After Tony and Natasha successfully flew through the compromised barrier and penetrated Ego's defensive perimeter, Captain Marvel immediately withdrew her cosmic energy and ceased her struggle against the planetary entity's closing mechanisms, allowing the protective barrier to seal itself shut behind them with a thunderous resonance that echoed across the battlefield.
Natasha's voice carried clearly through the cosmic environment as she flew alongside Tony: "What should my next tactical objective be?"
Tony responded with calm tactical precision, his voice steady despite the chaos surrounding them: "Locate the passage that the Rainbow Bridge created when it pierced through Ego's defenses! You must reach the core area as quickly as possible and locate Ego's consciousness center!"
"I'll provide cover and support for Quill and his team! We absolutely cannot allow him to be captured by Ego! If that happens, our entire mission will be compromised and we'll face catastrophic consequences!"
Natasha nodded with grim determination, swung her enchanted Mjolnir replica to generate momentum, and headed directly toward the crystallized tunnel entrance, while Tony accelerated toward the Milano, which was currently being pursued relentlessly by multiple massive tentacles.
At this critical moment, Star-Lord maintained control of the Milano's flight systems while Rocket operated the spacecraft's weapons array with expert precision, launching devastating attacks against Ego's organic appendages with every weapon system at their disposal.
Tony's advanced propulsion systems allowed him to quickly overtake the fleeing spacecraft, and after completely destroying a pursuing tentacle with a concentrated laser blast, he performed a precise landing maneuver on top of the Milano's hull.
"Hey there, Quill! What exactly is your current plan? This definitely isn't following our previously agreed-upon strategy!"
Star-Lord responded with barely contained fury, his voice thick with emotional pain: "That monster killed my mother! I must have my revenge against him!"
Tony felt no surprise at Star-Lord's intense anger and desire for vengeance. After all, he had experienced similar overwhelming rage when he discovered that Bucky had been responsible for his parents' deaths under Winter Soldier programming.
He asked with measured calm, trying to understand Star-Lord's intentions: "How exactly do you plan to achieve that revenge?"
"I'm going to attempt to master and control Ego's celestial power! And then I'm going to use that very same power to completely destroy him!"
"Then you'd better accelerate your timeline significantly! Because I have no way of knowing when Thor and the others will successfully locate Ego's consciousness core and complete their part of the mission!"
After delivering this urgent warning, Tony departed from the Milano's surface, flew beneath the spacecraft and intercepted a massive tentacle that had erupted from below, intent on crushing the ship and its occupants.
Even without requiring a full charging cycle, the devastating energy of his repulsor beam's destruction mode still allowed Tony to deal with these smaller tentacles with remarkable ease and efficiency.
Tony's advanced targeting systems could precisely interrupt the energy transmission flowing through Ego's organic tentacles, severing the planetary entity's control over them and causing the tips of the appendages to crumble into harmless debris, eliminating their threat potential.
Star-Lord expertly maneuvered around the constantly appearing tentacles that emerged from every conceivable angle, finally managing to bring his spacecraft close enough to Ego's surface for ground operations. He decisively transferred flight control to Rocket and prepared for immediate deployment.
After using his suit's jet propulsion system to safely reach the planet's surface, he placed his hands directly against the alien ground and began attempting to sense and connect with the celestial light energy within the planetary core, using the meditation techniques that Yondu had taught him during their journey to this location.
Within moments, he began to experience success - brilliant blue-white energy manifested around his hands, and his face illuminated with pure joy and triumph.
"Outstanding! Yeah! You've actually succeeded! But this level of power isn't nearly sufficient! I strongly advise you to accelerate your progress!"
Tony maintained his position near Star-Lord, continuously engaging and destroying the attacking tentacles that threatened his vulnerable teammate's concentration.
At this crucial moment, a small hill formation near their position began to rise and reshape itself, and then a humanoid figure materialized from the living rock - it was Ego himself, manifesting a physical avatar.
He spread his arms in a gesture of false benevolence and spoke directly to Star-Lord: "Peter! Why are you choosing this path of destruction? Can't you see the wisdom in joining me instead of fighting against your own heritage?"
Star-Lord responded with a cold, bitter smile, completely ignoring Ego's manipulative words and continuing to focus intensely on sensing and drawing forth the celestial light energy. Tony assessed both figures, then looked directly at Ego with undisguised contempt.
"It appears quite obvious that he has absolutely no intention of engaging in conversation with you, so I suggest you shut your mouth permanently!"
Without hesitation, Tony unleashed the multi-energy beam array that had been charging and building power for an extended period, sweeping the concentrated destruction across Ego's current position. Ego's humanoid form, which had not yet achieved full materialization and solidification, was immediately severed into multiple disconnected sections.
However, within mere seconds, Ego's avatar had completely regenerated and restored itself to perfect condition.
Tony experienced no surprise at this rapid recovery. He had already understood that conventional attacks would not cause lasting damage to Ego's consciousness. His primary objective was simply to buy precious time for Star-Lord to master his inherited abilities.
These tactical calculations flashed through Tony's analytical mind, and he immediately released a barrage of micro-missiles directed at Ego's position, completely obliterating the humanoid form in a spectacular explosion.
But almost instantly, another identical body materialized at a nearby location. This time, Ego dispensed entirely with verbal manipulation and diplomacy. He raised his hand, which consisted entirely of flowing energy lines and geometric patterns, and a massive tentacle suddenly erupted from the ground beneath them, striking Tony with tremendous force and sending him flying through the air.
Tony stabilized his flight trajectory and fired a concentrated beam of destructive energy at the attacking tentacle, disintegrating it once again into harmless fragments.
Ego's expression darkened with frustrated anger. Tony's combat effectiveness and tactical capabilities demanded his respect and attention, but the ancient entity refused to allow these obstacles to deter him. Multiple additional tentacles surged toward both Tony's airborne position and Star-Lord, who remained in his meditative crouch on the ground.
Tony continued his relentless assault against these organic weapons while shouting urgent encouragement: "Are you still not finished with the power absorption? There are increasingly more of these damned tentacles appearing!"
A brilliant flash of blue and white celestial light flickered within Star-Lord's eyes, then he rose to his feet with a primal roar of triumph and charged directly toward Ego's avatar with newfound power coursing through his body.
"YEAH!!!" Rocket, who was skillfully maneuvering the Milano to avoid the continuing barrage of attacks, shouted with pure excitement when he witnessed Star-Lord's successful power manifestation.
Tony couldn't contain his amazement: "Incredible! You actually managed to achieve it!"
Star-Lord delivered a devastating punch directly to Ego's face with his celestially-enhanced strength, sending the avatar flying backward with tremendous impact.
Tony coordinated his attack perfectly, firing a destruction beam at precisely the right moment, opening a massive hole completely through Ego's chest cavity.
While this fierce surface battle continued to rage above them, Wanda and Thor conducted systematic searches throughout the underground core region but discovered no other suspicious traces or evidence of the consciousness center's location, forcing them to return to the mysterious stone barrier they had discovered earlier.
At this critical juncture, Captain Marvel and Natasha successfully reached the core area through the crystallized tunnel and quickly located Thor and the others who had arrived ahead of them.
However, Ego's cosmic consciousness also detected their arrival and recognized the immediate threat they represented to his existence, causing him to become increasingly desperate and impatient.
The humanoid avatar on the surface delivered a powerful counterpunch to Star-Lord as he charged forward again, while simultaneously summoning two additional massive tentacles to attack Tony's position and the Milano respectively. Then Ego forced himself to remain calm and began directing his attention toward dealing with the four heroes who had penetrated his most vulnerable core regions.
Observing the numerous tentacles now protruding from the stone barrier, Natasha frowned with concern: "It's obvious we need to accelerate our timeline! Ego has definitely discovered our presence and location!"
The fact that Ego had relocated his consciousness core and concealed it behind such a formidable stone barrier meant that their strategy of achieving a quick breakthrough had failed completely. The barrier was extraordinarily thick and dense, and even Thor's lightning-enhanced strength could not penetrate deeply enough into its structure.
The situation would be manageable if Ego simply remained passive, but given the dozens of aggressive tentacles now surrounding their position, Thor understood that Ego would never simply wait for his own destruction.
"Understood! Carol, provide assistance! Wanda, retrieve the weapon!" Lightning flashed brilliantly in Thor's eyes as Stormbreaker struck the stone barrier with the full force of Asgardian might.
Captain Marvel immediately joined the assault, combining her cosmic energy with Thor's divine power, while Wanda drew a perfect circle in the air to open a dimensional portal. Scott, who had been waiting anxiously on the other side, appeared in the gateway's opening.
Seeing the portal manifestation, Scott immediately secured the black hole bomb and prepared to transport it through the dimensional gateway.
However, Ego also detected the portal's appearance through his omnipresent awareness. He manifested a grotesque face on the stone wall nearby, then released a concentrated wave of destructive energy from his mouth.
Wanda was forced to close the portal immediately to prevent the energy wave from threatening Scott and everyone aboard the Blood Eagle on the other side of the dimensional gateway.
She erected a glowing red protective barrier to resist and absorb the incoming energy wave. Recognizing the immediate threat, Natasha hurled her enchanted Mjolnir with perfect accuracy, striking Ego's manifested face with tremendous force.
A surge of powerful lightning energy erupted from the impact, temporarily dispersing and defeating the avatar's form.
She raised her hand and recalled the mystical hammer through its enchantment, and Wanda immediately reopened the dimensional portal.
Scott, who had been wondering why Wanda had suddenly closed the gateway, leaped through the portal the moment it reappeared and activated his suit's shrinking capabilities the instant he crossed the dimensional threshold.
Then, utilizing the new wing attachments that had been added to his Ant-Man suit, he began flying directly toward Ego's consciousness core at maximum speed.
He had specifically requested that Dr. Pym incorporate these flight capabilities after his near-fatal fall during their previous encounter with elemental forces. The specialized wings were proving invaluable in the current crisis.
At this crucial moment, Thor and Captain Marvel had successfully demolished a significant portion of the stone barrier, revealing the metallic protective shell that housed Ego's actual consciousness core. Both heroes were now coordinating their attacks against the advanced metal casing that represented the final obstacle to their objective.