Marvel: AS A PRINCE IN ASGARD

Simply bragging about his exploits to the Marauders and their underlings would achieve little. In the vast, lawless stretches of the universe, such boasts would be met with mockery.

After all, the cosmos is teeming with fools—minor warlords from backwater systems who mistake their local dominance for true power.

There were always those who, having conquered a few fixed star systems, mastered a handful of exotic technologies, and raided undefended planets, dared to declare themselves as interstellar powers.

Some were even bold enough to challenge the Skrull Empire in its prime, believing themselves invincible—until they encountered a foe beyond comprehension.

Ragna, having secured complete control over Andromeda, excavated surviving Skrull records that the empire had failed to destroy in time.

Yet, the core technological assets—the true skeleton of the Skrull Empire—were long gone.

• Either obliterated when the Skrull Throneworld perished.

• Or stolen, hidden, and safeguarded beyond reach.

• Or utterly erased by fleeing Skrull forces.

A civilization's core technology is its lifeblood. No empire would leave such knowledge behind for an enemy.

What these recovered records did reveal, however, was the tragic pattern of galactic arrogance—how countless civilizations had overestimated their strength and met their doom.

In Ragna's eyes, weakness was never a civilization's greatest sin—arrogance was.

The Rise of the Cosmic Mercenary Union

To demonstrate power, one must be compared to something greater.

• Outclassing insects makes one a mere fly.

• Surpassing a tiger demands the strength of an elephant.

With that philosophy, Ragna launched his next move—a bold, calculated expansion.

Under his leadership, the Cosmic Mercenary Union was forged, not as a mere faction, but as a galactic force of organized power.

On the very first day, his forces descended upon Contraxia—the infamous pleasure planet of the Ravagers.

There was no negotiation.

Ragna issued an ultimatum to all Marauders:

• Die or surrender.

Those who submitted were placed in confinement, given indoctrination and training, and eventually integrated into Ragna's forces as elite cosmic mercenaries.

Those who refused? Eliminated without hesitation.

The universe will never rid itself of raiders and outlaws—for every pirate slain, another rises.

Some were driven by greed, others by thrill-seeking, and many more by naïve dreams.

Some wanted to amass wealth, return home, and start families.

Others dreamed of galactic adventures, hoping to see the universe's wonders while imagining themselves as the next Pirate King of the Stars.

But above all, the demand for mercenaries was eternal.

Even the most powerful civilizations required deniable assets—soldiers who could act beyond borders, beyond laws, beyond consequences.

This was why, despite hating and hunting the Marauders, no advanced empire had ever truly eradicated them.

Ragna, too, had no illusions of eliminating them all.

But within his domain, there would be no room for lawless raiders. Any predator who dared to act independently would face two choices—submission or annihilation.

Galactic Expansion Under a Mercenary Banner

With Ragna's new authoritarian crackdown, Andromeda was purged of unchecked raiders, and in their place, the Cosmic Mercenary Union rose.

No longer just a faction, it quickly expanded beyond Andromeda, spreading throughout former Skrull territories, reaching into Kree and Shi'ar space.

Of course, the Kree and Shi'ar Empires—having recently signed peace accords with Ragna—posed no opposition.

• After all, they were allies now, weren't they?

• And allies should have embassies on each other's worlds, should they not?

With diplomatic cunning, Ragna ensured the establishment of Cosmic Mercenary Union headquarters on non-essential planets across Kree and Shi'ar space.

The logic was simple:

• "We are business partners, after all."

• "Why not let my people operate freely near your embassies?"

• "Besides, I don't need an embassy to destroy a planet, do I?"

Faced with Ragna's veiled threats and overwhelming power, the Kree and Shi'ar empires agreed with diplomatic smiles.

Except Angel Star.

Within the Holy Heavenly Palace's own sphere of influence, the Shi'ar and Kree were also permitted embassies—a gesture of neutrality.

But everyone understood the truth.

Those diplomatic outposts were insignificant—mere pawns on the grand chessboard of intergalactic power.

The Response of the Marauder Clans

For the scattered Marauder factions, Ragna's rapid takeover initially provoked little response.

Contraxia? Just a pleasure planet.

To the lawless, shifting world of cosmic raiders, losing one den of vice meant little. They could always set up elsewhere.

But then, something changed.

Ragna's crackdown intensified.

With his growing military, he systematically eradicated rogue pirate bands, co-opted independent raiders into his Mercenary Union, and eliminated entire fleets of unaffiliated predators.

It wasn't just a matter of controlling a planet—he was dismantling the very ecosystem of galactic piracy.

The Marauder factions finally took notice.

They sounded the alarm—a rallying cry for the so-called freedom of the lawless frontier.

They began uniting, determined to crush Ragna's rising Holy Heavenly Palace and its mercenary union before it became unstoppable.

Their first target?

The Cosmic Mercenary Union itself.

Galactic Power Rankings & Doubts Among the Raiders

Meanwhile, within the Cosmic Mercenary Union, a ranking system emerged—measuring both the difficulty of mercenary contracts and the strength of galactic powerhouses.

At the very top of both lists stood one undisputed name:

The Sacred Heavenly Palace, led by its Supreme Powerhouse—Ragna.

Among the hard-bitten Marauder factions, skepticism reigned.

They laughed at such rankings, dismissing them as exaggerated myth-making.

Predators thrive on ego and delusion.

Some believed themselves invincible, whispering boasts about how they could topple Thanos himself—until the day they met him in battle and were erased from existence.

Ragna was just another name to challenge.

They had yet to learn…

The true difference between a predator and a god.

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