Earth-717: Avengers Vol 1 Chapter 7: Space Pirates Within seconds, the entire Senatorium was in chaos. The Dark Revenant opened fire on the Nova cruisers surrounding the space station, completely taking them by surprise. The two Pariahs also fired their main laser cannons, and together managed to effortlessly slice apart a Nova warship. The smaller Skrull vessels moved in on the defensive fleet, and the Skrull starfighters began swarming around any targets within range. Adora immediately gathered the Senate members and had them surrounded by Nova guards. The crowds began screaming and panicking, fleeing in all directions. Adora looked at the heroes as the Supreme Intelligence's hologram faded. “I'm getting the Senate out of here! If you want to help . then help.” Before any of the heroes could respond, the Dark Revenant launched multiple interceptor craft. These were cylindrical shuttles that struck the hull of the Senatorium and started drilling through them. While a handful were shot down by the Senatorium's turrets, a few of them still managed to latch on to the exterior of the station. Once holes were pierced by their drills, Skrull and Mekkan troops began flooding inside. Steve turned back to Adora. “We'll help your people fight them off however we can. Get the Senate to safety!” Adora hurriedly nodded before rushing off after the Senate and their guards. Steve held up his shield. Tasha equipped her repulsors and locked her helmet in place. Carol charged both of her hands with energy and started to hover. Thor held his hammer at the ready. Bruce sighed and willed himself into another transformation, once again destroying his clothing. The heroes then rushed through the main doors, and saw that the chaos had extended to the city. Several interceptor craft had latched onto the Senatorium's hull by this point, and now dozens of enemy soldiers were infiltrating the station. They were led by a man in a red futuristic combat suit that covered his entire body. He had a thin white visor over his eyes and was holding a sword in his left hand. This was Zenith, one of the core members of Nebula's crew. He pointed towards the Senate chambers, and the soldiers headed in that direction. Several of the Skrulls started to gun down random civilians who happened to be in their path. Nova guards fought back, and soon enough there was a heavy firefight going on in the streets. “Move in and pick your targets,” said Steve. “Focus on keeping the civilians safe!” “On it, Cap.” “Let's get crackin'!” “Thor fights with you, Captain!” “RAAAAARGH!” Within seconds the heroes had dispersed, battling alongside the Nova troopers and once again taking down as many Skrulls and Mekkans as they could. Meanwhile, Zenith moved away from the battle and instead headed for one of the side streets that led around the Senate chambers. * * * * On board the Dark Revenant, Nebula was sitting inside of her command room. Her hands were folded in front of her, and she was watching the invasion of the Senatorium on multiple display screens, all of which were showing video coverage of the attack from major galactic news outlets. General Bendolan was standing on the left side of her chair. While Nebula was relatively silent, the Dark Revenant was not. The ship was firing laser cannon blasts and missile salvos at multiple Nova Corps cruisers. Nova fighters were attacking the ship, but several were shot down by the dreadnought's cannons. Explosions and laser blasts rocked the hull, but Nebula did not seem concerned. One of Nebula's crew, a Rigellian named Gunthar, turned around from his station. “Ma'am! Shields are holding steady. They're off balance cause of the Pariahs.” “Good,” said Nebula. “Any word on our sabotage team?” “None yet, ma'am. They reported entry to the Senatorium but they're probably not in position yet. I'll keep monitoring their frequency.” Gunthar turned back to his console. Nebula watched as one of the Pariahs clamped its legs down on a Nova cruiser before firing its laser directly into it. The main section of the cruiser exploded into thousands of shards as the rest of it buckled and started to break apart. Bendolan then leaned in towards Nebula. “This assassin of yours,” he said. “Are you certain he can accomplish his task?” “Zenith's a trusted associate,” replied Nebula. “He and I have taken many jobs on many planets. He knows what he's doing.” “I have learned not to put my full faith in assassins and mercenaries. This scenario is far too delicate. We have an opportunity here to permanently destabilize the Nova Corps. Without their leaders, there will be discord within their ranks. Chaos. But if the Senate manage to escape . .” Nebula looked at Bendolan with a scowl. “He'll pull it off.” Bendolan stared at Nebula for a few seconds. “We shall see.” * * * * Tasha blasted apart another Mekkan soldier with a double shot from her repulsors. A Skrull then fired a powerful blast from his shotgun, knocking her through the window of the restaurant that the heroes had eaten at earlier. Tasha groaned as she landed on her side. Looking up, she then saw that Mikaela was cowering underneath the broken window, with her back pressed against the wall. The Skrull then looked over the window and aimed her shotgun at her. Mikaela screamed. Reacting instantly, Tasha jumped up and kicked the Skrull's shotgun away, and it harmlessly fired at the floor. Tasha then jammed her open palm against the Skrull's chest before firing her repulsor, blowing a hole straight through his heart. The Skrull's body flopped to the ground as Tasha knelt next to Mikaela, who was hyperventilating. “Hey, hey!” Mikaela slowed her breathing and looked at Tasha, who retracted her face plate. “You okay?” Mikaela gave a quick nod. “I think so,” she said. “You, you saved me.” “Well, I couldn't let the prettiest girl in the Nova Corps get killed now, could I?” Mikaela's datapad then lit up with a video call from Adora. Tasha looked down at it. “Mikaela, are you there?” asked Adora. “I'm here, I'm here!” “We're being chased. Some freak with a sword, and he has backup! Might not be able to keep the Senate safe for much longer! Are you with the humans?” “Yeah. One of them is here right now.” “Tell them I need their help! We're down on the mezzanine near Sybalt Square! Hurry! If that guy gets to Senate, then this is all over!” The video turned off and Mikaela looked up at Tasha, who opened up a panel on her forearm. “If you some sort of map of this place, put it in here! I'll get to them.” Mikaela pressed a few buttons on her datapad, and then the forearm panel lit up as the data was directly transmitted into Tasha's heads-up display. “Done.” “Thanks,” said Tasha. “Gotta go.” Tasha blasted off, flying out of the restaurant and back towards the team. Steve tossed his shield in a circular fashion, and it sliced through the metal beams that were holding a neon sign in place. The sign then fell down and crushed two Skrulls as the shield returned to Steve. Steve then looked up at Tasha, who was hovering near him. “Got a complication, Cap,” said Tasha. “Senate's in trouble, and we gotta get to them. I know where they're at, but they likely won't be there for long!” Steve took a brief moment to consider this new info before turning to look at the other heroes, who were still fighting off the invaders. After kicking a Mekkan through the abdomen, Carol looked over at Steve. “Senate's top priority, but we can't leave these people behind,” said Steve. “Carol! You, Tasha and I are going after the Senate! Hulk and Thor stay here and help the civilians however they can. Move!” Thor bashed away another Skrull before holding up his hammer. “The green beast and I will hold our ground!” Hulk roared as he stood in the way of a Mekkan missile blast, shielding a group of people from it. The explosion barely staggered Hulk, who then proceeded to charge down the Mekkan who attacked him. Steve turned back to Tasha and held his arms in the air. “Can I get a lift?” Tasha grabbed both of Steve's arms and lifted off, with Carol flying behind her. * * * * In one of the engineering levels of the Senatorium, a team of Skrulls burst through the doors. Gunning down the people inside, the leader of the group then pulled a brown satchel off of his back. Unzipping it, he found a dozen grey spheres inside, which were all detonation charges. Heading for the designated backup generator that had been marked on a map they were provided, the Skrulls started planting the charges all over it. The Skrulls then quickly vacated the engineering level. Once they were at a safe distance, the leader pulled out the detonator and pressed the trigger. * * * * Adora gunned down another Skrull with her energy pistol as the Senate escort raced along the mezzanine. While normally Sybalt Square and the adjacent areas were filled with people shopping or eating, it had now turned into a full-scale war zone. The entire group was then knocked off balance by the destruction of one of the backup generators. As the Senate and Adora struggled to keep their footing, one of the golden triangles that formed the defensive matrix around Xandar disappeared.