Developing a detection thod for Skrulls turned out to be surprisingly straightforward.
After all, Drex Valen had a corpse to work with.
When a complete specin was sitting on the examination table, uncovering its secrets beca much easier.
Even if Drex hadn't handled it personally, Tony Stark probably could have reverse-engineered the biology in short order.
Standing inside one of Umbrella's research facilities, Drex projected several streams of genetic data into the air.
"The Skrulls possess a unique gene sequence," he explained.
"A highly adaptive genetic structure with extraordinary compatibility."
The holographic model rotated slowly.
"In so ways, it's similar to the camouflage chanisms found in certain terrestrial species."
"A biological self-preservation trait."
He brought up a second genetic profile.
"I compared it against the Zerg mimicry gene."
The results appeared side by side.
"The two systems are completely different."
Tony studied the information with growing interest.
Drex sent the complete data package directly to him, including several isolated genetic samples.
Tony's eyes narrowed.
His adaptive armor was already absurdly powerful.
Against ninety-nine percent of superheroes and supervillains, it provided an overwhelming advantage.
If he successfully integrated Skrull replication genetics into future versions...
The possibilities were obvious.
And dangerous.
While Drex and Tony examined Skrull biology, S.W.O.R.D. had already begun hunting down hidden infiltrators across Earth.
Unfortunately, one Skrull managed to act before the net closed completely.
A distress signal was transmitted into deep space.
Amplified using the Sun itself as a relay point.
The ssage spread outward from the Solar System and continued toward the Androda Galaxy.
Normally, such a transmission might have passed unnoticed.
This one didn't.
The reason was simple.
The Milky Way belonged to the Nova Corps.
At least politically.
The Skrull Empire was powerful, but even they preferred avoiding unnecessary conflict with the Nova Corps whenever possible.
And the Nova Corps knew Skrull communications very well.
Long before the distress signal reached Emperor Skrull VII, a Nova Corps auxiliary patrol intercepted it.
The ssage was heavily encrypted, however.
By the ti they finished decoding it, the delay ant they learned its contents at almost the exact sa ti as the Skrull Emperor himself.
Androda Galaxy.
Imperial Capital.
Emperor Skrull VII finished reviewing the transmission.
His expression never changed.
A primitive civilization in the Milky Way was hunting Skrulls.
Even if those Skrulls were refugees.
Even if they no longer represented the Empire.
The insult was unacceptable.
"Summon my generals."
His voice was icy.
"We are preparing for war in the Milky Way."
No one questioned the order.
Within the Skrull Empire, the Emperor's word was law.
His authority rested not only on tradition, but on personal prestige and political power accumulated over decades of rule.
When Emperor Skrull VII issued a command, the entire empire moved.
Less than twelve Earth hours later, military leaders from across Androda had gathered.
The Skrull Empire's territory spanned much of the galaxy.
It possessed more than a thousand habitable colony worlds.
Hundreds of thousands of advanced resource planets.
And countless lesser worlds beyond that.
Now its highest-ranking commanders converged upon the imperial capital.
Alpha Pri.
The throne world of the Skrull Empire.
The planet was roughly one and a half tis larger than Earth and ho to nearly forty billion Skrulls.
Outside a handful of industrial worlds, it was one of the most densely populated planets in the empire.
Inside the Imperial Palace, Emperor Skrull VII convened a war council.
The subject was straightforward.
Could they launch a military operation into the Milky Way?
And if so...
How?
One of the first to speak was Yudar, Supre Commander of the Empire's Outer Defensive Ring.
"The target is a world called Earth."
He studied the strategic display.
"Located in the Milky Way's Orion Arm."
"Approximately 2.2 million light-years away."
Yudar frowned.
"Launching a major invasion into the Milky Way is a poor strategic decision."
"The Nova Corps headquarters is located within that galaxy."
"If we mobilize large fleets, they will notice."
His green Skrull features tightened.
"And the Nova Corps has an irritating habit of involving itself in everyone else's business."
Several commanders nodded.
The Nova Corps represented one of the largest obstacles to any operation aid at Earth.
Yudar continued.
"Because of their presence, we never established stable Stargates toward the Milky Way."
A different officer activated a navigational projection.
"If we rely on Titan-class battleships for conventional intergalactic jump travel, reaching Earth could take centuries."
The Emperor steepled his fingers.
"What about a vanguard force?"
"A hundred assault ships."
"What's the fastest possible arrival ti?"
Yudar considered the question.
"If we deploy light assault craft optimized purely for speed..."
"A flotilla of one hundred ships could reach Earth in approximately three years."
The estimate surprised no one.
Interstellar jump travel wasn't as simple as pointing a ship toward a destination and accelerating.
Every jump created distortions.
The larger the vessel, the greater the interference.
The more ships traveling simultaneously, the more complicated the calculations beca.
At short distances, the effect was negligible.
A jump between neighboring planets, for example, posed few difficulties.
Intergalactic distances were another matter entirely.
Tiny errors multiplied catastrophically.
A fleet could erge thousands of light-years off course.
It could beco stranded in unexplored regions of space.
In the worst cases, ships could materialize inside stars.
Or trigger stellar instability events capable of annihilating entire formations.
For that reason, large-scale fleet movents required enormous computational planning.
Modern warships handled most routine operations automatically.
But jump navigation remained one of the few areas where experienced commanders and technical officers were irreplaceable.
Every route had to be analyzed.
Every hazard accounted for.
The process resembled the Age of Sail.
Ancient navigators avoided hidden reefs beneath the ocean.
Spacefarers avoided invisible dangers lurking among the stars.
The universe was anything but empty.
Cosmic radiation storms could cripple fleets.
Gravitational tides powerful enough to shred entire star systems existed throughout the cosmos.
Earth happened to reside in an unusually calm region.
Only relatively stable areas could nurture life in the first place.
Elsewhere, reality was far less forgiving.
So sectors of space were flooded with radiation intense enough to kill unprotected life almost instantly.
Others contained gravitational currents capable of tearing apart systems many tis larger than Earth's.
Not even jump travel could safely cross such regions.
Attempting to do so amounted to gambling with an entire fleet.
And because of the Nova Corps' dominance, the Skrulls had never invested heavily in exploring routes through the Milky Way.
Their interest in the region remained limited.
As a result, navigational data was sparse.
Like explorers charting unknown oceans during the Age of Discovery, soone first had to venture into the darkness and map a path.
Only then could an invasion truly begin.
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