Meanwhile, back on the Asgard...
"Something bothers me about this whole thing, Ahrakas."
"Yeah? What is it, Kurt?"
"They control 36 galaxies. Yet they knew to put half their fleet HERE, specifically, waiting for us."
"What kind of battles have they been in before?"
"There'd been a lot of back-and-forth with the Duchy if I had to guess... so that's one way our battle plan could have gotten leaked. A Shogun spy in the Duchy's palace."
"I honestly don't think that's it, Kurt."
"What's your take?"
"That King in Yellow guy that you think is involved in this war... he's a reality dragon, right?"
"I do believe he addressed himself as such, yeah."
"Reality and celestial dragons all have some kind of mind-linking ability and can mentally hear each other."
"Uh, so do a lot of species that old, Firuthi. If they were the direct byproducts of us five, they'd have telepathy - it's kind of a necessary trait to have when you deal with areas so vast."
"Not quite the point, Kurt. You had a direct encounter with the King in Yellow, right?"
Kurt hesitated for a moment.
"You're saying Hastur created a subtle mind-link with us during that fight without anyone noticing? And used that link to leak our strategy discussion with the Duchy to Shogun forces?"
"And because you said his name he probably heard this whole discussion."
"Aren't you being a little dramatic there-"
"NO. There's probably a reason the books about him call him 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. If he's a reality dragon, his misuse of the mindlink is a very likely reason."
"Universe, Ahrakas, what are your takes on Firuthi's claim?"