Soon afterward, everyone gathered together.
Yondu sat in a chair like a warlord, legs spread wide, surrounded by his Ravager crew.
"The larger the target," Gamora said as she stepped up onto the platform, looking at everyone, "the greater the destructive power the Stone can unleash."
She paused before continuing.
"Ronan must bring the Stone into contact with the surface of Xandar. Once that happens, every animal, every plant, and every person living on the planet—everything—will be wiped out."
Quill stepped forward beside her and looked at Yondu.
"So we absolutely cannot let Ronan reach the ground. Our job is to stop Ronan and his forces from landing at all costs. We don't need to worry about Ronan's warship itself—just keep his troops from reaching the surface."
"What?!" Yondu immediately barked. "What do you mean we don't worry about Ronan's ship? Didn't you just say he can't land?"
"I'll handle Ronan's ship," Karl said calmly from where he sat on the steps. "All you need to do is deal with his army. And one more thing—Ronan might hide among those smaller ships, so you must guard Xandar's airspace carefully."
"Yeah, right," one Ravager scoffed from behind Yondu. "You're a Terran. What makes you think you can stop Ronan's warship? How many ships have you even seen?"
The man looked at Karl with open disdain.
Karl's thin Earthling frame didn't look impressive at all—he even seemed less physically imposing than Quill. Many of them had initially assumed he was just someone's lackey.
Karl sighed.
Instantly, the temperature inside the ship plummeted.
Frost spread across the walls, coating everything in ice.
The Ravager who had spoken turned into a frozen statue in the blink of an eye.
Everyone looked down in horror.
Their legs had already been encased in solid ice, which was rapidly creeping upward.
"Enough!" Yondu shouted immediately.
He had no intention of letting his entire crew get wiped out.
Karl had clearly proven his strength. That was enough.
Karl shrugged casually.
The temperature slowly rose again, and the frost receded.
Only the Ravager who had mocked him remained frozen in place like an ice sculpture.
"Whew…"
Everyone exhaled in relief. The bone-chilling cold had felt like being exposed to outer space—breathing had become painfully difficult.
"Go on," Karl said lazily, waving a hand at Quill.
Quill swallowed before continuing.
"Rocket, Groot, and Drax will lead a team. They'll form the first line of defense against Ronan's army."
He glanced at Rocket.
Rocket nodded.
"Gamora and I will blast a hole in Ronan's warship. That'll give Karl a way to get inside."
Quill looked toward Karl again.
Karl nodded slightly.
"Once Karl gets inside, all of us will join the fight against Ronan's forces. At that point, I'll contact the Nova Corps and get them to send reinforcements."
The plan was clearly something they had all worked out together.
At that moment, Gamora approached Karl.
"Once Ronan knows you're on the ship, he'll retreat to a secure chamber," she explained. "There's a reinforced safety door there. It's impossible to break through by force, so the only way inside is by shutting down the power system."
She handed Karl a transparent tablet displaying the energy system's structure and a power cell.
"If you destroy this battery, the door will open automatically."
Karl glanced at the tablet briefly.
His plan was simple—tear the ship apart from the inside and force Ronan out of hiding.
"Karl, once you get the Stone back, put it inside this."
Quill tossed him a small metal sphere.
It was a replica modeled after the Orb, designed to isolate the Stone's energy the same way the Orb did.
Karl nodded.
He actually intended to try grabbing the Power Stone with his bare hands just to see what it felt like—but he accepted the sphere anyway.
"Before we start," Rocket suddenly said, looking at one of the Ravagers, "we still need something very important."
He pointed directly at the man.
"That guy's eye."
The Ravager had a mechanical eye.
The man panicked immediately, waving his hands frantically.
"No! No! Absolutely not!"
"We don't need your eye," Quill quickly said, stopping everyone from actually attempting to remove it.
Rocket covered his mouth and snickered silently.
---
Once the plan was finalized, everyone moved to their tasks.
Rocket and Drax began checking the ships.
Groot sat off to the side doing absolutely nothing, staring blankly into space.
Gamora quietly examined her short sword, lost in thought.
Quill contacted the Nova officer who had previously arrested them.
After several warp jumps, Yondu's ship entered Xandar's orbital range.
All forces had assembled.
"Kid," Yondu said, grabbing Quill by the collar, his expression serious. "When this is over, the Stone is mine. Don't try anything clever."
Quill said nothing.
He simply pulled free from Yondu's grip and walked away.
Yondu returned to the captain's chair and activated the ship's intercom.
"Alright, boys," he grinned.
"Let's tear them apart!"
He slammed the hatch control.
The massive bay doors beneath the ship opened.
Countless Ravager ships poured out like a swarm of hornets, racing toward Xandar's atmosphere.
---
On Xandar, the entire leadership council had already gathered in the war room.
Quill's message had caused the Nova Corps officer who arrested them to summon every high-ranking official.
The central holographic display showed countless Ravager ships circling the planet's atmosphere.
"Supreme Leader," a general reported, "I've received a message from a Ravager. He claims Ronan has taken something called an Infinity Stone and is heading toward Xandar."
Before the Supreme Leader could speak, another general scoffed.
"This is clearly a trap. That man is a criminal. Why should we believe a criminal?"
"They just escaped from the Kyln," the first general replied. "If it weren't true, they wouldn't come back to Xandar—unless they were complete idiots."
He believed Quill.
"You're saying you trust them?" the Supreme Leader asked slowly. "You believe they've come to help us?"
The general hesitated for several seconds.
Then he nodded.
"I do."
---
At that moment, Ronan's warship arrived at Xandar and rapidly approached the atmosphere.
"Nebula," Ronan said as she entered the chamber.
"A fleet is approaching," she reported. "Looks like a Ravager fleet."
Outside, countless Ravager ships had formed a blockade in front of Ronan's vessel.
The massive warship pierced through the atmosphere and entered Xandar's skies.
Then—
Two Ravager ships equipped with massive plasma cannons moved into position.
At Yondu's command—
They fired.
Two enormous plasma blasts streaked toward Ronan's warship.
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