"It's not the deep red I was expecting..."
"It's more like a muted orange-red or butterscotch… What made you think it would be straight red?"
"I mean... people keep calling it that. Whatever, forget it. Is the center-most feed running in real time?"
London, deep underground at the Mars mission lab or the headquarters or simply mission control. Maverick never really bothers naming his underground bases, he just calls them this or that location.
The atmosphere here was especially lively today. People in white coats moved between stations with quick steps and hushed voices, their eyes flicking from papers to glowing screens.
One wall held a wide monitor that covered nearly the entire surface, divided into several live feeds, each one showing a different angle in and from the spacepod as it drifted into the red planet's orbital region.
Beneath it, a long row of control units hummed with steady lights and flickering buttons, while other consoles filled the room in neat clusters, each one manned by someone adjusting dials or tapping keys as telemetry streamed in.
The control room itself was built on a single wide floor, and a short metal staircase on both sides led up to a raised platform that felt almost like a stage created for oversight.
From there, anyone standing at the railing could see the entire room and every feed running at once. At this moment Maverick, Norex, Bucky, Howard and his wife stood among several other scientists and alchemists, some watching in silence and others commenting softly as the controlled chaos unfolded below them.
The reason for everyone gathering here was obvious. Today, if everything went according to plan, could become the day their long quest reached its turning point, the day they finally surfaced the mysterious world.
"Yes, the camera with the quantum entanglement tech we installed last week on the spaceship has its feed up on the center screen," Howard said, nodding without taking his eyes off the display. "The rest of the feeds are running about ten minutes behind..."
"Mars isn't exactly close to Earth right now, but it isn't at its farthest either," Norex chimed in. "Using standard Earth technology, the delay would be anywhere from four to twenty minutes, depending on the planets' positions."
"Quantum entanglement research is our main focus at the moment, sir," another man in a lab coat said. "It will give us reliable, near-instant communication and allow us to track the mission in real time. Over the long term, it should save a significant amount of time."
"I don't mind," Maverick nodded without looking. "Just don't put the entire team on a single project. If you need extra manpower for it, let me know."
"It won't take long," Howard said. "With Norex on board, we should have this technology under control in no time." He glanced briefly at Maverick and added, "I can't help but wonder if the world is ready for this technology."
"No," Maverick interjected firmly. "Not yet. It's far too soon to share such groundbreaking technology with the world. They're barely entering the age of information technology." His expression turned thoughtful. "In ten years, maybe twenty, then I won't mind. Until then, any technology we study from the Kree and Norex stays with us."
Earth's communication tech, or data transmission, basically runs at the speed of light. That's not slow by any means within the planet, but beyond it, when distances stretch from tens of thousands of kilometers to millions or even billions, the delays start adding up fast. Even a message between the Moon and Earth isn't instantaneous, let alone one traveling to a whole other planet.
Quantum entanglement, on the other hand, lets information jump instantly across any distance. If the latest Earth tech was like sending a letter through the mail, entanglement was like whispering into someone's ear on the other side of the solar system, and they would hear it the instant you spoke.
Of course, quantum entanglement technology is not just for faster communication. The reason Maverick was not willing to share it, at least not right now, was simply because most of the leadership on the planet was stupid and shortsighted. He had no doubt that the first thing they would do is try to weaponize it, turning a scientific breakthrough into a tool for destruction.
On top of that, the biggest reason was that sharing the technology now would completely alter the course of technological evolution across the entire world. It could accelerate progress by decades or even hundreds of years, and as a result, he would effectively lose the advantage of his future knowledge.
"Fine, fine, you're the one paying the bills. The tech stays with us," Howard said, waving his hand.
The people working here were carefully selected, including both muggles and magicals, and Maverick had, more or less, some trust that they would not be tempted to go against his instructions for greed or any other reason.
And even if some idiot were to, say, plan to go against his orders, they could not. It was not just trust or a paper contract that gave him confidence, and he was not stupid enough to leave everything to just that either. For a mage of his caliber, he had more than enough ways to ensure their tongues stayed restrained. Call it cruel or tyranny—he did not care.
They were not here by force, but of their own free will, having acknowledged the terms. On top of that, the benefits he offered were far better than anything they could find elsewhere. Not to mention, they were part of history, researching and participating in something as groundbreaking as literally reshaping the structure of a planet.
"Anyway, from that distance, are you able to do your thing?" Howard asked again.
"How far away is it still?"
Howard, with a hand on his chin, made a thoughtful expression and hummed. "Further than the distance the ISS orbits Earth."
"Actually, it's about three times that distance," another scientist added.
"Then it should be fine," Maverick said, nodding, and then turned to Norex. "Is the suit ready?"
"Yes. I've modified the communication systems, upgraded the suit's durability, and added the settings you requested. It can handle any region of the red planet's surface, including its harshest weather conditions and the freezing poles."
"Good…" A smile crossed Maverick's face. "Then let's not waste time."
A few minutes later, he stood inside a small, sealed room, wearing the gear Norex had made. The spacesuit was basically the Kree uniform with some upgrades, and of course, the look had been altered to better fit his… cough... particular tastes.
Sleek, all black, and absolutely not a cape trailing behind him.
It might look simple at first glance, but it held a ton of technology beneath the surface and could be used for multiple purposes, not just as a spacesuit. Close combat was entirely possible, and wearing it felt surprisingly comfortable. It was strong, equipped with a breathing system, a communication system, a holographic interface, and basically packed with advanced tech throughout.
"Room is sealed. You may open the portal, boss man," Howard's voice rang out inside the room.
The purpose of the contained space is simple: safety. When the portal opens, it essentially connects the atmospheres of two planets, and hazardous gases containing who knows what from Mars would undoubtedly flow in. The control room's containment system prevents the rest of the lab from being flooded with all that nasty stuff until it is neutralized.
First, though, he didn't open a portal directly to Mars. He couldn't, not yet. His hands moved, and the portal first connected to the inside of the spacecraft, and he stepped through. Once inside, the portal closed behind him, and he walked to the ship's front, finally seeing the red planet up close for the first time.
It looked… breathtaking, for lack of a better word, and he couldn't help but smile. Not because Mars was beautiful, its red dust and jagged terrain could never match Earth's blue and green, at least not yet. The smile came simply because this was the place, this was the moment where his plans and his ambition would truly begin.
"This is mission control. Boss man, do you read?" Howard's voice echoed inside the suit's helmet.
"I can. Is the body camera feed running okay?"
"Clear as day," Howard answered.
"I've sent the coordinates marking the best spot to surface," Norex's voice followed. "The pod is directly above the location, the Elysium Planitia region, as you humans named it. It is a flat surface surrounded by rocky mountains on all sides and is less likely to encounter severe weather."
Yes, Mars does have storms, and that factor had to be considered before establishing a base. However, the storms on the red planet are very different from those on Earth. There is no rain or lightning, since the atmosphere is extremely thin and dry, but dust storms and dramatic temperature swings make the weather just as harsh and dangerous for both equipment and humans.
Three regions were shortlisted as good candidates for the starting base, and Maverick's team collectively voted for Elysium Planitia. It's a very flat region, statistically calmer than many equatorial locations. Basically, there's no place on Mars guaranteed to be "storm-free." Global and regional dust storms can, at times, affect nearly the whole planet. That said, some areas have a much lower probability of dust-storm activity, and this region was one of them.
Hearing Howard and Norex's instructions, Maverick's eyes moved to the holographic display in front of his retina. A miniature map of the red planet appeared, with a blinking point indicating where he should go.
"Right then, the space pod will temporarily lose connection. I'm preparing to surface," Maverick spoke into the communicator, then, with a thought, he vanished from the spot and reappeared outside in space, beside the ship.
The plan was never about piloting the thing through the red planet's atmosphere. That would be foolish when he had far better and more efficient means. So next, with a single, effortless motion, he made the not-so-large space pod vanish into his storage space.
The space pod had basically achieved its purpose at this point. Perhaps far, far in the future, it would end up displayed in some museum, who knows.
He then turned slowly, letting his gaze sweep across the red planet, taking in the vast, alien landscape that stretched endlessly before him.
The convenient thing about the Sling Ring portal was that so long as he could see, had seen, or had been to a place, he could open a portal directly there regardless of distance. He had traveled back and forth between the space pod and Earth many times now, and until now, no problem had occurred.
In the Avengers: Endgame movie, he remembered Doctor Stephen Strange opening a portal all the way from Titan, Thanos's homeworld, which should be tens of thousands of light-years apart.
He had even vaguely asked the Sorcerer Supreme about the range of the Sling Ring portal. Her answer was simply: so long as one knows and has been to a place, the portal can connect—even across dimensions. Basically, the Sling Ring portal was an absurdly powerful spell.
Anyway, he would soon find out whether he could cross planets using the portal magic.
With a thought, his body moved closer to the planet, the extraordinary flight magic, replicated from the super broom, guiding him forward. About a quarter of an hour later, he felt the planet's gravity beginning to pull him down, and he stopped.
He glanced from the holographic instructions displayed in his retina back to the planet, fixed on one spot, and guided his hands with careful intention. The familiar orange portal materialized again, and he stepped through without a second thought.
He emerged on the other side, hovering roughly ten thousand meters above the jagged red terrain. This was perhaps the first time in human history that someone from Earth had penetrated deep into the Martian atmosphere. Well, he pushed the thought aside—there was no one there to applaud, anyway.
Instead, he took a moment to digest the scene, the vast orange sky stretching endlessly above him and the rocky surface below looking both alien and astonishing.
"A bit off course, Mr. Caesar. Please follow the coordinates… the pointer is showing over your eye." instructions came through the communicator as he breathed in the alien air. Technically, he was wearing a helmet, but metaphorically, that was how it felt to him.
"Classical mechanics, boss man. Newton's laws of motion…"
"I know the law of inertia, Howard. Shut up and let me focus," Maverick snapped, cutting the annoying bastard off. Sighing and brushing aside the feeling of taking in the moment, he focused between the instructions displayed on his retina and the planet's surface again. From where he hovered, he could already make out landmarks on the ground below.
It was daytime in this region, but unlike Earth, the sky wasn't bright blue. The thin CO₂ atmosphere and suspended iron-rich dust scattered sunlight differently. The overall effect was a muted, dusty hue, almost like a desert with a permanent haze.
Moments later, he gestured with his hands once more, and the portal appeared, connecting to a region far away but still within his sight.
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Author's Note:
🔥 Drop those Power Stones! 🔥
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