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[b]|| Base 6B, Planet Roosh[/b]

The mining colony was collapsing into chaos. Floodlights flickered across metal walkways, throwing long shadows as the horde surged through the settlement with perfect, unnatural rhythm. The ground trembled beneath their synchronized footsteps.

Rocket Raccoon darted ahead on all fours, small but impossibly fast. His patched flight jacket snappef behind him as he fired over his shoulder, not even daring to look back as he did so.

[color=brown]“Ship’s this way. Move it!”[/color] He barked.

A towering shape thundered beside him. Groot’s bark‑covered limbs split into thick, thorned branches that lashed outward, sweeping attackers aside. The gentle giant’s glowing eyes were wide with fear, but his movements were protective and unyielding.

Rook Blonko held the rear. He was tall and broad‑shouldered, although nowhere near at tall as the walking tree besides him, clad in dark Revonnahgander armor that looked carved rather than forged. The plates were etched with traditional patterns, worn smooth at the edges from years of patrols. He moved quickly yet carefully his rifle humming with each controlled shot. His eyes, sharp and feline, scanned the darkness for threats. He didn’t waste a moment. He seemed a lot more composed than the rest of the group, as he had been trained.

The final member of the quartet, Mantis, stumbled forward as the psychic noise hit her. Her antennae twitched violently, glowing faintly at the tips. Her wide, dark eyes shimmered with tears as she pressed a hand to her temple. The green and gold of her outfit was smeared with dust, and her breath came in short, panicked bursts.

[color=green]“They’re all connected,”[/color] she whispered as she strained. [color=green]“Every mind. Every thought. One voice.”[/color]

Rocket didn’t slow. [color=brown]“Yeah. That’s why we’re leaving.”[/color]

The horde poured out of the alleys behind them, silhouettes jerking unnaturally, faces lost in shadow. Hundreds of feet slamming the metal in perfect unison.

Fortunately the landing pad finally came into view as they ascended the top of a slope.

Their ship sat half‑lit, half‑damaged, but intact. The Scatterjack, a KX‑9 Patchwork Freighter, was a discontinued courier model that Rocket had rebuilt so many times in the last year that it barely resembled its factory shape. The hull was a mismatched quilt of scavenged plates; some scorched, some polished. Twin thrusters jutted out from the back at slightly uneven angles, giving it a lopsided silhouette.

It may not have looked liked much, but after Rocket’s upgrades it could probably outpace most ships this side of Knowhere. They were definitely going to need that acceleration today.

Rocket was the first to reach it, leaping up the landing ramp that had just begun to lower.

Groot turned and planted himself between the team and the swarm. His roots slammed into the metal, forming a twisting barrier that forced the attackers to climb over him. He roared, pushing back the first wave with raw strength.

[color=228B22]“I am Groot!”[/color]

Mantis pulled herself up onto the descending ramp, Rook following her as he did so, covering her flank.

Once they were all on board, Groot moved back, stepping on the ramp and expanding himself. He filled the entrance way to the ship, like a cork to a bottle.

Rocket was far ahead of them at this point, claws skittering on the deck as he dove into the cockpit.

[color=brown]“Strap in. This is going to be ugly.”[/color] He called back, his paws tapping a series of buttons and monitors.

The engines coughed. Then sputtered. Then died.

[color=brown]“Come on,”[/color] Rocket growled, slamming switches. [color=brown]“Come on.”[/color]

Outside, the horde slammed against the hull in perfect unison. The entire ship shook.

Mantis clutched her head. [color=green]“They’re not trying to break in. They’re trying to hold us.”[/color]

Rook braced himself. [color=lightblue]“They know we’re escaping.”[/color]

[color=green]“Rocket, now would be a great time.”[/color] Mantis almost pleaded.

Rocket bared his teeth. [color=brown]“I know that.”[/color]

The engines roared to life.

The ship lurched upward, tearing free of the platform as the attackers clung to the landing gear. Groot shook them loose with a final sweep of his branches before collapsing back into the hull, exhausted. The ramp shut smoothly before him.

The colony shrank beneath them as the horde swarmed the pad like ants, staring upward in perfect, silent unison.

No one spoke as they broke atmosphere. Not until a proximity alert chimed.

Rocket flicked the display on.

A massive cruiser drifted ahead of them in orbit, dark and silent.

Mantis inhaled sharply. [color=green]“There are hundreds on board.”[/color]

Rocket scanned the navigation data. His ears flattened. [color=brown]“And it’s not drifting. Something’s flying it.”[/color]

Rook moved behind, peering over the data himself.

[color=lightblue]“Can you see where they’re heading?”[/color] He asked.

Rocket merely frowned as he absorbed the information, trailing the path with his claw and pausing when it arrived on a familiar name.

He let out a sigh.

Why was it always Earth?

He shoved the throttle forward, racing past the cruiser.

As they swept alongside the silent hull, the shadows shifted.

A massive starfish creature was wrapped across the side of the ship, its arms clamped into the metal like a parasite gripping bone. Its surface pulsed slowly, each beat sending a faint shimmer through the cruiser’s lights, like a heartbeat controlling a body.