"Why…is she here and not on the front line? Something is wrong." Barbara said after thinking for a while.
"... That is true." Abigail replied. " However, we didn't have any other choice. We need to end this. Now."
"How could you be so sure that the battle will end when she's dead? Won't the army become uncontrollable instead?" Barbara asked in concern. There's no one in the entire human race that has the desire to kill Veranke as much as she does. The only thing holding her back was her experience as an agent.
In fighting a monarchy, she realized that the figurehead of a nation is important. However, if the figurehead was taken away, zealots would rise, loyalists would become traitors, and the people would suffer.
"I don't know if we can find a diplomatic solution this late into the game. But, we need to at least contact the world security council to ask for the decision." Barbara suggested. "We could hijack the ship's communication system to contact the earth's fleet."
Abigail Brand shook her head. "No. If there is one thing I know for sure about Ryan Knight, is that he is a ruthless man. We just need to remove Veranke out of the equation, and the problem will solve itself."
Abigail Brand and Barbara didn't know about the existence of another faction in the Skrull's species. The fact that Veranka was a self-proclaimed queen was also unknown to them.
The only reason Veranke had so many followers was because of the prophecy of a sacred land for the Skrulls.
Abigail and Barbara finally reached the door to the Queen's quarter. Several of Skrull's bodyguard was stationed in front of the door. Abigail and Barbara quickly ambushed them with the weapons from the Skrull's arsenal. In seconds, the guards were down.
Abigail reached toward the door and entered the All-key Ryan had given her. After some clackling, the door opened slowly. She widened his eyes when she saw the sight in the room.
Barbara Morse pulled her arm to move her out of the way.
BOOM
Numerous palm repulsor attacks shot out from the room, killing 3 human captives who were directly in its path and injuring several others.
Previously when the Iron Fist Skrull bumped into Tony Stark inside the Vault prison, he had copied the memory of Iron Man. The method to create the Iron Armor was taken out and had been given to the Skrull empire.
The Iron Suit is just ordinary exoskeleton armor for the species.Their advanced technology could copy the Iron Man suit easily, however the new element for the arc reactor proves to be troublesome for them.
The AI that helped Tony in maneuvering the Iron Suit was upgraded through the collective effort of many Skrull scientists, making the robots move on their own through Veranka's order.
Despite having the memory of Tony Stark, the Iron Fist Skrull didn't use the suit during battle. Influenced by the martial arts way, using an external source of strength is shameful for the warriors. Veranke has no such compulsion.
"Kill them all." The Skrull Queen ordered coldly. She had just finished talking with the reinforcement before Abigail came.
Outside the mothership, Hela noticed that the reinforcement was going in another direction.
"Dawn. There is a pathway 25 lightyears away from here. If they are heading there, they could arrive on Earth while we are still battling." Hela said.
Dawn was a turn away from Veranke's room. He then replied, "She abandoned herself to make sure the Skrull will get to Earth. I guess they think that the game would be over if they did."
Veranke also thought to use lifting the Earth's occupation in exchange for her life. However, she greatly underestimated her enemy this time.
Hela nodded hearing Dawn's hypothesis. "Doesn't matter anyway. Ryan had ordered the Paris-class ship to enter the battle through the other pathway. They will block the Skrull army before we come."
"The small fries… The Ravagers and the bounty hunters are coming here. I can destroy them right?" Hela asked flirtatiously.
"Whatever you want." Dawn the sugar daddy answered.
Hela almost let out a squeal. She grinned and set a target for the Ravagers. The Arcadia was stuck at the mothership, but it didn't mean it was immobile.
After battling in the front line for several thousand years, a new type of warfare was a challenge for her. A challenge that she was excited for. No one in the entire army had studied about interstellar warfare more than she did. That's why Ryan just let her handle everything and put absolute trust on her to bring the humans to victory.
"Charge the dimensional vibration gun." Hela ordered. After the order was relayed, the cat's hair was raised. Meowth who was in the lower deck got goosebumps all over his body.
"Are we doing it now? Who the hell pissed off the boss?" Meowth said anxiously.
The crew didn't pay attention to him, and charged the dimensional weapon excitedly. The weapon that could only be fired with a full charge of the Dark Matter engine started to humm.
Back to the inside of the mothership.
Barbara and Abigail have their back against the wall on the side of the door. They took turns to shoot at the Iron armor, but to no avail.
"Damn it. We need to pass 50 Iron Man to get to the Queen. We need help-" Barbara said hurriedly, but her sentence stopped abruptly when she saw a man with a straw hat walking casually toward the room.
The palm repulsor shot toward him, but he just tilted his head slightly to avoid it.
"Hmm.. 50 Mark 8 armor. I could sell this." Dawn muttered to himself.
[Tier 5 magic. Bind.] Dawn said as he waved his arm. Countless plant roots grew from the metal floor of the spaceship, shocking the entire group of people there. Even Veranke was restrained in the plant roots.
"!! What the-" Barbara exclaimed. Dawn smiled gently toward the captives there, and walked toward them. "Go to the soldier barrack. My ship is anchored there. Someone…" Dawn turned to Abigail and smirk "....Had turned on the Nega-bomb. So there are 3 minutes left before total destruction of this mothership."
Abigail gritted her teeth. "Fury…" She muttered underneath her breath.
Dawn walked toward Veranke. She wants to say something. But he waved his hand and gagged her mouth with plant roots.
Ryan said telepathically : Kinky.
Dawn ignored his chime and pulled the ready made Iron Armor to his realm. He didn't need storage rings anymore as he could summon everything in his planet-sized realm. Veranke did activate the self-destruct button for the Iron Suits, but Dawn placed them all in a stasis spell to avoid losing his loot.
Ryan chimed in again this time.
Ryan: Red Skull. He is still alive right?
Dawn: Barely. But he's alive.
Ryan: Good. I need him for….
After Ryan shared his plans, Dawn smirked and almost let out a laugh. However the people around him won't let him.
"Sir. Wait. We need Veranke to stop the war." Abigail snapped out of her thoughts and tried to negotiate with Dawn. Barbara stood beside her and stared menacingly at Veranke, barely holding herself back from killing the Queen.
"Hmm…You can speak with all intelligent creatures? Want to come aboard my ship as a diplomat?" Dawn offered her an olive branch. '
"No. My loyalty is with Earth.. Veranke.."
"Veranke will be captured by me. Don't worry. Your president knows what he is doing. What you feared won't come."
Barbara interjected, "President?"
"Yeah. Sir Ryan Knight."
Ryan: DON'T. I'm warning you.
After making some trouble, Dawn floated Barbara toward the anchor line. Then, he staggered, surprising both Abigail and Barbara. They tried to help, but he waved at them to show he's okay.
"It's fine. Just out of mana." Dawn said before drinking a magic potion. The [Doubles] magic he had used in the beginning of the battle had shaved off his magic reserve to its limit. He could barely hold the magic intact using a superior grade magic potion, and he needed to take one every 30 seconds.
Outside in the battlefield, Maverick found himself surrounded with no possible way out.
BOOM
The thousand wing fighter jet was blown to smithereens, killing the most legendary pilot on Earth.
A second later, the same ship flew near the explosion site. The pilot gawked at the death of the Maverick, and muttered, "Damn. So that's how I died huh."
The magic used Ryan's avatar magic as a base. If one of the doubles dies, the soul will transfer to another existing body. They would only die if both of them were killed. The magic is temporary and it has saved a lot of lifes in the field.
Hela commanded the SSV ships and the Thousand Wings ship for a final push. Only 13 of the Skrulls' warships remained, and the Skrulls didn't see a way out with the loss of their commander.
"R-RETREAT!!" A Skrull Vice-Commader ordered. His warship quickly turned around to escape, but the human's isn't letting anyone get away scot free. They attacked the Skrull's from behind relentlessly, and pursued them until lightyears away.
Only 2 Warships would manage to escape from the assault. The Ravagers and the bounty hunters were nearing the battlefield, and the Arcadia had them all in its targeting system.
Kai opened a channel to the Ravagers and the bounty hunter after he killed the commander.
"Turn back, and I will let you live."
The greedy Ravager on the other side of the communication line responded, "There's no way to run Mandalorian. You can escape to the other side of the galaxy, but you'll NEVER escape from… TASERFACE!!"
"..."
Kai tilted his head slightly watching the idiot. The other bounty hunters were also laughing after hearing Kai's proclamation. "Suit you guys. I've already warned you."
He turned to the greedy Ravager with a beard. "Also. What a stupid name."
Taserface was stunned.
"Fire." Hela ordered.
BOOOOOOM
A dimensional earthquake appeared toward the ship's directions, shaking all of the ships and destroying their electronics. The ships shook violently, and stopped in the middle of space. The crews inside the ship started to float as their ships had become a chunk of metal floating aimlessly in space.
"What…happened?" Taserface said as he floated around in his ship. Luckily for them, the air support system was still working.
Hela's eyes were glittering after she saw the power of the weapon. The result was because Ryan didn't want to kill the bounty hunters, just to let them suffer for a bit. If she increased even 1% of the weapon's strength, there's no doubt that all of the bounty hunters will lose their life instantly.
Dawn and the human captives enter Arcadia and it detaches from the mothership at this time. Hela watched Dawn walking by, and shot out an excited look toward him.
Although a bit stunned, Dawn gestured to her that he would come by the Underworld after this.
"The Battle turned her on huh. I don't know whether to bring her to every battle in the galaxy, or just ban her from coming." He said as he massaged his hurting back. After his realm was completed, he made a checkpoint in the Underworld, allowing him to stop by anytime.
The decision was both good and bad from him, as Hela kept calling him to wring him out.
Inside the Arcadia, the ex-prisoners were sitting by at the Mess Hall to regroup.
"Wait. What about Nick Fury?" Barbara asked.
"He's…fine. I think." Abigail replied.
A few tables from them, Park Shin and Daniel were sitting together.
Daniel was using a wet towel to clean the blood from Park Shin's shoulder. She could just use her magic ring to clean herself up, but she wouldn't deny herself this opportunity.
"I am thankful that you've considered me. But I have a wife back on Earth." Daniel said gently after Park Shin brought up their date.
A thunderbolt exploded inside of her head. She became stunned speechless and froze for a while.
Dawn led Veranke toward the prison area, and threw her inside one of the cells. Next to her was the Red Skull, and the Blood Brothers were on the cell block in front. He removed her gag, and she could finally speak.
"One way or another, the Skrull will have the Earth. As it is written." Veranke said while staring hatefully at Dawn.
"That's it? That's the thing you wanted to say since I captured you before? To let out the defeated bark of a lost animal?" Dawn mocked.
"You!" Veranke was startled.
"Do you want to know something? The second prophecy. Did you hear what it was exactly?" Dawn asked.
"I won't speak to an outsider." Veranke said.
"Let me tell you about it then. The second part showed a planet that could stop Galactus' hunger from implicating them. That is…the Earth."
"Impossible. Nothing could stop Galactus from feeding!" Veranke shouted.
"Nothing..Except the undying effort of the earthlings. In fact, Earth had thwarted the Galactus hunger twice now in the span of history. The second prophecy you were led to believe wasn't true at all. You're manipulated yourself to believe that, because fear of what happens to your world has enveloped your entire species."
"That's why, you want to take the Earth for yourself. To become a 'sacred land'. Away from the fear of the universe' hunger."
Veranke widened her eyes and her chin quivered, but word couldn't come out of her mouth. Maybe, deep down she already knows about the fact. Or, she thought that Dawn was speaking through his ass and decided to ignore him. But seeing the pool of tears in her eyes, it must be the first one.
Dawn walked away, but his feet stopped before he fully passed Veranke's cell block.
" I have to say. You did a good thing bringing the army here."
Veranke who was looking down and destitute raised her head to look at Dawn. He then continues, " The battle will bring countless benefits toward the Earth. If I see it from another point of view, you're the benefactor of the Earth. Thank you."
Veranke slammed on the cell door, letting out some curse words. But Dawn just walked away with a smile on his face, ignoring all of the things she said afterward.
A few light years away, the Skrull reinforcement finally came head-to-head with the Paris-class warships.
Inside the human's fleet, the Space Knight's were wearing the MK 7 Aquila Power Armor from the Warhammer world that Ryan had created. The ferocious temperament and gleaming armor entered the Skrull's reinforcement point of view.
"What is this?" A Skrull Commander said fearfully. (Promoted after the death of the previous commander)
The Space Knights(Marines) cocked their guns and chanted, "For the emperor."
The Paris–class ships used the magnetic pulsar cannon to clear up the fighter's spacecraft escorting the warships and boarded them without fear.
Without any conversation. Without any pity and hesitation. They opened fire on the invading Skrulls. Some used a chainsaw blade to cut the Skrulls in half, basking their clean armor with dirty Skrull's blood.
"The Earthlings are insane- Arghhhh!!!" The Skrull Commander was horrified before he turned and ran. However, he couldn't run very far before the mercy of the Emperor came after him.
"Finish this up. We need to go support the Emperor..I meant Vice-President." Paul, the previously Templars who had participated in the battle of New York said. But, the Space Knight received orders to hold the line there.
Inside the mothership.
The Skrull's were heading toward the hangar area and quickly evacuated the mothership. The alarm for the Nega-bomb activation had caused all of the reptilian-based alien to scurry for their lives.
As the chaos inside the mothership died down, the conversation between two individuals could be heard.
A man in a dashing blue and black armor, and another one disguised as a Skrull.
"So. What's the plan Fury? You're going to kill all of us?" Ryan asked.
The Nega-bomb explosion would taken out the entire battlefield, both the Skrulls and the human's fleet.
"We have already won. So why?" Ryan asked with a sad tone.
Fury looked toward him, and said, "Do you really need to ask? You're an intelligent man, Ryan Knight."
"To prevent me from getting the mothership? You're going to blow up all of us?"
Fury took a deep breath and replied, "No. Just you."
Ryan and Fury stared at each other for a while.
"You're too dangerous Mr. Knight. At this rate, you could take over the entire world, and the people would thank you for it." Fury said.
"I learned about what you did after becoming the Vice-President. And the united world initiative you're planning."
"And that's bad? Why?" Ryan asked casually and rested his back on the ship's railing, looking closer at the giant bomb.
" Once someone, or a country decided to go against you? What will happen to them?" Fury asked.
"I will talk to them until they change their mind." Ryan replied.
"Don't lie to me. If there is a person most similar to me in the entire human history, it's you. I could see by the way you're making the opposition disappear. You might have a good intention, however, you're becoming a tyrant."
"And, you don't believe me when I say that I will step down after I finish my goal?"
Fury turned to look at the Nega-bomb at Ryan's side.
"No man in the entire human history could let go of the power he wields easily. You may miss it, but the entire country will fall into chaos once you're gone. You've now become a beacon of hope for the entire humanity."
"So, this is the end that I deserve?" Ryan asked.
"A noble ending for the story." Fury replied.
Ryan let out a deep sigh. " You're too concerned about what was, and what it would be."
"I have no intention at all to take over the Earth. The only reason I took the reins, was because the Earth would lead to its total doom in 50 years if I didn't."
"You're telling me you can see the future?" Fury asked with a slight smile.
"Nah. It's math. I could show it to you, but it seemed that we both didn't have much time left. I Really hoped that you would change Fury. But I guess, your paranoia has won."
Fury didn't say anything and they watched the bomb countdown together after finishing their conversation.
"When you get back to earth. Remember this. Intelligence is not a privilege. It's a gift. And you should use it for the good of mankind." Fury said suddenly.
"You're not killing me?" Ryan asked with a soft smile. He already knew what Fury was planning. The bomb wasn't to end his era, but to jumpstart it. And for a new Era to rise, the previous one had to fall.
"Nah, I already know you can teleport." Fury said. Then, he held his arm out for a handshake, with Ryan promptly grabbed.
"Good Luck Mr. Knight. I trust you to keep your word." Fury said.
"I will." Ryan said. After shaking their hand, Ryan disappeared from the mothership as the Negabomb count reached zero, leaving Fury alone in the mothership.
…
After teleporting into Arcadia, Ryan watches the sight of the mothership exploding and the explosion growing until it reaches a 400,000 miles radius. The explosion was greatly snuffed because it was exploded in space where it couldn't interact with other compounds.
Ryan connected to the human's fleet and reinforcement. His holographic figure also appeared on the war command center on Earth.
He raised his fist up, and said. "We won."
The human's fleet, the generals, the Space Knights, all of them felt an immense emotion after Ryan's announcement.
""""""""""""YEAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!""""""""""""
They raised their hands and they cheered!!!
The war is finally over!
Although there are some casualties, overall, the human's had done a pretty amazing job in the war.
The announcement traveled quickly on Earth. The Avengers who had been getting ready for a while breathed in relief. A heavy sense of responsibility was felt lifted from their shoulders.
The World Security Council were watching the battle as Ryan had allowed them too. Every single one of them has a stack of paper in their hand. The proposal for the united earth was finally opened after they had ignored Ryan's campaign for so long.
117 countries that day agreed to enter the initiative and worked together for a United Earth that day.
Some were still apprehensive, but that's a story for another time.
An hour later, Ryan returned home using a thousand wing ship. Gwen was standing at the rooftop of the building, waiting for him in her bridesmaid dress. She kissed him the moment he stepped out of the spacecraft.
He knew that he was supposed to handle the aftermath after the war. However, he felt that he has people for that now.
He decided to take a day off. He picked up Gwen in a princess carry and brought her back to their house.
…
Aftermath of the War.
The Paris ship slowly moves inside the debrises floating in space. The bodies of the skrulls and the humans who had fallen in the battle were pulled toward the cargo area using a traction beam.
"Wait. There's a life signature inside the debris there." A logistic agent said.
Hidden among the debris, a man with an eyepatch was floating around in space inside the Skrull's bunker. There's some trace of magic inside his body, keeping him alive until the human's found him.
Dawn had transferred the human captives toward the Paris-class ship, and the Arcadia set sail into the galaxy.
"Next stop. The King's planet." Dawn said as he held the straw hat on his head.
(A/N: I'm trying hard to get back to posting one chapter per day. Root for me guys. Need it.) 😉