The Black Lion - The beginning of the end. (Patreon)

Kor El, The Dark Aster – Earth.

They were fucked, Kor El thought, the moment the Dark Aster trembled like never before.

It was… simply unthinkable to think that the humans of this planet were managing to do something that not even the Skrull Empire, the Shi’ar Empire, or the Nova had done.

To bring down a Kree war battleship.

“Energy fluctuations, severe internal damage in several ship systems, imminent failure of the ship’s energy system, the human infiltration group is heading toward the reactors,” said Kor El with considerable caution. That terrifying trio had wreaked havoc among the ship’s troops, leaving a trail of destruction and blood in their wake.

And apparently, the “mighty” Accuser had already had enough.

Ronan was standing, watching the failing ship’s surveillance systems like a caged beast, observing how a trio of what he considered inferior beings massacred his precious Kree soldiers as if they were vermin. In his hand he gripped his war hammer with such force that Kor El thought he would split it in half.

“I will deal with these inferior beings myself,” he spat, and without saying a single word, he left the bridge, followed by his personal regiment of soldiers.

Kor El couldn’t help but snort in disbelief at the stupid decision. The captain of the damn ship left the bridge because of a tantrum, in the middle of a military incursion and without a clear chain of command.

“We’re fucked,” she said out loud, and to her surprise, none of the officers on the bridge said anything about it.

There was no devotion to Hala, to the Supreme Intelligence, or anything like that, they were just a group of soldiers who knew they were fighting in a battle they could not win.

“The human ships are relentless,” said one of them with extreme caution, watching with a grimace of agony as another ship in the fleet was destroyed by those damn orbital cannons, being split in half.

A large part of the human city was destroyed, at least the primitive parts that were outside the damned shield, and the shield of the command tower remained impenetrable.

And thanks to the orbital cannons, they couldn’t bring the ship into position for an orbital bombardment, this fucking campaign was lost.

And they all knew it.

“Officer Kor El, orders?” asked one of the soldiers, looking at her with something close to a plea.

The Kree captain sighed and looked again at the few operational cameras inside the ruined ship, communication had been lost with the more distant levels, and she had lost sight of the second human team.

A lot of time had passed since Ronan had left the bridge and apparently, he had already encountered the trio of invaders.

Kor El watched as the Accuser used his war hammer to strike the terrifying beast, and although he succeeded in pushing it away from the soldiers and giving the terrified troops a necessary moment of relief.

However, any thought about Ronan was completely forgotten upon receiving an incoming transmission from Captain Yon’s ship.

Things weren’t pretty for the fleet either, thought Kor El, as the image of the partially destroyed bridge appeared, blue sparks and visible bodies, consequence of the punishment that the human ships had done.

“DAMN IT RONAN, WE HAVE TO...” the captain’s words died in his lips as he noticed that Ronan, the supposed captain of the Dark Aster, was not on the bridge.

“Where is that damn idiot?” the captain spat, making the officers of the Dark Aster look at each other without knowing how to respond.

At least, until Kor El stepped forward and spoke.

“The captain of the Dark Aster is dealing with intruders in the Dark Aster personally, captain,” said Kor El, seeing how the captain’s face filled with disbelief.

“We are being massacred, I’ve lost half my ships and I’ve only taken down six human ships, that damn station is a full stellar fortress, I don’t have the firepower necessary to bring it down,” said Yon, and it was evident that saying those words hurt him greatly, to think that a planet that everyone considered primitive and irrelevant, could have such an implacable military presence.

“The captain is dealing with the humans in the ship and left no orders, we—”

However, Kor El’s words were interrupted by an explosion at the bridge doors, killing the two closest officers and stunning the entire bridge with the thunderous sound.

“BREACH ON THE BRIDGE!” shouted Kor El, drawing her pistol and beginning to fire toward the entrance, from where a pair of humans entered with lethality and precision, beginning to eliminate the soldiers and officers present.

“HUMANS ON THE BRIDGE, WE HAVE HUMANS ON THE BRIDGE!!” shouted Kor El through all the ship’s channels.

In the transmission, Captain Yon watched in disbelief something he had never thought possible, that primitive humans were capable of infiltrating and successfully boarding a Kree battleship.

“We’re leaving, the Dark Aster has been boarded! let the fleet turn around, retreat to Hala, NOW!” he shouted, at the same time that he cut the transmission, his intention of leaving the Dark Aster behind more than evident.

And Kor El simply couldn’t blame him, in his place she would have done the same.

The battle is lost.

And although Captain Yon had given the order to retreat, the human ships did not seem willing to let the battle end.

The human commandos moved among the officers like predators. Kor El tried to shoot them with her personal plasma cannon, only to watch with impotence as personal shields activated and rendered her attack completely useless.

“Concentrate all your fire on a single target to overwhelm their shields!” she ordered, causing the Kree officers to begin firing at the human figure clad in black and red.

A woman, judging by the silhouette of her figure, one who preferred close combat considering the pair of lethal plasma blades that had already sliced the throat of two of her colleagues.

Due to the concentrated fire, Kor El and the group of officers managed to overload the armor’s shields. However, the human warrior did not retreat in her assault.

She had no need to.

Because while the entire bridge focused on her, the other human agent was already prepared and ready to assist her.

Four projectiles similar to… arrows? Shot toward the group of Kree, releasing unbearable sonic charges.

“AAAHHHG!” Kor El screamed, covering her ears instinctively and giving the human woman enough time to close the distance.

It was… a simple massacre.

The human woman performed a flip in the air and landed a kick directly on Kor El’s face.

Kor El felt as if a damn ship had slammed into her face, at the same time her body was thrown several meters backward, crashing into one of the ship’s control consoles.

The rest?

They were not so lucky.

The plasma blades tore through Kree flesh as if it were wet paper, while the archer launched plasma arrows, piercing the bodies of the officers, who tried, without success, to defend themselves.

The cuts and arrows were striking non-lethal points, so it was evident that these humans had plans for them.

Prisoners.

They would be prisoners, Kor El realized it as she struggled to stand, cursing the stupidity of the Accuser.

A high-ranking Kree or just another pawn of the Supreme Intelligence following orders blindly?

Perhaps she would never know.

The Kree soldier tried to stand with visible difficulty, around her several officers were doing the same, at least until a cold female voice spoke.

“Do not stand up, for your own good.”

Those words paralyzed her.

Not due to the coldness or the threat.

But...they had been spoken in her own language.

How the hell had humans achieved that?

Kor El thought, a terrible feeling settling in her chest, as she watched the warrior walk toward the main console and a digital interface appeared on her wrist.

“Hermione, we’re on the bridge. Do your magic.”

With horror, Kor El watched as all the systems of the Dark Aster began to behave strangely, as if...

Oh no.

She understood.

And the next words confirmed her fear.

“Connection established, Mother. The ship is ours,” said a female digital voice, as the ship’s interfaces changed from the characteristic Kree blue to a bright emerald green.

“I have located the energy system that powers the Tesseract device. Cutting supply,” said the synthetic voice.

Kor El felt the shift in the ship’s power systems at the same moment the field created by the Space Stone destabilized.

And the very instant the shield over the planet disappeared...

It happened.

Two storms appeared in the skies of the planet, two storms that were not natural.

One of them began to emit lights of various colors, similar to a rainbow, while the second emitted green glows in different shades.

“Shit…” whispered the Kree officer, as she saw Asgardian warships, as well as mounted warriors, begin to emerge from the portal, guided by a humanoid figure in battle armor or a red cape, easily recognizable across the universe.

Prince Thor, heir to the Throne of Asgard.

And although the presence of Asgardian forces was concerning…

It paled in comparison to what began to emerge from the second portal.

Giant beasts floated slowly, covered in thick white fur, with two pairs of wings and enormous claws.

The creatures were armored with a kind of plating that carried mounted turrets, which fired freezing beams at the Chitauri leviathans and smaller ships, while some kind of blue shields protect them from retribution.

And the most terrifying of all...

An emerald flash, tiny from the observation deck of the Dark Aster, emerged from the emerald portal and launched itself like lightning toward the nearest ship, piercing it with alarming ease, only to emerge from the other side and begin the process again.

Kree communications were in complete chaos.

On one side, the human fleet punished the bulk of the ships.

From the rear, the Asgardians and the unknown troops sowed chaos in Captain Yon’s fleet, which was ascending rapidly toward the planet’s atmosphere to attempt an emergency jump and escape the system.

Something that, apparently, the humans were not going to allow.

“Hermione, prepare all the weapon systems of this ship. Once the enemy ships are outside the city’s attack vector, rain plasma on them,” ordered the human woman.

Kor El and the remaining officers looked at her with absolute terror.

“No… you can’t—AHHHG—!” said a young officer, silenced by a kick to the face from the second human, who seemed ready to execute them on the spot.

“Give me a reason. I dare you,” he whispered, pressing his foot against the young officer’s throat, slowly suffocating him.

“Leave him! He is not a threat!” Kor El shouted, not wanting more Kree blood spilled because of Ronan’s stupidity.

The human looked at her with something close to hatred, before removing his foot from the soldier’s throat and delivering another kick to his face, knocking him unconscious.

Suddenly, the Dark Aster’s cannons came to life and began raining plasma upon Yon’s already devastated fleet.

The powerful Kree warships were destroyed or boarded, the humans and their allies showed not a single trace of mercy.

And as if things could not get worse…

The emerald flash that she had seen earlier stopped slaughtering ships…

And began flying directly toward them.

Toward the bridge of the Dark Aster.

As fast as a damn fighter craft.

In seconds, the unstoppable figure pierced through the observation deck as if the reinforced glass—designed to withstand solar storms—were paper.

Then it stopped abruptly in the command center of the ship, levitating a meter above the ground, calmly analyzing the situation.

And judging by the humans’ reaction…

This man was important.

“Harrison!” said the warrior with excitement.

“Father!” said the digital voice, with happiness.

But Kor El had no attention left for that.

The presence of this being was… simply terrifying.

As if she were standing before an apex predator.

He was clad in exquisite armor, made of an unknown alloy and completely new technology to Kor El.

It resembled more a kind of intelligent combat skin… almost alive.

The man was enormous, muscular, and Kor El could not help but swallow hard the moment his heavy boots touched the floor of the bridge.

“I see the situation is under control,” said the unknown figure, his voice deep and distorted by the helmet, yet unmistakably human.

What kind of problem had Ronan dragged them into? Kor El thought with fear.

The human woman nodded.

“Yes. Although much of the city outside our protection was destroyed… there is a lot to rebuild,” she said with determination.

“I did not see military support when we arrived,” she added, completely ignoring the Kree, as if they were beneath her notice.

The second human responded.

“There wasn’t any. President Kelly did not authorize intervention. No doubt as retaliation against you,” he said, his gaze fixed entirely on Kor El and the captured Kree.

The imposing leader nodded slowly before speaking again.

“I will deal with Kelly once I finish with these vermin. Natasha, have Emma and the rest of the lionesses begin the Deep Clean protocol. Such incompetence deserves a precise response from us, and if Kelly wants to play with the lives of our brothers and sisters… I will make him pay for it,” he declared.

At the same time, an emerald aura appeared around him—so powerful that simply looking at it hurt Kor El’s eyes for no apparent reason.

“The Tesseract is in the engine room, with the leader of this circus. Your father is fighting him,” said the redhead, sending a report through the digital interface on her wrist.

The stranger nodded slowly, before turning his gaze directly toward Kor El.

“Capture them and process them. From now on, they are our prisoners. Send them to Olympus,” said the leader.

And without waiting for a response…

He disappeared with a silent pop.

The male human agent needed no further instruction and began knocking out the Kree officers one by one—with clear brutality and efficiency—while the red-haired human approached Kor El.

With complete calm.

As if the capture of a Kree warship were something routine.

“In the name of Harrison Evans, Lord of Midgard and King of Jotunheim… you are our prisoner.”

And the last thing Kor El saw before the sweet embrace of unconsciousness claimed her…

Was a heavy metallic boot crashing into her face.

The greatest humiliation in the military history of the Kree…

Had only just begun.