Year 3025 AD

The energetic crisis forced humanity to look at the stars for their future. Those nations that so willed looked behind their differences and united in the Human Space Program. In 2925, twenty great space ships of the Cradle Class left Earth, headed towards twenty different identified planets with conditions able to sustain human life.

One hundred years later, three of those ships have settled on planets devoid of intelligent life. Five now share their intended destination with alien cultures. Four have taken theirs with the strength of arms. Three others have become their own destinations, expanding into sprawling space stations. Of the other five, nothing is known, lost in the sprawling cosmos.

Among the second group of Cradles, the ship Mida has been turned into a space exploring vessel, tasked with mapping the galaxy and re-establish physical contact with the other ships. This is the story of one of its crew members...

Prologue

"Come on, Ben!" The two men quickened their pace, pushing their already weary bodies past what should have been their limits. With injuries like those, the uneven terrain and the time they had been going at full sprint for, they should have already collapsed.

But the inhuman screech coming from the darkness deep in the rocky tunnel managed to make them break those limits, at least long enough to reach the entrance again. "Come on... Richard... We have to-Have to tell..."

"No, Ben." Richard suddenly stopped at the mouth of the cave, much to the shock and horror of his older brother. "We cannot. This has to stay a secret." Another screech chilled Ben's spine and made the younger brother grimace. "What we found is... It's too dangerous. Our research was incomplete. We went in cock-sure, and... This is the result." Richard clenched his hands hard, in grim thought. The next screech woke him up again. His eyes were now determined and focused. "Everything that's happened here today must remain a secret. We found nothing. There was a cave in and the whole team died." His lips morphed in a sad smile. "Everyone but you, Ben."

"... Richard, what are you-!" Ben jerked at the sudden motion from his younger brother, but managed to catch the object thrown at him. His eyes widened as he realized what it was. "Richard, this-Oof!"

"Goodbye, Ben." Richard said as his older brother flew away from the strength of his kick, before planting the charge he had managed to grab from his wife's backpack. As it went live, the screech transformed into a roar as an amorphous shadow appeared on the far wall of the tunnel. "Please take care of Peter." The younger brother then turned around and started running in the direction they had just come from, straight at the monstrosity they had been running from.

"R-Richard, no!" Ben shouted while the light and beeping noise of the charge increased in intensity and volume. "RICH-"

-P-

"R-Ri-Rich... Ard...!"

"Ben, wake up!" Ben Parker gasped as he shot up to a sitting position in his bed, a layer of cold sweat covering his whole body, his breath ragged. A soft but firm hand was holding his left shoulder, keeping him steady. "You've had that same dream again."

"... I wish it was a dream, May."

"What?" The grey-haired woman said, confused.

"Nothing." Ben turned around with the excuse of reaching for his glasses and tie, to bind his long hair back in a pony-tail. The haze of sleep had almost made him forget. Forget about keeping his secret. The secret he had kept from his wife, from everyone. The secret that shamed Richard's memory. The secret that had saved them all.

"You always get like this when the anniversary of his death comes around." The short haired woman sighed, hugging her husband of thirty years around the waist. "Eighteen years and you still haven't come to peace with it."

"I'd have an easier time if half of the Mida didn't dishonor my little brother's memory." 'Stupid bastards. If they only knew.' Then, again, he couldn't fault them. Not with the report they had been given about that mission. The report he had given himself. "... What time is it? Did I wake you?"

"Yes, but the clock was set to wake us up about-"

"Good morning, Lab Head May Parker and Major Benjamin Parker." An electronic voice and a white light filled the room while the pristine white walls raised, revealing the expanse of space through transparent, glass-like material. "The time is 7:30 AM, Old Earth Time. Your personal schedules have been updated to your personal communicators. Have a nice and productive day."

"... Remind me again why the computer always calls your name first?" Ben asked, a trace of humor surfacing in his tone.

"Because as Lab-Head I out-rank you, my bespectacled Major." With a chuckle, May planted a sweet kiss on the man's left cheek. "Come on. Field operations are not going to plan themselves."

"Hmm, you sure we can't be late, say... Twenty minutes?" He turned around in her embrace, a mischievous look in his eyes as he observed his wife's purple irises, which even after thirty years, still held that same fire and that something that always managed to make him-

"Don't you even think about it, you two!" A shrill voice resounded from the other side of the room's door, making both spouses roll their eyes. "Do I need to remind you these walls are awfully thin?"

"Just turn on the sound-proofing, Peter!" May said, grabbing tight around Ben's neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

"Nonono. That's not how it works." The door opened, revealing a lanky teen with messy brown hair wearing blue pajamas. "As a cohabiting teen figure, I'm obliged to find each and every way to not let you old people have sex while I'm in a range of half a mile."

"And you're damn good at it, you miscreant." Ben said as he turned to face his nephew. "And who are you calling old?"

"The average human now lives to a ripe age of 130 years old, so you two don't exactly fit the definition with your shared 120..." Peter grabbed his chin, assuming a thoughtful pose, and then a large grin. "But I'm also supposed to be calling you that. It's in the job description."

"Alright, Peter. We won't have any morning quickies." May sighed as she sat up as well. "Now, unless you'd like to see us shower and change..."

"EEEEW! Where's the brain-bleach?!" The twenty years old ran out of the room, eyes shut and tugging at his hair, hoping to strip away the mental images along with it. The elder Parkers laughed at his misfortune, May enjoying the little payback.

"He's a good kid." Ben said. May nodded.

"Yeah. I just wish he wasn't so nosy." The man sighed. In more ways than one.

Marvel in Space

The Legendary Spider-Man

Episode 1 - With Great Knowledge

"Good morning, May. Peter."

"Good morning, miss Osborn." Peter greeted back with a wave as the couple of aunt and nephew joined their colleagues in the lab.

"Good morning, Amanda." May said, saluting her colleague more informally than her nephew. "How are Norman and Harry?"

"Just fine, thank you. Our resident Chief Lab Head is getting further and further engrossed into his research, and my air-headed son is well on his way to become another weapon-toting goon." The brunette sighed, holding her head. May rolled her eyes.

"Amanda, you know the rules. No tirades on the need for weapons in this age on the job." Peter made himself scarce and walked to his personal work station. Amanda was a nice woman, but a bit over-bearing. He removed his satchel and put it on the desk, before retrieving his lab-coat from the nearby hanger.

He turned on his terminal, sorting through the messages and the jobs for the day. He had two experiments scheduled with two senior lab members for the morning. One more for the afternoon. 'If we manage to conclude the morning ones early, I could cut in some time to work on my pr-' "Ooff!"

"Hey, Pete! Love-mails are so last year!" An obnoxious voice resounded in his ears while someone body-slammed him into his desk. He groaned, but smiled. The voice and the affectionate 'Pete' meant Harry Osborn. The only person who could get away with something like that without... Well, his resentment. He turned around, his own blue eyes meeting green and brown hair darker than his own. "You'll need to do better than that to impress your dear-"

"Shut the hell up, will you?!" He whispered, breaking out of the headlock and slapping a hand over his friend's mouth. "Walls have ears!"

"Aw, come on. What's the worst that could happen? Rejection? Public humiliation?" Harry said, lips breaking between ring finger and pinky.

"The first. The latter is only a long string of memories from Secondary School now, thank god." He sighed, releasing his friend. Yes, Flash Thompson and his other cronies would have had a field day with his one-sided infatuation. Again. "So, I prefer letting my secret crush fester under a pile of fear and unattractive body features."

"Told ya you should have entered the Field Operation team. Look at this!" Harry flexed his right bicep, his black and orange skin-tight body suit showing off the taut muscle. "Peak body shape in six months. My old man's special conditioning works wonders!"

"Nice for you, but, isn't that kind of cheating?" Peter said with a raised eyebrow. Harry groaned.

"Everyone cheats, Peter. At life. And, hey." Harry lowered his head, starting a conjuring whispering with his friend. "If a little cheating is what it takes to break the status of social pariah, bring it on."

"Hmm... I wish I could be as easy-going as you are, Harry."

"And I wish I could have half of your brains." Harry grinned and patted his friend on the right shoulder. They'd found each other when no one else would have them. Harry, the mentally ungifted son of the Chief Head Lab. Peter, the son of the biggest disgrace in the history of Mida as an explorer ship. "Are you by any chance assigned to Recalls, today?"

"Nah. We're tackling those two new elements we picked up on Argos-5." Peter shook his head. "Testing them for everything, you know. Durability, flexibility. We may have some new toys for you Field Ops very soon."

"You can be my secret Santa any time, Peter!" With one last pat on his friend's shoulders, Harry turned around and waved as he walked away. "I'll see you at lunch!"

"Okay." Peter smiled as he watched Harry go before focusing on his duties again. He had thirty minutes to prepare himself for the first experiment.

He would be done in twenty.

-I-

Ben rapped his fingers against the table again, trying to find something new and interesting into the files of his trainees, which he had already gone through twice in the past few days. 'What's taking Jameson so long?' The Overseer of Mida was rough, sometimes overbearing, but he was a professional and he hated making people wait just as much as he hated waiting. "Robbie, where's Jameson?"

"I don't know, Ben." The Commander General of Field Operations shook his head, ebon skin twitching as he frowned. "It's not like him. He's probably been held up."

"By what, I wonder." Norman Osborn cut in, his right hand squeezing at air, his annoyance clear in his body language. "This is pointless. We all have tasks that await completion."

"Like the next step in the Conditioning Program, right, Norman?" Ben said, earning the scientist's attention. He chuckled. "I swear, that's all the trainees seem to be talking about, recently."

"Hmph. I bet." The Chief Lab Head allowed himself a small smile. The Conditioning Program was the reason why Norman had been appointed his title on the Mida, and great things were expected from its evolution. "... How is Harry doing?"

"Very well. He's my top trainee." Ben answered with a smile. Harry had taken to the Conditioning and his training perfectly. "He's been working harder than any of the others, and it shows. I have half a mind of having him be my second in command during the next field operation."

"Really, now." Norman observed, his face impassive.

"He's putting his heart and then some in it. Almost like he wants to prove himself." The grey haired major continued, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I wonder to who." Any further debate was cancelled when the door opened, and a familiar mustache appeared, followed close behind by a woman with black hair holding a pad.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for my delay to the meeting I scheduled." J. Jonah Jameson said as he took his seat at the figurative head of the large round table. "It couldn't be helped, though."

"What was the hold-up, Jonah?" Robbie asked, the only one in the room with enough familiarity with the man to refer to him by his given name.

"I had a brief altercation with the honchos back on Helios." Jameson explained. "They weren't exactly set on my proposal of today." He then turned to the woman who had come inside with him, who had already grabbed the remote which controlled the room's projector. "Miss Brant, if you'd please."

"Yes, mister Jameson-I mean, Overseer." Betty Brant bit on her lower lip for the slip. Professional deformation. She had been Jameson's secretary for four years before he had been nominated Overseer of the Mida. She lowered the lights and a blue projection of a planet appeared in the middle of the table, with all its topographic lines. "This is our next destination, the Sixth Planet of the Argos system. The only one in it able to sustain human life."

Suddenly, a projection of the Mida appeared, hovering above the planet surface. Three smaller projections in the shape of ovals detached themselves from it and travelled to the planet. "Five days ago we dispatched the ship's sentry drones to make the routine reveals. They came back in two days ago, and tonight the Tech Team finished downloading and decoding the data."

The Mida disappeared, the planet shrunk and a series of diagrams, values and numbers suddenly appeared to surround it. "The air is breathable. The planet is rich in wild but with no sentient life, but we've found traces of a past civilization, dating back to circa 700 years ago." Ben suddenly tensed at the mention of that exact amount of time, and even more as the projection acquired more colors than just shades of azure to project pictures took by the drones. A ruin, which architecture was drudgingly familiar to the major. "The ruins we found are compatible with other constructions of the Shuu-Pa race."

"... But this planet wasn't on the chart provided to us by the Gunri." Norman's eyebrows shot up ever so slightly. "Another uncharted planet. Just like eighteen years ago."

"Yes, Chief Lab Head Osborn. Just like on Falcon 3, the Shuu-Pa's settlement amounts to a small village in a temperate zone of the planet. And just like on Falcon 3..." The photo reel disappeared, leaving place to a map of what resembled a multi-level dungeon under the surface of the planet. "The drones have detected a large underground structure, sprawling underneath the settlement."

"... God almighty." Ben clenched his fists, whispering out the exclamation despite himself. 'Not another one.' He clenched further, trying to repress memories of that day. Memories of teeth, blood and death. The death of good women and men, among which...

"You all know that I made no mystery that I never shared the common opinion that Richard Parker was a nut-job." Jameson continued as the tridimensional map continued slowly rotating on itself. "My own son was on that mission, and any man, any cause he believed in that much, I believe. I believe that you can't blame the man for the outcome."

"... Richard is mostly blamed because he believed investigating Falcon 3 would lead us to uncover the mystery behind the Shuu-Pa's sudden galaxy-wide extinction." Ben interjected, his voice level despite himself. "While we found nothing. Only empty ruins, with no useful hint-"

"Bullcrap. You've declared yourself that you couldn't explore the place in full before everything came crumbling down on your heads, Parker." Jonah continued. Any other occasion, he would have shaken his hand. Right now, he blamed his stubbornness. "I say it's high time we prove that my son and your brother didn't die for nothing."

"Did Helios give us green light?" Robbie asked.

"You know me, Robbie!" Jonah grinned, and wished he could have one of his cigars on hand at the moment. Damn space-travel regulations. "This time we take no chances. I want the best men we have on this, both for science and protection detail. Parker, I want you leading the operation."

"Overseer-"

"That's an order, Parker. Seriously, what's wrong with you? I thought you'd be jumping at the opportunity to clear your brother's name." He clenched his hands into fists again. Yes, he should. There was no logical reason for him not to be excited at the prospect. Not without arousing suspicion. Not without having to explain. Not without having to tell them what they found. Norman was already staring. Smart, observing bastard.

"... I just wanted to know if there was someone in particular you'd like to recommend for the mission." Ben let out, and Jameson just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hell if I know. I give the orders, but you're the ones who know your men. Do you have any recommendations? Ben?" He turned his gaze to the reddish haired scientist. "Norman?"

"Well, to keep it in the family, I'd recommend young Peter Parker on the mission." Ben's eyes widened and he stood up in outrage.

"Stop screwing around, Norman! This isn't a game!" He shouted, unable to control himself anymore. "Peter is not suited for field operations, especially this particular one!"

"True. He may lack in... Physique, for field operations, but the efforts he's put into continuing his parents' research into the Shuu-Pa's culture make him the perfect candidate for..." Norman trailed off as he noticed the shock on Ben's face at his words. He smirked. "You didn't know."

"Peter has been what?!"

"Ever since Secondary School, I believe. I only discovered it because he works on it on his personal lab terminal, in his free time. It hasn't impacted his work output in the Lab. Incredible." Norman's smirk grew wider. "It seems that you're not aware of the full extent of your nephew's genius, are you?"

"And you are, Norman?" Norman shrugged his shoulders at Ben's question, rotating in his chair.

"I'm at least aware of the potential my most promising scientist possesses." The man said, joining his hands in front of his face. "I see much of Richard in him. He really is his father's son."

"... True." Ben internally cursed himself for not paying more attention. 'Why did I believe that Peter's interest would have stopped at the questions he asked me?'

"Well, seems like we have a candidate to lead the Science Team on the field." Jameson said, getting up from his chair. "I leave you charte blanche, gentlemen. Bring me results. And maybe a live Shuu-Pa, if you're able!"

-I-

"... Yes." Peter silently cheered, punching the air in victory as the latest algorithm did his job. It had taken him seven months, but now he had done it. 'I'm one step closer, dad. One-'

"Peter." Yelping, Peter instinctively shifted to desktop and turned around in his chair, heart threatening to burst out of his chest.

"U-Uncle Ben!" The young scientist groaned, removing his glasses as he held the bridge of his nose. "You scared the crap out of me." He lamented, before noticing the expression on his uncle's face. He replaced his glasses and stared, bemused. "Is there something wrong?"

"You tell me, Peter. How's your research going?" The older man said, further puzzling Peter. Then, realization downed on him. "We need to talk. In private." The young man bit on his lower lip. There was no way out of that chew-out, was there?

-I-

"Peter, how could you?" Ben began, with a classic opener when it came to guilt trips. They had moved to their private quarters for it. "Continuing your father's research. And without telling me."

"I'm sorry, but, I knew you wouldn't agree with it, uncle Ben. That's why I had to go behind your back with it." Peter confessed, ashamed. He held no pride in what he he had had to do, especially hiding things from the man who had been taking care of him for nearly all his life. "You speak fondly of dad and mom, but whenever I asked you about their research, you always curled up."

"It's because of that research if your parents and other good men and women lost their lives. When you stopped asking, I was relieved. Never would I have imagined..." Ben sighed, his turn to hold the bridge of his nose. "How did you even find a back-up? You don't have that kind of clearance." He settled his inquiring gaze on a hesitating Peter. "Peter, please tell me you didn't-"

"Hack in? No. It's just... This is another little something that I never told you." Sighing in defeat, Peter zipped down the front of his suit and fished out his necklace. "It was thanks to this." Ben observed the object, recognizing it immediately. The blue stone with a red web motif, not bigger than a pebble, finely polished and perfectly conserved even while being more than one thousand years old.

"The Shuu-Pa stone." Ben said. The object Richard had entrusted to him before his death, his wife's family heirloom which Ben had then entrusted to Peter when he was a child. "What about it?"

"This isn't just a stone." Peter removed the necklace from his neck and then held it like one would a small remote. A small click echoed in the room, and the web motif shone with ruby light. A small part on the smaller end of the stone suddenly opened, and out shot what looked like a black thorn. "This is a data storage unit."

"A data-!" Now he understood. Why Richard had given him the object. "Richard had a back-up of his whole research on it?"

"Yes. I found out three years ago, shortly before I graduated from Secondary School. And then... I knew, uncle Ben." Peter continued, his eyes shining with determination. That same fire that he had seen so many times in Richard. "You said that my father gave you this. With his last dying words."

"Y-Yes. He did." Ben murmured, remembering his lies. But still, he understood what Peter was saying. He couldn't help but come to his same conclusion, now.

"He wanted someone-No. He wanted me to continue his research. To succeed where he had failed. A-And, uncle Ben, I just made a breakthrough!" The man's was taken back by his nephew's sudden bout of enthusiasm. He couldn't help but ask...

"What did you discover?" Peter was surprised, but he grinned right after.

"I deciphered the Shuu-Pa language." He declared, and Ben couldn't help but widen his eyes in disbelief. "It took me seven months, but-"

"Seven months? Peter, your parents couldn't do it in seven years, working together!" He raised his voice, but he couldn't help it. The idea sounded ludicrous to his ears.

"And, I think that was the problem." Peter continued, which only served to make Ben more confused. "Dad was a historian, an archeologist, and mom was a biologist. He studied the lore, she studied the ancestry of the Shuu-Pa. But as close as they were, they couldn't really, you know, think as each other. But, as you may know, I minored in both." The young man said with a wink. "Mom had a theory that Shuu-Pa could see things in different spectrums, remember?"

"Yes." Peter's grin got even wider.

"Well, it was true. And that was the point!" Peter threw his hands in the air. "Dad had managed to decipher their grammar, but what he didn't get was that the Shuu-Pa read things differently depending on the spectrum of light they used!"

"... That's why they used different inks in the same inscriptions." Ben remembered that it was one of the thing that had puzzled Richard. He had ultimately chalked it up to artistic preference. "And you say you've deciphered it?"

"I've created an algorithm which can be uploaded to any Analysis Device and translate any inscriptions we may come across automatically. I've just verified it, and..." Ben trailed off with his thoughts as Peter continued talking, ecstatic. So happy that he had succeeded, that he had some point of contact with his parents that it wasn't his last name only any more.

After Richard's death, Peter had it really tough. He was only two years old, and growing up his peers spared no occasion to give him crap about his supposed disgrace of a father. A man who threw away his life and those of his wife and other good men for nothing, a pipe-dream. Following an insolvable mystery with carelessness. This translated into social isolation as he grew up, which didn't exactly help when coupled with his average physical attributes and high intelligence.

Now he had a chance to make all those years worthwhile and to clear his parents' name. A shot. Ben still had reserves, remembering what had transpired on Falcon 3, but if Richard had entrusted all his research to his family, it meant that he wanted someone to continue it for a reason. 'But what reason?' Then again, there was the situation on Argos Six. If what awaited them there was anything like what they had found eighteen years ago, Peter's research was their best bet to avoid more deaths. 'I can't divulge what happened there, or someone will want to go back. I can't allow that.' There was no chance, now. He couldn't avoid it, he might as well try to control it. "... Peter, listen." The young Parker stopped his speech about his discovery, focusing on his uncle again. "At this morning's meeting, we discussed our next destination, Argos 6. They found a Shuu-Pa settlement on it, with a structure similar to the one your father had found eighteen years ago."

"What?! For real?!" Ben nodded.

"Yes. And it's been decided that you're going to lead the science team on the field. Norman Osborn nominated you. He knew about your research. You might want to think about a more secure password." Peter's eyes widened, his surprise evident. The Chief Lab Head had personally asked for him to lead a field operation? "He's right. You're the most qualified person on this ship for the operation, and I'm going to be there as well, but. I want you to be careful. More than careful. I want you to be paranoid."

"I know, I know. Field operations are dangerous."

"It's more than that. It's... I just don't want you to..." Should he tell him the truth? No, not yet. But, he had to give him a warning. To let him understand that this wasn't just a 'dangerous' mission. "... Peter, I believe that that cave-in wasn't an accident." Peter perked up at that. "I think the ruins were booby trapped."

"Wait. You mean the Shuu-Pa rigged them to come crashing on top of people?" Ben nodded, and his nephew reacted with shock as he absorbed the new information. "Why would they... Unless... They didn't want anyone to have access to the ruins?"

"Yes." Ben continued, and Peter continued to think. The Shuu-Pa were a race that had taken residence on many planets of the galaxy, and they were its self-appointed peace keepers. Tales of the humanoid race and its powerful warriors solving many a crisis remained in the lore of many alien cultures. All of a sudden though, 600 hundred years before the Mida reached the planet of the Gunri, the race disappeared all over the galaxy without leaving a trace, leaving behind ruins devoid of any life. Not even their bodies were ever found.

"Maybe... Maybe whatever is in the ruins could shed some light on what caused the Shuu-Pa to go extinct."

"Or maybe it is what caused them to go extinct." Peter swallowed but nodded. There also was that possibility. "... So, paranoid?"

"Paranoid indeed."

-I-

"... Fascinating." Norman commented as he cut off the feed from the camera which had allowed him to observe the little family exchange. It confirmed to him that, indeed, young Peter Parker was an up and coming genius. A few more years of experience, and he would be worthy of being his second in command. Together, they would advance in months projects that would take lesser men years.

Also, it had given him some really interesting prospectives. It seemed like Benjamin Parker hadn't disclosed everything that had happened on that fateful day. The theory that what laid in the ruins could have something to do with the Shuu-Pa's extinction had merit. "... Maybe I should join this mission, after all." 'Whatever it was, it wiped out a race famed as semi-gods. That kind of power...'

-I-

"Front and center, boys!" Ben Parker shouted, and the seven soldiers under his command arranged themselves in a line, standing in front of him, rifle strapped over the left shoulder, helmet held tightly under the right arm, feet joined, black armor covering the black and orange skin-tight suit in strategic places. "I want you to listen and listen well! You're some of the best of my unit! My two top trainees-" He made his glance pass over Harry Osborn and the buff, very short trimmed blonde man standing on his side. Flash Thompson, the jock beaten out of him by Ben's training. "And five of my best veterans. But that's only in training! None of you have ever seen real action! We've been lucky enough to never have to pull a trigger once in the past two years, since the Mida deployed again!"

"First time you see your uncle in this light, young Peter?" Norman chuckled as he observed Peter's face as Ben turned into the drill sergeant from hell.

"Well, yeah. It's like looking at someone else wearing his body." Peter commented, giving a glance to the other two members of the science team which Norman had selected for the mission. A geologist and a biologist. "Sir, are you sure you want me to lead the mission? Since you've decided to join us-"

"True. I've decided to join this mission. But I could never take this moment from you. The culmination of your father's vision. Of your research." Norman cut him off while Ben continued his speech, highlighting how there was a risk that they could be forced to pull those triggers during this mission with unknown variables. "Also, that same research makes you more competent that even me on the subject of the Shuu-Pa."

"... Thanks, sir." Peter smiled, now beaming. That was the biggest compliment one could ever receive from Norman Osborn.

"And now, before we board the Skip which will bring us to the surface of Argos 6, you'll be briefed on the mission by the leader of the science team." Ben finished, then turned in his direction. Peter almost jumped out of his skin. "Mister Parker, if you'd please."

"Y-Yes!" He replied, a bit too enthusiastically. He quickly, awkwardly, made his way to his uncle's side. He found himself facing the aligned soldiers. 'Damn, uncle Ben must have magical powers. Flash's only reaction is a raised eyebrow.' He cleared his voice. "G-Good day. I'm Peter Parker and, uhm, I'm going to lead the science team on this mission. As you know, we're going to investigate an abandoned Shuu-Pa settlement. And, as major Parker just evidenced, we have no idea what we will find in there. What we do know, though, is that the Shuu-Pa neglected registering this planet on any official star-map. I think that's because there's something on it that they didn't want anyone to find. It could be the secret to their mythic invincibility... But, it could also be the cause of their disappearance. Anything is possible."

Peter expected questions, observations, but nothing came his way. Perfect discipline. Even if Flash's scrunched up face told him that he wanted to say something. He held up his wrist, exposing his Ambient Analysis Device strapped around his right forearm. "But, unlike in the past, we have an advantage. After long months of studying, I've managed to develop a program that will let us decipher the Shuu-Pa language. I'm uploading it to your suits and AADs right now." With the simple push of a button and a chime, the upload started. This time, everyone held up their own arms to check the success of the operation.

"The Shuu-Pa read their languages in different way depending on the spectrum of light they were seeing in. An inscription could have more than one meaning, at times, so please be sure to check with each mode of the program whenever you find an inscription and always report your findings to a member of the science team." Peter lowered his arm, the upload finished. "This mission has many unknown incognitas and danger could wait for us in the depths of those ruins but I firmly believe that if we are careful-no, paranoid-" He sent a smile his uncle's way at that. He answered with a nod. "We can successfully complete this mission, and finally shed some light on one of the greatest mysteries of the galaxy. I look forward to working with you all."

"Thanks, mister Parker." Ben took over again, and Peter didn't miss the grin and wink Harry sent his way. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. The Skip awaits. Let's move!" The Field Ops quickly fell into line and hurried to the opening ship, crossing the expanse of the docking area, the science team quickly behind them. Peter and Ben were about to follow...

"Hey, Parkers." When they were interrupted by a very familiar voice. They turned in unison to find May Parker holding out a stack of two rectangular containers. "I think you forgot your lunch."

"We did?" Peter inquired, and searched his strapped bag. Indeed, there were drinks and energy bars, but no complete lunch. Ben's own search had a similar outcome. "Yep, we did."

"Thanks, May." Ben collected the containers from his wife, thanking her with a kiss.

"Be careful out there, okay?" She said, before turning to her nephew and catching him in a big hug. "That goes double for you, young man."

"Of course, aunt May." Peter returned the hug then pulled back and gave her a big grin. "Don't worry. I'll make you proud." The two male Parkers said their goodbyes and followed their companions to the awaiting space-ship, a worried woman watching them go.

-I-

"So, these guys could see like us, in night-vision and even infra-red? That's wicked!"

"Pretty convenient, huh? There were few places where their vision was naturally impaired." Peter explained to Harry as the Skip made his way through the planet's atmosphere with little trouble. "And that's the only thing we know for sure about their physiology. They never allowed anyone to study it."

"I guess they wanted the exclusive on the superpowers." Flash added his two cents, earning his two peers' attention. "Wonder if all those tales are true or... I mean, they say that some of them could fly without wings and breath fire."

"Maybe. We don't know. We can just hope we'll find some answers in the ruins." The Skip suddenly rustled. They had crossed another stratus of the atmosphere.

"Landing in five minutes!" The pilot said, and all the occupant of the Skip strapped themselves in.

"Alright! Remember! Stay together, don't break up unless strictly necessary and never in groups of less than three!" Ben shouted out his orders before placing his full helmet on, Flash and Harry mimicking him right after. For his part, Peter replaced his glasses with a visor covering only his eyes which at the moment were giving him a visual from the front of the Skip. The jungle and the constructions that made up the ruins were coming closer and closer.

-I-

"Gogogogogo!" Flash and one of the veteran soldiers took point, being the first ones out of the ship, Ben and Harry right behind them as they observed their surroundings, a large number of constructions of stone and metal in shades of white and blue littering uneven ground, now sparsely covered in the jungle's overgrowth. "Clear!"

That was the signal. The remaining soldiers and the science team descended from the Skip, slowly. Norman was the last, observing something on his visor as the AAD sent information to his visor. "No signs of intelligent life in the proximities. The readings we got from the Mida's drones were correct. It's abandoned."

"Alright. What's the next step, science leader?" It took Peter a few seconds to understand that Ben was talking to him.

"A-Ah. Yes. Well, we should make a full survey of the surroundings. Check for artifacts, data banks, inscriptions." Peter explained, passing over the whole team with his eyes. "And, the entrance for the underground structure." He stopped on Ben. "Uncle Ben, what... I mean, is this place...?"

"... Yes. It's very similar to the one we found on Falcon 3." Ben nodded, shouldering his rifle again. "Some of the buildings are identical as well. If the entrance is the same way, we should be looking for a pyramidal shaped building with an oval entrance, decorated with various inscriptions around the door, with a diameter of about five meters."

"Huuu, like that one?" Flash's words made everyone turn to him and then to the building he was pointing at with his rifle.

"... Yes, just like that one." Ben said, laying eyes on the pyramidal building laying twenty meters or so away from them, almost at the edge of the complex, with an oval entrance sealed shut. The group slowly made their way to it, circling the outside.

"Weird." The geologist in the science team observed as he passed a hand over the wall, finding it dirty but... "There's no trace of overgrowth on this one." He then looked at under his feet. Nothing but dirt around it as well. "There's no plant life in the immediate vicinities of this structure."

"Wait." Norman brought up his right arm, operating a very specific scanning mode with his AAD. His eyebrows raised. "This structure still has power."

"What?!" The biologist let out, incredulous. "After more than 700 hundred years?! What kind of power source lasts that long unchecked?!"

"Calm down. The energy readings are abysmally small. It's in standby, for lack of a better term. That's why it lasted so long and also why the drones couldn't detect it." Norman explained as he approached the door. "Ben, was this also the case on Falcon 3?"

"No." Ben answered, remembering how they had to use a charge to open the door to the twin structure. "The structure was in a state of advanced decay, and there was no power in it whatsoever."

"... Let me check this." Peter activated the translating program, scanning each and everyone of the symbols that formed the inscription around the oval door. In under a minute, he had a list of possible translations. The only one with a sense was... "Special Containment Facility 7."

"Special Containment?"

"Number 7?" Peter ignored Harry's and another soldier's voices, his brain going into overdrive.

"... Okay. I think I got it." Peter turned to the others, raising his visors. "This is still only an hypothesis, but... I think I understand what happened to the Shuu-Pa."

"Just like that? From an inscription?!" Flash voiced his disbelief openly. Peter ignored it.

"The Shuu-Pa didn't just go extinct. They decided to disappear." The young scientist continued, earning a nod from Norman.

"To protect the location of the planets where they built these 'Special Containment Facilities'." The reddish haired man said, rubbing at his chin. "That's also the reason why they chose planets devoid of intelligent life to build them. They didn't want them to be found. Ever."

"You mean, like... To protect whatever they decided to keep into one of these things?" Harry interjected.

"No." Ben said, his voice hard as memories started coming back. "This is a facility built for 'Containment'. It's not to keep people out, but to keep something inside."

"Okay. Let's see if I got this straight." Flash said out loud, shaking his head. "These guys built secret facilities to trap some kind of... Something on some unknown planets and then, what, offed themselves? Where did they go?!"

"That, I can't say. Not yet." Peter shook his head, before settling his gaze on the door again. "The answers may lay inside."

"Woahwoahwoah there, Pete!" Harry suddenly made himself known again as he raised his voice, his tone and cadence alarmed. "Are you really sure we should do this?!"

"What do you mean, Harry? If we don't-"

"Peter, a race of super-beings whose mission was to protect the whole galaxy decided to build facilities to keep trapped something they deemed dangerous! Okay, it's not what killed them all since they had to be alive to finish this, but it means that whatever it was they couldn't just get rid of it! They couldn't! What makes you think we can?!" That seemed to give everyone some food for thought. Harry's reasoning made sense.

"W-Well, I doubt we're going to... I mean, just opening the door won't end the galaxy." Peter said, even if he wasn't really convinced himself of his own words.

"Also, we can't just go back saying 'we thought it would be unsafe for the galaxy'. I doubt the overseer would be content with that." Norman continued, sighing. It seemed like everyone was now giving his spineless son's words credit. And if he knew Benjamin Parker, particularly considering how he had acted during the briefing, this was the occasion he was waiting for to abort the mission. "Ben, this-"

"The mission continues." Ben cut off Norman, shocking him into silence. "Peter, start working on opening that door."

"Eh?" Peter was confused by his uncle's uncharacteristic curtness, but that stare, even if through an helmet, left no room for discussion. "Y-Yes!"

'God damn it, Richard! Do you understand? Do you understand what all this means?!' On the outside, Ben was firm. Dead serious. Inside, he was panicking. His emotions were in a turmoil. For years he had wondered what that thing could have been. What the hell could it have been doing there. Now, he had his answer.

He now knew that Richard and Ma-Ri Parker may have well and truly doomed them all. If the Shuu-Pa had had to build that facility specifically to contain it, a cave in wouldn't keep that thing trapped forever, even without external interference.

And if it did get out...

-I-

Falcon 3

"That last shutosta(1) could run." The Jaren were an insectoid looking race which originated in the Falcon system. Other than their green carapace which encompassed their whole bodies, another peculiarity in their physiology were their incredible jumping abilities, which allowed them to easily hunt a particular kind of primates that spent their whole lives on the tallest plants of Falcon 3 for their pelts. To the point of almost extinction.

This particular Jaren had decided to go and hunt near the abandoned Shuu-Pa settlement, in one of the Black Zones. The ones where particularly dangerous animals lived along the priced primates. Creatures which could eat them whole. But he was confident in his ability to avoid them. So it had been. As he climbed back into his spaceship and made his way to his cockpit, this Jaren was chirping with mirth. He had captured seven adult males. That would set him for life, if he found the right buyer.

"What the...?" Seven adult males who were being uncharacteristically noisy. The animals were pretty meek. When captured they usually fell back onto moping, not screeching. He made his way back to the cargo bay. "Hey! Pipe down!" His own shout was drowned in the cacophony of screeches.

The animals were jumping, running around, beating their paws against the transparent material the cages were made out of, screeching and bellowing like their lives depended on it. The Jaren then understood. They weren't angry. They were scared. He looked around, trying to find the culprit. 'What the hell could have spooked them so much?'

That's when he felt something cold and gooey fall on his right shoulder, seeping through his clothes. He went to touch it. His fingers found themselves dirty with something sticky, dense and black. Like dried blood. He slowly raised his head upwards.

He dissolved in a cloud of blood and screams of agony as the mass of teeth, pain and darkness descended upon him.

To be continued...

In the next episode!

"Peter, get the hell away from there!"

'This data...! Yes! This is exactly what I have been looking for!'

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!"

"UNCLE BEN! NOOOOOO!"

Glossary

Shutosta: Swear word from the Jaren dialect. Roughly translates to 'motherfucker'.

Author Note 1 - The story behind the story

Well, here we are. My own take on the Spider-Man mythos. I have read some excellent fanfictions that gave their own spin to Peter Parker's story, but they still were the same cloth, you know? Peter gets bit, Osborn goes insane, Harry is his best friend, New York gets populated by superhumans, uncle Ben dies. The usual.

Sure, it gives a sense of familiarity, but then I thought, 'if I did something like that, I'd do something more. I'd do something radical. Like a cross-over, or... Or...' Then, it hit me. Watching the newest Star Trek movie for the twelfth time while reading may have had something to do with it.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Marvel in Space universe, where your favorite superheroes meet space opera and sci-fi. Expect new origins, new dynamics, new twists a new mythos, and all around awesome space adventures. Your captain Meinos Kaen wishes you a good trip, starting with The Legendary Spider-Man himself, Peter Parker.

Stay tuned!

Author Note 2 - Lookalikes

For the characters' looks, I took inspiration from a bit of everywhere. May and Ben are identical to their Ultimate Marvel counterparts, and so do Harry and Norman Osborn. Peter, instead, is more like his 616 counterpart. Mainly because of the hair. I hated Ultimate Peter's hair. Old Jonah is old 616 Jonah too. Can't beat that cigar smoking chain-whipping look.