“Prepare my flagship, Corvus,” he said. “We shall find what I seek… on Earth. And in the process we will make our presence known.”
* * *
GALADOR WAS burning. It did not go quietly, however.
“Unforeseen complications, Builders,” the Caretaker announced. It stood at a vantage point that allowed it to observe the carnage.
“They all resist,” a Builder responded from aboard its vessel.
“As they should, Creator,” said another. “What good is a race that would be any other way?”
“Clarify, Caretaker,” a third requested. “Please define the obstacle.”
“This world, it has heroes.” As the Caretaker observed, Alephs moved through the flames of the burning cityscape without heeding the screams of the dying. Laser-thin eye-beams added to the destruction.
“OBJECTIVE: TIME-SENSITIVE,” the foremost Aleph noted. “GOAL: WORLD CLEANSING.”
“ALERT: ENERGY CASCADE IN PROXIMITY,” a second Aleph said. “ERROR: COMPENS—”
Its words were cut off as a blinding flash of light consumed them, marking the arrival of five armored beings. The knights of Galador once were men, sacrificing themselves for a greater good. Their fragile bodies had been replaced by cybernetic technologies that transformed them. They became the champion protectors of their world.
“The invading fleet’s command vessel is stationary,” a knight with a swirling topknot announced. “We’ve finally got their attention.”
“As we should,” responded one of her teammates. “Emergency upgrades from the Prime Directorate have given each of us the firepower of an entire cavalry. We’ll burn out, but Galador will stand.”
* * *
“LOOK, SANNO,” a young woman exclaimed, peering up at the Knights. “All the stars in heaven, and none shine as brightly as them.”
“Yes,” her brother replied. “The Spaceknights will save us, Kiru. They have always saved us.”
“This time they will not,” Captain Universe said. The softness of her voice belied the certainty in her words. “Everything dies. Even the things you think cannot.”
“Who are—” Sanno began.
“I am the universe,” she replied without even looking back. “Here at the start, to see how the end begins.”
“Well… you’re wrong. This is not the end. My father’s father was a knight. He fought in the Wraith Wars, stood against the Shadow armies. He, like them, was good and noble, and fought for something greater than himself.” His voice cracked. “He had to win, because losing meant the end of everything he believed in.”
“They will prevail,” Kiru agreed. “Because they must. See, they are not just brave and mighty—they are righteous. They are the very best of this world. They are the sons and daughters of Galador.”
“It won’t matter.”
“Why?” Sanno said. “Why do you seem so sure?”
Captain Universe looked up, and the two young people followed her gaze. A ship, more massive than any that had ever been seen in the skies over Galador, appeared from behind the smoke and flames.
“Because,” Captain Universe said, “now my children are here.”
An instant later a pure white heat engulfed the city, instantly incinerating everyone who was there.
* * *
THE ENERGIES moved across the surface of the planet and drove deep within the crust, vaporizing land and oceans and every living thing that existed upon the surface of a world that had endured for centuries.
Galador died in a series of growing explosions. Where there had been a planet, there was little left but star stuff and the unconscious forms of the noble souls who had given up their humanity to save their world and, ultimately, failed.
CHAPTER NINE
OUTRIDER
IT MOVED through space and dropped to the planet Earth like a spare thought, a whisper. The ship in which it traveled was invisible to the eye and to the limited technologies available on the planet.
The Outrider lived only to serve Thanos, and it moved with the careful and meticulous steps of an assassin. It was not here to kill, but to gain information. It would find out exactly what Lord Thanos wanted, and it would do so by following a trail very few creatures in the universe could have detected.
The world was larger than the moon called Titan. There were billions of creatures through which to sift in its hunt for the Infinity Stone—and the other prize Thanos sought. Fortunately the Outrider could sense the residue of the Infinity Stones— where they had been, what had touched them.
Through cities and desolate areas, it followed one of the many trails. There were several Infinity Stones—or there had been, at least—and the strongest trail led to Attilan.
Upon reaching the city of the Inhumans, the Outrider left its ship hovering overhead and entered the structure occupied by the king and his retinue. The hunter scrabbled across the walls, avoiding advanced defenses as a ghost moves through walls. It moved past guards who did not see it, or smell it, or even hear it.
Finally it made its way to the chambers of the king of the Inhumans, where the man called Black Bolt slept in darkness. It dared to perch upon the slumbering form’s bed, and did not even disturb the sheets.
The occupant of that bed did not stir. The king was asleep, and his rest was deep. Reaching out with long, delicate fingers, the intruder eased its insubstantial claws into his prey’s head.
Now, Inhuman king—give me what I seek.
All of them…
It began sorting through memories—of the king’s early years, his ascension to the throne, the necessity of moving his people, again and again. Meeting the woman, Medusa, who became his queen and for the most part ruled with her husband. A son of prophesy who took five wives to gather all of the castes under his crown.
He loves one, hates one, cares little for the rest…
How many secrets were held in a lifetime? When a man could not speak, he possessed more than most. The Outrider touched memory after memory, looking upon the royal family. Cousins and family who remained loyal to Black Bolt, regardless of internal strife within the kingdom.
Many secrets were sorted. Studied and cast aside.
In time, however, it found the answers it sought.
Something hidden… a brotherhood…
The gems Thanos sought were gone, taken by this king and several others. They called themselves the Illuminati, and sought to protect and guide the various factions of the world’s dominant race.
Then even further back, hidden kings, a lost queen—
Get out of my head.
The ruler of the Inhumans woke.
Impossible!
The words were uttered only in Black Bolt’s mind. Had he spoken, the Outrider knew, devastation surely would have followed. Yet still the creature knew terror—and pain. Its hand, held fast within the monarch’s mind, was severed in an instant as the king ripped the entire arm free from his body as if it were the wing on a fly. The Outrider made no sound as the agony tore through it. To make a noise would be a disaster of a different sort, and it would alert others.
The Outrider tried to flee. It could not allow itself to be destroyed or captured. It had information Thanos needed, and his master would have that information no matter what the cost.
* * *
“KARNAK,” THE Inhuman known as Gorgon said. “An assassin!”
A creature appeared in the corridor, vaguely human but with three arms and an elongated head possessing too many teeth. Where a fourth arm should have been, only a bloody ruin remained.
It seemed vaguely insubstantial, slipping past the two members of the ruling family like a smoking wraith. Though Karnak failed to strike it, Gorgon pounded the stone floor with one of his massive hooves, sending out a powerful shockwave. The intruder became solid and hurtled toward two of the king’s guards.
“Be ready, Kirren,” one of them cautioned.
“I am not afraid, Tolos.”
Then the creature collided
with them, tearing the guts from one and the throat from the other before they could do much more than brace themselves. The delay was enough, however, and Black Bolt appeared. As the thing leapt away from his pursuers, the Inhuman king spoke with the faintest whisper.
“Stop.”
The air exploded with a storm of vibrations that crashed into the intruder, shattering its armor, pulping muscles, straining bones to breaking point. The creature screamed, but the sound was lost in the cacophony as the balcony on which it stood was destroyed, pulverized into little more than dust.
Blown backward by the force of the sound, it plummeted toward its death. Then it hit what seemed like solid air, and a strange craft appeared. With desperate strength it reached for the hatch and rolled into the opening with feeble yet frantic effort.
Before Black Bolt and his cousins could react, the craft shot past, roaring into full flight and heading for the stars above. Quickly it dwindled down to a speck, and then a memory.
No one spoke. No one needed to. Black Bolt alone could have expressed how vast their troubles were, but he dared not speak—and even if he could have, what could he have said? How vulnerable was a kingdom that had no secrets?
His people, he knew, were likely to find out.
CHAPTER TEN
THE WAR AT HOME
EVERY RESERVE member who could be contacted had been summoned. As they awaited instructions from Captain America, something occurred above the city of New York. Surveillance devices detected unusual activity in Attilan, and the departure of a strange vessel, but the Inhumans chose not to share any details.
But other, more pressing concerns took shape.
Captain Universe appeared on the Peak and fell first to her knees, and then on her face. A being who held more power than any of them could easily comprehend had been bested. Had been beaten down until she lay in a coma.
* * *
“HOW LONG?” Captain America asked. He, Iron Man, and Ex Nihilo had been summoned. The woman lying on the diagnostic bed looked less like a goddess and more like a fragile young human being. The S.W.O.R.D. medical bay held miracles of technology designed solely for restoring damaged flesh and bone, and all of its wonders worked to do so, but so far there had been little evidence of success.
“Captain Universe has been like this since she materialized on the command deck,” Commander Abigail Brand said.
“Ex Nihilo, is she—” Cap said.
“Rebuilding. Regenerating.” The Gardener peered through the protective glass with an expression of awe. “Mother will recover.”
“The last time we saw her, she took off—disappeared, jumped to another part of the universe,” Cap explained to Brand.
“Rambling about impending doom,” Iron Man added.
“Those were holy words, Anthony Stark,” Ex Nihilo said.“Words to be heeded. Mother knows things.”
“Super. Then I wish she would wake up,” Brand said, “because we could use her input on something else I wanted you to see. We intercepted a Kree omnicast from one of their deep-space outposts.”
“An open-channel distress signal,” Stark said. “That’s not how they do it.”
“No, it isn’t, ” Brand agreed. “On the big monitor,” she said to a tech. There were other Avengers waiting in the communications center—including Captain Marvel, Thor, and Hawkeye. More were joining them by the moment.
Captain Marvel brought Steve Rogers up to date. “We’ve found several nests of aliens on the planet that weren’t here a few days ago. They’re coming from all over the place, it seems, and doing their best to hide.”
He nodded as the largest monitor came to life. Though the equipment was technologically advanced, the signal was grainy and interrupted by frequent static.
“… too late zkkppzz … blinded. They came from the system core. We didn’t see them until they were already on top of us. Zpkk … blacked out the sun. An overwhelming force—”
The speaker disappeared from the monitor as something mechanical struck his head, all but separating it from his shoulders. Another face appeared, and Cap involuntarily looked to Ex Nihilo. The newcomer was a Gardener.
“… take no pleasure in this. It is simply how things must be. Zpkkk … path is set. If you see us, choose wisely. Run.
There are some of us who would rather you live, and zpkk …” “
Looks familiar, don’t you think?” Cap said to their golden ally. “The Builders?” Ex Nihilo said, a look of shock on his face.
“This… this cannot be right.”
“Here’s the thing,” Brand said. “We’ve been listening in. The outpost has gone silent, but the Kree have not. There’s a lot of traffic out there, Cap. You take the uptick of flight from the regional Skrull territories, add to that the location of the not-so-secret Kree base. Plot it all out on a map of the known universe, and you get a cone equaling the projected path of that… Builder fleet.”
“I cannot believe this,” Ex Nihilo muttered.
“Earth lies in the dead center of it,” Brand continued. “They’re headed right for us.”
They moved now to where most of the Avengers were gathered—including Spider-Woman, Cannonball, Sunspot, Thor, Hyperion, Shang-Chi, Hawkeye, Falcon, Nightmask, and Black Widow. Abyss was present, as well. There were newer Avengers— relative unknowns, like Smasher. Isabel Kane was a human from a farm in Iowa who had joined the Shi’ar Empire’s Imperial Guard. She wore alien technology that granted her amazing capabilities including advanced speed and strength, energy beams, and even the ability to travel in the vacuum of outer space.
“So what else do we know?” Cap asked.
Captain Marvel spoke up. “We’re still gathering information, but in the hours since intercepting the distress signal from the destroyed Kree moon, S.W.O.R.D. has picked up increasing military chatter from… well, from all of the major empires, confederations, and remote areas governed by regional warlords. Basically, the entirety of the current Galactic Council. Because we have a member of the Imperial Guard here, we have information that those council worlds are mobilizing. What can you tell us, Smasher?”
Smasher stepped forward. “Gladiator, the Shi’ar Majestor, has issued a priority alert. All Superguardians, including me, have been recalled. He’s even activating all Imperial Subguardians, who will be on standby to replace anyone who falls in combat. They’d only do that if they were expecting heavy losses.”
Captain Marvel spoke again. “Whatever is happening, it’s headed in our direction. It isn’t here yet, it has a ways to go before it gets here, but there’s a real chance Earth is at least one of the targets.”
“So there you go,” Captain America said. “Understand, people—whatever this is, it’s real and it’s scary enough to make space empires scramble.” He turned to face their new recruit. “Ex Nihilo, these people—your Builders—created you and your sister, Abyss. You know them better than anyone here. What chance would we have if they make it to Earth?”
“Captain,” the golden alien responded, “the measuring of probabilities is—”
“The answer is none,” Abyss said. “If that fleet reaches this system, the next step in human evolution is extinction.”
Iron Man nodded. “Yeah, that’s kind of what we were thinking.” His armor was dramatically different. Though he often changed the tech to suit his needs, it had been a long time since Captain America had seen him in a suit designed for the vacuum of space.
“Then we have no choice,” Cap said. “We take the fight to them. We stand with the other worlds.”
“Other worlds? Are you sure I should be going with you?” The young hero known as Starbrand spoke up hesitantly, softly. “I mean, the Star Brand is a planetary defense system, meant to protect Earth.”
Sunspot answered him. They were of a similar age. “Relax, it’ll be fun. Like Star Wars, only with handsomer protagonists. Tell him, Sam?”
Cannonball smiled, though he didn’t look anywhere near as confident as his friend.
That prompted a reply from Iron Man.
“Space,” he said. “The word should be enough to give any wise person pause, but all of you—everyone assembled in this room—represent the best chance we have of stopping this before it comes here.” He was silent for a moment, then added, “I wish I could go with you.”
Sunspot frowned. “Wait. What?”
Captain America answered. “Iron Man’s job is to stay here and enact certain contingencies, on the chance we might fail, including marshaling the Earth’s defenses. Our job is to make his unnecessary.
“We leave in one hour.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE BLACK ORDER
THE PAIN was monumental. Its body was pulped in several places, and the lifeblood it had been granted pumped from a dozen wounds. Still, it moved as fast as it could in its ship, desperate to reach Thanos before the end of its miserable life.
It could barely speak, but the dexterous fingers of the remaining hand on its right side tapped in communications as the ship streaked across the space between worlds, once more heading home to Titan.
* * *
THE LANDING was not a good one, and the ship and its occupant both suffered severe damage. By the time it regained consciousness, for it had certainly faded into the gray for a time, servants of Thanos were peeling it from the wreckage and speaking of how badly it looked for the Outrider.
“Phow, look at this,” one said. “It’s all spoiled and missing parts.”
“Rotten, not long for the living.”
“Come on then—best hurry. Everyone will be waiting.”
It ignored them. Thanos was all that mattered. The dreams of a name were nothing now but fading glories. It needed to reach its master, to prove its worth and to give him the information he required. Nothing else was of consequence.
Still, it was honored to find all five of the dreadlords surrounding it as it was carried to the throne. Thanos was a god, to be sure, and these five were his high priests.
“Suc… success,” the Outrider said through the pain.
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