Scorpio

TWENTY ONE - Xandar

Peter Quill steered his beloved Milano III over to the wreckage of Xandar, observing the rubble beneath him. A hand ghosted over his shoulder as Gamora came to stand beside him, joining the pilot in staring at the devastated planet below. 

"This is Thanos' work, isn't it?" Peter asked rhetorically, his eyes concentrated on the air in front of him. The assassin confirmed his suspicions with a slight nod, their small conversation lapsing into the quiet lull of the jukebox behind them.

Peter switched gears as the aircraft broke through the gravity barrier, before adding, "It's like he's playing a game with the universe."

Gamora's hair swayed as she turned to stare at the outlaw. "A game of exploding planets?"

Peter inclined his head briefly. "I was going more for the apocalypse of Pac-Mans - but that works too."

The corners of his lover's lips quirked up slightly in bemusement at Peter's comment as the Guardians continued their descent towards the ruined planet. He liked to think she was secretly grateful for his light-hearted quips in such depressing, apocalyptic places, and he vowed himself to do it more often.

~~~~~~~

The spaceship powered gracefully to a landing in the middle of a charred mall; dotted with fallen buildings, smoking metals, and scattered Xandarian weaponry.

Not a single living being was to be seen.

"I am prepared to destroy Thanos!" Drax boasted loudly, flexing his muscles as the guardians prepared for their excursion. Gamora rolled her eyes at the tattooed man's antics as she strapped a gun to her belt, pocketing a few extra magazines of bullets.

"He will kill you," Mantis responded matter-of-factly to the destroyer as she, too, lifted a small pistol and strapped it to her waist. Not that she truly knew how to use it, but it was what all the other Guardians did before an excursion, and Gamora supposed it made the antennaed alien feel a little more uniformed with the rest of the group. 

Drax stared at Mantis with his abnormally blue eyes for a moment, then muttered darkly, "I will kill him first."

"Yeah...you're gonna kill a madman who has destroyed over five worlds in a day," Peter muttered with sarcastic cheer as he checked his gadget inventory. "No sweat."

"I will kill him first," Drax repeated with conviction; the outlaw pointedly chose to ignore the tattooed man's stubbornness and turned to Gamora instead.

"Ready?"

Gamora smiled, wrenching down a heavy bulbous lever with ease to reveal the dusty atmosphere outside.

"After you."

~~~~~~~

It had probably been over an hour of scouting around aimlessly when Peter's helmet picked up a new, barely-visible heat signature buried in the rubble; causing the former outlaw to slow to a stop. The other guardians turned to look at him; Drax' hands instinctively sliding to his knives.

"I think I found a survivor," Peter reported triumphantly, slipping a hand to his belt for an explosive and a gravity mine.

He tapped briefly at the second object, held it against his mask to transfer the heat signature information, before rattling the explosive and hurling both items towards the pile of rubble.

Within seconds, the whole pile of plaster, wood, and metal blew apart and dissolved in thin air, revealing a lone figure sucked upwards towards Peter's floating gravity mine.

The figure struck the glowing object with a groan and began struggling slightly as Peter signalled for his gravity mine to bring the person closer.

"A Xandarian," Gamora confirmed, eyeing the insignias on the man's ripped uniform. As the gravity mine brought him to a stop in front of them, the former assassin lowered her gun and signalled for the other guardians to do the same.

"Don't!" The man yelped, parched voice like sandpaper as he began struggling harder.

"We're not here to hurt you," Gamora said, trying to reassure the man. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mantis reach out to touch the man, presumably so she could calm him down. The man shrieked before she reached him, however, and Mantis stopped her advance, looking dejected.

"Drax, knives down." Gamora hissed over her shoulder. The large man made a sound of annoyance but obliged nonetheless. Gamora turned back to the Xandarian, holding her hands up, and the rest of the Guardians followed her lead - albeit reluctantly.

"You haven't come to kill me?" The Xandarian asked, his voice slightly muffled by his helmet as he eyed their actions skeptically.

"'Course not; we're here to help," Peter answered, sounding slightly offended. As if making a point of his goodwill, he promptly directed his gravity mine to release the man and fly back to his belt then gestured with his hands as if to say, 'see?'

The Xandarian stumbled as he fell right into Mantis' direction, and she quickly braced her slender hands to keep the heavier figure from falling to the ground. 

"We are the Guardians of the Galaxy," Drax added, reaching over Mantis to pick up the man and set him on his feet. "We have come to kill Thanos."

A look passed through the Xandarian's eyes, something like recognition, but then his face turned sombre again at the last words.

"You've come too late," the Xandarian informed them gravely, managing to keep his soldier-like demeanour despite his exhaustion. "He's already got the Orb, and he left Xandar about two hours ago."

Gamora straightened, exchanging an alarmed look with Peter. The green-skinned woman subconsciously ran her hand over the trigger of her gun as she asked, "Did he say where he's going next?" 

The Xandarian hesitated for a moment, before replying, "Knowhere."

"Nowhere?" Drax echoed, confused. "What does he expect to find in nowhere?"

"Not nowhere. Knowhere." The Xandarian corrected. "He said he's looking for someone called the Collector."

"Oh, man." Peter groaned, making a face. "That can't be good."

"No, it can't. We've got to go, then." Gamora agreed, reaching to her belt to press a small homing signal. 

~~~~~~~

Rocket leapt over barricades of junk until he could hear the screaming again, cringing as he heard a single teenage voice join the clamour.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, Groot, just hold on," He murmured as he hastily rigged up gun after gun; not even allowing himself a grin as he pulled out a long chain of 'borrowed' Nidavellir necklaces from beneath his vest and attached them to his contraption.

Quickly fashioning himself a hazardous tower from salvaged material, he stationed himself at the top of it and looked out.

A great red bubble seemed to cover the area, encompassing the Mad Titan and the rest of the Guardians. Around the perimeter of the bubble stood all twelve guns from Rocket's personal arsenal - minus his newly recharged taser guns, which he held himself.

Rocket held up his hands, a feral smile spreading across his face as his weapons lit up, signalling his contraption was ready for use.

"Time's up, prune face."