Chapter 23: Under the Nova Star and the Unexpected Visitor
The welcome words of two Nova Corps officers clad in metallic armor and holding weapons of alien design only added to the shock that Kael and his men were in. Just now, they had been fighting a life-or-death battle with an extraterrestrial chaos entity and unidentified UFOs on a dark bridge in New York City, and now they found themselves in a sterile, bright, and definitely otherworldly environment. The Chitauri escape mechanism had literally thrown them beyond the stars.
Kael quickly analyzed the situation. The Nova officers before them appeared professional and disciplined; they showed no signs of immediate aggression, but their stance and the way they held their weapons indicated that they would act at the slightest threat. The last surviving members of the Echo—Aslan and three other men—were clustered around Kael, ready for a fight at any moment, but also bewildered by this new and overwhelming environment.
"Nova Corps?" Kael asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. The Chitauri power core in his palm was still active, but the energy it emitted was now more controlled; as if he were "listening" to this new environment. "May I ask where we are and why we have been brought here?"
The more senior of the Nova officers lifted the visor of his helmet slightly, revealing a humanoid but pale blue face with a piercing gaze. "You are currently in a security and assessment center in an area under the jurisdiction of the Nova Corps," he said, his voice filtered through the metallic translator. "You were not 'brought' here, Earthman. You were 'dropped' into a secured sector of space by that primitive and extremely dangerous Chitauri jump mechanism you used. Fortunately, your jump did not occur inside a star or a black hole."
The other officer pointed the scanner in his hand at Kael and his men. "The weapons and Chitauri technology on them are remarkable, Denarian Kael'en." (Denarian could be a rank in the Nova Corps.)
The Denarian Kael'en nodded. "Yes, Centurion Phylo. Quite 'remarkable'. Especially for someone from a relatively primitive world like Earth." His gaze turned to Kael. "Now, all of you will slowly lower your weapons to the ground. Then you will answer some questions about your encounter with the entity known as the 'Chaos Echo' and how you acquired this forbidden technology."
There was no point in resisting. Kael signaled to his men to lower their weapons. He himself placed the Chitauri core on the ground with his other weapons, without explaining exactly what it was yet. But as he dropped the core, he tried to maintain a tenuous connection with it in his mind. The Nova officers quickly and effectively disarmed them, and then they were each taken to separate interrogation rooms.
Kael found himself in a bright, minimalist, and extremely secure-looking room. Denarian Kael'en sat across from him.
"Very well, Earthman," the Denarian began. "Your name is Kael, correct? Our scanners indicate that you have an unusual bio-energetic link with that Chitauri core. This is extremely rare and concerning. We want you to tell us everything from the beginning. What exactly happened on that bridge, that crime lord Fisk, the 'Chaos Echo'?"
Kael remained calm. This interrogation was an opportunity to not only provide information, but also to receive it. He needed to understand what the Nova Corps knew, what they wanted, and how they would react to them. "Fisk runs a large criminal empire in New York," Kael began. "He was the one who brought that 'Chaos Echo' to the city. We were trying to stop its operations. We had no idea how dangerous that entity was until it was released." Kael tried to present the events from his own perspective, presenting the Echo as a kind of anti-hero, a force trying to stop the threat posed by Fisk. The Chitauri core, he described as a "trophy" taken from Fisk and whose exact nature was not fully understood.
The Denarian Kael'en listened attentively to Kael's story, occasionally making notes on a datapad in his hand. He seemed to be trying to figure out whether Kael was lying or not. Although Kael tried to read the Nova officer's intentions with his own abilities, the Denarian's mind was also quite disciplined and closed. But Kael felt a general sense of curiosity and concern about the seriousness of the situation.
"The Chaos Echo," the Denarian said after a while. "It is a highly destructive and uncontrollable dimensional anomaly that is rarely seen even in our galaxy. Its introduction to an unprotected planet like Earth could have caused a great disaster. Those other unidentified ships... They are a special fleet, the Rigellian Hunters, tasked with hunting down and neutralizing the Chaos Echoes. Without their intervention, your planet would be in much greater danger right now."
This information presented a new perspective for Kael. So those other UFOs were not enemies but some kind of galactic "pest control" team. What about the Nova Corps that had brought them here? What was their purpose?
"Your case and your men's case will be investigated," the Denarian continued. "Your illegal use of Chitauri technology, your unauthorized space jump, and your involvement in the Chaos Echo incident are serious crimes. However, if there is any truth to what you have said, and you did indeed try to prevent a greater catastrophe, it may be used in your favor."
Kael saw neither promise nor threat in these words, only cold professionalism. The Nova Corps acted according to law and protocol, not emotion.
"What about Earth? Has that entity been… neutralized?" Kael asked.
Denarian paused for a moment. "The Rigellian Hunters have temporarily trapped the Chaos Echo in an energy network. But it is not yet certain whether it has been completely neutralized. The situation on Earth is complicated."
At this moment, the door to Kael's cell opened and Centurion Phylo entered. In his hand was the Chitauri power core that Kael had left behind. "Denarian," the Centurion said. "This artifact... is much more than we expected. It contains an active signal and... a coordinate system of some kind. And this signal seems to resonate with another anomaly we have recently detected in this sector of our galaxy."
The Denarian Kael'en's eyes sparkled with curiosity. He turned to Kael. "It seems, Earthman, that your story is much more complicated than we thought. And that little toy in your hand may be a key that could affect the fate of the galaxy."