The Internal Affairs Minister's conclusion was t with widespread approval among the Skrull leadership.
From their perspective, Earth was an easy target.
Everything in the intelligence reports pointed to the sa conclusion.
Humans were weak.
Primitive.
Little more than vermin.
The dossiers contained extensive information on human biology and civilization.
Dietary habits.
Sleep cycles.
Physical capabilities.
The average adult human couldn't even lift eighty kilograms.
The fastest individual on the entire planet could barely run one hundred ters in a little over nine seconds.
Their civilization was fractured into countless competing nations.
Governnts fought one another.
Borders divided them.
Conflicts never truly ceased.
To the Skrulls, such a system seed barbaric and absurdly inefficient.
Even more incomprehensible was the way humans lived.
On Alpha Pri, the imperial capital, only around forty thousand Skrulls resided.
Sprawling cities stretched across the planet, yet vast regions remained untouched.
Personal space was abundant.
Resources were plentiful.
Comfort was considered normal.
When the entire Skrull Empire was counted together, including every colony world under imperial control, their total population still failed to reach seven billion.
At its historical peak, the Skrull population had only reached one hundred and eighty-five million.
That number represented the height of their civilization.
Humanity's uncontrolled reproduction appeared primitive to them.
Animalistic.
A proper Skrull citizen required imnse investnt and resources.
Population growth had to be carefully regulated.
Otherwise, imperial resources would beco strained.
To a Skrull, humans resembled wild livestock.
Untad creatures breeding without restraint.
Not unlike the way humans viewed free-range animals.
What none of them knew was that a critical piece of information had never reached them.
Drex Valen had intercepted part of the original transmission.
Then, with deliberate malice, he deleted several key portions before allowing the signal to continue on its way.
As far as the Skrulls were concerned, Earth remained exactly what their reports described.
A miserable backwater.
A resource-poor world with harsh living conditions.
The kind of planet most Skrulls wouldn't accept even if soone offered it to them for free.
Terraforming such a place would cost a fortune.
Compared to the luxurious lifestyles enjoyed by Skrull citizens, who lived on worlds populated by only a few thousand or tens of thousands of people, humanity seed almost pitiful.
Even Tony Stark, one of Earth's wealthiest n, probably enjoyed a lower standard of living than an average Skrull civilian.
But there was sothing the Skrulls didn't understand.
Had they studied more of Earth's literature, particularly so of the harsher lessons recorded throughout human history, they might have recognized a simple truth.
People with nothing fight the hardest.
A wealthy man might tolerate losing a small portion of his fortune.
A desperate man cannot.
When everything you own consists of a single scrap of land, a single ho, a single future, anyone attempting to take it away becos an enemy worth dying to stop.
Humanity's entire civilization rested on one small planet.
Their "pile of dirt," as the Skrulls viewed it.
And humans had spent thousands of years fighting over that pile of dirt.
Dying for it.
Killing for it.
Protecting it.
The Skrulls saw weakness.
What they failed to recognize was desperation.
And desperation had a way of producing monsters.
Unfortunately for them, nobody in the Imperial Council realized that.
The Internal Affairs Minister had successfully established the tone of the eting.
Earth was insignificant.
Crushing humanity would be no more difficult than stepping on an insect.
None of them understood how dangerous that assumption truly was.
The first sign of trouble arrived sooner than expected.
When the Skrulls contacted the Chitauri regarding the proposed operation against Earth, they expected enthusiasm.
Instead, they received a refusal.
A very firm refusal.
The Skrull negotiators were stunned.
The Chitauri were infamous throughout nearby space.
rcenaries.
Raiders.
Pirates.
They accepted almost any contract if the paynt was sufficient.
So why reject this one?
At first, the Chitauri representatives had displayed their usual confidence.
Na the target.
Na the objective.
Na the price.
Then the word Earth entered the conversation.
Everything changed.
Their attitude shifted imdiately.
A mont later, they declined the contract outright.
The Skrulls found the reaction deeply suspicious.
Sothing was wrong.
Was Earth actually more dangerous than their reports suggested?
The possibility couldn't be ignored.
The Chitauri weren't known for caution.
If even they refused to get involved...
Then perhaps there was sothing hidden beneath the surface.
The Skrulls decided to investigate further.
Before committing larger resources, they would deploy an intelligence team.
A small reconnaissance unit.
Its purpose would be simple.
Gather information.
Evaluate Earth's true strength.
And determine whether conquest would be easy... or impossible.
Earth.
Several uninvited guests had just arrived.
Dark energy flashed briefly across an isolated stretch of terrain.
Monts later, a group of humanoid figures materialized.
Most stumbled as they landed.
The creatures were green-skinned and broad-shouldered.
At first glance, they resembled goblins pulled straight from fantasy stories.
Though far larger.
Far stronger.
Sothing halfway between a goblin and an orc.
One particularly large individual raised a hand, signaling for silence.
The others imdiately obeyed.
He lowered his voice.
"We've successfully arrived on Earth."
His eyes swept across the unfamiliar landscape.
"Our priority is gathering intelligence."
"We need to determine the true strength of this civilization before deciding our next move."
He paused.
"Once we have enough information, we'll decide whether to withdraw..."
A cruel grin spread across his face.
"...or conquer the planet."
The creatures were Skrulls.
An advance reconnaissance unit.
The reason they had reached Earth so quickly was simple.
The Skrull Empire had spent enormous resources constructing a temporary Stargate.
A costly investnt.
But one they considered worthwhile.
At that very mont, Drex remained completely unaware of the team's arrival.
Unlike Superman, he did not keep his super-hearing active across the entire planet.
Doing so would have been maddening.
Instead, he was occupied elsewhere.
Specifically, inside Hell Prison.
He carried a thick stack of docunts under one arm.
Nick Fury sat across from him.
Drex tossed the files onto the table.
"These are the aliens you insisted could be trusted."
The papers slid across the tal surface.
"Less than ten hours after we began hunting them, they transmitted a distress signal."
His voice was calm.
Dangerously calm.
"The transmission included detailed intelligence on every known superhero S.W.O.R.D. has on record."
Nick's expression changed.
Drex continued.
"Combat reports."
"Psychological evaluations."
"Behavioral analyses."
"Personal profiles."
"Mission histories."
He tapped the file.
"Everything."
The prison guards remained outside.
There was no need for them to enter.
With Drex present, Hell Prison was arguably the most secure location on Earth.
No criminal alive was escaping from this facility.
Not today.
Not ever.
Nick Fury stared at the docunts.
The conflict in his eyes was impossible to miss.
He had never expected the Skrulls to keep secrets from him.
Never expected them to prepare contingency plans behind his back.
And the information they had gathered...
It was extensive.
Far more extensive than he had imagined.
Records of battles involving superheroes and monsters.
Detailed accounts of conflicts with the Saiyans.
The Chitauri invasion.
Operational analyses.
Even tistamps tracking the movents of specific heroes.
Most alarming of all were the psychological evaluations conducted by S.W.O.R.D.
The agency's confidential counseling sessions.
ntal health assessnts.
Personality profiles.
Weakness analyses.
If all of that had fallen into alien hands...
The consequences were unimaginable.
Drex leaned back in his chair.
Then he looked directly at Fury.
"So."
His voice cut through the silence.
"Do you finally understand how catastrophically stupid this was?"
...
Read up to 100 chapters ahead and access exclusive novels by joining my Patreon!
patreon/Zyxxar
User Comments
0 comments from readers