"Alright, we're entering Xandar's atmosphere. Everybody buckle up cause' there's gonna be a little turbulence."
Drax, Mantis, Gamora and Groot all went to sit in their respective seats in the cockpit. Gamora looked out to the bustling, lively city below. She didn't usually care too much about wherever she was headed, but Xandar held a special place in her heart from the group's shared past. She enjoyed the view as they flew past Xandar's surface.
Xandar's surface was mostly concrete and greenery, winding along intricate yet efficient paths and bridges that connected the various shops and establishments in the city. Between the many bustling roadways of the Xandarian city, fountains, and ponds, bushes and trees filled the gaps where pathing or buildings weren't. As the ship descended closer, citizens of all kinds became discernable along the crowded pathways. Then, moving ever closer to the ground, one building stood out prominently against the rest in the view of the Milano's windshield.
The Nova Corps headquarters was a sight to behold. Its jagged, rectangular design sprouted high into the air among its smaller, less important peers. Small squadrons of golden, star-shaped ships flew both to and from the shining capital of the Nova Corps. And among the squadrons of Nova Corps ships, the Milano glided confidently into the Nova Corps headquarter's docking bay. Peter's expression was focused as he landed the Milano in the docking bay. A small thud reverberated through the ship, and he unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Alright, we're here. Drax, help me get this thing outta the ship."
Drax unbuckled his seat belt and stood up. The pair walked over to the delicate-looking wooden box and began to unstrap it from the wall. While they worked on relocating the box, Rocket, Groot, Mantis and Gamora all began to get up as well. Rocket rolled his head across his shoulders, stretching out from the uncomfortable position he was in. After all, the seats weren't designed for not-raccoons.
Among the recuperating guardians, Groot drug his arm across the wall of the ship. He looked towards Drax and Peter, who seemed to be having a hard time lifting the box. Figuring he could help, he made his way over to the pair. Then, with steady arms, his hands extended into roots that wrapped around the circumference of the box. With his help the three lifted the box with relative ease.
"Thanks, Groot."
"I am Groot."
"Here you go, guys. I thought it would be helpful."
Mantis pushes over a hovering cargo transporter. It's nothing extravagant, just a levitating platform with a bar to push it with. Nonetheless, the three moving the cargo found the device helpful and loaded the blue box onto it. Drax took over, pushing the box out of the Milano as the rest of the crew led him down the Milano's hatchway ramp and onto the docking bay floor. There, a Nova Corps staff had been waiting at the foot of the ship for the guardians to arrive.
"So! I see you've gotten our little post-it about the item in question?"
The Nova Corps staff spoke confidently, bordering on expectant. Peter, while not willing to risk losing the units for the delivery, found his tone unnecessarily entitled. He scowled at the Nova Corps staff in offense, but kept his retort to a minimum to avoid losing his payout.
"Yeah, wasn't too hard. We were thinkin' about keeping it on board for another day to make sure it's the right one. I told them we can't though, 'cause you know
how particular I am about being on time. Y'know, you should be thankful my crew didn't put up much of a fight about it."
Rocket squinted at Peter, both confused about his lying and dumbfounded that he'd slander everyone else so easily. They continued down the docking bay floor, with Rocket now helping to push the cargo along with Drax. Rocket noticed as they kept walking that both Drax and Groot seemed somewhat curious about the box they were ordered to deliver. And so, not wanting Peter to mess anything up for them, began to ask before he could make an enemy out of their buyer.
"So, uh, what's with the box?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Well it wasn't exactly hard to get. It was just sittin' there in the middle of a market stall. We were aboutta walk past it when my gizmo here rang that it was worth somethin'."
Rocket pulled out a small computer tablet from his pocket and showed the staff as he explained. The tablet, when held up to the box, read that it was a 'high-value item' and listed its price, along with who it had needed to be sent to in order to collect the money.
"You know my crew had half a mind to think it was dangerous n' stuff. What with bein' worth all em' units. So what gives?"
The Nova Corps staff looked at the rodent quizzically. It wasn't too uncommon for the crews who delivered shipments to wonder what exactly it was they were delivering, but Rocket had seemed to guess an awful lot correctly. It made the staff nervous, since not only could it pose a threat if they decided to run off instead of finishing the transaction, but truth be told the staff didn't exactly know what it was either. All the Nova Corps knew was that the box had appeared without any indication in their vault a few years ago, and then left with an equally little trace that it was ever there in the first place. After that incident, Irani Rael had put a bounty on it for being a 'potential security risk'. With a shaky voice, the Nova Corps staff tried his best to answer the question in a way that would both satisfy Rocket and not give too much information (or lack there-of) on the object.
"Well, let's just say the acquisition is… Of interest to my higher-ups."
Rocket saw right through the shakiness of his voice and began to wonder even more. What exactly was this thing they were giving up? He stayed silent, knowing the staff wouldn't give any satisfying answer but continued to wonder to himself as they got to the end of the docking bay. They were now in front of a large-ish door, heavily reinforced with a dark gray steel. The staff went to the side of it and input a keycard, causing the door to slide upwards and let them pass. Rocket walked forward and left Drax to haul the cargo on his own, which he did without complaint. After he and everyone else got through, the door slid closed with a satisfying "woosh".