As Groot and Star-Lord moved, the robots surrounding them immediately opened fire. Bullets rained down like heavy rain. Groot was a tree, so bullets did little to him, but Star-Lord was vulnerable without his gear. Luckily, Groot drew most of the fire, giving Star-Lord the chance to run off and fetch the disabled man's prosthetic leg.
"Dammit, no weapons. How are we supposed to fight?" Rocket zipped through the gunfire and leapt onto Groot's shoulder, exasperated. Rocket was famous for being a tech and weapons expert, and his fighting relied on gear. Without a proper weapon, he was useless.
At that moment, Drax jumped into the fray, easily killing two prison guards and grabbing their guns, tossing them to Rocket. "Here, cutie." Rocket caught the gun and grinned like a lecher, "Oh yeah, baby." With a machine gun in hand, Rocket laughed maniacally and opened fire, quickly knocking every guard in the area down.
"Step two, go to the control room!" Rocket shouted, pointing to the monitoring hub above.
"Where are we going, what for?" Star-Lord called, carrying the prosthetic leg he had grabbed.
"No time for questions, just go!" Rocket vaulted up, using his agility to storm into the control room. One guard inside was directing the prison defense. He was stunned to see them break in. His earlier cocky attitude was gone.
"I... I" the commander stammered, raising his hands to beg or explain. Groot did not give him the chance. Before he could finish, Groot's arms formed into thick vines and threw the man across the room. "I am Groot!" Groot roared angrily.
"You got cocky earlier. Now Groot's mad," Rocket shrugged.
"What are you going to do with the prosthetic leg?" Star-Lord dropped it in front of Rocket.
Rocket grinned mysteriously. "It's actually useless. I tricked you, hahaha!"
"Fuck, I paid thirty thousand credits for that!" Star-Lord scowled.
"Heh, not my problem. Move aside, I'm working," Rocket said, and began fiddling with the control panels. He rewired circuits, hammered in code, and worked through the complex systems like the tech pro he was.
But prison reinforcements kept coming, carrying heavy weapons to blow the control room open. The room's defenses were impressive. The windows were ultra bulletproof glass that regular cannons could not shatter, which bought them precious time. Still, shells pounded the room relentlessly. After three volleys, the glass finally cracked. Another hit would tear the room open and spell disaster.
"Done yet? We don't have time!" Star-Lord barked.
"Shut up, I'm almost done!" Rocket snapped, grimacing.
"We're going to die!" Star-Lord muttered.
"You jinxing crow, shut your mouth or I'll rip it off!" Rocket cursed back.
"Quiet, they're coming!" Gamora warned.
"Don't worry, watch this." As the guards prepared to fire a fourth missile, Rocket slammed a key. A hum filled the control room. Outside the control room, the entire prison's artificial gravity shut off. Guards and prisoners alike began to float.
"You shut off the whole gravity system? Genius," Gamora said in surprise.
"Yep, I'm a genius," Rocket said proudly.
Rocket typed a few more keys. Robots that had been floating below flew up and latched onto the control room, acting as propulsion. Suddenly the control room became a makeshift ship and rose up, blasting through the prison interior toward the main gate.
"Quick, my ship is ahead. If we reach it, we are safe," Star-Lord said.
"First get our gear and the Orb. I already lined up a buyer," Gamora said.
"Who did you contact?" Star-Lord asked.
"No questions, you'll see," Gamora replied.
They rushed to the armory, grabbing their gear. Star-Lord's face, however, went pale. "What's wrong?" Gamora asked.
"Damn it, they took my player. They didn't return it," Star-Lord said, furious. That music player was the only keepsake from his mother. Its value to him went beyond money.
"It's just a small thing. Let's go," Rocket shrugged. He did not know the backstory.
"That's not just a small thing. That's everything to me. Go without me, I'm getting it back." Star-Lord dressed and dashed back in.
"You idiot. Now? We need to move, not fetch a radio," Rocket ranted. Gamora sighed. "Maybe it matters to him. Get ready on the ship. When he's on board, we take off and leave this dump." Rocket rolled his eyes in disbelief.
Far above Kyln Prison, space warped. In an instant, an enormous Kree warship the size of a mountain emerged. The ship's arrival was unmistakable. Who else could it be but Ronan's fleet? Ronan's face twisted with fury as he stared down at Kyln. He had been investigating Gamora's betrayal from the start, tracking her new buyer. The trail led to the Collector in the Null Zone, a long-lived survivor of an ancient race who collected treasures to ease his lonely existence.
The Collector had told Ronan about the Orb, and about the primordial singularities. Long ago, six primal singularities collided, sparking the Big Bang and creating the universe. Those six singularities had become six small stones scattered across the cosmos, the so-called Infinity Stones. Each stone wielded planet-shattering power. Any one of them could make its owner the ruler of a realm.
Ronan, who once worked with Thanos, immediately changed plans. He wanted the Infinity Stone for himself. With one Infinity Stone, he could easily destroy Xandar. Cooperation with Thanos would mean nothing. Ronan betrayed them. He would be a sovereign, not Thanos's partner. With that decision, Ronan brought his entire armada to Kyln. The Infinity Stone must be his.
The arrival of the Kree armada caught Rocket and Gamora's attention. "Shit, Ronan's here. We need to leave now!" Gamora said, tense. She knew Ronan's power. With just their small team, they had no chance.
"I told you not to wait for that idiot. Now what? That's an entire fleet," Rocket said in despair.
"Ronan's here. I want to kill him!" Drax's eyes burned with hatred when he saw the fleet.
"Are you insane? You want to take on a fleet with just us? That's suicide!" Rocket scolded.
"Forget waiting. We leave now. Tell me the buyer's coordinates and we jump," Rocket ordered as he started the ship.
"It's not in his bag. It's on Star-Lord!" Gamora blurted. "He's carrying the Orb."
"Fuck. That guy's a liability. But life matters more, we retreat!" Rocket said.
"It's too late!" Ships of Kree fighters swarmed, sealing off any escape. They could not slip through that blockade.
"Gamora, you disappoint me. You know what happens to traitors. Hand over the Orb and maybe I spare you," a voice sneered through the comms.
"Who the hell is that?" Rocket muttered.
"Don't accuse me of betrayal. I was trying to secure the Orb. If you interfere and I can't give it to Father, will you take the blame?" Gamora said quickly, refusing to admit she betrayed Ronan.
Nebula's cold voice replied, "So I was wrong about you? Do you think our whole fleet came for nothing? Your deal with the Collector is exposed. We destroyed the Null Zone. Next to be destroyed is Xandar. Hand over the Orb now."
Gamora's face went white. The Null Zone was a dangerous place and the Collector was powerful. If even the Collector could not protect the Orb from Thanos or Ronan, then who could? She was stunned that Ronan had destroyed the Collector's domain without Thanos needing to act. If the Collector could not protect it, what hope was there?
"Hand over the Orb now or die," Nebula threatened.
"You don't have the guts," Gamora said, and signaled Rocket to break through.
"The Orb cannot fall into their hands. If they get it, Xandar will burn. We need to draw them off to give him a chance to escape!" Gamora decided.
"There are thousands of ships. Where are we supposed to run? We need reinforcements," Rocket protested.
"I already sent coordinates and a distress call to Xandar's Nova Corps. Their fleet should be close," Gamora said.
At that moment, space twisted again, and hundreds of Xandar warships appeared in the sky.
"Wow, you're a genius," Rocket said, pleasantly surprised.
"This is the Xandar fleet. Kyln is under Xandar jurisdiction. Xandar and the Kree have a peace treaty. You should not be here. Withdraw or Xandar fleet will open fire," a threatening voice blared across both armadas.
Nebula's expression darkened. She had not expected Gamora to have this ace up her sleeve.
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