Vex Chapter 48: Pax Aetheria

The vastness of space rippled with violent energy as the armada of the Kree Empire emerged from the depths of hyperspace. Ten warships, ranging from sleek, nimble fighters to massive dreadnoughts of Kree Accusers bristling with weaponry, spread across the farthest orbit of their lost mining planet at the edge of their empire. The Kree Supreme Intelligence had deemed this world a threat, for the Kyrlorian rebellion had chosen it as their staging ground, overthrowing the Kree governor and army of the planet with the help of an unknown hostile.

The setbacks the Kree Empire suffered over the course of their long war waged against the Nova Empire made it imperative that they never lose hold of a planet in their empire. A challenge to Kree supremacy could not be ignored at this crucial juncture because, if left unchecked, the rebellion could spread to other planets in the empire. So, an example had to be made.

“Commander Morax. The fleet is ready.”

Morax, the High Accuser of the sixth fleet, stood at the command bridge of his flagship. His cold eyes, devoid of a shred of mercy, observed the planet with thoughts of delivering Kree justice upon the slave population.

“Have Captain Korath deliver our ballistics on their populace. Let’s show them the consequences of defying the Kree. Collect the video feed of their destruction and beam it to the Empire’s public network. Let there be no doubt about Kree supremacy.” Morax said gruffly.

“As you wish, Commander.”

The young Kree lieutenant bowed before turning to the officers on the bridge to ensure the commands of their leader were followed through without fail.    

Within a minute, Captain Korath broke off from the armada, taking his Kree dreadnought into the cislunar space of C23. The Accuser warship started opening the hatches of ballistic torpedoes on the ship for bombardment.

Morax watched all of this happen with keen eyes, his battle-hardened eyes watching the projected readings of his ship’s sensors on the screen. Suddenly, alarms started flaring up as his ship’s sensors detected the presence of something hostile ahead of their trajectory.

“It’s a minefield!”

“It’s a trap!”

Morax didn’t move a muscle despite his subordinates panicking at the sensors picking up energy readings surrounding Captain Korath’s ship.

“Deploy countermeasures!” someone shouted.

Morax closed his eyes briefly before staring out of the glass panel into the dark space ahead. His keen senses allowed him to see even in the dark, facilitating the tracking of the ship in his fleet.

“It’s too late.” Morax muttered.

Not a moment later, the hidden mines surrounding the accuser ship lit up with a series of fierce explosions that tore apart the accuser. The screams of loyal Kree soldiers were heard through the open channel until the ship was gutted in space in its entirety, claiming the lives of hundreds of Kree soldiers.

“Commander, we’re picking up signatures of several active life pods. Shall we launch rescue ops?”

“No.” Morax shook his head.

He stared at the minefield ahead that remained dark to his fleet’s sensors. There was no telling how far the minefield extended. With the fleet triggering the trap, the element of surprise was now lost. His plan to greet the rebelling Kyrlorians with overwhelming aerial power was now in tatters. The fact that the Kyrlorians managed to set a minefield in the cislunar space implied they had assets in space, or this mysterious ally of theirs was a space power. Such unknown variables were in his mind as he assessed the situation at hand.

“Deploy countermeasures to clear the minefield.” Morax commanded, dismissing the possible survivors stranded in the minefield.

He was here to win a war, not try his luck at winning a single battle. He could not gamble the safety of the entire fleet by wasting valuable time trying to save a handful of lives.

“We shall honour our fellow Kree soldiers and their sacrifice for the Empire. Now, focus on the enemy before us.” Morax ordered to wipe away any hesitation from his troops.

“Yes, Commander.” His subordinates bowed their heads before immediately starting to work on deploying countermeasures to sweep the mines.

From the belly of the Kree warships, hundreds of metallic spheres shot forth, descending towards the minefield. These devices, forged through millennia of Kree warfare, emitted a dampening field designed to suppress energy signatures. As the spheres positioned themselves in space, a shimmering energy field rippled across the cislunar space, disrupting the power cores of the mines. That brief disruption caused fluctuations within the minefield and pre-emptively activated them. The mines started to blow up one after the other in space, leaving a trail of explosions before the Kree fleet.

Morax watched the fireworks light up the space with a frown. His ship's sensors immediately pinged in on the intricate network of mines laid ahead, tracing a chart of the entire grid.  

“Such meticulous positioning of mines can only be achieved by a ship on par with our Accuser class ships.” Morax muttered to himself as the grid traced by the sensors only widened with every second.

“Activate all defensive protocols and have the fighters stand by. We’re facing a resourceful space power with advanced knowledge of our arrival.” Morax suddenly ordered.  

His ship’s sensors suddenly started blaring with alarms, sensing a threat of some kind. But before he could act, Morax watched with wide eyes as one of the Accusers in his fleet was struck by a plasma bolt. An explosion lit up the space, and Morax picked up the panicked chatter from the ship struck by the plasma bolt.

“Commander, Captain Monkro’s ship has been hit. The crew reports that they have lost their shield generators, and their engine is severely damaged. They’re losing power quickly with life support systems running on backup generators.”

Morax didn’t so much as blink while his subordinate extolled the damage suffered by the ship.

“Order Captain Monkro to release all his fighters and engage the Kyrlorian settlements. I don’t care if they slam their fighters into the settlements to kill these rebels, but I want them destroyed.” Morax ordered, his eyes glaring in anger at the partially destroyed ship floating in space, “And someone track the trajectory of the plasma bolt and bombard the position with our ballistics. Also, order all vessels to engage shields.”

“Right away, commander.”

Morax relaxed slightly when his orders were carried out, and the fighters poured out of the damaged ship. As the process continued, another bolt of plasma struck the ship, causing it to break apart violently. This was followed by an explosion that showered the space with the ship’s debris.

“Commander, we found the weapon. It’s coming from one of the moons. We have the target location on our sensors.”

“Destroy it now and search for any more long-range weapons on the moons.” Morax ordered promptly.

More plasma cannons started firing fresh salvos in a continuous stream. He supposed the enemy scanners had picked up the Kree ballistics, taking aim at their positions. For a moment, he wondered whether Xandarians were responsible for arming the Kyrlorian slaves with such advanced weapon systems.

“Take evasive manoeuvres.” Morax ordered, seeing a ten per cent drop in his ship’s shields.

The Kree corvettes managed to weave around a continuous stream of plasma bolts, but the Accuser-class ships took some beating. Their shields kept the ships from the worst of the damage. The corvettes expertly managed to gain some distance towards the moon and started showering the moon’s surface with devastating ion bursts.

While the corvettes engaged the moon’s defences, Morax directed the remaining three Accusers towards the planet.

“Commander, we’re receiving hails from Captain Monkro’s fighters

“Launch our fighters. I want the rebels to feel Kree justice.” Morax said with his hands folded behind his back.

Hundreds of fighters streaked out of the Accuser-class ships and went straight for the planet, armed with enough firepower to glass the lands.

“Sir, there are planetary defence systems engaging our troops!”

Morax frowned as a barrage of plasma bolts and ion beams started blowing out his fighters, trying to invade the planet.

“Charge our primary ion cannon and fire on my command.” Morax ordered.

The low hum of the main ion battery coming online filled the ship’s command bridge. The repeated barrage from ground assets of the planet managed to keep the Kree fighters at bay temporarily. But not for long.

“Fire!” Morax shouted after the cannon was energised.

The ion cannon spat out a beam of immense energy straight into the general area where the planet's orbital defences were concentrated. Morax watched the live feed from his ship as the beam of pure energy lanced through space and impacted the planet’s surface with a blinding light. Morax waited as the video feed became blinded by the light, but he maintained his sight most eagerly to see what transpired on the ground.

When the light eventually dimmed down, Morax frowned in displeasure to see the settlement remain intact, with an energy shield protecting it.

“Ready our ballistics for launch.” Morax ordered, seeing the advanced defence mechanisms on the planet.

His ship’s sensors suddenly blared in warning, and the video feed shifted to two large ships decloaking from behind the planet. A rain of plasma fire fell upon his fleet as the two enemy ships engaged his Accuser-class ships and the Kree corvettes at the same time.

“The audacity of this new enemy is preposterous. Destroy those ships!” Morax thundered.

Despite his confidence in the Kree fleet’s supremacy, Morax was forced to acknowledge that the enemy warships were not so easy to defeat. Morax was already down to a handful of fighters as the space battle progressed for an hour, and only two corvettes were now operational. Even the Accuser class ships under his command were taking a heavy beating, and most of his ships rapidly lost their shield integrity. Seeing the plan to overwhelm his enemy with firepower go up in flames, Morax was consumed by anger and disappointment. Despite the numerical advantage and the Kree fleet’s might under his command, he struggled to inflict any significant damage on the enemy ships and the planet. The battle raged on for hours more, and still, Morax couldn’t bring down one enemy ship despite concentrating his ship’s firepower on one ship.

Suddenly, twin beams of energy sliced through an Accuser-class ship, its shield dispelling away under the assault.

“What was that weapon?” Morax asked, seeing the effectiveness of the weapon in breaching an Accuser-class ship’s shield.

“It’s not a weapon. It’s a man!” his subordinate said with incredulity.

Morax blinked in disbelief, seeing the video feed of a man flying at his speed and attacking the Kree fleet with impunity.

‘Is this the same being Ronan encountered in C53?’ Morax wondered, recalling the after-action report filed by the Accusers on that region of space. ‘If so, I need to rethink my strategy.’

******

The ominous hum of plasma cannons boomed in his ears as Cerion punched through a Kree fighter. Another Kree fighter tried to position itself behind him and started raining plasma bolts in his direction.

Cerion expertly weaved through the plasma bolts, leading the enemy fire towards other Kree fighters. Two fighters blew up as he weaved in between, falling prey to their comrade's aim. Cerion turned his head to look at the twin fighters following him and blasted them with two short streams of laser. The Kree fighters blew up in space as their engines were torn into two pieces. Their pilots were dead in an instant, incapable of surviving the vacuum of space.

Some stray plasma bolts strayed too close to his body, causing Cerion to resume his speedy flight. The advantage of being small gave him the ability to manoeuvre swiftly, denying the Kree pilots the ability to lock on with their targeting systems.

Just then, a Corvette fired an ion beam at him, but it was off its mark, which made the beam harmlessly pass above his head. Cerion was about to blast the Corvette with some laser, but Gilgamesh smacked it into two pieces with a single hand and zoomed past him.

“Nice one!” Cerion yelled before blasting away towards an Accuser ship, wobbling slightly after taking some concentrated fire from Star Killer.

Cerion punched through the weakened shield of the Kree ship before smashing into the hardened armour of the ship. He identified the weakened portion of the ship with his X-ray vision and immediately flew toward that area. He unleashed a concentrated laser to cut into the armoured shell of the ship before throwing a punch with full force that shook the ship from one end to the other.

“Need some help?” Thena asked as she flew past him, forming a spear out of her energy before slamming it into the ship’s outer shell.

The metal stood no chance before Thena’s sharp energy manipulation. The spear carved a long incision along the ship’s hull, which made it easy for Cerion to destroy the ship. Energy poured into his eyes, and twin white beams of concentrated energy poured into the deep cut made by Thena. He could hear the Kree soldiers scream in fear as his heat vision sliced through their ship, cutting through its engine and controls. His laser beams cut cleanly through the ship from the other end, and the air started seeping away.

Cerion pulled back slightly before slamming fast and hard into the ship once more. The Kree Accuser ship cracked open like an egg, his impact sending shockwaves across the ship. The Kree soldiers inside found themselves in the cold embrace of space, thinning the atmosphere inside the ship.

Fighters broke off from the Kree fleet, swarming him like angry hornets. They opened fire in a relentless barrage, their energy bolts streaking through space. He caught one of the fighters mid-flight, flipping over it and slamming his fist through its cockpit. The ship spiralled out of control, careening into another before both exploded in a violent burst of blue fire. The remaining fighters were quickly engaged in battle by the Eternals, who expertly destroyed the Kree fighters one by one.

“Lord Vex, the Dauntless is rapidly losing its shield integrity,” his comms blared, giving him the warning.

“Leave that to me.” Cerion said, his eyes zeroing in on the Kree ship engaging the Dauntless.

Gathering himself for a moment, Cerion blasted towards the Kree ship with blinding speed. He covered himself in the Lightforce, turning himself into a lance of pure energy, before piercing through the energy shield and striking through the Kree ship’s hull. Cerion managed to punch through the different layers of the ship until he reached its power core. A concentrated beam of laser saw to it that he cut off all relays from the core, cutting off the power of the ship.

Without the core powering the ship, its weapons died on the spot, leaving it a sitting duck in space.

“Dauntless, I have disabled the Accuser ship. Prepare a landing crew and sweep the ship for Kree. I want this ship taken intact.” Cerion ordered through the comms.

When he received an affirmative, Cerion flew back and set his eyes on the remaining Kree ships. Unsurprisingly, the Kree were on the back foot, with the battle-hardened Eternals easily smashing through their fleet.

Cerion raised an eyebrow when a Kree Accuser activated its jump drive and retreated into the folds of space. This was followed by other intact Kree ships following the Accuser, and they left behind a vast debris field around Aetheria.

“It looks like we won.” Cerion said with a sigh of relief.

The crew of Dauntless and Star Killer were immediately on their feet, celebrating the victory vigorously and loudly.

“It seems our preparations were enough to thwart the Kree fleet, Lord Vex.” Optima chimed in.

“For now.” Cerion said, knowing the Kree won’t back down from a challenge, especially since they lost a planet under their command.

He knew there was no space for hesitation now that he had openly challenged the Kree Empire. The only way forward was to purge all Kree presence from the nearby planets and establish Aetherian military expansion into Kree space.

“Sweep our defence grid for damages and prepare a detailed report. We cannot rest on our laurels after bloodying the enemy’s nose.” Cerion ordered his trusted AI.

“Of course, Lord Vex.” said Optima. “May I suggest something, sir?”

“Go on.”

“You should give a victory speech, sir.”

“A victory speech?” Cerion raised a brow, amusedly.

“Yes, sir. Earth’s movies certainly imply that humans enjoy a victory speech.”

Cerion chuckled lightly, but he saw some merit in Optima’s suggestion. So, he decided to spread the word by taking over all channels.

“Hear me, Aetherians. We have won a great victory today, but don’t mistake a battle for the war. Our war with the Kree does not end here. It’s just beginning. By liberating one planet, we have saved thousands from grim fates. More planets are out there with good people slaving under the Kree Empire in worse conditions. We’ll bring the light of freedom and liberation to them all and save the galaxy from the darkness that is the Kree Empire.”

“Pax Aetheria!”