บท 24: Kree Thor Part II
"What is this?" Thor asked, looking around the place in wonderment. It was a hub of life, aliens from all different planets all gathered and conversed amongst one another. All male, clad in armour and despite not being able to sense it, Thor could tell each of them were powerful in their own right.
Before him, was perhaps two of the strongest of all those gathered. The Makluan and the Strontian, both of whom had remained silent throughout their trip within the Acanti. Thor had pressed, tried to learn more about the two men who had attacked, no destroyed the Kree vessels like they were nothing. They had power in droves, that much was clear and Thor wanted it for himself, he needed it for himself.
His family were suffering, Thor couldn't stand by and simply do nothing. He had to do something, anything and that required more power, or individuals with it. Thor had already failed to protect his family twice before, he couldn't fail a third time.
It was then that they entered into a large open space, a large tree-like structure formed from some kind of metallic substance. The centrepiece of this entire space station, surrounding it were hundreds of tiny pink jewels of all shapes that floated around it, each holding power that radiated from within them.
'This place, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before.' Thor thought, eyes fixed upon the many jewels that floated around the tree.
"I had much the same look upon my face when first entering." The Strontian said, moving forwards slightly and waving his hand out. "This is a place for people like you and me. The Citadel of Thors."
"Thors?" Eyes widened in realisation. The feeling of familiarity, the feeling of yearning as if finding something that had long since been missing dawned upon him. The Makluan, the Strontian, they were both Thor, just like him. Everyone here, every alien and species of creature here, they were all Thors. "How?"
"A long story." The Strontian replied with a smile.
The Makluan on the other hand scoffed, strolling away. However, instead of focusing upon that, Thor's attention was directed towards a small bar, it was packed, something Thor imagined. Even in his old life, he had enjoyed drinking and partying. Each of the patrons, they were Thor's, that much he could tell. But the servers and workers, they weren't.
"You'll have to forgive Mak-Thor. Back when he was Thor on Asgard, Odin just threw him into battle after battle from the moment he could walk." Thor rose a brow in surprise. "Yep, our father was certainly an asshole to him and it reflects in the way he acts. Oh, and if there's any confusion on what you should call me, just refer to me as Stront-Thor. Usually, we abbreviate your alien race name with Thor, simple and easy."
"Our father?" He questioned in confusion.
"Yeah, we're Thor Odinson, born from a coupling between Odin and Jörd. Why? Was it different for you?" The Strontian Thor sat down at the table, ordering a few beers from a server.
"I was born to a merchant."
There was a pause before Stront-Thor sighed. "By the All-Father, he really is trying everything."
"What do you mean?"
"You know how I said that Mak-Thor was basically raised in battle?" Thor nodded his head. "Well, you were more than likely adopted into the merchant family, some kind of ploy by Odin to accomplish something, who knows what that man thinks."
"What about you?" Thor asked and Stront-Thor shrugged. "Not all that much to say really. I didn't have much change, I'd say out of most Thor's my story's pretty simple. Raised a prince, lived a prince, died a prince. Not much else to it, though I am a little more curious about your life, what was it like?"
Thor frowned slightly, there wasn't much information to go off. "I'll tell you if you give me more information on this place."
"I was going to do that anyway, but sure. A question for a question."
-X- Line Break -X-
Laying back, Thor looked to the ceiling in thought. He didn't really know what to make of this place, this Citadel of Thor's, it was certainly a strange place for sure. According to Stront-Thor it had been formed a few years after the collapse of the Lifestone Tree Treaty.
Apparently, a Thor claiming to be the first had come along, gathering Thor's from every corner of the universe and brought them here. A Thor of unknown origin possessing great power had taken this place for himself, moving it out into the unknown reaches of space. Here, Thor's lived, trained and prepared in secret, each working together for the same goal.
Freeing Asgard.
Yet they were no closer to it, decades of work, dozens of Thor's each with vast powers. Surely together they should have been able to do something, right? Or at the very least, they should have tried to do something? That was what confused Thor the most, why hadn't anyone gone to Asgard and tried to save it?
Every Thor he asked this question to had the same answer, they were waiting for orders from the first and most powerful Thor. A shape-shifting being who had slain Xorr the God-Jewel. A Thor with more power than them all combined. He was out there somewhere in the universe, collecting power and ancient secrets and bringing it back for them to learn. It all seemed like superstition to Thor, like a tale told to people who had lost all hope.
It made Thor wonder, had the rest of the Thor's lost hope?
"K-Thor, get back to work!" Looking to his supposed, only friend and teammate, Stront-Thor, he watched the man lead a squad of soldiers through Asgardian drills designed to instil trust and teamwork between them. They weren't Thors, but they were a race belonging to a nearby hospitable planet that had been named Thor-Prime.
Not a name any Thor gave it, but one that was given by the people that lived upon it. Each of them worshipped them as Gods, which they were at one point in time. Even calling their race the Thunderers.
A strange bunch, not entirely strong, but not weak either. They were about on par with a Midgardian. Honestly, Thor thought it was a waste of resources to train them, all they would be were cannon fodder in any conflict. Spending all this time training them was not worth the effort.
"Mak-Thor, take over for a little while," Stront-Thor said, moving over to sit beside him. The gruff Makluan marched forwards, the Thunderers gathered looking nervously around at one another. He was not a gentle instructor, nor a particularly friendly person at all. It was why Stront-Thor was always assigned to work with him, they were a balancing force. "What's been with you lately?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you've been distracted." Stront-Thor retorted. "When you first got here you listened to everything that was said, always asked questions and trained your hardest. Your drive was recognised and it was why I gave you a Xorr Jewel." He indicated towards the pink jewel slotted into the centre of Thor's armour. "What's wrong?"
For a moment, Thor debated on whether to answer or not before sighing. "What's the point in training? What's this all for anyway? We talk about saving Asgard and our people trapped upon it. Yet every day goes by and there's no word about saving them or anything. It just seems like we're wasting our time on nothing."
"Is that what you think?"
"Don't you?"
There was a pause. "Look, I've felt the same way as you, many times before in fact. Honestly, I have the same thoughts as you from time to time. Believe me, if there was something we could do to change that, I would, but we can't. I've met the Founder and trust me, as strong as he is, I don't think he's ready to face Odin. You're also forgetting the fact that whoever's been controlling Asgard from the shadows, they won't let our people go without a fight. It's more than likely that when we go, we won't be facing just Odin, but the entirety of Asgard including the Thor that's there."
'I hadn't thought of that.'
The look must have shown on his face as Stront-thor patted his shoulder. "See, we can't rush into these things as much as me, you and all other Thor's would want to. In this situation, we can't just run in headfirst and smash our way to victory like we did in the past. We don't have the power we had and so we need to play it smart."
"What if we didn't need to?"
"What are you saying?"
"I overheard some of the observation team talking about a Kree vessel being spotted on the edge of our space. They also reported Shi'ar vessels inbound to attack it." There was a look of confusion upon the face of Stront-Thor. "The Kree and Shi'ar actually have good relations, and yet the Shi'ar are planning to attack, why? Because the Kree vessel they're attacking is the flagship of the Supreme Intelligence, it's the crown jewel of all ships in the Kree Empire and is usually used to transport very valuable objects."
"You're saying that upon it will be a powerful object?"
"Possibly, but one thing I know for certain that will be on there is one of the prized members of the Kree military, a Nega Warrior. They'll be wearing a powerful relic known as the Nega-Band. If I can get my hand on that, I'll be much stronger. Enough so to possibly challenge Odin himself." Thor didn't know if that was certain, he didn't even know how powerful the Nega-Band's actually were. He just knew that they were powerful and he wanted to get his hands on one. "Will you help me?"
"It's not an actual mission."
"Doesn't matter," Thor argued, before indicating his head to Mak-Thor. "He's already agreed to help me and I need your help to keep him in line."
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