#* ⌜ goliath ⇝ ic ⌟ ─ and today we come full circle. a new age has begun. and we live again.

[infinitysagas]

Sender: @missallanea Prompt: “ Well, as usual, diplomacy has failed us. ” / demona for goliath?

“As it will continue to unless you start believing that diplomacy can work.”

How many times had they had a conversation similar to this one? Goliath could hardly hold count. “Battle acumen is not the only attribute of a warrior. Diplomacy is a necessary as anything else and it hasn't failed us. Not yet.”

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #90: JUDGMENT DAY

July, 1971

Last time: Ronan took over the Kree Empire, Mar-Vell was paranoid on nega-radiation, and a Kree Sentry came to kill him.

This time: Despite how the cover seems, we haven’t jumped into a different story. This is still Kree time. Guest-starring the Avengers.

The opening splash page is quite dramatic.

Look at that. That’s good splash page.

It also promises that in this tale of two worlds, one will die. We’ll see about that.

Kree Sentry 459 tells the Avengers and hospital staff that he’s just here to capture and execute Captain Marvel. But if anyone gets in his way, they too will be executed.

Captain Marvel can’t be moved because of his brush with death and Vision is weak from giving Mar-Vell his solar energy. But Scarlet Witch suspects that the Sentry hesitated and warned the group because it isn’t sure if he can beat them.

So she uses her hex powers to drop the roof on 459′s head. Doesn’t really slow him down so Quicksilver rapid fire punches the Sentry all over. And just gets smacked away like an insect.

So Vision steps up. 459 doesn’t seem to want to fight Vision, finding a kinship with him. They are both advanced androids. Why should they fight? Still, orders are orders.

Vision tries to increase his density to fight but ends up collapsing the floor out from under them. And then 459 grabs Mar-Vell unopposed and flies off, stating that he has received new orders. That it is time for Plan Atavus.

He teleports away but first Mar-Vell reacts with horror at the mention of that plan.

With 459 and Mar-Vell gone, the Avengers don’t really know what their next move should be but Carol Danvers, head of Cape Canaveral security shows up demanding that they file a full report.

Hi, Carol! Congratulations on your first appearance in an Avengers comic!

Anyway, after filing their reports and promising Carol that they’ll try their best to save Mar-Vell, the Avengers fly off in their Quinjet.

They still are directionless so they ask Rick Jones for some exposition on Mar-Vell and his fellow Kree. After all, he spent all that time linked with the guy.

So Rick Jones goes all the way to the beginning. During the Stone Age.

Because that’s how far Kree involvement with Earth goes. The Kree messed around with human genetics to create the Inhumans and eventually sent Sentry 459 to check on them.

After sending a report on Inhuman progress back to the Kree Galaxy, 459 went into sleep mode for A LOOOOOOONG TIME. The next time he was active it was to fight the Fantastic Four. Oh and then Ronan fought them too.

And now we talk Mar-Vell. He was originally sent to Earth to check if it was a threat and destroy it if necessary. But something about Earth got to him and he renounced his heritage to instead become a defender of Earth alongside his girlfriend Una. But then she died.

And then mumblemumble stuff happened and Mar-Vell went back to the Kree and was given his rank and a new outfit by the Supreme Intelligence and then allowed to come back to Earth.

And then mumblemumble stuff happened and Mar-Vell got trapped in the Negative Zone, only able to escape by temporarily trading places with Rick Jones, professional sidekick and exposition machine.

And then last issue’s events happened.

The Avengers return to the mansion but find a message left for them by Goliath. Janet van Wasp contacted him to report there is trouble going on in Alaska. Goliath is headed up and he hopes the others can make it too.

So no sooner have the Avengers arrived at their mansion that they’re rushing out again, knocking over Jarvis as he wanders in for a cameo.

Goliath arrives at the ice-breaker ship that was Hank’s base on his research expedition to study the effect oil-drilling might have on Alaska’s wildlife. When he lands, Jan comes rushing out to see him.

HANK IS MISSING.

Which started when a government outpost went out of contact. Hank and Jan went to investigate as Yellowjacket and the Wasp. But then they find something weird.

A circle of jungle existing at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Which is ridiculous. You only get that kind of thing in Antarctica.

But there’s also a strange structure in the middle of that jungle circle shooting out rotating rays, like a lighthouse.

Yellowjacket takes control of a prehistoric dragonfly and rides it toward the jungle but the two heroes get a weird sensation as they get close. Yellowjacket exclaims in horror that he knows what’s going on.

And then he backhands Jan.

Yeeeeeah. That’s even more uncomfortable given future context.

When she comes to, she finds that she’s been tied to the dragonfly like Nell Fenwick and sent back towards the ice-breaker. The last she saw of Hank was him flying toward the jungle.

Clint Goliath doesn’t believe her easily verifiable story so she easily verifies it by showing him the now dead dragonfly. Also, screw you, Clint. She was one of the founding Avengers. She tells you she saw a thing, your first response shouldn’t be to tell her that it was probably just a dream.

Realizing that Jan is upset at being abandoned and that Hank may be in trouble after having gone to investigate the Arctic Jungle Circle alone, Hank immediately decides to abandon her and go off to investigate the Arctic Jungle Circle alone.

You’re some kind of guy, Clint.

He feels a real heel about it but he has a lot of baggage with women. Natasha dumped him and he might be falling in love with Wanda Witch. Anyway it was probably the right thing to do and not stupid at all, going off alone without backup into an area that has already caused one hero to disappear when he went off all alone without backup.

And then when Clint is exploring the jungle thinking aloud that the place just needs Fay Wray and an overgrown ape, he gets attacked by an overgrown ape. No Fay Wray though.

But after Clint beats up the ape, he’s shot in the back by Ronan because he was too busy making jokes instead of having situational awareness.

Geez, if only he had a partner with him who could watch his six. If only!

Sentry 459 senses another aircraft approaching the jungle and Ronan decides to prepare a welcome for its occupants.

And that aircraft are the rest of the Avengers (Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, the Wasp) and also Rick Jones, abrasive personality.

But they’re not in the jungle long before 459 opens fire on them. And if that’s not bad enough, Goliath has been mindtaken and is aiding the sentry.

459 is still pretty reasonable. He just wants them to gtfo. But the Avengers aren’t going to leave without Captain Marvel or Yellowjacket.

So then-

Oh wait, or Goliath. Yeah, they’re not going to leave without Goliath, you interstellar robit!

So then brainwashed Clint attacks. Wasp shrinks and flies up to shoot him in the face with her Wasp’s Stings. Because giant men have giant nerves and getting shot in the face hurts.

Vision tries to fight 459 but unfortunately, the sentry got a good read on the synthezoid in their last fight. For instance, he knows that it will take time before Vision can become intangible again after he throws a boulder. Not a lot of time necessarily but enough that it can be capitalized on.

So he shoots Vision with palm lasers.

And Vision getting hurt distracts Quicksilver and Wasp who are fighting Goliath long enough that he knocks Wasp out of the air.

MEANWHILE, in that strange structure that was shooting lighthouse like rays, Ronan the Accuser has Mar-Vell strapped to a thing and is monologuing at him.

Mar-Vell sure gets strapped to a lot of things today.

And even though both Mar-Vell and Ronan know what Plan Atavus are, Ronan kindly explains it for the audience’s benefit.

See, it was something that the Kree set up when they first visited. Which as was mentioned was back during the Stone Age. The Arctic citadel is shooting out Evo-Rays in a wider and wider circle which is turning everything - life and even the climate - in its area of effect back to the state it was when the Kree first found Earth.

I’m pretty sure that the Arctic wasn’t a jungle back in caveman times but whatever.

The end result will be Earth reset back to how it was when the Kree found it and millions of years of human history eradicated.

And why? The Avengers now and the Fantastic Four earlier standing against a Kree Sentry. A living arsenal and defender of the Kree way of life and the supreme achievement of countless years of Kree history.

And these Earthicans are standing against it. Now they surely will not actually win! But the sentry wasn’t able to defeat them already.

Earth is a planet that went from steam power to atomic power in less than a century.

That kind of potential is an unbearable threat to Kree supremacy. What will happen if humans are allowed to continue to grow and advance? (Well according to Avengers Forever, humans would become jerks who wield the near-limitless energy source known as the Destiny Force and will establish the Terran Empire, an interstellar dictatorship policed by the Galactic Avengers Battalion which will thrive at the cost of many alien cultures)

The Evo-Rays will continue until the last gleam of intelligence and reason is erased from the last pair of brutish, bestial eyes.

And proving that this isn’t just pragmatic business, Ronan laughs when he notices Yellowjacket has found the unconscious Wasp. Because Yellowjacket has been Evo-Ray’d into an apish monstrosity. And he tells Mar-Vell that Wasp’s screams when Cave Pym kills her will sound the death knell of the human race.

Man, Ronan is such a dick.

[infinitysagas]

@thecoiiective gets goliath for elisa.

“ Forgive me, Elisa. I was merely reminiscing upon old times. ” Often a dangerous pastime, allowing his mind to wander to old days when his rookery brothers and sisters lived. “ You wanted to speak? ”

[infinitysagas]

Her apology made him uncomfortable. As if he were forcing her to feel sorry for wanting to do what she thought was right for them. They had differing approaches to a known problem. Goliath never wanted her to feel bad for her opinion.

“Do not apologize for being passionate about the plights of our kind, my Angel of the night.”

His hand came forth to stroke her hair. Affection meant to ease the blow dealt by his pulling rank in their conversation, he never enjoyed it. Being a leader meant being willing to make a call even if those closest to you thought they knew better.

The decision is mine. It is that remark that seems to relax her body language, a reminder of where she stood : beside him in life, perhaps, but behind him in authority. An uneasy breath is forced out ─ even as a solemn nod is offered. It was not her duty to question him. It was her place to support him.

For now.

"...Of course. Forgive me, I... forget my place." A hand lifts, as though to still any further argument, though whether she gestures to him or herself is not entirely clear. "While we may not always... see eye to eye on this matter, I will not question you. Not as our leader, my love. Know this."

Still... only if forced? Surely, if she could not force his hand... she could force theirs.

[infinitysagas]

Hatred begets hatred. An endless cycle that would end badly for all parties involved and somehow he couldn't make Demona realize this. What would they gain from antagonizing the humans? Gargoyles were strong warriors but their numbers weren't greater and neither was their ingenuity at war. Humans could excel at violence if their minds were set on it.

Goliath refused to watch hatred whittle down their number.

“All things worth gaining require resolve for they aren't easily obtained.” A simple truth of the world that bears repeating. “Your voice is heard — truly it is. I respect your viewpoint even when we are in disagreement but the decision about how this clan moves forward is mine. Peace is my desire and I will work hard for it. I will only raise my claw against the humans if forced.”

A low growl rises in her throat, swallowed down as quickly as it appeared. Even so, she holds that tension in her very bones, her indignation not so easily quelled... but wise enough to recognize a fight she will not win.

Kinship with them... a fool's errand, and one he so happily undertook.

"Is this kinship, then?" The fight may be gone from her voice, but it lurks still in her words. "To be treated as their dogs — given shelter, perhaps, but only when we turn tooth and claw against their enemies. They do not live with us, Goliath. We will always be other. We are meant to be other from them."

[infinitysagas]

“They see us as other,” he corrected. When humans saw beings as others it was easy to think themselves above. A fundamental issue with sharing spaces with them, he acknowledged that, but fighting would not solve it. Merely make it far worse.

“Do you not see that all endless battle would bring us? Our weakness is all too easy to exploit. But if we develop kinship with them then all of us can be in peace.”

Her jaw sets, tongue held tightly between her teeth to keep her from spitting back vitriol as quickly as she desires. With so many, she would not have held her tongue : a privilege shown only to him, and one that wears thin.

"Diplomacy with those who would show us the same kindness, perhaps. What they speak of is not diplomacy, but subjugation... If we allow them to view us as lesser, then we shall remain as nothing more."