After Mike left, Stephanie kept her gaze fixed on the timer inside her helmet.
She displayed no outward sign of impatience, but the two assault squad members beside her were clearly growing restless. Their fingers frequently hovered near the triggers of their chainsaw swords and explosive pistols. Their aggression was so intense that even their helmets couldn't fully mask it, and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents unconsciously steered clear of them. Though they voiced no complaint about the order to remain at the base to protect Stephanie and the teleportation array, they yearned for the glory of fighting alongside their Lord.
Ever since the day they had been rescued from hell on Earth by an angel with wings of steel, they had longed for the honor of sacrificing themselves for their monarch on a battlefield of fire and blood. That opportunity was finally within reach—yet here they were, stuck guarding a base and keeping company with these feeble agents.
"You'll have your chance," said the squad's leader. Stephanie didn't have direct authority over the Sisterhood, so these girls didn't truly take orders from her. Only artificial beings created by the Lord himself could serve as their leaders. When the squad leader gave her reassurance, the younger girls settled down—barely. Compared to the girls who had joined later, sold like livestock and treated like animals, the artificial soldiers were more composed. They understood Solomon on a deeper level.
The Sisterhood had channeled their hatred and fury, forging these broken girls into a blade of faith. But weapons were meant to be used. Once inducted, these girls were desperate to join the brutal front lines of war—not waste time cleaning up street gangs.
Stephanie noticed arcs of electricity beginning to dance across the glass magical array. Readings from various monitoring devices started to shift.
She immediately notified the Sisterhood. The strike team guarding her snapped into action, aiming their explosive rifles at the sealed, pressurized glass chamber. Simultaneously, another assault team stormed into the workroom housing the monolith, with the heavy weapons unit close behind, flamethrowers at the ready. They couldn't be certain if what was returning was one of their own squads—or the parasite.
Stephanie took a sharp breath. This was the Malik family's best chance at redemption. Only with the death of the tentacled Inhuman god could Solomon begin to trust the Maliks. Only then could their family be fully integrated into the Eternal City, and only then could she bear a child with Solomon's bloodline.
This was the key to the Maliks' future.
Electric light exploded across the array. The electronic eyes in the helmets dimmed automatically.
The Sisterhood soldiers tensed, fingers on triggers, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
A team of Sisterhood troops covered in sand appeared inside the glass teleportation chamber. A soldier outside the chamber used a speaker to give instructions: remove your helmets, step away from your weapons. "Zeta squad reporting," the soldier announced. "Commence decontamination. Sisters, disarm and proceed with inspection."
Zeta squad nodded in acknowledgment.
They entered the transparent room at the bend of the disinfection corridor and, under strict supervision, began assisting each other in removing their power armor. Then they moved into the next room, stripping off their remaining garments before entering showers with disinfectant sprays. All waste fluids were to be collected for centralized processing. The soldiers guarding the facility turned their guns outward, forbidding any S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from approaching. They weren't about to let strangers gawk at the bodies of their sisters.
After a long series of medical examinations, Zeta squad received white towels and wrapped themselves up. Nearby, ordinary human girls watched their figures with envy—every curve of the artificial soldiers had been personally designed by Solomon, embodying the highest ideal of female form. Especially after the disinfectant shower, their skin gleamed like divine statues of Venus.
While they underwent examination, two other Sisterhood squads were also going through the same process. A soldier who had not participated in the off-world mission escorted the towel-clad, strikingly beautiful artificial women down the corridor with an explosive rifle in hand, leading them to the flight platform. There, they would be transferred to the Punisher for quarantine—until suspicion was cleared, or until their monarch personally verified their identities.
They also needed to report their operations to Tita, so she could update the status of their mission.
Mike, who had just finished overseeing Coulson's surgery and now found himself coordinating all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations, sighed deeply when he saw this towel-wrapped spectacle of genetically perfect women, still smelling of disinfectant, attract the attention of many agents. He quickly called Stephanie.
"Yes, it seems the mission has been completed," Stephanie said cheerfully.
"And what about Fitz and Simmons? Where are they?"
"Leopold Fitz has been retrieved and is undergoing evaluation. However, he's rather emotional. He jumped into that planet without airtight gear, and unless we eliminate the possibility of contamination, we won't let him leave the quarantine chamber."
"Alright, then—"
"Anything else is classified under Eternal City protocol. No comment."
"Can I at least speak with Fitz?"
"You may, but only through the sealed chamber."
Mike hung up the call and waved over Barbara, who was so exhausted from her recent surgery that she could barely keep her eyes open. "I'm sorry, but today hasn't been kind to your knee."
"It's fine, Mike," Barbara said, lowering her head. "Let's hear what he has to say. I think those people might be interested in his version."
"He's lost it," Mike said, nodding. The Sisterhood leader had been right—Fitz's emotional state was unstable. Clad in a hospital gown, Fitz paced around the room.
"They dropped a hydrogen bomb before even confirming Simmons was safe, Mike!" he shouted. "He just wanted to kill everything!"
"Calm down, monkey boy," Mike said, using Fitz's old nickname. "We don't know what threats were on that planet. If Coulson invited Solomon to help, that means he thought it warranted tactical nukes. And don't forget—their people were down there too. They risked their own lives to solve this."
"No, Mike, you don't get it," Fitz insisted. "Coulson never invited them!"
"What do you mean, monkey boy?"
"Solomon manipulated Coulson… He went there to kill something on that planet. His mission was never to rescue anyone—it was to exterminate. Mike, he wanted something on that planet dead! He already knew about the monolith, that stone, that planet—he knows more than he lets on!"
"What do you know?"
"I… I don't know exactly. But I have a lead." Fitz lowered his voice. "I'll tell you where it is. Follow that lead, Mike. The secret of the monolith isn't that simple!"
(End of Chapter)
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