Issue #92 (August 2018) Written by Jake Hawkins Featuring:
D'Ken
Rocket
Star-Lord
Groot
A Shi'ar warship attempted desperately to escape the force of Badoon warriors bombarding their vessel with cannon fire as they sought to reach the throne world of the empire.
"We're under attack from a group of unknown ships. We've sustained incalculable damage!" A crew member pleaded into the communication's array on the bridge. "If there are any ships allied with the Shi'ar empire, we request immediate assistance. I'm broadcasting our current coordinates now!" No sooner had the Shi'ar soldier sent the signal with the ship's location that an explosion rocked the vessel once again, this one far more violent than the previous dozen.
A squadron of Badoon infiltrated the ship, immediately attacking the crew members on board with a level of viciousness unlike any found in the galaxy. The crew desperately tried to mount a defense, the blasts from their guns bouncing off the reinforced hide of the Badoon to little effect.
On one of the slew of ships, a Badoon lackey received a hail from a fellow member of his species and immediately handed the communicator to the creature responsible for the current hunt, the former Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken.
D'Ken snatched the communicator away from the Badoon before he spoke. "Have you found her?"
"She is not onboard Commander, and none of the creature's we have interrogated seem to know anything about her current location. Your orders?" The Badoon answered over the sounds of violence throughout the ship.
"Execute most of them, enslave the rest. They’ll fetch a fair price on one of the slave planets near the Corillian belt.” D'Ken abruptly ended the conversation before tossing the communicator back, refusing to let his frustration at their lack of results get to him.
"Sir, shall we continue locating any Shi'ar starships in the vicinity?" Another one of the Badoon under his captaincy asked.
"Yes. Until we find the vessel that is transporting my sister, we will destroy every Shi'ar ship and soldier we come across." D'Ken informed him, a fire in his eyes quite unlike any in the galaxy as he spoke. He had waited what felt like several lifetimes for this opportunity. There was no chance he would stop these savages from rampaging across the galaxy until he found Cal'syee.
"Commander, we're picking up something dropping out of hyperspace!" One of the Badoon crew members alerted D'Ken. "They're attempting to establish contact!"
"Put them through." D'Ken advised, to which the crewmember followed suit. "This is Commander Neramani. To whom am I speaking with?"
"Hey, Quill this guy sounds like a dick, you talk to him." The voice of Rocket came over the starships auditory system.
"I'm not talking to him. You were the one complaining for the last seven hours that I didn't negotiate a higher fee for that last job. You wanna make the big decisions, you get to talk to any dickhead's we encounter across the galaxy." Peter Quill chimed back to his mammalian cohort.
"Oh I see, that's how it's gonna be huh?"
"That's how it's going to be!" Quill responded defiant.
"You know what your problem is Quill? You can't take constructive criticism. You have no foundation to build upon your leadership skills, and that my friend, is why we got underpaid for saving that colony from those asteroids!" Rocket barked back, his patience for Peter's attitude faltering quite easily.
"This is Commander Nermani. State your business here or you will be destroyed!" D'Ken's own temper flared up at the nuisance he was hearing. Whoever was headed towards their impromptu raid clearly couldn't be the owners of the ship they were searching for.
"Excuse me sir we'll get to you in a moment because I think we got a few problems we need to get down to the nitty gritty on right now!" Quill exploded, ignoring D'Ken's demand and subsequent threat.
"There ain't nothing to get to the bottom of Quill. I said what I said, and I ain't gotta say it again! But I will if those things you call ears are having trouble hearing!" The raccoon barked back as he steered the Milano deftly past the blockade D'Ken had the rest of his Badoon fleet set up.
"I am Groot." Groot tapped Rocket on the shoulder, pointing towards the blockade.
"I didn't forget ya overgrown acorn just sit tight and relax." Rocket responded before pressing a trigger on the drive mechanism, causing a bevy of missiles to shoot from the back of the Milano and begin to bombard D'Ken's Badoon fleet.
"Evasive maneuvers, now! And blow that eyesore to pieces before it reaches that ship!" D'Ken ordered as he watched a few of the ships under his command be destroyed by the assault from the Milano.
"Sir, our weapons and engine systems are completely non-functional. It appears to be a side effect of whatever missiles they are using on the ships near us!" One of the Badoon informed D'Ken, who slammed his fist on the console in front of him, sending a jagged crack down the middle.
As the Milano closed in on the decimated Shi'ar starship, Peter Quill strapped himself in to the Milano's subpod.
"It's now or never, move your ass Star-jerk!" Rocket yelled from the cockpit as Groot handed Peter his element gun's and his satchel.
"You know for a creature I'm a hundred and fifty percent sure diet consist of trash and assorted trash like items, you would think you'd be a lot less demanding."
"I am Groot."
"Yeah Yeah don't worry about me buddy. Just make sure he keeps my ship in one piece, we both know he doesn't have the units to replace it." Quill eased his friend's worries as the pod door slid closed before dropping out of side and attaching itself to the Shi'ar starship.
The pod door slid open and Quill fired a blast from one of his guns to break through the rest of the hull before stepping onto the steel plated floor of the ship. His helmet and facemask disappeared as he raced through the ship's corridors towards the sounds of screams and pleas that echoed throughout the severely damaged vessel.
On the bridge of the ship, the Badoon began to execute each of the main crew members in an attempt to extract the information they desire. "Where has the true usurper sent Empress Deathbird? Speak now and your deaths will be quick but extremely painful.
"Since we're all standing around asking questions, I definitely have one." Quill raced into the room, tackling one of the crew out of harm's way and shooting a spout of fire from one of his element guns that blasts some of the Badoon through the bridge's main window and out into the depths of space. The breach sealed quickly and the remaining Badoon quickly turn their attention to Peter who merely smiled as his diversion proved successful.
"Everyone not a mass murdering, misogynist reptile creature, please exit to your left and get the hell off this thing now! Get any survivors you find to remaining escape pods!" Peter ordered the hostages as he laid down some cover fire at the Badoon who had pinned him down.
"Rocket, how's the evacuation looking from out there?" Quill asked over his own communicator as his helmet formed once again. He dove over the chunk of equipment he had been using as cover, firing one of his guns at a nearby attacker and coating them in a thick block of ice. Another Badoon grabbed him from behind, wrenching him around till they were both facing his fellow Badoon who had his blaster pointed directly at Quill. Peter kicked off a nearby console, sending him and the Badoon on his back to the floor and causing the blast to shatter the Badoon inside the ice block into pieces.
"Well we have an entire fracking squad of Badoon on our tail now that the electromagnetic bombs I attached to those missiles we used have worn off, so I'm not exactly full of free time to give you an update Quill!" Rocket answered as he dove and ducked around the offensive flurry coming from the pursuing Badoon fleet. "We've got them off you and whoever down there was lucky enough to survive so get the hell out of there!'
"I am Groot!" Groot backed up Rocket's statement as he watched over the raccoon's shoulder nervously.
Quill elbowed the Badoon in the face and tossed him over his shoulder into his fellow Badoon as he readied another blaster charge. Before either of them could get back to their feet, Quill blasted them both with the full power of his twin element guns, unleashing a concentrated stream of fire that left them both severely charred. Peter rushed back out into the blood and brain splattered corridors of the Shi'ar starship, where he watched as several escape pods went into hyperspace to escape the fleet of Badoon now in pursuit of the Rocket piloted Milano.
Peter opened the hatchel hanging across his body, feeling like a kid reenacting a scene from "Temple of Doom" as he headed towards the engine room. Once inside, He attached a pair of devices to each of the main engines and synchronized a countdown on each before ducking back out and sprinting across the massive ship towards his pod from the Milano. Quill dove back through the hole he enlarged forcing his way onboard and back into the pod just as the ship is blown apart from his explosives. The pod's door slides closed, and Quill pushed the pod's thrusters passed their advised capacity. He still wasn't fast enough as the small spacecraft was swept up in the backdraft from the simultaneous explosions.
Onboard the ship captained by D'Ken, the former Shi'ar emperor watched as the remaining soldiers escaped the destruction, their ships disappearing one by one into hyperspace. His anger coursed through him like a hurricane as he watched another opportunity to free his sister vanish in front of his eyes. It was then he glanced over at the ship's massive radar and saw the small pod piloted by who was to blame for the Shi'ar soldier's freedom spinning away from the flaming starship. D'Ken gritted his teeth as he found a knew prey ripe for the hunt.
"Target that ravager pod! But don't destroy it. I want whoever is responsible for this brought before me in shackles." D'Ken ordered. A bevy of ships pursuing Rocket and Groot peeled off in the direction Peter went, much to the surprise of the duo onboard the Milano.
"I am Groot." Groot informed Rocket, who glanced at his scanners as more and more of their pursuers gave up the chase for a new target.
"Yeah I know he's in a jam, whadda ya expect me to do about it now?" Rocket lamented, trying not to let his oldest friend know he was just as worried about Quill as he was.
"I am Groot." Groot responded tersely.
"Oh alright. But if you end up getting used for a toothpick by a bunch of slobbering Badoon I just want you to remember I thought this entire thing was a bad idea from jump. But nope, you and Quill just have to play hero to every sad sap distress signal that comes across our frequency." Rocket pulls the Milano around and followed after the Badoon who tenaciously pursued Peter.
"ZZZZZZ-Rocket, are you there? ZZZZZZ-think my coms are fracked. " Quill's voice came in over the Milano's speakers."
"I read ya Quill, where the hell are you?" Rocket asked as he bombarded a few stray Badoon ships with the Milano's sub-cannons.
"I am Groot." Groot whooped enthusiastically as they sped past the ships they'd just destroyed.
"Yeah I thought it was a nice shot too." Rocket replied with a smirk.
Onboard the subpod, Peter Quill frantically tried everything he could imagine to get the vessel's controls functioning once again. An alarm rang throughout the small cockpit as he noticed a pair of Badoon ships closing in on both sides of him, their pilots snarl noticeable even from where he sat. Peter looked ahead, staring at the small blue marble in front of him and with a short sigh grabbed both his guns as his helmet formed over his face once again.
The Badoon piloting the ship on Quill's left eyes widened in horror as Quill's ship came crashing into his, exploding as it impacted and sending them both up in a fiery display that was a brilliant if not terrifying sight to behold against the stars. The other pilot looked but found no sight of his prey, but his attention was caught by a rapping on the glass shield of his ship. The Badoon pilot looked up to see Quill giving him a tiny wave before disappearing out of sight. Quill stands up on the ship before blasting the roof with a jolt of lightning. The energy coursing through the ship caused a chain reaction, sparks flew from the pilots controls before the entire console exploded, sending him flying back across and out of the ship just as the bay doors were opened. The Badoon pilot floated aimlessly in the depths of space to his death as Quill slid off the roof and on board.
He rushed to the main controls, closing the bay doors and immediately hailed the frequency of the Milano. "Rocket, you there buddy?!"
"I am Groot!" Groot exclaimed excitedly over the coms as he heard Quill's voice. A wave of relief washed over Rocket as well, although he of course did his best to refrain from showing an ounce of it.
"Quill that stunt you just pulled with my pod is definitely getting shaved off your cut!" Rocket yelled as he destroyed another Badoon ship whilst weaving between blasts from the fleet.
"What cut? Anybody who could have or would have paid us took off! Besides I don't think my little ship hopping routine worked, their still all over me!" No later had he finished his sentence that the ship was blasted by the massive starship commanded by D'Ken, sending the stolen Badoon scout ship spiraling fast towards earth!
"Commander, the ship has landed on earth. We are not sure if the saboteur survived our gun's nor the impact from the crash." One of the Badoon alerted D'Ken as a map of the planet earth was shown across various screens on the bridge.
"Assemble a hunting party. Either bring me evidence of whoever that was demise or bring him before me, so I may extract whatever he may know of use, either way, this mission will not be deemed a failure!" D'Ken's voice boomed throughout the bridge as the Badoon wasted little time assembling the elite of their warriors for the task given to them.
From earth's moon, Rocket and Groot watch as the mid-sized craft exits the massive and modified Shi'ar warship.
"Beautiful. First, we don't get paid, and now we gotta go play Nova Corps on earth. You know I'm starting to miss the days when it was just me and you buddy!" Rocket exclaimed as he slumped back in his chair exasperated by the mere thought of what he knew they had to do.
"I am Groot." Groot caught Rocket's attention as a beacon cropped up on their radar, the humanoid tree pointing at it excitedly.
"Welp...damn. He made it in one piece." Rocket said with a note of surprise as he handed Groot a hand full of units. "Double or nothing he survives those Badoon coming for him?"
"I am Groot!" Groot replied sternly, admonishing Rocket for his usual selfish tendencies.
"Alright Alright we're going. Jeez you can't even give a guy a chance to earn his units back? What kind of a sport are you?" Rocket complained as he tilted the Milano forward straight for earth.
In D'Ken's personal chambers aboard his starship, a communicator on his bedside table begins to chime softly. He hesitated a moment, unsure if now was the best time for this talk. Finally, he maintained his resolve and answered.
"Commander D'Ken, how goes the hunt?" The smooth voice of the Spartax emperor emitted from the oval shaped communicator.
"My sister was not on board the vessel we attacked. The information fed to us by your spy was false." D'Ken informed him, his frustration biting through into his tone.
"Well that's just a waste of resources. I will have him killed, do not worry about any more false trails. Have you had any luck finding out anything useful from those soldiers aboard?" J'son mused, a slightly lackadaisical air to his question.
"During the middle of our interrogations we were attacked by a modified Ravager's ship. My men recognized one of the group responsible for the few remaining Shi'ar soldiers to escape us. Some imbecile who refers to himself as "Star-Lord."
There was nothing but dead silence on the other end, much to the confusion of D'Ken. "J'son?"
"…..What did you say his name was?" There was a chill emanating from the communicator as J'sons temperament had completely changed.
EARTH SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA NIGHT
Quill kicked out the badly smashed windshield of his stolen Badoon scout ship and crawled out of the vessel. He brushed himself off before checking his weapons for any damage as well as checking his satchel to confirm the contents were still intact. It was then he heard the sound of a ship entering the atmosphere and he looked to the skies to see a Badoon assault ship headed towards his location. Unfamiliar with his current whereabouts, Quill had no choice but to duck into the thick of the jungle in an attempt to escape his pursuers until his friends arrived.