Right after the grand celebration wrapped up on Xandar...
"Holy sweet mother of God!"
The second Star-Lord stepped onto the main deck of the Destiny, he was struck completely dumbfounded by the sheer opulence of its interior design:
"Wait a second, bro—are you absolutely sure this is a starship and not some kind of floating, intergalactic palace?"
Rocket Raccoon was trailing right behind him with his favorite plasma rifle slung across his back. His eyes were practically glued to the glowing energy conduits running along the metallic walls, his small face practically painted with unadulterated greed—if I unscrewed a few of these conduits and pawned them off, I'd be filthy rich!
Gamora shot him a cold, sharp glare: "Don't lay a single claw on anything in here. I'm telling you this for your own good."
"I know, I know! I'm just appreciating the fine craftsmanship, alright?"
Rocket reached out a paw anyway, stealthily aiming for a sleek metallic access panel.
The very next second, a high-tech mechanical arm shot out from an unseen wall compartment, snagging him by the scruff of his neck and hoisting him straight into thin air!
Rocket kicked his feet wildly in midair, crossing his arms in sheer outrage: "WHAT THE HELL?! This bucket of bolts just assaulted me!"
Peter walked up from the forward corridor holding Sif's hand, completely unfazed by the chaotic scene.
"Friendly reminder: the Destiny's security protocol has a zero-tolerance policy for petty thieves."
Rocket glared back at him, baring his sharp teeth: "Who's a thief?! This is the inquisitive, adventurous spirit of an elite engineer!"
Star-Lord patted Rocket on his shoulder: "Buddy, just admit it. The expression on your face just now practically had 'I want to loot this ship blind' written all over it."
Drax nodded with absolute, stony seriousness: "His face is far too small. You couldn't possibly fit that many words onto it."
Groot threw his arms up helplessly: "I am Groot!"
Watching this band of utter weirdos, Sif couldn't help but lean closer to Peter, whispering quietly: "Are you genuinely sure you want to bring them along?"
Peter smiled smoothly:
"Bringing them with us is infinitely more efficient than wandering aimlessly around the cosmos on our own."
Leaning in slightly closer to her ear, he added with a mysterious grin:
"Believe it or not, the second we take them aboard, someone's going to show up at our doorstep to invite us to fight a giant octopus."
Sif raised an eyebrow in disbelief: "A giant octopus?"
The moment the words left her mouth, the comm-link strapped to Star-Lord's waist let out a sharp chime.
Star-Lord glanced down at the incoming caller ID, his expression instantly twisting into something bizarre.
Rocket squeezed his way over: "Who is it?"
Star-Lord read off the display: "High Priestess of the Sovereign... Ayesha."
Rocket scoffed loudly: "You mean that gold-plated, arrogant joke of a race where everybody talks like you're supposed to kneel before them?"
Gamora chimed in with a calm warning: "As insufferable and arrogant as they are, you have to admit they pay exceptionally well."
Without waiting another second, Star-Lord picked up the holographic communication link.
A bright, shimmering projection materialized in front of the group, revealing a woman with radiant, solid-gold skin sitting atop an ornate throne, looking down on them with supreme disdain.
Her golden gaze swept over Star-Lord and his crew, her voice cold and formal:
"Yondu Udonta claims you are an exceptionally capable mercenary unit."
"The Sovereign's Anulax Batteries are currently under siege by an extra-dimensional organism."
"We require capable biological entities to exterminate it."
Hearing the words Anulax Batteries, Rocket's eyes lit up like Christmas trees: "What's the payout?"
Ayesha looked at him, her eyes dripping with innate condescension: "The compensation will prove more than satisfactory for lower lifeforms of your stature."
"Hey, lady! If you want to do business, you state a proper price upfront to win us over. That's how professional mercenary work works," Star-Lord offered, trying his best to keep his tone calm.
Ayesha offered him another disdainful glance before shifting the camera feed.
The projection immediately transitioned to reveal a blue-skinned, bald young woman whose body was heavily augmented with cybernetic parts.
"Nebula?!"
Gamora gasped in shock, her hand instinctively clutching Star-Lord's forearm in excitement.
"Who's that?" Star-Lord asked.
Gamora answered: "My sister."
Rocket immediately raised a paw in protest: "So the mission reward got downgraded from cold hard cash to extra baggage and trouble? I vote NO!"
Drax, however, spoke up with solemn dignity: "Family is important."
Groot nodded in agreement: "I am Groot."
Star-Lord looked at Gamora, then turned to glance at Peter. Seeing Peter give a subtle, approving nod, Quill boldly ignored Rocket's objection:
"We'll take the job."
Seeing Rocket about to leap up and bite him in the kneecaps, Star-Lord hastily added:
"But we want additional monetary compensation on top of her. At least this much!"
Ayesha maintained her cold, elitist sneer:
"Predictably uncouth behavior from inferior beings. I accept your terms."
With that, she unilaterally terminated the transmission.
And with that, the team officially had their next destination—Sovereign space.
After several space jumps, the Destiny arrived above the Sovereign's planetary energy grid.
Rows upon rows of floating golden structures glinted ominously against the void of space, with massive arrays of Anulax Batteries emitting a brilliant, hum of raw power.
And right in the center of the array, a colossal, multi-tentacled monstrosity was latched directly onto the primary power port, greedily gorging itself on the raw energy output.
Gazing out the viewscreen, Sif couldn't help but let out a soft gasp:
"It... it really is a giant octopus."
The Guardians didn't catch her quiet commentary. Shouting and gearing up, they eagerly leaped out of the airlock into the space station zone.
Seeing them rush out, Peter offered them a warm, pleasant wave:
"Good luck out there, guys."
Star-Lord froze in his tracks: "You're not joining the fight?"
"I'm on audience duty."
Peter kicked back into the central command seat, crossing his legs casually: "Unless you guys completely drop the ball, I won't be interfering."
Rocket sneered, adjusting his weapon straps: "Don't look down on us, pal. We're seasoned professionals."
Ten minutes later—
Out on the energy platform, Star-Lord was sent flying by a massive tentacle, slamming face-first into the golden forcefield before sliding helplessly down to the floor.
Drax had wrapped his arms around a giant tentacle while roaring with psychotic laughter, only to be dragged around the platform three full times at breakneck speed.
Rocket was firing his heavy cannons with manic delight, though every blast did little more than tickle the extra-dimensional beast.
Gamora was admittedly clean and precise, severing multiple tentacles in rapid succession, but the beast's regeneration rate was utterly absurd.
Groot was tasked with plugging the detached energy cables back into their sockets, repeatedly bellowing: "I am Groot!"
Watching this utter circus play out through the screen, Sif held back her laughter for a long time before finally asking: "Are you really not going to help them?"
Peter took a casual sip from his drink: "No rush, it's still early. They're not as incompetent as you think."
Sure enough, everything that followed unfolded precisely according to the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 stored in Peter's memory.
Gamora successfully sliced open the beast's weak spot, and Drax—covered head to toe in thick, sticky green slime—burst out from inside the monster's belly, cheering triumphantly:
"I cut him down from the inside!"
Star-Lord couldn't resist calling him out: "You literally did nothing!"
Shortly after, the team successfully secured Nebula's custody. And just as expected, Rocket—unable to resist his kleptomaniac tendencies—secretly pocketed a bundle of the precious Anulax Batteries.
A few minutes later, the Destiny's proximity alarms blared loudly.
A massive Sovereign drone fleet roared out from the distance, locking all weapon systems simultaneously onto the Destiny.
Ayesha's holographic projection materialized inside the cockpit once more, her former high-and-mighty disdain completely replaced by white-hot fury.
"Insolent lower creatures! How dare you steal the most sacred energy batteries of the Sovereign!"
Rocket immediately hid his tactical backpack behind his spine, shouting righteously: "Slander! That gold-plated lady is slandering my good name!"
Ayesha declared coldly: "Surrender the batteries immediately, and prepare for immediate execution."
Star-Lord whirled around to glare at Rocket: "You actually stole them?!"
Rocket argued back with absolute confidence: "I was just taking precautions in case they tried to stiff us on the bill!"
Gamora yelled in anger: "They already paid us with Nebula!"
Rocket shouted back: "That was just the deposit! This is the service fee!"
Leaning back in his captain's chair, Peter's smile grew wider and wider.
Star-Lord looked over at him in total panic: "Bro, why are you still smiling?! They're about to turn us into space debris!"
Peter casually glanced toward the far reaches of the cosmic void: "Don't panic."
Sif followed his gaze out the viewscreen.
The Sovereign fleet's weapons were already charging up with brilliant gold energy blasts.
Yet from even farther out in deep space, a brilliant streak of silvery-white light ripped through the vacuum, closing in on the battlefield at terrifying speed.
Peter stood up from his chair and walked over, patting Star-Lord gently on the shoulder.
"Look, your daddy's here~"
Star-Lord: ???
Why are you randomly launching a personal attack at me?! What did I even do to you?!