Bab 182: Chapter 181: The Guardian’s Progress.
Arcadia Ship. Milky way.
The Xandarian emissary walked out from the small shuttle after it was docked inside of Arcadia.
"Stay vigilant." Jay, the home-made Mandalorian, said to the rest of her crew. Although her benefactor was aboard the ship, they still didn't know about the nature of the relationship between Mandalorian and Dawn Everstar, The Arcadia Captain.
Dressed in a Centurion uniform for the meeting with the ship Captain, Gia took a deep breath to brace herself. She was going to face one of the most notorious pirate crews of the universe, and she couldn't let her guard down because of it.
Meowth arrived and led the ladies toward the meeting room. Gia almost couldn't help herself from touching the upright cat's head, but her professionalism took precedence. Her heart beat quickly and her palms were sweaty.
Meowth leads the emissary to the mess hall where Dawn was drinking a beer using a wooden cup. "One More for me! And for the visitors!" Dawn said while raising his arm up for a toast.
Two large men with red skin accepted the order and approached the ladies from Xandar with beer in hand.
Jay widened her eyes when she realized who the bartenders were. "The Blood Brother?" She muttered underneath her breath and her arm quickly reached her gun at her waist.
"You know us missy?" The Blood Brother grinned and slammed the wooden glass on the table near the Xandarians. "We're the galaxy's most famous mercenary,...previously HAHAHAHA!!"
The mercenaries suddenly burst into laughter, and with that, followed by overlapping laughter of the crew inside of Arcadia.
Seeing that Jay and the others were still keeping their guards up, the blood brothers said with a giggle, "My name is Gh'Ree. My brother's name is R'Hos. We're troublemakers. We know. But we won't dare to do that here. So should you."
He tried to defuse the hostility that the fake Mandalorians were projecting on them. Gia stepped in and confronted the blood brothers. "A runaway from Thanos. Did you finally forget about your previous master, or your trust in your new captain big enough for you to stay in one place?"
R'Hos frowned and tried to grab Gia's collar. But Jay was faster. She took out her gun and aimed it at R'Hos forehead.
Gh'Ree and R'Hos was apprehensive if someone brought up their past. It's not like they wanted to be Thanos' lapdog. But their species – The Roclites' safety was more important for them than the planet they helped Thanos to obliterate.
Until they found out, Thanos had still culled their planet even after they had served him for years.
Before they met Dawn, they didn't think that they could escape from the tyrant's palm. Although their initial meeting wasn't a good one, Dawn helped them to remove any brainwashing the Red Skull had done on them, and helped them to get over Thanos.
With the confrontation of the Blood Brothers and the Xandarian faction, Dawn sighed and walked toward where the group of people was standing.
"Could you not use this inside my ship?" Dawn waved his arm, and Jay's gun turned into a flower instead. "We make peace here. Not war. Also, you're outnumbered inside an unknown ship that is famous in the galaxy as a pirate ship, and you aimed your weapon at the crew the moment you walked in. You guys have guts."
Gia widened her eyes as she read the hidden threat inside of Dawn's voice. If there was anything in the world that could raise Dawn's anger, it's to threaten the ones close to him. He didn't care much about people he didn't know, or didn't personally know, like the girls in front of him.
The girls were feeling like they had been stared at by a predator, and they couldn't even move from their spot. They were affixed that way until someone came by to help them.
"Well. They really do. Being brave is a good thing. Don't you think so?" The Mandalorian, the one that Jay wanted to meet for a very long time, suddenly interrupted the conversation after he walked into the mess hall.
Dawn retracted his pressure and smiled at the Mandalorian. Ryan's shadow clone had teleported himself inside the ship after getting the news of the fake Mandalorians and the Xandar emissary coming aboard Arcadia.
He asked Kai to do it initially, but Kai was busy researching the Chitaturi virus breakout on a small town in Philadelphia. Being inside a mask was also uncomfortable for Kai, who liked to fight by showing his bare face. The Mandalorian armor was also restricting him from showing his true strength.
"Let's talk in the Captain's office." Ryan said and led the group to another part of the ship. Dawn finished the drink in his arms and started the dialogue with the emissary.
"So. What do you want?"
Gia replied, "Mr. Everstar. Although your methods are notorious, after investigation, Xandar had found out about the purpose of your previous actions, and the recent one."
"In Parsec 8, you have liberated the primitive species there from an unlawful oppression of another civilization. In Helix 9, You have destroyed a church that led their followers to their doom..In.."
"Stop." Dawn interjected while tilting his straw hat. He was satisfied inwardly as he thought that he didn't fail the strawhat yet.
"I don't need you to recount my deeds. I was there. I know about it. I also know that the civilization that oppressed the primitive species had signed a treaty with Xandar. I guess that's why you let millions suffer?" He said instigatively.
Gia didn't become flustered as she expected the question. Xandar had studied Dawn before, and found out that he was a highly intelligent man that cared for people. However, based on Dawn's track record, he seemed to have a problem with authority, and that caused a lot of his notoriety as he usually fights with those who had stepped on other people.
"We didn't know. Xandar would never enter the treaty if we knew about the oppression."
Dawn silently raised his impression on the woman in front of him, and Xandar. To admit to their mistake and work hard to fix it, was very honorable. His monitoring of the primitive species had shown that the Xandar embassy had come to make amends and help the primitive civilization to fix their path.
Gia also didn't bring up their amends in the talks, proving that Xandar didn't just help the species to create a good impression on him or to spread their reputation in the galaxy.
While Dawn was conversing with the emissary, the Mandalorian was having a talk with the fangirls.
"Why did you decide to become the Mandalorian?" Ryan asked.
Jay thought for a while before answering, "You saved us." She chose to cover up her pretty face and abandon any sort of comfortable life she could have. "And we would like to do the same to others."
Suddenly, the Mandalorian patted Jay's helmet. "It is a noble intention. However, you didn't have training nor have you developed your skill before. Blinding rushing into the fire will be suicide."
Jay's heart beats quickly. Ryan could sense it as he was close to her, but he thought that she was agitated because she got scolded.
"Where do you learn about the Mandalorian creed? And who built your armor?" Ryan asked, taking his hand off from his head.
"Xandar did. It's…not that hard…" Jay said, her voice becoming quieter with each sentence.
"Your armor…Won't last long." Ryan said unexpectedly.
"What? WHY? I used the best metal.! All of my salary…" Jay became flustered. She stopped when Ryan held her helmet, and pulled it up. It easily comes off from her head, revealing the red-skinned woman with a redder tint than usual.
"The one who made it…had slacked off in the production." Ryan said. He felt a bit responsible for the girls. After all, they had emulated him and the Mandalorian way of life that he brought to the galaxy.
"Come with me for a while. I will train you." Mandalorian said, stunning the girls there. "I will also build you a new armor. One that could…keep you alive."
Before Jay could reply, their attention was drawn toward the table where Dawn and Gia were speaking.
"Your methods are draconian, Mr. Dawn," Gia said with a stern look on her face. "Millions of innocents will die if you do that! I-"
Dawn waved his arm to stop her. However, she slammed the table and stood up.
Gia asserted, "Your method would bring war to the galaxy, and as Xandari-"
"Xandar has no jurisdiction in this part of the galaxy Mrs. Gia. And I'll be careful if I were you. Some of the crew inside this ship didn't tolerate disrespecting the captain like you did." Dawn said calmly. Gai noticed that the crew had been staring at her with bloodlust in their eyes.
The pressure almost collapsed her spirit, but she gritted her teeth and gazed directly into Dawn's eyes. The kind eyes that seemed to have done nothing wrong entered her sight, stunning her for a second.
"However! TO ATTACK THE SKRULL's HOME PLANET!"
"I am doing it whether you like it or not. If you're worried, you can come with me and see if I attack the innocent or not." Dawn said, annoyed by the stupid sense of justice the woman portrayed. He really hates the aspect of the characters in the universe, too egotistical and won't hesitate to push their worldview onto others.
'Characters huh..' Dawn though ambiguously. He immersed himself in his realization that he turned a deaf ear on the ramblings of the emissary.
Jay, Deet and Arina approached the emissary and calmed her down.
"You should bring her back to your ship." the Mandalorian advised.
"No." Jay replied curtly, causing a silence in the room. "W-What I mean is… the talk wasn't over yet. We need to talk about the true purpose of the meeting."
Gia calmed herself down and took a deep breath. "Okay. We need to talk about... Adam Warlock." Her face turned ashen and Dawn could sense the fear in her voice. "Thanos…had sent his subordinate to catch him. So we need to know. Why? Why are you and the tyrant of the universe is looking for him?"
…
Somewhere along the Andromeda Galaxy.
A green-skinned woman with black hair and red stripes on her hair waited inside a necrocraft to ambush Arcadia. Created by the tyrant especially for her mission, the necrocraft she was driving could hypothetically give trouble to Dawn Everstar – before the ship's physic-law-breaking engine capabilities was known in the battle with the Skrulls.
Gamora silently sharpened her dagger while she waited for Dawn's ship to pass by. After learning about Dawn's commission to the bounty hunters to Adam Warlock, she changed her target to find Arcadia instead of searching the universe blindly for the possessor of the Soul Stone.
Knowhere – The severed head of a celestial.
"ALL of THEM. BRING THEM ALL TO ME!!" The Collector received the news about the Arcadia capabilities and the Mandalorian reappearance in the galaxy after the Skrull War.
A billion units was promised as a reward for those who could bring the Arcadia and the Mandalorian toward The Collector.
A drunk woman heard about the news of the bounty. She wiped her wet face with her arm sleeve, and she staggered away to her spaceship. "The money is verrrrrry nice. Should I join the fun?" Brunhilde, the last Valkyrie muttered in her drunken slur before she returned back to her mission as Scraper 142, and flew upward to find a new champion for the grandmaster.
In another part of the severed head, a raccoon, a tree, and a human were drinking together inside a bar. They speak in a hushed tone, and away from the others' listening range.
" I am Groot."
"Shut up. Peter is not the leader." Rocket replied annoyedly.
"Uhh…I kinda am." Peter said with a smirk.
"You want a bomb in your bed when you wake up tomorrow? Or Don't wake up tomorrow?" Rocket threatened.
Peter Quill placed his hand on Rocket's shoulder. The creature snarls at him, causing him to retract his hand quickly.
"Don't be mad, Rocket. I was just saying, this Adam Warlock guy seems like bad news. It wasn't worth it. Why don't you leave him with me? I will share the unit I get later with you guys."
"Do you think we are FOOLS?!"
"I AM GROOT!"
"Don't ask him how much unit! He is scamming us Groot. After we had worked our bones off capturing that guy."
Quill quickly retorted. "What Bones? We find him sleeping like a baby on a deserted planet."
"Anyway. IT's our bounty."
"It's my ship."
" I am Groot."
When the trio was discussing heavily, suddenly the bar they were in became more and more deserted as people kept running outside.
"What is going on?" Rocket asked.
" Hey Pal. Why is everyone running?" Quill grabbed a squirrely looking mercenary and asked.
"Don't you know about it? The Collector has gotten insane. He posted a bounty for Dawn, the notorious pirate! We're evacuating in case the pirate comes here!" The man brushed Quill's hand off and ran to the hangar bay.
Rocket held his tablet and read the mercenary board. "Holy Sh*t!!" He laughed out loud after reading the mission request that the Collector created.
"Quill, You can take the guy if you want. I'm out of here!" Rocket said. Quill read the bounty, and his eyes flashed with shrewdness.
"Wait! Rocket! How would you like to get a bigger score?"
"How big are we talking?"
"One billion units."
"Are you crazy? Did the booze finally get to you? Or your puny mind couldn't comprehend the danger?"
"Well…if we go and attack him head on we will die. But…if we can get inside the ship peacefully…" Quill said and waited for Rocket to get the conclusion on his own.
"Ahh. The golden boy." Rocket snapped his finger.
"Exactly."
While the plans to take over the Arcadia were brewing in the severed head of the celestial, the Arcadia finally reached the edge of the galaxy the Skrulls were in.
"The King's planet. I need to be careful." Dawn muttered with a determined look on his face. He would go there alone, without any of the crew following him.
The King once captured the battle ready members of the Illuminati that come to warn them about conquering Earth. Reed Richards got spliced and studied, Dr. Strange becomes a lab rat for them to learn about magic, Professor X about the X-gene, Black Bolt about the Inhuman.
The culmination of technology in an advanced civilization couldn't be underestimated. His mission now was to break into the most secure research lab on the entire King's planet, and break out the Fantastic Four.
Through the memories that Ryan had read from the Skrull's commander before, he found out that the mutants were not there, but their abilities were copied from Earth, 30 years ago.
Standing on top of the Arcadia, Dawn released several scouting drones to fly along his pathway, to avoid any ambush. The drones were rented from the trading site – advanced enough to scan the potential threat of the civilization without alarming them.
'This is the first time that we're going in blind huh.' Dawn thought. Even though the memories that Ryan dug out from the Skrulls during the war could help, he was in an unknown region of the universe, to fight a major player in the galaxy.
Reading the data from the drones, Dawn found some traces of a spaceship on his pathway.
"That is…Gamora? Why is Gamora….Here?"
Ryan: ALMOST!
Ryan's shadow clone was training the younglings Mandalorian when he noticed the signal from Gamora's spaceship.
"She is hailing us. Put her through." Hela said to the crew. Ryan walked to the deck to hear what Gamora wanted to say.
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