Cerion observed as the Sentinel troops dragged a huge ring from Star Killer's carriage hold into the open. The huge metal ring was the culmination of his work with the Kryptonian Phantom drive and the adjustments he made with the Jump drive he took from Kree ships. The space bridge he set up on Earth for ease of transport between Koron and California was now scaled up after careful research. The space bridge was now repurposed for interstellar travel rather than for instantaneous travel within the reaches of a planet.
The need for an interstellar space bridge became urgent when Cerion realized he lacked the troops to defend C24 from a full-scale Kree invasion. Despite his powers and the current disposition of his forces, he was acutely aware they couldn't defend the planet without some serious casualties. The Kree Empire, with its vast territory and destructive power, posed a significant threat that required a strategic response.
While he had the necessary weapons capability and a modest number of super soldiers, the Kree Empire was vast, and its destructive power was scary enough to be cautious when dealing with such a powerful interstellar empire. They could deploy a weapon aimed at destroying the planet or even the star of the system.
To avoid such a catastrophic event from affecting those under his command, Cerion expanded upon the space bridge and came up with a way to safely and quickly evacuate everyone from C24. That was how he came up with a huge ring transponder that transmits energy and matter through the folds of space.
Unlike the Jump drives or Phantom drives, the new space bridge was designed to transfer matter and energy to a corresponding ring transponder plugged into its network. The inspiration for this innovative concept came to Cerion when he stumbled upon the ninth season of the Stargate series on the Syfy channel. The large gate network that could fold space and facilitate the instant transport of matter and energy immediately caught his attention, inspiring him to make the gate transponder.
The initial space bridge he designed was only capable of working within a limited range, and it required an intricate satellite network to ensure the precision of the matter and energy stream. The new gate transponders he developed had none of those shortcomings and complexity.
Of course, there was one small problem.
However, there was a significant limitation. The gate could only sustain the portal for fifteen minutes before the cooling process forced it to shut down. The immense energy requirements for sustaining an interstellar portal were enormous, and the cooling systems involved in preventing the collapse of the gate's superstructure were similarly taxing and time-consuming. Any delay or malfunction in this process could have catastrophic consequences for the mission.
As the Sentinel bots stabilised the transponder gate, Cerion sprang into action and worked to set it up with three Arc reactors running at peak capacity. On the other hand, the bots diligently worked to install the cooling manifold to the gate.
After ten minutes of intense work, the gate transponder was finally ready. Without further ado, Cerion switched the gate online, and the negative space inside the ring crackled with energy as space folded within itself. The process was a testament to Cerion's ingenuity and determination, as well as the advanced technology at his disposal.
"Sir, we are getting a positive reading from the other gate." A Sentinel bot working the gate's system said.
"Send the access codes. Engage the shield and stabilise the portal." Cerion ordered.
A portal formed between the giant-sized ring with a bright flare of white light and a swishing sound. A thin white film of energy formed in the negative space inside the ring, creating a spectacle that left everyone present in awe. Once the security codes were received on their end, the gate's shield was dropped on their end while making space for new arrivals.
The first thing to emerge from the portal was a small drone followed by large trucks and tanks pulling orbital defence equipment necessary for C24's safety. The cannons were dismantled into three parts and required to be reassembled for operation, but that could be easily arranged. More Sentinel bots marched out of the portal, carrying tools, construction materials, food, medicine, and other pieces of equipment in huge crates to set up their new base of operations in C24.
As they worked, a sense of accomplishment filled the air, a testament to their resilience and determination in the face of adversity.
A truckload of food and medicinal supplies came next along came Bruce Banner.
"So, this is a whole new planet." Bruce said as he jumped down from the truck. "Not really all that different."
"Look up." Cerion said, pointing to the sky above.
Cerion chuckled when he saw the shock on Bruce's face. Two moons were seen in the blue sky, and one of the moons was far closer to the planet. The closeness of the moon offered a visual marvel in the sky. The position of the sun was such that the moon could be seen quite clearly from the planet's surface, even during the day.
"Whoa! This looks like Da Vinci painted a masterpiece on the sky." Bruce said in awe.
"You think this might be a good place to set up shop?" Cerion asked as he joined Bruce by setting his eyes on the beautiful view in the sky.
Cerion had to admit he was already leaning heavily on this planet as his favourite instead of Earth. There were no intolerable distracting sounds on the planet that were overwhelming his senses like it was on Earth. That alone was a huge plus point. Even though he had learned to suppress that sensory overload for the most part, he still felt the relative peace on C24 to be a refreshing experience.
'A low population is its own blessing.' Cerion mused.
"I think this might just be a good place to hang my coat, provided the space empires don't bomb us all into atoms." Bruce said.
"We'll make sure that never comes to pass, Bruce." Cerion patted his friend's shoulder. "Now, come. We have much work to do."
*****
Cerion watched dispassionately as the Kree prisoners were escorted towards the holding cells in Koron through the gate transponder. It was decided keeping all Kree prisoners on the planet was a bad idea. Therefore, it was decided to keep some prisoners in Koron in the cryo chamber. Fortunately, the same facilities that held the Wakandan prisoners were now free to hold the Kree prisoners from C24.
The Kree leadership, however, were held in C24 for ease of access. After all, they had a lot of interrogation to do to gain intelligence on the disposition of Kree forces scattered throughout the universe. Dark energy spectroscopy sensors were installed in key locations throughout the planet to keep close observation of space anomalies and distant star systems. With the deep space scanners, he hoped to pull the usual jump points of the Kree warships close to the star system he was occupying and mount defences around those areas.
'Now comes the real work.' Cerion thought.
Capturing the planet was one thing, but holding it was entirely another feat.
There were a gazillion problems in C24, and he was confident those problems would not go away anytime soon.
The most prominent problem was the shortage of food. He'd have been better prepared if he had had better intelligence reports from the spy satellites he had sent to observe C24.
When the Kree realised their critical military assets were destroyed by the orbital bombardment, they started destroying their food supplies and set the farmlands ablaze to deny any resources. It was a scorched earth policy, and the Kree were somewhat effective in carrying it out.
The Kyrlorians had survived the assault on their lives, but their farmlands and homes were burnt down. This resulted in the next crisis, which was the lack of housing for the former slaves. These problems were exacerbated by the onset of winter on C24, which required immediate solutions. The Kyrlorians were survivors, but even they couldn't hold on when they starved in the cold.
So, Cerion visited each of the Kyrlorian villages to see with his own eyes. He had the people in those villages who lost their homes transported to the Kree stronghold in the mountains. Since the Kree were imprisoned in cryo chambers, he was all too happy to give their lodgings to the Kyrlorians.
But that was not a solution for the long term.
The Kree stronghold hosted a lot of Kree tech and weapons. He had found a lot of gliders and computers within this stronghold. This made the contents extremely valuable.
The data that could be recovered from the place would give them valuable insight into the Kree holdings spread across the universe. The stronghold was built by hollowing out a rocky hill with many layers inside. This made it a security risk, as many of those layers of the stronghold were not adequately vetted by his men or the drones. It was a risk he had to take for now, as he wasn't about to condone a large group of people staying in the wilderness as the weather worsened.
There was one option he hadn't considered yet.
"The Dauntless is en route with the Kyrlorian refugees." Michelle reported as she stood by his side to watch the sunrise from the cliff of the Kree stronghold.
"Their numbers?" he asked curiously.
"As of now, it stands now… this is the count…" Michelle activated her armband, and it projected a number.
"1,28,578!" Cerion muttered aghast, staring at the number with wide eyes. "We can't hold this many people in the stronghold."
"We might have the capacity to give them lodgings aboard the Star Killer." Michelle said with a thoughtful look.
"No." Cerion immediately disagreed, "We can't use our ships to give refuge to these people. Those ships are essential for the defence of the planet."
"Then what do you suggest we do? We can't host them, nor can we feed them." Michelle raised the crux of the issue.
Cerion could only observe silence as he couldn't think of any immediate solution to the food problem. He had successfully conquered a planet, but now he was faced with the reality of holding a planet and all that entailed.
"We'll have to make alternate arrangements. We need to transport food and other essential supplies from Earth to C24."
"But we don't have that many supplies in our base." Michelle argued.
"Then we must procure it from a source on Earth." said Cerion with frustration, knowing the risks of such a venture.
"That involves all kinds of risks. It won't go unnoticed if we suddenly buy huge volumes of food and other essentials." Michelle reminded him.
"What choice do we have?" Cerion threw his hands up in frustration as he paced back and forth, "We can't use the same medicine the humans use on the Kyrlorians. So, we must ensure they get nutritious food. Besides, this is a temporary situation. I'm sure we can find a good place on the planet where we can relocate these people."
"I'll try my best to find a supplier." Michelle said with a thoughtful frown, "I still have contacts in certain places that could help us."
"Good." Cerion rubbed his forehead tiredly, "Any resources you want will be provided by Optima. I will oversee the developments here."
Michelle nodded and left to activate the space bridge while he stayed back and helped the refugees that were already present in the Kree stronghold.
When the Dauntless finally came with the rest of the Kyrlorian refugees, the stronghold could no longer host the numbers, which forced them to look for alternate lodgings. Thankfully, the Kyrlorians understood the situation and were extremely cooperative.
Since he was hesitant to use any antibiotics or any kind of human-made medicine on the Kyrlorian population, there was not a great deal of need for medical supplies. But food from Earth had its own downsides. The Kyrlorians might not be compatible with bacteria, chemical fertilisers and pesticides present in Earth's food products.
For now, he was not deploying Earth's medicines without some detailed experimentation.
Therefore, Cerion employed the healer discs en-mass to restore the Kyrlorians to peak physical conditions. The vita ray bombardments were a concentrated blast of energy that imparted energy into cells to self-heal. But he was only employing those on people with minimum bodily health determined by the medical tricorder.
For the moment, he had to dip into the reserve stocks for his men and judiciously share it with the Kyrlorians. By the time the twin moons of C24 became visible in the sky and night fell on the continent, a slew of tents sprung up around the Kree stronghold.
For the time being, the former Kyrlorian slaves were resting with their lives intact. Their hunger was temporarily sated by the rations that Cerion brought to C24 and what they could salvage from the planet. He had already sent out search parties to look for more food on the planet to keep their food stores from drying out until alternate supply lines could be established.
*****
The next day, things were less hectic.
They still hadn't solved the food shortage crisis, but they had seen some improvements in the medicine aspect.
The Kyrlorians had experience with gathering natural medicines. Therefore, they made the request for aid, which he was happy to provide. Their transport vehicles and the few Kree troop transporters they salvaged were used to ferry the Kyrlorian medics to gather herbs and seeds from around the planet.
Cerion also sent several of his drones to learn the art of natural medicine practised by the Kyrlorian medics. It also helped in recording the flora and fauna of the planet. He also sent several Sentinels equipped with scanners to unearth any other secret hangers of the Kree Empire on the planet. There were reconnaissance missions arranged to look for survivors in the planet's forests and caves, which was no easy task under the circumstances.
The only good thing that was going his way was the Kyrlorians being so cooperative.
It was thanks to that cooperation that he made an important discovery.
"Gravitonium." Cerion muttered.
Cold winds blew against his face as Cerion stared down at the inconspicuous mine hidden by an intricate cave system and a carpet of snow. He held a scanner against the entrance of the mine, and the energy levels were off the charts.
"The fuel that fires the war machine of the Kree Empire." Cerion muttered as he stared into the dark mine.
"How did this mine go unnoticed for this long?" he asked curiously at his Kyrlorian companion.
"We never revealed the mine's find to the Kree, Blessed One. We knew what it'd mean for our people should we have revealed the mine."
"You can call me Cerion." Cerion said, smiling gently at his companion.
"The Blessed One is humble." the Kyrlorian said with bowed head, making Cerion sigh.
The Kyrlorians' cooperation was only triumphed by their fanatic worship. It was the same kind of worship he saw daily amongst his human companions. Only very few were willing to accept the truth of his nature of existence. Everyone else believed he was their angel sent from heaven despite evidence to the contrary.
Of course, he was aware that worship could turn on a dime if the Kyrlorians starved under his watch.
Cerion opened his armband and opened communications with the base.
"Optima, mark my position. There is a Gravitonium mine on my position. Send word to Koron that we need mining drones." Cerion ordered.
"Yes, sir."
"Any word from Michelle?" he asked, hoping to get some good news on that front.
"I'm afraid not. Miss Michele has yet to establish contact." said Optima from the other end of the com channel.
Cerion sighed in frustration before turning to his Kyrlorian guide.
"Come, Ganaer. Let's return to base unless you have more ground-shattering secrets to share."
"No, Blessed One." Ganaer dipped his head.
Cerion rolled his eyes as he walked back to the transporter. The cockpit opened as he neared the transporter and climbed aboard the smaller ship designed to transport construction materials.
He sagged into the pilot's seat while Ganaer took a seat beside him. The engines started firing up, and it slowly hovered above the ground before he applied the boosters, which made it take off into the sky. As they journeyed back to the stronghold, they made some stops along the way to dump the construction materials and build Bailey bridges across several rivers.
*****
The gate flared to life with a blue barrier.
"The bridge has a stable connection, sir." said one of the operatives monitoring the gate.
Cerion just nodded while the energy barrier surrounding the gate was dismissed once they received proper security codes from the other end. Michelle stepped out of the gate, and that brought some relief to him.
"Please tell me you have good news." Cerion said, looking hopefully at Michelle.
"It could be good news."
"It's conditional?" Cerion looked at her in confusion.
"It is." Michelle nodded as she stood before him while the gate remained open.
"All right. What is it you have found?"
"I have two options for you. I can give you a short-term supply of wheat, rice, spice, and fruits. You name it, and it is yours. But that supply can be cut off because of the uncertain economy due to war."
"All right. What about the other option?" Cerion asked.
"The other option guarantees the unrestricted supply of grains, millets, and anything that we need for as long as we want."
"That sounds like a good deal fit for our needs." Cerion said with a thoughtful look, "But I guess there is a catch."
"There is." Michelle sighed, "They promise complete discretion, but they have a long list of demands. They're under the impression that I'm working for the CIA or SHIELD. So, their demands are quite steep."
"What are their demands?" Cerion asked with a frown. "Who are they anyway?"
"I reached out to a couple of old contacts in the Mossad. They are experts and wield great influence in certain South Asian polities." Michele said with a tired sigh, "But first, they want to meet you."
"You told them about me?" Cerion asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No. They wanted to meet my boss." Michele said with a roll of her eyes, "I never told them anything about you or exactly why we need the resources in the first place."
Cerion frowned as he pondered the choices before him.
Ultimately, it was not a difficult decision to make, considering the Kyrlorian refugees depended on food from Earth until they could reclaim their farmlands.
"Fine!" Cerion decided with a sigh, "Arrange a meeting with these people. I'll hear their demands."
It was not the demands that he was worried about. He worried about how to extract these food consignments from Earth without compromising their capabilities and anonymity. It was not as if he were the only one capable of tracking suspicious transactions using shell companies and shady accounts.
AN:
To read ahead of the update schedule; pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre.
For artwork related to the fic:
https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf