He had been a Kree ship-worker for five years now. He did not want to die, but - when the war with the Shi'ar erupted - he could not let his race down. He was not a coward, but he never expected to die like this.

He checked once again to see if the cryogenics systems preserving their cargo were still intact. Everything looked okay. He had suspected something was wrong. Why use a Kree warship - with full crew - for a simple transport mission? And why dive into the galactic core?

When they arrived to their designated co-ordinates, the ship simply shut down. Back-ups kicked in automatically, but he knew they were not built to last for long. By now only the cryogenics were still going. Most of the crew are either death from lack of oxygen, or on the verge of panicking. He will no doubt be the last, - because of his bionic augmentations - but even then, he would not last much longer. He is going to die, in the core of the galaxy.

And no one will know about it

Fang looked around the corner with a hint of caution in his manner. At the same time he sniffed the air, making sure that no unknown scents filled the area. No one was around. He walked down the corridor, opened another door, and returned to the public hallways.

Twenty minutes later, he crossed a dirty alley, and stopped in front of a wall. He raised his hand, and then went through it. On the other side, Oracle and councillor Anselmus waited for him.

"Do you have it?" Anselmus asked, while Oracle hugged and kissed Fang.

"Hi, sweet flower." He sniggered, as he responded the kiss in kind. "Yes, commander, I have it. The location of the Kursak Starship."

"Excellent." the councillor played complacently with the characteristic Shi'ar feathers that adorned his cranium. "Our vengeance against the Shi'ar is one step nearer."

Their ship was not made to travel in this kind of ambient cosmic energy. Their communications were blown to shit, as were their cloaking systems. But that was all a moot point. What need would they have for these things in the fucking centre of a galaxy!? Any primitive device would no doubt prove useless in a place such as this. Now, all they could rely on would be each other.

"Nuro, are you sure of these co-ordinates?" asked the Shi'ar amazon to her smaller companion.

The green Skrull just looked up at her with an irritated look about him. "Yes, Warcry. Wolf got them from a very reliable source." He reassured her, before turning his attention back to his control panel.

"Well, we are gonna be very lucky if we manage to get there." The young Shi'ar female notes pessimistically, her feathers ruffling loudly as she concentrated on holding the ship together with her telekinetic powers.

"Aww, c'mon... you're just drivin' an old commercial spaceship in the heat an' radiation an' cosmic winds of a galactic core... It can't be so hard, can it?" another of the Skrulls grumbled.

"Wardog, keep your mouth shut and let Warcry drive. You know her inherent understanding of space allows her to drive any vehicle better that any one of us could hope to do with these infernal control systems malfunctioning!" R'tee - another of the Skrulls - snaps, as Wardgo lets out a disinterested grunt. "Now get ready and drink your mutagen."

"Shuddup, R'tee." Wardog groans. "Why don't ya go an' coddle up with Spunje in the back of the ship? Leave th' rest 'o us to our own business.!" Wardog didn't like to be remembered of his dependence of the mutagen to activate his mutant powers.

Thirty minutes later...

They have finally arrived at their target. Deep within the middle of the galaxy, in a place of almost pure cosmic power. Nuro is the first one to peer outside their space-craft. He is the first to see the true scope of their mission. He is the first to witness the grandeur of what lies before them. In a word; he is awed.

"Gentlebeings, before us is the Starship Kursak. One of the most powerful warships of the Kree, lost in the middle of the Kree-Shi'ar war. We know it was abandoned, but we don't know why."

"Aw right, Nuro. So, what are we gonna do in there?" asked Wardog, while he opened the canister of mutagen "Bottoms up." He sighed as he gulped the concoction down.

"The plan is simple. We get in, we find out what's in there, and get it out if it's useful to us." Nuro explained. "Anything else is secondary to our needs."

Later, inside the Kree Warship

"Okay kids, the air is resituated." R'tee informed them, as he knelt down in front of the life support computers. "I can't understand why these things were turned off. There's no sign of damage to the hull or virus in the mainframe."

"Finally! I can't take this anymore.!" The Kree shaman woman gasped as she took off her constricting outfit. Dark Mirror hated to feel captive of anything, most of all this hideous suit, designed to keep her from the ravaging affects of space. "I do not know how you do it! Too rigid, too tight." The shamaness griped, as she freed her long threads of hair from their bindings, and allowed for her necklace to hang around her collar once again. She looked at the empty spaces of the warship corridors. "Too many dead spirits here. Angry spirits. Dangerous spirits."

"It's the livin' who're dangerous, big girl." Wardog quipped, as he sniffed the stale air. "I smell a scent too...faint...cold..."

"Okay group, we won't split up like we'd planned. R'tee, Wardog and Spunje take the lead, check for trap sensors. Dark Mirror and myself in the centre, Warcry gets the rear. Let keep this unit tight, people. If there's something living here, then we've got to make sure it's not a threat to our mission."

They complied and took their positions. Wardog led them through several long corridors, using his extrasensory abilities to guide them, until they arrived to the storerooms.

"Careful, the scent is strong, somebody is alive an' kickin' in here." Wardog cautioned, as he tried to focus in on the scent.

"Wardog is correct." Dark Mirror concurs, "I feel active thoughts...aggression...fear."

"Spunje, front and centre. Wardog and Warcry, flanks. R'tee, you open the door. Everybody else, fall back." Nuro orders, as his team-mates took their places.

When the door opened, they saw a hulking figure. Blue skin, green armour...it had a great maul in his hands. It was once known as Ronan. Now it would fight to the death to protect anything with would seek to steal from it, it's sacred cargo. Especially Skrulls.

"Skrull invaders...have to protect the cargo...die!" shouted the hulking thing, as he shot a blast from his hammer. Spunje took the brunt of the attack, absorbed it into himself.

Wardog jumped and slashed the stranger with his sharp talons, while Warcry slowed their opponent's movement by slowing down the flow of space around him. Nuro stimulated his pain centres, and Dark Mirror assaulted him telepathically.

Ronan was staggered by the co-ordinated assaults.

"Back Off!" Ordered Nuro.

Wardog jumped, and Spunje released the energy he had stored. R'tee threw his body spikes.

Ronan fell down, unconscious. Wardog approached him, and slit his throat. " Hey, that was easy!" the Skrull smirked sadistically.

"Twenty years of cryogenics in suspended animation...one hell of a nap and no time to wake up." Said Spunje, who was brimming with power, due to the excess energy he had stored from Ronan's blast.

"Now, let's see what was valuable enough to justify the sacrifice of an entire warship." Nuro ordered, as he stepped over the limp carcass of Ronan. "Stay alert."

"Either they froze the father of all potatoes, or..."

"By the Queen! The Supreme Intelligence!?" Said Nuro while he stretched over Wardog.

"It's wetware base," said R'tee, checking the Cryogenic storage. "What the hell have we just stumbled on to...?"

The Chandrila world, the centre of the Shi'ar empire.

It had grown in great majesty with what was taken from their conquered worlds. The Magister D'Ken witnessed a parade of the ambassadors of the subject worlds, to present him their taxes. It was the turn of the Rigellians, who had brought with them their latest discovery; technology that would make space-time warp portals installable inside the spaceships of the Empire, annulling the disadvantages of the fixed portal that were so characteristic of the Shi'Ar.

The Rigellian ambassadors opened their ceremonial box, and in it allowed D'Ken to view the ingenious device that would help revolutionise both the war-strategy of the Shi'Ar, and the colonial advancements and conquests of the ever-expanding Empire. The crowd hummed with amazement, and D'Ken stood up.

In the crowd, a rebel Brood pointed his hidden gun towards the Magister. Finally, the Brood thought, his people would see their vengeance. He would have one clear shot before he would be ripped to shreds by D'Ken's Imperial Guards. He took it. D'Ken was helpless.

In a split-second Fang jumped to cover the Magister, taking the full force of the blast. It pierced through his body. Blood spewed out from him. In the shock and panicked that ensued, the Brood hoped he would have his chance for escape. No such luck.

Oracle used her powers of telepathy to single him out within an instant. She attacked the creatures mind with a vicious ferocity. While the Brood's mind was being ravaged, Neutron jumped on top of the creature, beating it to death with his vicious fists. Titan and Gladiator immediately started crowd control manoeuvres to ensure that none of the loyal citizens of the Imperium would come to any harm.

"Thank you, Oracle." D'Ken graciously thanked her, as he stood up from where he had been avoiding any further assaults on his person. "I made a wise choice when I appointed you Praetor. Is Fang well?"

"He will be in some minutes, Magister." She answered, as she turned to see the Brood corpse "I thought they were extinct."

"I suppose the Kree hunters missed one." D'Ken answered bitterly. "I am going to my quarters."

Paibok the Powerskrull, took a step back. The Bioreavers had surprised him on the bar of a miner asteroid. He managed to take his metal form just before the bioelectric blasts from the shoulder turrets of the organic blaster hit him.

"I am Jür Genn, leader of the Bioreavers, we are here to kill you" Jür Genn introduced himself. Suddenly, with just a thought on his behalf, Jür Genn's his hands started to grow rapidly in size, and bone claws pierced through his flesh. "For your rebellion against the Shi'ar Imperium."

"And because we could use the bounty on your head." said the Feline transgenic, Harr Jey.

{B.M., use your Bionanomachines to soften his metal hide} Thought Jür Genn telepathically to his mates. {Blaster, suppresser fire, Harr Jey and Mardo stand by to attack.}

B.M., a Blue Kree covered in a quarantine armour, raised his hand, and dust seemed to fly off him. B.M. only smiled, and Paibok's skin seemed to quiver.

"Now!"

Harr Jey, - who had now transformed himself into a hulking feral monster - and Mardo - a Shi'ar-Kree Hybrid with the best skills of each race - savagely tore apart their prey. Paibok's shouts could be heard all across the asteroid.

Magister D'Ken entered his private harem. The entrance was guarded by two amebite warriors, whose asexuated characteristics made them ideal for the task. All his brides tried to look as sex appealing as they could.

D'Ken took an overview. He had become tired of that Summers blonde human...the Kree were simplistic in their pleasures, and they Shi'ar were too boring...

"Magister D'Ken?" Said an apparently human woman, as she freely - but cautiously - entered his harem. She was brunette of gracious, but considerable, curves. "Do you need to distract your self?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around his strong frame, and caressed his chest.

"Ah, my little creature, what a treasure you came to be."

She kneeled slowly rubbing herself in him.

"Ahh, my little Lyja..."

"Ahh, finally we are home!" said R'tee, while he took Spunje's hand "Wanna take a bath?"

Spunje didn't reply. Instead the two of them quietly headed back to their quarters, hand in hand, as their companions settled in to their surroundings.

"Well, asteroid is better than spaceship, but not best." Dark Mirror mumbled to herself of her surroundings.

"When is that Kree primate gonna learn to speak properly?" Snarled Warcry, looking at Dark Mirror.

Wardog approached and hugged her from behind. "Relax, lover. Let her be. I don't like the Kree either, but you Shi'ar gotta learn to stop thinking of yourselves as the superior race of the galaxy."

"We are the superior race of the galaxy!" Warcry snarled, as her Skrull companion starts to cures her breast. Her feathers ruffle, as Nuro looks at the two of them with a squint in his eye.

"Wanna make good use of what's left of the mutagen?" Wardog whispers as he removes his hand. Nuro turns his attention back to his duties, as both Warcry and Wardog exist to their quarters.

"Sometimes I think they get sexually aroused with the missions!" Nuro muttered to himself, as he handled the exoskeleton crane and moved the cryostasis box.

"Sick society raises sick children." Mumbled Dark Mirror from behind him.

The night in the Imperial palace was warm and silent. The stars shone in the sky as they had for millions of years.

Gladiator's sleep was restless, as it had been for the last couple of months. He felt something was amiss. Since Oracle was assigned the Praetor's position his role in the Guard had become considerably worsened. It was a though she had some sort of vendetta against him. Maybe if she knew how he felt about...

The door opened slowly, and a shadowed figure entered his chambers. Dark robes covered any noticeable traits, but Gladiator could tell who she was in a instant.

"Is that you, lover? "Gladiator asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, powerful Gladiator." She dropped the robe, revealing a beautiful Human figure. She covered her breasts with her crossed arms. "Will you ever tell me your real name?

Gladiator smiled, and sat on his bed. "I am the last son of my world. My race is extinct. My 'real' name has no meaning for any of you." He opened his eyes wide, while the human woman caressed her breasts sensually and laid down on the bed.

"So, how super do you feel in the bed tonight, Gladiator?"

"Bioreavers, stand ready. The cloaking systems worked perfectly, we have no sign of active or passive scans. As soon as we land, I want Blaster and B.M. the first ones out." Jür Genn ordered. "Use your bionanomachines to dig a hole in the asteroid's wall. As soon as it's open, Televiral releases his stuff."

The rest of the Bioreavers nod and grunt in approval, as they prepare to land.

Inside.

"Nuro, my alarm spells have been activated!" Dark Mirror warned, as she came out of the trance-like state she had been in for the past few hours.

Nuro instantly reaches for the telecommunication systems, altering the rest of Cadre K. "This is a Red Alert situation. Get your battle spacesuits ready. We fall back into the hangar. Activate the emergency defence systems, and get the Supreme Intelligence wetware into the ship."

All of them rushed from their quarters, all aware of the full gravity of the situation. Meanwhile, Televiral of the Bioreavers released his virus in the asteroid's near-impenetrable bedrock, eating away at the minerals and such until the outer rim of the asteroid started to disintegrate. As soon as the hole the virus had eaten away into the asteroid grew big enough, the Bioreavers entered into it.

Harr Jay, the feline transgenic, sniffed the air around them to make sure no enemies were in their vicinity. "Damn you! The smell from the virus is overwhelming my senses! It's blocking all other scents!"

"There's nothing we can do about that now!" Jür Genn said, as his bone claws grew from the tips of his fingers. "We do not split, and try not to use lethal force. The bounty is double if they are still alive."

"Alive, but not complete, or healthy." Blaster shoulder cannons hummed with power.

The hangar.

"The cargo is in the ship, and it's ready to lift off." Warcry shouted, as the propulsors suddenly went down. "Shit!"

R'tee ran inside to check the ship computer. "The power source is damaged! The radiation we sustained when we were in the galactic core has probably damaged it. This will take a while to change it...too long, perhaps?"

"Fuck the Kree!" shouted Nuro in anger. "Warcry, you stay here and help R'tee as best you can. Everybody else, we make time at the dinning room. Guerrilla tactics."

The dinning room.

"Jür Genn, I feel danger." Warns Mardo as the Bioreavers study their new surroundings with their military-keen training.

"Good, Mardo. Blaster, Feline, to the point, Mardo and B.M, take the rear." Jür Genn answered, motioning to his troops.

"Watch o--!" cried B.M. from behind Jür Genn, as a column of flames rose from within the shadows, blazing them with searing pain.

"Those spells of yours really come in handy, Dark Mirror." Snickered a voice from where the stream of flames had emanated.

Jür Genn and Mardo were the first to get to their feet, both practically undamaged by the attack. Jür Genn's body radiated with an eerie green light.

"Hey, green boys. Wanna have fun?" He lifted his claws, and lunged for the Skrulls.

Mardo, in turn, followed with an attack of his own, battering into Spunje. Spunje refused to move an inch, in spite of the strength of the punch. He simply touched his chest back and smiled. His smile was then followed up with a release of kinetic energy which threw Mardo back down to the floor.

In the confusion, Jür Genn attacked Nuro with a jumping side kick that hit him square in the face. Nuro fell down, coughing strongly as blood seeped from his presumably broken nose.

"Ahh, paydirt." Jür Genn gloated. "Televiral!"

"Got him, boss." Televiral, a thin, pink Kree, was getting up; his eyes shone with a yellow light, "Now you are mine." he said, and Nuro felt that he could no longer move his body.

"Strong body, weak mind." came a voice from the darkness, and Jür Genn turned around, to see who said it. Dark Mirror's head was surrounded by a bluish hue, and she had a smile on her face.

Jür Genn's body fell limp. Harr Jey and B.M. were slowly approaching the Dark Mother, as Wardog jumped at the feline humanoid. B.M. generated a quarantine armour with his bionanomachines, which barely protected him against Dark Mirror's stone axe.

"The Cadre K must be one tough gang! Only one fell to my controller virus!" Televiral stated to himself, seeing the fight from behind. "But, why am I feeling so...drowsy...?"

Nuro smiled when he recuperated his motor functions. It had not been hard to contact the one responsible for his situation, and dampen his neural activity. He stood up at the same time Blaster did on the other side of the dinning room. He started shooting his bioelectric blasts, in a suppresser pattern.

Spunje took some blasts into himself, and returned them in kind, as Wardog approached Blaster.

"Hey, hey, pal! Guess what...it's party time!" He attacked Blaster and had a lucky opening, which he took advantage of. He slit Blaster's throat with his sharp talons, and the Bioreaver fell helplessly to the ground. Televiral suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Wardog, and touched him on his back. Wardog started convulsing, and blood oozed out of his ears and nose. He almost fell at Televiral's feet, but managed to maintain his motor functions longer enough to enable his retreat.

"Fall back!" Nuro ordered, as he provided cover fire for his team-mates.

The members of Cadre K all rushed out of the wrecked dining hall, and a door slid shut behind them, shielding their escape. Nuro checked his mates out. They were all battered but well. All except for Wardog, who had passed out, and was still bleeding profusely. Dark Mirror contacted R'tee telepathically and found out that the transport was almost ready.

Warclaw opened a portal to the hangar, and they crossed.

"We have to leave now!" Nuro shouted as they all boarded the ship.

"It's not ready yet!" R'tee shouted back.

"It'll have to be!" Nuro warned gravely as he rushed into the cockpit. "Warclaw, I need you to teleport the entire spaceship as far away from here as possible! Dark Mirror, whip up some of your magic to heal Wardog's wounds."

Horrendous noises echoed down the hallway, as the Bioreavers reached the hanger. "Stop them!" Jür Genn screamed, as he heard the Skrull's space-craft powering up.

"It's now or never, Warcry!" Nuro shouted to his Shi'Ar companion.

"Wait, R'tee's still down there!" Spunje shouted, as his lover rushed across to them from the external control systems inside the hanger.

"Kill the Skrull!" Jür Genn ordered as R'tee rushed over to the space-craft. Televiral let out a shot from his plasma-weapon, which grounded the fleeing R'tee.

"NO!" screamed Spunje.

"Go! Go!" ordered Nuro.

Warcry tightly clenched her eyes, and suddenly a veil of energy blanketed the entire ship, twisting them across the spaceways, before spitting them out in some unknown part of the cosmos. Warcry let out a hushed cry as she suddenly fainted.

"no." sobbed Spunje, tears flowing down his face.

Gladiator had the feeling that the only tranquillity he could find these days was during the moments of lustful passion her shared with Lyja. She was so passionate, and it made him feel free. Somehow she said and did everything he needed. Tonight it had been even more special.

She rolled over him, and caressed his manly chest. "Tell me, what do you think about Oracle?"

"Huh?" the exasperated Gladiator grunted, as he stared at the face of his Skrull lover.

"What do you think about Oracle?" Lyja reiterated. "The way she got to be Praetor?"

"How do you mean?" Gladiator questioned, not quite following Lyja.

"She sneaks some nights into D'Ken's room. Didn't you know?" Lyja smiled, that same deceptive smile of the Skrull.

"No, I never imagined."

This would be another restless night for Gladiator. First Fang, now D'Ken. And what bothered him the most was that the main question in his mind was, 'Why not me?'

"According to the co-ordinates that Lyja gave us, that station is in a secure position." Nuro said dryly. The group had been silent for the last few hours, contemplating their situation. Dark Mirror took Spunje in her arms and comforted him. Spunje's lover, R'tee was as good as dead. Warcry - who had now recovered - docked the spaceship and restored the atmosphere through the external controls.

As they descended upon the docking bay, each of them tried to keep to their own thoughts, avoiding the hateful gaze of Spunje. But they all knew that Spunje's hate was reserved for only one of them. He turned towards Nuro.

"Why couldn't you wait!?! He could have jumped! Warcry could teleport him! We could have fought them! We could have saved him! We could have--"

Nuro just stood, silently looking down to the floor.

"It's your fault!" Spunje continued. "And now...and now..." Spunje kneeled, and covered his face with his hands "I'm never gonna see him again...and I need him..." And he wept. Dark Mirror comforted him again, taking him into her arms.

Later.

The Commander and the Dark Mirror were linking everyone's mind as Z'cann provided the psionic security that, in the astral plane, translated into a sphere of light and fire spread all around them.

Fiz, Wolf, and Z'cann surrounded their Commander as Nuro, Spunje and Warcry stood at either side of Dark Mirror. "So, there's solid evidence that indicates that Lyja is a leak." Nuro finished explaining

"It is not unexpected. She is, after all, an independent agent." replied The Commander "But what does she expect to gain from her treachery?"

"Don't know, 'an I don't care!" Warcry seemed about to explode " She's cost us two of our number already! I want her head...disintegrated!"

"It is not so easy, my little Warcry." Dark Mirror interjected. "If we make a wrong move, the entire infiltration mission will be spoiled. We must think. We must see this as an opportunity to eliminate obstacles, and to strengthen our positions."

"Commander, I was able to scan Emperor D'Ken's mind last night." Z'cann informs her superior, while keeping the psi-sheild erected. "His psi-defences are extremely weak at this moment. I discovered that he hides the Supreme Intelligence's operating system in the Imperial safe box, with all the Jewels from the Crown."

"So, it comes down to an ethical decision. Should we get our revenge on Lyja, destabilise the Shi'ar empire, kill D'Ken, or reinitiate the Supreme Intelligence? The Supreme Intelligence is a great weapon against the Shi'ar empire, but can we afford to not pursue our other lines of action? I leave the decision up to you, friends. Which will it be? " The Commander asked, as he smiled a Skrull smile, full of deception and guile.

Elsewhere, in the nether-regions of space.

The Inhumans were another group of genetically manipulated soldiers left over from the Shi'ar-Kree war. These 'Inhumans', whose name was taken after the fallen race of Attilan, are the results of Kree experimentation with the human 'x-factor' gene. The 'volunteers' (whether they were so willingly or not) were Kree warriors, first implanted with the human 'x-factor' gene, and then stimulated with the terrigen mist. The result was an army of very powerful, but slightly unstable soldiers. The new Inhumans, as they called themselves.

The Super-Skrull was also a product of the war, but his war was not of the conflict between the Kree and the Shi'ar, but rather, of their combined war against the Skrulls. He had been treated with enhancing chemicals and radiation, that increased his polimorphic powers to the genetic level. He could now copy the genetic structure, and abilities of any one within his immediate vicinity. From the thousands who gave themselves to the Skrull's experimentations, only he alone survived the experience.

The Inhumans and the lone Super-Skrull represent the epitome of both race's experimentations, in their mutual bids to gain greater power. And now they face each other. They are on one of the free trading posts in a portal world. The sentient beings in the market had run as soon as they had seen the Inhumans in war mode.

They stand in the deserted aisles of the outdoor flee-market, surrounded by stalls full of cheap gizmos and foods that fill the air with exotic scents. The Super-Skrull pulled his cowl off, throwing it to the ground, revealing his Skrull colours, a deep shade of purple offset by the green hue of his radiant flesh.

"The legendary Super-Skrull." one of the Inhuman Kree starts, as he step forward. "My name is Mar Vell. I am field leader of the Inhumans. What, may I ask, is your name brother?"

"Super-Skrull" he answered as he allowed his power to extend and assimilate "Any previous identity I may have had died with the throne-world. Now all that's left is the Super-Skrull."

"Fine. Soon, there won't be even that. " Mar Vell goaded, as he shot a black ray out at the S8uper-Skrull from his hands. The Super-Skrull did not attempt to move. He remained in his stance, taking the thunderous blast without even flinching.

"Negative energy and vampirism, how original, and him...strength and limited invulnerability?" he rolled and shot a blast at the small blue Kree. The Kree hurdled itself out of the blast's path, the ray only grazing his arm.

"ARRGH!" cried the Kree as he clenched the irritated wound.

Kona Lor, one of the pink-fleshed Kree underclass, levitated into the air, and at the same time used his telekinesis to throw a barrage of the objects at the Super-Skrull from the surrounding stands. The Super-Skrull maintained his concentration, and set an interference pattern of Kona Lor's TK energy. The pink-skinned Kree plummeted down to the ground with a hideous thud.

Bronn Char, another of the advancing Inhumans, tried to strike at the Super-Skrull, thinking his opponent distracted. The Skrull spun around to enter Char's guard, and sunk his hands deep into Char's collar, draining the blue giant of his energies.

"Ahh, Mar Vell, I doubt you can see the potential uses of the powers you and your team have." The Super-Skrull laughed as Kona Lor teleported the weakened Char out of the his grasp. A blue aura glowed around the revitalised Super-Skrull.

"No Skrull is able to defeat the Kree supremacy, even if it's a Super-Skrull!" cried one of the Kree Inhumans. At that moment, the Super-Skrull vanished for an instant, only to reappear behind the source of the protest and hit the Inhuman Dylon on the nape. He flew through the stands, bringing several of them down.

Bronn Char, despite his weakened state, grabbed at the Super-Skrull's ankle, and threw him with an almighty force, slamming the surprised Skrull into a nearby wall.

Kona Lor attacked the Super-Skrull's mind with a psi-bolt, as Mar Vell let out a full power negative blast. The Super-Skrull was taken by surprise, and reeled.

Bronn Char took the opportunity, and charged with a haymaker, but this time, the Super-Skrull was ready, and used a TK shield to block him. Using this same telekinesis, the Skrull then gripped Char a TK hug, slowly squeezing the life out of him.

"So, you believe your invulnerability protects you from every thing?" Came another voice into the fray, as the Super-Skrull turned his head, pounding Mar Vell with Char's body. He then entered into Kona Lor's mind.

{Do you know how many psionics are there in the Universe?} The Super-Skrull asked as he invaded the telepath's mind {I have copied this kind of power many times, and have become adept at using psiconic powers to my own advantage. You are not even worthy of my attentions.}

He added Kona Lor's power to his by taking control of his will, and crushed Bronn Char with the total telekinetic power of both. The sound of crushed bones could be heard by all, as shards and splinters pierced outwards from Char's flesh. Then the Super-Skrull used the psiconic link with Kona Lor to discharge negative energy into his brain.

His cranium exploded, bathing them with blood and pieces of brain.

The Super-Skrull turned to Mar Vell, "Two down, and I'll retain their powers for a while. Ready to die?" As the Super-Skrull neared to make his attack something suddenly gripped his mind, enveloping his senses. He placed his hands on his head, and suddenly fell to the ground.

"Sorry leader, but it took me a while to wake up and teleport five light years to the base to bring this." Answered one of the Inhuman legion, as he handed a powerful device to Mar Vell.

"An omniwave interference sequencer?" Mar Vell stood up and walked towards the Skrull "Brilliant. He doesn't get any input from his power source, and the Kree genes shock out" Mar Vell laughed as he pulled a laser gun from his belt "Time to say good bye, Mr. Super-Skrull."

It's the middle of the night on the planet Chandrila. The predominant sounds come from the predominant species of the planet. Birds. Chandrilaan nights are very noisy. Which is good, because some noises from the sentient species are best left unheard.

"So, Magister, are you satisfied, or do you want more?" Lyja was playing with a neural whip, rubbing it on D'Ken, stimulating him with the neural shocks.

"Let me rest a little, woman." He turned to enjoy the sight of her naked body. Humans had always tempted him...they had an animality that he had only seen in one Shi'ar female before. Deathbird. But, as fate would have it, she was his sister. He could not dare entertain such thoughts. He is the Emperor of the Shi'ar. He is no immoral deviant. Instead, he would have to make do with the shape-changer.

"What do you wish for me to do next, Magister?" Lyja asked, her naked form shinning against the moonlight. The rested by a flowing stream. A single Shi'ar Imperial Guard stood watch, as they had their way with each other.

"Why don't you play with yourself while I watch?" D'Ken suggested. But, more than a suggestion, it was almost an order. One dare not defy the will of the Emperor.

"Yes Magister." Lyja answered. "It is my pleasure to comply. Tell me, Magister, is Praetor Oracle angry with me?"

"Why should that be?" D'Ken queried, as Lyja looked up at him. "Do not stop!" D'Ken bellowed lustfully, as Lyja continued to caress herself for his amusement.

"She looked at me with anger, and I though that she doesn't like that we are together."

"What care I of the emotions of an Imperial Wench. Let Oracle fester her jealousy. All the better for me..." D'Ken's sleepy mind drifted, in spite of Lyja sensual movements. But he was not without his thoughts. He had seen Lyja going out of Gladiator's room. Could she dare to betray the Magister, risking the wrath of the Harem Law? Or could there be more to that relation?

Afterwards.

After she had finished seeing to D'Ken's whims, Lyja returned to her private quarters. She holds an Omniwave transmitter in her hands. In a few moments, she is going to do something she had promised herself never to do.

She known Nuro. She had studied with the rest of the Cadre K. She was one of them. She knew their tactics, and could predict their movements. She new their strengths and weaknesses. For the longest time, she had hoped that she wouldn't have to do this. They were her friends.

She pushes the export button on the transmitter. It's done. She has sent all of her knowledge of the Cadre to the Bioreavers and the Inhumans. With that encrypted information now in the hands of others, she has absolved herself of her crimes. Hopefully nobody would find out about her past, and the threat Cadre K posed to D'Ken would finally be over. For her sake.

"So, Mar Vell, do you agree we should work together?"

They seated at a private table, in a bar of a low planet in Kree space. The air was full of drugged fumes, the tables stained with filth, and puddles of vomit and urine were strewn across the floor. Some sort of music filled the air, covering the hushed conversations of beings from the far reaches of the galaxy.

"Yes, Jür Genn, both teams are practically reduced to the half. We have to work together to terminate the Cadre K. As long as you agree that I should lead."

The curtain moved to a side.

"Excuse me, sir."

"Who? " Jür Genn drew his blaster, halting the stranger in his tracks. The alien looked at Mar Vell to explain the situation.

"Dylon Cyr, teleporter from my unit." Mar Vell explains, not bothering to rise from his seat. "He's okay. What is it, Cyr?"

"A message from Lyja. We have the location of the Cadre K." Dylon answered, as a smile crept along Mar Vell's face. Both Kree stood up.

"Let us go."

The sweet oblivion of sleep had come later. The weariness of pleasure finally overcame desire, and the Imperial Palace rested silently. For a moment, the noisy animals of the night shut up, and then the sky was illuminated by a teleportation portal hundreds of feet across. From the portal came tens of humanoid creatures, with skin as black as the surface of a black hole, and a red cowl covering their heads, they jumped and phased through the machines they found, disrupting them.

The second wave consisted of big fat creatures, with red, rugged skin, and a stench that reached miles around. They recited arcane equations that generated destructive spells. A rain of fire fell on the city around the Imperial Palace.

The sirens of alert sounded.

Gladiator flew out of his room, as he fixed his cape. Goblin, Fang, Oracle, B'Nee and C'Cil were all running towards the balcony.

"What's the problem, Praetor Oracle?" asked Goblin to his Commanding officer.

"Dire Wraiths! Scores of them! I've telepathically summoned the whole Guard!" Oracle explains as she converts into her Imperial armour, ready to assault the invading creatures. The others around her do the same, as they watch the ongoing hordes of Dire Wraith advance.

The Shi'ar soldiers are the first line in trying to stop the Dire Wraiths, but they prove to be little match for the beast's ferocity. The Hellhounds phased and disrupted their weapons and armours, while the Deathwings bathed them with their acid breaths.

{We must find a way to disrupt their teleportation spell!} Oracle telepathically yelled into the minds of her companions. On the other side of the Palace she could see Titan growing to 150 feet in size, towering over the hordes of Wraiths. Telepathically she contacted him, and the other Imperial Guardsmen situation of the East Wing of the vast palace grounds.

{Tempest, Starbolt, Blacklight, Whitenoise, clear the area near the portal!} She ordered, as they used their destructive powers to burn away the Dire Wraiths near the portal's entrance.

Titan lifted a 100 ton Carrier and threw it at the portal. The manoeuvre was so surprising for the Wraiths, that they could not do anything in time to prevent it. For a moment, all the sentients turned to see the portal. It blinked, and then fizzled out.

"Must have broken something on the other side" Titan, smiled, and reduced his size to twenty feet.

Yet, the Dire Wraiths that had managed to pass were too many. D'Ken had hidden himself in the bunkers beneath the Imperial Palace. His counsellors were aiding him in analysing his situation.

"Ah, it's a pity we decided not to aid ROM and the Galadorians against the Dire Wraiths." D'Ken said, while studying the holo-display.

"Sir, we didn't expect them to be so daring... to attack Chandrila!" one of the councillors offered. "We thought they could content themselves with their part of the Universe"

"Magister D'Ken," another of the Councillors started, "The battalion will take at least two days to get here."

"Summon them" D'Ken ordered, as he sat in his throne, with a worried look on his face. "Where is the nearest Warship to the Wraiths' border?"

"Sir?" one of the Councillors asked, unsure of D'Ken's intentions.

"Send the Warship for a full attack on their flank." D'Ken answered. The Councillors looked at him with shocked expressions upon their faces, but none were daring enough to protest this act.

"Yes, Magister." One of the cowardly Councillors answered, before rushing out of the room to execute the order.

"Give me omniwave contact with Oracle." D'Ken demanded, as his technicians opened up a link with the Imperial Guard Praetor.

"Yes, Magister?" Oracle asked, not expecting an order from D'Ken during this time of battle. She continued to fight on, while she tried to pay as much of her attention to the Emperor as possible.

"Oracle, I want a team teleported to wherever the Dire Wraith are gathering at the other side of their teleportal. And have them take a biodistuptor bomb...don't forget the Dire Wraiths are evolved from the traitorous Skrulls." D'Ken commanded.

"Yes Magister." Oracle answered, the mention of the Skrulls leaving bitter thoughts lingering in her mind.

{Mentor, I want you to lead Electron, Astra, Onslaught, Smasher, N'rill'irée, Moondancer and Voyager. Find out where the Dire Wraiths are gathering at the other side of their portal. Give them pain and leave them a biodisruptor bomb} Oracle ordered her Imperial Guardsmen.

{I am working on it, Praetor Oracle.} Mentor answered, acknowledging her orders.

Oracle focused, and contacted Dark Mirror, to let her know the situation.

Meanwhile, in the battlefield, another of the Imperial Guard has matters weighing heavy on his mind.

Gladiator is not invulnerable to magic. Since most of the effects of magic were psychological, and not physical, his abilities were useless against them. One of the worst things he could think of was fighting the Dire Wraiths. You could almost say he feared them. And fear would reduce his efficiency in fighting them. He needed to fight them with great speed, to surpass their reaction time and evade their mystic shields.

D'Ken watched the situation with renewed interest. Where he should be thinking of the battle at hand, he instead finds himself with Gladiator. He has never seen Gladiator so worried before in his life. Emotion is something that the near-invulnerable guardsman does not show often, and fear an emotion he never show at all. This is a rare occasion indeed, and D'Ken plans to revel in it.

"Magister, sir? Why is Gladiator so below his fighting standards? " Asked counsellor Anselmus, fearful of D'Ken's wrath at being interrupted mid-thought.

"He has been below his standards for some time now, let's hope it doesn't cost us." D'Ken answers, ever the politician. Never showing how much he is enjoying the fear Gladiator is experiencing. Anselmus turns his attention back to the omniwave transmitter, peering onto the war zone above.

Oracle was co-ordinating the fight from the back lines. She preferred to avoid contact with the mind of such vile sentients, for it is not a good experience. Earthquake had created an avalanche, breaking the Dire Wraiths' formation. Magique generated a greater dispelling that removed many of their mystic shields, Starbolt broke their ranks, on a passing strafe, and Neutron, Fang and Commando smashed them. Fang was using his powers to the limit, and had changed to his feral form, a hulking animal man with five-inch claws and heavy healing factor.

The new guards were doing well. Icestorm was lowering the temperature bear the command post, and that kept the Deathwings away. Vegetal grew and controlled the local plants, entangling the wraiths and stopping them from casting spells, and Stonefist used his stone form and added strength to pummel them. Fireblast simply spit fire to the Hellhounds, burning and scaring them, while Lightshow created stroboscopic patterns of light that distracted and stunned the Deathwings.

(No, not that Onslaught! - Benn)

"Yes, I can see the place, Sir, but I can't see inside. Walls must be too thick." The teleporter said.

"Great, no intelligence. Feline, recon the place." Ordered Mar Vell, as the humanoid strutted around the building, changing into his feline form, before jumped up to the ceiling.

"Their scents are here, boss." Feline stated, with a growl.

"Any suspicious scents?" Mar Vell asked, looking up at the creature dangling from the ceiling.

"Not of any explosive I know. There's a skylight up here." Feline answered, pointing upwards to the skylight allowing the sky from outside to peer in.

"Fine, every body, let's go up there." Mar Vell stated, before turning to another of his Inhuman brethren. "B.M., open the lock."

"I can't open it, Mar Vell. I can dissolve it with my nannites." B.M. explained.

"Be careful, B.M., I do not consent dissension in my ranks." Mar Vell warned, a stern look upon his face.

B.M. Kneeled and a dust poured out of his hand, into the lock. It turned to dust.

"Done." B.M. said sadly.

Jür Genn lifted the skylight. Feline and B.M. jumped in.

"I don't like it, Jür; this is too easy." Mar Vell said, cautiously to his second-in-command.

"Lyja's tips always come off." Jür Genn reminded his commander, as he jumped inside. "Why would they not do so on this occasion?"

"I don't know. I really don't." Mar Vell whispered to himself as he levitated in the air. A light shone inside the building. Before Mar Vell could wonder as to what it was, a sudden shock wave hit him.

A sudden burst of energy exploded from the building, as everything within thirty yards was disintegrated by the force of the blast.

The sun rose as every day, but this time, it illuminated a city.

Bathed in blood and fire. The war between the Dire Wraiths and the Shi'ar had lasted through all night. Blackthorn died heroically, but painfully. Nightside had barely escaped the attack of the Thornnoids, big animated purple plants that feed on flesh. She had only just returned to the command post, her scars filled with dry blood.

"Yes, the Dire Wraiths are resistant to my sphere of shadow... but, after all, old Nightshade kept them up at bay." Nightshade attempted to joke, but just found herself wanting to fall down to rest.

"Really?" Oracle turned to her, not letting her fatigue show.

"Yes." Nightshade gasped, as she crouched down beside Oracle.

Oracle stared down at Nightshade. Was it anger she felt? Or sorrow? Did she feel anything at all? She didn't know. Suddenly, Oracle unleashed a painful psychic shock to the unexpecting Nightshade. As the returning Imperial fell, she reverted to her true form. This was not Nightshade, but an impostor. A Dire Wraith. Before the creature could hope to strike, it's head was blasted off its shoulders by a disgusted Shi'ar soldier.

"Are you okay, Praetor?" asked one of the surrounding Shi'ar guards.

"Yes, Sargent." Oracle answered, her thoughts on poor Nightside. She must have been killed already. Another who gave her life in this conflict.

"But how did you know, Praetor?" the Sergeant asked, confused as to how Oracle was able to detect the Dire Wraith's true identity.

"It said its name was Nightshade, not Nightside. She had changed her code-name just recently, and she called her power a cloak of darkness, not a sphere of shadow. A quick psi-scan confirmed that she was a Wraith." Oracle sighed.

Suddenly, they jerked around as a nearby explosion startled them. Impulse had generated an antimatter explosion over the city; he took many Deathwings out. Hussar and Webwing finished those that were stunned by the explosion and fell to the floor.

Oracle stopped and focused to co-ordinate them. "The war rages on..." she sighed before returning to the battle.

"This is not going to be easy," Nuro warned to his team-mates, "and it has to be fast."

Nuro and his team already travelled to Chandrila, as soon as they received the information Z'cann had managed to pluck from D'Ken's mind, by chance. This was going to be their best opportunity to finally free the Supreme Intelligence.

"The commander gave us the exact location of D'Ken's room and the safe box. Warcry, I need a portal there. Spunje, drain the energy of the security systems as we go in. Dark Mirror, I want psi-scans for any one getting near." Nuro ordered the pink Kree shaman, following the procedures laid own by his master, the nameless Kree 'Commander'.

Nuro looked around the room, and found himself awed. He had never before been in the resting chamber of an Emperor. Its walls covered with long red drapes, and its floor littered with the skins of unknown animals. The centre-piece of the room was the huge bed, with silken covers strewn across it, and white feathered pillows lain upon the headboard.

A portal opened from nowhere, and Spunje walked through it, focusing his concentration on the security cams. Dark Mirror opened a small clay pot, to let the guardian spirits out. Nuro walked, and last, Warcry.

{Warcry, you are our backup now.} Nuro informed the sole Shi'ar of the group, using the Mind-link established by Dark Mirror. He then kneeled down, beside the lavish bed, removed the quilted rug from underneath.

He found there to be a small hidden latch underneath the rug. He pulled it open, discovering a small safe box. Just like Z'cann predicted. "We have it." He whispered to his comrades, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

Voyager's portal opened in the centre of a gigantic room. Though it was dark, the eerie drawings on the walls could be seen, describing scenes of murder, violation and destruction, in the vilest ways any sentient of the universe could think.

The room was filled with Dire Wraiths that mumbled while the Wraith warlocks worked to reinitiate the teleportation spell. In the middle of the room, the crashed Carrier rested over the stinking residues of several dead Wraiths.

As they appeared, Smasher, N'rill'irée, and Onslaught started fighting against the nearby wraiths. Electron used his electromagnetic rays to cover them from aerial attacks, while Mentor co-ordinated their actions.

Moondancer took Astra's hand, and they phased down through the floor together.

"I have to tell you something, Onslaught," Smasher said, as he broke a Dire Wraith's neck.

"I'm Listening." Onslaught replied, ripping a Dire Wraith's arm with a hook kick.

"I really don't like your code-name." Smasher smirked.

"Why? I mean, it's got more class than 'Smasher'." Onslaught retaliated.

"Hah, you wish! You remember that human entity that practically turned Sol 3 into a hell? Its name roughly translates to Onslaught." Smasher informed his partner, while gouging out the eyes of an nearby Wraith.

"Oh." a spinning back-fist took another Wraith "Well, what can I say? I didn't know when I asked for it."

"Attention, anthropoids!" N'rill'irée lifted a Wraith, and projected it over their heads, to strike a Deathwing that had escaped Electron's rays.

Electron stopped shooting, and started to build up a large charge of energy. Astra and Moonstone returned through the floor. A Hellhound jumped at Astra, tearing at her leg. She let out a painful screech, as she fell away from Moonstone.

In an instant, the Wraith lunged for Astra. Electron leaped to her defence, and let loose with his powerful charge of energy. The force of the charge killed the Hellhound almost instantly, but in that split second before death, the Hellhound used it's own instinctive abilities to alter the effects of the blast, causing a disruption which devastated all those within its immediate vicinity. Electron didn't survive.

"Blast the Robot dominator! Pull back!" Mentor shouted, and Voyager opened another one of his portals. Smasher picked up Electron's dead body, and took it with him through the portal, for a proper, honourable burial.

Within seconds of the portal closing, the biodisruptor bomb that Mentor had lain, went off with a horrendous blast. The shrieks of the Wraiths barely showed the pain they were going through. These bombs were designed to be used against the Skrulls. They generate specific radiations that affect their unstable DNA, breaking it up atom by atom. The result was that they were slowly turned into protoplasm. The bomb had the same effect on the hundreds of Wraiths holed up inside the overcrowded habitat, only it took a much longer - and therefore, a much more painful - effect on the beings.

"Magister D'Ken !" counsellor Anselmus exclaimed "The silent alarm to your private safe box was activated!"

D'Ken turned to see the holodisplay showing this room's security. "Lyja? She is the spy we have been suspecting of all this time? Send the guards to stop her!"

"But, Magister, all the guards are outside, battling against the Dire Wraiths! We can do little but watch." Anselmus informed.

D'Ken grew angry.

By the noon, the war was over. Several members of the Imperial Guard had died this day, but it was the Wraith invasion that had been stopped.

Lyja had been arrested, with equipment for sub-spatial communication found hidden in her room. She was being transported to the dungeons, when Gladiator arrived.

"Wh... What is the sense of this grave transgression?" Gladiator asked, shocked by the sight of his lover, chained and escorted by two Shi'ar guardsmen.

"Gladiator, sir, this woman has been arrested for thievery and espionage." One of the guards answers.

"But..." Gladiator starts, but finds himself cut off.

"Thank you, officers. Go on with your work, I will talk with Gladiator." Came the voice of Oracle, as she strode down the hall. Behind her stood Emperor D'Ken, guarded by Blacklight and Whitenoise. He paid no attention to Gladiator, and continued to walk on with the two Imperial Guardsmen, as Oracle came over to the side of the confused Gladiator. "We are taking the Magister to his quarters, Care to join us?

"Yes." He sombrely answered, as both he and Oracle followed after Emperor D'Ken.

"So, tell me, Gladiator, what do you know about Lyja?" Oracle asked, with a malicious smile. Gladiator didn't answer.

"I saw you two together. You seem to have been rather close to her, haven't you? Am I to suspect you were a party to this traitor?"

"Sir..." Gladiator started, as he flew some feet away from Oracle, positioning himself in front of D'Ken. Blacklight quickly side-stepped in front of D'Ken, in case Gladiator sought to harm the Emperor. Gladiator simply pushed Blacklight against the hard wall, keeping him pinned against it. "Something is wrong, Magister! There must be some sort of conspiracy! Lyja would never betray you, Emperor!"

"I see." D'Ken answered, as he took a step back. "That is what your lover told us as well. You two must have been conspiring with each other! Guardsmen, hold him for questioning."

"NO!" Gladiator bellowed, as he raised his fist, and was thrown back down to the floor by a dark energy optic blast emanating from Blacklight. Oracle was the next to join the fray, assaulting Gladiator with a stunning psychic attack. Both Smasher and Onslaught then jumped at him. Gladiator lost it for a moment. He picked himself up from a hole in the floor, and off into the skies.

"Let him go!" ordered Oracle, as the flyers of the group prepared themselves for pursuit. "We will hunt for him later. We have more pressing matters at this time. Namely, like finding what was stolen." Oracle reminded themselves, while smiling to herself, deviously.

Considering that the Shi'ar Imperium is supposed to be civilised, their death penalty is a lot nearer to pure savagery than one would expect. The Shi'ar condemned stood huddled together in an airtight chamber, as acid gases poured in from the surrounding air vents. The death was not fast, was very painful, and left no residues for possible cloneage. This time, the victim was Lyja, who was escorted by four Shi'ar soldiers.

"D'Ken, you will pay for this! All around you, they are traitors! I was loyal to you!... I was eliminating those that wanted to destroy you!" Lyja begged, as angry tears streamed down her face.

D'Ken looked at her with tiredness in his eyes.

"I did all of this because I love you! I love you more than that old Summers bitch ever could have!" Lyja screamed, wheeping.

The soldiers pushed her into the gas chamber. At the moment she felt the pain, she returned to her Skull form. Everyone in the room gasped in awe. Only D'Ken had known the truth of Lyja's heritage. Only D'Ken, and Gladiator.

"Oracle, I want you to double-check every woman in my harem tomorrow." D'Ken announced, coldly. "I want you to search for the Skrull mind blocks." He ordered, knowing full well that he had chosen to disable them when his affair with Lyja first started. Now it was time for him to rectify his mistakes.

"Yes Magister. If there's a Skrull nearby you, I will find him." Oracle vowed, her devious schemes finally coming to fruition.

"Okay, that should make it work. " Nuro announced, as they finished downloading the Operative system into the Wetware. Spunje and Warcry were helping him on the data-dump connections to the sub-net.

The big head blinked once.

"...I ....I think...again..." it announced, as a dazed look of confusion formed across the giant face.

"Yes Supreme Intelligence." Nuro answered, as he and his Skrull brethren respectfully bowed before the most vaunted of beings.

"...A...Skrull?" The Intelligence queried. Obviously its consciousness had not yet fully regenerated itself.

"Yes, Supreme Intelligence. We have allied ourselves with your people during your long absence. Both the Kree and the Skrulls fight against the Shi'ar now." Nuro informed the massive being before him. "We have come here to see that you are fully able to reconstruct yourself. We have provided you with several sub-net links for you to learn all that you wish of our plight. The links are in variable frequencies, so they are hard to trace, but be careful anyway."

"Where am...I?"

"We are in one of the many abandoned dwellings of the Bioreavers, Supremor." Dark Mirror, the pink-skinned Kree answered.

"A Kree group..." the Intelligence smiled.

"Once, but no longer, Supreme Intelligence." Dark Mirror interrupted the amnesiac being. "The Bioreavers became mercenaries after your departure. They chose to work for the Shi'ar. We were forced to kill them."

"And how was...I...reinitiated?"

"We were part of an infiltration operation on the Shi'ar Imperial house. We sought out the information D'Ken held on your whereabouts, and were fortunate enough to find what we required." Nuro informed the Intelligence.

"Skrull?...What have your people planned for me?"

But Nuro chose not to answer. Because he knew that, if he were to reveal their true intentions too soon, their plans may just falter. And that is something none of them can afford.

Oracle read the scroll, as the guardians stood in two lines besides the golden urns.

"And so, the Imperial Guard mourns the deaths of our fellow guardians; Electron, Nightside, Tempest, Warstar and Blackthorn, who died in the line of duty."

Oracle levitated the urns telekinetically, and set them together with others in a niche on the wall of the Palace gardens, where it was customary to bury the greatest war heroes of the Imperium.

"They join Manta, Solar Wind, and Midget in the Hall of Heroes."

All the guardians lowered their heads, in honour of their fallen comrades. D'Ken presided over the ritual, with his Mourning cloak on.

Gladiator felt tired...tired of flying, tired of living...of everything. Life has no meaning to him, not anymore. He had travelled for days. He has travelled for so long, that space has just become a blurred line of nothingness to him.

Now, had remained adrift in space for the longest time, letting the will of the cosmos carry him to his next destination.

The he felt a familiar alteration in space. He turned and saw a planet nearby. There was a teleportal opening. The planet is Zen La. The mother planet of the devil incarnate; the Silver Surfer. A planet forgotten, damned by all the races of the Universe.

And now it was being invaded by the Dire Wraiths.

The people of Zen La barely had the technology to survive their home-world. They could never survive the Dire Wraiths. Gladiator knew what had to be done. He flew down onto the world. They needed him.

THE END