Author's Note: Well, it's thanksgiving in my neck of the woods so here's my thanks for supporting this niche story! Gonna try and finish the season this time around, so raise a glass, knock one back, and here we go!


The Kree have come back! And they're not messing around this time! It will take everything the Avengers have to repel this invasion, but will it be enough? Can Captain Mar-Vell aid our heroes against this threat? You're in for the fight of a lifetime, true believers! Come and watch the Avengers struggle as they deal with the Kree's frightening battle plan-

Chapter 51: Operation: Galactic Storm

Alone in her personal apartment, Carol had her phone pressed between her ear and shoulder while she was folding laundry. The blonde was deep in conversation,

"…so that's when She-Hulk wound up and belted him right into a sea-can."

"No kidding! Makes me wish I could have been there to see that. I was there helping patch up the docks afterwards, those Hulks can really throw-down." Matthias remarked from the other end. "We salvaged that boat, too, put 'er back in the water after Hulk saved them. I heard the owner of that boat is pressing charges against Ross and the Hulkbusters."

"Good! They can pay for a new one." Carol snickered. "It was good to see Ross get what was coming to him. The team was pretty happy to see Hulk free again."

"I can imagine. He's been one of the original members. Was when my brother joined up for the first time." Matthias mused. "Must be nice having the whole team back together."

"Well… Hulk decided to take a… a sabbatical." Carol confessed. "Guess he needed some time to himself after being cooped up in Hulkbuster confines."

"I can understand that. Nothing like getting outside."

"Speaking of going outside… I think I could go for some coffee now that things have quieted down after the latest Kang fiasco." The blonde mused. "Wanna get some sometime?"

"Sure!" Matthias quickly agreed. "Although… about that…"

Intrigued, Carol cocked a brow. "Yes?"

"Look, Carol… we've been going out to get coffee a lot. I was wondering… maybe this time… maybe you'd like to make it a... coffee date?" Matthias asked. Carol froze. This was the first time either of them had ever brought up the concept of being something more than just friends. And in all honesty, the thought had never crossed her mind.

"A… A date…?" She repeated. "I-I mean, uh…"

"Is… that a yes?" Matthias hesitantly wondered, sounding a tad hopeful. Carol swallowed. She didn't want to disappoint the man but she certainly didn't feel ready to plunge headlong into something as serious as this.

Luckily for her, Carol earned some extra time when her Avengers ID card began to chime from her bedside. "What's that?" Matthias asked.

"S-Sorry, Matt, Avenger card's going off." Carol said sheepishly, while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

"Off to save the world again." The handyman surmised.

"Yeah… Hey, we'll talk after, okay?" Carol promised.

"Sure thing." Matthias agreed. The blonde promptly hung up and snatched up her superheroic ID badge, the big 'A' flashing a bright blue.

"Miss Marvel here." She said quickly. Iron Man's face appeared on the card.

"Carol. We need you down at the Mansion. Abigail Brand has something she wants us to see." He stated urgently.


What Director Brand had to explain took the form retrieved video footage transmitted by a SWORD spacecraft. They were on a scouting mission to the sun on an investigation of wormhole energy anomalies. Commanding the mission was Doctor Peter Corbeau, a highly-regarded astrophysicist and stellar scientist. He was in charge of a commandeered Kree vessel, Falchion One, the same one that had brought Ronan the Accuser and Commander Yon-Rogg to the planet many months ago.

Assembled in the sublevel meeting room, the full roster of the Avengers gathered to bear witness to the footage Director Brand sent their way. Their investigation seemed almost pointless… until two more Kree ship materialized before them. Peter Corbeau ordered ready stations and transmitted a single message back to SWORD on Earth,

"Falchion One has encountered hostiles and is about to be engaged."

The video feed fell to static and cut out shortly after. "That was nine minutes ago. We haven't heard from Falchion One ever since and we're starting to suspect the worst." Abigail explained. The gravity of the situation seemed very plain and the Avengers were not about to shirk this unfolding danger.

"We're on our way." Captain America declared.


Night had come to the waters beyond New York Harbor. A vast starry expanse provided sparse illumination for the rolling seas, only the blinking lights of Hydrobase around to counter the inky darkness.

But even those were not enough to reveal the small infiltrator shuttle that materialized out of the gloom.

Hovering in place several hundred meters out from SHIELD's super-max prison, the vessel scanned Hydrobase and accumulated enough tactical data to please the ops team inside. "Signal is locked. Begin incursion." The Kree commando ordered as he infiltrator disappeared behind a camouflage field.

Within the walls of Hydrobase no one was aware of the looming threat approaching the prison, not even the members of the mighty Avengers on site to further investigate Director Brand's concerns. Iron Man led Captain America, Cybernaut, Thor and Miss Marvel through the cell blocks where alien prisoners were kept. Passing by locked up the Kree soldiers who had come with Ronan the Accuser, the heroes stopped before one in particular. They didn't need to say a word. After a moment's quiet, the man stood and emerged from the dark of his cell, revealing blue skin and silver-black hair not concealed by a helmet.

"Something has happened, hasn't it?" Captain Mar-Vell questioned insightfully.

"You could say that." Cybernaut answered quietly.

"We need you to ID something for us, Mar-Vell." Captain America added and the Kree Captain nodded.

After a brief agreement between Director Brand and none other than She-Hulk, Jennifer freed the Kree from his cell using her high-ranking SHIELD clearance. They moved him to an interrogation room where the heroes brought in SWORD's data wrought from analysis of the energy anomalies around the sun. "This was taken about twenty minutes ago." Iron Man stated, sliding a high-definition photo of the Kree vessels over to Mar-Vell. "We need to know why the Kree Empire just parked six ships in front of our sun."

Mar-Vell looked the image over for only a few seconds before he loosed a sigh. "This is just the start." He muttered. "The Kree have come to claim this system. Earth is in a tactically strategic position."

"It doesn't make any sense, though. How can a planet, much less a whole solar system, be in a strategic position? It's space. You can just go around us." Miss Marvel said. "So how-"

"Something about space-time in this sector makes it very easy to find, open and stabilize wormholes here." Mar-Vell explained. His words puzzled the Avengers.

"'Tis true." Thor suddenly concurred, earning the surprised gazes of his allies. "The Asgardians have long known of the ease in which we can travel to and from this part of Midgard through its portals. It is the middle realm, after all."

"Wait, it's on a magic level too?" Cybernaut wondered, scratching his head. "So there has to be something about the very fabric of the universe-… er, cosmology aside, what does the Empire want to do with our solar system, Mar-Vell?"

"The Kree want to create a stable wormhole passage to move their fleets through this area, then all over the galaxy in the blink of an eye." The Kree captain described. "Your solar system will become a staging area for the Empire."

"And these ships by the sun, they'll… do what? Open one of these wormholes?" Captain America asked, pointing to the ring of vessels captured in the photograph.

"Yes. They act as energy conduits, and together all five will form the gate." Mar-Vell affirmed. "Once it's activated-"

"The sun." Tony realized, popping his faceplate. He turned to his teammates, a look of vacant horror in the back of his eyes. "Tearing a hole in space-time that close to the sun-"

"It will rip it in half." Mar-Vell finished for him. "The loss of your star will end all life on Earth."

"We've already seen it happen." Tony revealed. "Kang the Conqueror showed us the future, one where the sun had been ripped apart." Miss Marvel quirked a brow in confusion, but Cap, Thor and Cybernaut paled at the memory as the realization dawned on them all. Connor remembered the conversation entirely.

"You see very soon in your timeline, your Earth will be consumed in a war. Earth's sun will be a casualty in the war, along with all life on the planet." Kang explained.

"What kind of war could do that?" Wasp queried.

"A war between two alien empires: the Kree and the Skrull." Kang answered.

"Why would the Kree do this?" Miss Marvel questioned.

"Because they don't care about you." Mar-Vell stated bluntly. "They don't care about life on Earth. In fact, after what you Avengers did, capturing and imprisoning the Kree Accuser, I suspect that choosing a location this close to your sun was simply to punish you."

"Enough. We need to move on this." Abigail Brand cut in. "We've lost all contact with the Falchion. If the Kree detected them-"

"Yeah, that seems like kind of a problem. The sun is millions of miles away. It's take us months. Years, maybe." Miss Marvel commented.

"And with the Kree threatening to burn down our door, we don't have that kind of time to whip up a new spacecraft." Cybernaut added.

"I can modify your ship to access sub-space. I can get you there, and I can shut down the wormhole." Mar-Vell proffered. "Please. Let me help you." The Avengers shared looks of hesitance, pondering amongst themselves if it was a good idea.

"Sure you can help us," Cybernaut suddenly announced, bracing himself against the table across from Mar-Vell, "so long as you teach me how to use it. And teach me all about Kree technology in the process." He added.


Hours later…

Well into the night, the combined team of Iron Man, Cybernaut, and Mar-Vell had worked over the Quinjet and gave it a technological refit top to bottom. Finishing with the engines, the trio unhooked a series of fuel pumps. "Well, that should do it." Mar-Vell mused. "Your Quinjet can now achieve a sub-space jump. I've also upgraded your shields and space suits to withstand close proximity to a star." He added.

"And I know how to operate all of it!" Connor chimed in, grinning from ear to ear. "Kree tech is cool." Iron Man seemingly did not share their enthusiasm.

"Aren't you supposed to be some kind of xenobiologist, Mar-Vell?" He questioned. "How do you know how to do all this?" The Kree chuckled.

"No offence, but its pretty basic engineering." He answered, humoured. "I'm still shocked that humanity hasn't made it past your moon."

"We're working on it." Tony glowered, promptly taking flight. Connor reached over and patted Mar-Vell on the shoulder.

"Don't mind Tony. He doesn't like being upstaged in the tech department." He proffered, hopping down off the platform keeping them level with the thrusters. On the ground, She-Hulk had been observing the process with arms crossed, tasked with keeping an eye on Mar-Vell while out of incarceration.

"I still don't like this plan. You guys are trusting the word of an alien convict and relying on him to upgrade your machinery, not the best combo in my book." She muttered.

"Relax, Miss Walters. Captain Mar-Vell walked me through everything, I know what's going on and we're just fine. He's just fine." Cybernaut promised, still full of sunny optimism. She-Hulk appeared unmoved. It took the arrival of Miss Marvel to get her hardened expression to slightly flinch.

"Look, as much as we don't trust the Kree, Mar-Vell has always been trying to go to bat for humanity… misguided judgement or otherwise." Carol stated, casting a glance at the forlorn Captain Mar-Vell. "I'll stick my neck out for him this time."

"Well… it's your neck that I'm worried about." She-Hulk responded.

Meanwhile, the Avengers were busy loading up the Quinjet in preparation for a deep space excursion, each one packing a duffle bag full of essentials. "I hate space. Zero gravity messes with my aim." Hawkeye complained.

"Look on the bright side; your range will be infinite." Black Panther responded. That seemed to brighten Hawkeye's demeanour.

"Really?"

Black Panther abruptly stopped, his body tensing in response to unknown stimuli. He brought Hawkeye to a pause, surveying the deck of Hydrobase in search of something only he could sense. Nearby, Cybernaut slowed his pace as something new tickled his mutant senses. Technology was afoot somewhere. New technology. Nothing like what SHIELD or SWORD made use of.

All of a sudden, VTOL jets began to explode, followed closely by attack helicopters. Sheets of flame sprang across the deck of Hydrobase as the air shimmered with heat. Standing too close to one concussive blast, Tony found himself at a disadvantage. "My sensors are blown out! I'm blind!" He exclaimed. "Someone take these guys out!" The Avengers moved to act, some taking to the sky while others unsheathed their weapons.

"What guys? I don't see anyone!" Wasp retorted, shrunken down and looking around.

"Jan, honey, I can help. I'm sensing something." Cybernaut stated, appeared focused and concentrated despite the chaos. Up above, Miss Marvel started shooting photon bolts in random directions, hoping to hit something.

"Will you quit that? You don't have a visual, none of us do." Hawkeye chided. "Vision, how about you? You've got robot eyes, use 'em!"

"Switching to infrared sight-"

"Behind him!" Connor called out in warning. His plasma casters fired, twin orange bolts striking an unseen figure to reveal themselves before a pair of Black Panther's daggers overloaded his suit and took him down. Exposed on the cement lay a man dressed in the darker version of the same garb Mar-Vell wore.

"Great. An alien ninja." Yellowjacket griped.

"No. It's a Kree stealth ops." Mar-Vell corrected. "They must be here to free Ronan!" All of a sudden, laser rounds from every direction rained down upon the heroes. The Avengers scattered, attempting to go on the offensive.

"They are visible to ultra-violet!" Black Panther called out and Vision switched his optical scanners over to discern the locations of the Kree agents. Hawkeye fitted a techno-monocle to help him overcome the odds as he drew a taser arrow and fitted it into his bowstring.

Connor didn't need such an advantage. His mind, freshly tuned to Kree technology courtesy of Mar-Vell's tutelage had opened up his senses to the 'voice' of tech worn by the stealth operatives. "Jan, go big. I'll tell you where to swing." He told his girlfriend. Wasp quickly drew to giant size as Hawkeye loosed an arrow that destroyed the cloaking field around one Kree while another invader shot Miss Marvel out of the air. "By your left foot!" At Connor's word, Janet kicked and a cloaking field fizzled out as the Kree was launched into the water. "Pivot forty-five degrees! Where the white and yellow stripes make an 'X'!" Janet drove her supersized fist down, punching an invisible Kree right into the deck. Cybernaut fired off his plasma cannons, blasting a hidden Kree attempting to get the drop on Wasp.

Hawkeye and Captain America tag-teamed a Kree into submission while Iron Man successfully rebooted his armor. "Alright, sensors are back up…"

"Iron Man, you don't have time for this." Mar-Vell insisted, grabbing his arm. "The Kree at the sun are working to open the wormhole right now. The longer you wait, the more you risk everything!" The captain looked across the unfolding battle. "Kree protocol is to eliminate escape. If they blow up the Quinjet, it's all over." Tony paused and examined the situation grimly. Every member of the team was busy fighting off Kree agents. Mar-Vell was right.

"We need a plan here!" Carol called out, unleashing photon blasts every which way as she circled the giant Janet.

Yellowjacket threw a Kree agent over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground before belting him in the face. "Cap! Iron Man! Take the Avengers and go!" He barked. "Get to the sun, Brand and I will deal with the Kree here."

Abigail performed a double take. "Wait, what?"

"You sure about that?" Cybernaut questioned.

"Sure I'm sure. Besides," Yellowjacket jerked his thumb towards She-Hulk, bellowing and roaring as she pounded into one Kree agent after another, "I got Walters to watch my back."

"We go. Thor, we need some cover." Captain America called out, leading the retreat to the Quinjet. "Avengers assemble!" Thor took to the skies, swirling Mjolnir around him as thunderclouds formed in the otherwise clear night sky. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, a mighty storm surrounding Hydrobase with Thor at its epicentre. Lightning struck the deck, shorting out cloaking fields and exposing the Kree agents… dozens of them. Yellowjacket went on the offensive, his Pym-ray blaster expanding chunks of decking to send hurtling into the Kree. That was the last the Avengers could see of him.

"Hank…" Janet whispered, watching him fight off waves of Kree.

"He's tough, Jan. He'll be fine." Connor proffered, rubbing her shoulder. She clasped his hand with hers. The team took their seats with Cap and Miss Marvel at the controls and Mar-Vell at engineering.

"Preparing for sub-space jump." He stated. The modified engines and drives spooled up, Thor climbed inside just in time. "Three… two… one!" Slamming the throttle forward, Mar-Vell triggered the warp drive that catapaulted the Avengers through space, leaving only a residual energy wave that could be seen from the ground.

Neither Agent Brand, She-Hulk, nor Yellowjacket paid it any attention as they were surrounded by Kree agents. "I'm assuming you have a plan?" Brand questioned.

"I'm starting to find life's more fun without one." Yellowjacket retorted with a manic grin.

"Great. Here I thought it was bad news sending an alien warrior off with the team… turns out it's getting stuck behind with the madman that's worse." She-Hulk grumbled.


Elsewhere in the solar system…

A flash of multicolored light shot the Quinjet back into realspace, the vessel arcing around the blinding sun. "That was sub-space? Ugh, I think I'm gonna throw up…" Wasp remarked, looking rather pale as she reached for an airsickness bag.

"Man! That's bright!" Carol winced as she and others shielded themselves from the intense light of the sun.

Connor settled a hand against his console. "Polarizing viewports… now." A darkness overcame each pane of glass, allowing the team to see freely.

"That's better," Carol said, studying their readouts and instruments. She banked closer to the sun, quickly spotting a stranded craft sporting whisps of smoke pouring from it's stricken engines. "I have a visual on the Falchion-"

Her report was cut short when a volley of emerald laser rounds streaked overhead and collided with the Falchion. The next salvo was far less forgiving as the Quinjet shuddered from multiple impacts. "Turn around. Carol, turn around now!" Tony barked as a massive Kree warship loomed behind them. Putting her flight school days to good use, Carol banked hard and dove, the Quinjet's superior mobility allowing it to outmaneuver the larger Kree ship.

"The Falchion's shields are down! Another direct hit and it's a goner!" She exclaimed. Outside their viewports, green rounds streaked past as the Kree tried to acquire a line of fire.

"They're coming around! We've gotta move!" Hawkeye exclaimed, knowing the process of finding a mark to hit. Captain America took control of the situation.

"Iron Man, take Thor, Mar-Vell, Vision, and Miss Marvel and disable that warship." He instructed. "Panther, Wasp, Cybernaut, Hawkeye, and I will dock with the Falchion and try to help."

"Agreed. Hope everyone brough their sunblock." Tony remarked as Avengers-issue spacesuits emerged within the Quinjet's rearmost armoury, one for each member save Thor, Vision, and Iron Man himself.

Cybernaut hopped on the controls as Tony and his team sealed the airlock before emerging into space to fight the Kree ship. "Suit up, people. There's every chance the atmosphere in the Falchion has been breached." Cap ordered.

"Don't have to tell me twice," said Hawkeye as he fitted his suit over his costume. Wasp did so too, the armor plating sliding easily over her skintight bodysuit.

"Man, this armor really cramps my style. I can't grow big, only shrink!" She complained, promptly reducing her mass and sprouting her wings.

"I'll make a note to work on that, babe." Cybernaut proffered. "Maybe Reed Richards will let me borrow some unstable molecules." Flexing his magnets, he controlled his suit to hover over to him and began sliding into it piece by piece.

Locking the Quinjet with one of Falchion's airlocks, the armored team entered the stricken SWORD vessel cautiously with Captain America and Hawkeye taking point. "Status report, Cybernaut?" Steve questioned.

"She's taken a beating," the technopath answered, running his hand along the hull, "but she's not dead yet." Steve nodded in affirmation.

"Stay on your toes, people."

The fivesome carefully made their way towards the bridge, expecting a firefight. Instead, they found the bridge to be in total disarray, every solid surface smashed up or ripped to pieces. The Avengers grew worried that the Kree might not have let any of the SWORD personnel live before their thoughts switched to avenging the fallen. Debris ahead faintly moved and Wasp flew over to investigate, using her small size to check beneath. "Guys! Over here!" She called out. Cybernaut reacted quickly, using his magnets to levitated the fallen plating away from the body. Cap recognized the man dressed in a SWORD-issue armored EV suit,

"It's Peter Corbeau. He's the SWORD commander in charge." He knelt beside the man, coaxing him into a seated position as the Doctor came back around. "Doctor Corbeau, what happened here?"

"They… Th-They teleported troops on board…" Peter answered weakly. "We never even-" He abruptly paused, eyes shooting wide with fright as a fractured memory stitched itself together. "It's still here!" He exclaimed.

"What's still here?" Hawkeye questioned. He had his answer soon enough when a creaking noise from overhead drew the attention of the Avengers to the ceiling as a Kree sentry pounced on them from above…


As the battle on Hydrobase raged on, three of the Kree stealth agents had made their way to the sublevel areas, powering through SHIELD agents with ruthless efficiency. They were on a mission and nothing would deter them. Their success over the rank-and-file agents boosted their confidence… until it was abruptly shattered when microscopic punches eliminated one of their unit. The company commander read the situation accurately, "It's the size-shifter! Open fire!" The standin operative did so, green bolts of laser fire sizzling through the air as his helmet HUD tracked the sonic vibrations produced by the wings on Yellowjacket's costume.

Hank bobbed and weaved through the air as a trailed of scorch marks dotted the walls behind him. It was a workout but he was keeping pace, until the Kree commander morphed a seismo-baton out of his gauntlet and struck the ground. The ensuing shockwave blasted Yellowjacket out of the air and discombobulated him. "Step on him." The commander ordered dismissively. The Kree moved to do so, raising his boot above the shrunken hero. But before he could, Yellowjacket grew to normal size and slugged him in the face. His armor allowed him to weather the blow and the Kree retaliated with the butt of his rifle, sending Hank spinning into the nearby wall. He was vulnerable and likely would have been had Abigail Brand not arrived and gunned the Kree down.

"What part of 'wait' don't you understand?!" She demanded.

"The first part." Yellowjacket retorted, examining the body. "The Kree are tracking something, some kind of energy signature." He announced, removing a holoprojector from the downed Kree. "I saw the map. They're not going to the cells, they're going to the north sub-basements." The location stirred a single thought for Brand as she pieced together the Kree and their destination.

"The armoury… That's where they're keeping Ronan's Universal Weapon."

Yellowjacket needed no further reason or logic. "Let's go." He turned and ran, pursuing the Kree commander. Brand watched him go, running headlong into danger heedless of whatever might come without so much as a plan.

"He's insane…" She muttered.

Attempting to follow, the green-haired SWORD director was abruptly stopped when a SHIELD agent caught up to her. "Agent Brand, we've found a device. We think the Kree planted it."

"What kind of device?" She asked. His answer was simple and frightening.

"The kind that will explode and destroy this entire station!"

Brand blanched. Suddenly, keeping up with Yellowjacket seemed a lot less important.

Left to his whims, Hank cared little if Brand followed him or not, concerned only with dealing with the Kree. The maverick Avenger pursued the alien intruders down to the detention block, where an advance team of four Kree had already secured the Universal Weapon and now sought to secure Ronan himself.

"Grand Accuser, if it pleases you, we have liberated the Universal Weapon and would present it to you." The commanding officer respectfully told Ronan as he stood opposite them behind a ray-field. Before the Kree could spring him, however, Yellowjacket attacked. His stingers slammed into one Kree before his fists collided with a second. The commander was flung forward and bounced off the shield, Ronan appearing disinterested. Soon Hank had all the Kree on the ground except for the commander, brawling with him as they slammed off wall after wall.

His comms abruptly crackled. "Yellowjacket! This is Brand, I need you up top now!"

"Not… a good… time!" Yellowjacket rasped as he fought his way out of a chokehold. Abigail kept talking as the hero traded blows with the Kree commander.

"Here's the deal. The Kree have a device here counting down to blow. If we don't stop it there's going to be a crater where New York is."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Yellowjacket demanded as he parried a punch and landed an uppercut.

"I need you to stop being crazy for five minutes and be Hank Pym!" Abigail exclaimed. Yellowjacket ignored her, focusing on gaining the upper hand over the Kree. "I swear, if you don't come up here yourself I will send She-Hulk down there to drag you up by your toes!" The SWORD director finally blurted out. Slowed by her threat, Hank sighed in an over dramatic near-childish manner.

"Ugh, fine."

A flash of light from his flowing Pym particles caused him to shrink out of sight, leaving the Kree commander dazed and confused. The only member of his team left standing, he continued his duty and freed Ronan before offering the Universal Weapon to him. The Grand Accuser accepted it and, wordlessly, teleported them both very far away…

Returning to the deck topside, Yellowjacket found Brand and She-Hulk standing by a simple octagonal device sitting on the deck. A simple screen display a series of alien characters in green, gradually dwindling in shape and number. He recognized them to be Kree characters from his brief experiences learning from Mar-Vell. Kneeling beside the bomb he search for a panel, circuitry, any form of sensitive electronic he could possibly exploit. Unfortunately it was a compact device and he lacked the tools necessary to even try to hack the thing.

"Yeah, I've got nothing. It's going to explode. You've got about twenty-five seconds." He concluded. Abigail blanched.

"I can't evacuate two million people, there's not enough time!" She exclaimed.

"Fine. Clear out, I'll rip it free and toss it into the sky as hard as I can." She-Hulk strode forward to act on her words only to be stopped by Hank.

"Do that and you'll still wipe out the top fifty floors of every high rise in the city, as well as any air traffic in the state."

Brand was growing desperate for answers. "You have to do something!"

"It's going to detonate. I can't stop it." Yellowjacket responded with a shrug. He glanced at the bomb one more time. "Ten seconds." Abigail Brand was just about frantic now.

"Pym…"

"My name is Yellowjacket." He curtly retorted, drawing his Pym disc launcher from his belt. Taking aim at the bomb, he fired a single shot that struck the device and caused it to vanish in a flash of yellow light. "Two seconds." Both She-Hulk and Brand were rooted for a moment, watching in shock and half-expecting an explosion to go off in their faces. But nothing happened and the air remained perfectly still.

"I-I don't… What did you do?" Brand spluttered after a moment, looking to Yellowjacket.

"I sent it to the Microverse. It just wiped out a few molecules." He explained in a calm, nonchalant tone while holstering his launcher. Brand's expression contorted from stunned shock to abject fury.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place? Why'd you wait?!" She shouted. Unfazed by her outburst, Yellowjacket smirked.

"I just wanted to see the look on your face." He replied simply. Abigail Brand was practically trembling with rage, her fists clenched and her teeth grinding together. She wanted to lash out and hit the man… but She-Hulk beat her to it, socking Yellowjacket on the jaw with enough force to knock him out in one shot.

"No need to thank me. I've been wanting to do that." Jennifer remarked.

"You and me both." Brand replied. She-Hulk held out her hand and Abigail, surprisingly, high-fived her.


The battle for the sun was proving to be an uphill one. Attacking the Kree battlecruiser, Thor found himself rebuffed by a volley of cannonfire while Miss Marvel used her energy field to absorb the onslaught that ensued. Vision darted forward, energy rounds passing through his intangible body as he drew close and then solidified his mass, rebounding off a reflective forcefield. "My intangible form is unable to pass through the craft's energy field." He announced. "That was… unexpected."

Seeing as they needed a new plan, Tony conversed with their Kree ally. "Mar-Vell, we need a way to take down those shields-" He paused and turned, generating a forcefield with his Iron Man armor that blocked an incoming salvo.

"There isn't one. That's the whole point. The shields are designed to be impenetrable."

The answer was not to his liking and Tony thought hard. He considered everything they knew about the Kree, every encounter they had been a part of up until this point. "No… Something can get through them. Kree ships have transporter tech that gets through shields, right?" He asked. A look of realization and understanding dawned over Mar-Vell's face.

"Of course, there's a protected Kree energy frequency." He affirmed. "Can your armor emit a modulated pulse burst?"

"All I need is the frequency." Tony answered.

"Match mine," Raising his gauntlet, Mar-Vell fired a sustained energy beam that struck the battlecruiser and caused its shields to ripple. His HUD sweeping over the energy beam while internal circuitry modulated the power output of his weapons, Iron Man promptly unleashed a unibeam blast from his ARC reactor that struck the shield and began disintegrating the protective bubble. Gaps formed as the energy was overloaded by a direct assault from the one frequency it was tailored to be weak to.

The bridge crew felt the affects directly as the entire vessel shuddered. Men scrambled for positions, orders were barked, and the ship's captain flew from his seat just as Mjolnir smashed through the forward hull and obliterated his post. Thor and Miss Marvel arrived through the newly-created hole. "Destroy them!" The captain bellowed and the bridge crew took up arms to fight.

"My apologies," Vision intoned as he phased through the hull and then through the armed Kree, knocking them out as his limbs inflicted momentary trauma sufficient to sedate them, "but I will not allow you to do that." He stated as the rest of the team poured into the battlecruiser.


Much like the last one to attack Earth, this Kree sentry heavily armed and armored, more than a match for the team of Avengers. "Cap, watch out!" Wasp cried in warning as she riddled the sentry with biostings. Energy bolts erupted from its optics, slamming into Cap's shield as Black Panther quickly moved Doctor Corbeau to safety. Cybernaut and Hawkeye joined the fray, the archer loosing three taser arrows in quick succession to draw its attention. The mutant pounced on top of the mechanoid,

"You're all mine this time!" His mind began to intertwine with the sentry's systems. Unlike his previous encounter, he had learned enough Kree tech from Mar-Vell to sand a better chance at controlling the metal monstrosity. So when it's optics imploded and shorted out, he knew he'd done his job. Unfortunately, the sentry had plenty more weapons available. Palm-mounted conductors blasted him off and Hawkeye struck with an explosive arrow to buy him time to move, only to be attacked and sent sprawling.

"What happened to the rest of your team?" Panther questioned Corbeau as he eased him behind suitable cover.

"I… stayed behind to… cover the crew… as they evacuated." The doctor answered.

"Stay here." Sprinting over to a functioning control panel, a plan formed in T'Challa's mind. He looked over the various toggles and switches one by one, studying each screen in an attempt to discern which would help him realize his plan. For a moment he sorely wished he had Cybernaut's technical acumen.

Said technopath blasted the sentry with his plasma casters just as Wasp unloaded another volley of biostings. Both were promptly concussed by energy blasts from the palm emitters, leaving only Captain America to take on the mechanoid. Ricocheting his shield repeatedly off the armor plating, his fists plowed into the sentry over and over until it kicked him away with enough force to bounce him off the roof of the bridge and drop him like a stone.

It's sensors detected a single life form remaining and the sentry moved on Black Panther, attempting to get the drop on him while his back was turned. "Panther, what're you doing?!" Hawkeye sputtered, trying to pick himself up. T'Challa did not reply and remained immobile, waiting until the sentry was towering behind him and charging its palm emitters.

Then, with a few quick keystrokes and the pull of a lever, Panther activated the Falchion's transporter and teleported the sentry right into the sun where it was disintegrated.

With the action abating, the Avengers gradually picked themselves up. "What was that?" Hawkeye questioned.

"I teleported the Kree sentry into the sun." Black Panther explained. "Thank you for distracting it while I learned the ship's systems."

Cybernaut helped Wasp to her feet before patting him on the back. "Anything for a friend. But, next time, maybe let me handle the tech stuff." He graciously responded. Hawkeye was in a much less gratuitous mood.

"I seriously hate you." He grumbled.

With things under control, Steve reached out to their other team. "This is Captain America to Iron Man, do you copy? We've secured the Falchion."


"We're about five seconds away from securing the Kree bridge, Cap." Iron Man promptly replied. Only the ship's captain was still up to pose a problem and, right now, the Avengers had him surrounded. "You've lost, pal. Give up." Iron Man ordered.

"Lost?" The captain scoffed. "The Empire has already won." With that boastful proclamation, he turned and fired on the ship's command terminal, destroying it in a shower of sparks and laserfire. Iron Man and Miss Marvel promptly downed him with a combined photon-repulsor blast.

"These Kree are skilled warriors, but are overly confident." Thor remarked as the captain fell still on the floor.

"Yeah. 'The Empire has already won'? What's that supposed to mean?" Iron Man concurred.

"It means that the generator ships are activating." Mar-Vell dourly interrupted. "We're too late."

As much as the Avengers wished it wasn't so, he was right.

The five space-borne generator craft interlinked a green energy aura that coalesced into a singularity bridging space and time… and already the sun's flares were being drawn into it…

As gravity readings began to spike, the team departed the battlecruiser just in time for it and the generator ships to be sucked into the singularity. "The wormhole is now active. At this rate of growth, the wormhole will irreparably compromise the sun in six-point-two minutes." Vision observed as his central processor ran countless variables and crunched massive numbers.

"Thanks for pointing that out, Vision." Iron Man sighed.

"We have to do something." Miss Marvel stated urgently as more flares from the sun were sucked into the growing wormhole. "The generator ships, we have to blow them up."

"They're inside the wormhole now. We can't touch them." Mar-Vell said and Carol growled in annoyance.

"Come on! We have to do something!"

The news was broadcast to the second team, who reacted with mixed emotions. But Steve was determined to do something about it. "The generators are inside the space tunnel?" Captain America asked. "Then we go in there and take them down from the inside out."

"Can we do that?" Wasp asked.

"I don't know nearly enough about this field of science to answer positively or not." Cybernaut replied.

"Iron Man, Captain Mar-Vell, are you copying this?" Black Panther asked.

"We're reading you T'Challa."

"Travelling through a wormhole is nearly instantaneous. Locating, firing on, and hitting five targets inside it would be nearly impossible." Peter Corbeau told them all. The gravity of the situation set in. It seemed impossible.

"Not for me." Hawkeye said simply. There was no bravado behind his words, no ego swelling his voice. Just a simple determination and a confidence in his own skills.

"What if we could somehow slow things down? Try and anchor ourselves inside the wormhole?" Iron Man suggested.

"That's not poss-" Mar-Vell was prepared to respond negatively when a thought occurred to him. He looked to the Avengers with a spark of realization. "The Falchion… it has a tractor beam, it could theoretically lock onto the Quinjet and hold you in sub-space. But the strain would tear the ship apart in minutes."

"Hawkeye will have to shoot fast then." Iron Man replied.

"You don't understand." Mar-Vell continued with a shake of his head. "Once the wormhole collapses, he'll be on the other side. He'd be trapped alone in Kree space with no way home."

"Nay. Not alone." Thor cut in. "I will accompany him."

"Me, too." Miss Marvel added firmly.

"As will I." Vision decided.

Checking his team for their confirmation, Iron Man turned back to Mar-Vell. "Looks like we've got a plan then."

Cap had his team prep for departure with Wasp and Hawkeye carrying Corbeau to the Quinjet while Black Panther and Cybernaut prepped the Falchion's control nodules. Captain America took the controls and prepped the Quinjet for launch. "You know, buddy, if you wanna head back to the jet I can do this no problem." Cybernaut said.

"I am aware, my friend. But I would not think to leave this entire task to you. No matter how powerful your mutation may be, the old adage 'many hands make light work' still rings true." Black Panther replied. Connor chuckled.

"Alright, I get it. You can finish up the tethering process, I'm gonna go relay the stress-point data to the Quinjet so we can cycle the engines. Don't want to strain the tractor beam and cause Hawkeye to miss his shot."

"That is a better task for you, as we can always count on you to be thorough." Black Panther concurred.

Making his way back to their vessel,Cybernaut uploaded the data and Cap primed the thrusters. "We're all on board and ready to detach the Quinjet, Panther. Double time." He ordered.

"Understood, Captain. Tracking systems are locked." T'Challa replied. Things were going well.

All of a sudden, a detonation from the stricken Falchion caused the ship's stabilizers to conk out, tearing it away from the Quinjet as it began to drift through space while fresh smoke sprouted from new flames peppering its hull.

"What happened?" Wasp worriedly asked.

"Some sort of explosion on the Falchion." Cap noted. "Panther, do you copy? You have to get to the airlock right now, soldier!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that." T'Challa's voice was strained on the other end as if he were fighting to stay upright. He struggled to sit in the command chair while the ship's computer blared grim alarms.

"Engines failure imminent. Automatic computer systems offline. Warning. You are on a collision course with the sun. Warning."

"Panther! What's happening?" Iron Man asked.

"The shipboard computers cannot maintain the tractor beam signal. I must activate it manually." Black Panther responded as he keyed up the Falchion's databanks. "I will be staying on board the ship."

The words hit the team like a death knell. "What?!" Cybernaut exclaimed.

"That's not an option, T'Challa. Hang on, we're coming to get you." Captain America stated.

Outside, Thor was just as ready to act. "He needs our help. We must-"

"You won't make it in time, Thor. And without the tractor beam, we have no hope of destroying the generators. The sun dies. Earth dies." Mar-Vell interjected. No one said anything but they unanimously agreed he was telling the truth, even if it was a bitter pill to swallow.

All of them, that is, except for Cybernaut.

He unlatched his harness. "I'm not leaving him behind."

"Connor! Where are you going?" Cap called after him as he moved aft.

"I just have to make contact with the ship! I can activate the Falchion's transporter and teleport him over here when we're in the clear!" He called back. It was risky to attempt while on the move but he wasn't giving up. Not on his friend.

"Connor… this is it. This is the moment Kang talked about." Tony gently pressed. "Remember the future he showed us? Remember the sun? The decision we make right now, this is what determines the future. We don't shut down this wormhole, it's over for everyone." Cybernaut paused. He didn't want to heed the man. His fingers hovered over the airlock access.

"Iron Man is correct, Connor. This is the only thing that matters." Black Panther agreed over comms. Hope dwindled and the mutant beat his fist against the wall.

"I'm not leaving you! You're my friend, T'Challa!" He cried.

"I know. And you are my friend, too. You persisted even when I lost faith in both the Avengers and myself. I could not ask for having someone as true as you in my life, Connor Peterson. I only do now as my father did. I protect Wakanda. But unlike any other Black Panther, I have had the privilege of doing it by your side as an Avenger." T'Challa said, calm and collected, ready to face his destiny. Connor's shoulders slumped and Janet helped him back to his seat as he held his head in his hands, thoroughly distraught.

Iron Man and his team boarded. "We're in. Cap?"

"I know what to do." Steve grimly replied, none too thrilled to leave a man behind. "Hawkeye, Panther, get ready." He ordered, trying to keep his voice even. The archer keyed up an array of secondary systems, displaying readouts across his console.

"Panther's tractor beam is on. Weapons online." Hawkeye announced, taking the targeting computer.

"Clint…" T'Challa's voice broke through the comms, tinged with humour. "Don't miss." The archer smirked ruefully. "Connor… Wakanda ngonaphakade." The mutant perked up hearing his friend's native tongue.

"Wakanda Forever." He whispered mournfully.

"On three… two… one." Captain America counted down as he guided the Quinjet into the wormhole.

Buffeted by temporal forces, the Quinjet shuddered violently as a churning vortex of colours and lights swept past their viewports. The Avengers held on to the ship and each other as tightly as they could, Captain America and Hawkeye fighting their controls to keep everything straight and on course.

Up ahead, the latent generator ships hovered in the temporal slipstream, creating their own anchor to keep the Kree wormhole active. Hawkeye fought to acquire simultaneous targeting locks, prepping five missiles as his view became distorted. He could only trust the blips on his computer as the generator ring came into range, hoping the numbers would be accurate.

"Hawkeye! Now!" Cap shouted as he jerked the stick hard left to stay level. Simultaneously locking pings resounded and Hawkeye hit the triggers without hesitation.

Five missiles erupted from the forward launcher of the Quinjet, each one guided by a complex electronic brain that translated coordinates into a series of 1s and 0s. Each one struck their mark, detonating the generator ships one by one in a move that would be forever remembered as a first in the history of the Kree Empire.

Back in Earth space, T'Challa clung to the controls as he watched the wormhole grow fluid and distort. All at once the singularity collapsed on itself and winked out of existence. Breathing a sigh of relief, T'Challa turned back to the sun as it grew brighter and more intense. The Falchion tore itself apart as it dove towards the stellar body until it was destroyed in a flash of white light from it's detonating drive core…


Elsewhere in the universe…

The blinding wash of color and lights was abruptly ripped away as the Quinjet returned to realspace. They had no idea where they were, only that they had survived the encounter as the Quinjet's power systems cycled and each console rebooted. Wasp looked up, her arms wrapped around Cybernaut, and the two exchanged glances. The tear streaks were visible behind his visor. She wanted to kiss him, to hold him, to tell her how sorry she was. Black Panther was gone… his best friend was gone.

"Are… A-Are we alive?" She wondered aloud as the team righted themselves.

"Not for long." Miss Marvel muttered grimly, her eyes glued to the sight just beyond them. The team gazed out the viewport with growing horror as they found themselves facing a threat unlike any other…

It was a massive armada of Kree ships. Command carriers, battlecruisers, starfighters, all arrayed in perfect formation beyond count. The Quinjet, and its occupants, seemed utterly dwarfed. So small and insignificant in comparison to the vessels waiting them.

"Is that…?" Cybernaut trailed off.

"The Imperial Kree Navy." Mar-Vell answered.

The technopath swallowed nervously. "…all of it?" He croaked. Mar-Vell thought for a moment.

"Part of it."