A past job to be done in the present to save the future!(no)

[Jaymi]

The information was good. It had to be. There wasn't any other reason to put their necks on the line to journey deep into the heart of the Skrull home world, piss off an entire race of shape-changing warriors, and possibly start and intergalactic war. All to save some unknown Earther the Deviant Skrulls had kidnapped some years back.

Just another day for the

Quill sat on the bridge of C.I.T.T., the ship he owned before the Milano, checking the systems to make sure they had everything ready. This was going to be a tight operation that would broke no screwing around. (So of course they were playing everything loose and with optimal shenanigans.)

"Alright folks, should be in Skrullos space in about ten minutes, if you have any gods, start your space prayers now. Otherwise, fasten your seatbelts, load your your biggest weapons, strap your underwear on outside your pants, and let's roast us some lizard-like aliens over an open fire!"

[Grandore]

Rocket sat in his position at the weapon control... The screen in front of him illuminating as he went through the selection of weapons.

"Hey Quill.... Wanna greet these guys with a Big Kahuna? You know you want to!"

Rocket said as the screen surrounding the selection glowed red for how dangerous of a weapon it was. This was just a typical day in the Guardians... Quill being the leader, Rocket being the trigger happy pain in the ass... And Groot..... He's just Groot....

"Ok seriously... Which weapon should we go with? Home Wrecker? New Year's Special? Frog In A Blender? Stage 10 Baked Bean Fart? Ooo Ooo! I know what about The Trash Can! It's been a while since we used that!"

Yes these are names Rocket has come up with for the various weapons he's added to the ship. You can never have too many options! Groot sighed shaking his head.

"I am Groot?!"

Translation: Do half of those weapons even exist?!

Rocket looked back at Groot giving him a dirty look.

"Hey! Never question my weaponry! I have a PHD in blowing shit up ya know!"

Rocket said pointing to a degree hanging on a wall clearly written out with a crayon.

[Super Chick]

Gamora walked through the Guardian's ship toward the bridge. She had no horse in this race on the Skrull home planet. Rather, as per usual, she seemed to be along for the ride. The rag-tag group who called themselves Guardians of the Galaxy had proven time and again why they chose the title and there was little need to rescue some meager Earthling from their grasp. Yet again, as per usual, Quill was talked into something that was both inconsequential and dangerous. Saving this woman, while noble, was a suicide mission. Ironically it wasn't that part that annoyed Gamora much. What really got her going was the fact that the person they were saving was neither confirmed to be on Skrullos nor someone who was particularly required for the preservation of Earth or the universe.

She arrived in the cockpit area and stared out the front window while using the wall for support. Her eyes bore into Starlord's back even as she feigned interest in their approach. "Explain to me why we're doing this again?" she asked.

Gamora expected the same lame answer Quill had been giving her for the last many days since he accepted this mission, but it still bore repeating that Gamora was not at all satisfied with it. Saving the universe or even a planet, she could get behind. Saving this "Mockingbird" person just seemed like something Quill was doing for a piece of ass - meaning he put no real thought into it and was putting them all in danger for a reward he was unlikely to receive.

[aquarius]

Space was big. Really big. So big, that if one person was missing somewhere in the universe, it would take a miracle to have any chance of ever finding them,

Fortunately, miracles were the stock in trade of gods, and Thor was feeling particularly motivated today. He had been flying through deep space, searching a fairly remote sector without much luck so far, when he sensed a faint human aura through Mjolnir. It was weak, most likely indicative of an ill or weak human. Or... dying. This far into deep space, that was a worrying prospect indeed. Even seeing another sign of life was a miracle.

An entire space ship approaching most definitely qualified. That the detected human soul began getting easier to sense as it approached meant only one thing, of course. She was on board! Or they had another human on the ship, but miracles were one thing. Insane coincidences of that magnitude, that would just be foolish.

He managed to get close enough to the vessel as it passed to grab hold, aligning himself with its inertia bubble, before moving his way towards the airlock, taking only a moment to figure out the controls, and letting himself in. No doubt this would set off alarms, but let them come. Those who held a human on the ship against their will, would soon feel the fury of the thunder god.

Stepping out of the airlock into the first corridor, he had no idea where anything would be on this ship, but from what he knew, they tended to put the driving room - cockpit, he remembered at the last moment - at the front of the ship. Anyone there would likely know most. And so, he headed that way, wondering what resistance would be sent his way before he got there.

[Jaymi]

"Hey, Gams, you know why we're doing this. Same reason why we do like... everything. Because it's right. Because it's just. Because it's awesome and fun and probably at least three times in this, something so hilarious is going to happen that is going to make a story so great at the bars on Knowhere that we're going to get free booze. Real top quality stuff." Star-Lord glanced over at the Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy and raised an eyebrow, grinning charmingly. He knew he was right and he knew she knew he was right.

He glanced back at Rocket, watching him check their armaments. Going in guns blazing was probably their best bet, but they couldn't exactly launch their heaviest stuff and risk the prisoner. "Something tame, Rocky. No bunker busters, big berthas, and definitely no kahunas. We don't know exactly where they're keeping the target, so we want to try and disable them without blowing a hole in their buildings, okay?"

Playing it safe wasn't really his first or usual call, but their wasn't really any glory in blowing up their own damsel in distress. He did know that from first hand experience. Drax had laughed at that one for weeks. Really wish he could have been here for this particular operation, but he had been pulled away for 'father-daughter' time. Moon Dragon needed help with a hunt of her own.

And then the alarms went off. Checking the scanners, something had boarded them. It wasn't a Skrull, nor was it any sort of ship. "Hey, Groot, mind checking to see what d'ast is on the ship back there?"

[Grandore]

Rocket looked at Quill with a blank look... He turned back to Gamora.

"In other words he has a crush on this girl and wants to sleep with her..."

He looked back at Quill who he could just feel the dirty look he most likely was giving him.

"What?! I know you Quill! You started drooling over her the moment you seen her pink hair!"

He said as bluntly as he said before he went back to his screen.

"You're no fun! No explosions?! Fiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnneeeeeee..."

He whined before he started flipping through the weapons.

"Well I do have a weapon I've been wanting to test... It's a pulse wave weapon... It releases sound waves that... Ya know.... Makes people go unconscious and disorient them greatly.... Also there is a 75% chance that anyone caught in it will poop there pants!"

Rocket said laughing slapping his leg.

"I call it The Brown Pants Special!"

He said before the alarm went off. Rocket immediately went to the scanners looking them over.

"Well this is different... Ya know we really need to stop keeping the airlock controls on the outside of the ship..."

Rocket said as Groot got up to see what has entered the ship... He stopped dead in his tracks when he seen the man himself... Thor... A man of legend...

"I.... Am.... Groot?!"

Translation: Thor... Is.... Here?!

Groot was baffled. He didn't know how to react. He turned and walked back to the man cockpit.

"I am Groot... I am Groot!"

Translation: Guys you're not going to believe this... Thor is on our ship!

[aquarius]

There was the distinct sound of muffled conversation ahead, suggesting he was getting close. Then the sound of a door opening, and a... tree? stepped into view briefly. Thor paused briefly as Groot turned to talk to the others in the cockpit, surprised that he was recognised. Though to be fair, he was known at least by reputation across the cosmos. But outside of the worlds that had regular contact with Asgard, it was still rare to be recognised so immediately.

Still, he was here on a mission, and could not take the time to question this immediately. He followed the walking plant-man at a reasonable distance, not wanting to seem too threatening. When he spoke, it was in the Allspeak, so each person would hear their native language. "I mean you no harm, but I am seeking a human abducted from Earth, and I sensed a human on board the ship. I wish to be sure they are alright, as their..."

At this point, he walked in to the cockpit, and saw amongst others, Peter Quill at the controls. At the same time, an invisible surge from Mjolnir confirmed this man was human. Just about... Something wasn't quite right there, and it left Thor simply finishing his sentence, as it still suited the situation. ".... soul was radiating unusually faint signals. But since you appear in fine health, and presumably are not here against your will, I apologise for the intrusion. But do you know of any other humans in this area? A good friend of mine has been taken, and I seek her return to Earth."

[Super Chick]

Quill attempted to play off her question with an answer that what they were doing was "just the right thing to do." The Zen-Whoberian rolled her eyes at his comment. That was always his answer. He wouldn't tell her if he was just trying to get in the woman's pants even if it was the more truthful answer. Rather, he attempted to put everything in the context of being "right" versus being "wrong" - which was admittedly very annoying when Starlord's moral compass swung whichever way his... manhood did. Rocket knew, too. Gamora turned to the little warrior and gave him a knowing smirk of agreement.

A commotion occurred in the back of the ship and Gamora's pleasure at Rocket's agreement faded quickly. Quill, of course, asked Groot to go see what the problem was but Gamora was not going to simply remain on the bridge if something was amiss and the airlock had been opened! Her large tree friend could handle much, but he could not handle everything. She turned to move with Groot and followed him most of the way before stopping to grab her weapon. She had not made it far toward Groot and the airlock before the face of a god - no, literally a GOD! - showed itself to her from behind Groot. Gamora paused abruptly in her steps while Groot had a more verbal reaction, showing his awe even in his simple phrasing.

Gamora's eyes narrowed at Thor, a misfit in his own right out here on the edge of space. A thousand questions raced through her mind but before she could ask them, they seemed to arrive at the bridge and the Thunder God answered them. At least this guy was direct. She could appreciate that. Gamora holstered her weapons. If he was going to play nice, then so would she.

Again her eyes rolled in their sockets when Thor announced he was out there searching for the Earth woman. Gamora leaned against the wall and crossed her arms casually. "Yeah, Quill's one of a kind," she replied somewhat sarcastically to his "odd soul" observance. She looked at Thor appraisingly. "This woman must be impressive to get your attention but I still have my doubts. Does she have some significance to Earth that I don't know about?"

[Jaymi]

"Thor! Buddy!" Peter had never met Thor. The man had a reputation, though. Plus, if he was out here looking for Mockingbird, it added serious credibility to his own claims. He was more than willing to accept the added help from the Norse man-meat, too. Assuming the guy would ride with them. "We're just going to save her! Wanna come with? We've got a great sound track."

He glanced over at Rocket. "Dude, her hair's not pink. She's blond. Like the the huge guy who just walked in over there. Also, side B, Rocky, track two." Shaking his head he shrugged and looked back over to Thor.

"We got some news on Knowhere that the Skrulls have her on their homeworld. We were going to go bust her out and return her to uh... Midrift? Midguard? Earth. We're taking her back to Earth. But there's a lot of Skrulls, as you know. They're homeworld and all that. Figured we could use the help of a Lord of Lightning like you. You interested?" Quill just grinned. If he said yes, this was going to be awesome.

And Drax was going to be sooooo jealous he missed it.

[Grandore]

Rocket's eyes grew as wide as half dollars when Thor walked onto the ship.

"NO WAY!!!!"

Rocket exclaimed out loud. This definitely was the last person he expected to see today.

"Hell yeah! Come along with us! Would make our job a lot easier for sure! Ya definitely look as if you have your big boy pants on and are ready to open up a case of whoop ass!"

Rocket said clapping his hands excitedly. Quill then pointed out her hair was blond... Rocket rolled his eyes.

"I know that you dummy! She has pink streaks ya know! Just sayin!"

Rocket said clearing his throat as Quill offered him to join the rest of the team. He took Quill's tape and turned it to side B.

"I swear if you start playing that Marvin Gaye music I'm throwing this tape out the back hatch! Thor seems more like a heavy metal kind of guy to be honest anyway!"

Rocket said before he hit the play button. Groot walked over and sat down in his seat.

"I am Groot?"

Translation: We should be arriving in how long?

Groot asked before Rocket spoke up again.

"The plan was we're going to drop some pulse sound waves to disorient the Skrulls... That should make them pass out and crap their pants and make it easy for us to swoop in and rescue the girl Quill wants to play hanky panky with."

Rocket said with as blunt of a tone as he can.

[aquarius]

'Buddy'? The only person who called him that before now had been Stark. And he... well, he hadn't earned the right to do so, but he was at least like that to everyone. Did that make it acceptable? Somehow, at least it made it tolerable. But this stranger acting in such a familiar manner? No. That had to end now, regardless of what else the situation required. "Take care with your words, curious semi-human. I know not what ails you, but know that I shall brook no further speech in that fashion, certainly not before you have introduced yourself. So far, the only one to do so is Groot, who has earned my respect for doing so."

With that, he walked over to what seemed to be an unused seat, setting himself down in it, and letting Mjolnir fall a few inches to the deck with a resounding CLANG, almost as if in reply to Rocket's 'heavy metal' comment. "Music does not concern me. Until my friend is liberated, I do not concern myself with entertainment. My only concern is planning our operation. Tell me what you require of me, what you know of where she is being held. The Skrulls, you say? No great surprise. And yes, she is impressive. But I would do the same for any of my comrades. Few on Earth have the potential to leave the planet, let alone to search the cosmos. And so I do what they cannot."

The battle plan was something he wished to know, of course, but if needs be, he could adapt. The chances of learning enough information to make informed tactical decisions was low, so he had to defer to their judgement, at least until he had cause to doubt their strategic capabilities. Sadly, he couldn't see the ship's chronometer from where he was sat, so had no idea how long that would take.

[Super Chick]

_____________________________________________

Quill was a real piece of work; A terribly childish, obnoxious piece of hastily created paper mache that was somehow charming enough to garner too much attention from females of all kinds and egotistical enough to continuously get them all into trouble. That wasn't to say he didn't have a good side - even the worst art can be viewed from an alternate perspective and deemed adequate - but it was to say that if not for her ability to see past his many flaws, Gamora would not count herself among this cruising spaceship of misfits. Rocket was feral and wild. Groot was indescribably noble. Drax was predictable and blunt. All of these, she could appreciate. Quill was an entirely different animal; he was erratic, irresponsible, hasty, tactless and tasteless, especially where it concerned his music. However, he was also intriguing and at times oddly beguiling. And his ofttimes charitable causes would catch her off her guard. It was most likely this strange dichotomy of personality that both attracted and repulsed Gamora and kept her from leaving her chosen family of Guardians. Starlord was somehow the glue that held them all together.

Gamora smirked when Thor chastised him for the use of a familiar name. His casual approach seemed to off-putting to the God of Thunder. She couldn't imagine why. The Asgardian appeared to expect less from a raccoon since he did not admonish Rocket, which also amused Gamora. She chose to hide this, however, in the interest of not picking a fight among a bridge full of overblown male egos.

Quill's music came on before through the speakers before Gamora spoke. She grimaced at the familiar tune despite actually liking it. It was decent battle music, she supposed, but damn if she didn't wish Quill would make a trip back to Earth for some new music. Gamora attempted to focus on their guest rather than the music.

"I'm Gamora," she said by way of introduction without apology. Thor was, after all, an uninvited guest on their ship. "Rocket's the one with a plan and Quill's the one with bad music." The green warrior looked accusingly at Thor and reminded him he never exactly introduced himself either. "And you're apparently a god from some other planet on a tree who carries a hammer and boards other people's ships uninvited while demanding they introduce themselves."

Gamora pressed off the wall nonchalantly to look out the bridge's "windshield". She held onto the back of the captain's seat and bent down slightly. "It looks like we're getting close to 'liberating your friend'. You might want to strap in. Rarely does Quill provide a soft entrance." After saying so, Gamora took her own advice and belted herself into one of the chairs.

[Jaymi]

All the good love when we're all alone,
Keep it up girl!
Yeah, you turn me on.
--------------------

"I'm telling you, Rocky, she's just blonde. I think you're thinking of like, Songbird or something. Mockingbird's older. She's the Avenger lady. Besides, she's married or something. This is strictly for the glory, the stories, the booze, and the good deeds." Quill shook his head. He couldn't believe everyone just thought he was in this to get into the lady's pants. He knew how to do a good deed.

There really wasn't even an award for this. I mean, attacking the Skrull homeworld meant they'd probably find some loot, so it's not like they were going to come out of this empty handed. Probably. Honestly, though, he just didn't like the thought of an Earther stranded in space because, like Thor said, her people couldn't exactly come help her. So that's where he came in. They were the Guardians of the Galaxy after all. That wasn't just a fancy title. It came with responsibilities.

He glanced back at Thor as Gamora admonished him, grinning a bit. The most dangerous woman in the galaxy had his back, so he didn't need to worry too much about defending himself to the Norse man. It was good to have friends, and he knew he could trust these people. They were family, after all, and that came with all the bickering and fighting of a real family.

He checked the readouts K.I.T.T. was pumping out and frowned a bit. Gamora was right about one thing. This wasn't going to be gentle. The Skrulls were well defended and they had to punch their way through. Not that he couldn't handle that. "Okay folks, Gamora's right. Everyone sit down and buckle up. This is going to be fun. Rocket, give me some pulse bombs. Hey, Thor, think you can manage some cloud cover? Also, you're right, I didn't introduce myself. You can call me Star-Lord."

--------------------

I'm hooked on a feelin'!

[Grandore]

Rocket rolled his eyes as Quill said he thinks he's thinking of Songbird.

"Oh whatever! Songbird, Mockingbird, Vulture, Falcon, same difference!"

Rocket said dismissing the entire topic altogether.

"Besides Quill since when did you need a reason for the booze anyway?! It's no secret that we all know you keep a well stocked fridge ya know!"

He said giving Quill an amusing smirk. Rocket turned to Thor who spoke fairly harshly to Quill... Even saying that Groot is the only one who introduced himself.

"Actually I doubt he introduced himself... I am Groot is the only thing he says... It's his language to put it as simply as we can..."

Groot gave Rocket a dirty look before he turned to Thor.

"I am Groot!"

Translation: I am Groot!

Rocket said before Gamora introduced the team. He smiled.

"Yes I am Rocket Raccoon... The one who has a PHD in blowing shit up!"

Rocket said with a cheesy smile that would be enough to make anyone face palm in embarrassment. Rocket looked at the K.I.T.T. with Quill who said they are almost there.

"Alright boys and girls! Strap on your ass kicking boots! We're almost there!"

Rocket said before he went back to his monitor and after pressing several buttons the ship's weapons can be heard shifting around.

"One Brown Pants Special coming up!"

Rocket said with a childish giggle. Groot sighed walking over and strapping himself into his seat shaking his head.

"I am Groot...

Translation: Real mature Rocket....

[aquarius]

At Gamora's admonishment, Thor paused visibly, taking a moment to work out what she was referring to, before catching up with the situation and continuing as if nothing abnormal had happened. "My apologies, mistress Gamora. It was not my intention to demand your names, merely to show respect for the one I had been given so far. And Groot does not need to introduce himself specifically, as I think your tiny rat man knows. Is he normally so... abrasive? As long as his skill with a weapon matches the fire in his tongue, I shall do my best to tolerate such lack of manners.

As to my own, in entering your craft without permission, I offer my apologies once more. I thought there was an ailing human aboard, and the chances of two humans being so far from Earth are tiny, let alone of me meeting the second."

|At the request for cloud cover, Thor rose from his seat, moving to the front of the craft where he could see ahead of them much more easily; line of sight being a big help in such manipulations. As an afterthought, he held out his hand behind him, Mjolnir arcing through the air, straight into his grasp, with Thor smiling confidently.

"Tell me when you want it, and with or without indiscriminate lightning hitting everything that isn't us? I am not subtle, but it will at least conceal our approach."