Chapter 18.1- All of Infinity in the Palm of my Hands

At the end of the day, we needed to take two ships. One flagship, the Vanguard, and the other, the troop career for the team of Fifty Kylosians that had expressed desire to come with me and been chosen for their lack of familial attachments and their phenomonal combat scores and tactical awareness. They were the best of the best from AIKO’s graduating class, and that would have to be enough for us. We’d see how that matched up against Kree intelligence and soldiers, however. 

“Are you ready to go” The woman asked. Just like before, she shone with an intensity that could have put some stars to shame. Captain Marvel was visible from one end of the solar system to the other. From the information I had, I could see that the brightness was at least partially actively maintained. It wasn’t just a byproduct of her powers,. How could I tell? The fact that she’d been basically undetectable when looking for the opportunity to intervene with the fight against the Kree Starships made me pretty certain it wasn’t a constant effect, and common sense made it easy to conclude that shining like a second sun wasn’t her default state. It was probably a defence/intimidation tactic that she employed when meeting with possible hostiles to make them wary of facing her, but if she was like that as a default setting, then I had to wonder at how strong she could possibly be. And all this was based on power granted by a single stone. It made me wonder at the true potential of the infinity stones. Getting one to study would be imperative at some point or the other. What exactly gave the gems so much power? And what could they do? Surely their power was not entirely limited to the area reality that they governed. If it was, then how would the Space Stone have given her strength, and energy blasts. Let’s not even get into the mind stone and super speed. 

There had to be something about them. Som thing different that extended beyond the aspect of reality they governed. 

“Yes, we are. The Army of New Kylos is with you, Carol Danvers” I said to her, and she nodded. 

“Good. We head straight to Xander now. Nova Command is waiting for us” She said. 
I nodded at her, before making my offer. “Would you prefer to ride in my flagship instead? I doubt flying everywhere would be completely comfortable” I said to her, and she gave me a long look. I was almost taken aback by the intensity in her gaze. In the way in which she stared at me, looking as if she was assessing everything from my threat level to my worth as a living being before she finally replied. 

“Yes. But no  funny business” She said, and I nodded without bothering to ask what she meant by funny business. It was clear that the woman had trust issues as large as the Galaxy, and even more other and further issues. Me from my old life would have tried to find out more. Maybe even tried to help. I’d had quite a crush on Brie Larson. But now? Maybe it was the Kryptonian physiology, or even Zod’s training in the military, but while I felt such desires, it was child’s play for me to ignore them. 

“Welcome abroad, the Vanguard.” I said grandiosely as she followed behind me as we walked into my flagship. All the Kylosians were aboard the Death Star, much larger than this ship, but with comparitively less amenities. They would want for nothing, but the ride would just not be as comfortable as this one. 

“This is quite a ship” She said with a whistle as she looked around. I could understand her reaction. I’d had much the same when I’d stepped into it. It was a lot more like a yacht than a space ship in a lot of ways. If a Rolls Royce was a yacht on wheels, then The Vanguard could best be described as a Yacht in space. The exterior was all Kryptonian steel, made to be pure and durable, but in the interior, it was a whole different story. There was not a single inch of steel to be seen by the naked eyes. Every surface was either lined with soft wood, leather, or a half a dozen other materials that combined for a luxury feel. Even the entrance, the hanger that opened up to the outside had steps that were coated in a soft rug that made it feel like you should have taken off your shoes outside. Cleanliness would not be an issue, but it still made one worry. White carpet running the entire area of the entrance did nothing to assuage that worry. 

“Yes it is” I said, agreeing with her. 

“Are you some sort of noble for something?” She asked next with a raised eyebrow as we stepped even further into the ship. 

“I’m king to a planetary system of seven whole planets” I said to her with a deadpan, making her eyebrow return to normal, and her face to show a bit of embarrassment.

“How could I have known that?” She asked. “All your people call you Captain so I thought you were a General of some sort. Not the kind to the whole damn thing” She said, and I could tell she was being honest. That made me wonder exactly how much information the Xanderians had bothered to gather about me before sending her here. Surely something as basic as that would not have missed them. And if it hadn’t, what did it say about the kind of relationship that Captain Marvel had with them if they hadn’t given her information that basic. 

“Are you aware that we hail from the same planet?” I asked her, an attempt for small talk, but also to get in with her. A combatant of her quality on my side would be useful for when the Mad Titan came calling. 

“Truly? Did the Kree experiment on you too?” She asked, echoes of anger in her voice. 

A/N; Completely against my will, I missed yesterday’s update. Please accept my apologies.