CHAPTER TEN

After Rocket recovered from beating up grass, they boarded the Milano. Ash paced across the floor as the others brainstormed an idea. Groot and Drax sat at the back, and Rocket watched her walk back and forth. She stopped and faced them with an incredulous look. "So we go up to the ship and say, 'Attention, idiots!'"

"Yeah!"

"And who's the lunatic who's holding Hadron Enforcer?" She followed his line of sight as it landed on Drax. She didn't speak for a moment before she shrugged. "Well, if he dies, it might give me some satisfaction."

Rocket grinned before grabbing the weapon and running to the console. "Attention, idiots! The lunatic on top of this craft is holding a Hadron Enforcer! It's a weapon of my own design," Rocket paused. "If you don't hand over our companions now, he's gonna tear your ship a new one! A very big new one! I'm giving you to the count of five. Five, four, three-"

"-Rocket, how the hell are they gonna turn them over in five-" Ash started, her voice carrying over the coms.

"-Rocket, it's me, for God's sake! We figured it out! We're fine!" Peter shouted through the speaker.

"Oh, hey, Quill. What's going on?"

Quill and Gamora boarded the ship, explaining to them their resolution.

"You call that 'figured it out'? We're gonna rob the guys who just beat us senseless?" The raccoon questioned.

"Oh, you want to talk about senseless? How about trying to save us by blowing us up?" Quill shot back.

"We were only gonna blow you up if they didn't turn you over!"

"And how on Earth were they gonna turn them over when you only gave them a count of five?" Ash pointed out from where she was leaning against the wall.

"Well, we didn't have time to work out the minutiae of the plan."

Ash rolled her eyes. "We did."

Rocket ignored her. "This is what we get for acting altruistically!"

"I am Groot."

"They are ungrateful," Rocket agreed.

"What's important now is we get the Ravagers' army to help us save Xandar," Gamora intervened.

Ash crossed her arms. "So what? Yondu's just gonna sell to somebody even worse than Ronan."

"We'll figure that part out later," Quill dismissed her point with a wave of his hand.

"We have to stop Ronan."

"How?" Ash asked, pushing herself off the wall with a raised eyebrow.

Quill crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. "I have a plan."

"You've got a plan?" Rocket repeated.

"Yes."

"First of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan," he criticised.

"No, I'm not," Quill argued. "People say that all the time. It's not that unique of a thing to say."

"Secondly, I don't even believe you have a plan."

"Ditto," Ash chimed in.

"I have part of a plan!"

"What percentage of a plan do you have?" Drax asked.

Ash turned her head towards him with a sharp glare. "No questions from you after the shit you pulled on Knowhere."

"I just saved Quill," he corrected proudly.

"We've already established that you destroying the ship that I'm on is not saving me."

"When did we establish it?"

"Like three seconds ago!" Ash shouted, clenching her fists at her sides. A little magic escaped her and caused a table to shift across the floor.

"I wasn't listening. I was thinking of something else."

"Oh!" Gamora and Ash threw their hands up in frustration at the same time.

"She's right. You don't get an opinion," Rocket agreed before turning to Quill. "What percentage?"

"I don't know, twelve per cent."

"Twelve per cent?" Rocket repeated with an incredulous laugh.

"That's a fake laugh."

"It's real!"

"Totally fake."

"That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because that is not a plan."

"It's barely a concept," Gamora agreed.

"You're taking their side?" Quill looked toward Ash, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Quill, any percentage under 70 is not a plan in my books."

"Hey!"

"I am Groot."

Rocket scoffed at Groot. "So what, it's better than eleven per cent? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Thank you, Groot. Thank you." Quill turned to him before returning to the others. "See? Groot's the only one of you who has a clue." Groot chewed on a leaf protruding from his shoulder just as the others all looked at him. "Guys. Come on," Quill sighed. "Yondu is gonna be here in two seconds. He expects to hear this big plan of ours. I need your help. I look around at us. You know what I see? Losers." Ash raised her eyebrows, and he sighed. "I mean, like, folks who have lost stuff, and we have. Man, we have, all of us. Our homes, our families, normal lives and usually, life takes more than it gives, but not today. Today, it's given us something. It has given us a chance."

"To do what?" Drax asked.

"To give a shit. For once, not run away. I, for one, am not gonna stand by and watch as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent lives."

"Quill, you're really underestimating Ronan and the power of the stone. That's an Infinity Stone, the power stone. Even my magic is not strong enough. You're asking us to die." Ash looked away from him and towards the group.

He was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I am. I..." Quill sighed heavily and turned away, running his hands through his hair.

"Quill," Gamora began, rising to her feet. "I have lived most my life surrounded by my enemies. I will be grateful to die among my friends."

Drax copied. "You are an honourable man, Quill. I will fight beside you and, in the end, see my wife and daughter again."

"I am Groot."

The attention turned to Rocket and Ash.

Rocket finally sighed and gave in. "Oh, what the hell? I don't get that long a lifespan, anyway." Rocket stood in his seat.

Ash's mismatched eyes flickered between the group, her expression blank before she let her head fall back with a groan. "I swear, when I get to the afterlife, I'm gonna kick your arse, Noah," she mumbled before rising to her feet. "Now I'm standing. You all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of knobheads, standing in a circle."

\_|_/\_|_/\_|_/

"The stone reacts to anything organic. The bigger the target, the bigger the power surge." Ash paced in front of Yondu and his crew, hands folded behind her back. "Ronan just has to touch the surface of the planet with that stone, and everything dies."

"So Ronan does not make the surface." Quill stopped beside her, and Ash halted her pacing. "Rocket will lead a team to blow a hole in the Dark Aster's starboard hull. Then, our craft and Yondu's will enter."

"Won't there be hundreds of Sakaaran soldiers inside?" one of the crew asked.

Drax answered, "I think of Sakaaran as paper people."

The crewmember smiled and gave Drax a friendly punch on the shoulder, but he gave him a look like he was going to kill him.

"Once they detect our presence on board, Ronan will hide behind impenetrable security doors on deck, which we can disable by dismantling the power source," Ash said a little louder to gain the two's attention.

Gamora stepped forward on her other side, motioning to herself and Ash. "We'll make it to the flight deck, and I'll use the Hadron Enforcer to kill Ronan. Once Ronan is dead, we will retrieve the stone. Use these devices to contain it."

Ash passed out the devices with her magic. "If you touch it, it will kill you."

"I'll contact one of the Nova officers who arrested us. Hopefully, they'll believe we're there to help," Quill finished.

"There's one more thing we need to complete the plan," Rocket spoke, and he pointed to one of Yondu's men with a robotic eye. "That guy's eye-"

"-No! No, we don't. No, we don't need that guy's eye," Quill interrupted.

"No, seriously, I need it! It's important to me."

"Ronan's fleet has been spotted and will arrive in t-minus fifteen minutes," one of the crew informed.

"This is a terrible plan," Gamora stated as the others left.

Ash glanced at her before nudging her with her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll see each other in Hell."