Having just finished fooling someone, Loki switched her perspective to take a look at the magical eye she had left near Earth. Then she discovered that the space around Earth was completely empty, without a single battleship in sight.
Frowning, she picked up her staff and lightly tapped the air. A phantom image drifted before her.
It was a Chitauri, though he looked somewhat different from the others. His exoskeleton was more refined, and his build was more imposing.
"Great General Dorian, didn't we agree on a time? Why hasn't your army arrived yet?"
"We really did deploy three warships onto the battlefield just now! But they lost contact instantly. Wait a moment, I'll look into it..."
Loki understood the art of bargaining well. She feigned dissatisfaction and said, "Even among the Chitauri civilization, you are not my only possible partner. I imagine the royalists and the Great Prince would both be interested in entering the Nine Realms."
"Wait, it'll be ready soon!" The man called Great General Dorian wiped his forehead and touched his nose, looking rather nervous. He kept shouting into the communicator, yet no one answered him at all.
As though she had run out of patience, Loki said, "I really misjudged you! Earlier, when I said I wanted to assess your capabilities, I even specially found you the weakest possible whetstone to avoid losses. Yet you can't even figure out where your own warships went?!"
Loki let out a deep sigh and said, "I originally wanted to cooperate with the Chitauri because I had my eye on your Will-class battleships. Other than that, what else do you have that could catch an Asgardian's eye?"
"Even a Will-class battleship is far inferior to our ocean-going sailing ships, and sailing warships are merely the lowest tier of spacecraft