In the pitch-black expanse of space, countless insect compound eyes flickered in and out of view. Upon a planet that had already been shattered by nearly half crouched a gigantic insect, its upper body like a longhorn beetle and its lower body like a centipede. Its terrifying eyes shone even brighter than the distant stars.
This was the edge of a star system in its prime, one that held no particularly important position in the universe. Its only distinction was that Xandar, the headquarters of the Nova Corps, lay at the center of this system. At this moment, however, the horrifying Zerg hive had already devoured more than half the system.
The Nova Corps' few remaining resistance forces had all withdrawn into their last fleet. A man with a red cross-shaped star on his Helmet strode past the communications room and headed toward the ship's main control room.
Just ten minutes earlier, the Corps had issued an evacuation order. There was no point in making a last stand on Xandar; it would only exhaust the Nova Corps' remaining strength even faster. Thus, although Centurion Richard Rider, known as Nova, was unwilling to hand the Corps' headquarters over to the insects, he had no other choice.
More importantly, they had to use their dwindling armed forces to ensure that the source of the Nova Force—the Nova Super-Biocomputer—would not be devoured by the insects.
Just as Nova was about to head to the main control room to issue the evacuation order, a Nova Corps member rushed out of the communications room. He stopped Nova and said, "We've received an unfamiliar transmission. They're requesting a conversation with the Corps' leader. Preliminary assessment suggests they're Order-aligned lifeforms. Should we connect it?"
Nova flicked his cape and frowned slightly, but still nodded. "Put it through."