"[Playback of unit feed active. Magnifying video to target. Target identification confirmed. Human male. Xandarian Nova Centurion.]" A robotic voice said. Several cybernetic organisms filled a small room. Some of them sat in a square, facing the walls of the room and monitoring computers through which they controlled and coordinated the Kree Sentries. A few more were situated in the middle of the room around a circular table of sorts that had an interface system through which they controlled the technology of the city itself.
"[Query: They were reported extinct, were they not?]" A second one asked.
"[Available evidence suggests target is last remaining Nova. Target helped lead resistance against subject: Annihilus. Threat must be immediately neutralized.]"
"Agreed. I will personally deal with him." A heavy and deep, though slightly distorted so that it was somewhat robotic, said. The individual said voice belonged to entered the room a moment later and revealed himself to be none other than Ronan the Accuser.
"[Jamal. Jamal. Jamal!]" Jamal's eyes shot open and he quickly sat up, causing him to feel intense pain, well, everywhere. He grimaced as he looked around the room. He wasn't exactly familiar with alien medical technology, but he could quite easily gather that he was in some sort of medical facility. Strangely though, there was no indication that he was actually operated upon. He was still in uniform, even his helmet remaining on his head.
Suddenly a Kree woman entered the room. She turned around and called out of the door "He's awake!" She rushed over to him and began scanning him with a device that sort of resembled an iPad, but he assumed was some sort of X-Ray machine. "Incredible! I didn't even operate on you and yet your bones, muscles, organs, everything has repaired itself substantially in such a short time."
"W...Where am I?" Jamal asked as he began to stand up.
"Woah, I wouldn't recommend that. You're still not fully healed. I'm Mala-Kull." A group of people then entered the room organized in a formation that made Jamal assume they were probably military. Mala-Kull pointed at the man in the center leading the group. "This is General Dan-Lar."
"And you," Dan-Lar said, "are on Aladon Prime in the Kree fringe system."
"How did I get here?" Jamal asked, trying to recollect what happened after he hit the energy barrier surrounding the Kree Empire.
"If you are asking how you got on this planet, you crashed here. To be honest, we thought you were dead. You looked like a corpse that simply got caught in the planet's gravity. Doctor Mala-Kull attempted to operate on you, but you were encased in a protective shield that prevented it. You also appeared to be rapidly healing yourself."
"[You're welcome.]"
"Shut up." Jamal said.
"Excuse me?" Dan-Lar said, frowning slightly.
"Not you. Sorry, just... continue."
"Well, we simply decided to let you go through this healing process of yours and not interfere. It seems everything turned out for the better. How soon can you get back into the field? We could definitely use assistance from a Nova to combat the threat."
"What exactly is this thr-" Jamal began before being cut off by Worldmind.
"[I have already determined the identity of the enemy. I studied the data obtained from the Kree Sentries and the viral program that was attempting to invade us. I identified the presence of a transmode technophage. The Kree are under attack by the Phalanx.]"
"The hell is the 'Phalanx'"? Jamal asked.
"Um, I haven't told you that the Phalanx is the enemy yet." Dan-Lar said, obviously confused.
"Not you. Worldmind, keep going."
"[The Phalanx are a cybernetic species -- an aggressive techo-organic life form. They care the 'transmode virus,' a technophagic viral strain that is capable of infecting anything mechanical or organic. They not only infect hosts or entire worlds, but transform them, and make them a part of the Phalanx. They then feed off of anything from which they can draw power and nutrition until all resources are exhausted. However, the most worrying part is that they appear to have received an upgrade.]"
"Holy shit, that's scary. So then, what do we do n-"
Suddenly the wall behind Jamal exploded. Thankfully, he managed to set up a shield around the doctor and the General and his men. "That is a simple question to answer. Now, you join the Phalanx." Ronan said as he entered the facility through the large hole in the wall.
"No... Ronan. Don't tell me they got you too." Ronan charged forward and brought his hammer down on Jamal. Jamal barely managed to dodge it by rolling to the side.
"[Jamal, it is critical that you pay attention at this moment. You are at a severe disadvantage. Not only are you not fully healed, but your power is reduced because I am being forced to use a significant portion to hold back the virus. You were infected when you first came across the Kree Sentries, though I held it back successfully. However I had to reduce the defense in order to save your life and heal you. You are operating at less than 40% capabilities. You cannot win.]"
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Worldmind." Jamal said, sidestepping another strike and punching Ronan square in the face. Ronan was sent stumbling backwards, however he recovered quickly and simply scowled. Jamal didn't give him the chance to continue attacking again and instead charged him. Jamal grabbed Ronan and flew through the hole in the wall.
"Trying to take the fight away from the fodder, huh?" Ronan said and punched Jamal in the side of the head. Jamal lost his grip and the two plummeted to the ground at a sharp angle and tore up the ground for a good mile or so. "A foolish decision." Ronan stated as he walked towards Jamal.
"What do you mean?" Jamal asked, as he stood up."I'd say it worked out perfectly."
"Are you sure?" Ronan held out his hand. In it was a metallic disk. A hologram emerged above the disk showing Dan-Lar and his men engaged in combat with other Kree soldiers, presumably under the control of the Phalanx, and losing.
"No!" Jamal shouted as Dan-Lar was gunned down. "Damn it, Ronan!" He charged towards Ronan, however he flew right past Ronan and to the building that housed the medical facility he was in. He crashed through the ceiling and began taking out the infected Kree soldiers in a fit of rage, knowing that Ronan was on his way.
"[Jamal, stop. You must flee.]"
"But-" Jamal began, as he flew through the building, taking out soldiers left and right.
"[Don't you understand? This fight is now pointless. The rest are dead, and fighting for the sake of revenge is foolish. We must find a way to escape the Kree system. Do not throw away your life for something so petty and make their sacrifices in vain.]"
Jamal scowled as he realized Worldmind was right. He was about to flee, but he saw a group of the solders running down a hallway to the East. He didn't know why, but he ended up followed them, despite knowing that Ronan would soon be there. He followed them into a room and barged in, taking them by surprise. He easily dispatched of them before they could react. Then he saw it, and was left speechless. In front of him was a giant, well, cocoon about 7 feet tall. "Worldmind, any idea what this is?"
"[No. It is giving off faint energies. Ones that are cosmic in nature.]"
Jamal approached it and placed a hand on it. "They were actively going to this room. They knew this was here and most likely what it is. And if they want it, that means we can't let them have it." Jamal encased the cocoon in a gravity field and flew through the ceiling,heading towards the barrier surrounding the galaxy with the cocoon trailing behind him.. He stopped at the barrier and watched as a bunch of data and information was being processed on his visor.
"[This is indeed troubling. We might as well be on a different plane of existence separate from the rest of the universe. It will be difficult to escape. But not impossible. I have a plan.]"
"Just in time, too." Jamal said. A dozen or so Kree ships became visible in the distance.
"[Jamal, we must head to these coordinates. Computing course and stargate exit match.]" Jamal flew into the stargate in front of him and a moment later found himself in front of a light blue ball of energy that resembled the sun.
"Is that...?"
"[Yes. It is a neutron star. A neutron stars is the remnants of a collapsed massive star. It is extremely compact and dense with an extremely high gravity. For all intents and purposes it is a gravimetric anomaly -- something you have the ability to manipulate to your needs.]"
Jamal's eyes widened as he realized the implications of what Worldmind was saying. "You... you want me to make a wormhole to the other side."
"[Correct. And quickly, they have caught up.]" Jamal turned and saw the ships gaining on him. He rocketed to the neutron star. "[Calibrating trajectory. Entering the star's gravity well. Accelerating...]"
"AGH! This is crazy! I can feel the gravity compressing me!" Jamal shouted.
"[Do not worry. The pain will only last but a moment.]" Sure enough, a second later he ejected from the wormhole, "[We have successfully escaped, Jamal. We are no longer in Kree space.]"
Jamal exhaled, just then realizing that he was holding his breath. "Alright, Worldmind, send out a message to all neighboring systems warning them of what's happened to the Kree. Time to get some reinforcements." He opened a stargate leading back to Earth and entered it, not noticing the slight stirring of the cocoon he was carrying with him.
