Marvel Novels_Thanos_Death Sentence by Stuart Moore

Author:Stuart Moore [Moore, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07MYH2FZN
Publisher: Titan Books
Published: 2019-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

THE PROUD Kree Empire. For centuries, it has spanned the stars, dominating the largest expanse of space ever united under one flag. It has withstood the attacks of gods and armies, sorcerers and Skrulls—resisted infiltration and invasion alike with a steely will and a force of arms unmatched in all the universe. No man, no alien, no otherdimensional entity has ever proven its equal.”

Thanos paused.

“I am here to tell you: The Empire is doomed.”

He raised his eyes from the marble lectern and gazed out across the vast hall. Two, maybe three hundred soldiers stared back at him. Every one of them wore some version of the green-and-white Kree military uniform.

The Hall of Battle stood on the outskirts of the city. It was one of the oldest structures on Hala, a relic of the Kree’s ancient past. Rows of hand-carved stone benches ringed the main stage, rising up above it. Thanos had to stare up at his audience; he resented this, but he also recognized the justice of it.

The walls bore wide murals depicting ancient battles: Kree legions waging war against the Skrulls, against brightly feathered Shi’ar, against the sentient plants called the Cotati. Most of the Kree in the murals, Thanos noticed, had blue skin. Most of the soldiers in the room were pink.

Thanos himself wore the uniform and chevs of the dead captain, Teren-Sas. He had not donned the green-finned Kree battle helmet, with its opaque lenses. He wanted the crowd to see his eyes.

“The Empire is doomed,” he repeated. “Not at the hands of our ancient shape-changing foes, nor by some Annihilation Wave from the Negative Zone. Our failure—the fatal flaw of the Kree—comes from within.”

A low murmur rippled through the crowd. A group of hardened security officers paused in the act of polishing guns to look up at the podium. A cluster of old men, veterans of assorted wars, muttered knowingly among themselves. Medical officers, Operations, Security—each group paused, whispering, to consider Thanos’s words. In the front row, a squadron of noncoms just listened, their eyes wide.

They’re not sure, he thought. They don’t know where I’m going with this yet. But they’re intrigued.

He glanced to his right. Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight stood like a fearsome honor guard, allowing their representative to make his case. Corvus gazed around the hall, smiling a rictus grin. Proxima’s blank eyes were fixed on the crowd; a flash of black energy played on the edge of her spear.

To Thanos’s left, Fal-Tar hissed in a nervous breath. The Kree lieutenant had called this session in secret, assembling officers he knew and trusted. “Now he’s turning it over to you,” Corvus had said before the meeting. “A man he’s never met. If this goes poorly, his life is forfeit.”

“I’m surprised he agreed to that,” Thanos had replied.

Corvus had bared his teeth. “‘Agreed’?”

Thanos squared his shoulders and addressed the audience.

“A leader who does not respect his soldiers is no leader,” he said. “A ruling body that betrays the ideals of its people cannot survive.

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