Mathew-Swift-Fiction presents...
"Guardians of the Galaxy: Prime Directive"
Murder Drones belong to GLITCH/Liam Vickers * GotG belong to Marvel (This version of GotG belongs to Eidos-Montreal)
(The events of this story takes place during the pilot of Murder Drones and before the events of Marvel's GotG. This story is not-canon to both of those stories or their timelines)
Chapter Two
Heart of the Spire
BEEP! BEEP BEEP! An alarm began to set off in Uzi's head, as the visor-like eyes began to load up. She seemed to have slept on her desk, littered with screws, tools and cans of refreshing energy oils. Groaning in fatigue, Uzi lifted her head, beginning to yawn. As she shook off the tiredness, she looked down to see her finished masterpiece.
It was a customized railgun, in purple-like metal, and a glowing green barrel by the trigger. It shined against the light of her desk-lamp, glistening in its beauty. Uzi was smiling, as she picked up the railgun and aimed it at the mirror.
"Hmm, not bad. But let's give it a test drive…" Uzi reached for the on switch on the side of the gun and flicked it on. The glowing green power cell began to brighten slowly, as she took aim at the mirror. The surge of power reached to the conducting rails, as small bolts of electricity began to emit from the railgun itself. Laughing deviously, Uzi felt a bit of adrenaline from holding such a weapon. However, her laugh was cut short, as a knock on the door interrupted her.
"Uzi, are you awake?" The voice of her father chimed in from behind the door, as Uzi jumped in surprise, quickly shutting off the railgun, the green light dimming a bit.
"I'm up, I'm up! Don't come in!" Uzi shouted, as she frantically placed her secret box under her desk, and the railgun behind her.
"Well, just make sure you get to school, okay? You don't wanna be late, do you?" Her father asked, as Uzi's eyes shrank in realization.
"School?" She blinks and shows the time on her visor: 8:30 am. "Oh, crap! I'm gonna be late!" Uzi grabs her backpack and slams the door open, bolting out. Nearly bumping into her father, she rushes down the stairs.
"Wait, Uzi, don't you wanna have some breakfast? I made panca–!"
"Not now, Dad. I'll eat something on the way!" She shouted, before bursting the door open, and shutting it, leaving Khan all alone, holding the plate of titanium pancakes. Sighing, he looks a bit down.
"I swear, that girl is just like her mother…" He muttered under his breath.
Mr. Vickers was writing on the digital chalkboard, as the rest of the class was paying attention to the lesson he was giving about the importance of door hydraulics. Well, all except Uzi, who was just sketching down on a piece of paper. It was a nicely detailed drawing of her railgun schematics, with a little sketch of herself in the corner, looking all heroic, shouting 'SUCK ON THAT, DAD!' As she drew, the teacher was continuing his lesson.
"So, as the mechanism comes into effect, the hydraulics would lift about a hundred or so tonnes of metal and…" He started to drift off from his lecture, seeing Uzi sketching away. The class looks in her directions and chuckles to themselves. Sighing in defeat, Mr. Vickers called out. "Ms. Doorman?"
"Huh? Whaa?" Uzi looked up, as her book shield fell onto the floor, as she blushed out of embarrassment. The class giggled much louder, as Uzi gave everyone a glare. "Hey! Shut up!"
"Do you have anything to share with the rest of the class?" Mr. Vickers asked nonchalantly. "Because you seemed enthralled by whatever you're doing."
"Probably something like one of her dumb, anime binges again?" Stella giggled, flipping her blonde hair, as the class laughed at her burn.
"Grrrrr…" Baring her teeth at her, Uzi sat back down on her desk, crossing her arms. But then, she gets an idea. Putting her hand up, she waited for Mr. Vickers to call her.
"Yes, Uzi?" He asked, noticing her hand.
"Umm, if it's alright, I do happen to have something to share with the class." She smirked. Stella began to giggle once more.
"Lemme guess, more of your stupid Murder Drone ramblings?" Stella snapped back again, but Mr. Vickers cleared his throat, making Stella roll her eyes.
"If I say 'Yes,' will you behave and pay attention for the rest of the class?" He asks the indigo-haired drone. She nods her head excitedly, as Mr. Vickers sighs. "Go ahead."
"Hell yeah!" Uzi cheered, pulling out her backpack and railgun and headed to the front of the class. Clearing her throat, she began to speak. "So, going off from my essay from yesterday, I have the perfect solution to the Murder Drone epidemic."
"Is it listening to your dumb speech?" A male student chimed out, as the class laughed some more.
"Silence!" Uzi pointed to the student, giving him a death stare. She turns back to the class and regains her composure. "No, the solution is… fighting back! We need to stand up to those monsters and take back our freedom!"
"Ugh, here we go again…" Stella rested her head on her palm, rolling her eyes.
"And how do we do it, you ask? Well, I've been working all night on a prototype of a very effective weapon that'll teach those drones a lesson! Behold, this sick as hell railgun!" Pulling it out from her backpack, she pointed the glowing gun at the classmates, who quickly reacted accordingly to it.
"Woah, watch where you point that thing!" The orange-haired student hid beneath his desk from the sight of the gun.
"Are you even allowed that in school?" Another student asked, as she shook in fear.
"Every bot for themselves!" A third student ducked for cover, as if there was an earthquake.
"Ugh, relax, you idiots. It's not even armed yet. I still need to tweak this thing some more." Uzi showcased the railgun, showing off everything about it, from the sparking power core to the cool skull sticker by the trigger. "But once it's finished, it can disintegrate those disgusting drones off the face of the planet!"
"How would you even know?" Stella asked loudly, not even phased by the gun. "How do you know if it can kill those murder drones, if you never tested it?"
"Oh yeah? You wanna find out for yourself?" Angrily, she pointed the gun at Stella, as she flicked the device on. As the core powered up, the students stepped away from the line of fire, aside from Stella and her deskmate, Doll, who were still unphased by the weapon. But as Uzi was about to fire, Mr. Vickers takes the gun away.
"That's great, Uzi, thank you for sharing it with us." He spoke, without even batting an uninterested eye, as he held onto the glowing weapon. "But I'll be holding onto this until the end of class. Go back to your seat."
"But… but…" Uzi was in a state of shock, as she heard Stella and Doll's laughter. Feeling embarrassed and defeated, Uzi went back to her desk, as she slammed her head on the table.
"But now we can get back to our lesson." Mr. Vickers picked up a pointing stick and pointed it at the digital chalkboard. Looking up from her schematics in humiliation, Uzi began to notice that the railgun at Mr. Vickers' desk was glowing a different color. That can only mean one thing. And it ain't pretty.
"Uhh, Mr. Vickers?" She tried to raise her hand, but the teacher wasn't paying attention.
"And so when the hydraulics are active, it allows the levers and pulleys to…"
"Mr. Vickers?!"
"And that way, the door can open without a handle or a remote…"
"MR. VICKERS!" Uzi shouted.
"What is it, Doorman?" He asked, looking at her with a groan.
"Uhhhh, the gun?!" She pointed to the railgun, which now glowed a sinister red. For the first time in his career as a teacher, Mr. Vickers gave a surprised reaction, as the gun was overloading with power.
KABOOM!
The gun's power cell exploded, as a green smoke covered the classroom, causing some of the students to cough, including Uzi. As the smoke cleared, the only one who appeared to have been damaged was Mr. Vickers, who looked like he came out of a furnace, as his disinterested look was visible. Smoke marks on his body, as he dusted himself off, adjusting his broken glasses.
"Yeeeeaaaaah, I kiiiinda forgot to turn off the power…" Uzi smiled innocently, as she nervously giggled, as the teacher gave her a glare.
"Nurse's office. And then, detention."
Tapping her finger on the desk, Uzi sighed in boredom, looking at the detention room around her. The room was basically abandoned, aside from the snoring teacher, resting his head on his desk.
"Ugh, I knew that power cell was unstable…" She muttered, as she heard laughter coming from outside, as the detention door opened. The drone opening it was the popular jock himself, Thaddeus Maxwell, though people just called him Thad for short. He strutted into the detention room, looking back at his fellow friends.
"Oh, Chad. You and your toxic masculinity." He chuckled, closing the door behind him. As he turned, he noticed Uzi, sitting there. "Oh, uh, hi, Uzi! It's, uhh, kinda rare to see you here."
"Yeah, well, what are you in for?" She snarked at Thad, not even giving him eye contact. "Lemme guess, you got in cause your testosterone is too hard?"
"Woah woah, wait, that's possible?!" Thad looked shocked to hear this fact, but his cool demeanor returned. "Niiiiiiiice. I gotta let Chad know later." Feeling disgusted from hearing that, Uzi turned away some more, as Thad took a look at her bandages. "Woah, what are you in for, Uzi? Those bandages must mean you got here from doing some real bad stuff." She began to blush at his compliment, as she messed with the bang of her hair.
"Er, well, thanks, I guess?" She gulped, as a blush of light emitted from her visor eyes. "Well, it was just a power core malfunction. Nothing too bad…"
"Power core malfunction?" Thad asked, as Uzi's crime piqued his interest. "You mean for your, uh, gun thingie?"
"Yeeeah, but it's useless now." Uzi pulled out the core-less railgun and placed it on her desk. Thad was scared of the gun at first, but soon became amazed at its craftsmanship.
"Daaaaaaamn, looks pretty sick, actually." Thad was impressed, as he leaned in for a closer look. "Did you make this yourself?"
"Well, yeah, but it's just some stupid sci-fi nonsense." Uzi blushed some more, but shrugged it off, looking away from Thad.
"So I'm guessing that's where it, uh…"
"Blew up?"
"Pretty much?"
"Yeah, the core was a little unstable." Uzi pointed to the not so glowing power core, that shined a very dim emerald green. "I could fix it if I had another power core, but this one was the last one I had."
"Well, where did you find that core originally?"
"By one of the worker bodies near the shelter's doors." Uzi felt down, as she hit her head on the desk again.
"Well, too bad you couldn't sneak outside and get one." Thad blindly suggested, as he leaned back in his seat. "I bet there's tons of core out there." Hearing this idea made gears turn inside Uzi's head. Her eyes even showed a progress bar, as it reached 100%.
IDEA PROGRESS COMPLETE!
"Holy hell, that's it!" Uzi shouted excitedly.
"What's it?" asked Thad, raising an eyebrow.
"I could sneak out of the bunker, make my way to that Murder Drone lair and take all the cores I needed! Then I can show my dad that I'm not just an edgy bastard child!" Standing on the desktop, Uzi stood valiantly, as Thad gulped at the idea.
"Sneak out of the bunker?!" Thad whispered, hoping to not alert the detention room teacher. "Are you crazy?! How are you even supposed to even get the doors open, without the WDF seeing you?"
"Uhhh, duh! My dad has a disk of the Master Key to the big three doors. I'll just walk out, take a core and come back! Nobody will be the wiser." Thad was still unsure of this plan.
"Uzi, look, I know you're going through some, uh, emotional repressing stuff with your dad," He tried to speak to her. "But breaking protocol and sneaking out of the bunker?! That's suicide!"
"Ugh, it's better to go down fighting than rotting away in this hellhole." Uzi rolled her eyes at Thad's criticism. "Cover me, I've got some planning to take care of for tonight." Uzi got up and gathered her things quickly, before rushing out the door. Thad was surprised, as he tried to call her.
"Uzi? Uzi?!" He yelled, as the snoring from the teacher came to a halt, as he looked up from his pillow.
"Hey. Where's she going?" He asked Thad, as the green-eyed drone gulped and said the first thing that came in his mind.
"Uhhh, bathroom?"
The teacher pondered a bit, before shrugging his shoulders. "Alright." He said, before going back to his nap.
Silence was prominent in the Doorman residence, as the clock struck 3. Uzi was snoring peacefully in her bed, snoring and having dreams of being loved and acknowledged by the people she loved.
However, before the alarm could even go off, a massive rumbling can be felt from over the roof, shaking everything in the bunker. Her pictures, books and even weapon parts were shaken from shelves, hitting the floor with multiple thuds.
"Huh…?" Uzi was slowly awakening, as she, herself, was slowly inching to the edge of the bed, due to the tremors. "Woah, hey!" She then fell off the bed, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Growling in annoyance, Uzi grabbed a book and tossed it to the roof. "KEEP IT DOWN UP THERE, YOU STUPID JERKS! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"
As quickly as it came, the tremors seemed to have stopped, as the room stopped shaking. Sighing in fatigue, Uzi sat back on her bed.
"Alright, let's get to work." She picked up her railgun and carried it on her back. Adjusting her beanie and hoodie, Uzi quietly snuck over to her bedroom door and opened it slightly. She peeks out from the doorframe, seeing that the hallway was quiet and peaceful. Taking one step forward and then another, Uzi's boots squeaked quietly against the eerie silence, as she approached her father's room, placing her hand on the doorknob. She slowly turned it open, as she peeked inside.
Thankfully for her, her father seemed to be absent from the room. He must be at work, as per usual. Knowing that the coast is clear, Uzi reaches in and takes the black floppy disk on the dresser, labeled 'MASTER KEY.' As she did, she got a glimpse of one of the framed photographs. It was one of the few pictures of her mother, as she was posing for the photo with Khan. Uzi couldn't help, but feel sadness from not knowing her since she was born.
"Don't worry, Mom." She smiled, shedding a digital tear from her eye. "I'll be alright." Pulling her arm back, she closes the door behind her, as she heads down the stairs, to head to the shelter's main doors. The doors that lead to a desolate winter wasteland.
"Geez, Quill, can't you flarkin' fly this thing right?!" Rocket snapped, as they felt a massive bump, upon flying the Milano through the toxic blizzard of their destination. However, it seemed that Peter accidentally hit one of the shelters with one of the wings of the ship.
"Can you blame me, Rocket? This place makes it pretty hard to see!" shouted Peter, as he turned the Milano to the right, causing the ship to nearly hit one of the massive spires that littered the surface of the planet.
"Why, yes, I can blame you, as a matter of fact!" Rocket shouted, as the rest of the Guardians were holding onto their seats. "Because you are a friggin' lousy ass pilot!"
"Hahaha!" Drax laughed triumphantly, as he was smirking. "This adrenaline is euphoric!"
"Drax, I don't think now's a good time to laugh right now!" Gamora tried to speak to Drax, through the sounds of the harsh winds and bashing metal.
"I am Groot!" Groot spoke, as he felt a bit scared, latching onto the armrests of his seat.
"I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A BAD IDEA, QUILL!" Rocket screamed, as he held on, as well. Peter was keeping his eye out from the window, hoping to find a place to park the ship. But given how foggy the exoplanet is, it was very difficult to find one.
"Hold on, I think I got something!" He said, as he managed to find somewhere in front of them. Then, he pulls back the wheel, causing the ship to halt, hovering over the snow below. As the members of the Milano nearly flew out of their seats, due to the sudden halt,
"Gasp… gasp…" Rocket was gasping for breath, as he glared back at Peter. "Quill, do you even realize that we almost died just by coming here?!"
"We also have a problem, Peter." Gamora turned her chair to Peter, as well. "The planet's surface is filled with radiation. If we need to do this, we don't have long to do it."
"See? And now this dumb iceball is littered with flarkin' radiation! Still think this is worth it, Quill?"
"It will be, if we do this quick and painless." Peter reassured everyone, as he held his hands up. "Trust me, they'll appreciate us for doing this. Maybe they may have some kind of radiation medicine as a reward."
"If it doesn't kill us first…" muttered Rocket.
"Look, just head to the hangar and get ready to explore this place. I promise if there's nothing in need of rescue out there, we retreat back to the Milano pronto, okay?"
"You'd better." As if on cue, Rocket, Gamora, Drax and Groot got up and began to head back to the hangar, at the back of the Milano, to suit up for their mission. Peter got up himself and adjusted his leather jacket, following the others. He pressed a button, as his red-eyed mask became visible upon his face.
"Alright, you guys ready?" He asked, looking back at his teammates.
"Now or never." Gamora said, grasping the helm of her sword.
"I am Groot!" Groot said, nodding. Seeing that everyone is ready to go, Peter touched the black door, as it opened to the surface of Copper Nine, as the ramp was assembling itself onto the planet. However, the cold winds quickly made their way inside the Milano, as Rocket began to shiver.
"Holy flark, it's freezing!" Rocket winced, huddling himself for warmth almost immediately.
"You have a fur coat, Rocket, you'll be fine!" Peter walked ahead, as he stepped down onto the snow with his boots. The rest of the Guardians followed suit, with Rocket not far behind, still shivering from the harsh temperatures.
The planet was blanketed with a snowfall, as buildings and spires touched the skies above them, looking ruined and demolished. The shimmering light from Saturn and one of its moons rained down from above, covering the land in an eerie atmosphere.
"This planet reminds me of the frozen wastes of Maklu IV, where the Katathian warriors go to challenge the mighty Fin Fang Foom!" Drax was reminiscing about his past. "The cold breezing off of their shoulders, almost as if Death herself were dancing alongside the demons of nature."
"Except for all the spires, and… dismantled robots." Gamora pointed out, looking at the materials that the spire was made from.
"Robots?" Peter asked, as he looked in Gamora's direction. She was right. There were scattered robot parts all over the surface. His mask was even scanning the drones, as it managed to get some info from them.
WORKER DRONE UNIT #29004
Manufactured by JCJenson Inc.
Status - FATAL ERROR
"Worker Drone Unit?" Peter Quill pondered, as he looked upward to see the other disassembled drones, making the spire. It reached to the skies, as the late night shined the
"Perhaps a great war was waged here," Drax suggested. "And these mechanical warriors have lost greatly."
"Either that, or whoever lives here really friggin' hates robots." Rocket felt uneasy.
"Yeah, we should try to be careful…" gulped Peter, as he led the Guardians more into the wintery wasteland, trying not to step on the many drone bodies, scattered on the ground.
Meanwhile, outside of the Milano, something was watching the Guardians from afar, hanging from one of the destroyed structures. It was baring its sharpened teeth, as it began to crawl down towards them, flapping its sharp, titanium wings.
Uzi crept her way through the frigid hallways of the shelter, as she pushed her back against the wall, scooching along it. She tried her best to sneak around without being seen, peeking up to the security cameras and avoiding their line of sight. So far, she seemed to be doing a good job at it, so far. And not long after, she sets her eyes on the first of three doors that lead out into the toxic tundra.
Taking the master key from her pocket, she scans the disk into the keypad, as it begins to scan. After a little bit, the screen lit up green, as the doors slowly opened. However, as the doors opened, Khan was standing right behind it, as Uzi jumped and fell backwards in fright.
"AHH, ROBO-JESUS!" She cursed, as she landed on the ground with a thud, looking up to her disappointed father.
"And just where do you think you're going at this late hour?" He asked, with a cold tone.
"Uhhh, totally not going to make out with my totally real boyfriend?" She smiled innocently. However, Khan was not in a cheery mood.
"The truth, Uzi." He crossed his arms, giving his daughter a suspicious look. "Now."
"Siiiiiiigh…" Uzi groaned, feeling busted. "Fiiiiine. I was just trying to sneak out of the bunker, so I could…" As she spoke, she began to think of a backup plan. "...could measure the exterior mechanisms of Door One?" Khan still gave her a suspicious glare, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"And why, exactly?"
"So I could, uh, present it as my school project! Yeah, because our homework is to… honor our family's legacy. So, what better way to honor the Doorman name than to showcase, uh, doors?" Uzi tried to tell him, placing her hands behind her.
"I see…" Khan placed a finger on his chin, trying to ponder Uzi's lie. "Aaaand that's why you stole the copy of the master key?" He looked at the disk Uzi had in her hand, as Uzi giggled nervously.
"Well, uh, I know that if I had asked you, you wouldn't let me…?" Uzi bit her lower lip, knowing that her father might chew her out. However, she begins to hear sniffling. "Uhh, Dad?"
Khan was beginning to shed some tears of joy, as he rubbed his visor with his sleeve. "Sorry about that, Uzi. It's just that I'm so proud of you."
"Wait, seriously?" Even Uzi was baffled at what she just heard.
"You're finally living up to your family's name! This is fantastic!" cheered Khan, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you just say so sooner?"
"Well, Iiiiii didn't wanna ruin the surprise!" Uzi smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, Uzi, you're so sweet!" He pats his daughter's head, as Uzi tries to shrug off the patting. "You know what, I'm going to ignore that you completely disregard our sacred rule in the bunker and let you examine Door One." He began to reach for something in his back pocket. "And I have just the thing to help you! Here."
"An old wrench?" A question mark appeared over Uzi's eyes, as she grabbed the rusted, oil-drenched wrench from her dad.
"Not just any old wrench! The wrench I used to tighten the first bolts on my first ever prototypes on these doors." Khan's mood shifted to happy as can be, to cold and mysterious. "And to put your mother out of her misery, when those monsters struck her with their acid!"
"Greeeeat," Uzi's gaze was in horror, as she looked down at the rusty wrench in her hands. "That's what I totally want. Trauma."
Khan pulls out a remote controller and presses the big button, allowing the doors to open. The first door opened, revealing several more drones, wearing uniforms, sitting at a table, playing a game of poker. One of them noticed Khan and waves at him.
"There you are, Khan!" He called to him. "The numbers on the cards are fading again. Can you get us a new pack?" The drone notices Uzi behind him. "Oh, hi, Uzi! How's school going?"
"Oh, you know, nothing too crazy." Uzi gave him a thumbs up.
"Say, Khan, shouldn't your kid be in bed?" One of the WDF guards pointed out.
"Oh, she's just going to explore the exterior of Door One." Khan smiled, as he took Uzi towards the last door. The other drones were in shock upon hearing this.
"Wait, is that even safe? What about the Murder Drones?" One asked.
"Yeah, won't she get disassembled?!" Another looked terrified.
"Relax, guys," Uzi rolled her eyes. "I won't stay out for too long. I'm just gonna… inspect the door and come right back."
"Well, I guess that's okay." The first WDF member nodded cautiously. Khan clicked the button and the last door opened, letting in the massive cold from outside, blowing harshly into the bunker. The cards on the table flew away from the winds. "Hey, my full house!"
"Alright, Uzi, your door-related destiny awaits!" Khan lightly pushed Uzi on ahead, as she slowly walked towards the entrance. "Just remember that if any of those monsters see you, you come right back, got it?"
"Uhhhh, no problem, Dad." Uzi waved back to her dad nervously, still bewildered that her plan actually worked. "Uhh, go, doors, go!" She steps out into the surface, as the massive metal door closes behind her.
"Man, Khan," One of the WDF members looked back at his boss. "She finally became someone, eh?"
"Yeah," Shedding a tear, Khan wiped it away with his magnetic mustache. "Nori would be so proud."
The Guardians of the Galaxy continued their trek through the tundra, as they were making some leeway into the landscape. The blizzard blew harder, dropping the temperature bit by bit, as Rocket was chattering his teeth. Thankfully, Groot grew him a leafy coat, hoping to prevent hypothermia from being given to the little raccoon. Peter, donning his mask, looked around for anything of interest.
"Peter, we've been out here for a while." Gamora sounded concerned, her black hair blowing in the storm. "If we stay out any longer, we could get radiation poisoning."
"I know, Gamora," Peter turned back towards her. "But, there's something about this place that. I don't know for sure, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave it alone."
"Oh, no, Quill!" Rocket snapped again, ignoring the cold. "You promised us that if we find nothin', then we're outta here!"
"You did make such a promise to the rodent, Peter Quill." said Drax.
"Call me rodent again, and I'm makin' a campfire outta your flarkin' corpse!" Sounding offended, Rocket quickly snarled at Drax.
"Alright, Rocket! I get it!" Peter yelled, hoping to halt the shouting. "It's clear that hoever needs our help, it's long gone. You guys head back to the Milano! I'll check out one more area, just to be safe."
"About friggin' time!" Rocket shivered, as he held onto the leafy blanket tightly. "But if you ain't back by the time the engine's warmed up, we're leavin' without you!" Rocket hopped onto the shoulders of Groot, as he, Gamora and Drax soon followed. The Katahian warrior looked behind him to the masked human.
"Be careful, Peter Quill. Who knows what shadows slither within these spires?" Drax warned, as he went on to join the others, leaving Peter on his own. Nodding, Peter continued to search the area, hoping to find at least some resemblance of life on this exoplanet. Between the harsh wind, thick fog and heavy snowfall, the only way Peter could find anything was with his visor, scanning the landscape. And thanks to his visor, he did manage to find a point of interest.
Not too far from him was the biggest spire he had ever seen, and just like the others, was made from the thousands of drone corpses, reaching into the haunting sky. Eclipsing the light high above, Peter decided that this place would be the last area to check out. Grasping one of his blasters holstered onto his belt, Peter manages to spot an entrance into the spire itself and begins to approach it.
The snowstorm was shielded from the inner walls of this spire, as Peter entered the cavernous entrance. What laid in the center of this hive-like spire was a massive space pod, glistening in the moonlight overhead. It wasn't as extravagant as the Milano, but this ship didn't look like any Peter had encountered in his past. It wasn't of Xandarian origin, nor Asgardian, or even of the Chitauri. It was an eerie sight, indeed, but at least it was something that Peter could investigate.
"Well, this is something, at least." The self-proclaimed Star-Lord muttered, as he slowly approached the pod, the sound of snow and crushed metal crunching under his boots. The silence made him feel a bit uneasy, as he kept a hand on his blaster.
"Hold it right there!" A young, female voice growled at Peter, as he felt something being pointed at his back. Alarmed by the voice, Peter turned to see a drone, about half of his height, pointing what seemed to be a gun at him. She had long, purple hair hidden beneath a dark beanie, black hoodie and combat boots, as she glared at him with glowing, purple eyes.
"Woah!" Peter stood back, placing his hands up, showing that he was no harm. "Watch where you point that thing!"
"Bite me!" The drone kept her gun aimed at Peter, giving him a furious look. "What the hell are you?! You're not one of them, are you?!"