Chapter 73 - 73: Shadows of the Kree

The jungle was silent. Too silent. Skye stood frozen, still trying to process what had just happened. The towering blue-skinned warrior—the so-called Kree soldier—had just walked off, repeating Gene's implanted message like a broken machine. A minute ago, he was ready to split her in half with his axe. Now, he was stumbling away, muttering words that would send his empire chasing shadows. Skye exhaled sharply, her ribs aching from the earlier fight. Her body was screaming at her to sit down, to rest—but her mind was racing. Gene Mason—the infamous "Black Devil" of S.H.I.E.L.D.—had just saved her life. Why? The man was an S-Class fugitive, someone Fury had put on the top of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watchlist. He was a ghost, an enigma that even Stark's advanced tracking systems couldn't pin down. Yet here he was, in the middle of a South American jungle, casually dealing with alien invaders like it was just another Tuesday. And then, just as suddenly as he arrived—he vanished. Skye clenched her fists, frustration boiling under her skin. "Ugh, what the hell is going on?" she muttered. She needed answers. Her comms were fried from the explosion, but she still had a backup transmitter in her gear. She stumbled toward the wreckage of her outpost, digging through the scattered equipment. After a few seconds, she found it—a small, handheld S.H.I.E.L.D. emergency beacon. She switched it on. The red light flickered twice before stabilizing. At least something's working. She took a deep breath and pressed the call button. "This is Agent Skye. I've just been attacked by an unknown hostile—alien in nature. I need an extraction ASAP." Static. Then, a voice crackled through the receiver. "Agent Skye? This is Agent Hill. What's your status?" Maria Hill. That was a good sign. If Hill was responding, then S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't completely written her off yet. "Not great," Skye admitted. "My base is gone, my comms are fried, and I just got my ass handed to me by a seven-foot-tall blue-skinned warrior who called himself a 'Kree.'" Silence on the other end. Then— "Did you say Kree?" Hill's voice had a sharp edge to it now. "Yeah. Big guy. Looked like he could bench-press a tank. Spoke some weird alien gibberish, then switched to broken English. He kept calling me a 'weapon' and said something about 'returning to the Kree Empire.'" Another pause. "…Agent Skye, stay put. I'm sending a Quinjet to your location." "Wait, hold on—Hill, what do you know about the Kree?" Skye pressed. "Because I'm starting to feel like I just got dropped into some cosmic-level conspiracy here." Hill hesitated. "I'll explain when you're secure. Just hold your position." The line cut out. Skye cursed under her breath. She hated being left in the dark. She glanced around at the wreckage, her mind running through everything that had happened. The Kree Empire. The Earth Testing Grounds. And then there was Gene Mason— What was he even doing here? Before she could dive deeper into her thoughts, a sudden tremor rippled through the ground. Skye's instincts screamed at her. She spun around— —and saw a figure standing at the edge of the clearing. Unlike the brutish Kree warrior from before, this one was different. His armor was sleek, almost ceremonial, adorned with intricate silver engravings. His face was concealed beneath a dark metallic helmet, save for the two piercing blue eyes that glowed beneath it. A long black cape fluttered behind him, despite the still air. He exuded authority. Power. Skye's heart pounded. This wasn't just another grunt. This was someone important. The figure took a slow step forward. "You are more resilient than expected," he said, his voice smooth, calculated. Skye immediately raised her fists, knowing it was a futile gesture. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" she demanded. The armored figure tilted his head, almost amused. "I am Korath the Pursuer." Skye's breath hitched. She didn't recognize the name—but she knew that tone. It was the voice of a predator that had just found its prey. "I am here to retrieve what belongs to the Kree Empire." His glowing eyes locked onto her. "And that means you." __ Elsewhere… Gene Mason stood atop a high-altitude surveillance drone, watching the scene unfold through his visor. Korath had arrived faster than expected. That meant Ronan was taking this more seriously than he had hoped. Tch. Annoying. He had hoped his little trick with the Kree soldier would buy more time. But if Ronan had sent one of his elites, then things were escalating faster than planned. Gene exhaled, his breath fogging against the inside of his helmet. Time to adjust the strategy. He turned his attention skyward. High above the jungle, hidden from the human eye, an object was descending toward Earth's atmosphere. It wasn't a ship. It was something smaller—faster. A Kree Advance Reconnaissance Robot. So they're already sending in the big guns. Gene's fingers tightened into a fist. This just got a lot more interesting. -------------- Sёarch* The NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. T/N: Access Advance Chapters on my P@treon: [email protected]/MPHFics