The Orb
Knowhere.
Ronan’s fleet of ships approached them, the loud motors filling the air and the engines kicking up debris from the ground.
Crimson stumbled back, glancing at the group. ‘Plan?’ she mouthed. With a groan she rested her hand on her utility belt.
A blue man came around a corner, yelling. “Quill! Don’t you move, boy!”
She glanced to Quill, who had wide eyes and was silently cursing to himself.
The group sprinted away. Another group of Ravengers, lead by the blue man, chased after them.
She could hear Drax yell at Ronan in the distance. ‘He’s going to get himself killed.’ she thought.
They ran along the roads, taking twists and turns in an attempt to lose the group of Ravengers chasing them. Eventually they reached a loading dock where citizens parked their pods, laying in the open for anyone to steal.
Crimson ran to one, stepping up the platform. The circular door shut behind her as she stepped in, jumping into a chair. The controls in front of her were simple, standard for a ship this small. Maneuvering it would be simple. However, there were no weapons equipped.
“Shit,” she mumbled, connecting to the radio that would connect the pods together. “Everyone ready?”
After a collective “yes”, they took off from the landing port, the pods easily zooming away from Ronan’s fleet of ships. They flew overhead. Soon, she could hear the thrum of ships following close behind.
Because of Crimson's quick flying technique, she stayed ahead of the group easily, finding it easy to maneuver around the busy city and unknowing ships that passed by. She glanced behind her every once in a while, keeping check of the group's orbs and their locations. Rocket was close behind her. Crimson quickly realized this was a liability.
”Gamora has the Orb. Make sure that she can stay ahead so it’s harder for them to hit her,” Crimson said over the radio, flipping a few switches and pulling back to let Gamora pass her. The others did the same.
”Alright, boss,” Quill said sarcastically over the crappy radio.
The ships behind them began to fire green energy blasts at the ships, missing every time. The smaller pods allowed them to maneuver out of the way easily, minimizing damage— for them. The building and surrounding structures around them faced the blasts, each one sending rubble flying. Crimson flew easily around the blasts and damages. After Crimson taught Heidi the basics of fight Heidi had decided to enlist into a flight piloting program. She had taught Crimson everything she had learned once she left in turn.
She saw Gamora stay ahead, ducking between buildings to stay out of reach. Gamora flew under a building— the ship chasing her too large to fit as well— ending in a large explosion. Crimson studied the scene before speeding away, around the damage.
With Gamora still in front, her, Rocket, and Quill met up briefly.
“Rocket, Crimson, keep them off Gamora until she gets to the Milano,” Quill shouted.
“How? We’ve got no weaponry on these things!” Rocket called back.
”Yeah, the ships are already catching up as it is,” Crimson said, glancing next to her in the fishbowl-like viewport.
”These pods are industrial grade, they’re nearly indestructible,” Quill responded, as if it were information anyone should know.
”Not against necroblasts, they’re not,” Rocket said with a laugh in his tone.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Quill said.
Crimson had already been planning out her strategy as Quill said this, eyeing the ships that would be best suited for destroying.
Rocket paused for a moment, the realization dawning on him. “Ohh!” he hummed.
”Hell yeah,” she muttered before steering to her right, Rocket close behind.
They both crashed into a few of the ships that were the closest, sending them off balance and flying into a few of the buildings. They crashed down, exploding on the way. She laughed, spinning out slightly but easily regaining balance. The ships that crashed broke off rubble, causing clear damage and a few fires. However, she didn't seem to care. The only worry she had was for the children below that could be injured. She looked down from the large windshield on her orb before flying off again to pick her next victim.
While she continued her strategy like before, simply knocking the ships off balance and sending them tumbling, Rocket was hurtling straight through them, ripping the ships straight down the middle. Her eyes widened before trying the same technique, using the motors to gain momentum. As soon as she crashed into the ship flames arose into the air around her. Yet, she-- or rather, her ship-- came out unscathed. They truly were nearly indestructible.
They both worked their way through the ships firing at them before attempting to catch up to Gamora, who was struggling up ahead. Her orb continuously knocked into a few walls, spinning for a moment before speeding ahead. The ships behind her persistently fired at her. She quickly realized that Gamora hadn't been trained in flying ships all that well, despite the other enhancements and education she had received from her father.
Crimson caught up with the ships that had been firing at Gamora, attempting to help with the issue of them knowing her off balance. She tore through a few of them before noticing Quill flying closer. He used the grappling mechanism to rip the top of one of the ships off, throwing the pilot out. He then maneuvered his pod to sit inside the ship, using the grappling mechanisms to drive the ship in place of hands. This allowed him to use the enemy ship's weapons, which he fired with better aim than the actual pilots. Crimson focused on the main goal-- Quill's ship.
They all continued to race to the Milano, taking down the enemy ships. However, she quickly noticed a few beginning to advance on Gamora.
"Quill, watch out. I can't get to them in time, but there's a ship heading to Gamora from the left," Crimson said, holding down the button from the radio.
"Copy," he responded, using the energy blasters to shoot it down. "How'd you see that?"
"My eyesight is better than terran's-- or most other species, for that matter," Crimson responded plainly, slamming the side of her orb into another ship with a grunt.
"Hmm," he hummed, then radio static filled the pod. Crimson smacked the speaker, silencing it.
They continued this routine for a while, Crimson and Rocket taking the ships down themselves, or her warning Quill to shoot a few he hadn't previously noticed. The process was tedious, as only having one technical weapon was becoming an issue with the amount of enemy ships.
Suddenly, they received a message over the radio. “Quill, I’m trapped. I can’t make it to the Milano,” Gamora yelled. “I have to head out.”
Gamora's orb shifted abruptly to the right, heading up and toward one of the empty eye sockets of the skull. The other ships still followed close behind.
”What?” Crimson called back. “Wait— no, don’t—“ she started, but Gamora had already entered the outside atmosphere.
”Wait! These things aren’t meant to go out there,” Quill yelled back.
They received no response.
Crimson, Rocket, and Quill zoomed out of the city skull and into atmosphere, chasing after her. The ships up ahead were relentless, continuing to fire at Gamora. The empty black of space had managed to minimize damage, for once, with the stray blasts heading straight into the empty sky.
Until, finally, one hit Gamora.
Gamora’s pod exploded with the impact of the blast, the fire quickly dying due to the lack of oxygen. Crimson could see the parts and inner workings of the ship separate and fly outward, propelled by the impact of the hit.
Crimson could see Gamora’s body floating before the group, surrounded by debris and parts broken off from her pod. Her hair floated as if underwater, eyes closed and clearly unconscious.
A larger ship— Ronan’s ship— approached ominously. Crimson knew that, if they weren't in space, a large shadow would have covered them, taking up all light from above. The beamed up the Orb with a large cascade of blue light. She watched as it floated up, soon unable to be seen and whisked away into the inky black. The huge ship began to move again, away this time, the smaller ships following close behind.
Realizing her jaw was slightly ajar, she closed it, instead focusing on Gamora’s floating body.
Instead of what would typically happen— frost creeping up you quickly and all oxygen leaving your lungs as you slowly felt a strong pressure in your throat and your insides cramping up and practically caving in— she seemed to be still, peaceful, as if suspended from the air like a puppet held by an operator, the life draining from her slowly.
Crimson soon heard Rocket’s voice over the radio. “Crimson, Quill, come on. Her body mods should keep her alive a couple more minutes, but there’s nothing we can do for her. These pods aren’t meant to be out here. In a second, we’re gonna be in the same boat.”
Rocket turned to head back. Crimson slowly followed, but noticed Quill wasn’t listening.
”Quill? Come on, you heard him. There’s really nothing we can do. We need to go,” she said, surprising herself.
“Aw, damn it,” she heard him say over the radio, along with with the unbuckling of his seat.
”Quill. No. Come on,” she said sternly.
"Yondu, Yondu!" Quill called, either blatantly ignoring her or unable to hear her. "This is Quill! My coordinates are 227K324."
"Quill!" Rocket yelled, turning back around to fly closer to his pod. "Quill, what are you doing?"
"Just outside Knowhere, if you're there, come get me. I'm all yours," Quill said, tapping the side of this face to activate his mask, which allows him to breathe outside of a livable atmosphere.
The door to his pod opened and he jumped outside, free floating for a moment before activating his rocket boots and taking off in the direction of Gamora, her condition slowly getting visibly worse.
Rocket got closer to the scene. "Quill, don't be ridiculous."
"Yeah, come on, get back in the pod-- or put her in the pod, then fly back with your boots," Crimson said.
He continued to ignore them.
"Get back in your pod!" Rocket yelled.
Quill grabbed Gamora's unconscious body, holding her back to lean her upright, then reaching up to take off his mask-- the contraption sinking into a small piece behind his ear-- then placing it behind Gamora's ear and turning it on for her.
"You can't fit two people in there! You're gonna die! You'll die in seconds!" Rocket yelled. Crimson could detect a change in his tone, as if he was worried. Genuinely worried. "Quill!"
Crimson watched now, a strange sort of panic creeping up her throat. She shouldn't be worried about him. She barely knew him. She barely knew Gamora.
She watched Quill's face frost over, the whites of his eyes turn red. Then he faced another direction as a bright light shone on them. She looked in the direction he looked. Another fleet of ships approached. "Yondu's" ships. Sixteen ships, at least.
A bright light bore out to them from the closest ship, slowly drawing in Quill and Gamora. She leaned over the console to watch until they were fully enveloped in the light, before the light, and them, disappeared. She stared as the ships turned around, beginning to fly away.
There was a long silence. The ships were distant now, merely small figures among the stars.
"Rocket?" she called over the radio.
After a few moments, his voice filtered in. "Let's head back."
They flew back without speaking, her pod trailing behind his. The only noise that could be heard was the soft hum of the engine and radio static.
Once they entered Knowhere through one of the gaping eye sockets Rocket led them both to the landing dock, where they took one swift look around, realizing-- Groot was not there.
"I told him to stay--" she heard Rocket say, cut off by an annoyed groan.
Crimson neared steered forward, nearing his pod. "He might've left to go check on Drax. He fought Ronan, correct? And most likely lost."
Rocket sighed, turning around and steering away in the direction of the bar without a word. Crimson followed suit, taking in the last few peaceful moments like a sponge. She looked above with wide eyes.
Soon they approached the building now blown to rubble. Groot was holding onto Drax's shoulder, who was covered in a strange yellow slime. Spinal fluid the citizens mined. He seemed to be coughing, as if he had been drowning in it. Groot continued to help him stand before pulling back his hand to give Drax his space. Crimson and Rocket landed, with Rocket's doors flinging open. His voice soon filled the air.
"Blasted idiot! They're all idiots!" Rocket yelled, his voice hitching as he climbed out of the orb, having to jump to be able to get out. He caught himself when he landed.
Crimson's door to her pod swung open. She stepped down, watching Rocket has he approached other others. She walked behind.
"Quill just got himself captured!" Rocket shouted, waving his arms around and he spoke. Groot was now standing, with Drax still leaned over on the group, recovering.
"Yeah. He saved Gamora, whose pod had been hit and exploded," Crimson explained. "It was stupid, but we need her."
Rocket turned to shoot her a glare before whipping around and pointing at Drax. "None of this would have ever happened if you didn't try to single-handedly take on a frickin' army!" Rocket yelled, his arms now extended, gesturing to Drax who was still sitting on his side.
Drax took in a heavy sigh. "You're right. I was a fool. All the anger, all the rage, was just to cover my loss," he said, seething.
Groot rested a hand on Drax's shoulder to comfort him. Crimson crossed her hands in front of her.
Rocket's face was expressionless.
Until he spoke again.
"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. 'My wife and child are dead,'" Rocket said, not an ounce of sympathy in his words. He put his hands to his chest, a fake mock of sadness now on his face.
Crimson turned to face him, surprised. Even she had bit her tongue, not replying to Drax. Groot gasped dramatically, raising a hand to his mouth.
"Oh, I don't care if it's mean!" Rocket raised his voice, waving a dismissive paw at them. "Everybody's got dead people. It's no excuse to get everybody else dead along the way!" His expression turned solemn for a moment, peaking Crimson's interest. She studied him as his face shifted back into his usual angry exterior. "Come on, Groot. Ronan has the stone. The only chance we got is to get to the other side of the universe as fast as we can and maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to live full lives before that whack-job ever gets there."
Rocket turned to head back into the pod.
Groot stood completely, now towering over the still-resting Drax.
"I am Groot," he responded.
Rocket turned back around. "Save them? How?"
"I am Groot," Groot said, dumbfounded.
"I know they're the only friends that we ever had, but there's an army of Ravagers around them. And there's only--" Rocket paused, looking at Crimson, who nodded. "Three of us!"
Drax finally stood. "Four." Drax put a hand on Groot's back to stabilize himself.
Rocket brought his hands up to his head, his ears laid back and turning around, grunting angrily at himself. "Aw!" he roared, bringing his arms down and beginning to kick at a small lump of grass.
Crimson snickered quietly at his weak efforts, using a hand to cover her mouth so he wouldn't notice. She didn't want all of his violent rage to turn onto her.
"You're making--" Rocket kicked the grass again, "me beat--" he continued to kick the grass, still not giving out, "up... grass!"
Some of the soil finally gave in, the weeds and particles of dirt flying.
Crimson walked over to her pod and rested her hand on the round doorway. "We should find the Milano and figure out a way to save them from there."
Rocket walked over to his pod with an annoyed groan, looking back at Groot and Drax.
Crimson's pod door shut behind her and she took off without a care. She easily recalled where Quill had left his ship-- a small, discreet landing area that wouldn't have drawn attention to them. Which had turned out to be the least of their worries.
She hopped out of her pod with Rocket close behind. They boarded the Milano and headed to the cockpit, Drax and Groot arriving soon after. Drax sat in the "living area" of the ship, most likely lounging on a couch while the rest strategized above.
"The ship's got a radio, right?" Crimson asked, turning to the controls. "We could just figure out a bargain."
"Or threaten 'em," Rocket inputted.
"I am Groot," Groot said.
Rocket turned to Groot, then turned back to her, ignoring him.
"...Alright, with what weapons? Quill doesn't have many that could cause damage to a ship that size," Crimson said tentatively, thinking back to the Ravager's ship, and the structure of it.
Rocket smiled. "Oh, I've got that covered."
Crimson eyed him suspiciously but didn't object. She had an idea of what he was capable of, and was comfortable with him taking over with that part of the issue.
"They couldn't have gotten far. I'll fly us back over to where we were and track them from there," Crimson said, turning over to the controls. Rocket headed downstairs to work on the "weapon" he had planned.
Groot waited for a moment, as Crimson could feel his presence and his staring at her, before heading downstairs.
She grabbed the controls-- which were in the shape of handles that would often be found as controls on the janky games at the arcade she would go to as a child to steal the coins from. An old payment method, sure, but what worked had worked. With her left hand she pressed a few buttons then pushed forward on the handles. leading the levers forward and starting the ship engines.
They moved quietly through the dark. She could see distant stars, especially well with the abnormally large viewport in front of her, which climbed above her. They rapidly approached the Ravager's ship. As she predicted, they hadn't moved much at all. The smaller ship was able to catch up with them with ease.
"You done down there?" Crimson called down to Rocket. It wouldn't be long before the pilots on the other ship noticed their abnormality.
"Yeah, yeah!" he called back, followed by the opening of the of an airlock, then the closing of one. She heard Rocket's footsteps before he jumped into the seat to the left of her. He took over her controls, steering the ship forward slowly.
Rocket led them until they were in front of the ship, turning and facing where the cockpit should be. He pressed a button that extended a weapon--harmless to the Ravager's ship--from their ship and firing it at the Ravagers, presumably to get their attention. He waited a few seconds, giving them time to crowd to the front of their ship, then turned on their speaker.
"Attention, idiots. The lunatic on top of this craft is holding a Hadron Enforcer. It's a weapon of my own design," Rocket explained with a smile on his face. The idiot being Drax, as he would never sacrifice Groot like this.
"If you don't hand over our companions now, he's gonna tear your ship a new one. A very big new one!" he continued.
Crimson interrupted, not caring if her voice led over the speaker. "Rocket, if you shoot the ship and destroy it-- how will they--"
He shushed her, holding up a paw and not bothering to glance at Crimson. "They will. I'm giving you to the count of five."
"No, seriously--"
"Five!" Rocket interrupted, yelling over the speaker. "Four! Three!"
Quill's voice filtered over the Ravager's ship's speaker. "Rocket, it's me! For god's sakes! We figured it out! We're fine!"
"Quill?" Crimson yelled, confusion rushing over her.
"Oh, hey Quill, what's going on?" Rocket asked, sending Crimson an annoyed look. She stuck her middle finger up at him.
"Rocket just--" she could hear Quill sigh over the speaker. "Just hold on."
There was a long silence. Crimson stared out at the other ship, trying to make out the figures on the other side of the ship's glass. After a few moments, one of the figures moved over to where one of the pilot's seats were and pressed a button on the armrest.
"Come over here," Quill stated bluntly, then ended the radio connection.
Crimson glanced at Rocket, still uncertain. He simply shrugged.
"Bring Drax in," Crimson told Groot, who was peeking through the hole where the stairs were. "I'll prep the connection to cross."
Crimson walked back down the stairs, turning this time to her left. It didn't take her too long to find where the connection door was supposed to be, a large mechanical door was typically difficult to miss. There was a panel on the wall beside it. She opened the panel and stared at the buttons and switches cluelessly.
"This is nothing like the Viella," Crimson whispered, recalling the systems on her own ship. "Or Evangeline," she muttered, remembering how she once used the airlock controls on Heidi's ship. She turned to her hologram tablet and opened the screen to find directions until she heard footsteps behind her.
"Go upstairs and pilot. I've got it. Just... when i tell you to move in a certain direction, do it," Rocket said, his arms crossed.
She nodded and walked past him, beginning to head up the stairs. Crimson glanced behind her to see him working diligently. Her eyes narrowed, studying him, until she turned with a heavy sigh.
Once upstairs she walked over to one of the pilots seats and sat, her hands on the steering controls. She pulled forward, the ship heading steadily toward the Ravager's ship. The ship was huge compared to the ship she was currently on, practically towering over it as she neared. Crimson brought the ship close to the boarding port.
"Line the doors up!" Rocket called from downstairs.
She brought the ship closer to the left, using her mental map of the situation to line the doors up with each other.
"Done!" she called back.
She heard the airlock open and the shields close as she brought the Milano as close as possible to the Ravager's ship. She left the pilots seat after locking the seal in, walking down the stairs and turning to where the door now led directly to the Ravagers. There was a group of them, only about fifteen, all with some sort of oddity about them. Some were robotic attachments or an enchantment of some sort, some just appeared disgusting. The leader, who she knew was Yondu, stood in the dead middle. He stood out himself-- with blue skin and a red prosthetic cybernetic attachment to the top of his head which was rumored to control an arrow. They stood in the doorway with Quill and Gamora in front. She looked behind the group to the ship, the entire docking area the same size as the living space in the Milano.
Rocket walked over first. Crimson followed behind him, looking down at the floor. The area where the connection was between the ships was practically unnoticeable. Behind her Drax and Groot followed. Quill and Gamora led them wordlessly down a few hallways into a round, open room with a few chairs in the center. There were small gaps in certain areas of the ceiling and walls around them which filtered in light. Wires dangled from the ceiling and a rusty red color was painted along accents. Another hallway led somewhere close by before leading to a dead end and taking an abrupt left.
"We need to talk about a plan," Quill said, walking over and standing near a gap between two chairs.
"A plan?" Crimson repeated, eyeing him, suspicious.
"Yes. The Ravagers except us to retrieve the Orb from Ronan and return it to them," Gamora replied, who stood next to Crimson, "It was Quill's solution."
Gamora then shot a glare at Quill, who held his hands up defensively. Drax walked around Gamora and sat into a chair next to Quill.
Rocket walked up beside Crimson and took a seat on top of a large box. Groot then sat between Rocket and Quill.
"Okay," Crimson said uncertainly, "What do you have so far?"
"We're gonna break into Ronan's ship and steal the Orb," Quill responded confidently.
Crimson stared at him blankly.
"You call that 'figured it out?' We're gonna rob the guys who just beat us senseless?" Rocket yelled, quicker to respond.
"Oh, you wanna talk about senseless? How about trying to save us by blowing us up?" Quill said, looking at Gamora for a moment then back to Rocket.
Rocket pointed at him. "We were only gonna blow you up if they didn't turn you over!"
Crimson turned to Rocket. "I tried to tell you that destroying it wasn't a good idea and five seconds isn't enough time."
"Don't you start. You couldn't even figure out the airlock control!" Rocket yelled, now pointing a clawed finger at her.
"Rocket, how on earth were they gonna turn us over when you only have them to the count of five!" Quill shouted.
Rocket turned his head back to Quill, rolling his eyes. "We didn't have time to work out the minutiae of the plan," he spat, turning to Groot, "This is what we get for acting altruistically."
"I am Groot," he replied, nodding once.
"They are ungrateful," Rocket looked back at Quill, nodding in agreement.
Gamora spoke up, "What's important now is we get the Ravager's army to help us save Xandar."
"How are we going to do that? We're still criminals, by the way," Crimson said, dragging over a chair and sitting down.
"And then what? So we can give the stone to Yondu and his Ravagers who's just gonna sell it to somebody even worse?" Rocket asked.
Quill shook his head. "We'll figure that part out later. We have to stop Ronan."
"How?" Rocket snapped.
Quill stepped forward. "I have a plan."
"You?" Crimson asked, snickering.
"You've got a plan?" Rocket snapped.
"Yes, what's so funny?" Quill asked, his browed furrowed.
"Nothing," Crimson said with a dismissive wave, now giggling.
"First of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan," Rocket said, leaning over to rest his hand on one leg.
Quill held his hands out, annoyed. "People say that all the time. It's not that unique of a thing to say."
"Secondly, I don't even believe you have a plan."
"I have part of a plan!" Quill yelled.
"What percentage of a plan do you have?" Drax asked from beside him.
Gamora pointed at Drax. "You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere," Gamora said, jerking her head as if in the direction of Knowhere.
"I just saved Quill," Drax replied defensively.
"We've already established that you destroying the ship that I'm on is not saving me," Quill responded.
"When did we establish it?" Drax asked.
"Like three seconds ago!" Quill yelled.
"I wasn't listening. I was thinking of something else," Drax turned away from Quill, holding his hands in his lap.
Crimson groaned, annoyed, throwing her head back.
"She's right, you don't get an opinion," Rocket said to Drax, then turned to Quill. "What percentage?"
"I don't know. Twelve percent," Quill said, his hands now in his pockets.
"Twelve percent?" Rocket asked before throwing his head back with a loud, sarcastic sounding, barking laugh.
Crimson looked at him with shocked, wide eyes.
"That's a fake laugh," Quill said, his head low with embarrassment.
"It's real!" Rocket yelled harshly.
"Totally fake," Quill shook his head.
"That's the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life! Because that is not a plan," Rocket shouted back.
"I mean, really? That's it?" Crimson asked.
Gamora shook her head, sitting down. "It's barely a concept."
"You're taking their side?" Quill asked Gamora, raising his voice.
"I am Groot," Groot said to Rocket.
"So what if it's better than 11 percent? What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Rocket asked.
"Thank you, Groot. Thank you," Quill smiled, patting Groot's shoulder, who smiled back.
This brought Groot's attention to a leaf growing on his shoulder, which he began to eat.
"See? Groot's the only one of you who has a clue," Quill said, then noticing this and pinching the bride of his nose.
Rocket scoffed.
"Guys. Come on. Yondu's gonna be here in two seconds. He expects to here this big plan of ours," Quill said, lowering his tone.
"Well, you should've figured that out before using this inexistent plan as your only bargaining power," Crimson said.
Rocket nodded.
"I need your help," Quill admitted, looking around the group, his eyes then landing on Gamora. "Look around at us. You know what I see? Losers."
Crimson's gaze quickly turned to a glare. Drax sat up and turned to Quill. Rocket looked to Crimson, then back at Quill.
"I mean, folks who have lost stuff. And we have. Man, we have. All of us. Our homes," Quill looked at Gamora, then Crimson, whose heart sunk. "Our familes," he looked at her for another second before looking at Drax. "Normal lives," he looked at Gamora, then Rocket. "And usually, life takes more than it gives. But not today. Today, it's given us something. It has given us a chance."
"To do what?" Drax asked.
"To give a shit," Quill responded, "For once. Not run away," he looked back at Gamora. "I, for one, am not gonna stand by and watch as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent lives."
Rocket now stared at the floor, his tone softer. "But, Quill, stopping Ronan," he paused, shaking his head, "It's impossible. You're asking us to die."
Quill stared at him for a moment, then looked at the ceiling, then turned away, sighing. "Yeah, I guess I am."
Quill gave fleeting glances around the group before shaking his head and turning around, dragging his hand down his face and walking away a few steps.
A few moments passed. Crimson looked around the group, the tension practically visible in the air along with the deafening silence. Rocket looked around, meeting her eyes before turning away. Crimson then turned to stare at her feet, thinking of all she'd lost. All she'd missed. She hardly knew what kept her going anymore, after being separated with Heidi for months and being left with only a harsh, empty feeling in her chest. All it had led her to done was steal more. Crimson didn't even know why she stole anymore, she sure as hell didn't need it to survive anymore. She thought back through the last few years. Had she even done anything noble, anything important since she was twelve?
"Quill," Gamora spoke, looking up. Quill turned around to face her. "I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies," she stood. "I will be grateful to die among my friends."
Quill walked back over to the group, taking his place back where he previously stood.
Drax stood as well. "You are an honorable man, Quill. I will fight beside you. And in the end, I will see my wife and daughter again."
Crimson sighed, standing. "I might as well join. I haven't done something like this in years, and I don't have anyone else to live for," she said. "If you all are gone," she added. "And maybe when I die I'll see my family as well."
Quill nodded to her.
Groot stood. Rocket opened his mouth to object, but Groot cut him off. "I, am, Groot," he said between pauses.
Rocket stared at Groot slack-jawed. Everyone in the group turned to look at him, who remained sitting on the large box. Rocket looked around at them all as if he had done no wrong.
He sighed, looking down. "Oh, what the hell. I don't got that long a lifespan, anyway," Rocket said with a small smile before getting up to stand on the box, adjusting his outfit. "Now I'm standing. Y'all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of jackasses, standing in a circle.
*ೃ༄
Crimson found a small dressing room that contained a bench and a few mirrors. Compared to her own ship, even this she considered impressive. Crimson pulled on the new dark grayish-red uniform that had been custom made by a Ravager who specialized in that sort of thing. She used the utility belt and thigh holster to house her own knives and blasters, just in case. Once she adjusted her hair and pulled on her new boots she left the room to find the rest of her group where Quill instructed them to meet.
They had decided to gather the Ravagers in another round room to discuss the plan they had eventually settled on, which had taken many adjustments before they had finally agreed. Once they had fit as many Ravagers into the room as possible, Gamora walked up to a circular platform in the middle of the room surrounded by hologram screens suspended in midair. The group stood the closest to the platform, with the Ravagers anywhere behind them. Quill had connected his strange "tape" to a speaker system, which now played a variety of songs. He had called this one Cherry Bomb.
"The Stone reacts to anything organic," Gamora explained, walking around the platform. "The bigger the target, the bigger the power surge."
Quill joined, walking up as well. "As Ronan's gotta do is touch the Stone to the planet's surface and zap!" he exclaimed, "All planets, animals, Nova Corps."
"Everything will die," Gamora continued.
"So Ronan does not make the surface," he stated. "Rocket and Crimson will lead a team to blow a hole in the Dark Aster's starboard hull," he said, holding up a screen which displayed a few fighter ships firing. "Then, our craft," he said, tapping on one of the ships, " and Yondu's" he tapped on another, "will enter."
"Won't there be hundreds of Sakaaran soldiers inside?" one of the Ravagers who was standing closer to Yondu asked.
"I think of Sakaaran as paper people," Drax said darkly, who was standing next to the Ravager.
The Ravager smiled and punched Drax on his arm playfully. Drax looked at his arm then at the Ravager, clear offense written on his face.
"Once we're on board, Ronan will isolate himself behind impenetrable security doors on deck. Which I can disable by dismantling the power source," Gamora said, a screen behind her displaying the power source she spoke of.
"We'll make it to the flight deck, and I'll use the Hedron Enforcer to kill Ronan," Quill claimed.
"Once Ronan is dead, we will retrieve the Stone," Gamora said, nodding to a Ravager in the crowd, who held a container with small makeshift Orbs on top. He began to walk around and pass them out. "Use these devices to contain it. If you touch it, it will kill you."
"I'll contact one of the Nova officers who arrested us. Hopefully, they'll believe we're there to help," Quill said.
"There's one more thing we need to complete the plan," Rocket yelled, stepped up to the platform. "That guy's eye," he said, pointing to a Ravager with a prosthetic robotic eye.
"The hell? No, we don't," Crimson objected, holding her hand out at him.
Rocket turned to her, smiling. "No! Seriously, I need it! It's important to me!" he covered a laugh.
A robotic voice filled the atmosphere from speakers ahead. "Ronan's fleet has been spotted, and will arrive in T-minus fifteen minutes."
Everyone in the room began to file out to their instructed areas, with her group headed in the relatively same direction. Crimson paused when she saw Yondu grab Quill's shoulder.
"Remember, boy. At the end of all this, I get the stone. You cross me, we kill you all," she heard Yondu say clearly from a relatively far distance away. Quill nodded slightly and pulled away.
Crimson turned to follow the others.
Quill left the hallway first, though, leading the way through the hallway with a roof of metal pipping and wires, large lights with fans behind them on the back wall. The walls around them were chipping away to rust and the floor beneath them were metal grates that let out irritating clangs when stepped on. Gamora walked out of a separate doorway in the same hallway, managing to exit the same time he was passing. Drax followed shortly after from behind, adjusting his arms with a dramatic flourish. Crimson exited from the left, falling in line with the others. She flipped her hair back behind her shoulder, almost smacking herself in the process. Next entered Rocket, who was lugging an abnormally large blaster in one hand and adjusting his outfit with the other. Gamora yawned loudly and Quill wiped his nose when Groot entered, who had grown long, spiky branches that extended from his back ominously.
They arrived at the dock, with so many ships she was certain there was a team of mechanics residing on board. Rocket and Crimson got in a separate ship than the others, since they had a different mission from theirs. Rocket sat on the left and Crimson sat on the right as they did previously. The many lines of ships aimed downward, and when the large doors at the bottom of the Ravager's ship opened, they all flew down and outward, racing forward with Rocket and Crimson's ship at the front.
"This is a terrible plan," Gamora claimed over the radio.
"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to die among friends," Quill chimed in, an audible smirk in his voice.