"Apologies, Your Majesty, but we really must be going."
Quill hurriedly cut in, then shot everyone a meaningful look before turning to leave.
Drax grabbed Rocket by the collar and practically dragged him out as well. Better to run before the Sovereign decided to open fire.
The group successfully boarded the ship. Rocket immediately powered everything up and launched the vessel the instant the flight route was set.
Only after entering jump space did he finally relax.
Once the ship stabilized in hyperspace, everyone settled into their own activities.
"Hey, buddy, you stole batteries too?"
Rocket noticed Tony studying a Harbulary battery and immediately grinned.
Then he proudly pulled out the ones he'd stolen himself. The two even shared a perfectly synchronized high-five.
"JARVIS, analyze the molecular structure inside."
Tony casually placed the battery on the table. His nanotech helmet separated from the armor and hovered before it, glowing lights scanning continuously.
"What the queen said about my father… it sounded like she knew something."
Quill sat at the table holding a cup of coffee.
Actual Earth coffee.
Before leaving Earth, they'd gone on a massive shopping spree—and naturally, Nick Fury had footed the bill.
Gamora walked past him while dragging along Nebula, whose wrists were still cuffed.
"Don't think too much about it. She was probably just talking nonsense."
Meanwhile, Gwen, Wanda, and Skye stood at the rear of the ship, gazing through the glass at the flowing river of stars outside.
Technically, there wasn't much to see. While in jump space, all they could observe were endless streams of streaking lights.
Even so, the three girls watched with endless fascination.
It was their first time traveling aboard a spaceship. Everything felt new and exciting.
Karl, on the other hand, remained the exact same lazy bum as always. He found a sofa and sprawled across it comfortably.
"Guys, we've got ships coming up behind us."
Rocket suddenly warned everyone.
At the same moment, the holographic display above the central table projected the situation outside.
"What the hell?! What can chase us inside jump space?!"
Quill stared in disbelief.
Once a ship entered hyperspace, it essentially traveled within a subspace dimension where time and space operated independently. In simple terms, they were currently flying through a private dimensional corridor.
So what the hell could possibly be tailing them?
They got their answer quickly.
A golden energy blast slammed directly into Quill's ship.
The vessel was violently forced out of jump space and thrown into an unfamiliar star system.
"It's Sovereign ships! Those bastards can actually invade subspace?!"
Rocket stared in horror at the swarm of ships behind them.
The vessels were entirely golden, resembling an enormous swarm of mechanical hornets.
And there were no Sovereign pilots aboard.
These were unmanned fighters, remotely controlled from a Sovereign command center back on their homeworld.
"Motherf—!"
Quill instantly transformed into Nick Fury.
He rushed into the co-pilot seat beside Rocket, and the two began weaving the ship through dense barrages of energy fire.
"This won't work forever. We need to fight back!"
Rocket shouted while frantically piloting.
The problem wasn't their firepower.
It was the sheer number of enemy ships.
Tony immediately equipped his armor.
His latest suit had already been upgraded for long-term space survival. Staying alive in vacuum for an entire month was no issue anymore.
"Open the hatch. I'm going out there."
As Tony spoke, eight floating cannons deployed from behind him.
His nanotech armor transformed continuously—massive thrusters, plasma sword hilts extending from his legs, and high-output energy cannons forming over both arms.
At this point, Tony looked less like Iron Man and more like a Gundam.
"Portable space suits are in the rear hatch. Drax will show you how they work!"
Quill shouted over his shoulder while still operating the ship's weapons nonstop.
Karl headed toward the rear hatch alongside Tony.
Drax was already waiting there with a blaster rifle in hand.
Wanda and Skye were there too, already suited up.
"What are you two doing here? Go back inside."
The moment Karl saw them, he immediately tried sending them away.
Especially Skye.
Her vibration powers were basically useless in vacuum.
Everyone knew vibrations required a medium to travel through. In the vacuum of space, there was no medium—meaning her powers would be nearly ineffective.
As for Gwen, she hadn't followed because she understood perfectly well that she'd be useless in space. No surfaces for web-swinging. No flight capabilities. Going outside would only create problems.
"Skye goes back. I'm coming with you."
Wanda's tone was firm.
Chaos Magic didn't care about space or vacuum. Just like the Phoenix Force, it remained one of the strongest powers in existence no matter the environment.
Skye understood her own limitations. Though unwilling, she still removed her portable suit module and attached it onto Karl's back.
The portable suit was simply a fist-sized magnetic device.
Once attached to someone's back, it generated an invisible protective field around the body, isolating them from vacuum and freezing temperatures while supplying oxygen and other life-support necessities.
"Fine. Wanda comes with us. Skye, go help Quill. This ship should have more gun turrets."
Karl already knew Quill's ship had multiple weapon stations.
Right now, Gamora and Groot were already operating some of them.
After securing their safety tethers, Karl, Wanda, Tony, and Drax opened the hatch and launched out into space.
Thanks to the tether cables, they didn't drift aimlessly.
And the counterattack began immediately.
Karl held Terminus Est and continuously pulled the trigger.
Empowered by Bahamut's strength, the gun's firepower multiplied several times over. Every shot pierced through multiple enemy fighters at once.
Tony released his floating cannons, letting them fire autonomously while his arm-mounted energy cannons unleashed explosions large enough to destroy clusters of nearby ships.
Drax's approach was much simpler.
Like Karl, he just kept shooting nonstop.
As for Wanda…
She was even simpler.
With casual waves of her hand, scarlet Chaos Magic swept across space like the apocalypse itself, annihilating entire swaths of Sovereign fighters.
Among the four of them, Wanda's destructive capability was by far the most terrifying.
But no matter how powerful they were, four people could only do so much.
A tiger still couldn't defeat a pack of wolves forever.
The swarm ships were simply too numerous.
And soon, enemy fighters appeared not only behind them, but ahead of them as well.
Countless ships filled the starfield in every direction.
"Damn it!! Did we assassinate the Sovereign Queen or something?! Did these lunatics send their entire planet's fleet after us over a few batteries?! I'll give the damn things back, okay?!"
Rocket's fur stood on end as he stared at the endless sea of ships.
He looked completely puffed up in terror.
For the first time in a long while, he genuinely felt death closing in around them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~