Marvel: Empire of Power-Chapter 112 - 111: The Kree Net, a Symbiote’s Flight, and Earth’s Secret Defenders

The Kree orbital "net" that Namor had detected was a terrifying display of advanced alien engineering. It wasn't a physical barrier, but a complex, interlocking web of energy projectors and sensor arrays deployed by the three Kree light cruisers, designed to create a high-energy containment field around Earth, effectively blockading the planet, disrupting all unencrypted global communications, and identifying any unauthorized FTL departures. The Kree Empire, having detected the destruction of their "Resolute Hammer" frigate and the anomalous energy signatures from Earth (particularly Captain Marvel and now, undoubtedly, Nox Thorne's recent Martian excursion), were clearly moving from reconnaissance to active containment, a prelude, Elias Thorne knew, to a full-scale planetary assessment and potential subjugation. Earth was now a cage.

"They're locking us down, Thorne," Logan's growl, amplified by Nox's telepathic relay from the Nightfall as it made a hasty, cloaked return journey from Mars, was laced with grim urgency. "Saw similar tactics in some Shi'ar border skirmishes I... almost remember. Means they ain't just lookin' anymore. They're settin' up shop." Logan's fragmented memories, stirred by cosmic conflict, were becoming a surprisingly useful, if erratic, intelligence source.

Elias, from his orbital command station (which O'Malley had managed to subtly reposition into a deeper, sensor-baffling Lagrange point), watched the Kree energy lattice forming on his tactical displays. His [Prime Essence Shard Reserve], after the Mars operation, stood at a crucial [2.8/5.0]. He needed more to consider another Legionnaire, and certainly for any personal augmentation against cosmic-level threats. But right now, Shards were a secondary concern to planetary survival.

His primary assets were scattered but potent:

Nox (Marcus Thorne), Logan, Miller Argent, Elena Scythe: Returning from Mars aboard the Nightfall with captured Kree/Skrull tech and prisoners. Nox's Klyntar symbiote was already analyzing the alien technology with an eerie, adaptive intelligence, his power growing with each new understanding.Namor & the Atlantean Royal Guard: Patrolling Earth's oceans, a formidable deterrent against any Kree underwater incursions, their ancient enmity with the "Star Conquerors" now fully ignited.Adamantium Guard (Alpha Squad - Dubois, Macgregor, Lemaire, Beaulieu) & Thomas MacIntyre: On high alert at various fortified Blackwood facilities across North America, ready for rapid deployment against any Kree landing forces.Wraith (Bucky Barnes): His "Project White Wolf" reintegration was progressing. He was now a Tier 3+ operative, his skills in infiltration and wetwork unparalleled. Elias was keeping him in deep reserve, a scalpel for a very specific kind of surgery.Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel): Still a volatile wildcard. Anya reported Danvers was chafing under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s increasingly desperate attempts to control her, especially now that the Kree threat was undeniable. She was a ticking cosmic bomb.Dr. Finch (Arch-Necromancer) & O'Malley (Chief Engineer): Co-directing Blackwood Skunkworks, desperately trying to accelerate development of anti-Kree weaponry, FTL countermeasures, and understand the Kree/Skrull tech salvaged from Mars.Anya Petrova: Elias's indispensable spymaster, coordinating global intelligence, managing his human agent network, and subtly manipulating S.H.I.E.L.D. and other terrestrial powers to prevent them from panicking or inadvertently aiding the Kree.

Elias knew that directly challenging the three Kree light cruisers and their energy net with his current terrestrial forces was suicide. His prototype orbital cannons were gone. The Nightfall, while FTL capable and stealthy, was a scout ship, not a warship. He needed a way to break the net, to create a weakness, to buy time for Earth to develop a more credible defense or for him to acquire more Shards and more powerful assets. free𝑤ebnovel.com

His gaze fell upon Nox Thorne. The Klyntar symbiote, Finch's research had shown, possessed incredible adaptive capabilities, particularly regarding energy absorption and manipulation. And Marcus, its host, was a True Legionnaire, his psionic fortitude and loyalty absolute.

"Nox," Elias's mental voice reached his Klyntar-bonded champion aboard the returning Nightfall. "The Kree energy net. Analyze its frequency, its power source, its weakest points through your symbiotic senses. Can you... disrupt it? Can you absorb and redirect its energies, even momentarily, to create a breach?"

Nox's reply was calm, analytical, tinged with the Klyntar's alien hunger. "The net is... a crude but effective cage, Creator. Woven from focused tachyon particle beams and gravitic anchors. Its power source appears to be the Kree cruisers themselves, acting in networked unison. Direct absorption would be... overwhelming. However... the Klyntar senses resonance points, harmonic vulnerabilities where the energy lattice is thinnest, where a precisely modulated counter-frequency or a focused energy discharge might cause a... temporary decoherence."

"Temporary is all we may need," Elias mused. "Enough for a message to get out. Or for a very specific kind of help to get in."

His plan was incredibly risky, bordering on insane. The Skrulls, ancient enemies of the Kree, possessed advanced cloaking technology, a vast interstellar empire (albeit a fractured one), and a desperate need for allies, especially any species capable of bloodying the Kree nose. The Skrull officers captured on Mars, after some... "persuasion" by Finch (using his necromantic abilities to subtly manipulate their fear of true death and offering them a chance at survival if they cooperated), had revealed communication protocols for reaching certain sympathetic or opportunistic Skrull factions.

Elias would use the Nightfall, piloted by O'Malley, with Nox as its primary weapon system and Logan, Miller, and Elena as close support, to make a daring run at one of these Kree net "resonance points." Nox would attempt to create a momentary breach. Through that breach, O'Malley would transmit a tightly encrypted, System-shielded data burst containing evidence of the Kree's aggressive actions against Earth (including the defeated frigate and captured personnel), the location of the hidden Skrull base on Mars (which the Kree had clearly missed or dismissed as destroyed), and a carefully worded proposal for a "temporary, mutually beneficial alliance against Kree hegemony in this sector." It was bait – offering the Skrulls a chance to reclaim lost assets and strike a blow against their hated enemy, using Earth as a convenient (and deniable) proxy battlefield.

The risk was that the Skrulls were just as treacherous and expansionist as the Kree. But Elias calculated that their desperation, their ancient enmity with the Kree, and the sheer audacity of his proposal might just be enough to draw them in. A Kree-Skrull conflict flaring up in Earth's solar system would create immense chaos, divert Kree resources, and provide Elias with invaluable opportunities to acquire more alien technology, more Shards, and further assess the capabilities of both galactic empires. He was, in essence, inviting one wolf pack to drive out another, hoping to pick off the stragglers from both.

"Logan," Elias said, his voice reaching Wolverine on the Nightfall. "Your Shi'ar... recollections. Any insights into Skrull psychology? Their military doctrine? Would they take such bait?"

Logan, who had been listening to Nox's assessment of the Kree net with a predatory stillness, grunted. "Skrulls? Damn shapeshifting lizards. Treacherous as hell. But they hate the Kree more than they hate anything else, 'cept maybe themselves on a bad day. They're opportunists, kid. If they think they can get an easy win, or stick a shiv in a Kree admiral's back, they'll take the chance. Especially if they think we're too primitive to be a real threat to them afterwards."

That was precisely the perception Elias was counting on.

The operation, codenamed "Starfall Gambit," commenced. The Nightfall, running on silent, approached the weakest point in the Kree energy net, a section a_temporarily destabilized by recent solar flare activity (an event Elias's System, cross-referencing with Finch's atmospheric data, had predicted). The Kree cruisers, still consolidating their orbital positions, hadn't yet fully compensated.

"Now, Nox!" Elias commanded.

Marcus Thorne, his black Klyntar armor shimmering with contained cosmic power, stood at the Nightfall's primary viewport. He raised his hands, and the symbiote flowed, forming intricate focusing conduits. Drawing upon his own Legionnaire energy, the Klyntar's innate adaptive abilities, and even, Elias sensed, a sliver of the chaotic energy from the Martian battle, Nox unleashed a focused, incredibly potent beam of pure, disruptive bio-photonic energy at the Kree net's resonance point.

The effect was instantaneous. The targeted section of the energy lattice flared violently, warped, and then, for a precious thirty seconds, decohered, creating a shimmering, unstable hole in the Kree blockade.

"O'Malley, transmit! Now!"

O'Malley's fingers flew across his console, sending Elias's encrypted Skrull "invitation" hurtling into the void on a tight-beam transmission.

Alarms blared on the Kree cruisers as they detected the breach and the energy discharge. Two frigates immediately broke formation, arrowing towards the Nightfall's position.

"Breach closing! Kree inbound, hard!" O'Malley yelled, yanking the Nightfall into an evasive FTL micro-jump, a desperate, short-range hop designed to get them just outside the immediate Kree sensor range before the net fully reformed.

Elias Thorne, from his orbital sanctum, watched his System display confirm the successful transmission of the Skrull data burst just nanoseconds before the Kree net snapped back into place, stronger than before. The Kree frigates arrived at their previous position, finding only empty space and residual energy signatures.

He had done it. He had poked two galactic empires. Earth was now officially, if secretly, a player in an interstellar conflict.

[OPERATION STARFALL GAMBIT: SUCCESSFUL. KREE ENERGY NET BREACHED (TEMPORARY). ENCRYPTED DATA BURST (SKRULL ALLIANCE PROPOSAL) TRANSMITTED. KREE RESPONSE: IMMEDIATE, AGGRESSIVE (INVESTIGATION OF BREACH POINT INITIATED). PROBABILITY OF SKRULL RESPONSE TO DATA BURST: MODERATE TO HIGH (45% - DEPENDENT ON SKRULL FACTIONAL POLITICS/PERCEIVED OPPORTUNITY).]

[SYSTEM NOTE: HOST'S ABILITY TO DIRECTLY INFLUENCE/SYNERGIZE WITH KLYNTAR-BONDED LEGIONNAIRE (NOX) FOR STRATEGIC ENERGY MANIPULATION CONFIRMED. POTENTIAL FOR "SYMBIOTIC COMMAND PROTOCOLS" UNLOCKED.]

Elias allowed himself a moment of grim satisfaction. The pieces were in motion. He had Earth's mightiest, most secret defenders arrayed. He had cosmic powers at his beck and call. He had just invited another alien empire to join the deadly dance in Earth's backyard. The Kree wanted Earth. The Skrulls might want a piece of the Kree. And Elias Thorne, the shadow king, intended to profit from the ensuing chaos, securing his planet's (and his own) ultimate ascension. The cost would be astronomical. The fires of an alien war were about to rain down on an unsuspecting planet. But for Elias Thorne, this was just another Tuesday in the new world order he was forging.

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