Cerion had never worked this hard in his Kryptonian life. Human life was rife with hardships and hurdles at every corner and he felt like the world was out to get him. In Krypton, this was not an issue. The chief concern had always been to keep his head down and work out an escape plan while performing his duties. While that was indeed a form of hardship, he'd take that any time of the day over the colossal workload he was being saddled with right now.
When he made the decision to start a company, he had been influenced by his innate attachment to humanity deep inside his soul. Perhaps it was the result of a deep psychological need to tether himself to humanity. Looking back on his decision, he theorised he may have made the largest mistake in his life.
Without advanced technology or conducive communications tech for the matter, almost every process had to be personally supervised. As he was the head of Vex Corp, a fledgling company in a competitive market, he had to pour his entire being into every little detail. The recruitments were one thing, but marketing, production, organisational structure, management, payment of salaries, tax payments, PR, advertisements and a hundred other problems all got dumped into his lap.
Oh, how he missed the use of a productive AI in the workspace. The only silver lining in this chaos was that he need not worry about products or their maintenance. The Aegis, for example, had two versions. One for civilian use and another for industrial use. The civilian version would get updated yearly, but the industrial version would require specifications. Network providers face different cyber threats than, say, the banking industry or manufacturing industry. Not only that, each of these industries had to be approached in different ways to attract prospective customers.
This sort of diversification required his constant involvement, plus he had to develop personal contacts. Hence, he was required to always be accessible on the phone or even in a face-to-face meeting on quick notice. This was why the year 2000 was a busy one, and he had no notion that the next few years would be any different.
A better part of his life was now being wasted on galas, parties and business meetings. This was not the major factor that made him curse the situation. The reason was that he could have avoided all this if he had been a bit more prepared.
In the months following his stringent involvement in developing Vex Corp, several Scouters were ready to be deployed. Kryptonian Scouters were small ships capable of intergalactic communications. They were primarily used to scout out exospace lanes for safe space travel. They housed a wide variety of deep space scanners and telescopes that could chart pathways in space and even determine the atmospheric composition of planets and stars.
Optima managed to repair two Scouters using the limited resources available at his island base. He charged Optima with using one of the Scouters for deep-space scanning and another to scan Earth. The Deep Space Scanner Scouter was on a mission to find habitable planets closer to Earth, while the other one was charged with finding Vibranium deposited on Earth and the nearby asteroid belt of the Solar System.
His reasoning was that if Wakanda was hit with a meteorite of Vibranium, then it was possible some splinter groups may have struck the ocean or are even hanging around in space. He knew searching for Vibranium deposits in the ocean was a wasted effort, as a million years might have passed since the event, but he went with it anyway.
But now, looking at the preliminary report Optima sent him about a deep scan of the North Atlantic Ocean, specifically the shores close to San Juan, Puerto Rico, he cursed himself for not thinking about this particular place. He had forgotten all about the Kree City lying underneath the ocean. In his defence, his brain is filled with more useful information than the plot points of a TV show he saw in passing in his past life.
This latest find not only took him by surprise but also presented a solution to many of his problems. Accessing the Kree City would most likely solve his lack of star charts despite their current unreliability. But that was easily corrected by factoring in the stellar drift. It'd also most likely grant him access to information about alien civilisations in the universe despite being out of date. The data alone in the city would be a treasure.
Then, there was the technology and possibly docking bays in the city.
If the Kree had taken the trouble to build a city on Earth, then they would most likely have built it as a military base. If that's true, then the city most likely houses a dockyard that would be immensely useful in repairing his ship.
It was also possible the city might house a Kree ship. If that's the case then all the better.
Based on what he would find in the Kree City, he could leave Earth and say goodbye to all of humanity. There would be no need for him to worry about SHIELD or HYDRA possibly self-destructing the planet in a mad bid to control and rule.
Earth was going to be ground zero for the arrival of all the extraterrestrial genocidal maniacs. There were Loki, Thanos, the Dark Elves, Deviants, the Celestials and he didn't know who else. They were all going to target Earth for one reason or another. He would've actually stepped in and lent a hand if it wasn't for the shitty people MCU Earth was filled with. Comparatively, the DCU people were far more appreciative and humble, in his opinion.
'My stay here will only contribute to the problem.' he thought with a sigh.
He was acutely aware of SHIELD, HYDRA and the US military developing weapons to 'contain' him. The research on gamma radiations to grow super soldiers conducted in Culver was one thing. The Dark Energy project that SHIELD reactivated because of his arrival was another cause of concern.
As if using the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction was not enough, HYDRA seems to be working on a multitude of projects. Chief among them is Daniel Whitehall's Particle Infusion Chamber. Just as HYDRA and SHIELD were keeping an eye on him, he was keeping an eye on them. He had developed backdoors into Earth's satellites, thereby keeping an eye on his potential enemies.
'But now, I have an opportunity to put a stop to this cat-and-mouse play for good.' he thought
While this was a good thing, it would essentially cut off his stay on Earth, which meant he would have to leave his new company. The initial plan was to supply humanity with enough technology to defend themselves from extraterrestrial conquerors. While it was most likely a double-edged sword, he hoped humanity would use his gift of knowledge primarily against their alien foes. Failing that, he could always step in and lend a hand at the right moment.
This was the plan, but now he was not so sure. He was not exactly sure whether this was a good idea. In fact, he didn't know whether it was a good idea to leave Earth and create a new Krypton. For once in his long life, he was at a loss on how to move forward.
Cerion let out a sigh and took in the scan results on his datapad. He typed in the order for Optima to take control of the city. The Scouter should be more than capable of helping Optima in this endeavour.
Overall, the Scouter had made his job very easy. In addition to access to the Kree City, the Scouter also found a source of Vibranium. Sadly, it was not at the bottom of the ocean, where he could mine it without none the wiser. Rather, he was looking at the Venezuelan coastal area of Mare. More specifically, a ship named Churchill docked in a secluded private port.
He had been tracking Ulysses Klaue for a long time. Unfortunately, the man was hard to find as he was involved in almost all armed conflicts in the world. But now, Klaue had resurfaced in the western hemisphere far away from his stronghold in South Africa.
Cerion tracked Klaue using SHIELD intel. The fact that SHIELD refused to move against Klaue suggested that the man was in cahoots with the organisation. Being an arms dealer and an assassin for hire, Klaue and his group of friends must be useful for SHIELD in some way. Looking into the SHIELD files on Klaue, it was fairly obvious that Klaue was a valued third-party dealer for the US intelligence agencies, not just SHIELD. The CIA was also an invested party in the well-being of Klaue, at least for now.
'I have already set off butterflies with my presence. Taking Vibranium from Klaue seems to be a good idea.'
He folded the datapad and secured it in his pocket before he exited his office. The moment he was out of the door, he was greeted by Deborah Feinberg, the manager of the IT division. She was also the project manager of YouStream the MCU equivalent of YouTube. The project was set to launch on the eve of the new year, and the date was catching up.
"Are you going somewhere?" asked Deborah.
He could hear the subtle disapproval radiating from her tone. The woman was a good find, in his opinion, despite her mild control streak. He recruited her from Telefonica. Frankly, he thought the woman was being wasted on that company as a technical advisor.
Cerion came in contact with Deborah when he closed the deal with Telefonica to revamp the network security of the MoviStar network. From his brief interaction with Deborah, he knew the woman had the potential to go far, and he was proven right when she became a lynchpin in setting up the YouStream project. She was also instrumental in poaching offshore talent into Vex Corp. If all goes well, he hoped to snag MoviStar by next year and hog a major part of the Networking market before Christmas of 2002.
"I need to run an errand. I'll be back before you know it."
"The last time you said that you were gone for a whole day, I was left in the dark. We nearly lost a deal with AMD because of that stunt," said Deborah with accusing eyes.
"You performed absolutely well in negotiating that deal. You have a hefty dividend coming along this month." he patted her shoulder, congratulating her on a job well done.
"I hope so cause I deserve it."
"You do, Miss Feinberg." He nodded with an appreciative smile before turning his attention to the files in her hand. "Now, is this important enough that I have to look at it right now, or can I postpone it for tomorrow?"
"These are files on the Compression Code for 280p video streaming that Mike Ryan's team developed. I found some discrepancies in the code, and I want a second opinion."
"Not exactly a job for the CEO and the major shareholder of the company, now, is it?" he asked amusedly.
"No." Deborah admitted. "But I know you are adamant about seeing this compression algorithm function as smoothly as possible. I did warn you not to set a high bar of expectations, but you wouldn't listen."
"As I have said, Deborah, advancement will not happen if we don't push the boundaries of what is deemed possible today," he said before speedreading the files. "I will have to insert some modifications to the code. We meet tomorrow at eleven for a discussion, and I want you there. Bring Ryan and his team as well."
"Done. Should I know what you are up to?" asked Deborah, hardly challenging him on his taking over of the project team.
"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies." Cerion smiled.
A few hours later, he arrived at his house in Mountain View. It was a bit far away from all the rush of the city, perfect for some alone time to think and slack off. Locking the house from the inside, he went down to the basement, which was protected under a quantum shield. The shield was capable of throwing off any scanners employed by SHIELD. Besides, his basement now housed a portable Phantom drive, and a few Arc Reactors, so shielding became a priority.
Living in a city heightened his need for secrecy. The usual flying became a concern, and he required an instant travelling medium to access his ship. This need led him to create a modified Phantom Drive, which he named the Space Bridge. The Space Bridge was just a doorway created by bending space that would let him access the bridge of his ship on the island. A similar device was being kept on his ship, and the two devices worked in tandem to form the Space Bridge.
Near-instant teleportation was the result of this project, one that was untraceable by the present human technology. The Quantum shield masks the energy signature from Arc Reactors he was employing in the basement. So, all in all, it would be difficult for SHIELD to keep track of his movements especially when he can trick their thermal scanners.
"Activate the Space Bridge. Command Rao300 in effect."
"Command key accepted. Scanning…."
A drone detached itself from the Space Bridge and scanned his body as well as his retina.
"Welcome abroad the Serenity, Lord Vex."
"Thank you." he nodded, satisfied with the security protocols, and stepped into the electric blue vortex created by the Space Bridge.
A rush of cold passed over him, and in the next second, he was inside his ship.
A drone greeted him inside the chamber and performed a second scan to confirm his identity. Then, as per protocol, the Bridge shut down behind him.
Cerion made a beeline for the command bridge.
"Welcome back to Serenity, Lord Vex." Optima greeted him on the bridge.
As part of his modifications, he had changed the whole command structure of the ship. The ship was being rapidly modified from a science vessel to a military warship to prepare for his journey to the stars.
"Show me Klaue's ship." Cerion ordered, and immediately, the ship's structure was projected before his eyes.
"Isolate the vault."
The vault in question was the room where Klaue kept his Vibranium stash. Cerion had no access to Vibranium, and hence, he could not exactly scan for the metal on Earth. He circumvented the problem by scanning Wakanda with his advanced scanners. While Wakanda was indeed far more advanced than any other nation in the world, they relied solely on their Vibranium-based technology to be the shield that protected their country.
In the end, it was easy to circumvent their defences and get a scan of the magic metal from space. He suspected the other alien races never found Wakanda because they were not actively looking for them like he did. If he had no idea of Wakanda's existence, then he would have skipped over the pile of forest, mountains, rivers and farmlands projected by Wakanda without a second glance. Since he knew there was something interesting to look for, he turned on his most advanced scanners over Wakanda to trace Vibranium. It was then that his scanners picked up a faint hum in a Q-DEPS (Quantum Decelrating Dark Energy Pulse Scanner).
It was this same energy signature that aided in tracking Klaue's Vibranium stash to the ship Churchill. At first, he found it strange that Klaue would drag around Vibranium in his ship through international borders. After accessing the CIA and SHIELD databases, he was not so surprised by Klaue's confidence. The guy was good pals with both and knew when to work for the big dog. Essentially, the man became an asset for several interested parties in the US. With the US being the prime weapon manufacturer and supplier in the world, Klaue had no shortage of friends and allies in the US.
'But all those connections are not going to save Klaue from being robbed blind by me.' Cerion thought as he set the plan in motion.
"Bring the Scouter around. We have a mission to finish." he ordered, and Optima went to work.
******
Klaue looked up from the hand he held to observe the other players. Half a million was on the pot, and he was just about to take it all from the table.
It was now almost a ritual to play with his men after a good arms sale went through. Right now, he was six million USD richer selling arms and ammunition to the Venezuelan government. A few days from now, he would be sending another consignment of weapons to Venezuelan rebels, an order that had been paid for by the US government.
The business was booming, all thanks to some crazy Americans who were intent on waging an unending war to keep their defence industry floating. He couldn't care less about what those crazy Yankees were doing; so long as they didn't interfere in his business, he was fine. He never held a grudge against the Americans or any nation for that matter except those barbarians in Africa.
He felt the brand on his body burn. It was an insult to him and his father, who was killed by the Wakandans. One day, he'd have his revenge. He was not that unhappy about those fuckers, as he did manage to kill a bunch of them when he made his escape.
'But all that pales in comparison to what I stole from those barbarians.' he thought with glee as the Vibranium hidden safely inside his vault.
He shook away those thoughts as it was his turn to play. Just as he was about to play his hand, the light went off, plunging the room into darkness.
"Looks like the light went off boss." said Ed.
"I know genius. Now, do something about it!" said Klaue with an eye roll.
He heard the distinct sound of the iron doors opening.
"Boss, it looks like the whole ship is out of power." said Ed.
"That's impossible," said Klaue with a frown, "Men, switch to weapons."
"Phones are dead." another one of his men said and he has could hear the fear in the voice.
Torchlights were now lighting up throughout the deck mounted on the guns. An entire army was present inside his ship, and he was confident no one would be mad enough to take him on in his ship.
Suddenly, there was a metal screeching sound that shook him. It felt like metal was being warped, and his ears bled from the sound. His men were on the floor screaming and cupping their ears to shield themselves from the sound. Then he felt his ship rock violently throwing him across the room.
A blast of red hot laser blasted through the floor of his room and it began to cut in a pattern of square shape. He jumped back as the laser came too close to his body for his liking. His men were screaming and he watched with fear as Ed got his legs cut off at the knees. The laser made a few more passes and then it all stopped.
Klaue had never felt this much fear in his life. The rage he was familiar with, even helplessness, he could cope with. But now, he was feeling sheer fear, and only one time did he allow himself to feel fear, and that was in that blasted country. His eyes widened in realisation.
"My vault!" he screamed.
At that moment, a large hole was punched through his ship, and he watched with rage as his vault disappeared into the hole cut from the bottom of his ship.
He knew there was no point in staying in a sinking ship, so he threw his efforts into escaping. By some stroke of luck, he managed to find a good vantage point to jump into the sea. He watched with rage as the sea rumbled and a ship rose from the deep sea. It was invisible to his eye, but he could still see that it was a ship because of the water it was splashing.
The ship blasted away into the night sky, and he was forced to watch as the Churchill sank to the bottom of the ocean.
"I will have my revenge, you filthy mongrels. I will have my revenge and slaughter your entire fucking country!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.