Chapter 108: Wakanda's Reign Ends Today
When Wakanda's General Okoye received the ultimatum from Celestial Island, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. After reading it a second time, she concluded that Celestial Island's leadership had lost their minds.
Release all of Wakanda's advanced technology to the world? Open vibranium mining operations to foreign trade?
This wasn't a negotiation—it was a declaration of war.
General Okoye immediately sought an audience with Queen Ramonda, T'Challa's mother and Wakanda's current regent. She handed the ultimatum to the queen and said grimly, "Celestial Island has gone mad. They're demanding war."
Queen Ramonda looked up from the document. "Can we win?"
"Wakanda fears no enemy!" Okoye declared with unwavering conviction. This was her duty as general of the Dora Milaje.
"Where is Shuri?"
Okoye answered, "Princess Shuri is conducting research in her laboratory."
"Speak with her. Begin war preparations immediately."
Back in his office, Payne greeted Maria Hill with a pleasant smile. "Ms. Hill, I assume you're here to discuss the cure?"
"That's right. The supply is far too limited. Zombie outbreaks are still active worldwide. Every day we delay costs more lives."
Payne shook his head with practiced sympathy. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Hill. We have limited personnel, and the synthesis process requires specialized expertise. Low production capacity is simply unavoidable. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."
Hill pressed forward. "What if S.H.I.E.L.D. sent additional virologists and geneticists to assist?"
"I'm afraid that's impossible. The raw materials are classified, and Dr. Ryan has emphasized that the synthesis formula is extremely dangerous. If it fell into the wrong hands, we could trigger a pandemic far worse than the zombie crisis."
Just then, columns of troops marched past the plaza outside Payne's window. Military trucks loaded with ammunition and supplies rolled toward the harbor, where transport ships waited. Crowds of citizens gathered to see them off.
Maria Hill's eyes widened. "Mr. Payne, what exactly is happening out there?"
"Don't concern yourself. Just a minor logistical operation."
Minor operation? That was clearly full-scale war mobilization!
Hill was no fool. Even a brief glance revealed the truth—Celestial Island was preparing for military action.
Maintaining her composure despite rising alarm, Hill stood. "In that case, I won't take up any more of your time. I hope when additional cure becomes available, S.H.I.E.L.D. will receive priority allocation."
With Celestial Island entering war footing, Hill was desperate to report what she'd witnessed.
But Payne had anticipated this. How could he let her leave now?
He rose with a smile. "Ms. Hill, I must insist you stay a while longer. Otherwise, people might say Celestial Island doesn't know how to treat its guests properly."
"I appreciate the offer, but I have urgent work—"
"Ms. Hill, I don't think you understand." Payne's smile never wavered, but his tone shifted. "I'm not asking. You will stay."
Hill's jaw tightened. "..."
One day later, federal warships departed from military ports along the eastern seaboard, steaming toward the African coast.
Celestial Island's elite forces, equipped with cutting-edge weaponry and tactical gear, crossed half the Indian Ocean and became the first to reach Wakanda's eastern border.
A Wakandan aircraft launched from the coastline, streaking toward the approaching fleet at high speed.
Princess Shuri piloted the craft while General Okoye broadcast through the external speakers: "Turn back immediately! You are entering Wakandan territorial waters. Advance one meter further, and you will be destroyed!"
Okoye's voice dripped with aristocratic condescension.
Standing on the bow of the lead warship, Payne shook his head in disbelief. He turned to Anthony beside him. "A bunch of isolationist tribesmen hiding behind energy shields. Where the hell do they get their superiority complex?"
Anthony ignored Payne's commentary. Instead, he grabbed the ship's microphone and broadcast his own message through the speakers:
"Wakanda! Surrender now—or be annihilated!"
Okoye nearly burst with rage at Anthony's response.
"We'll see who dies today—you or us!" She threw down the communicator and turned to Shuri. "Take us back. We prepare for war!"
Shuri nodded and banked the aircraft back toward Wakandan airspace.
After landing, General Okoye immediately summoned the leaders of all Wakandan tribes to coordinate their defense against the imminent invasion.
Offshore, a federal aircraft carrier and thirteen escort vessels formed a battle group. Landing craft loaded with ground assault vehicles and heavy equipment launched from the ships, heading for the beaches.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A squad of super soldiers clad in Adamantium armor led the charge, followed by waves of enhanced troops boarding the landing craft one after another.
Anthony raised his fist. "All units—move out!"
"General Anthony orders: move out!"
"All forces, move out!"
"Move out!"
Dozens of landing craft surged toward shore simultaneously.
The coastal tribe was only one of many within Wakanda's borders. The capital city lay deep inland. Transporting heavy weaponry and combat aircraft would take time.
Without equipment support, Okoye refused to engage the Celestial Island and federal fleets at sea. The optimal strategy was ground combat, where Wakanda's warriors excelled.
Warriors from each Wakandan tribe formed defensive lines not far from the shore, weapons ready, their eyes fixed intently on the approaching landing craft.
"Yibambe!"
"Yibambe!"
"Yibambe!"
General Okoye raised her vibranium spear high, rallying her troops' morale with the traditional war cry.
The moment the landing craft struck shore, Okoye swung her spear toward the Celestial Island forces and roared at the top of her lungs:
"Wakanda Forever!"
"RAAAHHH!"
The Wakandan warriors charged, bellowing their war cry as they rushed the invaders.
Anthony, standing at the bow, sneered. He extended his Adamantium bone claws and pointed forward.
"Kill them all!"
"KILL!"
Super soldiers in Adamantium suits formed the vanguard, raising energy blades as they charged head-on. Behind them, unarmored troops unsheathed an arsenal of devastating weaponry.
Some carried six-barrel rotary cannons. Others hefted rocket launchers. A few even wielded man-portable grenade launchers.
Two super soldiers worked in tandem, each carrying a 20mm anti-materiel rifle.
The weapons were flashy—and none of them were low-powered.
BRRRRRRRT! BRRRRRRRT!
BOOM! BOOM!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Dozens of rotary cannons spun to life, their combined firepower creating a killing field that swept across the Wakandan formation.
Warriors at the front immediately threw their ceremonial cloaks forward, activating energy shields embedded in the fabric.
Despite their advanced technology, Wakandan warriors were still mortal. They were still vulnerable to overwhelming firepower.
"RAAAAGH! MOVE ASIDE!"
Blonsky, concealed among the troops, suddenly transformed into the Abomination. He leaped from the landing craft and crashed into the heart of the Wakandan army. A single punch pulverized one warrior. A backhand sweep sent three more flying through the air.
"KILL!"
Okoye thrust her vibranium spear at the lead super soldier.
DING!
The spear tip barely scratched the Adamantium armor's surface, leaving only a faint mark.
Okoye hesitated for half a second—a mistake that nearly cost her life. An Adamantium blade slashed down from above, missing her face by millimeters.
She'd almost been cleaved in two.
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
Shuri, wielding energy gauntlets, blasted the super soldiers surrounding Okoye backward. Then she shouted, "Okoye! They're wearing Adamantium armor! Aim for the joints!"
Okoye fought with everything she had.
But the more she fought, the more horrified she became. The two squads clad in Adamantium suits were virtually unstoppable. Their invulnerability, combined with superhuman strength and enhanced reflexes, allowed them to carve through the Wakandan ranks like a heated blade through butter.
Watching her warriors fall one after another, Okoye cried out desperately, "We need reinforcements! Now!"
Shuri fired another blast from her gauntlets, then glanced at her kimoyo beads. "Backup arrives in three minutes!"
Okoye turned—and found Anthony suddenly standing before her.
"Kneel."
"Never!"
Okoye furiously deflected Anthony's Adamantium bone claws and lunged forward.
Vibranium and Adamantium clashed in a shower of sparks, neither yielding.
A female general armed with vibranium weaponry and decades of combat experience versus a super soldier enhanced with genetic modification, healing factor, and Adamantium skeleton—the two warriors engaged in brutal close combat.
Okoye gritted her teeth and pressed her attack, but Anthony blocked every strike.
"Hmph. Is that all you've got?"
Anthony's bone claws scraped along the spear shaft between Okoye's hands, throwing sparks. The overwhelming force drove her back two steps.
Anthony advanced, ready to finish the general he despised.
Suddenly, Okoye kicked up a spray of sand with her foot. Anthony instinctively raised his arm and closed his eyes—
SHUNK!
The vibranium spear pierced through his abdomen.
Before Okoye could celebrate, Anthony—ignoring the wound entirely—slashed again with his bone claws.
Forced to abandon her spear, Okoye rolled across the sand, barely avoiding the strike.
Anthony stood his ground, slowly withdrawing the spear from his torso as Okoye watched in horror. The wound she'd inflicted healed with impossible speed, the tissue knitting back together within seconds until it was pristine.
"What kind of monster are you?" Okoye gasped, stunned. She'd never encountered a human with regenerative abilities like this.
Anthony sneered. "Like my boss says—you isolationist tribesmen are frogs in a well. There's so much you don't understand about the world."
As long as his heart and brain remained intact, Anthony was functionally immortal. His entire skeleton, reinforced with Adamantium, made him nearly impossible to kill.
BOOM!
Wakandan reinforcements finally arrived. Aircraft began bombing runs on Celestial Island positions, and massive troop transports delivered fresh warriors to the battlefield.
The Wakandans swarmed the beach like ants.
Anthony pressed his communicator. "Deploy the Skrull units. Leave air superiority to the federal navy."
Fighter jets launched from the aircraft carrier, engaging Wakandan aircraft in furious dogfights.
The Skrull enhanced warriors proved remarkably effective in combat. Skrulls possessed genetically adaptive physiology that accepted enhancements with extraordinary compatibility.
The Extremis virus—which had a catastrophically low survival rate in humans—achieved nearly 100% success when administered to Skrulls. Almost any enhancement serum could transform them into super soldiers.
Aside from their reptilian appearance, Ryan had given the Skrulls almost every advantage.
He'd provided them with a new homeworld and favorable conditions for prosperity. In return, the Skrulls fought for him—a fair exchange, and one born of genuine loyalty.
As the battle raged on, the vanguard units gradually depleted their ammunition. They drew melee weapons and engaged the Wakandans in brutal hand-to-hand combat.
The casualty ratio between the two forces was staggering: 10-to-1. It took ten Wakandan warriors to kill a single soldier from Celestial Island—and that was counting only the Skrull units.
After hours of fighting, not a single member of the Super Soldier Corps had been killed. At most, a few sustained minor injuries.
The coastal beach had been stained crimson. Waves continuously washed blood from the sand and gravel.
More and more bodies fell.
Just as Okoye felt despair closing in, a brilliant rainbow beam of light suddenly descended onto the battlefield. Stormbreaker flew from the column of Bifrost energy, repelling several super soldiers with a single strike.
The rainbow faded, and Stormbreaker returned to Thor's outstretched hand.
The God of Thunder had arrived.
Thor's appearance electrified Wakandan morale. Warriors found renewed strength, fighting with desperate hope.
Okoye once again raised her spear and charged toward Anthony, determined to end the monster who led this invasion.
End of Chapter 108
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