Galaxias: Retaliation

In Transit

Narrator's POV

While Nemesis was busy struggling with his conflicted feelings and emotions, the Rebel scenario was quite different. After Strange had sacrificed himself to save his friends, Max and Tania were stranded on Earth. Christopher opted to stay to learn to operate the Hulkbuster armour,and the Earth Rebels were more than glad to teach him. Soumyadeep lent Max a ship to reach the Rebel headquarters on the planet Zuma-Al 1, outside the solar system. It was a hidden city protected by a laser dome. All of their allies had gathered there. This was the final assault - to take back the universe.

The information and maps provided by Corvus Glaive, the traitor in Thanos's midst, had helped the Rebel cause tremendously. Day by bad more Chitauri bases were overrun, weapons caches seized, planets liberated, allies gathered. Kragil had arrived with his Scavenger army a few days prior. The Rebels had a huge influence on the universe. Now stronger than ever.

It was evening when Jim Kirk confronted Max in his chambers.

"Hey, you've been extremely quiet for the past few days. You okay?"

"Yeah," Max whispered, but anybody could tell he was lying. Lying on his cot, he refused to open his eyes to acknowledge his friend, the scene of Glen's betrayal and Strange's death constantly flashing before his eyes.

"You're thinking about them, aren't you? Stephen. Glen. Steve. But you're being too hard on yourself. None of that was your fault."

Sometimes Max wished people couldn't read him that easily. He angrily opened his eyes to see Jim standing at the foot of the bed crossing his arms. " I should have seen it, Jim. Glen was my friend. If I had noticed it earlier, I could have stopped him. Convince him. Get rid of all that shit Thanos put in his head. And Stephen..." Max closed his eyes,refusing to break down.

"It's not your fault." Jim said softly. "Glen and Stephen made their choices. Staying cooped in your room won't help. Make Stephen's sacrifice worth something. Worth fighting for." He took out a small disk from his pocket.
"Before you guys left, Stephen logged something in here. Said he wanted you to see it. You may find answers in here." He placed it in the nightstand." I'll be in my room if you need me." He left.

Max slowly got up. Reluctantly, he plugged in the disk in his holopad and waited for it to load up. The screen flickered, and Stephen's tired face came into view.

"Max if you're seeing this, that means I'm not longer with you. By now I trust you know what happened to your Captain. I know you blame me, and I'm partly responsible for it. But nobody can interfere with fate, not even a wizard. I do not deserve your forgiveness, I know, but know this that I had no other choice but to do what I did." He sighed, and wiped his forehead.

"On to more important matters. While you were unconscious, I consulted some allies of mine. Turns out Thanos wears his gauntlet 24*7. His life force is now attached to it and the Stones. If you can disable the gauntlet, you have a chance of winning. But remember, never let him close his fist or snap his fingers, or else all this would be for nothing. Save Steve, if you can. I can't see his future, for he is shrouded, but not beyond saving. Do what you feel right.

While you were unconscious, I had visions. Glimpses of all possible futures."

"How many did you see?" Max whispered to himself.

"14 million, six hundred and five." Stephen said, as if hearing to his listener.

A cold feeling of fear trickled down Max's spine. " How many did we win?" He asked, dreading the answer.

Stephen appeared weary, looking at Max with a sense of....fear?

"One."

****

Meanwhile, Thor and Christine neared a strange place in the galaxy. The Asgardian looked nostalgically at the place, while Christine was surprised at the sheer size and complexity of the place.

"Where are we?" she asked. Thor gave a weary smile as they landed on a platform. "This is Nidavellir, the place where the most powerful weapons of the universe are forged." He pointed at the center, where a huge sphere of light and energy sent beams of light and heat into the iris of the forge." Thanos's Gauntlet was forged here, by the master dwarf, Eitri, as was my weapon, Stormbreaker. It's a King's weapon, meant to serve the greatest in Asgard." He subtly nodded to himself. "It came summon even the Bifrost."

"What's that?" Christine asked, getting into her space suit. Thor smirked. "You'll see." Both of them exited the ship.

Thanos had once massacred all the Dwarves of Nidavellir, save one. Now there were more, nearly a hundred. The forges were lit, the low hum of machinery buzzed in the air as the both of them walked up to the iris. There they were greeted by Eitri, the master Dwarf.

" Ah, if it is not the son of Odin, back to my humble home. The God of Thunder returns!" He boomed, hugging Thor." And it seems he has brought a maiden with him." Eitri turn to Christine who smiled politely.
"So tell me, God, what can I do for you?"

Thor smiled , glad to see his friend again. "I'm here for my weapon, Eitri."

Eitri cocked his head to the side,grinning mischievously." And what kind of a weapon are we talking about?"

"The Thanos-killing kind."

*cringes*
I'm extremely sorry for the unexplained absence. Our exams ended and all and we're on a tight schedule. Hope you liked this chapter, although it was more of an explanatory one. The next ones will have more action.
Please don't forget to vote and comment.