The interior of the Nova Corps headquarters was sleek. The walls and floor were both a pristine white, with glowing white lighting running down the length of the hall's ceiling. Various different Nova Corps staff walked through the spotless, laboratory-like halls of the building all wearing uniforms. Compared to their unvarying appearances, the guardians looked like street urchins by comparison. Which to be fair, wasn't too far off. Mid-way down the hall was an intersection, which the staff they were following directed them to go down.
The group continued down the many halls of the Nova Corps headquarters, always following the staff they greeted upon entry. They had no choice, really. The building was labyrinthian in design— Or at least the route they were taking was. Both Gamora and Peter knew something was off about this trip. As they continued, they knew it would be increasingly difficult to get in or out of wherever they were going. Was this intended? How dangerous was this box for it to need to go so deep into the heart of the Nova Corps headquarters? Peter was just about to ask when they stopped in front of a sealed, sleek white door which was just barely wide enough to fit the box through.
"Alright everyone, here we are."
Peter squinted at the Nova Corps staff confusedly. He looked towards Gamora for her opinion, who seemed equally confused. He took her reaction as clearance and began to question the staff about the situation, which Gamora would rather he not have done.
"So what? We're gonna go through the Nova Corps Pac-Maze just to shove this thing in a closet? What gives?"
"Oh, Mr. Star Lord, Sir. This is hardly a closet."
The staff swiped their keycard on the door's side panel and it slid open upwards. Through the door was a sleek white laboratory room, where multiple scientists had been working tirelessly on various projects, most of which were unrecognizable to the Guardians. Rocket was able to recognize a few, though. Among the many different devices that were being worked on was a new type of force field generator, a new type of energy source (similar to an arc reactor) and his immediate favorite, a giant cannon. The staff they were with shuffled them inside before the Guardians could properly look around, and promptly shut the door behind them all.
"Is this a lab?"
"I'm impressed! I didn't think someone of your… Experience would be able to figure that out."
Peter gave the staff an insulted glare, but continued the conversation as if he wasn't just insulted.
"So what's the Nova Corps got a big ol' lab for? I thought you guys were peacekeepers."
"That we are! That we are. But sometimes keeping peace means bringing security. And in this case, security to neighboring systems in the form of advanced technology, and a place for them to develop such devices. Your rodent friend here would understand if that skirmish in twenty fourteen was any indication."
"Oh yeah. I understand perfectly. Especially about the part where you make a big ass cannon that looks like it's hardly working at a fourth capacity."
The staff they were with stopped in his tracks and looked at Rocket. The audacity of this… This creature was palpable. Some of the scientists who heard him had also stopped what they were doing. They had seemed offended that some rodent would just walk in and insult months of work. The staff they had followed tried to ease the tension, but it was clear all staff who had heard were slightly shocked at his blatant insult to their work.
"W-whatever do you mean? I can assure you that these scientists are top of the line and anything they make is—"
"It's not, though. Look at it. They put the power converter alongside the mobility thrusters. You know you could easily double the output just by putting the whole setup on the end of the barrel?"
The scientists looked at him curiously, and then back to their craft. Was he right? They became preoccupied with trying that to see if it worked. Meanwhile the Guardians' tour guide simply moved the situation along. He led them to the side of the lab, where a blank wall had been cleared for the box to be placed along.
"Alright then, here you are. If you could just place the item there then we could be on our way!"
"As you wish, overly-nervous man."
The staff was caught off guard by Drax's comment, but the rest of the Guardians were used to Drax and didn't react. Drax, meanwhile, slid the box off of its hovering platform and pushed it into place against the laboratory wall. The Guardians all took a moment to look at the box one final time before they left. After that, the staff led them back through the many corridors of the Nova Corps headquarters until they stopped in the Nova Prime's office, where Irani Rael had stood waiting for them.