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The first thing Black Super took note of was the number of Skrulls.
Perhaps because it was night, or because the Skrulls had relaxed their guard—and also because they wanted to build trust with Carol Danvers and the others—they were moving about in their original forms.
That made it easy for Black Super to count them. Including General Talos, there were fifteen Skrulls in total. Most of them were gathered around the Quadjet, assisting their technical personnel in modifying the aircraft.
And that number matched what Black Super had seen before he left.
Which meant that the two Skrulls who later disguised themselves as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to "escort" him and Barbara had not been exposed.
In other words, General Talos was still holding back a trump card…
Or there was another possibility: some of the Skrulls were acting independently, beyond Talos's direct control, pursuing their own objectives.
So just how many Skrulls had already infiltrated Earth?
Among the FBI agents who ransacked his home, had some of them already been replaced by Skrulls?
The more Black Super thought about it, the more it felt like the curtain of the Marvel Universe hadn't even fully risen yet—and he'd already run headfirst into an epic-difficulty Secret Invasion scenario.
And worse, he himself had become a target of those green-skinned monsters.
That said, the reason Black Super rushed back to lie in wait wasn't just to make sure Nick Fury lived long enough to clean up the mess left by Skrulls impersonating S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
His first score to settle was also to see exactly how the Skrulls were modifying the Quadjet—turning an aircraft designed for atmospheric flight into something capable of passing through the atmosphere, operating in space, and then returning to the ground.
He watched as more than a dozen Skrulls split into several groups, carrying out different modification tasks under the direction of a single commander.
The engine modifications were what caught Black Super's attention most—but after observing for a while, he realized the technological level wasn't as high as he'd expected.
Originally, the Quadjet used two supersonic combustion ramjet engines. Like all jet fighters, these engines relied on intaking air, mixing it with fuel, combusting it, and expelling massive amounts of gas in a specific direction to generate thrust.
After the Skrulls' modifications, a fusion reactor had been added. However, this reactor's primary purpose was only to provide energy and regenerate oxygen. The main thrust still relied on the jet's original method—fuel undergoing explosive combustion to generate propulsive gas.
Yet the aircraft's fuel efficiency—based on this limited, consumable fuel—had not been improved at all. It was as if they assumed there were gas stations scattered throughout the universe.
If anyone seriously planned to use this engine for interstellar travel, the odds of a one-way trip were practically one hundred percent.
In addition to the engines, the Skrulls had installed many extra devices on the Quadjet. The most important ones were a shield generator and an artificial gravity system.
The artificial gravity system—a piece of black technology among black technologies—was something Black Super couldn't possibly understand just by looking at it.
The layout and wiring design were comprehensible, but the core component of the device was a part brought by the Skrulls themselves. That component wasn't particularly complex in structure, which meant the key lay in its material.
From Black Super's X-ray vision analysis, it was made of a substance not found on Earth, making it impossible to determine its function.
In short, without that core component, the Skrulls' hand-built artificial gravity device had no technical merit at all. Once the core was added, however, the entire system was transformed into incomprehensible alien technology.
The shield generator was much the same.
From the fact that the Skrulls hadn't bothered to reinforce the Quadjet's airtight sealing, Black Super could infer that the shield didn't just help the craft endure atmospheric reentry heat—it also prevented internal air from leaking out.
Blocking energy attacks up to a certain level was clearly within its capabilities. That also explained why, in the movie, the Quadjet endured multiple laser hits without visible damage. It certainly wasn't because Earth-made aircraft skin was that impressive.
From these modifications, Black Super finally understood why—after the Quadjet was recovered by the military—the mass-produced Quinjet models were still restricted to atmospheric use only.
Many of the Skrulls' additions couldn't be reverse-engineered at all. If the key materials couldn't be replicated or obtained, recreating such high-level alien technology would be a joke.
So these guys had clearly held something back—just like how they hadn't told Nick Fury and the others the full truth, despite claiming to be completely forthcoming.
Then again, Black Super himself wasn't any better. Who would bare their heart and soul to strangers or people they barely knew?
If the Skrulls hadn't kept harassing him, Black Super wouldn't have cared whether their attitude was genuine or fake, good or bad. But since they refused to rein themselves in, collecting a bit of "emotional distress compensation" felt entirely justified.
The only question was how far to go—to choose the option with the fewest lingering consequences.
While waiting for the Skrulls to act, Black Super remained hidden in the small woods, running through all possible scenarios and outcomes, refining the optimal course of action.
Just like his pitch-black suit blending into the night, what lay hidden wasn't just fangs—but the wisdom to strike once, decisively, and retreat unscathed.
Aside from the Skrulls modifying the aircraft, the actions of the humans unfolded exactly as Black Super remembered from the movie.
At Carol Danvers's invitation—and with encouragement from her daughter Monica—Maria Rambeau joined this venture that might very well be a one-way trip.
Without knowing that Captain Marvel would later power up and resolve everything single-handedly, the main risk of this operation came from the Kree Starforce reinforcements led by Yon-Rogg.
In other words, their plan was operating under a strict time limit.
Once the Kree pursuers arrived, these Skrulls—now without a mothership—would have no choice but to hide among the human population. They lacked the equipment to confront the Kree military head-on.
After all, aside from Yon-Rogg's elite squad, the Kree also had an unknown number of regular troops in support.
From the battle on Torfa, even when a group of Skrulls allied with the local natives, they couldn't defeat a six-person Kree squad—only force them to retreat. The only noteworthy "victory" was essentially a plot-device capture of the future Captain Marvel.
Of course, Black Super couldn't guarantee that reality in this universe would play out exactly like the movie in his memory. Just like how the film showed only a single Skrull technician modifying the Quadjet—whereas here, more than a dozen were involved.
Still, once the Kree caught up, the outcome was all but predetermined.
Thus, the Skrulls' objective was likely to decode the state vector left behind by the Kree scientist Mar-Vell—Dr. Wendy Lawson—locate the energy core of the light-speed engine, and escape as quickly as possible.
Then they would lie low on Earth, hoping the Kree would eventually withdraw once they failed to locate the Skrulls. That would give them a chance to use the energy core to complete Lawson's research, build a functional light-speed engine, and lead the remaining Skrulls to a new home.
General Talos hadn't actually said any of this outright—but anyone listening could more or less piece together the outline of the plan.
On paper, it sounded decent. In practice, it relied far too heavily on wishful thinking.
For example: once the Kree knew Skrulls might be hiding on Earth, would they really just give up and leave if they couldn't find them?
Dr. Lawson's light-speed engine had never been completed—aside from the energy core they still hadn't obtained, what resources did the Skrulls on Earth even have to finish the research?
More critically, Talos's true objective went beyond the energy core. He had left many things unsaid—factors that would affect everyone's decisions and actions.
There were simply too many uncertainties in this plan. No wonder Maria Rambeau had initially been unwilling to join. Anyone with a functioning brain would struggle to accept a plan that relied so heavily on improvisation.
Only Carol Danvers—the tough woman who had been toyed with by the Kree—was different. Whether she was truly convinced by the Skrulls and believed helping them was the righteous path, or whether she was simply burning with a desire for revenge, the result was the same.
She'd been pulled onto the Skrulls' war chariot.
As for Nick Fury, Black Super couldn't quite read his true intentions.
Perhaps, just as Fury himself had said: when you lack the power to defeat both sides causing trouble, joining one of them is the best option. And so-called neutrality is nothing more than a bargaining position at the negotiating table.
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