Ultimate Secret
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Ultimate Secret is a four-issue comic book limited series from the Ultimate Marvel Universe published by Marvel Comics. It was written by Warren Ellis with art by Steve McNiven. It introduces the Ultimate Universe versions of Captain Marvel and Carol Danvers, and stars the Ultimates and the Ultimate Fantastic Four. It is the second installment of a limited series trilogy which goes on to introduce Gah-Lak-Tus. It was scheduled to print monthly, but due to Ellis and McNiven's other concerns (among other things, McNiven is drawing the current arc of New Avengers) it was delayed, and didn't finish until near the end of 2005.
The trilogy takes place before Vol. 2 of the Ultimates.
[edit] Plot
The story opens in Spookworks 9, a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. installation in New Mexico. We are introduced to Captain Carol Danvers, head of Security, and Dr. Philip Lawton, head of the project. The project is to create a revolutionary method of spaceflight which would allow a return journey to the nearest star within a human lifetime. When an invisible monster starts attacking the ship, Lawton sneaks away and turns into Captain Mahr Vehl (by means of symbiotic armor) and destroys the monster, saving the ship's nuclear engine. He is imprisoned by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D., who wants to know who he is. He tells them he is a member of the Kree, an alien race who has been observing the Earth to see if they posed a threat to the Kree in the larger galaxy. Having seen that humans are violent and dangerous, the Kree resolved themselves to keeping humanity stuck on Earth until Gah-Lak-Tus could destroy them. Realizing the implications, Fury calls in the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor.
Once they arrive, Fury explains the events of Ultimate Nightmare to them. Reed becomes excited by the existence of Gah-Lak-Tus, because it would cover the disrepancy between the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox (that the galaxy should be full of intelligence, but we can't hear any of it). The heroes work out a plan: Iron Man, Reed, Sue, Captain Mahr Vehl, and Hawkeye will pilot the Asis 2 (NASA regulations call for full redundancy, so there is another ship). When the aliens attack, they are ambushed by Thor, Ben, Johnny, Black Widow, and Nick Fury.
When the Asis 2 makes it to the Kree ship, they first encounter unarmored Kree (who are ichthyoid in appearance). They kill most of the crew, but Yahn Rgg, the ship's captain, remotely disables Captain Mahr Vehl's surgical alterations, so that he resembles the Kree more. Yahn Rgg has engaged the ship's distruct sequence, to deny the ship's database to the humans. However, the Invisible Woman breaks the command escape module, trapping him on the ship. They get the database, then escape before the ship blows up.
Back at the Spookworks, Nick and the Black Widow are discussing the alien invaders. Nick says he won't autopsy the dead, because 'enough of them will die under interrogation'. Then he mentions that he has half a chance of saving the world, and maybe now he can find out what he's supposed to save the world from.
[edit] Notes
The story was followed in January 2006 by Ultimate Extinction. For the last few months of 2005, a story called "Ultimate Vision" was published in four-page installments in the backs of the Ultimate comics. The first installment was published in Ultimate Spider-Man #86.
Mahr Vel states the Kree forces have only one kill-form, however the latter two issues depict all of the invading Kree forces as identical to the kill-form Mahr Vel battled. Whether the original is simply a superior warrior, or this is an inconsitency in the series is unknown.
