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Phase 13: Ripples
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Part 1
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Royal Palace
Asgard
Through Gungnir, Loki was intimately connected with the enchantments weaved across the palace and beyond, as well as its more mundane security systems. He saw that Laufrey failed to reach Odin in time. More importantly, he saw that the Jotun bastard betrayed him, which was something Loki was still trying to wrap his head around. He was making his way towards the vaults, ready to liberate choice pieces from there before making himself scarce when new alerts reached him through the enchantments.
"They did what?!" Loki halted his march and stared into the empty corridor before him, seeing through magic what was happening at the Bifrost. Heimdall and the Warriors three were there, fighting Jotun and losing badly.
Laufrey was a brute, leading primitive, brutish people! How did he plan this?! How did Laufrey slip it all under his notice? Loki saw what was happening and found it hard to believe it. This was insane!
As if to prove him right, or perhaps wrong, the enchantments showed a vast ship arrive above the Bifrost and deploy armored warriors moments after Heimdall and company unsurprisingly failed. The Bifrost was slowly exploding, infected by Frost Magic. The ship's crew had other ideas about it. It surgically blasted the device into tiny pieces, ensuring it wouldn't overload and take much of Asgard with it.
Intellectually, Loki knew General Tyr was in charge of a small, supposedly powerful Asgard fleet. He had been on board Asgardian cruisers. Those ships were nothing to scoff at, yet they were constantly overworked and stuck in the far reaches of Asgardian space, keeping an eye on the borders. The same was true for the 'real' Asgardian military, mainly concentrated on board said fleet. Considering his constant absence and rare trips back to Court to speak with Odin quietly, it was easy to write off General Tyr and plan around him anyway.
The Asgardian fleet and military were not a factor in internal politics. They were only used as a deterrence against other empires.
Otherwise, both Loki and Thor would have been more aware and involved as part of their education. Well, Thor was a blunt instrument. Loki wouldn't have trusted him with the kind of power such a ship implied.
Loki had been on board Asgardian cruisers many times in the past. This monster he just saw was nothing like them!
Why was he surprised that Odin didn't share information about a navy possessing such power with him? He had to suppress it for Loki to be this unaware actively, yet it made perfect sense. He wasn't an Aesir. Odin didn't trust him!
Loki reached the logical conclusion that he saw a contingency aimed against people like him. Odin had played him in a way Loki never gave him credit for. If the situation were different, Loki would have been impressed with the AllFather's cunning. Instead, for the first time, he decided to take over, Loki felt a shiver of fear.
What else didn't he know about? What other deadly secrets did Odin keep close to his chest?
The sound of running feet clad in armored boots hitting the floor broke Loki out of his reverie. He cast his best illusion spells, cloaking himself in magic to avoid detection, turned around, and ran away from the vaults. Securing them after making sure Odin was alive would be the next logical step for Tyr or whoever was in charge of the fleet. Loki decided it might be for the best to be far away from Asgard before they could find him. Improvising, no matter the priceless opportunity, has already ended in disaster. Loki wasn't about to improvise again against a threat he knew very little about.
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Loki was near his exit point, feeling glad he chose to retreat when he did. He barely avoided groups of silver-armored warriors using beam weapons to cut through the Jotun pouring into the palace as if they were wheat ready for harvest.
This was different from the kind of warfare the Nine Realms were accustomed to. Asgard's warriors tended to dismiss ranged weaponry as dishonorable. Their enchanted armor, durability, and limited magic support allowed them to deal quickly with the odd marauder band that had bought such weapons. Besides, it wasn't like such things were particularly relevant to the likes of Thor wielding Mjolnir. They might threaten weaker Aesir, but what couldn't?
This kind of blind arrogance, of course, made his life much easier.
The same wasn't valid for these soldiers. Loki decided that underestimating them or lumping them with the rest of Aesir would be a terrible idea.
He ran ahead of a group of soldiers, using a stream of rushing Jotun as cover. To his chagrin, Loki found out that Tyr's people could see well enough through his illusions, and they opened fire at him as well. Silver energy bolts splashed over a shield he hastily erected using Gungnir. Loki kept running and swung Odin's weapon, channeling raw magic into a beam of condensed liquid fire that vaporized any Jotun it touched. This allowed him to burn himself a way to the dimensional breach that linked Jotunheim and Asgard.
Naturally, going to that frozen hell would do him no good, especially when Loki knew Laufrey had his own plans. He slammed Gungnir into the breach, channeling raw power and intent into it. At the same time, he fished out the Casket of Eternal Winters and pointed it at the soldiers, unleashing its frost magic at them. More shots hit his shield, and it wavered before weakening enough to let a diminished beam through. It burned the outer side of Loki's hand.
Frost covered a few of the soldiers, freezing them solid. Those behind them activated glowing shields the ice magic struggled to overcome and kept firing.
A lance of silver fire struck his shoulder, peeling his enchanted armor open and shoving him back. Another shot hit his already burned hand.
Gungnir dropped from unfeeling fingers. The weakened shield broke, and piercing shots slammed into Loki's chest, blasting his armor to pieces and shoving him into the unstable dimensional breach.
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Loki fell through the gap between dimensions for what felt like forever. His only companions were pain and failure.
Eventually, something latched onto his form, pulling him out of the endless fall. The next thing Loki knew, he was on a hard floor, staring at a huge purple face. A pair of calm eyes looked down at him and eventually crinkled in amusement.
"Loki, the Liesmith. Former Prince of Asgard, and now, Asgard's most wanted fugitive. Do you know how high the reward for your delivery to face judgment is, little godling?"
"I am sure we can discuss this like civilized beings?" Loki croaked.
"Yes, we can. I am Thanos, and I am burdened with glorious purpose, Loki, the Lie-smith! You will serve, as many others. However, you are a liar and a traitor. I can't trust you," The Mad Titan smiled pleasantly. "Let us make sure we can trust you to do what I require of you, shall we?"
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Royal Palace
Asgard
General Tyr marched into the private part of the palace holding the Royal family's quarters. A few of his soldiers followed him as a security detail, trailed by a handful of healers. Cold fury burned within his heart at the sight of the dead and dying.
This mockery wasn't the Asgard he once swore to protect. These so-called warriors… Such arrogant stupidity, such a pointless waste of lives.
Tyr glowered at a cluster of Royal Guards nervously standing at attention in front of Odin's bedchamber. The corridor in front of it was a slaughterhouse filled with butchered Asgardian warriors and Jotun. Here and there, he could see bodies, or what was left of them, cut down by his soldiers who arrived to ensure the King's continued survival. By then, the Jotun's assault on this part of the palace had all. Still, it ended due to the guard mobilizing and cutting off the flow of enemy reinforcements. With that done, the cut-off Jotun had no option but to die.
"General!" A young, pale-faced officer gave him a warrior's salute.
Tyr glowered harder, and the boy hurried out of his way after waving his men to do the same.
"Stay here," He ordered his security detail and marched into Odin's quarters.
The King was slumbering, surrounded by a golden dome of magic he was busy absorbing. Queen Frigga stood nearby, tall and proud. Her own Seidir flowed around her like a furious vortex, betraying her state of mind.
"My Queen," Tyr bowed.
"General, I am thankful for your assistance. I understand that without your arrival, much of Asgard might be gone," The Queen offered him a kind, tired smile in gratitude.
Tyr saw her handiwork outside. She had fought and fought well, which she shouldn't have had to in the first place.
"We need to discuss matters, my Queen," Tyr glowered at Odin's still slumbering form. "Including the succession."
"I am still to hear from Odin's own lips the reasons behind our son's exile. As for Loki…"
"We have him confirmed as a conspirator involved in tonight's attack. He also dispatched the Destroyer to kill Prince Thor," Tyr reported what he learned from the Watcher. Heimdall was going to face a trial if the General had anything to say about it. "The Prince is alive and reasonably well… A Midgardian wielded Mjolnir and was instrumental in striking down the war machine," Tyr was quick to reassure the Queen.
"Loki, what have you done?" Frigga groaned.
"I understand that Prince Thor has been exiled over gross incompetence and almost starting a war of his own volition without even sparing a single thought on the possible consequences or our strategic situation," Tyr grimaced. "My Queen, under these circumstances, I am afraid that the military will be unable to accept Prince Thor as Odin's successor. He will need to prove himself level-headed and capable before we contemplate it. At the same time, Odin's judgment as of late is something I must question."
"What are you saying, General? Speak plainly!" The Queen demanded. Seidir swirled
around her protectively, and her eyes glowed with barely restrained power.
"When Odin awakes and explains himself, I might require you to become Queen regent until we can have a proper successor replace Odin permanently."