Dark Reign: Savage She-Hulk #1

Mar 14

Mar 14 Dark Reign: Savage She-Hulk #1

W.M.D. Women of Mass Destruction

Within the Hallow, Charles Little Sky, the director of A.R.M.O.R., is informed that something is breaching the barriers between this reality and that of Earth-8009. Scans indicate that it is using retrofitted Latverian tech and the being is the embodiment of rage. They manage to pinpoint the arrival point as Park Avenue in New York City. An A.R.M.O.R. mobile unit is dispatched to that location to contain the intruder. However, instead of appearing on the street like they expected, the intruder appears in the subway below, tossing a subway train up through the concrete to get the surface. This intruder turns out to be the Femazon known as Lyra. As she fights off the A.R.M.O.R. troops, her wrist-mounted personal computer Boudicca begins taunting the soldiers, but Lyra orders the A.I. to switch from taunts to tactical. As she fights off the soldiers,she is advised that she has less than six hours to complete her mission for the Gynosure. Needing to get on with her mission, Lyra grabs hold of a firearm and uses it to explode a gas main. Back at A.R.M.O.R. headquarters, they are still able to track Lyra as she travels through the city due to her body heat, but Little Sky decides that it is time to call in a specialist.

Lyra races through the city, trying to keep her mind on her mission and reminding herself that she is a warrior. She begins thinking back to the events that led her to getting to this point. It was in the possible future of Earth-8009, a world under control of the United Sisterhood Republic. In the city of Milago, the cyborg known as Gynosure has called upon Lyra to undertake a secret mission. She takes her to the cradle, where new Femazon warriors are born through artificial means. However, part of the machine is broken and their gender faces extinction. The Gynosure wants to send Lyra on this mission because she is the first woman born naturally for centuries. Even though she is the daughter of Thundra, their great leader, critics believe Lyra is weak and that the success of her mission will quiet them. Given Boudicca as her assistant, Lyra goes to gather a team of warriors to help on her mission. As she leaves, Gynosure caresses one of the cradle units invented by Oscorp Technologies. With her warriors assembled and the true reason for their mission a secret, Lyra heads out of Milago and into the savage world outside. On their travels, they walk through the area where Earth's heroes were killed centuries earlier, the burned shapes of their bodies still etched onto the blast crater. It was a trip filled with danger, as when they camped that night they found themselves attacked by a group of Berzerkers, a savage tribe of men who worship the ancient hero Wolverine....

... Lyra's recollections come to a full stop when she arrives at her destination, Avengers Mansion. However, she discovers that the mansion is in ruins. This comes as a disappointment and Boudicca apologizes for not having complete records of pre-war history. Spotting an A.R.M.O.R. craft flying her way, Lyra leaps up to it, smashing it apart and carries its pilot to the ground. This turns out to be A.R.M.O.R. agent Alexander Erde and she demands answers as to what happened to Avengers Mansion. Erde tells her that it was destroyed some time ago and the Avengers now live in a tower elsewhere. She demands to know where this era's greatest hero lives; the entire situation has Erde in stunned silence. With time running out and needing to get a move on, Lyra takes the A.R.M.O.R. agent prisoner and leaps off with him. This gives A.R.M.O.R. an edge as they can continue to track Lyra thanks to the transponder on Alexander Erde's uniform. He then gets a call from Norman Osborn, director of H.A.M.M.E.R. He expresses his displeasure that A.R.M.O.R. is acting on their own and threatens to find a means having H.A.M.M.E.R. take over their function. He warns Little Sky to end the conflict quickly as the people of New York demand to be avenged.

Back out in the city, Lyra sprints past more A.R.M.O.R. soldiers. Lyra is suddenly knocked aside by something powerful enough to send her flying into a nearby statue. Recovering from the blow, Lyra gets up to see that A.R.M.O.R. has called in She-Hulk to deal with her.