What would later be known as the "Secret War" had its beginnings in a dungeon interrogation room within the Roman underground city of Eternal City.
Upon discovering something of interest, the interrogators—acting within their clearance—re-interrogated the Skrull detainees held in the dungeon. Unsurprisingly, they uncovered something extraordinary. Stephanie's little secretary still hadn't understood what was happening even after she was escorted back to the entrance of Eternal City's dungeon, but she still followed procedure and delivered the sealed report—its kraft paper cover stamped with a deep crimson secrecy classification—to high-ranking intelligence analysts and officers of the Fimbulvetr First Secret Corps.
Soon after, the windows of the intelligence department building, previously staffed only by night duty personnel, began to light up. Communications satellites relayed urgent calls to officials' communicators. One by one, bleary-eyed intelligence officers in black uniforms emerged from residential buildings.
The little secretary was promptly escorted out of the intelligence building, still looking utterly confused.
She carried the documents into the Internal Affairs building, which too lit up moments later. Phone lines buzzed at all levels. The chain of communication finally concluded when the call reached Constantine of the Imperial Guard. Standing alone in the dark office building, Constantine silently read through the interrogation reports on his tablet. Three reports—one from the Fimbulvetr First Secret Corps, one from the intelligence department, and one from the interrogation team—were required to be fully consistent before the intelligence could be deemed reliable.
This particular report clarified what had happened after Carol Danvers led the Skrulls off Earth. As previously predicted, no advanced extraterrestrial civilization was willing to accept the Skrulls. Even civilizations confined to colonization within their own star systems had heard of the Skrulls' infamous reputation.
Eventually, at a rather awkward juncture, Carol Danvers pushed the Kree orbital station loaded with Skrulls back toward Earth and promised to help them find a new home. By then, the Skrull children aboard had already come of age, and the new generation no longer shared the older generation's burning desire to find a new homeland.
Nick Fury, then still Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., quickly perceived Danvers' unspoken message. He began planning to form S.W.O.R.D., staffed primarily by Skrulls, believing their quest for a new home would not go smoothly—which turned out to be absolutely correct.
Given Danvers' first return to Earth, Fury believed a working relationship with the Skrulls was possible. But just as he was prone to keeping secrets, so were the Skrulls. Some among the new generation believed it unnecessary to search for a distant home when Earth was right in front of them—a sentiment reinforced by both myth and reality. After Carol Danvers' failure, this dangerous ideology spread widely. However, the Skrulls were still governed by one of Fury's old friends, who managed to suppress this populist trend among the youth, seeing it as a minor issue.
That changed when the Skrull impersonating Fury was killed by Solomon years ago. Only then did the entire Skrull population begin to shift. Ideologies of vengeance and colonization gained ground. Since Fury never formally joined the Skrulls' internal governance, many younger Skrulls used long-term assignments as excuses to remain on Earth. Some even completely abandoned their official duties and integrated freely into human society. To avoid arousing Fury's suspicion and losing his trust, the older generation of Skrull leaders covered for the younger generation's behavior.
Victoria Hand's intelligence analysis confirmed that Fury knew about this but underestimated the scale and power of the younger Skrulls—just as he had underestimated Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. If this trend continued, a Skrull rebellion similar to the Hydra uprising was inevitable. After receiving this intelligence, Victoria Hand coordinated directly with the Imperial Guard to determine their next course of action.
This was a covert war of survival. Eternal City had to win.
"Intensify the interrogations. Get every detail," ordered the Imperial Guard. "Don't worry about casualties. These aliens exist to provide intelligence. Gouge out their eyes. Cut off their limbs. Let them know the terror of humanity."
"What does our lord say?" Victoria Hand asked.
"I am the hand of the sovereign. My authority comes from Him," Constantine replied calmly. "Execute the order. Mobilize every available asset of the Fimbulvetr First Secret Corps. I will lead the operation myself."
Secret War – First Stage: Day 20
Nick Fury was urgently extracted from the dungeon. Victoria Hand didn't waste time lecturing her former boss with lengthy arguments. She simply slammed the intelligence report on the interrogation table.
"The bitter fruits of your making aren't limited to Hydra," she said, glancing at Fury's increasingly grim face. "Fix this. Or we're all going to die."
Secret War – First Stage: Day 18
The Fimbulvetr First Secret Corps, disguised as NYPD SWAT, conducted a forced entry on a New York apartment.
Before the raid, Eternal City had already seized control of the surrounding network infrastructure. All phone and internet services were disabled. Even more crucially, their deep-buried artificial intelligence hijacked every nearby surveillance camera. Local police, misled by false radio communications, were lured away to ensure no unrelated parties would catch wind of the operation.
An unsuspecting woman screamed in protest against police brutality as she was dragged out. The male homeowner, meanwhile, was forced to kneel by two soldiers in black ballistic armor. The squad leader asked the man a few questions. After getting the answers he wanted, the soldier drew his sidearm and shot the man point-blank in the head. The execution revealed the man's true form: the human skin shriveled, hair retracted, and his bare scalp turned slick and green, lined with faint red markings. His ears elongated into elven-like points. The soldiers loaded the corpse into the armored vehicle and poured acid over the blood traces. The entire process took less than three minutes.
He was the fifth Skrull they had executed in New York that day.
Meanwhile, another team, acting on new intel, drove to a warehouse in the outskirts. They brought demolition equipment to break open the concrete floor. Hours later, they unearthed a complete human skeleton. On-site forensic analysis and the leftover physical evidence identified the remains as a human male—likely the real owner of the apartment, murdered and replaced by the Skrull. After leaving the site, the artificial intelligence anonymously notified the NYPD about the body. The police officers comforting the woman were informed and brought her to the 8th precinct to identify the remains.
"There were only five Skrulls in New York?" Solomon rubbed his chin. "Fewer than I expected. I thought Skrulls would prefer large cities."
Victoria Hand ignored the offhand remark. "We traced additional Skrulls through communication records from the disguised ones." Her expression was grim. "But our operational pace is too slow. To prevent aliens from taking hostages, our window of action is extremely narrow."
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