Cosmo shook his head out of pity, stepping down from the chair he walked towards Dey, who was still busy talking with the other dog, a golden retriever, about the Nova Prime situation.
"Any particular reason why you're not doing your job Corpsman?" Cosmo asked, "Maybe instead of talking to Davenport you might address the security situation, or maybe our rations, in fact anything instead of what you're doing right now would be a step in the right direction."
Dey huffed, "And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do dog?" he replied, "Where were you during the fight with Ronan huh?"
Cosmo growled menacingly at this, "For your information big shot, I was busy doing my job! While you and the B-Team were busy dealing with Ronan, I was playing ambassador to the Justice League, the Avengers, the X-Men and the Legion of Doom to get some allies in the event of invasion and full scale war."
Dey raised his eyes at this, "The Legion of Doom? You realize that's a DC thing right? You're Marvel."
Cosmo shook his head again, "The fate of the known universes was at stake. Do you think I give a shit about petty rivalries? No. I did what had to be done to ensure that life as we know it continued to exist. Which is more than I can say for you, the only thing you've done since you got here is whine and complain about Nova Prime and Xandar as if that were the only things in the universe. In case you haven't noticed, we're dealing with an uprising here, so shut up, grab a weapon and get your ass down to the mines, I need people down there and need them down there now!"
Dey gave a hard salute and left as soon as he could, for he was not interested in having his jugular vein severed. Cosmo spat in Dey's direction, he found it difficult to believe Dey was in charge of anything, as far as he was concerned he was the least competent of Nova Prime's soldiers to ever rise up the ranks, even if it was only the lowly one of Corpsman.
"Davenport" Cosmo commanded, "Get Peter Quill back on the line."
Davenport nodded; "Of course sir" he replied as he made his way to Cosmo's computer, pulling up Quill's ship and accessing its communication feed.
"The Keystone Quadrant" Cosmo said to himself as he read the information, having ignored it before, "What the devil are they doing there?"
"Transmission coming in from Captain Marvel" Davenport exclaimed, "Shall I put him through?"
Cosmo growled softly to himself, for like many he hated Marvel with every fiber in his body. He said nothing and watched as the transmission went ignored.
"Sir" Davenport said worriedly, "Are you sure that was a good idea? It might've been something important."
Cosmo nodded, "Important!" he cried sarcastically, "The only thing that Marvel would want from us is volunteers he can use for experiments. He's not welcome anywhere in Andromeda, he even so much as sets a pinky toe within the galaxy he's blown to Kingdom Come. Now, get me the fucking Guardians of the Galaxy!"
Davenport began to sweat nervously, for he hated it when Cosmo raised his voice at him. As quickly as he could Davenport got Quill's feed on the screen. At seeing Quill, who was still singing Journey, Cosmo rushed over to the computer, unintentionally pushing Davenport out of the chair in the process.
"And being apart ain't easy on this love affair; two strangers learn to fall in love again."
Cosmo rolled his eyes, patiently waiting for Quill to stop. He waited exactly three seconds.
"Quill" Cosmo began annoyingly, "Come in Quill!"
Cosmo was ignored as Gamora joined Quill in the singing of the next part of the verse.
"I get the joy of rediscovering you, oh girl you stand by me. I'm forever yours, faithfully."
Cosmo, to avoid ripping his fur out, began going over his breathing exercises that he was court marshaled with Rocket to take as part of therapy in an attempt to control his anger management. Granted, Rocket never attended the sessions, blowing them off for the other Guardians of the Galaxy and intergalactic exploration, something that Cosmo wished he could do more of, but never found the time.
"It's okay Cosmo" Cosmo said to himself, entering a pre-meditative state, "Just let them finish the song and everything will be just fine. You can tell them of the urgency, again, explain the situation, again and then, if they actually do what you say, you can maybe, just maybe get a decent night's sleep."
At this point Drax joined in, singing the high parts for some reason and with surprising accuracy.
"Who knew that Drax could sing?" Davenport said with a stifled laugh, which was immediately stopped by a glaring look from Cosmo.
"Sorry sir" Davenport apologized with the slight drooping of his ears, "Only joking."
Cosmo huffed, "There's no room for joking anymore" he replied, "Not when the world's apart. Besides, I'm too busy for such things."
"Just like you were too busy to see the birth of your nephew?" Davenport pointed out, "How sad was that for you, to never even see his face? It must have been heartbreaking."
Cosmo growled defensively, "What did I tell you!" he screamed, "Never, never mention it again, it was bad enough the first time around, I don't need to be reminded. But then I'm sure you would know a lot about dark pasts wouldn't you? I mean after all, the life of a male prostitute, let alone in the canine community, must be difficult, even for a golden retriever."
Cosmo turned back towards Quill.
"Quill" Cosmo roared, "For the last time, stop fucking around and get back here!"
Quill immediately turned towards Cosmo, his face defeated and hurt, from the look of things it wasn't by Cosmo's words.
"I'm sorry Cosmo" Quill replied, "I guess you're just going to have to have Dey arrest us. We're not leaving without Rocket and his friends."
"What are you talking about?" Cosmo asked, pressing for information, "What friends? Rocket doesn't have any friends, he told me so himself."
Quill shook his head, "Well apparently he does Cos, and he cares enough about em to go and get himself killed, which is more than I can say for what he'd do for us right now. He's looking for his former crew member, Wal-Russ, originally of a planet known as Halfworld."
Cosmo closed his eyes, refusing to remember, for he too was a product of Halfworld. He shook himself off and slowly pulled himself together.
"Wal-Russ you say?" Cosmo continued as he opened his eyes, "So the bastard's alive? Doesn't surprise me to tell you the truth, he was always too stubborn for his own good. Rocket and I could tell you stories, but unfortunately there's not enough time."
Quill raised his eyebrows confusingly, surprised at Cosmo's sudden change in attitude.
"Here's the deal Quill" Cosmo began, cutting him off just as he was about to respond, "If Wal-Russ is alive we need to get him to Knowhere, we'll need his strength. And if Wal-Russ is alive, there's a good chance that Angel is alive. She's...important to Rocket. That and she's a very good in the stealth department. Both of them will be excellent additions to the team. How soon is their evac?"
Drax moved in, "It won't be that easy Cosmo" he replied, "The planet's gravitational pull is strong. It's impossible to leave, they're trapped. Besides I think that-"
The screen went dark. Cosmo stared at it for several seconds before reacting, it was as if he were in denial that it even happened.
"Davenport" Cosmo exclaimed as he jumped out of the chair and moved towards the door, "You've just been promoted to security detail. Defend the outpost at all costs, hell's about to break loose."
"Sir" Davenport said worriedly, "What happened?"
Cosmo shook his head in response, for in all honesty he didn't know, but he was going to find out.
"Knowing them" Cosmo replied, "They're either dead or really close to it."
"Well what are you going to do?" Davenport continued, raising his ears, "You can't just leave. What about Knowhere?"
"I'm going after them" Cosmo answered simply, "Something is obviously wrong. And I can't let Knowhere's best hope go down. I refuse to bury anyone else Davenport, it's the only way."
Davenport saluted and almost immediately began working on getting Quill's feed up and running. Cosmo meanwhile, headed for the nearest hangar bay. No sooner did he open the door did he fall upon rioters, it didn't take a genius to see that they were looking for blood, their eyes alone were enough for that-black, cold and filled with murderous tendencies.
"Davenport!" Cosmo screamed as he shut the door, "Pull up the security drones and pray to whatever the hell it is that you believe in. We've got rioters, murderous rioters!"
Davenport nodded and started up the drones, only to be dismayed to discover that most of the drones were in repair, still damaged from an all too convenient mining accident.
"All drones are down" Davenport relayed, "What do we do sir?"
Cosmo growled annoyingly, "Pray damn it! Pray like your life depends on it!"
Davenport huffed, "I'm an atheist sir. I can tell you to pray if that makes you feel better."
Cosmo nodded fearfully as he backed away from the door, for the moment abandoning all of his training and simply letting the forces that were overtake him and bring him to his natural state of barking and whining. It was to the point that Cosmo pissed in his suit, but he didn't really care, he had bigger problems to worry about than a wet ass. There was nothing more to be done, Cosmo and Davenport backed away to the farthest corner of the room and waited, just as the rioters began banging on the door, with full intention of knocking it down.
