Banner took a look at the Blood Eagle and the aliens of various appearances inside, and couldn't help rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The diversity of alien physiology fascinated the scientist within him - some had chitinous exoskeletons, others bore reptilian scales, and a few possessed translucent skin that revealed intricate circulatory systems beneath.
He was a little curious about the differences in the structure of these aliens from humans, but he also knew that now was not the time to ask such questions. The urgency of their mission pressed against his scientific curiosity like a weight.
Everyone had gathered, and Natasha successfully contacted Thor after he finished forging the axe. She transmitted her location coordinates to him through the communicator, her fingers dancing across the holographic interface with practiced precision.
Soon, a brilliant column of colorful divine light - the Bifrost - fell from the sky and landed on the planet's surface with thunderous impact. The rainbow bridge's energy crackled and dispersed, leaving scorch marks on the alien terrain. Yondu immediately dispatched a spaceship to pick up the new arrivals, his fin glowing as he whistled commands to his crew.
Not long after, Thor returned alongside Captain Marvel and Drax. The God of Thunder's presence seemed to electrify the air around him, literal sparks of lightning dancing between his fingers.
Rocket immediately jumped down from his perch, his enhanced raccoon eyes widening as he looked at the magnificent axe in Thor's hand. "Whoa! Is this a weapon made by dwarves? Look at that craftsmanship! The rune work alone must have taken-"
"Yes! Stormbreaker! Forged to kill Thanos!" Thor interrupted, his voice booming with newfound confidence.
Thor was brimming with confidence at this moment, the surging power of thunder coursing through his body like liquid lightning. Every muscle fiber seemed to hum with divine energy, and his eyes occasionally flickered with electric blue intensity.
His strength had reached a new peak, transcending even his previous limits, and now he feared no one! The loss of Mjolnir had taught him that his power came from within, not from his hammer. If Thanos dared to appear before him, he would cleave the Mad Titan's head from his shoulders with Stormbreaker's enchanted blade!
Wanda glanced at Captain Carol who stood beside Thor, her red eyes assessing the cosmic-powered hero when she heard this boastful declaration.
Captain Marvel nodded slightly at her, a gesture of acknowledgment that Thor had indeed surpassed her in raw power. She had fought alongside the Asgardian before and could sense the dramatic shift in his energy signature. She knew without engaging in combat that she could not defeat the current Thor - the mystical energies radiating from Stormbreaker were unlike anything she had encountered.
Tony clapped his hands together sharply, the sound echoing through the ship's corridors. "Okay! Thor is back and fully charged! We can set off now! The Nova Corps is almost reaching Ego's position. We're already running behind schedule, so we need to accelerate our timeline!"
Yondu waved his hand dismissively, his weathered face set in determination. "Full speed ahead, boys! Rush to the battlefield as fast as these engines can take us! Move! Move! Move!" His whistle echoed through the ship's communication system.
The tail flames erupting from the Blood Eagle's massive engines suddenly expanded dramatically, bathing the surrounding space in brilliant blue-white light, then the ship vanished into hyperspace, beginning its series of calculated interstellar jumps toward their destination.
Taking advantage of this travel time, Tony quickly briefed Thor and Captain Marvel about the intricate battle plan they had previously formulated during their strategic meetings.
Thor nodded enthusiastically, though his attention seemed to wander to Stormbreaker's gleaming edge. "Understood! So I charge in fearlessly and plant the bomb directly on Ego's face. If the explosion doesn't finish him, I'll hack him apart with my axe? Sounds like a perfect plan to me!"
Seeing that Thor had obviously missed the nuanced details he had carefully explained, Tony couldn't help but tilt his head in exasperation, his expression a mixture of fondness and helplessness.
"Uh... well, that's the general idea! Just remember to be extremely careful, Thor. This bomb contains enough explosive power to crack a moon! Remember to get clear of the blast radius before detonation!"
Thor nodded confidently, then turned his attention to Star-Lord with genuine curiosity. "Hey there! Your name is Quill, correct? Your celestial light powers? Are they still accessible to you?"
Star-Lord shook his head sadly, his expression darkening with disappointment. "No! I don't feel anything coursing through me! Just like before the revelation, I feel completely ordinary, like any other human being!"
"After Ego's death, your inherited power also dissipated completely, which indicates that you are still fundamentally human in nature. You were simply able to channel and manipulate the cosmic energy contained within Ego's planetary body! You never possessed your own independent source of celestial energy!" Wanda explained, her understanding of mystical energies providing insight into Star-Lord's condition.
Listening to Wanda's analytical words, Star-Lord fell into deep contemplation, his mind racing with possibilities.
"An independent source of energy..." he murmured, the concept both tantalizing and elusive.
But before he could pursue this line of thought further, the spacecraft's systems announced the beginning of their next interstellar jump, forcing him to suppress his philosophical musings for the moment.
If given the opportunity, he would certainly prefer to possess extraordinary abilities like those displayed by heroes on the sky screen broadcasts, enabling him to better confront future enemies and challenges! For example, the inevitable confrontation with Thanos!
There were also other potential adversaries looming in their future, such as the technologically advanced and prideful Sovereign race.
It had been revealed through the Sky Screen's prophetic broadcasts that the Sovereigns possessed an extremely arrogant and superiority-driven culture, where any perceived disrespect toward their golden perfection was regarded as unforgivable blasphemy. Rocket's seemingly minor theft of a few Anulax batteries had prompted them to dispatch an entire fleet of remote-controlled ships for pursuit and destruction.
After the Guardians had successfully escaped that initial encounter, the Sovereigns had gone directly to Yondu's Ravager faction and offered the substantial bounty of one million units for their capture.
Even when the chase had led them to the very edges of Ego's planetary body, the golden warriors had maintained their relentless pursuit, ultimately resulting in catastrophic losses for Yondu's entire Ravager fleet.
Since failure depicted on the sky screen typically translated to failure in their reality, Star-Lord remained certain that the Sovereigns would never abandon their vendetta! Perhaps they had already dispatched tracking teams to investigate their current whereabouts and movements.
Star-Lord's assessment proved accurate, but what he couldn't have anticipated was that the Sovereign's motivation for hunting him stemmed not from their defeat shown on the Sky Screen, but from direct orders issued by the High Evolutionary - a being whose existence remained completely unknown to him at this time.
Regardless of the underlying motives driving their pursuit, the ultimate result remained unchanged: he would perpetually remain an enemy of the entire Sovereign civilization. However, the true scope of his enemies far exceeded his current imagination.
Long-distance interstellar travel proved incredibly tedious and monotonous. The Earth-based Avengers initially found the experience of hyperspace jumps fascinating and novel, but gradually began to feel restless and bored as the hours stretched on.
Since they chose not to attempt hundreds of consecutive jumps in a single breath like some desperate travelers, their journey required significantly longer than the timeframe depicted on the sky screen to reach Ego's massive planetary body.
When they finally arrived at their destination, the Nova Corps fleet had already reached the battlefield and commenced their assault against the living planet.
The sight that greeted them was both magnificent and terrifying: countless massive tentacles extended from the planet's surface, reaching far into the cold vacuum of space like the arms of some cosmic leviathan. These impossibly thick appendages measured hundreds of meters in width and undulated with predatory grace.
The sleek warships of the Nova Corps maintained constant bombardment of these planetary extensions, their concentrated energy beams creating brilliant light shows as they struck their targets, causing the organic tentacles to collapse and disintegrate under the sustained assault.
However, new tentacles formed with alarming speed to replace the destroyed ones, launching counterattacks against the Nova ships, and both sides found themselves locked in an intense battle of attrition.
Star-Lord managed to establish communication with Corpsman Rhomann Dey, the Nova Corps commander who had miraculously survived the destruction that should have claimed his life aboard the Dark Aster during Ronan's assault.
The Nova Corps fighters who had formed the living barrier against the Dark Aster hadn't been completely annihilated as the sky screen had depicted, allowing Xandar to mobilize and dispatch such a substantial fleet to engage Ego in battle.
"Dey! What's your current tactical assessment?" Star-Lord called through the communication array.
"Quill? You actually made it here!" Dey's voice carried genuine surprise and relief. Their arrival was ahead of the Nova Corps' projected timeline.
His tone quickly shifted to professional concern: "The situation is far from optimal! This ancient entity possesses incredible defensive capabilities! Our concentrated firepower cannot penetrate his multilayered defenses!"
"I can see that clearly!" Star-Lord confirmed grimly.
Star-Lord observed as the Nova Corps' coordinated attacks occasionally managed to slip through gaps between the writhing tentacles, only to be completely neutralized by the shimmering energy barrier surrounding Ego's atmosphere.
"We desperately need significantly more firepower! But first, you must find a way to avoid those defensive tentacles! Their structural integrity is remarkably resilient. Even after our energy beams manage to breach the tentacles' outer layers, the remaining destructive power cannot penetrate that protective shield!" Dey reported, frustration evident in his tactical analysis.
"Whoa! This battle is incredibly intense!" Tony observed the massive conflict between the Nova Corps and Ego with tactical appreciation, then decided to implement their previously formulated strategy.
"Let's move out, everyone! Time to execute our plan!"
With his commanding order, Star-Lord returned to the Milano and piloted the beloved spacecraft away from the Blood Eagle, accompanied by Rocket and the other Guardians.
Tony still wore his Mark Destroyer II armor, the pinnacle of his engineering achievements. Even after considerable time had passed, this particular suit remained the most powerful and versatile armor in Tony's extensive collection.
However, he had brought along the Mark 17 as a tactical backup option, understanding that redundancy could mean the difference between success and catastrophic failure.
Before the spacecraft had reached their destination, Wanda had attempted to apply her mystical enchantments to enhance the armor's capabilities.
But the enchantment process proved far more complex and challenging than she had initially anticipated, with progress moving at a frustratingly slow pace.
The primary obstacle stemmed from the fact that the Mark 17 featured a specialized groove designed for housing Infinity Stones. The challenge of learning to control and channel the devastating power of the Power Stone without causing fatal harm to the armor's user represented Wanda's greatest technical and mystical challenge.
Since Tony lacked sufficient time to conduct proper research into safely harnessing the Power Stone's cosmic energies, he could only rely entirely on Wanda's magical expertise and intuitive understanding.
Perhaps when circumstances permitted in the future, he would dedicate time to studying methods for controlling the Stone's power through technological means, but the present crisis demanded immediate action over careful preparation.
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