For Odin, for Thor, for Asgard Page 6
*
The Tolden elder’s mind snapped out of its reverie and back to the present moment. He looked among the heavens sensing the visitors even before they were detected by his and Urrle’s technologies.
Urrle looked up in silence and in awe.
Three very majestic human type physical forms descended planetward at almost leisurely pace. One resplendent upon a large many legged unknown animal form. Another in some form of chariot device conveyed by equally unknown but smaller animal forms. The third of the three entities simply levitated downward without any apparent means of transport.
The old man, the Tolden elder, knelt and cried. He knew that here now were the savours of the Brell. Coming, after all this time, to claim what was theirs.
“Lords,” he called out to them as he bowed even lower, as low as his venerable frame would allow him. The apparently eldest of the three majestic forms motioned for him to rise. While another of the entities, neither the eldest nor the youngest, raised his hand and the hammer artefact whose inertia had defied Urrle’s best efforts flew gently but enthusiastically in to that entities hands.
Urrle smiled and nodded respectfully. Here then was the owner, the true and rightful wielder of the hammer weapon. Urrle recognized in the hammer wielder a very great warrior.
*
All three of the imposingly regal entities looked on with respect at the long dead soldier of the Brell. At that moment the light armour of the Brell began to flow towards the youngest of the three entities enjoining with that entities own armour. The entity seemed untroubled as if such an occurrence had happened before.
Leandarr could sense the similarity of the three entities. That they might even be of the same blood.
All three smiled at the ancient and before they departed skyward the oldest of the three entities moved towards Leandarr and handed the Tolden an artefact. The scorched yet still recognizable remains of an ancient Talisman.
“What is it?” asked Urrle.
“It would have belonged to he of whom we never speak; never would he have been separated from it. There is only one conclusion that we can draw from this.”
The Tolden elder looked at his youthful companion. “I believe we have the answer to that which we have sought,” he said, almost lightly.
“Who, what, were those entities?” asked Urrle as they set about providing the Brell soldier with a decent burial.
“Gods,” responded his friend “gods from a place once known as, ___, as Asgard. “The histories,” Leandarr corrected himself “no, the legends, say they moved on to a higher plane of existence. All this, long before the great war.”
“If what you say is true,” said Urrle, “then they must have come back from that higher plane, come back to help the Brell, to help our Universe.”
“This would not surprise me,” offered Leandarr.
*
There was a long, yet not uncomfortable silence as Urrle and Leandarr both, were deep in their own thoughts.
“Why did they wait so long to retrieve the hammer weapon?” enquired Urrle.
“Who knows?” responded Leandarr, “Perhaps out of respect for the Brell, perhaps for what this place represents, perhaps even time itself may move differently where they are now.”
Urrle held Leandarr in his gaze. “The entity, the god who took the hammer, what did they call him?”
“He was known as Thor, Odinson, god of thunder. Legend has it that he was the greatest warrior that ever lived,” replied the old man. Urrle smiled. He didn’t really need Leandarr or the legends to tell him this. As a warrior himself he already knew.
“Thor, was the one wasn’t he?” asked Urrle “the one who defeated that of which we do not speak? Whether it was here in our Universe long ago, or on some higher plane of existence and much more recently?”
Leandarr nodded solemnly.
*
Urrle and Leandarr continued the burial of the Brell soldier in silence but both were smiling and at peace with themselves.
End
Against Galactus, Story from an Alternate Time Line
Long it is that men, gods, and cosmic entities have wondered what the result might be if the mighty King Thor were to clash with the great Galactus in unrestrained conflict.
King Thor for his part to draw on the best available resources of Asgard and Galactus to draw on the most powerful combination of heralds he can contrive and the full resources of his gigantic Worldship.
It has been given to me, a humble scribe, to witness this clash in an alternate reality and the events leading up to it at first hand. I shall describe these events as best I am able although as a mortal man I do not pretend to fully understand all of the events that transpired.
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It is the year 2500 AD as mortal men have chosen to measure time.
Odin is long since dead and King Thor rules wisely over a prosperous Asgard that has known few challenges over the past 500 or so years. Thor has married the Lady Sif, perhaps his greatest love, and the only progeny their son Magni, strongest of all the gods of Asgard, has now flowered into mature adulthood.
Orikal the seer, so long imprisoned by King Geirridour of the trolls, now enjoys a trusted position as chief seer to King Thor. Thialfi also has the ear of King Thor, as his trusted principal adviser.
The warriors three continue to enjoy Thors friendship and continue on missions for him, sometimes accompanied by Thialfi and Prince Magni.
Orikal’s ability to foresee troublesome events is one of the main reasons for Asgard’s stability, with Lord Thor able to take forceful action before potential threats get out of hand.
After some 500 years King Thor is no longer inexperienced in the use of the OdinPower, though in truth it is a long time since either he or the armies of Asgard have been seriously tested in battle.
Loki has long since given away any aspirations to the throne of Asgard and has been rewarded with Governorship of the colony of New Asgard with substantial autonomy.
For a long time there was a falling out between Thor and Magni, but now thanks largely to the efforts of Queen Sif, the old wounds have been healed. As a youth Magni had been very proud of his great strength and had at one time come into conflict with Earth’s mightiest mortal the green behemoth known as the Hulk. In truth Magni had been soundly and badly beaten by the Hulk a much more savage and experienced fighter. The Hulk was capable through sheer rage of equalling and surpassing even Magni’s strength.
King Thor’s advice was to let the matter rest, but shamed at his defeat Magni could not do so. He sought the aid of the enchantress to heal his wounds and then sought out Thors great belt of strength unused in quite some time. Confronting the Hulk again and even with the belt of strength Magni again began to find an enraged Hulk too much for him. Refusing to be shamed a second time Magni’s anger increased until he entered for the first time in his life a state of warrior’s madness. Magni then reined blow after blow after blow down upon the Hulk continuing long after the behemoth was unable to provide any effective resistance and eventually killing him.
It was Magni’s most shameful moment and an episode that estranged him from his father for a very long time indeed.
Still this was a long time ago and many of Earths heroes at the turn of the 21st century had, sadly, gone the way of all mortal flesh. Finally father was reconciled with son and mighty mjolnor one of the greatest weapons known to god or man was passed from father to son. Soon thereafter Thor made another present to Magni, a great suit of armour, forged by the trolls and more durable than anything that had been made in times past for either Thor or Odin.
At one point, early in his reign and briefly unhappy with events on Midgard, Lord Thor considered a major intervention in the affairs of men. But, in this alternate reality, this was no more than a passing thought which Thor quickly dismissed. “It is not our place to do so” said Queen Sif.
&n
bsp; Thor did however extended Asgard’s dominion by the creation of three new colonies in neighbouring pocket dimensions, each of a size similar to Continental Asgard. These were New Odin, New Baldur, and New Asgard. Each new colony seemed more verdant and more fertile than even Asgard itself.
Thus all did indeed seem well with Asgard and its colonies.
But quite suddenly and unexpectedly all contact via the dimensional bridge between Asgard and the colony of New Odin was lost. This surprised King Thor as, though busy with matters of State, he had no premonition of trouble and received no warning of impending trouble from either Orikal or other valued sources such as Loki and Thialfi.
Without delay Thor sought out his chief Seer, Orikal, who advised “for the first time Milord Thor in half a millennium I am unable to clearly foresee events about New Odin or indeed Asgard itself, I cannot understand this.” Thor then made audio-visual contact with Loki in New Asgard who had also been unable to contact the New Odin colony and similarly could shed no light on the reasons for the matter.
“I shall have to teleport interdimensionally to New Odin myself” mused Thor “though the dimensional bridge has failed surely no power can prevent my own personal teleportation.” At that precise instant and at a speed that few, if any, in Asgard, could match Thialfi arrived from a mission near New Baldur.
“ Lord Thor “ yelled Thialfi “there are reports, unsubstantiated as yet, that Galactus himself has been seen in the vicinity of New Odin and with two new heralds both unknown to observers.” “ Galactus” cried a deeply worried Queen Sif “He has not been seen or heard of in hundreds of years, why does he come this way now ?”
“ I shall soon find out” bellowed King Thor but before he depart for the colony of New Odin , Sif and Thialfi counselled against it. “It may be some kind of trap Milord Thor” said Thialfi “ought you to send others to seek out the true state of affairs ?”
“Aye, perhaps so” said King Thor “I will have my ravens investigate, but swiftly.” “As you know I have granted them powers additional to those provided by Odin and now there is almost nowhere they cannot go and they are almost impossible to detect.”
As he impatiently awaited the return of his ravens and anticipating the worst Thor walked down a set of winding steps and toward a heavily locked room, opening the shackles with a flick of his fingers. In front of him lay a sight he had not seen for a great many years one of Asgard’s greatest weapons – the dread Destroyer construct. Many years after the death of Odin, all skyfathers had acceded to a request from Lord Thor to further enhance the capabilities of the Destroyer. These increased capabilities had not as yet been tested on the field of battle.
Through his ravens and through other means King Thor determined that Galactus accompanied by two previously unknown heralds had used some adaptation of the ultimate nullifier to remove the Asgardian Colony of New Odin from any known plane of existence. Indeed the former existence of New Odin had been effectively erased from the minds of almost all in the cosmos who knew of it , save a select few, close to the truth revealing powers of Lord Thor.
Anticipating and indeed planning for some form of massive retaliation from King Thor Galactus retired with his heralds to the densely populated core of a distant galaxy. There he started to feed to excess.
A member of the race of Watchers after briefly observing events in Asgard was summarily dismissed by King Thor and teleported to observe Galactus.
Asgard City – the throne room of King Thor
“ If Galactus has done this to New Odin “ said Queen Sif “then what is to stop him doing the same to New Baldur, new Asgard or even Asgard itself ?” “I believe I have divined his intentions” said King Thor “and had I not been so occupied with affairs of State I would have detected his approach and dealt with him” “ Let no blame attach to Orikal, Heimdall, Loki or others as the world devourer’s machinations were beyond their capacity to divine.” “ If there be any blame, let it lay with me”
“ Yet know thee all this” continued the Lord of Asgard and its colonies “ that with the power that is available to me nothing is beyond redemption, no events are ever truly set in concrete.” “ If it is games that Galactus would play, then he should remember that I am my fathers son” said Thor “and surely when it came to schemes within schemes and wheels within wheels there were none better than Odin” “Except now, perhaps me” smiled Thor.
Meanwhile Magni, rendered asleep by Lord Thor, for fear of his taking precipitate action against Galactus, dreamt on. His dreams were filled with his two battles with the Hulk when he was but a callow youth. He had long since realised that as a mature adult he would be far too much for the Hulk, had the behemoth lived. As an adult he would never have needed either the belt of strength or warriors madness to defeat the Hulk.
Magni dreamed also of the great suit of armour that had been built for him but which he had not yet used. He had heard his father hint sometimes of its wondrous powers. Indeed, in recent times, Magni had begun to sense a latent power in himself far beyond anything he would have once thought possible.
Complying with Thor’s earlier instructions Loki returned to the throne room with the Destroyer Construct and also with Hogun the Grim.
“ I have oft wondered Lord Thor” said Loki “just exactly what refinements you and your fellow skyfathers made to the Destroyer” “I shall not tell you all” said Thor “for ee’n I am not exactly certain of the telepathic and observational reach of Galactus.” “We should be well shielded here in Asgard but best to be certain.”
“ I will say though” continued Thor “that our modifications have been based on all past experience with the Destroyer, especially in the engagement with the Celestial fourth host.” “We have learned from our past mistakes !” “ Will you yourself enter the Destroyer construct” asked Loki “or leave this to others ?”
“ Even that must remain a secret just for the nonce “ said Lord Thor.
“We should discuss what is known of the world devourer’s new heralds’ said Heimdall “I sensed they were of fundamentally different natures, almost diametrically opposed.” “ I have reached out” even as we speak said Thor “and it doth seem they have some connection with the Celestials – mutated or some form of hybrid Celestial spawn.”
“ Their different natures are deliberateness on Galactus part” continued Thor “one tends to balance the other and never would they ever join against their master.” “Yet they are more powerful and more versatile than any of Galactus past heralds by another order of magnitude and as such cannot be discounted.” “I believe that Galactus ultimate goal is to acquire the essence of the Thor/Odin power” said Thor “with this power added to his own he perceives he can reshape reality and will be a completely unstoppable force.” Finally said Thor “Galactus also desires the prize of the Earth including the elder goddess and Earth Mother Gaea which he will take at a whim once he has acquired the Thor/Odin power.”
Galactus heralds are two Celestial brothers acquired at birth when Galactus used a form of the ultimate nullifier on their Celestial birth cocoon. Galactus did not immediately apprise the brothers of their Celestial origins and also left evidence for the Celestial race that the brothers had died at birth. They are known as Shirom the headstrong and Alaim the thinker and of the two Shirom is decidedly more powerful and more loyal to Galactus.
“ Should the need arise” said Thor “we may seek to exploit their differences.”
“Our greatest concern” said Thor “is not so much Galactus himself as his adaptation of the ultimate nullifier, and even of the potential use of the original nullifier should he discover my plans for him.” “ Now, all but Thialfi leave me for the moment” continued Thor “as what I have to say next is for his ears alone.”
Toward the Central Core of a Distant Galaxy
A confident Galactus continued to feed far beyond his normal requirements while his almost diametrically opposed heralds continue to bicker. Taking a break from his feeding the great
Galactus returned to his Worldship, there to utilize his vast technologies to learn more of Lord Thors intentions. To his consternation Galactus was largely unable to breach Asgard City’s mental defences and he could only discern snippets of information.
Still confident, even if slightly less so, Galactus left his Worldship to continue feeding.
‘He is no longer a mere godling, but a mature god of vast power” mused Galactus “but in the end how can he possibly triumph against me, the great Galactus, am I not power incarnate and have I not laid the perfect plans for Thors utter defeat ? “
With that a huge audio-visual image of King Thor appeared dwarfing even Galactus Worldship “ I have perfectly foreseen your intentions Galactus and know now that you will not succeed “ “Return the New Odin colony and its inhabitants now to it’s rightful place and leave our Universe never to return ! “
Awaiting the imminent arrival of Lord Thor, Galactus via his Worldship computer had re-programmed Alaim the thinker to full Celestial might but devoid of any resistance to Galactus purpose (a pure fighting machine).. Galactus believed also he has divined from Alaim how to defeat Lord Thor and acquire the coveted Thor/Odin power.
The other herald Shirom had awakened refreshed and also ready to combat Lord Thor. Shirom held an adaptation of the ultimate nullifier ready to fire on Lord Thor. Galactus Worldship defences were also on full alert.
Following shortly after the audio-visual image warning to Galactus, King Thor appeared in all his might and majesty before the world devourer and his two Celestial level heralds. Witnessing the majestic sight of the Lord of all Asgard, Galactus had second thoughts and, perhaps for the first time in all of his long existence, experienced a sense of fear.
Seemingly not far behind King Thor was Thialfi carrying the destroyer armour construct in Thors chariot drawn along by Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. Also close at hand was the mighty Magni now wearing his specially made armour and carrying the hammer of Magni (once known as the hammer of Thor).