Chapter 14 – The Shipyard Siege
(~2,000 words; orbital assault, cosmic strategy, Avengers reaction)
Kree Shipyard – High Orbit over a Blue Dwarf Star
An immense lattice of drydocks drifted above the flickering blue sun—hundreds of Kree warships under construction.
Below, planetary defense cannons rotated, tracking the three inbound Titans.
Inside the lead Titan's neural chamber, Shawn floated weightless in the central throne, chakra cables anchored to his spine. A starmap glowed before his eyes, feeding him tactical data.
Venom's presence caressed his mind, as familiar now as breathing.
"They've seen us," she whispered.
"Good," he said.
He reached out—and the Titans answered.
Titan Formation – Approach Vector
The Titans accelerated, gravitic engines howling.
On the hull of the second Titan, entire batteries of Red Alert missile launchers irised open.
Launch.
A storm of warheads streaked across the void, contrails curling behind them.
Planetary shields lit up as the impacts hammered down like an artificial meteor shower.
Inside the shipyard's command spire, Kree admiral Falan-Korr reeled as alarms howled.
"Multiple dreadnought-class constructs inbound! All batteries—fire, fire!"
Citadel – War Room
Talia stood before a colossal projection of the battle. Clone officers flanked her, tapping holographic controls.
She spoke calmly into the comm:
"Primary shields are holding. Secondary Titans, adjust trajectory. Orbital suppression commencing."
Back on Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance networks lit up as the Titans' signatures flared brighter than any known Kree weapon.
Nick Fury's hand closed around his comm.
"Stark, are you seeing this?"
Tony's voice came back raw. "Yeah. And if this guy can do that to the Kree…we are so screwed."
Titan – Neural Chamber
Shawn's mind split effortlessly among dozens of tactical threads—Titan targeting solutions, clone platoon deployments, reactor output balances.
He felt the clash of cosmic power as the Kree unleashed antimatter torpedoes.
One detonated near the lead Titan—plasma searing a gouge across its hull. The machine reeled.
Venom lashed across his shoulders, hissing.
"They think they can break us?"
"No," he said coldly. "They can't."
He extended his hand.
Chakra flared, feeding through the lattice into the Titan's central cannon.
Fire.
A beam of red-gold energy lashed across space, vaporizing a Kree battleship in a single, blinding stroke.
Shipyard Superstructure
Clone breaching pods launched from the Titans, slamming into the lattice of unfinished ships.
Hatches burst open.
Armored clones stormed through corridors, cutting down Kree engineers and marines.
At the vanguard marched Talia herself, wielding a chakra-forged glaive longer than a man was tall.
A Kree fireteam opened up with pulse rifles.
Talia blurred forward—her Sharingan flaring—and swept the glaive in a perfect arc.
Limbs and torsos fell in a spray of indigo blood.
Bridge – Kree Command Spire
Admiral Falan-Korr watched in horror as entire sectors of the shipyard fell silent.
"This is impossible," he rasped. "They're just—humans—"
A clone commando smashed through the bridge door and impaled him on a spear.
His last sight was a towering black shape—Venom herself, merged with Shawn as he stepped over the threshold.
Shawn looked down at the dying admiral.
"You were warned."
Earth Orbit – S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
Maria Hill's face was pale.
"They…they took the entire shipyard," she whispered. "In under an hour."
Fury rubbed his eye socket.
"And he's not stopping."
Tony's voice crackled from the comm: "We need to figure out what he wants. If he's just conquering to conquer—"
Steve's voice interrupted, grim.
"—then he's going to come here eventually."
Fury exhaled. "Then let's find him first."
Titan – Throne Chamber
After the last Kree resistance fell silent, Shawn stood among the wreckage.
Venom uncoiled from his armor and re-formed into her own shape, sleek and black-eyed.
She rested a hand on his chestplate.
"Your empire grows," she purred. "World by world."
He met her gaze.
"Our daughter will inherit a universe," he said softly.
Venom's smile was a razor curve.
"Then let's make it worthy of her."
Citadel – Command Deck
Talia transmitted the victory signal. Clone engineers began disassembling the shipyard into modules, towed back to the Citadel for integration.
The cosmic map flickered—new routes, new targets, new ambitions.
Shawn's gaze settled on the next region: a Kree colony cluster rich in resources and strategic position.
"Set course," he ordered.
"Yes, my lord," Talia said.
The Titans rotated, engines flaring, and slipped into warp.
END OF CHAPTER 14