It didn't take long to reach Jeddah.A former Nova base,it had been taken over the Dark Order (an old enemy of ours, unfortunately) years ago. All attempts to reclaim it had failed. The planet was now a junkyard for old ships and parts, and an important enemy base.

It was here we had to hide the orb.Where better to hide a small object than a junkyard?

Our comms beeped. I turned it on.
"This is Captain John Ferris of the Dark Order. Identify yourself."
I leaned forward."This is the Jackal of the Nova Corps. We request permission to land."

"What is your business here?"
"We,uh.... are here to bring supplies."
He paused."There is no mention of any supplies on the list."
"We were redirected.It was on very short notice."
I heard the typings of a keyboard.Then the speaker spoke again."Please maintain your current position, Jackal. We are sending someone to receive you."I turned the comm off.
"Sir,did they buy the story you said?"
"I hope so."
Suddenly the alarms blared.The radar beeped frantically.Max looked at me with a frightened look.
"Fighters coming inbound,sir!One hundred miles and closing.There are a lot of them!"
I looked at the screen.Sure enough,a whole squadron of fighters were headed towards us.I gritted my teeth.
"Sound the alarm.All men to battle stations!I need all personnel at their positions immediately."I barked out as I positioned myself behind the turret controls.

Now this is going to be interesting.

"Missile lock!Missile lock! We've been targeted!"someone cried out.
A volley of missiles sped towards us.BAM!The ship lurched on the side dangerously on the impact.People got thrown off their seats.
"Shield percentage at 65%,sir.No major damage."
I took over."Let's give these dogs their own medicine."

All the guns aboard the Jackal fired simultaneously. Cannons,guns,missiles-all streaked off like lightning towards the enemy.Even from here,I could see the brightness of the detonation on impact with the fighters as they lost their lives in the gunfight.
"Yes!"Max shouted out, earning a few looks from people.We sighed in relief.

"Turn the ship around."I said."There's no more point staying here."
We sped past Jeddah before anything else could unfold. As we rushed past Pluto,Glen came up to me, holding a paper in his hand.
"Sir,this message just transmitted through the emergency frequency. It looks like things are pretty bad over there." I looked it over.
"Mayday!Mayday! Need immediate backup at the Eastern Quadrant. Redwoods are crossing our borders in swarms.Greatly outnumbered.Need assistance ASAP!"
I strode towards the controls and told the pilots to make way for the Eastern Quadrant immediately. With every passing moment,I kept on biting my lips and walking down the corridor impatiently to see if we'd arrived.

We arrived there in exactly 3 minutes. Although I had been bracing myself to be ready to see every kind of catastrophic scene,it sure was not anything near this.

Nothing.Nothing at all. Just deep, empty space.
"What the hell is this?"I asked, surprised."Did we go somewhere wrong?"I double-checked the coordinates. We weren't wrong.

"Sir there is nothing wrong with our instruments."Max said." We've reached exactly where you told us to be."
"Then what is all this?"I motioned outside." We respond to a mayday situation and arrive to find nothing at all?"

The motion sensors started beeping frantically. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
"Sir!"An officer cried out frantically."Motion detectors are picking a lot of signals. Closing in fast!"
"Arm all weapons."I stated calmly, trying not to let the fear in me reflect in my voice."Get all men to battle stations immediately. I want a weapon in every man's hands."
I pulled up the image on the main screen. At least fifty fighters were inbound, their weapons hot and armed, and we were the target.
Cold drops of sweat trickled down my spine.

The message was a dud.

And we had walked straight into an ambush.

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Elsewhere

It is a dark place,a section of the universe where light hasn't the ability to reach. Rocks keep floating in space. Hooded figures,dark and sinister, move stealthily.
Some of them crawl on to a big chunk of rock. It is quite barren,save a huge figure sitting in the dark on a golden throne.
"Master,"they hiss. "Everything is going as planned." The figure nodded and motioned for them to continue.
"The object is still in the hands of the Nova Corps."They hiss."But we will soon have it."
"You'd better."The figure boomed.
"It's aboard the best ship they have, currently speeding towards the Eastern Quadrant."
"You know what to do."The voice boomed."Do it."
"Yes,master."They whimpered and crawled away.
The figure relaxed on his throne as he looked at the message he transmitted via the Nova emergency frequency. As his target sped towards its own doom,he couldn't help but smirk.Fun sure isn't something one considers while balancing the universe.

Hey guys, brought you an early update. Some of my friends were pretty excited about the story and were like "Kobe update korbi?Amra porbo."(When will you update? We want to read.)So guys, here's your update!
Marvel fans,do you get the last line reference?