FAN FICTION: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #83 – EXODUS! BY ADRIAN J WATTS
At the outskirts of the Pama star system
Standing at the aft end of the Captain America III – the starship belonging to the Guardians of the Galaxy – Gan-Vell pressed his body against a transparent viewport that gave him a good view of the Pama system. He looked sadly at the charred ruin that was once his beloved homeworld, Hala, devastated only minutes earlier by operatives of the Kree Intelligence Supreme.
Behind him stood the dozen Kree that the Guardians were able to evacuate before the planet was destroyed. Five belonged to the one family, whose matriarch was trying to calm her three children. The eldest, a boy, stared past Gan-Vell and out of the viewport where shattered glass and steel could be clearly seen as they drifted by the ship as it quickly accelerated toward the speed of light.
Gan-Vell continued to look out of the viewport as Nicholette, the flame-haired Guardian from the planet Mercury approached him. She stood behind him for several moments before resting a hand on the young Kree’s shoulder. He shrugged it off, but Nicholette did not back away.
“I’m sure that there were survivors, Gan-Vell,” she said in an attempt at consolation. “The ship’s sensors detected a few large objects heading away from Hala during the explosion. They could have been ships.”
“Yeah. Maybe,” Gan-Vell said distractedly.
“We’ll be breaking the speed of light in a minute,” Nicholette said. “You might not want to be looking out of the viewport when that happens. There’s always a big flash, and I know from experience that it hurts your eyes if you look at it.” She smiled.
Gan-Vell didn’t respond, and eventually Nicholette decided to leave him and help calm the Kree refugees with the Centaurian Yondu. As the Captain America III continued its acceleration to light speed, Gan-Vell continued to stare at his devastated planet. In the distance, beyond his ruined planet, Gan-Vell saw several dozens pinpricks of white light that were soon blotted out by the bright white flash that symbolised the ship’s acceleration beyond the speed of light.
Were those ships? Gan-Vell thought, Or was I just seeing an early sign of the ship’s sudden acceleration? I’ve got to know… I’ve got to come back.
Hala
Before the devastation of the planet’s surface, there stood a tall structure at the center of the city of Kree-Lar. It was the tallest building on the planet, standing more than three kilometers tall, and that wasn’t including the levels below ground.
That building, like all others on the planet, were destroyed when the Supreme Intelligence’s Kree Stealth Squadron fired a powerful energy blast at the planet hours earlier*. Now, as small metal pods fell across the planet’s surface, Ruul technicians gathered at the site where the most important of all Kree buildings had stood.
[ * – in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #82 – Adrian ]
One metal pod finally struck the ground before them, and after shedding its metal shielding the miniaturised computer began to erect a skeleton for a new building. Metal girders stuck out of the pod-like spider’s legs, pushed further and further outwards and upwards as more and more of the skeleton was created by the pod’s computer.
As the skeleton developed, technicians used various tools to attach metal plates that would form the building’s walls. Several agile Ruul entered the incomplete structure and used their skills to affect the building’s growth – beding girders here, putting holes in metal plates to make room for stairs and elevators that would be built later – focusing, most importantly, on twisting the girders that formed the skeleton of the building’s uppermost level into a double helix structure.
In an hour, the building had been constructed. There was only one more thing to be done before it was complete. A Ruul stepped forward, entered the building, and with a surprising amount of agility for a creature his size, he made his way to the top of the building, where he stood before the double helix.
He produced a large crystal, almost as big as a human’s head, and placed it inside of the double helix before dropping to the ground where he landed uninjured. He smiled happily, as he and every other Ruul on the planet got on their knees and looked in the direction of the new building; their heads bowed.
The crystal glowed brightly.
Halfway between Hala and the Galactic Council Chamber-World
As the Captain America III slowed to a speed less than the speed of light, space was lit up by another bright flash of light. The ship was still moving very fast, but not fast enough that it could not receive messages directed at it.
>>G…ians…<>…Tor-Quin, the Kree Ambassador to the Galactic Council. Before Hala’s destruction, I sent out a warning to the Kree people. I thought the Ruul might have blocked it, but I just received word that several refugee ships managed to escape the attack. They’re travelling together. Can you protect them?<>Sending the co-ordinates now.<<
Several numbers appeared on the communicator’s display screen, and Martinex programmed them into the ship’s auto-pilot. Captain-27 glanced at him as he tried to slow the ship. “Tell Tor-Quin we’ll be there shortly,” Captain-27 said.
Valaar the Accuser stood on the bridge of the cloaked worldship of the Supreme Intelligence. Since it fulfilled its task in re-creating Hala as a home for the Ruul, it had been converted into a massive battleship. Seated at stations all around him were various Ruul, busily reviewing computer printouts and making modifications to the ship’s course. Behind him stood a pale, blue-skinned humanoid with feline features and a thin, lithe body that enhanced her catlike appearance.
It was to her that Valaar spoke when he turned and said, “Where are they?”
The woman smiled. “They will be here.” Her voice sounded perfectly human, and it made Valaar shudder. He had been taught to hate humans and all offshoots of that species. He continued his association with the woman only out of necessity; when the Supremor decided that she had outlived her usefulness, he would take great pleasure in tearing her limb from limb.
Valaar looked out into the dark void in which his ship was immersed. The closest star was billions of kilometers away and shed little light on the area. There were no moons, planets, or asteroids to be found, making this area part of an ideal route for ships travelling beyond the speed of light, whose pilots could not react quickly enough to avert disaster if their path should happen to cross with that of a planet. In the distance, Valaar could just make out several brown dots. They were Kree refugee ships, and he was going to destroy them.
He used one of his muscular grey arms to activate a communication unit built into his armour. He spoke in a gruff and guttural voice, unpleasant even to the ears of his fellow Ruul. “Attention all crew. The vile ones are approaching. It is our duty to destroy them. Fighter squadrons Kri and Ree, launch now. Force them closer to the worldship. Mine is to be the hand that destroys them. Go. Now.”
“Are you sure that you want to do this?” the blue-skinned woman asked, tossing her long blue hair behind her head.
“It is my duty,” Valaar said simply.
“That was not what I asked. Do you want to do this?”
Valaar smiled, displaying his long, needlelike teeth that all Ruul bore. “I agree that all Kree are vile anachronisms that need to be exterminated if the Ruul race is to thrive. I want to do all that I can to help my species, and my master. As such, yes, I do want to do this.” He let his mouth relax. “I think the more important question is: what is it that the Kree have done that causes you to sell your unique services to the Ruul?”
“That is for me to know, Valaar, not you,” the woman replied as twenty-four Ruul fighter ships passed the front of the worldship. The ships’ bodies were long and tapered at the ends. Toward the back were the wings, shaped like right angled triangles, flat, and only one atom thick.
The brown refugee ships were much closer, and already the Ruul fighters buzzed around them, trying to force them toward the worldship. The outdated Kree vessels possessed no weapons; the fighters alone could take them out with ease, but Valaar wanted that satisfaction for himself.
Valaar once again activated his armour’s communication unit. “Drop the cloak and prepare the ion cannon for immediate use. I want to vaporize those ships. I want nothing left. No shreds of DNA from which Kree can be cloned. Nothing.”
“Accuser,” one of the Ruul manning a monitoring station said. “The ship’s sensors are detecting another ship approaching at immense speeds. What should we do?”
“Nothing. It will be destroyed along with the Kree.”
Valaar waited as the refugee ships were forced ever closer. Suddenly, two streaks of yellow energy crossed the worldship’s bow, and the ship’s sensors verified that it had come from the approaching ship. Valaar used his communicator once again. “Ree squadron, destroy this new arrival’s weapons.” Twelve of the twenty-four fighter ships that had been harassing the refugees flew straight toward the Captain America III, which still approached the worldship.
“Accuser!” another Ruul cried. “Two small objects have left the ship. I think that they’re alive!”
Valaar turned away from the massive viewscreen that covered one wall of the worldship’s bridge. “Activate the shields and reactivate the cloak. Gunnery, is the ion cannon ready for deployment?”
“Yes, Accuser!” came the reply.
Valaar nodded. “Sensors, I want to know what the two approaching objects are. Now.”
“Two humanoid figures, Accuser.”
“Are they carrying weapons? Spacewalking equipment?”
“No.”
As the Captain America III tried to dodge the attacks of the Ruul fighters, Phoenix-IX and the Keeper flew straight at the worldship. The Keeper let loose blasts of the Power Cosmic that were absorbed easily by the worldship’s shields. With a thought, Phoenix-IX’s body was covered in flame, and he vainly attempted to scorch the worldship’s hull. The worldship showed no visible signs of damage.
On the worldship’s bridge, Valaar noticed various sensor stations lighting up. “What happened?”
“The attackers used energy attacks on our hull. We have nothing to fear.”
Valaar turned his attention back to the approaching refugee ships. Their approach had been slowed by the departure of half of the fighters, but they were still coming ever closer. Valaar approached his command station and poised his finger over the activation controls for the worldship’s ion cannon.
“Accuser, the attacking ship has released another object.”
From behind him, another Ruul spoke up. “Accuser, the refugee ships are in range of the ion cannon and our fighters are asking what to do now that they have destroyed our attacker’s shipbound weapons.”
Valaar recalled the Ruul fighter ships and began the process that would end in the firing of the worldship’s ion cannon.
“Accuser!” someone shouted. “One of our attackers – it’s a Kree!”
“What?” Valaar snapped.
“A Kree, Accuser! And the attacking ship is heading toward us, building up speed…”
Before Valaar could issue an order, the Captain America III struck the aft end of the worldship. The worldship’s shields, configured primarily to stop energy attacks, had not been ready for the assault. The ship rocked with the impact, and Valaar was forced to grab hold of his command station to keep from falling. The ship’s sensors verified Valaar’s suspicions that Captain America III had been badly damaged by the impact, and that it had recalled the Keeper and Phoenix-IX.
“Accuser! The Kree attacker has intercepted the refugee ships! They’re turning… they’ll soon be out of range…”
Valaar pressed the button that fired the ion cannon. The area in front of the ship was lit up by a bright silver flash. When it faded, the worldship’s sensors revealed that three of the seven refugee ships had survived, and were getting away. There were no traces of the other four… or the Captain America III.
“Pursue the fleeing ships,” Valaar ordered.
“Accuser, it will be hours before the ion cannon is recharged.”
“I want no traces…” He thought for a moment. “We will return to Hala. I must report to the Supremor.”
Behind him, the blue-skinned woman scowled.
Aboard the Captain America III
“Woohoo!” Nikki whooped. “Way to go, Chunky!”
Captain-27 smiled from the pilot’s seat. The ship was badly damaged, but it was still flying – and it was only thanks to some fancy maneuvering by the Guardians’ leader that the ship had not been vaporised by the Ruul worldship’s ionic blast. “We took some heavy damage, Nikki – but I surprised myself there.”
“We lost four refugee ships,” Phoenix-IX said. “We should not be celebrating.”
“We’re alive, Giraud,” Nikki said. “That’s what matters. There is nothing more that we could have done for the refugees.”
“No? I didn’t see you do anything, Guardian.”
“I – ” Nikki began. She was cut off by Martinex, who was receiving another communique. It was from Gan-Vell.
>> … Council’s Chamber-World. We’ll wait.<<
“What did the Kree say?” Phoenix-IX asked.
“He said that the refugees are almost at Chamber-World,” Captain-27 said. “We’ll be there in a few minutes ourselves. Nikki, you should go back and help Yondu and the Keeper make sure the refugees are all right.” Nikki left.
“Good. The sooner we’re at Chamber-World, the sooner I can – ” Giraud began.
“Giraud, why don’t you just leave now, if you despise us as much as you say?” Martinex asked. “We go back a very long way, but if you’re going to keep speaking to Nicholette and Charlie that way, then even I don’t want you around. You were not betrayed by us. There was nothing we could do to help Firelord or Autolycus, and you know it.”
Phoenix-IX looked stunned. He began to speak, stopped himself, and then said, “Fine.” He left the cockpit, and moments later one of Martinex’s sensors showed Phoenix-IX making his own way to Chamber-World.
“Do you really believe that?” Captain-27 asked.
Martinex didn’t reply.
NEXT ISSUE: The Guardians arrive at Chamber-World… but will they find friends – or foes?
Written by Adrian J. Watts of SoftPixels.net
