Super-Skrull and Paibok in…

BEDDING DOWN WITH SERPENTS

By Mitch Crane

Akatosh system, Andromeda Galaxy, Skrull Empire

Like the Kree Empire, the Annihilation Wave had not been kind to the Skrulls either. Already broken into various factions by numerous wars and Galactus’ destruction of their throne world, the Empire was in no shape to defend itself from such a massive, unified assault.

The reptilian aliens put up even less of a defence than the Kree, who at least could organise a sizable opposing force. Each faction, governed by their own self styled emperors, was solely concerned with protecting their own territories, not with the survival of the Skrull race.

Many Skrulls felt differently though and flocked around one leader; Kl’rt, known more commonly as the Super Skrull. Every day more and more warriors flocked to the veteran’s side, not enough for a full scale army, but enough to fledge an effective guerrilla war. While the Wave was clearly winning, his forces had managed to cause quite a bit of damage to the insectoids. They had even managed to assassinate a Queen, and without her to co-ordinate the hive mind they had actually managed to turn the tide of one battle.

Sadly though the Wave had returned with a new Queen and doubled their assault strength, annihilating that system. Thousands of Skrulls innocents, farmers and merchants mostly, had been butchered. Kl’rt was incensed; his race was already on the brink of extinction, could they recover from this?

The only silver lining he could find among the rubble of his dying race was his status as a hero had been restored. For too long he had been branded a failure and a disgrace, even a traitor by some, but he put the needs of his people above his own pride and returned to them.

Once the guerrilla fighters had begun to cause some damage though, the Annihilation Wave brought in the heavy artillery. They called it the Harvester of Sorrows, a planet sized weapon capable of destroying worlds, stars, perhaps even entire solar systems in a matter of minutes. From that moment it had turned from a war to an extermination. Kl’rt had focussed all his attention on destroying the Harvester of Sorrows, to no avail, until now.

“Do you have control of the ship Wolloch?” asked Kl’rt

“Yes, its mind is…strange, alien, but I believe I have dominated its will,” replied the Warskrull.

Wolloch and his Warskrull comrades had become a major asset to the Super Skrull. They were often regarded as the greatest weapons in the Skrull army, due to technology allowing them to mimic a targets various abilities. This group had nearly conquered the Shi’ar Empire, if not for the intervention of the mutants known as the X-men. Since that time they had served in a Shi’ar prison until their escape.

Wolloch had replicated the vast mental powers of Charles Xavier, making him a powerful ally and a dangerous enemy. Three of his soldiers also possessed abilities copied from the X-men Psylocke, Jubilee and Wolverine, which equated a deadly quartet.

The five of them, accompanied by a dozen other Skrull soldiers, were currently in possession of an Annihilation Wave shuttle craft. Like every other Wave vessel, this one was very much a living creature. How those Negative Zone freaks grew them he could not fathom. Being alive, these vehicles were vulnerable to mental attack. Like hacking a computer, Wolloch was able to control the creatures mind with his own stolen abilities.

Their mission was dangerous, likely suicidal; they were going to use their stolen shuttle to sneak on board the Harvester of Sorrows and destroy it from the inside. Seeing as so they had only seventeen men against a planet sized weapon, and there was no telling what they would find inside, the odds were not in their favour.

“Take us to the Harvester,” her ordered, tense with anticipation, “change your forms,”

Each Warskrull utilised their natural shape shifting abilities, which had always proved their greatest weapon, taking the form of man sized Wave bugs. Kl’rt cloaked the rest of the soldiers using his powers of invisibility.

The Harvester of Sorrows loomed before them, bigger than any ship he had ever seen before, vaguely resembling a gigantic, legless crab. At the “head” of the crab was a moon sized opening containing a swirling blue vortex of unknown energy.

“How in Kly’bn and Sl’gur’t’s names can we destroy that?” asked a soldier, unrecognisable in bug form.

“Quiet! We are Skrull’s, we shall find a way,” replied Kl’rt sharply.

A holographic image suddenly appeared before them, a bizarre slug of a creature with one bulging red eye. It babbled at them in an unrecognisable language. Once again, Wolloch proved his worth; having gleaned the Wave’s language mentally over many months of battle, he replied in fluent…gibberish. It sounded that way to Kl’rt anyway.

“Screee glip glip brkkk screeeee!” replied Wolloch.

After an agonising pause the slug creature replied with a loud burping noise and the image disappeared.

“Explain,” ordered Kl’rt.

“I merely explained the rest of our convoy had been attacked by a Skrull ambush and we retreated, just as you ordered,” replied Wolloch, with a hint of snideness. It was common knowledge the Warskrull wished to lead the resistance.

The ship was drawn in to one of the Harvester’s many cavernous hangers and settled down beside a dozen other ships exactly like it. He prayed they wouldn’t have to find this exact ship again, because he doubted in a pinch they could remember which was which.

They exited the ship as stealthily as possible, not trying to draw any attention. As soon as they were out of sight he cloaked the rest of them and they reverted to their natural forms. He was thankful to be a Skrull again; being a Wave soldier felt dirty.

“Start scanning minds, find us a weakness to exploit,” her ordered Wolloch.

BRRRREEEEEETTT! BREEEEEEEEEEET! A piercing alarm echoed through the hanger, accompanied by an announcement in the Wave’s language.

“They know we’re here!” gasped a panicked Wolloch.

Kl’rt’s invisibility had proven useless once the alarms had begun to blare. An eerie green light had filled the corridor and hanger, emitted from hundreds of tiny lights resembling eyes. He suspected the light nullified his invisibility.

Wave soldiers had descended upon them in a massive swarm, overwhelming them quickly. Soon only himself, Wolloch, another Warksrull named Klarn and three soldiers remained.

“We fight to the death, soldiers!” screamed the Super Skrull.

“What?! Are you mad?” exclaimed Wolloch, “I won’t allow this,”

Kl’rt suddenly felt Wolloch’s influence on his mind, forcing him to stop fighting and raising his hands into the air in the universal sign of surrender. His fellow soldiers did the same. Kl’rt gritted his teeth and tried to fight the urge to stop fighting to no avail.

His mission had been a complete and utter failure; they hadn’t even made it out of the hangar bay before being detected. And now, instead of falling in battle, Wolloch had doomed them all to suffer horrific torture, whereby the Wave would learn all the Skrull Resistance’s secrets.

“Your insubordination has earned you a death warrant Wolloch,” he practically growled.

“I saved our lives. At least while we’re a live there’s a chance to still destroy the weapon,” replied the Warskrull haughtily.

“With what, your useless mental powers? The Wave’s immune to your tricks!” He was close to flaming on, which would have got him killed; dozens of Wave soldiers had weapons trained on them.

“Whatever happened to camaraderie amongst Skrulls in a time of adversity?” asked a strangely familiar voice from nearby.

A surprisingly humanoid figure walked down the corridor, the multiple green lights creating shadows across his features. Every few seconds he would flinch, as if in pain, before shrugging it off and continuing towards them. As he stepped into the light Super Skrull gasped in shock.

“Hello Kl’rt, good to see you again,” he grinned.

“Paibok, what the hell are you doing here you d’ast worm?!”

Once a decorated officer in the Skrull military, Paibok was branded an outcast and a traitor, much like Kl’rt himself. Unlike Kl’rt though, Paibok had no interest in redemption.

“I was offered a choice, submit to the Wave as an advisor or die. I chose to live, albeit with less liberties than I’m accustomed,” he grimaced in pain once again and Kl’rt noticed tiny creatures were burrowing just beneath the traitor’s skin. Likely the Wave’s way of keeping him under control.

“You’re a coward Paibok!” spat the Super Skrull, “you betrayed your own kind for what, to continue your miserable existence?”

Lightning bolts danced from Paibok’s fingers, bringing Kl’rt to his knees is agony. Like himself, Paibok was physically enhanced. With super strength, flight and the ability to generate ice and electricity he deserved his title, the Power Skrull.

“My people? I have no people! I served the mighty Skrull race like a terran dog and received nothing but contempt in return! So if the Annihilation Wave wants to turn it all to rubble then so be it!”

“Justify your cowardice any way you want, you’re still a coward,” replied Kl’rt with contempt, as he painfully rose to his feet.

“I was going to suggest they let you live, albeit as a slave like myself, but now I think you would be better off as sustenance for the hivelings. Goodbye Kl’rt,” he smiled smugly, before flinching in pain once again and walking away.

Days Later

Rather than kill him immediately, as Kl’rt had expected, the bugs threw him and the others in individual holding cells. Bars like octopus tentacles descended from the ceiling and hardened to a consistency that resisted even his super strength.

They left him there for days, without food or water, but thankfully without contact also. Every so often though he heard the skittering of bug legs and the muffled screams of his soldiers. Doubtless it would be his turn soon.

Eventually, on his third day in isolation they came for him.

“Don’t even bother with your invisibility, these lights negate it,” smirked Paibok.

“Negate this!” with a snarl blazing hot flames burst from his hands, but never made it past the bars.

“Good to see there’s still fight in you,” smiled Paibok, before walking away.

“Coward!” raged Kl’rt, slamming his stony fists against the bars.

He was so incensed he failed to notice Paibok was alone.

Two Days Later

His index finger inched forward slowly, stretching it further and further, until it was only a few cells thick. It slinked along the floor, like a microscopic worm, moving ever so slowly towards the bars. The instant it reached the bars though, they expanded together into an impenetrable wall, shaving a few cells off the tip.

With a curse he snapped his finger back to its normal length. The same thing happened every time he tried to slip between the bars. He had hoped that going slower and smaller would sneak him through but apparently not.

Without warning, the bars opened of their own accord and he was instantly on his feet. After several seconds nothing happened, so he hesitantly peered outside. There was no sign of bugs anywhere.

Instantly suspicious, he stepped into the hallway, ready for a trap. Surely the bugs were playing with their food; luring him to a horde of hungry hivelings, or hunting him, ready to pounce at any moment.

Every prison cell along the hallway was empty, and took on the appearance of hungry mouths. Every one of his men was likely dead now, even traitorous Wolloch. He would shed no tears for Wolloch, but his others soldiers had been fighting for the Skrull race.

“May Kly’bn seat you at his table,” he prayed for his comrades.

“You have faith, that is good,” said a strong feminine voice.

A female Skrull stood nearby, down a side tunnel. She was beautiful, with long black hair, capped with a golden crown. Regal would be the best way to describe her.

“Come this way,” she ordered, and so unexpected was this turn of events that Kl’rt found himself complying.

For several minutes he followed in silence, before eventually demanding who she was. The woman looked over her shoulder towards him and calmly explained, “The future of our race.”

She refused to answer anymore questions, though her initial response couldn’t really be classified as an answer. Not a single bug showed up to attack them; the place was deserted. The pair walked for what felt like miles until they reached a large circular platform, unadorned with any decoration save a pulsating yellow floor.

The woman stepped upon the platform without hesitation and looked upon Kl’rt curiously. After a moment’s pause the veteran followed suit. An instant after he put his feet upon the platform the world fell away. Kl’rt had experienced his share of teleported to recognise his molecules being scattered and reassembled elsewhere.

They reappeared seconds later in a large oval shaped room. All around stood dozens of Skrulls, none of which were surprised to see them. Kl’rt gasped, Skrulls had taken control of the Harvester of Sorrows!

“Veranke! You have brought our esteemed leader to join us!” called a cheerful voice.

Kl’rt immediately flamed on as Paibok walked towards him, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Many of the robed Skrulls seemed particularly incensed the woman named Veranke had nearly been burned.

Paibok raised his hands in a gesture of peace and calmly approached the Super Skrull. It was all for show of course; both knew the fire would have no affect.

“What are you doing here traitor?” asked Kl’rt through clenched teeth.

“Isn’t it obvious? I was a mole, a cancer in the body of the Annihilation Wave.”

Kl’rt wanted to spit; he refused to believe the renegade would do anything so sacrificial. When he saw he was not going to garner a response, Paibok continued.

“I wormed my way into their trust, but it wasn’t until you and your men came aboard that I found a way to take over this magnificent vessel.”

For the first time Kl’rt noticed the huge brain in the centre of the room. It was dome shaped, the size of a bus and pulsated a regular intervals. This was the Harvester of Sorrows’ brain! Next to the brain stood Wolloch, the arrogant Skrull’s eyes were closed in deep concentration.

“You’re using Wolloch to control the Harvester,” surmised Kl’rt dryly, “that’s like using a ji’barkuul to guard a herd of amoloks.”

“For the time being we serve a common interest,” was all he would say on the matter.

Kl’rt examined the other Skrulls in the room, no more than fifty in total. Paibok correctly assumed the soldier’s train of thought.

“Walloch used the Harvester’s own immune system to kill every bug on this stinking weapon. It was truly glorious,” he grinned savagely.

“And where do all of them fit into this?” he gestured towards the Skrulls.

“Veranke and her followers out me on the path to redemption my friend,” he replied, with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Queen Veranke, infidel!” cried one of the robed Skrulls nearby.

Paibok bowed his head in submission, “My apologies milady,”

The woman smiled demurely, “He loves you, my general.”

Kl’rt was a soldier, but even he could see the games being played between these two. Each was a manipulator of the highest order, working the other into the position that best suited them. But where did he fit into all this, did Paibok want another ally, in case things went sour with his newfound allies?

Deciding he was probably no longer in any danger, he finally doused his flames. Any attacker though, would be surprised to find an invisible shield between themselves and their foe.

“What do you want from me Paibok,” Kl’rt practially growled.

But it was Veranke who responded, “Kly’bn sees great potential in you, as a leader of our people. A unifier if you will. I believe together, with the might of the Harvester beneath us, we can make the Skrull Empire mighty once more.”

Kl’rt snorted, “And Kly’bn told you this did he?”

“The Great Father speaks to me yes,” joyous tears welled in the woman’s eyes, and it was clear she honestly believed it was true. The Super Skrull was cynical; if the gods really did exist they couldn’t be bothered about their disciples, or else they would have done something by now.

She saw the incredulous look in the soldier’s eyes but still continued, “Think of all that we can achieve. Alone, you united many, but with our resources and this mighty weapon we could unite everyone!”

And spread their fanaticism across the universe along with it, spoke Wolloch in his mind.

It was clear he was focusing most of his efforts on controlling the Harvester, but the Warskrull wasn’t about to let things go on around him without his notice.

There were many phrases throughout the universe about getting into bed with serpents and everyone advised against it. Even though he knew he would eventually get bitten, the rewards were too high to walk away.

“Very well, let us bring our people back together,”

He prayed that Kly’bn was on his side when Paibok or Veranke or Wolloch eventually stabbed him in the back.