Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 92: Falling Sky

Chapter Ninety-Two

Falling Sky

Svatea-Acram Nebula

Any other day the sight would have filled Tony with something ridiculously close to awe. Today the vast blue, purple and yellow shape left him cold. Not the cold of indifference, but the burning coldness of rage. Because this was it, the Other was here, Loki was here.

It took too long to get here.

'What exactly are we waiting for?' Hatchet asked. 'We need to go!'

'And what area should we start with to cover all hundred and eighty hundred million square miles of the planet?' Tony asked him in return.

He and Hatchet were taking turns being the most agitated person on-board. They both went through all negative emotions that could possibly exist, from anger to apathy, only to start all over again every few days like the most fucked up mental merry-go-around. Tony was in his disconcertingly calm stage, while Hatchet was more on the raging like a madman side of anger at the moment. The elf was eager to move and kill something. Tony was more than sure that he was going to slip into that sort of mood too as soon as he had a target.

'If I may continue,' Drongo said before Hatchet could speak again. He was still calm of course, despite being interrupted so many times already.

'Yes, you were talking about the asteroid field,' Steve told him.

'Which is the debris left behind from the three moons of Acram that were destroyed some decades ago,' Drongo said. 'Which is why the surface is constantly showered with meteorites.'

'Who lives in a place like this?' Rhodey asked.

'No one,' Drongo said. 'The people of Acram left their planet hundreds of years ago. The sun is a nebula now, soon it will be but a dwarf and the planet will be too cold for even the remaining vegetation and animals to survive.'

'A dying star and a dying planet,' Steve nodded. 'Why is the Other here? It's not a good base for an army.'

'No, I'm afraid we have something much worse waiting for us,' Drongo said.

Drongo turned grim as soon as they slowed down and he saw where they've arrived. They were not exactly in the Fornax Galaxy anymore, but they were close enough for Drongo to know a thing or two about the area. He only had to take one look at the nebula to recognize it.

'What could be worse than an army?' Juyu asked. There was some disbelief in her tone, but mostly just trepidation, because Drongo never threw words around lightly.

'The people of Acram used to be a terrible force to be reckoned with,' Drongo said. 'It was said that the only thing that rivalled their enormous fleet was the fortress they have turned their planet into. Their technology allowed them to send out all of their forces into battles fought far, while their cities were protected by machines.'

'I really don't like where this is going,' Bruce commented quietly. Tony felt the same way.

'The people may be gone now, leaving their cities quiet as tombs, but if the Other found a way to re-activate all of their weapons and machines, well...' he trailed off. He did not need to finish the sentence for everyone to understand.

There were all silent for a moment, considering the words.

'If we simply fly close they're gonna tear us apart before we even reach the surface,' Steve said.

'It is a possibility,' Drongo said. 'I have no way to know how much of the planet's defences are working, since it's been many years, but it must be why the Other chose this planet.'