Space Blockade

Hearing Thanos say a great battle was about to begin, Cull Obsidian felt a surge of excitement.

Of the Black Order, he was arguably the most eager for a fight.

An unprecedented war was about to begin. How could he not be excited?

"My lord, I request permission to lead the vanguard."

Thanos ignored Cull Obsidian's request and ordered his subordinates to connect him with the rest of the Black Order.

Seeing the grave look on his lord's face, Cull Obsidian opened his mouth, then stopped himself from asking again.

This was no time to indulge his own wishes.

A moment later, once all five of his trusted commanders had appeared on the screen, Thanos set down the Mind Stone and rose to his feet.

"A great battle is almost upon us. I'm issuing new orders!"

Though his Titan-class Spaceship gave him an advantage in firepower during a head-on clash, the enemy outnumbered his forces two and a half to one.

War in space was different from war on a planet's surface.

On the ground, space was limited. Once an army reached a certain size, the terrain itself became a constraint.

More troops were not always better.

But war in space was fought in three dimensions.

Enemies could appear above, below, to either side, ahead, or behind.

And space was vast enough to deploy tens of thousands of Spaceships at once.

So while a Titan-class Spaceship was a tremendous asset, it could not decide the battle on its own.

At his level of power, even tearing a Titan-class Spaceship apart with one hand was possible.

He believed the same was true of Odin.

At his command, the Black Order began moving toward their assigned destinations.

Thanos remained where he was with twenty-five hundred Spaceships under his command.

On the other side of the Milky Way.

Clad in full armor and gripping Gungnir, Odin stood in the control room of a command ship, watching the screen with a cold gaze.

On the screen was Thanos's Titan-class Spaceship, Sanctuary II.

Anyone seeing Sanctuary II for the first time would have been awestruck.

Odin was no exception.

He had not expected the technology beyond the Milky Way to advance so far during the thousand years he had kept it sealed off.

They could now build a Spaceship of such immense size.

How had they solved the problems of propulsion, the ship's own gravity, and interstellar jumps?

Behind Odin, Thor wore an eager expression as he said, his blood stirring, "Father, is that our enemy? It looks like a worthy opponent."

His journey to Blue Star had helped him mature, but it had not changed his instinctive love of battle.

With a Spaceship that big, I'd have to hammer away with Mjolnir for ages to destroy it.

Odin said nothing.

He was still thinking that destroying such a magnificent Spaceship would be a waste. He had to find a way to seize it instead.

Sif, standing beside Thor, saw that the God King had no intention of speaking. "Prince Thor, I think taking it for ourselves would be rather fun."

As she spoke, she gazed at Thor with open affection.

She knew he had no interest in her, but she was not about to give up.

He was the future king of the Milky Way, after all. Even if she could not be his principal consort, becoming a lesser wife would hardly be a loss.

Excitement flashed in Thor's eyes.

"Right. We can't destroy it. I'm taking it for myself."

Behind him, the Warriors Three immediately chimed in.

"Exactly! Only a Spaceship like that is worthy of Prince Thor."

"I'll lead the charge when the time comes. Don't any of you try to beat me to it."

"Listen to yourself. Whoever reaches the control room first gets the credit."

For a moment, the Asgardian warriors began divvying up the credit as though Sanctuary II were already theirs.

Odin merely smiled faintly and said nothing.

He had a feeling this war would not be so simple.

Letting those three lead the charge when the time came might not be a bad idea.

A moment later, the Spaceship jolted. Everyone staggered, then quickly regained their footing.

A striking Asgardian woman strode over and addressed Odin respectfully. "God King, we've left the space lane. We're ten light-years from the target. One more space jump will bring us there."

Space lanes were installations that every power in the universe set up within its own territory.

A space jump consumed enormous energy to tear open space and enter subspace.

But fixing devices at both ends to open the passage greatly reduced that cost and spared the Spaceship from expending additional energy.

They had taken a space lane to a region near the enemy and planned to make the final jump from there.

Odin nodded. "Captain Lucy, begin the space jump."

Lucy stepped back to make the preparations.

Everyone had their own expertise. Though Odin was the God King, commanding Spaceships and planning their maneuvers were not his strengths, so he left those matters to his subordinates.

Lucy was one of the few Asgardians who had earned a captaincy through her record and ability.

Odin trusted her judgment.

But a moment later, Lucy returned with a troubled expression.

"God King, the space around us appears to be sealed. We can't make the jump."

Odin frowned. "We're still ten light-years from our destination. How could they have sealed off space here?"

Lucy shook her head. "They may have a way to seal space at long range that we don't know about."

Odin narrowed his remaining eye and fell into thought.

The Milky Way has been sealed off for too long. We've fallen behind the rest of the universe.

After this war, I should consider opening it up again.

Thor spoke impatiently. "If space is sealed, just use more energy to break through it."

A space jump worked by tearing open space, while a blockade strengthened the Space Barrier.

Thor was not wrong. With enough energy, they could indeed break through the blockade.

But a flicker of disdain crossed Lucy's eyes as she looked at him.

She concealed it well enough that no one noticed.

"Prince Thor, if we expend too much energy now, it may not recover by the time we reach our destination. The enemy could catch us unprepared."

That was putting it gently.

If the enemy ambushed them while they lacked the energy to raise their shields, they would be offering themselves up for slaughter.