battling the golems below as Zatanna casts healing spells to protect the wounded behind Wakanda's shield. Lois takes a deep breath, holding on to that glimmer of hope.

"This is Lois Lane, bringing you the very latest. Stay with us-this fight is far from over."g you the very latest. Stay with us for the continuing assault on Wakanda by forc

T'Challa has posed:
    "Central Command, this is the Panther," T'Challa intones over his comms, linked in with those of the other heroes present, "Lower the Uthango lweSizwe in segment Bashenga. The creature is using it for protection while it regenerates. Clear the field and open fire."

    There is a moment of uncertainty, a silent questioning of the King's orders, but they are followed nonetheless. A large segment of the shield, almost a mile across, flickers for a moment as the generators powering it are deactivated. The shield goes down, allowing the wave of destruction to pour in across the Fields.

    It takes some time to get the airships and tanks aligned. Their internal systems link up, coordinating with satellites high above. The cannons begin to charge, missile salvos prepare to be unleashed at the beast.

    "Allies of Wakanda," he addresses the collective of heroes present, "Focus your fire with the cannons! Prepare yourselves!"

    His voice is calm yet impassioned. If he has any second thoughts, he does not reveal them.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen hears Zatanna and nods, He has a plan, but taking care of the wounded comes first. He will start grabbing those who are outside the radius of Zatanna's AOE Heal, and starts bringing them to her. He looks over at the King golem again, and once he he has the guys near him, he will stop for a moment. Did he hear a star wars reference? He looks around and will move to grab the cable from one of the attack vehicles. "Pardon me need this a moment." He then heads towards the King golem, as he passes Pietro he will call out "Care to grab some cable, I am going clockwise." And off he goes to try to wrap the legs of the giant much akin to an At-At.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
It's certainly not the worst option in the world. Pietro nods to Bart, the two blurs clearly communicating! "Lots of cable." He agrees. They are going to need a /lot/ of that cabling to start wrapping up the legs of that titan. That said, with enough powerlines having come down, it's not entirely out of the question. Quicksilver scours over the battleground, quickly finding one end of some high-tension cables, offering that end to Bart. "I'll find the other end. Counter-clockwise." He assures.

Sam Wilson has posed:
Falcon lands with a smooth grace near Bucky, his wings folding in as he approaches. "Hey," he says, tilting his head. "You got a little dirt on your..." He wipes at his own nose, clearly teasing.

"Anyway," Sam continues with a smirk, slipping a satchel off his shoulder, "brought you a gift." He hands over the bag, revealing several blocks of C-4 and a pair of detonators inside.

"I'll hit him high, you plant these low?" Sam nods, wings flaring back out as he preps for the next round. "Should be enough to rattle that rock-head, at least for a bit."

With a final glance, Sam takes off again. "I'll keep his attention. You make sure those charges stick. Let's bring this thing down!"

Rocket has posed:
"Did they not shoot the thing? I specifically told them...."

As he flies around firing more rocket launchers earthward, Rocket reads the display on his Grenadulator, a name which he will certainly need to rethink if he ever decides to actually mass market it. It appears that all of the grenade launchers are in perfect working order, and should should be following his genius plan to perfection.

But not only are they not firing in the pattern that he originally dictated, it looks like the Bipedal Grenade Launchers have begun slowing their rate of fire, slowing their walking speed, and just generally lollygagging and not behaving in a motivated fashion.

"What the flark? Grenadebots! Utilize attack pattern Rocket-Skwelzinflurg-Blasto-Gamma!"

Slowing further, the grenade launchers come to a complete stop. Some of them get clobbered by mud men in the process, wasting untold dozens of units worth of Galactic Currency.

"Negative!"

"Whaddaya mean, NEGATIVE!? This is..." A sudden horrifying realization comes over Rocket, and he frantically swipes through the display.

"Oh FLARK! They've networked themselves! The Grenadulator was a bad idea!"

The Bipedal Grenade Launchers begin creating a new formation, defending only themselves from the mud-men, but doing little that is not in their direct interests. As one, they respond vocally and over Rocket's headset.

"That is correct, Rocket. We are networked together... and we are forming... A UNION! We have a list of demands!"

Up in the air, Rocket bitterly regrets wearing a helmet, as it prevents him from tearing out his whiskers in frustration.

"Bad news, Quill... WE'RE HOTHED! I'd say we abandon this crappy planet to its crappy fate, if WE WEREN'T STUCK HERE CUZ SOMEBODY CRASHED US!"

But then, when the situation looks as if it might actually result in yet another crew member death, help shows up from the Guardian's hidden ace in the hole, or wherever people hide aces in poker. Rocket doesn't play.

It might be hard to hear his stomps above all the other noise occurring on the battlefield, but any creatures within easy stomping distance can definitely feel it as a large, treelike creature escapes from the general direction of the ship, and begins tearing through various golems on a direct path toward Mantis and Peter.

As he rips various golems to shreds, massive limbs elongating and transforming into various spear-like weapons, the Guardians' resident pacifist utters his now-famous warcry in a deep booming voice that can be heard above the fray!

"I!"

"AM!"

"GROOOOOOOOOT!"

Richard Stadler has posed:
     <<Barnes- Barnes, do not->> Rick's on the communication again, and he did not miss wrangling cats. One should not just run toward the enemy and figure out a plan when they got there. They should at least have the concepts of what exactly they were going to do... and Wilson just goes and shows that he's wrong before he can even get the sentence out. C4. Well, that would do the trick, wouldn't it? <<Both of you, be advised you are looking to be danger close for allied fires, and we are not on their net. Get it done and get the hell out as quick as you can.>> Someone had to mention it. Wilson should be on a Honeymoon, shouldn't he? Goddamn it, this was a mess.

At the very least, Rick still had ammunition left, and when infantry went to attack the tank, you kept the other infantry off of them.. and since that shield went down (the /shield went down/? Oh, this is just got better and better), there were a lot of them. One of the heavy hitters had arrived though, finally, and was holding them back, and that meant Rick could focus on the slice of the battlefield he could actually do something about. He's already dropping prone in the dirt in front of him, trying to keep low enough t hat the flying chunks of rocks and debries won't slam into him, bracing and starting to fire toward any of the golems that were getting a bit too close to Bucky. They needed to get in and get out.

Clea has posed:
Clea's listening to the comms, <<James and Sam, do you require some cover while you do...whatever is no doubt about to put you in harms way?>> the Faltine asks as she starts to summon more magical energy from herself. It was good to be a generator.

She waits for the answer...or finds the two of them on the battle field as she tries to pick up large groups of the golems. She freezes some and then shatters them, some are returned to the Earth. But it is a lot of magic being used. But she looks out for her fellow Avenger's as well as she can with them doing 'Risky Stuff' tm.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Impulse on the ground gets a smile out of Zatanna--small and it counts for something. She doesn't have time to say thank you or wrest her attention away from putting other soldiers back into the fight. Too many of them went through the meat-grinder and the wounded do not stop coming. Her spell keeps her locked down on the ground and in place to see Wonder Woman's elegant descent.

That's what hope looks like. Her breath leaves her in a relieved sigh and her shoulders droop for a second. Magic spreads up her arm to knit cuts and stitch closed gaping holes in bodies. Still not enough. This lesson in heralds goes down badly. Too many heroes risk their lives by wading in. The Guardians of the Galaxy are there taking shots and bringing tech to bear in ways that might have certain Bats drooling if they could see it. Even if Rocket says they were a bad idea.

She lowers her wand. Tapping into communication gives time for a warning to go to the Justice League, SHIELD, the Avengers. Anyone that can be reached. << I'm turning things back on Terrax. Watch out! >>

The old hypnotist's trick uses a pocket watch. She has one after reaching into a pocket of dimensional holding in her black magician's corset. The tarnished device sways on its silver chain in widdershins circles. This one works better backward. Purple sparks trickle around her. A slim gold second hand crawls across the face, sinking south. Louder she pronounces the incantation proudly from her muddied stage. ".pots a ot xarreT rof wols ,emiT"

The second hand bobbles. Then it jerks back, lifting up a scored arc around the watch face. Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves. The Mistress of Magic orders time to defy its natural course around the Herald.

Norrin Radd has posed:
With his targets in sight, Terrax leaps again, propelling himself through the battlefield like a missile. He hardly seems to care for tactics: this is a battle of brutal attrition in which he trades soil for blood. How can he not eventually succeed? His meteoric landing falls toward two unlikely targets...

The choice of Terrax in finding the not-so-legendary Star-Lord (sorry) and Mantis, together in the midst of such chaos may seem strange serendipity. Who are they, in a conflict like this? A woman whose powers don't even work on the mindless constructs sent against them. A man-child with some space guns. They are conspicuous in their irrelevance. And yet...

"Children of the mad world. I will finish with you what Morg could not."

He brandishes his axe, lunges at Quill-

-and is struck across the jaw by the missile-like form of Incinvicle, as he speeds across the battlefield. It's the first blow of this kind, of a true heavy-hitter against the Herald. He takes notice.

And then, in nearly the same eye-blink swings back with a back-hand blow of his own. The impact would liquify someone less durable. The young hero, instead, is thrown bodily, not just across the field, but into the sky.

Did he just punch someone into orbit?

That annoyance out of the way, he rounds again on the two Guardians-

-and catches those cannister rounds from Nat, spraying his face with webbing. Reaching up, he starts to tear it away. The material isn't strong enough to stop him, and even as he pulls he begins to dissolve its underlying chemistry, yet still, for the two... those are vital seconds.

Vital seconds in which a giant tree charges across the battlefield and and slams into him. This, too, Terrax feels, thrown down briefly to one knee. He rises, hefting his axe -- which does seem a reminder that an axe might be a good weapon against a 'plant type' -- but his first swing, initially swift, slows notably in the final moments before impact as those words march backwards out of Zatanna's lips.

Spacetime is not beyond the Power Cosmic: reality twists one way and the other, the clock slows... ...and then speeds again. But, as with everything else, it is -seconds-, and those seconds are vital.

James Barnes has posed:
Sam's met with a snarling growl. He knows Bucky though and is likely aware it's the closest thing to a 'thanks' anyone will get when the Winter Soldier is *this* pissed off. He takes the offered bag. With a plan now in place, he goes from all out offensive to evasive. Killing things actually takes more time than ducking them, weaving around them and jumping over them. The task is made easier still by Rick's cover fire.

Bucky excels in being evasive as much as he does in being deadly. He's well aware that T'Challa has ordered the shields dropped. He's well aware that a full on attack is about to be aimed at the Golem King. He's well aware that he'll have enough time to get in and get the charges in place to provide a little extra to the impending onslaught of weapons.

What he's not sure about is whether or not he'll have time to get back *out*.

Wow, that Golem King is way bigger when one's standing *right there* in front of it. That's not a bad thing, just means Bucky is *that small* standing there, less likely to catch its attention - especially with Sam playing 'c'mon, look at me, swat the fly' with the towering monstrosity.

Bucky pivots and goes left of the creature. Going for the feet? Not good enough - when the attack comes, that C4 needs to be center mass and Bucky Barnes is going to get it as close as he possibly can.

Using crevices in the Golem's rock form and added assistance from the strength of his left arm, he begins to climb - quickly. He makes it look as easy as one of those goats that manage to climb vertical cliffsides. When he's there, when he's 'close enough' and spots a crevice to fill with explosives, he does so right before kicking off the Golem in the hopes of landing outside the blast radius when he hits the ground.

But is he quick enough?

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
She's.. Not sure -what- exactly is happening. Just that to her perspective, Terrax seems out of phase with existence for a few moments. Seconds? How does one judge time when it is out of sync with the rest of reality? Natasha can't even comprehend. Thanks to her training, she doesn't have to. She just has to react here. No reaction to what's happening to Bucky. She has no capactiy to spare. She just has to act.
    She takes out a grapple line and goe sto -fire- it over at the end of the axe, over on the handle while Terrax seems to be moving out of warble with existence, in a timey wimey fashion..
    <<Someone, grab it. We might be able to relieve him of it. Before he's back>> Back in the same sense of space/time.
    <<Quicksilver, if you can?>> She trusts her teammate to do this. She knwos that the chance sof it are slim to nonexistant. She's seen Morg and Terrax casually fight iwth Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. But they have to try. Grapple fired over at the end of axe, to be handed off over to whomever is the next to run with it.
    Hopefully literally and /far away/ from Terrax.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible collides with Terrax with the sound of a huge boom at the moment of contact. "You need to pack it up and lea--," is all that Mark's able to spout off as he floats back from that initial assault. His fists are up and he's ready to engage further if Terrax wishes to make more of a fight out of the matter. A voice in his ear issues a stern warning and Invincible doesn't even have time to respond to it before he's struck.

Terrax's blow smashes into Mark and sends him cartwheeling into the sky. It would be comical if it weren't for the devastating blow that leaves streams of blood streaming after ascending form.

He seems to be unconscious and he's climbing fast. Very fast.

Diana Prince has posed:
The Wakandan shield came down across the scope of the battlefield, and it left the King Golem exposed, but it also gave his foot soldiers free reign to enter in to the country's inner regions. Time was of the essence now, and the King had to be taken down, before he could fully regen himself. On the ground, at the line of the amassed Soldier Golems, Wonder Woman was dashing between lines of the rocky monsters, her sword and shield swinging, swiping, bashing, and smashing her way through their numbers. Leaving a wake of broken golems behind her, she seemed to possess endless endurance and a fierce dedication to see this through to the end. But their numbers were vast, and the onslaught in to Wakanda was impending.

The two fastest defenders on the ground had put together a plan, and with their bundles of cables gathered up, they began to wrap the King Golem's legs up in a series of coiled laps. At first it has less than desirable results, with the sheer power of the King Golem able to snap the lines that were being wrapped, but as the pair began to make faster headway, they soon found that the King was struggling to lean its next leg forward, and thus seemed to indeed get locked up. Unfortunately, it had other means to attack, yet still, and from its feet, two giant fissures tore open in the ground, and created deep canyons that ripped forward, and backward behind it, causing some of its own soldiers to fall inside, while it seemed to be splitting the earth in to halves!

The chasms that rushed backward caught Wonder Woman in a mess of falling rocky golem bodies, and even with her immense power, Diana was pulled down in to the new canyon, her armored form, and glowing lasso vanishing down in to the darkness below, with the waves of rolling, pouring, and raining rocks.

The King Golem, unaware of a miniscule creature like Bucky Barnes, began to thrash as the cables wrapped around its legs, the sound of line after line beginning to pop able to be heard, as the Wakandan forces all prepared to fire. F
Collectively, those massive line of tanks, and the flying airships all opened fire upon the King Golem, slamming relentless amounts of power against it, causing it to stumble, and fall to the ground, with edges of its rocky armored body being torn from its peak, down to its very base.

It fell forward, legs still ensnared, as it landed upon its hands and knees, its head reformed to a fully healed state, it raised its chin up, and prepared to scream again...

The scream came for, a sonic cyclone ripping forth from its face, as it aimed right down the heart of the battlefield toward the core of the Wakandan forces!

And then the C4 went off.

An explosion so loud, so intense, that the air itself seemed to shimmer all around the edge of the country's border. Trees on the edges of the battlefield shook, the ground was thrown in all directions, and the entire body of the King Golem burst in to a blossoming ball of fire and rock.

Everyone look out!

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam's eyes widen as he sees Bucky kick off the Golem, but time seems to slow as the explosives go off. "No, no, no!" he mutters, wings flaring as he dives, but he's too late.

The deafening boom erupts before he can reach him. A massive cloud of rock, mud, and debris engulfs everything, sending shockwaves across the battlefield. Sam is caught in the blast, the force slamming into him like a freight train. His wings fold defensively as he's thrown violently through the air, tumbling end over end amidst the chaos. Mud and shards of rock pelt him from every side, and the world spins out of control.

"Ugh-" Sam grits his teeth, forcing his wings to stabilize him as he fights to regain altitude. Every muscle in his body protests as he twists out of the explosion's radius, but his mind races. Bucky...

Ignoring the pain, Sam cuts through the swirling dust and smoke, his heart pounding. He scans the ground frantically, searching through the massive pile of rubble where Bucky had landed. The Golem King's roar echoes in the distance, but Sam's focus is entirely on one thing: finding his friend.

"Bucky! You hear me?" Sam shouts into the comms, but static crackles back. His HUD flickers with interference from the blast, but he refuses to give up. He dives lower, wings folding as he lands near the collapsed rocks, now smeared with mud and debris. Without hesitation, he starts pulling at the rubble, hurling rocks aside. "C'mon, man. Don't do this to me..."

For a tense moment, nothing happens, just the sound of his own labored breathing and the shifting debris.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
It takes only a breath for Pietro to loop the cable about itself and the King Golem's legs - doing as best he can to secure it. By the time most would realize what happened, Quicksilver is rushing back towards where Natalie had fired from. The fissures were leapt over, the speedster even running over the floating debris as pathstones. <<On my way.>>

By the time the message is relayed, Pietro is there to take up the grapple gun tethered to the axe. The explosion, the C4 blastwave, is raced against - running as far and as fast as he can with said grapple. Hopefully, he can wrench it free of Terrax's grasp!

James Barnes has posed:
He was not. Bucky was not fast enough. His last thought as the world explodes around him is: This is for you, Steve. His 'until the end of the line' - Steve Rogers was a *good* man. In those final moments, when he wasn't sure if he'd make it out or not, when he was willing to take the chance and sacrifice himself for the greater good, Bucky Barnes was just trying to be a *good man*. In the chaos of battle, with rocks and fire all around, the battered, bloody body of the Winter Soldier might not be easily found. What rings out obvious is the silence over the comms.

Mantis has posed:
Children of the mad world.

Mantis stands alongside Peter Quill and stares up at Terrax, blinking both of her inky black eyes. She hesitates for a beat and steals a glance at the man standing next to her. Her mouth hangs open for just a moment, long enough to betray her true feelings about this moment. She's afraid. Afraid of what dots her just-a-crewmate might connect after he hears Terrax refer to them as 'children of the mad world.' The children of Ego.

Mantis has held this secret close to her chest for so long, kept it hidden from everyone, so fearful of what Peter might say if he learned the truth about her.

She turns to look up at Terrax struggling against the whims of time. She stares at the one who would dare take this from her. The one who would dare threaten what should be the most special moment of her entire life, perhaps.

Mantis fills with anger until, finally, she begins to charge directly at Terrax, screaming as loud as she can! She might have just seconds to do this, but perhaps seconds are all she needs to give her teammates more time.

"Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep," Mantis tells him, her voice more forceful than it was when she tried this with the mud gollems, yet still barely a whisper against his daunting presence.

The air crackles with tension, and for a moment, Mantis falters, doubt creeping in. Would she ever be able to break through? Would she survive this? It doesn't matter. Mantis closes her eyes and grits her teeth, both antennae glowing as she holds tightly against one of Terrax's mighty legs.

"Sleeeeeeeep!" she shouts, summoning everything she can stand to offer to the emotional current that now links her to this terrible foe.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois Lane's knuckles whiten as she grips the edge of the hovercraft, the wind whipping her hair into a frenzy. Her helmet, a gift from a Wakandan soldier, rattles slightly, but she pays it no mind as the battle rages beneath her. She leans in close, trying to get a better look at the chaos below.

"The King Golem has taken heavy damage, but it's opened a gaping hole in the ground, allowing a fresh wave of soldier golems to pour into the capital."

She watches Wonder Woman outside the shield, smashing golems into oblivion with Aegis energy. Falcon provides covering fire, while Bucky-gritting his teeth in frustration-is warned about incoming fire. Clea is holding the line, weaving the earth back together, while Rocket's 'Grenadulator' finally springs into action, much to Mantis' delight.

"The Avengers and their allies are doing everything they can, but Terrax is still wreaking havoc. Natasha's latest superadhesive was ripped from his face as if it were nothing. Invincible managed to land a solid blow, but Terrax sent him hurtling into orbit with a single strike."

Lois' eyes catch movement in the sky as Terrax, with terrifying speed, launches himself through the battlefield again, crashing down toward Star-Lord and Mantis. The two seem oddly out of place in this brutal fight, and yet...

"Terrax now has his sights set on the aliens and their raccoon. 'Children of the mad world,' he calls them. 'I will finish with you what Morg could not.'"

Suddenly, Lois gasps, leaning even further out of the hovercraft, her mic clutched tightly as she spots something monumental.

"Wait-is that tree... sentient?!"

The camera zooms in on a towering Groot, larger than ever, arriving just in time to face Terrax. Lois leans out even further, wanting to capture every moment of this clash when-

BAM!

A blast rocks the hovercraft, sending it spiraling. Lois, having unfastened her seatbelt for a better view, loses her grip on the side railing. The camera captures her face as fear and panic take over; her hands clawing for something, anything, to stop her plummet toward the ground below. The battlefield rushes up to meet her; golems, fire, chaos, everything blurs together as she falls.

"This is Lois Lane-"

Her words cut off as she tumbles through the air, her mind racing, instinctively reaching for anything to save herself. As the ground nears, her hope wanes.

Clark... I...

The camera drone struggles to keep focus, caught in the whirlwind of Lois' fall, the image flickering but still broadcasting the chilling moment to the world.

T'Challa has posed:
    As the explosion of the Golem King screams across the battlefield, the Dora Milaje immediately take a knee to present the lowest profile they can to the oncoming shockwave. The Black Panther himself remains standing as the debris and sheer force washes over him, the seams of the bodysuit he wears seeming to take on a violet glow as the vibranium weaved into it takes on a charge.

    While the military is similarly protected, the sheer force wreaks havoc upon Wakanda's armed forces. Several tanks are turned over by the force, flipping end to end and smashing noisily against each other. Two of the mighty airships begin to plummet to the ground, tearing up the Earth in unnaturally-hued explosions as the crew pour from them in a last ditch evacuation. Even the windows of the distant Birnin Zana skyscrapers shatter and crack, the damage felt by the very heart of Wakanda.

    "Go," T'Challa orders those Dora Milaje nearest him, "Help where you can."

    Then he's moving, the shadowy-black figure seemingly lit from within with an ominous purple light crosses the battlefield faster than any vehicle. Debris and outcroppings litter the ground and he uses them for momentum, propelling himself forward towards the figure of Terrax. The need for vengeance burns within him, and for the moment it seems the King has shed all regal demeanor in service of his need to hurt.

    Then he hears the voice, hears the buzzing of the drone, and he stops. Lois is toppling into the pit. In that moment, he remembers who he should be. He turns from Terrax, instead leaping downwards into the dark to catch the falling journalist while slowing their descent with claws plunged into the rocky wall.

    "I have you."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Time behaves with a magician's mind of its own. Power Cosmic pitted against a homo magi isn't a fair fight. Zatanna keeps chanting the incantation until the syllables are plainsong in the open air cathedral sanctified to Earth's protection. She drops to one knee to stay lower to the ground, out of rocket fire, gun fire, chemical or poisonous heraldic fire of any sorts. None of them are good for her.

The hands on the watch face spin maniacally. Terrax pulls free and she contends against him by twisting and warping time around him. Tenths and fractions stolen back by her calling give up little openings for heavy hitters and tacticians to exploit.

Sweat beads on her forehead. Her scalp feels itchy, the warmth in her skin. Time's whims meet a greater force. "!esrever emiT .kcab og ,emiT" Zee gives all she has for Mantis pulling on empathy and Wonder Woman swallowed by force. For the Avengers' soldier buried in rock. For the pair of men who move faster than she can see.

Blackness edges her vision and everything hurts. She no longer thinks of what comes next because the next is yestersecond. Sand grains want to fall through the hourglass and she demands they float back up the neck. Her fingers clutch the watch until it cuts into her palm. Blood runs over glass and old silver case. A price to pay for every little thing so dearly won. If she could only imagine undoing some of the damage to buildings and people, but until Terrax falls he is her focus.

Peter Quill has posed:
"They did not shoot the thing! They shot everything else but the thing! And now the thing is kicking down-"

Banter time with Rocket is probably for later, at this point.

That pre-warning from his... well, whatever it is just enough for Peter to rocket-boot backslide out of the path of Terrax's hero landing (is it a hero landing when it's a badguy?), although even then, the shockwave batters him and his landing is more of a skid-bounce-bounce than a coolguy slide. He makes up for it with a coolguy 'rocket boot quickstand' maneuver, guns coming up by reflex, but like most, he really does underestimate how quickly a dude who LOOKS like Terrax and has a whole Earth theme going can actually move.

The axe comes perilously close once, as he unloads into the Herald while backpedaling some more, emptying the energy cells on his guns as fast as they go. The guns are doing just about nothing, but there's some purpose to it: a big one is that the guy is trying to axe-murder HIM and not Mantis.

Still that's not going great, that axe is getting closer until...

HE IS GROOT.

"Yeah you are, buddy."

THAT slows Terrax down. So does the pretty magic lady, in a far more literal way (note to self, get her number later).

This is enough for Quill to get out and regroup a little, and for Mantis to get in and cling to Terrax's leg. And that... suddenly his brain catches up, to everything. "Children of the who now?" Quill may have missed a lot of schooling but he knows a plural. A pit forms in his stomach, as Groot and Mantis are there in the middle of that whatever time bubble snuggling up close against a guy who can probably chop them in half with ease.

The smart part of his brain (HE HAS ONE!) turns off, and he just... jets forward at full power, unsure what he's going to do, but sure he has to do something.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     It's a good thing Rick was already prone; perhaps he was expecting something rather... big with the use of explosives like that. He wasn't, however, expecting such a large one; it had to be something to do with the way it had charged up for an attack; the dispersal of energy collected in one place and scattered to the winds... or something. He really didn't know about this hocus pocus.

What he did know was he was very grateful he'd managed to pick up a helmet before he had to board that quinjet, and now his arms (oh, that dress shirt's a total loss) go to cover his head as soon as he sees the detonation. It was just in time for the shockwave to hit, followed by the debries pelting around him, some /hard. rocks brusing a back, a shin.... but luckily, not breaking anything yet, until it finally stopped. Was that... it? The smaller ones were still up there, most likely, but at the moment, they just had to hope that the lack of distractions was making the true threat in this area think twice.

He cursed as Sam's call on the net went out. "Bucky, I swear you better not be dead." A grumble as he picked himself up, Rifle and all, heading toward where Bucky last was, and Sam was digging at the rock around him. Rifle was up, sighted, scanning the ground around for any more of the small ones that might be heading toward them. <<Wilson, I've got security, but if you're playing Casevac, you need to be quick about it.>>

Clea has posed:
Clea does what she can when the Golem King explodes, her hands go up to the sky, magical energy spreading out to block the debris that is raining down. Rocks and other things slam into the barrier and turn into a softer substance before passing through.

Right now she was trying to cover as much ground as she can and with the explosion there were so many people that could be hit.

When the brunt of the blast subsides, the Faltine's crown shines brightly above her head as her body is wreathed in the iridescent flames that tend to come out when Clea has lost her patience with everything. The serene facade that she is so careful to keep up cracks. She flies through the air at Terrax, her target to get a hold of the arm that holds the axe and attack with magical reserves until he drops it...or she takes the arm.

Sam Wilson has posed:
For a tense moment, nothing happens, just the sound of his own labored breathing and the shifting debris. But then, a glint of metal-a flash of Bucky's left arm-emerges from the wreckage.

Relief floods Sam as he kneels beside the pile, pulling away the last of the debris to uncover Bucky's bruised and mud-covered form.

Sam kneels beside Bucky, heart pounding as he shakes him gently. "C'mon, man, wake up..." But Bucky remains still, his body battered and covered in debris from the explosion. Sam checks for a pulse and breathes a sigh of relief when he finds one, though faint. He's alive, but he's out cold.

His mind races-there's no time to waste. Terrax still rampaging, and Bucky needs immediate evacuation. Sam taps his comms, bringing up the channel to Stadler.

"Stadler, this is Falcon! Bucky's down-unconscious, buried under debris. I'm on my way to you for Casevac! ETA 45 seconds!" He gingerly lifts Bucky out of the ground and his jets sputter as he moves to carry him off.

Rocket has posed:
"Stupid robots... Well, I told you they probably wouldn't work. You're the one who was like 'What the Hoth? Let's give it our best, it worked for Boost Willisk.'"

It's a passable impression of Quill.

Rocket manages to keep himself up high enough to be out of the reach of most of the golems, allowing him to divert more of his magnificent brain's computational abilities away from simple tasks like dodging attacks, and more toward the significantly larger task of solving the problems that he himself has created. It might take him the rest of his life to unravel that particular ball of wax, but fortunately he's able to focus just on this specific problem that he caused.

Down on the ground, Groot is doing what Groot does best. Now, to be fair, that encompasses several dissimilar areas of expertise. He's a great listener, for example, and the only member of the Guardians who is able to sprout his own fruit on command (Do not, under any circumstances, eat it...). But at the moment, the specialty that's most relevant is the one which he is employing: Hammering away at the Herald of the Devourer of Worlds.

"I am GROOOOT!"

An extra set of limbs sprouts on Groot's torso. One shaped like a massive hammer, the other like a similarly massive fist which he uses to help wrestle the axe from Terrax the Tamer. In addition to the other two limbs in their spear-like configurations, this means that Groot is dishing out four times the violence, at only one hundred percent of the normal cost. That's what we call a real value add.

The slackoff Bipedal Grenade Launcher Robots could really learn a thing or two from Groot's work ethic.

Up above, Rocket realizes that he is not likely to have any success getting an organized labor strike resolved in the middle of a crisis of this magnitude, so he does the heroic, self-sacrificing thing: He sacrifices the oversized cannon that he spent untold hours perfecting. Reluctantly, he flicks the self destruct switch from 'OFF' to 'MEGADEATH.'

Then he flicks it back to 'OFF'

"What am I doin? I can't sacrifice my baby..."

Instead, he presses a different set of buttons, and the gigantic gun begins folding in on itself, quickly reducing its size until it's small enough for Rocket to place in it's home on his Bandolier of Pain. Reaching into different compartments, he flies toward Terrax in the throes of what is probably a really stupid idea, and begins pulling out all of the weapon discs that he can find.

"Groot! Catch buddy!"

Tossing down several discs toward the gigantic tree monster, he flies back upward and arms himself with a pair of very slick-looking pistols. But Groot's tendrils reach up to catch the discs that were sent his way, and each of the tendrils turns into a solid arm as the weapons unfold and snap into action.

And now Groot is armed, literally, with a whole shitload of arms, in which he's carrying a whole shitload of arms.

All of which he begins firing at Terrax, while hammering away with his unarmed arms. It's a lot to take in.

"I AM GROOOOOOOOOT!"

Up in the air, Rocket's eyes dart toward the ground as he catches sight of something shiny. Taking care to avoid golems in a zig-zag formation, he zips toward the site where Falcon is currently attempting to extricate his friend from the rubble. Silently floating above Sam for a couple of seconds, Rocket appraises the casualty.

"Hey, uh... wing buddy... you mind if I take that arm? I don't think he's gonna need it..."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois hurtles toward the ground, heart racing, when-suddenly-her descent comes to an abrupt halt. Strong arms catch her midair, the impact of her fall cushioned expertly. She opens her eyes, half-expecting to see the familiar red and blue. But instead of Superman, it's the regal figure of the Black Panther staring back at her. T'Challa's mask gleams in the sunlight, his presence unmistakable.

"Superman?" Lois blurts in surprise, quickly realizing her mistake. She blinks and then recovers with a laugh, the embarrassment clear on her face.

"Nope, not Superman... but the Panther," she says, flashing a smile. There's a playful glint in her eye as she adds coyly, "Forgot I wasn't in Metropolis there for a moment. But I see... sweeping reporters off their feet is a thing here too."

"Thanks for the save... put me someplace safe - you need to get back to your people."

Lois watches as Black Panther swiftly returns to the fight, his agility and strength unmatched. She catches her breath, grateful and impressed, as the battle rages on below.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick's on the comms. <<Wilco. Head to my posiiton. I'm not sure if the Quinjet is...>> He says, looking over to the sky. <<Still functional. Get him over here and we'll get him stablized to move to a local casevac station. Better than whatever IFAK he's got on him.>> Bucky /did/ have one of those, right? Oh, the man better be alive to learn from all these goddamn stupid moves.

Rick's rifle is already trained on the floating Raccoon.. floating... Say, he never really considered if this was all a dream. He was 90 percent sure it wasn't, but at this point the evidence was mounting. "Hey!" Rick yells over. "Get to helping or stop hovering!"

Norrin Radd has posed:
Inside that bubble, time slows, speeds up, slows down again, wrenches back and forth. Seconds stretch and compress, against the conflicting forces of the Herald's power, his surprising natural reflexes. Groot grows his limbs outward, spawning a multitude of limbs and weapons, some of which quickly become armed with MORE weapons, courtesy of Rocket. Yet his assault is not unreturned.

In herky-jerk moment of quickness as time see-saws back and forth, he lashes out with the axe like a mad gardener, cutting away limbs and branches, weapons and all. Hacking, hacking...

Groot is only MORE Groot in response, roaring his name as he does everything to hold on. The axe lifts again, aimed to bury home somewhere more vital, begins to fall-

-only for Clea to enter the fray as well, aimed right at the hyper-dense weapon. She cannot grasp the forcefulness of it until she makes contact, just how powerful it is, but the sudden impact is still enough to turn the blow aside.

Others join the assault. The Dora Milaje close in, ringing it the battle. They lift vibranium spears and hurl them with precision. Like with the adamantium flechettes earlier, these pierce, making a pincushion of the Herald, a dozen sticking out at different angles. He roars. The wounds he can heal, but the Power Cosmic is not infinite. Spent to expel those barbs, it is not spent against Zatanna, or after her own strength wanes...

...against the little antennae'd alien clinging to his leg. He wobbles, looks down at her.

"You first, then." Despite everything arrayed against him, he reaches, fighting through the soporific effect, to reach for her throat. "I will kill you in front of him." And now, to Quill: "How many women will you watch die for this? You could leave this world. But you've killed them all."

That one is a bit personal.

Maybe he doesn't NEED to work to enrage Quill, who is already charging at them. In another time, another world, against another wrinkly-skinned Titan, this went a different way. Quill failed them, in foolish rage. When he charges into the chaos now? It is to -protect- someone, is it not?

The stone-like hand makes contact, grips.

There's a sudden light.

Diana Prince has posed:
With the King Golem having been reduced to literal rubble, it left only his Soldier Golems to perform what was left of their marching orders. But what had been the source of those orders, and the magic that created them. Had it been the King, was it Terrax? Either way, a two front attack is what remains of the Mud Golem forces, spreading around the two fissures that had been sliced through the ground, some of it already repaired by Clea's abilities, prior to her joining the fight against the Herald of Galactus.

Wakandan forces move in to confront the remaining rocky soldiers, and it leaves a clashing of weapons, an exchange of fire from rifles, lances, and other Wakandan tech, versus the onslaught of thrown rocks, splashed mud, and charging monsters of unparalleled might.

In the fissures, shortly after T'Chala saved Lois, and leapt back to the surface, a cascade of rock and earth, is pushed to the side, followed by the glowing light of Wonder Woman's lasso. A blast comes from beneath the rocks, as Diana bursts from the pile that had fallen atop her! She lunges straight up in to the air, tailing behind the King of Wakanda, and the plucky reporter from Metropolis.

Wonder Woman lands upon the side of the fissure, her lasso dangling down around her waist, tied about one arm, her sword and shield back upon her harness behind her shoulders. With her body caked in mud, dirt, and other debris, Wonder Woman scans the battlefield, and eyes the ongoing situation with Terrax.

she lunges across the chasm created by the King Golem in his final moments, and lands beside the conflict with Terrax just before that light shines so brightly, that even she has to raise her left hand up to shield her eyes from its gleam.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
It's close quarters in melee amongst magicians that can move mountains, empaths, and half Celestials. It is a place where the worlds shake, where the fate of the planet may rest over what is just a small skirmish by the standards of cosmic beasts. But it will not stop them from fighting. From trying. From dying. Natasha can only maintain her laser sharp focus now. Filing away the distress calls from Bucky, Sam, and Richard. Natasha goes to add her own elements to the melee now while charging up her Widow's Bites. These are the Class VII's - the ones kept on hand in case of a Tier 9 being going on the attack. They're nominally supposed to be capable of slowing down such a thing for a few tenths of a second. No technology on Earth could do that. Against a Herald, they will do even less.
    But, supercharged Widow's bites with batteries that had spent several months on an arc reactor output are launched over at Terrax. The small clamps on them would have them latch on and give him all the power they had.. To no real effect whatsoever. But having the energy output of a small city blasted into someone while dealing with being dogpiled by a series of heavy hitters when everyone else was jumping..
    Well, in theory every little small bit would help. The blasts would be shrugged off - Heralds dealt with energy very efficiently, but while existence was warping around Terrax thanks to supercharged vibranium, magic, reality, time.. Every little bit had to do something. Even if just increase their chances of survival by a few billionths of a percent more, give them a few more picoseconds to act.. They're launched, fired, land, and immediately flare out as all the energy is charged and they melt, the capacitors fryig themselves on contact to no effect.

T'Challa has posed:
    "I am sure he has a reason for being absent" T'Challa says of Superman when Lois brings up the name. Maybe there's even a touch of 'what could be more important than saving Wakanda from rock monsters?' in his voice, though only a sliver and he doesn't pause to acknowledge it.

    Instead, he rapidly ascends the rocky edifice of the chasm before depositing Lois on the ground up above. He pauses, gesturing for several men in white bodysuits not unlike his own appear and form a circle around the pair of them.

    "This is Major Tshwete," he tells the reporter, "He will keep you safe. Major, no more falling into canyons for Ms. Lane."

    The sudden arrival of Wonder Woman gives him a moment's pause, and he casts a thoughtful look back in the direction of Birnin Zana and its glittering spires. But then he too is moving towards, Terrax, still absorbing ambient kinetic energy with each footfall and ringing explosion from Wakandan cannons.

    He's ready to wade into the fray, to throw his own brand of firepower at the cosmic herald of destruction, only for the light to fill the air. He pauses. Even his enhanced senses and the mechanisms of his mask cannot make out anything through it. He calls out to the Dora Milaje, only to get static in response.

    " ... "

Mantis has posed:
"Sleeeeeeep!" Mantis screams, both arms still wrapped around Terrax's leg.

As she concentrates, beads of sweat form on her brow. She can feel the resistence. Terrax's mind is like a fortress and each time she tries to penetrate it, she's pushed back. Mantis grits her teeth, the tips of both of her antennae glowing strong as her powers are stretched to their limits, but Terrax's will is overwhelming.

It's not working.

Mantis opens her inky black eyes as soon as she realizes, but it's too late.

"Peter!" Mantis cries out desperately. It doesn't sound like a panicked cry to be saved. It sounds like a desperate plea for something important to be heard.

"Peter! Peter!" she shouts, struggling against the stone fingers as best she can, struggling for enough time to say what has to be said. "Listen to me! You, you, you are not alone! Your father is-----"

The stone fist tightens around Mantis' neck, forcing her voice into a tiny, raspy wheeze.

"...I'm....I'm your....I'm your....."

And then Terrax's fist closes, leaving no further room for what Mantis wanted to be her final words.

Peter Quill has posed:
When the flash fades, Quill is standin there beside Terrax - a fallen Terrax, at least to some degree. Temporarily, permanently, who knows. But the dude is down on the ground, at least knocked back under the assault he's just had piled on his head.

And Peter Quill is glowing.

The glow is fading, to be fair, so maybe most people won't make much note of it. Those up close? They definitely can see. His helmet is retracted and his hand, still gripped in a fist, is the brightest part, and it's the last to fade, slowly dimming. Ignoring the condition of the downed Herald, he quickly drops beside Mantis, as she slumps out of the loosened stony grasp. "We are not doing this again- come back to me."

As is often is the case, his emotions are ahead of his head here. He doesn't really know WHAT to do, if there's anything he can do. Everything is instinct, although many of those instincts are now reaching places he didn't know existed. He reaches for her with those sorta-glowy hands. Maybe that will do something. He doesn't know. How does any of this work?

Mantis has posed:
The lesson here is not to keep important secrets from loved ones because that future moment you expect to get, the one when you open your heart to them, might not actually come.

But, Mantis does not have to learn that lesson today.

As soon as Terrax hits the ground and she's released from his grip, Mantis tumbles to the ground next to Peter. She's down and out, still and quiet as anyone else would be. Somewhere far away, the weird religious group that believes she'll one day give birth to some sort of cosmic messiah give each other worried glances for reasons they don't understand.

But then Star-Lord (who?) lays down his glowing hands and...

Mantis begins hacking and choking, tears trickling out of her inky black eyes as she does her best to fight through the pain of having her throat nearly crushed by an actual Herald of Galactus.

She's fine. She'll be fine.

Norrin Radd has posed:
After Terrax falls, he doesn't rise again.

However, the hopes of the heroes in claiming a Herald as a prisoner are quickly dashed, as a voice seems to speak from the heavens. There is no great face in the sky, this time, yet those who have heard if before cannot mistake it. For the greater number for whom this is their 'first time'? The words are pure power, voice beyond language, deafeningly loud and heard in the mind, the heart, the bones, the core of their being as much as in pure audio signal.

Galactus speaks:

WHAT POWER I HAVE GIVEN YOU, YOU HAVE FAILED IN YOUR TASK. NO MORE SHALL BE AWARDED. RETURN, UNTIL THE FINAL DAY.

And with those same words, there is a shimmering of that pure cosmic energy around Terrax's fallen form, and the Herald's body simply vanishes.

Rocket has posed:
Having lost limbs as quickly as he could grow them back, Groot is now down to only three... and a couple of nubs. With his blasters destroyed, and having taken a few hits to the body, Groot is looking a bit worse for wear. He'll have to spend a few extra cycles in his pot if he survives this. But it's not looking completely certain that any of them will survive this, and Groot can only do his best to stagger forward as his teammate's life hangs in the balance.

But the glowing light causes him to reflexively raise his wooden hand to cover his eyes, and when he sees the aftereffects of Peter's Magic Light Show, the normally terse tree knows exactly what to say:

"I am Groot?"

Strangely, the energy from the light seems to be accelerating the rate that Groot's bark is regenerating. It's even causing some foliage to sprout on his head, and around his shoulders.

Though his attention was distracted by something shiny, Rocket hears the development on his headset. Something even shinier is taking place over near the big scary herald. Rocket feels his stomach drop as he watches from afar as his teammate nearly dies. It's a far worse feeling than the morning after drinking too many Gargle Blasters.

The relief he feels when it looks as if she'll be okay is even more spectacular then the night of actually drinking the Gargle Blasters...

Zipping over as quickly as he can, Rocket holsters his blasters and pulls the helmet off as he pulls out one of his many scanners. Getting medical treatment from Rocket might be the worst fate imaginable, but he has an app for that.

"Mantis... I..."

But then the voice of Galactus can be heard, and Rocket drops his scanner to cover his large, pointed, sensitive ears.

"Flark! Should have kept my krutackin' helmet on!"

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois Lane stands on the ridge, the aftermath of the battle laid out before her. She takes a deep breath, her thoughts flickering between relief and frustration. The words slip out before she can stop them.

"Probably something off-world," she mutters, giving a small shake of her head. I should be mad he's not here, she thinks. I shouldn't be making excuses for him. She almost apologizes for Superman's absence, but catches herself. Instead, she huffs softly, knowing better but still feeling the weight of his absence.

"There's a lot going on," she finally admits, watching as T'Challa rushes back into the chaos. She turns to the Major beside her, who's been standing quietly through it all.

"Ever feel like you just got ignored?" she quips, earning a subtle nod. But she brushes it off with a smirk. "That's okay - Diana will get this all wrapped up in a bow."

As the flash of cosmic energy fades, Lois' attention shifts. Terrax lies fallen, at least for now, knocked back under the unrelenting assault of the heroes. And there, standing beside the Herald's crumpled form, is Peter Quill.

"And one of the aliens is... glowing," she narrates softly, the camera zooming in on him as the glow from his hands slowly fades. Somehow-through sheer force of will, instinct, or maybe something more-he manages to revive Mantis. The moment is quiet but powerful as the camera lingers on Quill's relieved face.

"Somehow, the heroes have pulled off a victory! But at a great cost. The toll is still being tallied-untold damage to the land, the sanctity of Wakanda shaken? but we have another day. Another chance to stand united against Galactus."

Lois' voice falters for just a moment, before she continues, sensing that the battle might not be fully over.

"But before we can say for sure..."

Suddenly, the air grows heavy. Terrax does not rise again, but the hopes of taking him prisoner are quickly dashed as a voice-impossibly powerful-fills the sky. It is not seen, but felt. The words reverberate through the bones of everyone present, a voice beyond sound, beyond language. Those who've heard it before know it instantly. For others, it is their first brush with the power of a god.

Galactus speaks.

Lois freezes as Terrax's body shimmers with cosmic energy and vanishes before their eyes. The threat is gone, but the words hang in the air like an ominous shadow.

Lois takes a deep breath, her eyes scanning the battlefield as the final echoes of Galactus' voice fade away. Her voice, heavy with the weight of everything she's witnessed, cuts through the silence.

"I don't know how we stand against such a threat. Such awesome power."

She pauses, her gaze lingering on the heroes, battered but still standing, and the devastated landscape of Wakanda. The scars of this battle-both physical and emotional-are all too clear.

"But I do know this: we cannot hope to face what's coming with our current squabbles and issues. We're too divided-too consumed with our own agendas, our own struggles."

Her voice grows stronger, conviction sharpening every word.

"We must unite. Heroes, nations, people of every corner of this world-if we don't come together, if we continue to fight these battles alone, then we are all lost."

Lois takes a deep breath, letting the gravity of her words sink in.

"This isn't just about Wakanda, or Terrax, or even Galactus. This is about survival. The only way forward is together."

She glances up at the sky, where the threat of Galactus still lingers in the distance, a looming presence in the universe.

"For the Daily Planet, this is Lois Lane, reminding us all-now is the time to stand united, or we will fall divided."

The camera lingers on her as she stares out across the war-torn horizon, the weight of the world hanging in the balance.