"From today on, this planet will officially be called Starfarer, and this city will be named New Chicago!" A few days later, standing on top of the tall city hall in the center of the city, Josh looked down at the city that wasn't fully built yet but was already full of life. After thinking for a moment, he smiled and gave the new names for the planet and the city.
"Yes, Leader!" Thalorien behind him accepted the order without hesitation.
Although a big battle had nearly wiped out the First Fleet, the real losses mostly came from the main warships destroyed by the Starhawk and the unfinished starport. Thanks to Josh returning in time and leading fast rescue efforts, the damage to the ground facilities and personnel wasn't too serious.
With the help of the Second Vrykul Fleet, the survivors of the First Fleet, the Centaurians, and other alien races, plus the huge resources Josh provided, the planet—once just labeled D-01—quickly restarted production and even became more grand than before.
Now, as the new base of Ouroboros and also the place where Josh had lived after arriving in this universe, the planet and the city got their new names: Starfarer and New Chicago.
"Have we located that ship?" Josh asked after naming the place.
Even though the shadow of the destroyed Ranger First Fleet was mostly gone, Josh had actually suffered another serious loss—one that was more hidden.
One of the ships had been stolen by the Ravagers. It was an Arquitens-class light cruiser from the Old Republic. Though called a light cruiser, it was really just a large escort ship. It wasn't big, and its combat power was average.
But the problem was, it carried a second-level faster-than-light engine.
In the Marvel Universe, where ships mostly travel through wormholes, FTL engines are rare and very advanced. The hyperdrive engine from the Star Wars world that Josh had—capable of speeds millions of times faster than light—was a unique treasure.
Josh chose Starfarer as the base of Ouroboros because there were no usable wormholes within tens of light-years around it. That meant without an FTL engine or a Space Stone-like artifact, enemies would need at least ten years to reach the planet using Marvel's space travel tech.
That gave them ten years of extra time to prepare for war—an extremely rare and valuable strategic advantage.
But if civilizations in this universe got their hands on FTL tech, that advantage would disappear.
Of course, such advanced tech usually has many tech locks built into its design, making it very hard to copy. But it wasn't impossible.
So right now, even before dealing with the rising threat of the young enemy Starhawk, the top priority was to find that ship!
Also, during the earlier ambush of the Kree transport fleet, those same Ravagers were involved. They had to be silenced too.
But this wasn't going to be an easy task.
"I'm very sorry, Leader. It seems that among those Ravagers, there are people very skilled in related tech. The tracking device on the ship was blocked, and we lost its signal. This is my failure. Please punish me," said Thalorien, lowering his head.
Josh waved his hand and said, "Hmm, this isn't your fault, Thalorien. Don't blame yourself."
Once the tracking system was blocked, finding a small escort ship in the vast universe was like trying to find a needle in the ocean. Especially now, when their influence in the galaxy was just starting to grow. Even though Josh had made a good amount of starting capital from the Collector, they still had very few ways to buy or gather intel.
So it wasn't fair to blame his people for this.
It looked like he would have to trouble Dracula for help again.
"By the way, where was the last known location of that ship?" Josh asked.
"It was near the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. Based on its direction, we believe they're heading to Xandar," Thalorien replied.
"...Xandar? The Nova Empire? That's going to be a headache," Josh said with a frown.
The Nova Empire didn't seem very strong in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but in truth, it was a powerful civilization that had fought the Kree Empire for thousands of years without falling. Part of that strength also came from their ally, the mysterious Shi'ar Empire.
In the movie, they got caught off guard only because they had signed a peace treaty with the Kree and lowered their guard, which allowed Ronan to launch a surprise attack.
If Starhawk and his people really did go to Xandar, and Josh made a move against them, he would definitely end up fighting the Nova Corps directly.
Unless he used the power of the Power Stone, it wouldn't be easy to win.
Josh hesitated—not because he was afraid. With the Power Stone, even Xandar's military was no threat. The real question was whether it was worth the effort and risk.
After thinking for a bit, he decided that if necessary, he would take action—but not alone.
"Xandar, huh…" Josh didn't hesitate anymore. He opened the interstellar communication system on his table and contacted Sebastian on Contraxia.
"Honorable Mr. Kahn, what can I do for you?" A few minutes later, Sebastian's hologram appeared in front of him.
"Sebastian, can you get in touch with Lord Vlad?" Josh asked directly.
"Of course, I'll connect you right away," Sebastian replied without hesitation.
Soon, the call with Dracula went through.
"Oh, Josh! My dear friend, what brings you to me?" Dracula greeted him warmly.
"Yes, Lord Vlad. A group of petty thieves attacked one of my bases and stole a ship. I think it's time they learned a hard lesson. But I've lost their trail. As you know, I'm quite short on intel right now, so I'm hoping for your help. Of course, I'm willing to offer something in return," Josh explained.
Dracula seemed even more enthusiastic than when they last met on Contraxia, which surprised Josh a little, but he didn't dwell on it. He got straight to the point with his request.
"Hahaha, there's no need to talk about any price or payment for something this small. We're both from Earth, and we're friends, right? Just send me their info—I'll have my people handle it," Dracula agreed without hesitation.
His straightforward response, even without asking for anything in return, caught Josh a little off guard.
It almost felt like Dracula really saw him as a true friend.
But… was that even possible?
Josh didn't believe it.
Still, a good deal is a good deal. It's not like he forced Dracula to help.
"Then I thank you, Lord Vlad. Here's their information," Josh said, quickly sending over the data on Starhawk and his crew.
"Huh? Lyan Ogord? The ones who attacked your base and stole your ship were them?" Dracula was clearly surprised when he saw the info.
After all, the incident with the Kree fleet wasn't that long ago, and Lyan Ogord had indeed led that attack. Since he disappeared after that, most people across the galaxy believed he was the one behind it.
Now they'd apparently crossed Josh too?
These guys were real outlaws.
Because of limited information, Dracula didn't connect the Kree fleet attack to Josh. But even if he did, he probably wouldn't care. Dracula never got along with the Kree anyway, and with his pride, he'd never go running to tell them anything.
"Yes, I didn't expect this either," Josh said with a shrug. "They've caused me serious losses. So if you get any intel, please let me know right away."
"No problem!" Dracula agreed right away. His Blood Dominion had made its name in the galaxy thanks to its control over space weed, and gathering intel was one of its biggest strengths.
After a few more polite words, Josh ended the call.
"With the help of the Blood Lord, I believe we'll soon find where those guys are hiding. But we can't just sit back either. If I'm not wrong, Lyan Ogord and his father are from Arcturus, right?" Josh turned to Thalorien.
"Yes, it's a mid-level civilization under the Shi'ar Empire," Thalorien replied quickly.
"Send people there. See if the Ogords have any family or friends left. We need to gather every bit of leverage we can," Josh ordered.
If he was right, Lyan Ogord should still have a daughter—the one played by Michelle Yeoh who appeared in the end credits of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
If they could capture her, the Ogord father and son would be forced to hold back on many things.
As for the saying "family shouldn't be harmed"… what a joke. In a fight that affects the future of entire civilizations, not wiping out your whole species would already be considered mercy.
"Yes, Leader. I'll get on it right away," Thalorien said and left to prepare.
Even though Arcturus was a Shi'ar Empire vassal, neither Josh nor Thalorien seemed too concerned.
Unlike the Kree, the Shi'ar didn't strictly control their subordinate civilizations.
The Shi'ar Empire was known for managing its vassal civilizations with a very loose grip.
As long as you submitted a request and the Shi'ar Empire's influence reached your location, you'd generally enjoy their protection—as long as you didn't openly break a few key rules they had set, like don't go around starting wars without reason.
That's why the Shi'ar had an extremely large number of vassal civilizations.
But because of that same loose control, unless it was a major invasion-level event, the Shi'ar rarely got involved in smaller conflicts or local enforcement.
Josh's plan was just to snatch a few people from Arcturus.
No matter how you looked at it, this wouldn't be seen as provoking the Shi'ar Empire.
And as for Arcturus itself… who cared?
Not long after Thalorien left, a new comm signal came through on Josh's desk.
The sender was from the Vrykul Second Fleet—Captain of the Retribution, and the fleet's deputy commander: Megatron.
Yes, that Megatron.
The one who was killed by Starscream, then handed over to Josh as part of a trade.
Thanks to the AllSpark and learning the correct activation method from Starscream, Josh was able to resurrect the former Decepticon Warlord. He even rewrote Megatron's core consciousness, making him a loyal and powerful enforcer under his command.
As for why Megatron was just a deputy commander?
That was because Josh had used even more AllSpark energy—along with a special alloy mixed with a small amount of vibranium—to create an even stronger Transformer: Jetfire.
Now, Megatron was reaching out because he had successfully received Josh's first official guest on Starfarer: Loki.
As mentioned before, there were no stable space wormholes near Starfarer, so Loki couldn't have gotten there on his own—unless he used the Bifrost.
But since this meeting with Josh was secret, and Loki had used magic to cover his movements, using the Bifrost would have been like lighting up a giant neon sign that said "Here I am!"
So he had to jump to a nearby wormhole route and wait for someone from Josh's forces to come pick him up.
"Great Leader, mission accomplished. I have received Lord Loki," Megatron reported as the holographic call opened.
Next to him stood a rather short figure—none other than Loki himself.
"Heh, who would've thought meeting you would be such a hassle," Loki said with a mocking smile.
But the moment he finished, he felt a sharp, cold glare from the massive Megatron beside him, making his spine tense up slightly.
Not exactly fear—after all, Megatron was just a high-tech machine. As long as Loki didn't try to fight head-on, Megatron couldn't do much to him.
Still, the towering metal frame and the intimidating Vrykul soldiers around him gave Loki a new level of respect—and interest.
Seeing such a powerful fleet, Loki couldn't help but think:
If I had this kind of force behind me… I might not match Asgard just yet—but I could definitely challenge most civilizations in the galaxy, aside from a few major empires.
--
Next Goal: 400 Pwoerstone