[center][b][u][H1][color=fff79a]Baldur Angstrom[/color][/H1]
Angstrom Deep Vault
Northern Sweden[/u][/b]

[img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/ca7b889bd163847519b4a1975ef3b53d/c67e20ed50c0c35f-09/s540x810/bb1d07224b3d46eed30e49306d7c93e56db6bbeb.jpg[/img][/center]

The meeting he had with Valeria Richards and Ilyanna Rasputin had gone without much incident. He now knew that one of the Ultimates was, in fact, a mole for some kind of resistance that sought to return this world to the way it was during the days of the first heroes. That, he could respects; Baldur even contemplated aiding them, but his own resources were rather tight right now. All he still had after the forty years that passed after the Dark Phoenix crisis was whatever was inside the Angstrom Deep Vault when he and his followers went into stasis sleep. The rest was either obliterated by the Dark Phoenix and subsequent alien invasions, or was nationalized by the Swedish government, and then by the United Empire as he had been presumed dead along with the rest of the Angstroms. It would have been a good idea to leave it to someone trustworthy, but alas... what is the point of making a will if the world was going to end?

After a few minutes of walking, Baldur finally arrived on his destination. It was nearly unmarked, a place marked only by a lone lamppost standing in the middle of the great forest. It wasn't the lamppost he was interested in, though. It was what is under it.

Baldur knelt down, and clicked several buttons on the base of the lamppost. A small hiss emanated from the post... and a door emerged from the forest floor, with another set of buttons for typing in the access code.

[hr]

"Hello sir, you're back. You found what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, Lukas." Baldur handed Lukas, one of his chief scientists and the guy that helped him replicate Hank Pym's shrinking technology, a small bag containing at least a dozen stasis orbs, all of which had highly advanced technologies kept in suspended animation. "I met a few people on the way, though."

"Oh?" Lukas' interest was piqued. "Which ones?"

"Well," Baldur shrugged. "There was Valeria Richards."

"One of the Ultimates? How did it go? Odd that you haven't sustained any battle damage-"

"She's friendly, don't worry about it," Baldur stepped off from the aptly named Warspite armor, leaving his normal clothes on. "Apparently there is a resistance against the United Empire, and she's part of them. At least, that was the vibe I got. She mentioned that 'some of us are fighting for a better day'. If that isn't a Rebel Alliance, against the empire I don't know what is."

Lukas rolled his eyes at the Star Wars reference. "Well, I guess that's a good thing. But you have to remember that in this bunker, we have 300 people that we have to protect, especially the mutants like myself."

"I know... You know I'll never let anything happen to you."

"Thank you sir."

"Just call me Baldur, it's not like we're really a corporation anymore."

Lukas shrugged, his expression totally unsurprised. "Okay, whatever. Baldur. Uh. Baldur? You okay?"

Baldur stared into the nothingness, as if he was daydreaming. Try as he might, but Lukas wouldn't be able to call his attention. Not while Baldur was seeing visions of the future, a voice similar to his own screeching into his mind.

He witnessed the end of the world, of civilization as we knew it. Nuclear weapons rained down upon the cities of humanity, killing billions upon billions. Legions of Sentinels stood in serried ranks, while Oscorp and Stark drones were scouring the ruins in search of survivors that might have evaded the radioactive blasts that made much of the planet uninhabitable. Mutantkind and humanity stood united, but what could they do against such a horrifying intelligence, a cold, calculating artificial mind that sought to wipe out all life not just on this world, but in the whole known universe.

Strangely enough, Angstrom Defense Drones were not in the visions of the ruins of Earth. Perhaps this was because they were of older make, linked only through human minds? Maybe they were immune to the depredations of an evil AI?

[i]"Seek out the others, seek out the Mutant Underground. You must prepare. The United Empire is simply a pawn of KIVA. Destroy KIVA before she ends this world!"[/i]

"Sir!" Baldur was shook to wakefulness by Lukas, who looked quite worried. "You good, Baldy?"

Had he not gotten a vision of the future, he would have irritably commented on how he had a full head of hair, but Baldur was too shaken to care about the nickname. "I have to go."

"What? You just got here-"

"Take care of everyone," Baldur instructed as he stepped back into the armor and scooped several stasis orbs from a nearby shelf. "I'll be back soon."