The Tailor, the Thief, the Officer and his Scientist

While Rocket was still on Hala, the Kree Empire's central planet, he visited his tailor-engineer Lom-Dag. The ringtail entered the atelier where the tailor sat busily in front of a rack full of military armour suits. The artist greeted the guest in a fashion that was atypical for a Kree, "Hello there, mister Raccoon!"

"Nice to see ya too, Lom-Dag."

"I guess your jacket needs to be fixed?"

"Nothin' gets by ya," the mammal replied cheerfully. There was a big gap in the garment, showing a furless patch of skin.

"How's our friend Tor-Nal?" he inquired.

"He's not my friend anymore," Rocket responded briefly, making a hand gesture to cut off a discussion about the unpleasant subject.

Barely noticeably, the engineer raised his eyebrows. However, he knew his client's need for discretion, so he dropped the topic.

"I got hit big time, I need something against plasma rifles."

"I can set you up with a small electric field generator and a feedback loop. It's pretty standard these days; I'm surprised you haven't got any yet."

"OK, drop the ad. What's it gonna cost me?"

"2000 on top."

The impoverished ringtail needed to let it sink in for a few moments. 2000 wasn't a lot of money for that kind of equipment, but his last deal didn't pay off well and he had other expenses that he needed to think about. In his mind, he was already searching for new opportunities to get credits. Lots of it, so he would be out of trouble for a long time.

"2000? Ye're killin' me, man, ye're killin' me ... but OK, 2000 'coz I like ya."

The tailor got up and fetched a spare suit for his client. A previous version that he kept as a service. Rocket changed into the old gear while he looked at the impressive military grade suits on the rack, back in the shop.

"I sure 'd like one of those," he said eagerly.

Lom-Dag let out a short chuckle, and told him, "You at least have to rob the Collector to be able to afford one of these. They contain anti-grav equipment, very expensive." He paused and continued, "Not that I'm allowed to sell one outside the Kree army. The High Command would have me executed on the spot."

Although the man sounded friendly as ever, his last remark certainly wasn't a joke. In the Local Group of Galaxies, a number of large empires lived on the edge of war. They were rather protective about proprietary military tech. A small burglar like Rocket had to think of other ways to keep himself out of harm's way.

Yet, the thing about robbing the Collector didn't sound bad at all. It had been tried before. Very risky. However, it hadn't been attempted by a clever, sentient raccoon yet. Well, there's a first time for everything. As Rocket walked out of the store, he started to do some planning.

The more he looked into it, the more possibilities he saw. Taneleer Tivan, better known as the Collector, had an impressive collection of unique artefacts and life forms in his 'museum' on Knowhere. He didn't display them publicly. However, visitor reports had been compiled into an improvised overview that could be downloaded from various information networks. The lists were tagged with price information and even mentioned interested clandestine buyers.

This time, the ring-tailed robber double-checked that he had the most up-to-date info about the security system. He took residence on Knowhere for a week, meticulously gathering information and preparing the heist.

Finally, the big day had come. He managed to get inside the museum, worked his way through the security setup, systematically disabling protective layers. He got to one of the display rooms, where he snatched a number of goods he had preselected. And one item he came across that wasn't on his list. Although taking stuff that wasn't on your list was a bad practice, he took it anyway. A piece of living wood from Planet X. It faintly reminded him of home, of Halfworld. Having his hands and pockets full, he carried the piece of wood behind his teeth, hidden in his muzzle.

As he ran to his ship, he had bad luck again. A group of local Nova Corps officers spotted and captured him - much to his surprise. The Nova Corps had no authority on Knowhere. Taking a prisoner there is against Knowhere's neutrality policy; it would actually amount to kidnapping. Not the Corps style. Did he piss off someone? Probably yes; he could compile a rather lengthy list of candidates. Apparently, catching the culprit red-handed was too good an occasion to pass. Or maybe he had been ratted out. He was transported to Xandar and held in a police cell.

Meanwhile, the surgeon learned via a corrupt Nova officer that Rocket had been caught. He still wanted his money and brooded over a way to accomplish this.

That night, the doctor had a dinner with old fraternity friends and their wives. Admiral Bor-Nat, a well-respected officer, and Yan-Del, a scientist who had made a career in the military science department.

Tor-Nal was envious of his good friend Yan-Del but hid it well. The MD had applied for Yan-Del's position shortly after he graduated from med school, but was rejected. His friends looked at the surgeon with a bit of dismay for not achieving such a highly valued position. On the other hand, the healthcare entrepreneur was a rich man. He did well for himself and that was enough reason to respect the old frat-boy despite his previous failure.

The lead scientist Yan-Del bragged a bit about his current achievements, "Did you gents ever hear about a planet called Earth?"

"Earth, that's a funny name for a planet," Tor-Nal answered. His mood had improved a lot since his latest mishaps. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Yan-Del continued, "Yes, rather peculiar that name. It's in the Milky Way galaxy. For some reason a local sentient species, humans, are prone to interesting mutations. We just caught one. I can't disclose to you what he can do, but he's fascinating. We are running tests in the next weeks and hope we can determine what causes his special abilities by doing a post-mortem."

"I've heard about that planet," the admiral remarked. "They have these rogue mutant forces that can be rather destructive. I heard the Skrull got hold of some of the biotech."

"We should do some more harvesting then," the laboratory manager said casually.

Tor-Nal interjected, snapping his fingers, "Yes, Earth. I've been working with a genetically engineered Earth-based mammal. A most intriguing critter. Very dense bone structure. It seems they have a lab revolving a nearby star system, where androids create GE animals."

"That's quite a story, Tor-Nal," Yan-Del said. "How did this creature end up in your clinic?"

"Lom-Dag, the tailor-engineer, made a combat suit for the mammal. That's how I know him. He's a mischievous little guy. Catches a lot of gunfire. As you know, that's our specialty. Even the military bring us casualties from time to time. We make them as good as new."

Bor-Nat confirmed, "Lom-Dag? Excellent craftsman. The man makes credits on the side by selling outdated protective tech to inferior creatures." He joked, "Lucky for you, Tor-Nal, not the best quality, otherwise you would be out of business."

A civilised laughter followed. The medic grinned without joy. He hated the pun at the expense of his greed; he had a reputation that was hard to shake off.

Bor-Nat continued, "As you know, we are upgrading our gravimetric shielding technology." He signalled confidentiality to his friends, bent slightly forward and added in a lowered voice, "The Nova Corps seems to beat us this time however; they are working on something new. If they succeed, they have a graviton generator that is small enough to fit in the palm of a hand."

The guests were impressed.

"I sure would like to do some testing with that equipment," Yan-Del said, giving the high army officer a meaningful look.

The admiral dipped his lips with his napkin. He said thoughtfully, "I get your drift. But I can't get a green light for such an operation." He added regretfully, "It may be interpreted as an act of war. Things are not how they used to be."

The dinner continued for a while longer. Local liquors were consumed and the evening ended as pleasantly as it had started.

After the surgeon got back home, he put two and two together and devised a plan. An official mission to get the Nova tech would be out of the question, but he could think of a very unofficial mission that would involve a certain Earth mammal. If he could make the little rat steal the priceless device and got hold of it, he would finally get the recognition he desired and earn himself any job he wanted. That was his entry ticket to the highly regarded military research department. Much more rewarding than the lousy units he had been shaking off the critter.

The surgeon contacted the corrupt Nova officer he knew and gave the man instructions. The Nova officer hacked into the police database to assure that Rocket was transferred to a prison close to the Nova research facility where the new protective technology was developed. The Nova officer in turn was acquainted with a group of criminals in that prison who were eager to do business with him. He sent them a message, involving them in the plot.