"Boom~!"
In the end, the Nova Corps was unable to stop Ronan's desperate gamble. The scarred battleship crashed toward the prosperous city on Xandar, looking no different from a meteorite strike. The moment Ronan's ship broke through the Nova Corps' protective shield, Star-Lord quickly escaped. Along with him, Nebula, a semi-robotic cyborg, also successfully left Ronan's ship in an escape pod, heading off to who knows where. However, her whereabouts weren't very important anymore.
Artoria took Gamora, Rocket, and Groot on the hyperion's small craft, detached from the hyperion's hull, and flew toward Xandar. This was a major battle that couldn't be missed. With this thought, Artoria piloted the craft at a very high speed—so fast that Rocket, who was beside her, almost vomited.
"In the end, I have won this war."
The battleship crashed into the ground, but surprisingly, it didn't explode; the hull had merely cracked open. To be able to build such a sturdy battleship, the Kree's level of technology was indeed quite high. Ronan, leading the remaining surviving Kree warriors, officially set foot on the soil of Xandar. Looking at the terrified people around him, Ronan revealed a cruel smile and raised the warhammer in his hand.
Even if Ronan didn't give the order, his subordinates, who had followed him for so long, understood his meaning. There were only about a dozen soldiers left. Although some were wounded and leaving behind blue-green blood, they all raised their weapons in unison and fired lethal beams at the innocent civilians around them. The blue beams instantly pierced through several people's bodies. These people couldn't even let out a scream before the light in their eyes faded away.
"Run! It's Ronan the Accuser."
Only then did someone in the crowd react, shouting a warning that brought everyone back to their senses. The sight of the warship crashing had scared them witless, and they hadn't fled immediately. Now that people were dying, everyone realized that the 'Butcher' had truly arrived. People began to flee in a panic, but the cold-blooded executioners began firing those rays that represented Death once more.
"Damn it, those bastards."
Star-Lord was closest to them. Seeing them slaughtering civilians without a shred of humanity, his eyes instantly turned red. He began piloting his ship to fire at the Kree on the ground, but unfortunately, his technical skill was limited. He wasn't like Rocket, who hit a target with every shot; he couldn't hit the agile Kree soldiers on the ground at all. At this moment, Drax, who had just woken up, walked out of the bedroom. The massive commotion from the ship earlier surprisingly hadn't jolted him awake.
"Let me down. I'm going to slaughter them."
Looking at Ronan and the Kree soldiers below, a flash of painful memories crossed Drax's eyes, followed by an endless surge of rage that filled his heart. His expression was terrifying, with veins bulging one after another on his bald head. Taking out his beloved daggers, Drax spoke to Star-Lord, who was operating the ship.
"Hey! Man, it's not that I don't want you on the battlefield. You have to understand, if I stop to land now, I might be shot down by those damn Kree weapons. This is the ship I grew up with; I can't lose it."
Regarding Drax's 'brain-dead' request, Star-Lord spoke with a bitter smile while dodging attacks from the ground. He didn't care if the big guy could actually beat the Kree soldiers; rather, if he stopped now, they might be destroyed immediately. Not to mention his feelings for the ship, they'd likely lose their lives, which was the most important thing.
"Then just stay in the sky and be a little bird!"
Hearing Star-Lord's words, Drax had no intention of being understanding. The enemy who killed his wife and daughter was right before his eyes; how could he not go? Even if it meant Death, he wanted to die fighting his enemy, rather than being shot at like a bird in the sky. After silently mocking Star-Lord, Drax took a flight pack and walked to the ship's exit. After pressing the hatch open, Drax jumped out of the ship without a second thought.
"I've really had enough of working with these single-minded guys."
Watching the display show that the hatch was automatically closing, Star-Lord was speechless. He had lost all hope for this stubborn fellow; if he wanted to seek Death, let him. Having failed to hit Star-Lord for so long, Ronan on the ground grew impatient. He raised his Kree War Hammer high, and a black light wave was instantly fired toward Star-Lord. Naturally, Star-Lord dodged it, but this was clearly no conventional weapon. The light wave instantly dispersed, and in a flash, Star-Lord found his ship unable to move, as if it were pulling a massive weight, overloaded and unable to fly.
"What on earth is going on?"
"Deal with him, and that guy too."
Star-Lord was confused, but Ronan had no intention of letting this good opportunity pass. He spoke to his subordinates and pointed his hammer at Star-Lord and the recently emerged Drax. The weapons recalibrated their aim, and Star-Lord, sitting in the ship, turned pale with fear. Fine! He was finished. Sorry, Mommy! I didn't manage to live a meaningful life. The light rays from below flew rapidly toward the ship and Drax, as a massive sound echoed through the air.
"Did you pee your pants in fear? Kid."
Just as he closed his eyes to reminisce about his life, a nasty voice came through the comms channel. This voice was very familiar. Star-Lord slowly opened his eyes and looked at his hands; nothing had happened. Star-Lord quickly looked ahead. A craft shaped like a golden star was right in front of him, deploying a yellow energy shield.
"You guys... why?"
In an instant, Star-Lord recognized who it was. It was that slightly thuggish Centurion uncle who used to chase him like a mouse. He didn't know why. Usually, this guy couldn't wait to lock him up immediately, so why had he come to save him now? All of this left Star-Lord very bewildered.
"Normally, you have that face only a mother could love that annoys everyone. I didn't expect you to actually come out and play the hero. Good job; you've made me see you in a new light."
Hearing Star-Lord's question, the uncle laughed heartily and answered his confusion. But being exposed like that made Star-Lord a bit defensive of his pride. He rolled his eyes and ignored the man. Star-Lord pulled up the video feed; Drax was standing firmly on another Nova Corps craft. Both of them had been saved.
"Hmph! Remnants of a defeated army. Continue the attack."
Expressing great dissatisfaction with the current situation, Ronan commanded four people to continue firing at the sky, while the rest continued to sweep through the people on the ground. This situation gave Star-Lord a headache, but he had no better solution now. His ship had plenty of weapons, but basically no large-scale or area-of-effect attacks, which was very troublesome.
"It's really good to see you alive, guys."
At this time, Artoria and the others, piloting their small craft, finally arrived at Xandar. Rocket immediately switched to teasing mode toward Star-Lord. Although the words weren't very nice, Star-Lord was happy to see that silver-white craft slowly landing on the ground of
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