[Days Later]
(United States of America)
–Arizona: Grand Canyon–
The Grand Canyon is a natural rock formation, formed by the Colorado River over millions and millions of years, it was among the national treasures of the United States of America and a popular tourist spot known across the world.
It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. As such, it was a popular tourist spot, and it contributed to the US economy. However, today, the tourist spot was closed, along with every town near the Grand Canyon.
The GDA spent a lot of money to temporarily relocate the people of the nearby towns. This was more of a precaution in case something goes wrong
Cecil believed that the aliens were non-hostile. However, he was not a fool. As such, he made sure to prepare accordingly.
"What do you think Donald, are they going to be impressed?"
The director of the GDA questioned as he stood over the edge of the Canyon itself. Fresh wind blew over his face and hair, and he could not help but find it refreshing.
"I don't know, sir, but from what we've seen, the Grand Canyon is not the most impressive thing out there"
Donald answered, and his words were true. As agents tasked with the protection of the entire world, they have seen a lot of things that make the Grand Canyon a little too boring, and he had no doubt the aliens would find it lacking.
"Martian Man said it said it was wonderful and reminded him of his home, we'll have to trust his judgement"
Cecil said with a shrug. In all honesty, he did not truly care. The Canyon was a good place to hide troops in case there was a confrontation. It was easier to camouflage into a largely uniform background.
"In any case, where is our backup?"
"They should be arriving any second now, sir, but Sir, do you think it's necessary to have them here?"
"Of course, Donald, if they're not hostile, it shouldn't be a problem. We may not have the technology to compete, but we have superheroes"
Cecil explained, although he did not know if Superheroes would be enough, and it wasn't like all of them had ties to the GDA.
Just as Cecil had finished his explanation, two figures came flying down, easily landing right beside him and Donald.
"Took you long enough"
"Sorry, we're late. I had to deal with something on the way"
The immortal answered as he began to look around, noticing the strange lack of people around considering that this was going to be a historical event.
The immortal was a tall man with a beard, wearing a bright yellow and blue costume. He was among the strongest heroes of today and was the current leader of the Guardians of the Globe.
"Is it just us here? I expected a lot more"
War woman was the one who spoke what the Immortal thought. She, too, was tall and wore what looked to be ancient female warrior attire, with a long cape, and she held a mace.
Looking at where they were, they could see no agents, save for the one that was standing beside one of the standard issue GDA jet aeroplanes and as well as multiple black vehicles meant to transport the agents.
"I have agents stationed nearby. There's no need to worry about that."
He said, ensuring them everything was under control. Cecil did not think anything would happen, but it was always better to be prepared.
"Good, but still, are you sure all the Guardians weren't needed for something like this?"
War woman questioned, to her this seemed like something that needed the attention of all the protectors of Earth.
"No, the Guardians are needed elsewhere. You two should be enough, plus the aliens have been observing us. I don't know how they'd react if all the Guardians were here."
Cecil stated. He did not know how much the aliens knew about Earth but if they knew enough, having all the Guardians present could be seen as either a threat or a sign that Earth views them as untrustworthy and that could create unnecessary friction, making them uncooperative.
The group continued to make conversation while they waited, discussing the aliens and their true intentions. The Immortal and War Woman were briefed on what the aliens want by Donald.
"Do you think that's all they want? I have my doubts about that"
"For the time being, we don't know much about their situation. Of course, I don't trust them fully, but for now, we play along. Well–"
Cecil's words were suddenly cut short as a small Viltrumite space vessel descended from the sky. It was a fairly small ship seemingly meant for a small crew rather than the standard sleet ship. Its design was nothing like the bulky rocket ships built on Earth.
It was dark blue in color with bright blue blinking lights. It descended from the sky slowly and gracefully, almost as if gravity were more of a suggestion than a rule.
The ship touched down near the standard-issue GDA jet airplane.
The onlookers could not help but be impressed. From the looks of the ship, there did not seem to be any type of rocket boosters or engine, instead, it looked like the ship could just float. Of course, the ship had engines it's just that one could not obviously tell where they were on the ship
"Alright people, look alive"
Cecil ordered before he stepped forward, walking towards the spaceship, preparing himself to meet the aliens face to face. He heaved a sigh and fixed his posture.
The four of them arrived before the ship, and the few GDA agents that were present were quick to get into position behind the four people, creating a secure perimeter behind them.
The ship's door hissed to life before it slid upward, opening to reveal two human-looking aliens. In fact, the aliens were so human in appearance that Immortal and War women couldn't help but be taken aback.
"Greetings, humans. I am a diplomatic officer Anissa, and my companion here is Lucan, here to accompany me and be my guard"
Anissa introduced herself and Lucan as she stepped off the ship with Lucan following behind her.
Seeing the two aliens and how human they looked caused everyone present to pause. Even Cecil had seen how similar they were to humans. He still expected some kind of odd twist, and he did not think they'd be so human.
If they had infiltrated Earth, no one would even know.
Once that thought crossed his mind, Cecil resolved to monitor the aliens as much as possible. With how they look, it would be too easy to pretend to be human.
"A pleasure to meet you, Ms Anissa, and Mr. Lucan. As you know, my name is Cecil Stedman and…"
Cecil began to introduce the people that were with him before he extended his hand for a handshake, and as a diplomatic officer who did the necessary research on common earthly customs, Anissa reciprocated the gesture
"Thank you for having us, GDA director, The emperor sends his regards and hopes to set foot on this planet soon"
"And I look forward to meeting him as well"
Having shaken Anissa's hand, Cecil couldn't help but note how hard they felt. They did not feel like how regular human hands would feel.
Anissa on the other hand couldn't help but look past Cecil, her eyes looking at the background, the bright blue sky stretching out far into the horizon, which mixed well with the pale brown of the rock formation.
"This is a magnificent sight Director Stedman"
She gave the compliment, she couldn't help but be reminded of Viltrumi, before the scourge virus poisoned the air and littered the planet with dead bodies. She was never one to appreciate the sights. However, having only seen a planet's surface on occasion made it easy for her to appreciate the natural beauty of the planet.
"Thank you, Ms. Anissa. We picked this location, hoping you'd find it refreshing to see. I imagine being confined to a spaceship for so long could get depressing"
The director of the GDA said, ending the last part of his statement with Anissa simply giving him a nod followed by a hum.
"Ahem! In any case, we will be escorting you to the United Nations headquarters to meet and greet the various leaders of earth ...."
Cecil explained, however, looking at the two aliens now. He realized that they looked a bit too human to the point that he began thinking that it might be difficult to convince some people that these are aliens.
"In hindsight, I believe taking your spaceships with us would help, I mean, not disrespect, but you two both look a bit more human than initially expected"
Cecil explained, the initial idea was to meet up with the aliens and then use the GDA jet to take them to the UN building, this was because he believed there would be panic if an alien ship was seen over New York.
However, seeing how similar to humans they are, it might pose a difficulty trying to convince the masses that these are indeed aliens
"That is why the Emperor chose this planet. Our people are incredibly similar. Integration will be easier. Although I understand your point."
Anissa agreed, She understood that so far, while she and the rest of the Empire had a working understanding of the Earthlings thanks to the scans they did before making contact with them. The Earthlings have no idea about the Viltrumites at all.
Considering how similar they look to each other, it made sense why some Earthlings would not be convinced they are aliens.
This would have worked to their advantage if their goal was to conquer this world. Most species in the universe tend to trust those that look similar to them.
In any case, that was not important right now. What mattered was meeting the Earth leaders and fleshing out the details of the agreement between Earth and Viltrum before settling on the planet.
There was the issue of explaining the reasons why they had to flee their home world. Of course, she didn't have to speak about that if it was never brought up. It is completely up to the earthlings if they want to know or not.