"Captain, confirmation received."
One of Yondu's Ravagers stood before him, eyes glued to the flickering display screen. "The last recorded position of Quill's ship is the planet Berhert."
"They've been there for some time. The tracker we planted is giving a precise location."
Yondu nodded slowly. His expression was complicated… anger, regret, and something unspoken swirling beneath his blue skin.
"Then speed it up." He growled.
"That stubborn little brat thinks he can betray me? He's got another thing comin'. I'll teach him what happens when you cross Yondu Udonta."
By the time Yondu's ship arrived over Berhert, night had fallen across the rugged landscape. Instead of landing directly atop the Milano's signal, he ordered the ship down in a barren clearing, some distance away.
He wasn't about to announce his arrival.
Star-Lord and his group were strong and very slippery. Show up with a full Ravager force and they'd scatter like startled animals, leaving Yondu with nothing but empty forests and wasted fuel.
What Yondu didn't know, however, was that Peter Quill and the others were nowhere near Berhert anymore.
They had already left with Ego. Only Rocket remained busy with repairs and Nebula, still bound and held prisoner on the Milano.
Rocket, a survivor of half a galaxy's worth of back alleys and hostile worlds, never stayed anywhere without precautions.
On an unfamiliar planet, he had rigged the entire perimeter with traps, alarms, and all sorts of creative mayhem.
So when Yondu's Ravagers tried to flank the crash site in tight little hunting squads…
Rocket already knew.
The moment they stepped into his trap field, the forest lit up with chaos, explosions, electrified snares, gravity nets, collapsing pits.
Screams echoed between the trees as Ravagers were zapped, flung, or otherwise humiliated by Rocket's ingenuity.
Group after group fell, cursing the tiny monster who was picking them apart.
Realizing the element of surprise was gone and furious at the mounting casualties, the Ravagers abandoned stealth.
Yondu's main force charged straight into the forest, swearing vengeance on the 'mangy raccoon' who had turned the woods into a circus.
After a fierce chase, Rocket was finally cornered.
Skill and gadgets could only do so much. Yondu raised a finger, and with a whistle, his crimson Yaka arrow streaked through the trees. Rocket dodged and scrambled, but the arrow danced faster.
One whistle later, Rocket was down.
When Yondu's men dragged him back to the clearing, they expected to find Star-Lord's team waiting there.
Instead, all they saw was the wrecked Milano… Rocket tied up… and Nebula still chained.
Rage swept through the Ravagers.
Some of them rounded on Rocket immediately. "That little traitor left this fleabag to mock us!"
"Kill him! Let Quill come back to collect the pieces!"
"No one touches him." But Yondu stepped in.
The Ravagers were in shock, and others in anger.
This wasn't the first time they'd noticed it. Yondu's 'softness' toward Peter Quill. His refusal to kill him and his long leash.
They had tolerated it for years, grumbling privately.
But now, after losing men to Rocket's traps and finding no Star-Lord here at all, their patience snapped.
"He betrayed you, Yondu!" One Ravager spat.
"He stabbed us in the back again!"
"Why protect him? Why protect them?"
Yondu didn't answer immediately. Memories flickered in his eyes of a scrawny Terran kid he'd raised, yelled at, protected, fought with, and cared for far more than he ever admitted.
"Peter Quill ain't just some crew member to me," Yondu finally said. "He's my boy. Rebellious, stupid, mouthy… but my boy all the same."
That was the breaking point.
In Ravager law, loyalty came first. Showing favoritism especially to someone they saw as an outsider was unforgivable.
And Yondu's words confirmed what many had feared… the captain had gone soft.
Resentment that had simmered for years now erupted into open revolt.
After suffering heavy losses from Rocket's traps, the crew began to fracture. Two factions formed instantly…
One side believed Yondu had grown soft and weak, coddling Star-Lord and protecting him far beyond what Ravager law allowed.
They wanted a new leader… someone ruthless, someone who wouldn't hesitate.
The other side stood loyal, insisting Yondu had earned their respect a hundred times over. Whatever his decision, they would follow him.
The standoff escalated fast… shoving, shouting, drawn weapons. Ravagers squared off against their own brothers.
And in the middle of that storm stood Yondu with the cold certainty of a captain betrayed.
He made his choice.
"You turn your guns on me…" He said quietly, raising his hand, "…then you ain't my crew."
One sharp whistle split the air. Yondu's Arrow ignited in a streak of red light~
BOOM!
A gunshot thundered across the forest.
Yondu's arrow faltered midair and his body stiffened.
Slowly… very slowly… he fell to his knees, then collapsed face-first into the dirt.
The Ravagers froze where they stood shock paralyzing them. Their captain… Yondu Udonta, the man they feared and followed for decades, lay unmoving.
Footsteps approached.
A sleek figure stepped out from behind the trees, her blaster still glowing from the shot. Nebula. She had been released from her restraints the moment the internal fighting began and now her timing paid off perfectly..
"Hello, boys," She said coolly and then struck.
Her attack hit Rocket, sending him crashing to the ground, out cold.
Nebula ate a fruit she was holding and then spat it out. "It's not ripe!"
Nebula observed the shaken Ravagers.
"Ravager rules are simple," She said flatly. "Whoever has the biggest fist, wins. Whoever wins… leads. So tell me~"
She aimed her weapon at the group. "Who's in charge now?"
For a brief moment, the forest held its breath. Nebula stood ready to claim command, her eyes burning with the cold fury of someone who had spent her whole life fighting to stand above others.
"Really now?"
The single word spread through the clearing. The Ravagers turned sharply, confusion giving way to alarm.
Behind them, the rippling distortion of a space-portal closed, leaving two figures standing in the night. A man and a woman.
The man's presence was quiet but immense.
Soren Macaluso.
Freyja stood at his side, still disoriented from the sudden jump.
Soren, however, saw everything at once. His perception swept across the battlefield in an instant… the unconscious Rocket, his body still twitching with lingering electricity from Nebula's earlier attack… the Ravagers… and Yondu, barely alive, bleeding into the forest floor.
Soren wasn't particularly fond of Rocket personally.
But the Guardians were doing everything they could to help him find Thor… and they had even uncovered information about the Hulk for him.
Seeing Rocket electrocuted and Yondu injured.
A spark of heat flashed in Soren's eyes.
He had tracked Yondu hoping to learn Ego's location,Ego, the one who could lead him to his next answers. But finding him like this, struck down in the dirt… by someone who had used the Guardians' trust for her own escape…
Was unacceptable.
The Ravagers instinctively stepped back. They had all seen the space-gate open behind Soren.
Anyone who could tear through the fabric of reality and walk out of a portal in the middle of the night was not someone to take lightly.
They gave Soren space without needing to be told.
"…" And Nebula realized she was no longer the most dangerous person in the clearing.