Chapter 38 POV Change - Lydia

Lydia took several breaths as the final ship descended in a blaze. This was the last battle she would participate in the war against the Kree. Astrid had notify her that it was time to return to Genosha and so Lydia informed Xandar that she would launch one final assault on the Kree. Lydia attacked the largest shipyard the Kree had and completely decimated it.

She lands on the surface of a barren planet to watch the last ship crash. For this battle she refrained from using the stone's energies. Lydia wanted to test the limits of her own powers against an entire Kree armada. To her surprise, she was able to hold my own. She's not sure when it happened, but her powers enhanced so much from the constant flow of cosmic energy that they changed. Mutated again.

She examined her condition after a loud explosion sounded in the distance. Her armor had taken a lot of damage from all the attacks the Kree used. Her wounds had already healed. Her ship landed behind her, and she heard the bay door open.

"Beautiful isn't?" Lydia said to the big guy who's been with her for all the battles. He would report her progress back to Nova Prime and Xandar.

"…It has been an honor to watch you fight," he spoke knowing this was the last time he might see her.

"It's all on you guys now. Tell her I'll be in touch," Lydia said referring to their leader. She looked at him and teleported him back to Xandar. This ended her obligation to the war efforts.

The Kree had to stop their campaign against the Skrull and other war fronts. They shifted their focus on Lydia to stop her advancement. With her help, the Nova Corps were able to retake almost all their lost ground. In terms of strength, the Nova Corps now had the advantage. Lydia had destroyed several fleets during her involvement in this war. With the shipyard now destroyed, the Kree are in a complete defensive position.

Lydia headed back to the ship and punched the coordinates for Genosha. It was a relaxing ride and she decided against teleporting and just take a moment to herself. The reason for ending this campaign was to return for an announcement.

Astrid had completed her analysis on what direction to take Genosha and she concluded that the longest duration would be to add imperialistic and monarchic traits to our current government structure. The current population had reached the millions which mutants largely dominating the charts. Humans were less than 10% not including the enhanced humans in the military. Erik had done a fantastic job at keeping the peace but there have been incidents here and there. A representation of power is what Astrid concluded. It didn't always have to be the most powerful person, but for the first ruler, it needed to be, so the disputes died down. Astrid observed that most mutants follow the strongest without question. And so, she recommended that Lydia is to become Lydia Howlett First Empress of the Genosha Empire.

The very idea sicken Lydia. She hated it. Earth's history with imperialism showed all the indications of how terrible of an idea it was. Astrid did take that into consideration, but she had solid counter arguments. One, It was a human imperialism and not a mutant one. Considering also that there will be the potential that other races might coexist with the current population. Essentially meaning that the lessons of the past may apply but not necessarily all of them. Second, while Earth's history with imperialism is negative, the current universe is another thing. The Asgardians, for example, had a strict monarchy rule. The same for the Shi'ar and Spartax. Astrid argued that even the Xandar is ruled similarly under the illusion of stratocracy, meaning that the military force rules. What they all had in common was that they have all existed for hundreds if not thousands of years. If you take into account the Asgardians, then it would be eons. They all had a form of absolute power. Power that no one would question or fear to go against.

Lydia tried to counter Astrid but the more she thought of it the more it made sense. Astrid's research was accurate. Lydia then suggested that maybe Erik would be a better fit but Astrid shot that down quick. Everyone had seen Lydia's fight with the phoenix and Astrid has released footage of her battles with the Kree to boost morale. If any mutant thinks of trying to rebel or cause problems, then they would have to face Lydia. Astrid's approach was devoid of emotions. It was strictly to ensure that the population survives as long as the others. Lydia reluctantly agreed.

The ship shook slightly as it exited. Lydia looked from the window saw one of the largest stations in Genosha. Astrid called it Oracle Terminal for its advance surveillance and tracking technology. The ship transmitted her identification information and passage was granted to continue. Security was something both Astrid and Lydia shared which is why no one was excluded from security checks. The ship entered the atmosphere and barely shook as the heat increased. Auto pilot took care of navigating the ship as it descended.

The ship landed and the cargo doors opened for Lydia to exit. There she saw Astrid with Erik waiting for her.

"Welcome home," Astrid said with a smile.

"It's been a while," Erik said with a smile. His smile was something I didn't expect. Magda was also there with a child in her hands. It looked like they had another child together.

"It's good to be back," Lydia replied.

"Great, this way. We don't have much time to waste." Astrid pulled her along.

"Where are we going?" Lydia asked seeing Erik standing with his smug smile as Astrid continued to pull.

"Your training,"

"What training?"

"Your royalty training,"

"…what?" Lydia took a second to process. Looking back at Erik, she saw his smile widen.

No…

"There is a lot to learn before the announcement!" Astrid said excitingly.

Several weeks passed. Astrid insisted on learning all sorts of things from etiquette to body movements. It was embarrassing at first, but she knew that it was needed. Once the training completed, Lydia was ready for the announcement. Astrid that prepared a grand stage. Everyone gathered and those who couldn't were able to watch the broadcast.

A large palace building was built for Lydia and future leaders to reside. There, Lydia to her first steps on the throne. Everyone saw how she walked and emitted a sense of power. She was beautiful as she wore an elegant military style attire and reached the throne. She sat down and raised her head to look forward. Camera's flying around focused on her and Astrid came out. Lydia glanced at the throne she was sitting on. Astrid named it the Golden Throne. It was made using various different materials and contained numerous safety measures. While Lydia didn't need it, it may proof useful to others.

"Welcome all to the first coronation of the Genosha Empire!" Astrid exclaims loudly. The chorus of people's voice sounded loudly. Resonating everywhere.

"Lydia Howlett, please stand," Lydia stood up and faced Astrid who approached her.

"Are you willing to take the oath?" Astrid asked.

"I am"

"Do you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of Genosha, and of your Possessions and the other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?"

"I swear"

"Do you swear to the utmost of your power maintain and preserve of Genosha Empire, and other Territories or Peoples belonging or pertaining?"

"I swear"

"Do you swear to value the Peoples life over your own and ensure their safety from here henceforth?"

"I swear!"

"Then Lydia Howlett, first empress of the Genosha Empire, you may sit upon the Golden throne…"

Lydia sat down and clapping could be heard from the outside. The people inside also began clapping to celebrate. Lydia let the clapping continue before lifting her hand to silence them. The people inside quickly stopped and waited for Lydia to speak.

"My people, I shall make this speech short. Know the I will do everything within my power to ensure your safety. We will continue to accept mutants and other people to live amongst us peacefully. You may rest assure that if that peace is disturbed…no mercy will be bestowed on them. Many changes will occur shortly, and a new social structure will be established. I ask for your patience and understanding. Once we have established ourselves, we will start our trading endeavors with other galactic civilizations. We must maintain our secretly however, to ensure our people's safety. No one will know where we are, but we will also be vigilant for those in need. Thank you," Lydia spoke and ended her short speech.

The remaining time went by quickly. Lydia participated in the dinner after and talk with several people. Once it was done, she went to her room within the palace and finally relaxed in her bed. Her short break was interrupted by someone knocking.

"Come in," Lydia saw Astrid enter and close the door behind her. She relaxed her facial expression and body.

"Haha-sorry it went a little over the scheduled time," Astrid apologized. Lydia glared at her.

"Ugh, I can't even be mad at you. Too tired," Lydia slumped on the bed. Physically her body was fine. It was the strain of controlling all her emotions and miniscule details in all her movements that caused her to feel tired.

"Well, this is the last thing before you knock out," Astrid projected a video from her arm.

"Recent events…and tomorrow will begin the implementation of your imperial decree's"

With that, Astrid began a debriefing for Lydia. Various different laws that Astrid had researched were presented to Lydia. She ultimately had the final decision and had some thoughts on certain laws that Astrid presented. The next few days were spent getting various different briefs from Astrid and meeting with different people of Genosha. Lydia now gathered people she trusted regarding the last remaining issues.

"Thanks for coming," Lydia said as she sat down. The rest sat down once she sat down. A circular table hummed as it projected various different panels to the people.

"I asked all of you here because I wanted your input. Astrid?" Lydia asked Astrid to begin her briefing.

It was a shorten version of what Astrid had told Lydia regarding the establishment of nobility or some form of it. The people gathered, Erik, Magda, Emma, Tessa, Selene, Wendy, and Ariki each remained silent as Astrid continued. Lydia saw Magda's expression and body language. Once Astrid was finished, Lydia quickly spoke first.

"Magda?"

"Ah…This…seems more like a mutant focused event? I was just wondering why I was here?" Magda said.

"Because it shouldn't entirely be mutant focused. I wanted different perspectives. Yours is Human. Theirs is Mutant and Wendy's is an Alien's. Eventually, that number will grow."

"Well, if her response is any indication, then it would be fair to access that most Humans would feel isolated or seen as inferior," Tessa interjected.

"Before we dive in, I wanted to announce my retirement." Erik spoke firmly. Lydia wasn't too surprised, but the rest were caught of guard. Before people could protest, Lydia spoke.

"Very well, moving on. What do we think about implementing social classes?" It took a few seconds before someone spoke.

"Well, considering what Astrid explained, I think that it could be successful. We match other civilizations in terms of technology and firepower but lack the structure. We either go with a militaristic approach or a social class," Tessa spoke out again.

"Could we do a mix of both?" Emma asked.

"We could," Astrid interjected.

"The Kree has an iron grip through a military dictatorship. Ranking in the social ladder is established on what accomplishments were done. They've also been around for millions of years with that structure," Wendy added.

"It would be beneficial to add some military to the social class. Xandarian's follow a similar structure," Tessa spoke.

The talks continued as a similar structure to Kree and Xandarian was adopted. Every race had a chance of obtaining a higher social status. There would be necessary changes to make as generations pass, but the overall bones were there. The possibility of a social divide existed but Astrid brought up plans to mitigate them.

Training on the universe's aliens were to be taught for anyone interested in alien affairs. Various different schools were planned to aid people with setting up a business. A merchant would be able to learn about the different trades and be taught the common laws for the different sectors in the universe.

Numerous other topics were talked about after several days. Many facilities were open, and laws signed. Lydia had shifted her focus to another matter now. Astrid had informed her that the Convergence has started to manifest. The Reality stone would soon appear.

Lydia had a device ready to storage the dust particles of the stone. She decided to send a group of her elites to retrieve it. Astrid recommended a specific squad to send over. Lydia looked at the roster and noticed who the leader was. Ava Starr aka Ghost.

Lydia was glad Astrid managed to snatch her from SHIELD and cure her illness. Out of gratitude, Ava enlisted her services to help the Genoshian Empire and soon rose in the ranks. She was given multiple outs, but she remained grateful for the help she received and wanted to ensure others received it as well. The rest of the team consisted of a mutant of the ability to create heavy fog, a mutant that was able to create force fields, and a mutant that had the ability to create portals to travel short distances.

The mission was simple: recover the reality stone. After making sure everyone understood their roles, they set off. Ava and her team arrived quickly to Earth. It was only short trip, and her team waited according to Lydia's instruction. They had a precise moment to reveal themselves and retrieve the stone. Lydia watched as Thor started the final battle in London. The portals overhead were not visible to the human eye but it was to the standard issued suits Ava's team wore.

Soon the battle reached its peak. Lydia watched from the video feed as Thor landed the final blow as Malekith teleported to a different location. Ava's team sprung into action and used the coordinates to active one of the spears Erik Selvig had designed. The team took advantage of the fact that Malekith was severly wounded and stuck in a cater in Svartalfheim. They moved swiftly and dealt the final blow to Malekith to ensure he was dead. A quick slice and his head rolled away. Ava collected the dust particles in a container as the stone particles remained in the air.

Lydia felt relieved knowing the danger was gone for good. As the reality stone passed through the portal, it was picked up by Ava who stored it within a container. Soon, the mission was complete. They headed back to space and met up with Lydia on Genosha. They left a beacon on Svartalfheim to send another party to collect the ship remains. Astrid wanted to study their stealth technology as it was far superior to anything known in the universe. The team quickly traveled back to Earth as the portal was still open and stealthily exited the area.

Afterward, the ship returned home and docked.

"That was fun," Ava remarked as she walked towards the elevator. "You did good job, boss."

She entered the lift and turned to look at her team member.

"I'll say, that was a successful mission" Ava agreed.

The three members chuckled together.

Lydia examined the container that held the reality stone. Thanks to the canister, the dust particles had already condensed into a stone. Lydia could sense the uncontrollable energy emanating from it. She left Astrid in charge while she started the process of absorbing its energy. Lydia and Astrid had designed a container specifically for the Reality stone due to its out of control energies. This allowed Lydia to absorb it more easily without incurring any injuries. On top of that, it let Lydia smoothly integrate the new volatile energy smoothly.

Astrid had been waiting patiently outside the room.

"How much do you need?" Astrid asked Lydia once the container was ready.

"It should take about ten minutes to completely absorb the stone," Lydia replied. "Then we'll know what happens next."

Astrid nodded. Then she activated the device, causing the Reality Stone to slowly start expanding. There was no visible change in the stone, but Lydia knew better than anyone else how the magic worked. Her senses told her everything she needed to know. Soon, the container was empty except for a small black stone. Lydia had fully absorbed the power of the Reality Stone into her body. She had the idea when Malekith was able to absorb it without any real consequence. Lydia figured it was all about the body and mind, and she had mastered that a long time ago. Lydia put away the container and looked over at Astrid.

"Well done," Lydia commended her friend as she reached forward and hugged her tightly.

Astrid returned the embrace. "Thank you, Lydia."

"No thanks necessary," Lydia responded warmly before breaking off the hug and heading back to her office. "Time for me to get some work done. You go ahead and enjoy your evening. I'll see you tomorrow morning."