All things considered, Trachi-5 was the very definition of "unassuming". It was a minor moon, circling a slightly larger, but equally boring ice planet, around a medium yellow star, barely a step up from a lifeless comet if it weren't for its pitiable atmosphere and the stubborn brownish moss that covered it, clinging to life on this useless rock.
It had nothing going for it: no advantageous position near a Jump Gate, barely any natural resources to speak of that were worth the trouble of extracting, and while the moss indicated that life on this moon was possible, I privately considered that I wouldn't recommend trying to build one here.
In a rather ironic twist, it was precisely because nobody really wanted this rock, that it now housed what might be the most important meeting in the past thousand years or so, at least where two of the largest empires in the galaxy were considered.
Because, while Trachi-5 itself may not be all that interesting, its system (or rather, its location) was smack-dab in the middle of the no-mans land which spanned the several sectors between the edges of Kree and Nova space. While other areas of this nebulous, contested space had seen heavy warfare, the utter uselessness of Trachi-5 had meant it hadn't seen combat (or even a sentient being, I suspected) for the past few centuries.
Neither empire had bothered installing watchposts or strongholds here, the effort to build, maintain and protect them not worth the bare tactical advantage it would give, meaning this moon's only ornamentation was the stubborn lichen covering its surface.
And since moss rather notably didn't take sides in interstellar, cross-galactic warfare (or at least, I certainly hope so) that made this one of the few planets that both parties could truly agree upon being neutral ground.
Not that contacting said Empires and actually getting them so far as to agree on even that much had been an easy affair. Both sides had been rather wary of me from the start, given that I had appeared in front of their leaders through a holographic projection created by a little device sent through an Iris Way straight to the heart of their respective domains, thus blatantly violating every single safety measure they had painstakingly set in place over the course of multiple centuries. While the communication device allowed me to speak to Nova Prime and the Kree Emperor (likely a puppet for a hiding Supreme Intelligence, as Danvers' memories didn't include her killing the genocidal AI) in real-time, my holographic appearance wasn't my ruined form, but a slightly enhanced version of my Hulk-lite body.
Said image had been carefully and purposefully edited, based on the research Sterns and Radcliffe had done on both cultures, in order to project a form that both sides would recognize as simultaneously powerful, yet unthreatening. I needed them to take me seriously, to truly believe I could face a Mad Titan wielding one of the most powerful and feared Infinity Stones and still come out on top. At the same time, I needed them to not be so in awe of me that they decided that I was the bigger threat here. Which they both almost did the moment I proposed peace talks between the two Empires, each side accusing me of being a spy for the other, which was to be suspected, I suppose.
A millennium of bitter warfare isn't suddenly brought to a halt just because some magnanimous stranger happens to show up with all the solutions to peace ready on a silver platter. Except that was exactly what I needed them to believe right now, if I wanted a buffer between my crippled self and Thanos' forces currently ransacking the universe in search of the Aether.
I will not bore you with the details of what I had to say and threaten in order to get the Kree and the Nova to sit down and shut up for a moment, and agree to tentative talks because, well, essentially it was very boring. They might have been extra-terrestrial lifeforms from completely alien societies, but some things (like politicians) never change and I had to sit through several hours worth of listening to self-important snobs who brought up every crime, slight or insult the other side had perpetrated against their people and several hours more of security concerns, acceptable and unacceptable terms, cultural standards and customs and so on and so forth. For nearly a full day, both sides had postured and disagreed and called for additional favours, but that was just common sense when engaging in talks with your mortal foe. Both had known from the start they'd end up agreeing to a meeting, though for their own reasons of course.
Nova Prime, Irani Rael, wanted the war to end, simple as that. In a way that didn't cripple the Nova Empire, which was certainly the cost the Kree would ask for such a prize, but her goal wasn't to see the Kree broken, just that her own people be kept safe.
The Kree… well, honestly, who even knew what they wanted? A species of immense strength, longevity and technological advancement, their ruthless expansionist policies had made very little sense to Xandarian politicians and philosophers even millennia ago.
They had expected the Kree to follow in the footsteps of the Asgardians and the Sovereign: to turn inwards, instead of outwards, and use their awesome power and knowledge to live out their lives in a self-created paradise.
Instead, the Kree had looked to the stars with unending hunger, consuming and burning all in their wake with a ceaseless, almost compulsive need to move ever onwards, to reach ever further.
Even I had some trouble wrapping my head around just how extremely militaristic the Kree proved to be, and I had both my meta-knowledge to back me up, as well as the memories extracted from Danver's mind. The whole idea of being in a "genetic deadlock" was weird from the start. Sure, Stargate did it as well with the Asgard, so perhaps it was more a result of messing around with your own genome that somehow ended up genetically crippling your species, but even that made very little sense, since evolution happened over the course of millions of years in order to enact big sweeping changes. The Kree Empire, while incredibly old by human standards, wasn't old enough to have lived through such a timescale and thus conclude that they were at their evolutionary end.
You'd think that the people who had managed to make the Inhumans would have had a better grasp of basic biology.
Then again, these were literal aliens. Their idea of basic biology might differ wildly from our own, though the data Radcliffe managed to dig up out of the Kree City on Earth suggested that life on the Kree homeworld of Hala was startingly similar to our own biosphere. Though that could be an indicator that the Celestials had had a hand in their apparently stagnant evolution, given how they've influenced life across the cosmos.
Still, whether they were actually at an evolutionary dead end or not didn't really matter in the end, since the Kree certainly believed this was the case, to the point that they almost compulsively sought to dominate other life forms in a never-ending quest to improve themselves.
Which gave me quite the leverage over them, as I had just the thing they so desperately wanted, something that made me internally smile as I stood upon a never-ending field of brown moss, seeing two fleets slowly approach Trachi-5. I was concealed by a large cloak that slightly moved in the pitiful wind that the thin atmosphere of the moon was desperately trying to push around. At my back stood both Sterns and Radcliffe, with the latter clad in a sleek spacesuit, considering the atmosphere was too thin for a normal human to comfortably breathe. Thanks to our respective mutations, Sterns and I were fine, my laboured breathing a result of something far more worrying than merely some thin air. As always, Jim Harper stood tall and silent at my side, hands crossed in front of him, keen eyes staring at the sky overhead through a darkened visor as his massive hand cannon sat in the back of his belt.
After seeing how his shot had flown straight through Thanos' Astral Projection without so much as leaving a mark, Jim had resolutely stepped up to the nearest Asgardian he could find (which had ended up being an exhausted and somewhat confused looking Frigga) and simply stated that he required mystical enhancements for his weapon, akin to the like that had allowed Heimdall to wound Thanos with the sword Hofund.
Which is why the barrel of his weapon now sported a faintly glowing runic script all over its long barrel as a small chain holding a charm dangled off the handle. Honestly, it looked somewhat like a Nordic version of the Destiny gun Hawkmoon.
Incidentally, Hofund, thanks to some rather obscure Asgardian customs, was now property of Darcy Lewis, who had taken to training with the sword that was almost as tall as her with a worrying amount of glee. While I had been far too tired and preoccupied while recovering in Asgard before I could return to Othrys, Jessica had told me with a sly smile that a certain tall, dark-haired prince had taken a notable interest in making sure the enthusiastic research assistant didn't accidentally behead herself.
It didn't really come to me as a surprise then when I finally returned home that both Foster and Darcy had opted to remain on Asgard for now, the latter airily saying that she was only staying to chaperone Foster and Thor (which, to be fair, was probably a good idea, considering just how lovestruck the two had looked during my entire stay in the Palace's hospital wing).
I don't think she was fooling anyone though, considering the smirk Frigga sent her adopted son.
Looking past my stoic chief of security, I glance at the heavy hitters in my little company, now that I'm so weakened, with the two cybernetic lifeforms forming a study in contrast. Phineas' large Soter-platform is idly wandering back and forth, having long since become bored after several hours of waiting on our guests, staring out at a never-changing landscape that was equally flat, featureless and boring in whichever direction you looked, stretching over the horizon.
The arrival of the fleet had made him look up in interest, but when it became clear that the fleets would carefully manoeuvre around Trachi-5 and each other in order to appear as imposing as possible for quite a while, he had gone back to counting individual sprigs of moss (judging from what I heard his platform mutter to itself, he was now on sprig number 74,005,762,521).
The other cybernetic lifeform on the other hand looked more organic, yet behaved far more robotically than Phineas' wandering tower of metal. The one-armed Beta-Ray Bill was standing utterly motionless, not even having blinked once since we had set foot on this little moon, staring blankly ahead. I felt for Bill, I really did, but as it currently stood, I had no idea how to help him, or even talk to him. What do you say to someone who has went through what he has endured?
"Hey buddy, sorry about all of your people having been tortured and enslaved by a madman and turned into cybernetic warriors that have razed entire worlds while you were stuck fighting for your life in gladiatorial combat. Can I offer you an egg in this trying time?"
Honestly, if I tried shit like that and he punched me straight in the face, I wouldn't even fault him for it.
I had some nebulous ideas on what to do with the Chitauri (or the Korbinites, as it turned out) but no actual Plan yet. And even so, most of my ideas were only achievable after I had Ascended, so it was a moot point for now.
Behind the two cybernetic life forms stands a large sci-fi looking sarcophagus, its contents hidden by a thick sheet of frosted glass as the entire thing hovers a few centimetres above the lichen-covered surface of the small moon.
Finally, the Kree and Nova appeared to have realized how stupid they looked, entering war formations in a system that was completely void of both onlookers and actual useful resources, so they quit their posturing as their respective flagships lowered themselves to the upper reaches of Trachi-5's little atmosphere.
Far too large to actually land on the little planetoid, both ships disgorged a small contingent of fighters that rapidly made their way to the surface, breaching atmosphere with ease and landing a mere few hundred meters away from where my little group was standing.
Thanks to the Iris Way, it was just the five of us standing in a field, with no trace of a vehicle or even landing burns, like the Nova and Kree's starships were leaving on the thick carpet of moss. To them, it must look as if we have just appeared here, which is exactly what we did of course, which should remind them of how I managed to breach all of their security measures just to send them a message.
The very first thought on both parties' mind had been that if I could directly mail them what was essentially a letter… then I could very easily do the same with a tactical warhead.
Considering what I was trying to accomplish here, such fears could serve me very well.
As the starships opened their respective hatches and lowered whatever walkways they had, the Nova and Kree steadily approached my position, roughly two dozen combatants on each team accompanying the Nova Prime herself and the same Advisor that she was shown arguing with in the GotG movie.
I was somewhat surprised at Irani Rael showing up in person. From what I understood from the data we recovered from her people, she was fairly integral to the smooth running of Xandar and to a lesser extent the Nova Empire as a whole, but wasn't exactly a powerful combatant, which put her at risk when standing face to face with Kree Warriors who could easily lift a car above their heads.
Probably why her security detail looked very nervous (and hello to you as well, Garthan Saal, no need to look like you're wading through a small swamp made of shit, it's only brown moss, stop twisting your face like that) as they approached me and thus closed the distance between themselves and the Kree delegation.
The Kree ambassador was sneering all the way, but I had a distinct impression that this was more or less his default expression. Despite himself though, I could see interest and hunger in his eyes as he looked at my cloaked form, the reward I dangled in front of his Emperor probably ringing through his mind on the entire journey from Hala to here.
Whereas the Nova security forces looked nervous, the Kree forces looked positively cocky, very clearly welcoming the idea of a fight here on the ground, where the Nova's advanced tech and ships didn't matter as much against the Kree's superior physical strength.
"Are you the one then? The one that calls himself Hyperion and who demanded this meeting?" the Kree Advisor speaks up the moment he's within earshot, his tone condescending.
I simply nod in response, and now Irani's lips thin as she gives me a once-over. I must indeed look quite horrible, given the heavy cloak cannot conceal the bumps and jutting spikes along my left arm and part of my torso, nor that my posture is sagging as if I'm exhausted.
A brief, pitiful gust of wind briefly tugs at my hood, scarcely strong enough to just barely lift it a few centimetres, but it's sufficient to give both representatives a quick look at my tendril-covered face and mis-matched eyes. The two slightly recoil when they see the grisly sight and I can't even really blame them.
"Forgive me, but you… don't exactly look alike to the person who contacted us." Irani states firmly, and I let out a raspy chuckle at the idea that I essentially catfished the two greatest military forces in this galaxy.
"Indeed, currently I do not. I used to do however. As for how I came to be this way… they are the scars I bear for defying the Mad Titan Thanos, who made an attempt on my life not two weeks ago using the Soul Stone." I rumble in response, gratified to see both Irani and the Ambassador's eyes widen in genuine shock and fear.
"Even our worlds have suffered because of that monster's idea of peace and balance. The idea of him wielding one of the Infinity Stones… that is a frightening thought indeed." Irani muses as the Ambassador narrows his eyes at me.
"Entire worlds have fallen to the Mad Titan once he set his eyes on them, yet you live and this after he came at you personally while wielding the power of an Infinity Stone. How can that be? Have you struck down that madman? Has Thanos finally been slain?" the Kree asks, anger and nervousness creeping into his tone.
"With how deeply he has given himself over to the Soul Stone's power, I do not think that Thanos can be killed by conventional means. Or many unconventional means, for that matter. As it stands now, I foresee only two possible ways in which Thanos can truly be destroyed. He is either killed by the power of the Soul Stone, his very being burnt out as its might overwhelms him, either annihilating, absorbing or scattering his essence. Something that I do not see happening any time soon. Thanos has been crippled and is desperate to regain the upper hand against me, but he is also both determined and, sadly, not a fool. He will push himself to the absolute limit, far beyond what any other being would consider safe or sane, but he will not push himself to the extent that he will self-destruct. He feels his task is far too important for him to waste his life like that." I say gravely.
"And the other way?" Irani asks sceptically.
"I kill him." I respond simply, receiving a scoff from the Kree ambassador.
"From what you just told us, he attacked you with the might of the Soul Stone itself. While it is… impressive, that you survived, nonetheless the price was clearly very steep." The blue man sneers, his eyes roaming across the odd bumps and spikes along my left arm and lingering on my now mis-matched eyes.
"Besides, you claim that Thanos can no longer be slain by normal means. What arms does a cripple like you possess that you can take down such an opponent this time around?" he asks condescendingly.
"Simple. I will use the other Infinity Stones in my possession to utterly destroy him to the point not even the Soul Stone can bring him back." I say with a slight smile, enjoying the positively baffled looks from the representatives of some of the largest armies this galaxy had ever seen.
That just never gets old, will it?
"Stones? Plural? Are you truly saying that you have multiple Infinity Stones in your possession?" Irani asks, looking shocked as she glances me up and down, very clearly re-evaluating my threat level.
Immediately, Garthan Saal steps up closer to her, leaning forwards as he whispers under his breath in a tone low enough, he thinks I cannot hear him.
"Nova Prime, we need to evacuate now. Even if he only has a single Stone in his possession, then this entire moon is unsafe. If he has multiple, then this entire system might be unsafe. We know too little of the Infinity Stones' capabilities to take such a risk." He says urgently, and Irani looks like she privately agrees with his assessment.
Even the Kree have now lost their arrogant attitude, looking worriedly at both me and, surprisingly, at the carpet of brown moss underneath their feet. It seems Taneleer Tivan has shown his little gif of a Celestial deleting a planet to the Kree at some point or other, cause the normally stoic soldiers are now looking at the ground as if it might burn up and fall away underneath their very feet.
Good. Then they can appreciate just how much firepower I can bring to the table. And how much they'll need to commit in order to match me.
"Be at ease. I have them safely hidden away in my base. As I am now, I cannot utilize them to their fullest extent, or their power will overwhelm me, which will spell the doom of all life in the galaxy." I stated simply.
"What use then can you be to the Kree Empire if you are not strong enough to stop Thanos? If you claim the other Infinity Stones are required to put a stop to the Titan's plans, then give them to my people and we will put a stop to the menace once and for all." The Ambassador immediately pounces, Irani's brow furrowing and her lips thinning as she whirls on the blue man.
"The Kree Empire with multiple Infinity Stones?! You would be a greater menace upon the galaxy than even Thanos is!"
"No, they wouldn't. Firstly, because even the Kree would not commit a mass murder numbering in the trillions of beings with but a single snap of their fingers. And second, because I'm not giving away the Stones to anybody else." I intervene with a strong voice.
Both parties quiet down when I remind them of the warning I gave them when I first contacted them, the two Empires having had enough experience in dealing with Thanos' raids and possessing sufficient info about the power of the Infinity Stones to fully grasp just how bad of a situation it would be if the former managed to get his hands on all of the latter.
"If not with the Stones, then how do you suppose to beat Thanos and save all life in the universe?" the Ambassador asks condescendingly, not quite able to hide his disgust when I grin back at him, the motion pulling at some of the tendrils currently burrowing into my left cheek.
"Oh, I will beat him with my own set of Infinity Stones. I simply won't beat him with this current body." I grin at them, satisfied to see both the Nova Prime and the Kree Ambassador shooting each other confused looks.
"As you have both noticed, my current form was badly damaged during my fight with Thanos. However, thanks to the combined efforts of King Odin Allfather and myself, Thanos sustained similar damage to his very soul and thus won't be able to personally take to the field to collect the last remaining unclaimed Infinity Stone for himself. I intend to use this time to have the Dwarves of Nidavellir construct me a new body, worthy of the power of the Stones already in my possession, and either beat him to the last Stone, or simply destroy him when I have the chance." I state confidently.
"You fought alongside Odin Allfather himself? And you claim to be working with the Smiths of Nidavellir? Powerful allies indeed. Which makes me wonder, why the need to contact us at all?" the Kree Ambassador muses, impressed despite himself by the names I casually dropped.
"As I said, Thanos himself cannot currently take to the field. But then, he has hardly been fighting his deluded crusade for all these millennia all by himself, has he? Using his slaves, soldiers and mercenaries as proxies, he's scouring the universe for the hiding place of the last Infinity Stone. The Asgardians and their many allies, as well as the Ravagers, have already pledged themselves to combating Thanos' legions as they try and get their hands on whatever ancient, mystical or advanced piece of weaponry they can find to bring back to their master. I now ask the aid of the two of you as well. Your armies are vast, your martial prowess impressive. You could be a real thorn in Thanos' side as the Dwarves finish my new body."
"You would ask of us to be a buffer between you and Thanos? A tall order indeed, considering the risks and the fact we have no guarantee that you won't turn out worse than him if you indeed become powerful enough to strike him down." Irani muses speculatively.
"Indeed. The risk is high. And there is no guarantee I can give you that would make you trust me, at least not within the time afforded to us before Thanos either recovers enough to do battle again, or gets his hands on the last Stone. But I can give you this guarantee: should Thanos get his hands on a second Infinity Stone before my new body is finished, then all life in the universe, which includes both your peoples, will be utterly decimated, with nothing more than a mere snap of his fingers. And there's nothing you can do that would even so much as halt him in his tracks. If he wins… if I lose… the utter destruction of your kind is inevitable." I say, trying to pour as much conviction into my rough voice as I can.
Ideally, I would've used the same method I used on Eitri to simply show them how utterly fucked they are if Thanos succeeds, but with the current state of my body, I'm rather wary of handling any of the Stones, even the Time Stone within its sophisticated container.
Thankfully, the two Empire's past experiences with Thanos' forces is enough for them to seriously consider my words and I allow myself a small smile as I reveal the cherry on top which is sure to secure my alliance with these superpowers.
"Of course, as said before, the risk is high. I understand that, therefore, the reward must match the price."
That catches their attention. Irani tries to hide it, but she's very intrigued what an unknown rogue (and surprisingly powerful) element such as myself can offer the Nova Empire, whereas the Kree Ambassador looks downright greedy, undoubtedly imagining what his people could do with access to one (or likely more if not all) of my Infinity Stones.
Facing the woman who I keep imagining in a furcoat made of Dalmatian puppies, I fish a large glass tablet from underneath my heavy cloak and throw it leisurely towards the Nova Prime, who just barely manages to snatch it out of the air before Garthan Saal moves to swat it down to the ground. Irani shoots her second in command a disapproving look, but her Denarian just fiercely stares back, clearly not trusting anything coming from me that hasn't gone through at least a dozen or so rigorous security checks.
Easily turning on the haptic controls as a holographic document flares to life from the transparent surface, I start explaining to the Nova Prime just what she's holding in her hands.
"I speak to you now as both King of Othrys, a sovereign nation on the planet Earth, as well as a representative of the United Nations, an international organization comprised of the majority of the nations on my homeplanet. What I am proposing is that Earth becomes a member world of the Nova Empire, with the forces of Othrys specifically pledging themselves to aid the Nova Corps. Additionally, future agreements can be made between my planet's fledgling space fleet and the Corps where necessary."
My statement of having the authority to speak for my entire race isn't entirely true (though given my popularity after saving the entire planet twice, I'd think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who'd actually challenge me on it), but it's not like Irani needs to know that right now, and by the time she can find out, we'll either be dead, or I'll have Ascended, meaning that she can't exactly act on it.
After the Nova Prime finished skimming through the several pages of the first holographic document, the entire 'paper' folds away into a small folder on the glass plate as a new document springs to life above its surface, slightly startling Irani and her security forces.
"Sign that document as well and the Ravager raids that have been harassing the trade routes and patrols along the outer sector of your Empire shall come to an end. However, as you can imagine, this constitutes as a rather large drop in revenue for them, for which they will want reimbursement. Thankfully, that document also doubles as evidence of gainful employment for these wayward men and women, as it shows your agreement to take on the Ravager Clans as "independent contractors and advisors on naval matters working in conjunction with, but not under the authority of, the Nova Corps". You will find that the document already bears the signature of Stakar Ogord as leader of the Ravager Clans and mine in an intermediary capacity." I say with a thin smile.
"So, privateers then." Garthan Saal interjects in a hard voice, and while Irani shoots him a glance, she doesn't correct him, instead looking towards me with a frown on her face and a calculating look in her eye.
I merely shrug and grin, my smile widening when I catch Irani shooting a quick look at the Kree Advisor from underneath her lashes. While the notion of working with criminals might be… uncomfortable for the Nova Prime, the prospect of relieving her people from the Ravager's raids while simultaneously gaining a new fighting force to combat the Kree with is very appealing indeed.
So it doesn't really come as a surprise to me when Irani fishes a high quality stylus out of her breastpocket as she signs both holographic documents with a flourish. However, the thoughts of the Kree Ambassador have gone along much the same path as my own as he looks at said documents with pursed lips and an irritated face.
"Working with criminals now, Prime? How low has the Nova Empire fallen that it resorts to such craven lowlifes to fight its battles for it?" he asks with a sneer, causing Irani's security detail to bristle as several tighten their grip on the weapons (Garthan Saal of course looks just seconds away from putting a neat little hole right in the middle of the Kree's forehead).
However, despite the suddenly racketing tensions, Irani remains utterly composed, seemingly scanning over the entire forms again as she answers the challenge.
"On the contrary Ann-Ron. According to this document, none of these brave volunteers are criminals as they enjoy entirely legitimate employment through the Nova Corps in brave defence of the Empire. A valiant fighting force to bolster our troubled borders." She shoots back with a cool smile and the now named Ann-Ron bristles at her words.
A bunch of pirates with official backing on a hotly contested border zone? While the raids in Nova territory might have just come to an end, every single person here knew that the Ravagers would still find themselves up to the gills (or whatever alien equivalent was applicable) in work. Which is of course the entire reason why Stakar had agreed to my proposal in the first place.
There's a lot of money to be made in warzones, if you're willing to sink lower than the competition.
Ann-Ron is obviously about to verbally (and perhaps physically) assault the smug looking Nova Prime, so I quickly speak up, elaborating on the rewards I dangled in front of the Kree Emperor's nose in order to even get this meeting organized in the first place.
"No need to look so affronted, my dear Ambassador. The Kree shall gain their just rewards as well should they pledge themselves to the protection of life itself." I say smoothly, fishing a second glass plate from underneath my cloak and tossing it over to the blue skinned man, who eagerly snatches it out of the air.
Opening up the document stored on the device, Ann-Ron's brow briefly furrows as his eyes fly over the lines of text, before they shoot upwards in surprise.
"This… this is-"
"An agreement signed by the Queen of the Sovereign herself to aid the Kree in several of their advanced genetic research projects. Their cooperation is guaranteed to last until a satisfactory specimen has been created, after which it is up to the Kree Empire itself to secure further collaboration between the two of you."
A powerful boon indeed, considering the Kree had requested (or rather demanded) the Sovereign's aid in engineering a solution to their "genetic dead end" for many centuries now, only for them to be rebuffed at every turn.
"How did you manage this?" Ann-Ron asks, slightly awed and I grimaced in distaste at the memory.
"Certain… sacrifices had to be made. The Sovereign received gifts of their own in return for their aid, such as the agreement to help persuade the Kree to join my Alliance as well." I say darkly, and something in my rough tone must register with the Kree as he doesn't push further.
In truth, I had gotten off relatively easy with the Sovereign, considering the fact that, when I first reached out to them, Ayesha had basically propositioned me for sex, wanting to "combine her DNA with my altered genome to create an impressive new spawn for the Sovereign people" (or, as normal people would say, make a baby). I had been rather squicked out, both at the bluntness of the proposal and what it entailed. The thought of betraying Jess and the kids by making a baby purely for political reasons sat very wrong with me, so both for the sake of my own peace of mind and for the safety of the Sovereign themselves (since Jess would probably break their planet in half if she had heard Ayesha's proposal, no to mention what she'd do if I had actually agreed to it) I had shot down the Golden High Priestess' proposal quickly and brusquely.
They still got their way, in a sense, as I had to give them several biological samples as well as a data package Radcliffe had put together on how the Kree had created the Inhumans from baseline humans and how this was an example of humanity's genetic potential, before they agreed to send their remote-controlled fleets against Thanos' armies and to aid the Kree in their own genetic programs.
The new deal had at least kept my more valuable research, such as Extremis and Ego's Seed, out of their hands, but the thought of the Sovereign having access to my blood made me uncomfortable nonetheless.
Which is why I fully intended to take all of it back once I had Ascended and beaten Thanos. The deal only stipulated that I had to give them said material. Not that I had to let them keep it as well.
Ann-Ron is reading the document intently, but I can already tell from the hunger in his expression that he'll try to press me for more. I feel annoyance flare up in me, but it's quickly doused by the sheer tiredness that is steadily creeping through my thoughts and limbs. It feels as if I'm moving in slowmotion, or with heavy weights attached to each of my joints.
While I'm in a (relatively) stable condition for now, standing around for so long and trying to convince the wary representatives has sapped much of my already-low energy levels and I already consign myself to revealing my ace if it gets things sped up and the Kree finally on my side.
"A valuable trade indeed, Hyperion. But-"
"You already have in mind the required material needed for such a collaboration to truly bear fruit." I respond flatly, and Ann-Ron gains a little smirk.
"We have reason to believe the notable terrorist known as 'Captain Marvel' is in your custody. As you may know, her powers are property of the Kree Empire. With the aid of the Sovereign, my people should be capable of retrieving our rightful belongings and put them to their rightful use." He states airily and I simply give a tired nod in response, taking Ann-Ron off guard.
"As I expected." I simply respond, giving a small wave with my remaining hand.
In response, Phineas' Soter-platform grasps the massive sarcophagus and gently pushes it forwards until it's hovering between me and the Kree delegation, while the Nova's crane their heads to catch a glimpse of what I'm offering.
Stepping forwards, I wipe off the frost that's covering the top part of the thick glass plate serving as a lid, unveiling the person underneath: a comatose Carol Danvers. Glancing up from the unconscious woman, I look Ann-Ron directly in the eyes, gratified when he can only maintain contact for a few seconds before looking away.
"Your prize, Ambassador. I trust that with this exchange, people across the universe can now trust in the might of the Kree Empire to protect them from Thanos' forces?" I ask in a low voice, the threat of what would happen to them if they didn't hold up their end of the deal hanging implicitly in the air between us.
Briefly, the Kree bristle, but they quiet down when Ann-Ron glances at them over his shoulder. Turning back to me, he gives me the fakest, slimiest smile I've ever seen on a person before dipping his head in a gesture of respect.
"Of course. As ever, the Kree stands for order and peace for all peoples of the galaxy and beyond. Rest assured, Thanos' forces shall be met with the might of our Empire at every turn." He promises, before turning on his heel without a further word, leading the Kree delegation back to their ships.
As the shuttles rapidly take off (and I keep an eye on the fleet just in case they decide they can't resist the temptation of a little orbital bombardment now that they have their prize on board and the Nova Prime on the moon below them), the Nova delegation lingers behind and I can feel Irani's eyes on me.
"You have comments?" I respond calmly, still staring up at the cloudless sky overhead.
"Many." She immediately shoots back, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"I don't know how you managed to convince Ogord, but the fact you have the backing of the Ravagers, in addition to being allies with both Odin Allfather himself as well as the Dwarves of Nidavellir means that you certainly have quite some power in your corner. Which is why I look forwards to working closely with both your Kingdom as well as your people in general. If even half of them prove as… interesting as you, then Humanity can prove to be valuable allies to have indeed."
"But?"
"But, I fear you underestimate the Kree. As isolationist as they are, we do not know much about the Sovereign, but both their power as well as their knowledge are undeniable. An alliance between them and the Kree Empire… that might spell trouble for a lot of words. Not to mention handing them Captain Marvel. If they can truly reverse engineer her powers using the expertise of the Sovereign and grant them to their own people-" she begins, sounding genuinely worried.
"Irrelevant."
Looking over at the surprised looking Irani, I elaborate.
"Regardless of what the Kree can accomplish now that they have Captain Marvel's body and the aid of the Sovereign, any discoveries they might want to implement will take too long to come to fruition before either Thanos can make his move, or I receive my new body. In either case, the Kree Empire will be of no threat to one more world. I guarantee it." I say coldly, before looking away from a startled Nova Prime and glancing back up at the retreating Kree fleet.
"Besides, I did say that the Kree would be getting what they deserved. Captain Marvel's body is placed in a stasis field, while her mind is heavily shielded. It will take them quite some time for them to break through either protection. Plenty of time, in fact, for someone who is very dear to the Captain to track down the fiends who took her from him and exact some… Vengeance." I say darkly.
Given I was on a time-crunch, my acquisition of Carol Danvers had been somewhat rushed. Basically, I had portalled over to her apartment, put her to sleep with one of the same darts that Hydra had developed when they had been hunting Jessica and Trish, only to walk face first into Jim's clutches, and then portalled her back to Othrys, dumping her in a similar sarcophagus that had preserved Phineas failing body before we extracted his brain.
As I had discussed with Jessica during my recuperation, despite everything that Carol had done to me (or planned to do to me, at least), handing her back to the people that had so thoroughly messed with her mind had been rather cruel, even by my standards, and so I had decided to shield her mind in addition to her body.
While I didn't use the Mind Stone, there are several spells designed around strengthening and protecting the psyche, so I had layered a whole bunch of them on Carol's mind. Now, as far as she was concerned, she was sitting on a beach in Tahiti with Bucky, enjoying the sun and sea of that magical place without any sense of time passing.
It was the kindest I could do for her, under the circumstances.
Bucky had quickly realized what had happened of course, when he came back to Carol's apartment only to find her missing. Without the Mind Stone, my psychokinetics, including my telepathy, had been severely weakened, but I still had enough of the power left to read the surface-level thoughts that were basically radiating from his mind when he stormed into my office, smoke rising off the plates of his mechanical arm and with a burning glow in his eyes.
Apparently, as far as he had been concerned, it had been a toss-up whether I or Fury had been behind Carol's disappearance, and he had eventually dismissed Fury because he figured that I probably had surveillance on his girlfriend and wouldn't allow her to be taken before I was through with her, not when Fury was on such thin ice compared to my own position.
Convincing Bucky of the necessity of what I'd done with Carol had been intensive, but thankfully short. Making him see that the Kree were ultimately responsible for Danvers' mind and current state as a popsicle had allowed me to steer all that righteous fury away from me and towards the Kree Empire.
In the coming days to weeks, they should note a Boom Tube-powered burning motorcycle blazing a straight path straight to the heart of their Empire, with a very angry (and skinny) rider on top of said bike. That should keep them distracted enough to not make too much headway in "achieving the next stage of their evolution".
"… You are a dangerous man, Hyperion." Irani finally says, looking at me with apprehension as she glances down at the two glass plates in her hands.
"Indeed I am." I simply respond as Phineas' Soter-platform steps forwards, holding out what looks like a more sophisticated, compact version of the machine Selvig had built for Loki to allow the Chitauri through to our world.
There's a whine that quickly spools up as the machine begins spinning like mad, throwing off a scintillating glow, before in a very Bifrost-esque way, a rainbow-coloured beam shoots out of the coppery flanges at the top of the device, punching a hole in space and reality about a dozen meters in front of us. It lacks the spinning, glowing circle of sparks that usually heralds a Sorcerer's portal, instead being surrounded by an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of colours, but otherwise the effect is rather similar.
The Nova hustle and whisper to themselves as my group makes their way through the Iris Way one by one, until it's just me and the silent Jim Harper at my back. As I make my way towards the rip in space-time, my paranoid chief of security on my heels, I briefly pause in my stride as I pass a startled looking Irani, glancing towards her from the corner of my ruined eye.
"Which is exactly why I'm your best hope for survival right now. As dangerous as I can be, Thanos is currently every bit my equal. Unlike him, however, I am not your enemy. Or, if that is difficult for you to believe, you can at least trust that I am his. Food for thought." I state, before with another step, I move across stars and constellations to set foot upon my Kingdom, the Iris Way closing behind me and Harper.
As reality returns to normality again, I let out a deep breath, sagging in a bit on myself. Immediately, I feel a strong hand on my remaining arm, helping me stay upright. Glancing to my side, I look at Harper's concerned expression as his helmet folds away into his suit.
"What now, sir?" he asks.
"Now… we wait."
/
As it turned out, waiting in a massive star-powered Forge surrounded by hundreds of gigantic blacksmiths and my own research team running back on forth between various level on Nidavellir and the massive sarcophagus that was beginning to take shape was… surprisingly pleasant.
I had expected that the constant loud noises and inevitable questions would soon annoy me, but as it was, people gave me a wide birth as I sat in a comfortable lounge chair a few dozen meters away from Eitri's main desk and workbench, where he directed his forces and consulted with my own.
The scientists of Othrys were there of course, many of them either reporting to Cho or Radcliffe, who in turn reported to Sterns. There were various sorcerers there, many of whom I sadly didn't know by name (despite being Sorcerer Supreme for a little while now, I haven't really had a chance to really get to know my new subjects), who were being directed with a steady hand by the Ancient One, or Bodhmall as Frigga had revealed.
I had only very briefly talked with my predecessor about her true origins and she had politely, but firmly, asked me to forget that I had ever even heard the name. Bad memories, I guess.
In addition to my Sorcerers, the Ancient One was also directing several enchanters sent by Asgard. They had immense experience and power compared to many of the human magic wielders (especially since many of the more senior members of my Order had fallen during Hell Week), but thankfully the seriousness of the situation, as well as their respect for the Dwarves meant that their arrogance was kept in check.
With Eitri, Sterns and Bodhmall expertly commanding their respective fields of work that would contribute to the creation of my body, my attention often wasn't needed, each leader only approaching me in order to settle matters between the different factions or to make the final call regarding a tough decision, which allowed me to rest as I watched.
My immediate attention wasn't even really required for battlefield-related matters, with only important news being kicked up the chain towards me, as all day-to-day matters were being handled by Frigga, now that Odin had slipped into his Sleep in order to strengthen and repair Asgard.
Some of said important news that ended up in my lap usually pertained to Thanos' more notable officers, such as the members of the Black Order. Apparently, just yesterday the entirety of said Order had marched on a highly populated city world in search of an ancient Asgardian vault, unfortunately managing to breach its defences before the Ravagers, assisted by some Nova Corps fighter ships, could arrive on the scene.
Thanks to all of the cameras mounted in the Nova's Star Blasters, I eventually received a fairly detailed high-light reel of how the battle had gone. A significant part of the large, unknown city had been reduced to rubble surrounding what appeared to be a massive sinkhole, reminding me somewhat of New York around the invasion portal of the Devils in Central Park during Hell Week. A small army of Chitauri were circling the hole, supported by half a dozen Leviathans floating through the air high above. The Nova Corps had then punched a hole through their outer perimeter, allowing the Stakar and Aleta Ravager Clans to make it to the surface and engage the forces surrounding the sinkhole.
The fight was going fairly even until the members of the Black Order resurfaced from the underground Asgardian vault, comprised of Obsidian Cull, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. Only Obsidian and Proxima seemed to have picked up actual weapons though, the giant now wielding a massive battle-axe, while the horned woman was now using what seemed to be a very primitive, less powerful version of Gungnir. Maw and Glaive merely seemed to have garbed themselves in Asgardian armour, and in Maw's case, expensive jewellery as well.
Fighting their way out of the hole they had drilled to the now busted vault, the four members immediately cut a swath of death through the assembled Nova and Ravager forces, trying to make their way to where their unicycle ship was hovering over some of the taller spires of the city.
Given that he was one of the few beings in this universe with the power of flight (which seemed boosted thanks to his new gear), Maw simply disregarded the bitter ground battle, flying upwards to his awaiting ship, only hindered by the stray shots from Star Blasters as they engaged in spectacular dogfights with the Chitauri Riders through the urban jungle.
Proxima and Glaive stuck together at first, making a beeline towards the city square above which their Q-ship was hovering and were actually making good time until a Chitauri sled slammed into Corvus, carrying the man hundreds of meters along before smashing him through the wall of a nearby apartment complex. Right at the exact moment of impact, a lithe woman in green garbs and with a long mane of wild, dark hair backflipped off the vehicle she had commandeered, landing in a crouch in front of the shocked looking Proxima.
Immediately, a fierce fight broke out between Proxima and Aleta, with the agent of Thanos using her new spear to devastating effect: whenever the elongated spear tip impacted a surface, it unleashed a corona of yellow-coloured lightning, leaving small, but deep craters in its wake. Aleta, on the other hand, seemed to move with unnatural speed and grace, sometimes seemingly pushing off of thin air and floating on nothing, before engaging her enemy in a dazzling flurry of blows.
As their fight moved rapidly back and forth, both women sometimes making leaps of several dozens of meters, or moving fast enough their limbs began to blur, Obsidian Cull was making his own way through the army standing between him and his escape route. The axe he was wielding seemed to be the bastard offspring between Skurge's Executioner's Axe and Steppenwolf's Electro Axe, leaving burning red glows in the wake of each swing which lingered unnaturally in the air.
The red crackling fields reminded me of the effects of the Aether, and proved to be very deadly when Cull backhanded an unfortunate Ravager into one of the glowing arcs. With a horrifying scream, the pirate was bifurcated, his middle, which had hit the tear in reality, warping, twisting and finally being sucked away into the hellish red void of the glowing trail, leaving the upper part of his torso and his legs to land in two different spots.
Apparently, the unfortunate pirate had been one of Stakar's crew or friends, as the Ravager Captain let out a rage-filled roar as he leapt across the battlefield to engage the giant in battle. His fight, as well as his wife's fight with Proxima Midnight happening not even a hundred meters away, finally shed some light on the capabilities of the man I knew as Starhawk from the comics.