Vex Chapter 49: The Aftermath

“We really ought to bring Phastos up to speed on what we’re doing here. He would have enjoyed working with all of this.” Gilgamesh commented as he dragged a heavy piece of Kree armour plating through the ground towards the pile gathered nearby.

“I don’t think that’s an option now. It’ll compromise the security of this place.” said Thena while hauling off a half-destroyed engine of a Kree fighter craft.

Once dumping the engine, she looked around the deep green forest that surrounded her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

It was relaxing to be on Aetheria, surrounded by untouched nature, and the fact that her condition no longer acted up was also a relief.

“If we’re talking about the security of this place, we might’ve to think about something more permanent. The Kree might be tempted to try their luck once more.” said Gilgamesh, wiping away the grime and dust on his hands.

“Are you suggesting we take the fight to the Kree?” Thena asked with a raised eyebrow as she leaned against a tree.

“I don’t see any other way going forward. The Kree have to suffer a crippling defeat to stop their unrestrained expansion,” said Gilgamesh.

“I don’t disagree, but a crippling defeat means taking out their fleet and possibly threatening their home planet with invasion. That kind of scenario demands a huge fleet, a bottomless resource pool and years of unrelentless war.” Thena said with a displeased look.

“None of which we have at our disposal.” Gilgamesh said with a sigh.

“Not unless you think we should take our ship and invite ourselves to Halla for some heart-to-heart talk.” Druig said sarcastically with a snort as he came behind his friends with folded hands behind his back.

“It’s not a bad idea. We could tag along with Cerion, and between the five of us, we could cripple the entire Kree fleet.” Gilgamesh said, giving some thought to the idea in his head.

“Are you nuts? We’ll be hunted across the stars for thousands of years by the Kree.” Druid said, scoffing at the idea.

“And word will spread faster about what we did. The Celestials might learn of us going rogue far sooner than otherwise might happen.” Makkari said, appearing beside Druig with super speed while carrying the wing of a Kree fighter craft and hauling it into the pile.

Her speech was no longer impeded by Arishem’s design as Cerion had helped her rejig the neural scheme imprinted on her body.

“They will learn at some point.” Gilgamesh said, his brows knitting together into a frown. “Arishem might’ve turned a blind eye to Earth for now, but he will at some point cast his gaze on the planet, and we’ll be judged.”

“So, better to lie low and keep a low profile until we gather strength and allies that can stand up to the might of the Celestials.” Makkari suggested.

“Are there beings capable of standing toe to toe with the Celestials?” Gilgamesh asked, and that brought reality crashing down on their shoulders.

Though they enjoyed the freedom from their Celestial creator, they were aware it would probably be a short-lived freedom. Despite their immense strength, they were nowhere near the level of a Celestial’s power. The Celestials wielded power that reshapes the universe on a cosmic scale, spawning stars, planets and even galaxies by their will.

After all, they were beings older than the universe itself!

“He can.” Thena said, her eyes fixed on the floating figure in the sky above.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like Cerion, and I think he is stronger when he really wishes to go all out. He could probably defeat us all if he fights seriously, but he is nowhere near the strength of a Celestial, much less Arishem, the oldest and most powerful of his kind.” Druig said, his words rooted in the reality of their situation.

“Maybe not now, but I got the feeling he’ll grow more powerful in the days ahead.” Thena said with confidence.

******

The sky above Aetheria still carried the bruised scars of battle. Wisps of smoke rose from the charred earth where Kree artillery had detonated, mingling with the lustrous light of the sanctuary planet’s twin moons. Fragments of broken Kree warships glimmered like falling stars in the upper atmosphere, reminders of the fury that had swept across the heavens only hours before.

But Aetherium still stood. The Kyrlorian refugees, trembling and bruised yet unbroken, gathered among the remnants of their shattered homes, clinging to one another with a desperate gratitude that their sanctuary had not been razed. There were some casualties from stray fire, but they were only a handful in number. Most of their newly built homes remained protected, and only those preferring to live outside the shield generators’ boundary suffered any mortal injury.

At the edge of a ridge overlooking the budding city, Cerion stood tall, his armour blackened in some places, his chest rising and falling with slow breaths. Though Kryptonian strength had carried him through the fiercest moments of the battle—tearing through Accuser war machines and driving back the Kree warships—his eyes were shadowed with concern. His gaze lingered not on the ruins, but on the people below who now depended on him, on them all, for protection.

Thena walked to his side, her golden spear fading into nothing as she dismissed the celestial energy. She looked regal, her expression carrying the calm of one who had faced millennia of conflict.

“They will be fine,” she said softly, though her tone carried an edge. “But it will mean nothing if we cannot keep them safe from the next strike.”

Gilgamesh approached, brushing dust from his broad shoulders. He glanced at the survivors below, then at the scorched battlefield where the debris from the Kree fighters slammed into the ground in the aftermath of the battle.

“The Kree will return. That was no mere raid—they wanted to make a point. Sanctuary worlds like Aetheria are a threat to their empire. And the Kree do not forgive defiance.”

“The Kree will not stop sending their fleet to Aetheria.” Thena said, looking at Cerion for a response.

“I know.” Cerion said, letting out a breath he was holding. “Aetheria is more than stone walls, mountains and energy shields. It is hope. If we let the Kree snuff it out, then every refugee, every exile, every soul looking for shelter will know that hope is a lie. I will not allow that.”

For a moment, silence hung among them, filled only by the crackle of distant fires and the murmurs of the displaced. Then Gilgamesh folded his arms and gave a small nod.

“Then we must prepare. Not just for another defence, but for war, a long war.”

“War against the Kree Empire is not sustainable in the long run. That is not a battle we can win alone.” Cerion said with certainty.

While he was confident he could trounce the Kree fleet given enough time and preparation, he wasn’t omniscient. It would be laughably easy for the Kree Empire to send a secret fleet to destroy Aetheria while another took up his attention.

So long as Aetheria was unable to protect its star system with a fleet of ships, the

Thena chuckled humorlessly.

“You are right. We are strong—strong enough to break an army, perhaps—but we are not an empire. To protect Aetheria against what is coming, we need something more.”

“What we need are allies strong enough to match the might of the Kree empire.”

Thena tilted her head, her golden eyes narrowing in thought.

“Allies?” Thena asked curiously.

“I mean to seek out the Nova Empire and enlist their aid or even form an alliance against the Kree Empire.” Cerion explained further.

“That seems to be the wisest course of action.” Thena said with a reluctant nod.

She was afraid something like this would be the end result of establishing Aetheria. She was already exhausted from the thousands of years of war and bloodshed she had been forced to endure in service to Arishem. Now, there was more war before her path, even though she was free from the grip of the Celestials.

“But I don’t intend just to seek aid from the Nova Empire. There is still Asgard.” Cerion reminded them.

“And what would Odin care for a sanctuary world on the fringes of the cosmos? Odin protects Asgard and the Nine Realms. This place is beyond his borders.” Thena pointed out.

“Didn’t Odin’s envoy make it clear they have no interest in a war with the Kree?” Gilgamesh also reminded them with his lips curling in dissatisfaction, plain for all to see.

“I’m not asking for Odin’s help against the Kree. I mean to ask for Asgard’s support to sway the Nova Empire into aligning with us. As an unknown entity, we lack authenticity. With Asgard vouching for us, the Nova Empire will take us more seriously.” Cerion explained his plan.

“But how will you petition Asgard? It’s not as if we can reach out to them.” Thena pointed out the glaring flaw in the plan.

If they could not reach out to Asgard, then the entire plan would fail. There was still the chance Xandar would take them at their word and accept them as an ally in the fight against the Kree.

“That is no longer a problem.” Cerion said with a grin, taking Thena and Gilgamesh by surprise.

“How so?” Gilgamesh asked curiously.

“When the Asgardians sent Sif to our planet using their Bifrost, our deep space spectrometers were able to pick up the energy’s origin. When Asgard used the Bifrost again to recall Sif, we were able to pinpoint Asgard’s location. Though the distance is huge, I believe we can safely travel to Asgard in a week’s time using two jump drives working simultaneously.” Cerion shared the idea with the two Eternals.

He himself was only informed of the completed tracking done by Optima, his trusted AI, long after the battle. The idea of using two jump drives simultaneously was also Optima’s suggestion, as it required delicate calculations.

There were risks, of course, but their shipyard had already finished fabricating a ship entirely built using Vibranium. According to Optima, the metal was capable of withstanding the strain due to its inherent energy-reallocation properties.   

The only disadvantage of using the ship was that it lacked firepower against any warship fielded by the Kree or any major space power prowling in the universe. All of its power would be diverted to the safe functioning of the twin jump drives and shield, leaving little power for weaponry.

The next couple of days were spent in the shipyard assimilating a second jump drive into the newly built cruiser and making some changes to the interface. At the same time, the Star Killer and the Dauntless were moored in the shipyard, going for some refits after the battle with the Kree fleet.

The sentinel bots were tasked with maintaining the mining operations to extract as much Gravitonium as possible, due to their forecasted increased energy requirements. They planned to expand their space fleet capacity to five dreadnoughts and ten cruisers. With two dreadnought-class ships already in service, three more had to be built, which was bound to be a herculean task. There was only one cruiser available, and that was being refitted with two jump drives.

While proper modifications were being done to the newly built cruiser for the journey to Asgard, Cerion was not idle.

He made a trip back to Earth using the space bridge to manage his affairs on the planet. He was not alone on the trip. Makkari tagged along with him, saying something about collecting some valuables she stashed away in the middle of some desert.

The moment he and Makkari stepped through the space bridge in California, the Eternal sped away before giving him a friendly wave.

Cerion was happy Makkari was not hanging around, as he had several loose ends to tie up. Namely, his public persona on Earth was no longer useful. It was too exhausting to keep up the whole act as the CEO of Vex Corp. Aetheria required his full attention now, and the risk of triggering another bout with Mephisto was simply too high.

This was why he even forced Jane to stay in Aetheria full-time. The chances of Mephisto targeting her were simply too high while she lived on Earth.

He disliked the part of running away, but sometimes victory could only be achieved by denying a battle to an enemy. After all, it’d be a strategic blunder to seek battle with a superior enemy. Never mind the fact that he had no idea where Mephisto hung his coat. The demon was hiding in some fancy dimension, which involved magic. Since he generally tried to keep a distance from all magical stuff and had no intention of being indebted to the Ancient One and her sorcerers any more than he already was, he chose to avoid Mephisto.

This left him with the task of handing off the future of Vex Corp to more capable hands and having a meeting with Fury before his departure.

The board meeting of Vex Corp, as expected, was not without its challenges. The moment he announced his retirement from all active positions at the company, the board was in an uproar. However, he stormed through it by holding firm and asking the board to select a new CEO within three months.

As for the reason for his retirement, he cited the plane crash and his need to engage more productively with developing new technologies, which was his passion. He pointed to YouStream’s success despite gaining new leadership.

Ultimately, the board had no choice but to agree to seek a new CEO.  

Those three months were all that was necessary for Cerion to pass on the company's charge to someone worthy. However, this information was tightly controlled within the board to prevent panic in the market. It was decided to announce the change in leadership publicly only when the board had found a suitable candidate to fill the post. So, until then, Cerion remained the face of the company.

But he planned to tell one other person about his retirement, and that was how he found himself in a SHIELD warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

“You know, when I said I wanted to talk, I expected to do this in some restaurant, not in this dusty place.” Cerion said, looking around the vacant warehouse sans for three chairs and a table.

“I’m not exactly keen on having civilians involved in whatever this is,” Fury said, waving his hand on the thick folder that was in Cerion’s hand.

“You called this meeting, Cerion. So, lay it on us.” Captain Rogers said with a sigh, dropping down on the third chair and looking expectantly at him.

“These are the details of all HYDRA’s shell companies and overseas holdings scattered across Europe and Asia, which I suspect are involved in analogous economic activity and even have genuine business cover. I’d say they were running a chain of these businesses for upliftment of poverty-stricken third-world countries, but then again, no one here was born yesterday.” Cerion said, looking at the two men before him with a knowing look.

“You already gave me something similar.” Fury said with his classic one-eyed frown.

“This one is a different list. Some of it will include off-the-books CIA overseas assets, but they’re working for HYDRA all the same.”

“That is pretty generous of you.” Captain Rogers said with a serious look.

“Well, I‘ve noticed Alexander Pierce and some of his buddies have been quietly removed.” Cerion said, shooting a smile at Fury. “Good move.”

“We elected to go with the top-down strategy. Besides, I dislike getting duped.” Fury growled.

“I guess you know how to deal with HYDRA the best.” Cerion nodded. “I called this meeting for something other than HYDRA. I’m moving out.”

“Moving to a different city?” Captain Rogers asked curiously.

“No, moving to a different planet.”

“What?” Fury looked alarmed as he sat up straight.

“A new planet?” Captain Rogers spoke slowly as if he couldn’t believe he was using those words. “In outer space?”

“Yes, indeed. After much searching in the cosmos, I’ve found a planet fitting for my needs. I’ll be moving in permanently to this new home.”

Fury looked like someone had killed his cat, and he swallowed a lemon at the same time. Captain Rogers was still in shock about an alien habitable planet for some reason.

“I thought you needed your ship repaired or something to travel in space?” Captain Rogers asked confusedly, looking lost and far out of his depth, so he looked for support from Fury, who remained silent.

“There is good news on that front. I’ve successfully rebuilt my ship. The debris of the Kree ships that attacked Earth proved to be a goldmine for spare parts.” Cerion said with a bubbly smile, in contrast to the growing horror on Fury's face.

“But how did you do that?” Fury asked, his one good eye narrowed.

“Oh, I’m just resourceful.” Cerion said with a dismissive wave, but they both knew it was bollocks.

Cerion could hear the erratic heartbeat of Director Fury in his ears. He had the man spooked. It was a shadow game he played, a long one that required much patience. But he managed to pull off one of the most successful cons on SHIELD.

While Fury was chasing the bread crumbs Cerion left intentionally, he quietly had built up a massive supply chain from Earth right under Fury’s nose. HYDRA served as the perfect bogeyman, and the Kree Empire playing the villain was the added bonus, which catapulted his work to completion far earlier than he expected. The acquisition of the Kree city from the Puerto Rico coast also served as a valuable aid in his overall plan.

The treaty he imposed on Wakanda was the icing on the cake, and Aetheria would soon enjoy the dividends of that treaty. Gaining refined Vibranium from Wakanda had already pushed Aetheria into the path of a major power in space capable of wiping the floor with the Kree fleet.

With more space mining planned in the Orion belt for Vibranium deposits, Cerion intended to amass enough of the metal for the bright future of Aetheria. The Wakandans had been sitting on one of the most powerful elements in the universe, which brought them a thousand years of isolation—a stupid achievement, in his opinion. Cerion planned much more than that with the Vibranium in his possession.

“But fear not, Director Fury. You can count me in as an ally of Earth. Should you ever need help, don’t hesitate to contact me.” Cerion said with a wink.

Cerion pushed forward a little pager with the symbol of House Vex glowing on the front. He knew Fury would connect the dots between this move and another similar incident. Now, Fury knew he knew about Carol Denvers, a.k.a Captain Marvel.

Now, to twist the knife further.

“Also, a last piece of advice. I wouldn’t entangle too much with the Skrulls if I were you. They’ve had a long and brutal history and a dark reputation in the cosmos.”

As expected, Fury looked like someone had sucked his soul out of his body. After all, Cerion had delivered three consecutive shocks to Fury’s mind.

To be fair, the warnings about Skrulls were genuine. He had noticed the Skrull agents who had infiltrated Vex Corp and tracked them to SHIELD. The Kree archives he gained access to after the invasion of Aetheria had shed light on the Skrull origins. He had kept some of the data he collected secret because he still needed to verify it. If it were true, then Earth was in a greater danger than anyone thought.