I had (crash) landed on the planet Rages. My girlfriend, was unconscious beside me in the red sand. I stood up, looked around me and cursed twice. There was a shabbily assembled scrap metal shelter with at least fifty people inside, working in their trade.

Rages was an almost completely lawless planet. They said "if you live on Rages, you're a criminal." Innocent men were not welcome. Fortunately for me, I'm not an innocent man. These people in these fortresses were all dangerous. However, the buildings could be archives for work, if you knew how to handle the natives. If you didn't . . . . weeeeeelll let's just hope you do. Or at least can run faster.

I had no way to contact my crew. I planned on seeing if any of these would trade my work for their transportation. My kind of work was perfect for this kind of thing. I left Spriggans in the dust as I walked toward the Rages fortress.

I stopped to talk to two mercenarys with snow-white hair though they looked not much older than me. There skin was dark and their eyes black. Most likely a brother-sister team. "What kind of work do you do?" the woman asked.

She was wearing a brown leather tank top, a torn black skirt and leather boots. "I'm a ravager." I replied, not quite opposed to flirting with her if need be.

"So I thought. What's your name?"

"What's yours?" I grinned.

"Arun Tarok. And this is my brother, Thlayli." They were both armed with razor-sharp pickaxes.

I held out my hand. "Peter Quill, under the command of the ravager captain Yondu Udonta."

They'd heard of him. I could tell as they exchanged glances with one another. "What's a member of the Udonta crew doing on Rages? You've got no business even being in the Krae Quadrant." Thlayli finally spoke up.

"If you really want to know the truth I crashed the star-ship I was dumped on."

"It just so happens that we've been looking for someone who does just what you do. What do you want?"

I noticed a grayish-green box with several knobs and buttons on it. An Intergalactic Transmission Generator. "That ITG yours?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. You want it?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded slowly.

"Then find this woman. Kill her and bring back her eyes."

"Bring back her what?!"

"Eyes. Eyeballs."

I examined the photo. It was a beautiful woman with pointed erect ears and a thick, bushy tail but was humanoid. I knew this woman. She was the princess of Felye. A planet not too far from here. "Is she here?" they nodded.

If I wasn't desperate for work I wouldn't have taken the mission. I hated committing these kind of missions especially when they involved women. Yondu knew about Spriggans, he knew I would have a challenge killing her, that's why he sent me there. He wanted me to prove I wasn't too soft to do what needed to be done. I guess in this instance I was.

"Fine. I'll do it. How much you willing to pay for this chick's eyeballs?" I scoffed.

"Two thousand units, throw in that ITG and we've got a fair deal."

And we did, unfortunately at this point. Talking to Karlee was awkward anyway. "You were there to KILL them?!" she shrieked, slapping me in the face.

I didn't blame her for being so angry at me. I Took her away from her crew and blew up her home.

"Captain Zylen was my . . . CAPTAIN ZYLEN WAS MY FATHER!" Shock instilled instantly. I watched my crying girlfriend fall to the sand, grieving over her dead father.

I couldn't believe myself. That man I had killed was most likely the only one she had left. She screamed at the amber sky. "I loved you for a moment. I really did." Karlee continued.

It was then that I realized I cared about her and might have even loved her too. I didn't get into her for something selfish. I saved Karlee Spriggans' (or Zylen I guess) life. Some part of me, maybe it was my buried conscience, didn't want her to die.

It was then that I hurled onto the dirt.