"An opportunity?" Emperor Milleous asked, his lard-encased brain struggling to process this unexpected concept.
"My daughter Attea, I suspect your tiny mind has become confused," he declared with paternal condescension. "What could we possibly gain from such a worthless gathering? A ceasefire agreement? Absolutely not!"
He gestured grandly with one bloated arm, sending ripples through his corpulent frame. "The ultimate victor of this galactic war must and will be our glorious Incursean Empire!"
"There's no need for negotiation or compromise!"
"You're absolutely correct, Father," Attea replied with deceptive agreeability, leaning casually against the chamber wall with her hands tucked into her pockets. Her expression carried the kind of cunning smile that had made the Incursean military such a dangerous force throughout known space.
"However, conquering those established empires won't be as simple as you might imagine."
She paused for dramatic effect before delivering her key intelligence. "I've received reports that there's a Tetramand princess serving within the Sakaar Empire's leadership structure."
"The Red Wind Kingdom forces are also operating in this universe?" Emperor Milleous asked with mild surprise, though his tone carried no trace of genuine concern or fear.
In terms of individual physical combat capabilities, a hundred Incursean soldiers combined couldn't defeat a single Tetramand child in hand-to-hand combat. But when it came to the kind of large-scale military infrastructure necessary for waging interstellar warfare, even someone as powerful as Vilgax would have to step aside in the face of Incursean technological superiority.
"Not exactly, but the Sakaar Empire has almost certainly acquired and mastered all of the Tetramand technological innovations," Attea explained with the patience of someone educating a particularly slow student.
Emperor Milleous nodded with grudging admiration for their enemies' resourcefulness. "Those Four-Armed freaks did invent some genuinely impressive engineering solutions."
"But so what?" he continued dismissively, waving one hand as if swatting away an annoying insect. "Our technological development isn't inferior to theirs, and those two moronic empires have been voluntarily sending us their most advanced interstellar battleships on a regular basis."
The "idiots" he referenced were naturally the Kree Empire and the Skrull Empire, both of whom had believed themselves clever enough to manipulate the Incursean military machine for their own purposes.
Each civilization had assumed they could use Milleous as a convenient tool to eliminate the troublesome Sakaar Empire, but the amphibian emperor had turned the situation completely around, leaving both former allies scrambling to deal with the chaos he had unleashed.
Because of these strategic victories, Milleous genuinely believed that diplomatic negotiation was entirely unnecessary.
The Kree and Skrull Empires had suffered such devastating losses, could they simply forget such humiliation? If he dared to appear at any Galactic Conference, representatives from both civilizations would probably attempt to murder him before the opening ceremonies concluded.
"This conference represents our perfect opportunity to eliminate them all in one coordinated strike!" Attea explained with predatory satisfaction.
"Father, consider the logistics carefully. All three empire leaders will inevitably bring substantial military escorts and elite guard units when they travel to attend the Galactic Conference. This will leave their respective homeworlds and core territories essentially defenseless. This is precisely the opening our Incursean Empire needs to annihilate them completely!"
Emperor Milleous's eyes blazed with sudden understanding and approval.
"You are truly worthy of being Emperor Milleous's daughter!" he declared with paternal pride.
Milleous couldn't care less about concepts like honor, fairness, or diplomatic protocol. As long as he could achieve victory, expand the Incursean Empire's dominion, and force more populations to worship his magnificent persona, any strategy was completely acceptable!
"In that case, you will accompany me to this Galactic Conference! Let those inferior commoners witness the daughter of Emperor Milleous in all her glory!"
"I'll have to decline that honor..." Attea quickly waved her hands and laughed with forced awkwardness, as if suddenly remembering some urgent prior commitment.
"Father, if I accompany you to the conference, who will lead our fleet in the coordinated assault on their undefended territories?"
"Your reasoning is absolutely sound," Emperor Milleous agreed with obvious satisfaction, then lowered his massive head to contemplate his own security arrangements for the diplomatic mission.
He remained completely oblivious to the fact that the dutiful smile on Princess Attea's face had vanished entirely, replaced by an expression of pure contempt and disgust.
Stupid father, I'm going to kill you first! she thought with savage anticipation.
Attea had tolerated this narcissistic, bloated pig for far too long. Not only was he physically repulsive, but he constantly oppressed their people while forcing everyone to recite those ridiculous, grandiose titles that made her skin crawl with embarrassment!
Of course, Attea wasn't particularly troubled by Milleous's authoritarian behavior or treatment of their subjects. What genuinely infuriated her was that the person others were forced to worship and praise wasn't herself.
You've occupied that throne for far too long, Father. It's time for the crown to pass to someone more deserving!
By taking advantage of this Galactic Conference, she could eliminate both her biological father and the rulers of several major empires in one brilliantly executed operation. After that, conquering the entire universe would be trivially simple!
Kree Empire Headquarters
"Galactic Conference..." Supreme Accuser Tar-Rell threw the diplomatic communicator aside with obvious disgust, his features twisted into an expression of pure contempt and barely controlled rage.
"So now Sakaar considers itself the universe's self-appointed police force?" he asked with venomous sarcasm.
It's merely an upstart civilization that has developed over the past few years. Do they genuinely believe they possess the authority to dictate terms to ancient empires?
"Given the current military and political strength of the Sakaar Empire, they are indeed qualified to serve as space peacekeepers," the Supreme Intelligence replied with characteristic analytical detachment. "Continuing this destructive war with the Skrull Empire serves no strategic purpose, but we can certainly exploit this diplomatic opportunity to eliminate the Skrulls permanently."
Tar-Rell looked confused by this apparent contradiction in objectives.
"It's time for the Highbreed to take direct action," the Supreme Intelligence explained with cold calculation.
Long ago, a group of imposing white-skinned entities had appeared within Kree territorial boundaries. The Kree military had initially engaged them in combat, but the conflict had ultimately ended in stalemate, forcing both sides to negotiate a temporary peace agreement.
During the subsequent diplomatic communications, both civilizations had discovered they faced remarkably similar existential dilemmas.
The newcomers were called the Highbreed, refugees from another universe entirely.
Both species had reached the absolute pinnacle of their evolutionary development, but they had chosen completely divergent paths in response to this space milestone.
In order to preserve what they considered the absolute purity of their genetic heritage, the Highbreed had engaged in centuries of selective inbreeding. This policy had resulted in a catastrophic lack of diversity within their gene pool, weakened immune systems, increased susceptibility to hereditary diseases and physical deformities, widespread infertility, and a dramatic reduction in successful offspring.
Fully aware of their civilization's approaching extinction, the Highbreed had refused to seek adaptive solutions. They would rather face complete annihilation than allow their genetic legacy to be "contaminated" by what they perceived as "inferior" alien races.
Confronted with inevitable destruction, some Highbreed had proposed collective suicide to end their species' history during what they considered their most glorious period.
Another faction had chosen a far more ambitious and sinister alternative: ensuring that all life in the universe would be buried alongside their dying civilization.
Using advanced genetic manipulation technology, they could theoretically transform all other sentient species into perfect duplicates of themselves.
Of course, this forced assimilation was viewed by the Highbreed as the ultimate gift they could bestow upon the cosmos.
To become the purest and most advanced life forms in the universe before their extinction, to join the ranks of what they claimed were the earliest intelligent beings in space history, represented an honor beyond imagination!
Tar-Rell didn't fully understand the Highbreed's true philosophical motivations, but he had personal experience with their extraordinary capabilities.
The Highbreed had indeed achieved evolutionary perfection in virtually every measurable category.
Biologically, they represented hexagonal warriors with virtually no exploitable weaknesses.
The Kree Empire had paid an enormous price during their military engagement with the Highbreed, ultimately failing to achieve any meaningful victory.
Both sides had agreed to a ceasefire primarily because the Highbreed had found themselves displaced into an unfamiliar universe and had decided to observe the local political situation before committing to any major actions.
Tar-Rell nodded with growing enthusiasm. "Eliminating the Skrulls would be ideal, but it would be even better if they could also destroy Sakaar during the same operation."
"The King of Sakaar won't be defeated easily," the Supreme Intelligence analyzed with typical precision. "The Highbreed's natural abilities alone won't be sufficient for that level of opposition. My recommendation is to use that technology to enhance several Highbreed warriors to power levels capable of competing with our most dangerous enemies."
"Didn't you previously refuse to construct that devices for our military?" Tar-Rell asked with obvious surprise.
The Supreme Intelligence responded with mechanical calm. "The current strategic situation differs significantly from our previous circumstances. Based on my calculations, the Kree Empire now requires Cube enhancement to ensure our survival."
Skrull Empire Throne Room
The Skrull Queen studied the Super-Skrull warrior standing at attention before her throne, her expression radiating the kind of desperate hope that came from facing impossible odds.
"Kl'rt, you represent the future salvation of our entire civilization," she declared with the weight of space destiny in her voice.
Her green-tinged features leaned forward with intense focus as she delivered his mission parameters.
"If you can successfully obtain genetic material from the King of Sakaar and replicate the abilities of those powerful warriors under his command, the glory of the Skrull Empire will once again shine throughout the universe!"
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