| Aboard the
Captain America III |
En route to
the Ba-Banii-Bas system, the Captain America III was
also home not just to its regular crew, the Guardians
of the Galaxy, but also to many displaced aliens -
the Snark Rommel, the Kree Kay-Den, and several
refugees from the destroyed Kree homeworld of Hala.
They were on the run for their very lives, opposed by
the Kree Supreme Intelligence - the force that, for
centuries, had led their race through many trials.
They had had implicit trust in their ruler until he
emerged with a new race to support him; the
hyper-advanced - both technologically and
biologically - Ruul.
But the Kree aboard
the Captain America III were not the only
ones to escape the destruction of their homeworld;
three other refugee ships hid in the Ba-Banii-Bas
star system, protected by their race's one true hero
- Gan-Vell, who now operated under the codename of
Captain Marvel. The Ruul were on the hunt for all of
the surviving Kree, however, and while the Guardians
were able to delay the Ruul by leading them to Haven
II, they knew the Ruul would not be put off forever.
A showdown was
coming - but the Guardians wanted to make sure it was
between themselves and the Ruul, and that the last of
the Kree would survive.
The Pluvian
Guardian, Martinex T'Naga, walked the length of the
ship and sat beside Yondu in a corner far from any of
the ship's other occupants. He looked his Centaurian
friend in the eye before he spoke:
"I don't trust
Kay-Den," he said. "Or Rommel."
"Agreed,"
Yondu replied. "They know something that they
are keeping from us, and we must find out what."
"Do you think
they would betray us to the Ruul?"
"I am
uncertain."
Martinex rubbed his
crystalline chin as he considered his options... and
there weren't many. The Guardians had already lost
their most powerful team member, Phoenix-IX, over a
petty dispute*.
They could not risk any more discord among their team
or their allies by making unwarranted accusations.
They needed to make sure they knew the truth - the
whole truth - before making judgement.
[ * - see
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #84 - Adrian ]
"We can't go to
Charlie," Martinex said. "We both know what
he has been like since taking command. He will rush
in, without thinking... If only there was a way to
learn the truth without Charlie-27 even knowing there
was truth to be found out."
Yondu opened his
mouth to speak, but stopped as he saw the Keeper -
Norrin Radd, known for centuries as the Silver Surfer
- approaching. The Keeper was only an honourary
member of the Guardians but, after entering into
direct opposition with the Intergalactic Council over
the issue of the Ruul, he had had no option but to
tag along with the team as they did what they could
to help the Kree.
"Captain-27 has
dispatched me to find a new home for the Kree,"
the Keeper said. "Haven II will not be available
for three days, if ever."
"What? That's
insane!" Martinex shouted. "You are our
most powerful member - and you wear the
quantum-bands! Without you with us, we may as well
surrender!"
The Keeper frowned.
"Have more faith in your team, Martinex,"
he said. "I have already found what I believe to
be a viable world. I will return before you reach
Ba-Banii-Bas."
The Keeper walked
away, and Martinex did not speak for several minutes.
Eventually, he rose and marched to the cockpit of the
ship, where he found the Jovian Charlie-27 and his
Mercurian girlfriend, Nicholette Gold, manning the
controls.
"Charlie..."
he began.
"Can't it wait,
Marty? We've got to - " Charlie-27 responded.
Can't it wait? Martinex
thought. "No, Charlie - it can't wait!"
Martinex reached out
and took the back of Charlie's captain's chair. He
spun it around so that the Jovian was facing him. He
glared at his team leader with all the anger and
frustration he could muster. He was done being pushed
aside.
"Be careful
what you say, Marty," Charlie-27 warned him.
"Real careful."
"No,
'Captain'-27," Martinex said. "I'm done
taking your orders. I defended you to Phoenix-IX,
because I genuinely believed that what happened to
Firelord and the Spirit of Vengeance could was not
your fault. But it could have been
prevented! If you were any sort of leader...!"
"You think you
can do better?"
"I seemed to do
fine when I led the Galactic Guardians - the team you
got half killed!"
Martinex regretted
the words the moment they passed his lips. They were
harsh words, angry words, words that did not
truly come from his heart - but as Charlie's massive
fist made contact with his own crystalline face, the
rage that built within him made him care less and
less about what he had just said. Charlie-27 was wrong
- and Martinex was going to prove it. With his
fists.
| Doomstadt,
Latveria, Earth |
The Doombot
marched freely through the halls of Castle Doom,
leading its human master downward, deep into the
Earth, into a brightly-lit chamber lined with various
computers and monitors... and thousands upon
thousands of cables and wires, all connected to one
central point - Mainframe.
Not 'the' Mainframe;
just Mainframe. The synthezoid known in the 20th
century as the Vision had become an integral part of
the despotic ruler's master plan. Doom knew that
Mainframe had, once before, controlled an entire
planet*,
and he intended to expand upon that - for Mainframe's
systems to control not just the Earth, but far
beyond.
[ * - Klaatu,
most notably in GALACTIC GUARDIANS #1-4 - Adrian ]
The wires that
extended from Mainframe's red plastic body ran
underground to installations all over the planet,
some intended for military and defensive use, others
to operate more mundane processes like transport. But
every one served an essential function in Doom's
plan, and at least so far, Mainframe was handling
things admirably.
"My Doombots
tell me the preparations are complete," Doom
said. "The remaining elements will go online
within days."
"Very well,
Doom," Mainframe replied. "My systems are
operating at only 18% capacity. I foresee no issue in
completing the tasks you have assigned for me."
"Good,"
Doom said. "Soon, Avenger, you may well be the
centre of the universe itself."
| Hours later,
in orbit over Avyos |
The planet
Avyos was not well-known to most of the space-faring
races of the galaxy. Despite widespread exploration
by the Shi'ar, Kree and Ruul, Avyos had gone
undetected thanks to a lack of technological
development - it was only in the past decade that it
had, quite rapidly, even developed the most basic
defences.
The Keeper knew the
planet well, having frequently sought the planet's
simplicity and solitude during his many years serving
as a herald of the world-devouring Galactus. The
world's native species, the Avyans, had come to
regard him almost as a deity over the centuries, and
were more than receptive to his plan to secure the
Kree refugees there.
He knew that the
planet's basic defences were less than ideal for
defending against the Ruul, but he also realised that
he had few options. Once beyond the planet's
atmosphere he tapped the quantum-bands attached to
his wrists and attempted to communicate with the
Guardians' ship, but received no response.
Could they have
been discovered? he wondered. I cannot be
certain, and risking the time it would take to
quantum-jump to their intended location is
unacceptable - and if the Ruul have found them, it
will reveal my location as well!
He tapped the bands
again and instead contacted the refugees already in
hiding at Ba-Banii-Bas. Captain Marvel responded from
the cockpit of the main refugee ship.
"Keeper?"
he asked. "What's happened? Why are you - "
"Listen to me,
young Kree," the Keeper said. "I have
temporarily lost contact with the Guardians of the
Galaxy, but I have found a world on which the Kree
can gain a brief respite. I am transmitting the
co-ordinates to you now." He paused as the data
passed across the quantum-stream to Gan-Vell's
location. "If the Guardians do not arrive as
planned, head directly to that location, and I will
meet you there."
If I can, he
thought privately. He ended his communication with
Gan-Vell and created a quantum-warp back to the
Guardians' ship, hoping that he liked what he found
there.
The Keeper found
himself pulled from his quantum-warp but an
irresistable force. The sensation of being pulled out
of quantum-space was almost unbearable to him, but he
struggled through it and, finally, emerged in orbit
around a green planet. A rapidly-moving green planet.
At first, he could
not detect what had attracted him and then, sitting
on the planet's surface, he saw a small device.
Despite his best efforts at resistance, it drew him
closer and closer, until he was standing on the
surface of the strange globe. He force pulled him
down even further, encouraging him to lay flat
against the green ground.
As his face touched
the ground, dark green tendrils reached out from
beneath his body and wrapped themselves around him,
dragging him down further and further until he was
completely buried. He could not move, could hardly
breathe, and had no way of freeing himself.
All the while, Ego,
the Living Planet, moved on...
Martinex
raised his right fist and blasted Charlie-27 with a
freezing ice-blast. The Jovian staggered back, then
charged forward and rammed the Pluvian hard against
the ship's bulkhead. Martinex felt his bones bend -
and, in some cases, break - under the pressure, and
he slumped to the ground, unconscious from the pain.
"Yeah, you want
to take me on now?" Charlie-27 gloated.
"Yondu, take him to the med-bay."
Charlie returned to
the ship's controls, but Nikki stopped him before he
could take control.
"Chunky..."
she said. "What's going on with you? Why did you
do that?"
"He's been
asking for it, firehair," Charlie said.
"You've seen what he's been like."
"No, Charlie...
I haven't. I've seen what you have been
like."
Charlie-27 didn't
speak. He turned the Captain America III back
on course towards the Ba-Banii-Bas star system and
tried to ignore Nikki's silence - which was much more
difficult than ignoring her talking.
| The
Ba-Banii-Bas Star System |
The four Ruul
warships, led by the massive worldship carrying
Valaar the Accuser, deactivated their cloaking field
when they were too close for the Kree refugees to
have any hope of remaining undetected - but they did
not fire; at least not immediately.
The larger, more
well-equipped ships moved into position around the
small fleet of refugee vessels, blocking them in with
no hope of escape. Aboard the worldship, Valaar - the
most powerful among the Ruul, second only to the
Supreme Intelligence himself - smiled, displaying
razor-like teeth that terrorised even the other Ruul
under his command.
He approached a
small communications device and spoke into it,
knowing that by design it would relay his words into
the refugee ships whether the Kree chose to hear what
he had to say or not. He did not think carefully
about the words he chose - he was there to show them
fear, to torment them before utterly destroying them.
"Kree - "
The Kree only heard
Valaar's first word. There was no flaw in the
communications system; he had simply stopped
speaking. A woman, standing behind him, had caught
her attention - not for the first time. She had blue
skin and unique, feline-like features. Her body was
hidden by a dark cloak, and as she put her hand on
Valaar's arm, his rage - and excitement - increased
dramatically.
"Take your hand
off me, woman," he said. "I am an Accuser
of the Ruul. I will not allow myself to be - "
"Think
carefully, Valaar," the woman said. "I have
asked you before: do you want to do this?*"
[ * - in
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #81 - Adrian ]
"I have
answered you. I wish only what is best for the Ruul.
The Supreme Intelligence assures us that for the Ruul
to thrive, the Kree must be destroyed," Valaar
told her. "Now take. Your hand. Off me."
The woman removed
her hand and took a step back, but she was not done
yet. "How does tormenting the Kree help the
Ruul?"
"You are trying
my patience," Valaar said - but the woman was
right. Valaar could not understand why the Supreme
Intelligence insisted he be so cruel in his pursuit
of the Kree. He needed them eradicated - that Valaar
could understand and accept. But to terrify them?
That hardly seemed necessary.
"Very
well," Valaar finally conceded. "Armsmen,
prepare your weapons. Destroy the Kree ships."
The Armsmen prepared
their weapons and began to fire - but nothing
happened. Stunned, Valaar approached a monitor which
showed him what was going on outside; and he saw
astounded him. One man, in a pale blue bodysuit, with
dark rings around his eyes and yellow bands extending
from his shoulders to his back, hovered in space, his
hands outstretched, disabling the weapons systems of
the Ruul vessels.
Captain Marvel!
Gan-Vell heard the
voice inside his head as he braced for weapons
impact. He did not know where it came from or what it
meant, and his first instinct was to stand back and
prepare for combat.
Captain Marvel! the
voice repeated. My name is Starhawk; you need to
leave. Now! Go to the co-ordinates given to you by
the Keeper. You cannot wait for the
Guardians!
How can I trust
you? Gan-Vell thought.
Because I am the
one keeping the Ruul from destroying you. I cannot
hold them back much longer. Go! Now!
Starhawk exerted one
last effort and managed to repel each of the Ruul
ships several kilometers, giving Gan-Vell the time he
needed to power up the Kree vessels and move out.
They entered hyperspace and were soon beyond the
range of the Ruul scanners - as was Starhawk who, as
far as the Ruul could tell, had simply vanished.
| Later, aboard
the Ruul worldship |
"Thank
you, Cat-Lass."
The feline-like
woman sat patiently in her own quarters, waiting for
the visual aspect of Starhawk's psychic projection to
appear before her. She had risked a great deal
pretending to ally herself with the Ruul and the
Supreme Intelligence on Starhawk's behalf, and after
the day's events, during which her attempts to stall
Valaar had come close to placing her in real
jeopardy, she needed to know what Starhawk's plans
were.
His projection was
invisible to the Ruul sensors as, in many ways, it
was not really there - he simply triggered aspects of
the woman's own mind so that she could see and hear
what was not there to be seen or heard.
You are welcome,
my beloved, she replied. But what now?
"The Guardians
will come to Ba-Banii-Bas too late. I need to find a
way to inform them of the Kree's location."
And what of your
other plan?
"It remains on
schedule - thanks to you."
And I live
thanks to you. As a Kree mutant -
"Do not finish
that sentence. I have made my feelings very clear on
that matter."
I am sorry.
"Do not be
sorry. Be prepared. The hardest part is yet to
come."
NEXT ISSUE:
The Kree settle into their new home as the Guardians
hear from Haven II - but will Rancor bring them good
news? More on Starhawk's plan... and Valaar makes an
unexpected move!
IN TALES TO
ASTONISH #123: It's Vance Astro and Rita
DeMara, in the 20th century! Join them as they face a
brand-new triple threat!
As always - send
feedback to bella1@netspace.net.au
