On the edge of the cliff, Hondo was about to fire again when blaster fire from above nearly singed his head. He looked up to see Star-Lord diving straight toward him, twin Blasters blazing.
The pirate captain dove behind his tank to avoid the barrage.
Peter closed in as Hondo rolled out from cover and returned fire with his own blaster. Star-Lord weaved through the shots and fired back at the tank, his blast striking the cannon barrel dead-on.
Landing hard on the tank's hull, Star-Lord found himself face-to-face with Hondo in close combat. The pirate had discarded his blaster in favor of an electrified staff that crackled with energy.
Hondo swung the weapon in vicious arcs. Star-Lord dodged each strike, countering with a sharp jab to the gut followed by an uppercut that snapped the Weequay's head back.
Before Peter could press his advantage, Hondo's pet kowakian monkey-lizard leaped from inside the tank and latched directly onto Quill's face.
"Get off me!" Star-Lord shouted, prying the creature loose and hurling it away. With a powerful kick, he sent the shrieking monkey-lizard flying through the air. Free at last, the Guardian quickly backstepped to avoid Hondo's next attack, landing on solid ground.
"Your situation is hopeless, Quill," Hondo declared, standing atop his tank with arms spread wide.
Before Star-Lord could launch back into action, the vengeful kowakian monkey-lizard returned with twice the fury.
Peter wrestled the small beast off his face as it clawed and bit. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?!" he yelled before finally throwing it down and putting it out of its misery with a quick blaster shot.
"No!" Hondo cried out in genuine horror, his expression twisting into fierce anger. "How could you hurt such a lovely creature?"
"Lovely? That thing was a menace!"
"...Okay, that would be accurate," Hondo admitted with a shrug. "Ah well, I'll find another one."
"Hopefully one with better house training."
With that settled, they resumed their duel.
Back in the village, the Guardians and bounty hunters had returned to the electrified perimeter, fighting off the remaining attackers in coordinated strikes.
Gamora's fist punched straight through a battle droid's chest plate. As she pulled back, something whistled past her ear from behind.
Spinning around, she spotted a Felucian warrior retrieving his spear from a fallen Weequay's body.
"Welcome back, Dilani," Gamora said with a genuine smile. "How did it go?"
"Very well," Dilani replied confidently, twirling his spear with practiced ease.
Back at the clifftop, Star-Lord used his electro-staff to parry and retreat from Hondo's increasingly wild swings. The pirate was getting desperate, his attacks becoming more erratic. When Hondo committed to a wide horizontal sweep...
Peter saw his opening. In one fluid motion, he grabbed the overextended Weequay and used his momentum to flip him overhead. Hondo skidded across the rocky ground and nearly tumbled over the cliff's edge, catching himself at the last second with a panicked gasp.
As this drama unfolded above, several of Hondo's remaining crew spotted their captain's predicament.
"Captain's in trouble!" one of them shouted. "Fall back to the ship!"
The surviving pirates quickly abandoned the farmland, some hoping to rescue their boss, others simply cutting their losses and retreating to safety.
Seeing the pirates flee in disarray, Cassis threw his fists in the air with a massive grin. "We won!" he shouted, his cry echoing across the fields and drawing cheers from his fellow farmers.
Back on the cliff, Star-Lord stood over Hondo, who dangled precariously from the rocky ledge.
"Help me up!" the pirate pleaded desperately.
Peter wasn't particularly inclined to help this man, until...
"Quill... just let me take my men and go."
However, as Star-Lord considered the request, he heard mechanical whirring behind him. He spun around to find the tank's cannon rotating to aim directly at his chest.
Without hesitation, Peter leaped off the cliff, firing his boot thrusters to control his descent and avoid becoming a crater in the ground below.
He landed with a grunt and looked up to see the others running toward him, all of them watching as Hondo pulled himself back up onto the clifftop.
"This venture..." he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "is no longer... profitable!" With that dramatic declaration, he stomped back toward his ship.
Once aboard, the boarding ramp sealed as the spacecraft lifted off and climbed toward orbit.
They all watched the vessel disappear into the distance, eventually becoming just another speck among the stars.
After a moment of silence, the villagers erupted in celebration as the reality sank in—they had actually won. With help from the Guardians and surviving bounty hunters, they had defended their home. The mercenaries smiled with quiet satisfaction at a job well done.
The next day brought a bittersweet atmosphere to the village. While spirits remained high, there was an undercurrent of sadness as they prepared graves for the fallen.
Multiple burial mounds dotted the hillside—villagers who had died bravely defending their homes from the pirates.
One grave bore Seripas's distinctive helmet mounted on a wooden post, while another was marked with Rumi Paramita's weathered cloak fluttering in the breeze.
The villagers paid their respects to the warriors who had died protecting their community, ensuring they would be remembered as heroes rather than simply hired guns who happened to be in the right place.
Eventually, Cassis and most of the villagers gathered at the edge of town to see off the six surviving mercenaries.
"There are crops to harvest, fields to plow, homes to rebuild," Cassis said solemnly. "Now we can finally rest and work in peace." As the villagers began heading back to their daily tasks, Cassis turned to address the bounty hunters directly. "How can I ever repay you for saving our village?"
"We didn't save your village, Cassis," Quill said with a warm smile. "Your people did that."
"For the first time in my memory, my people are no longer afraid of pirates. We will never forget what you've done."
"I certainly hope not," Rocket said, patting the crate of silium seeds they'd earned for the job. "This stuff's worth good credits."
Standing nearby was Embo, sitting on his own pile of silium that he and Sugi would split for additional income. He was currently wrapped in several bandages to help heal the injuries he'd sustained during the night battle.
"I'm genuinely impressed by your team," Sugi said, approaching the Guardians. "Care to find a cantina somewhere and celebrate properly?"
"Now you're speaking my language," Rocket said enthusiastically. "I could definitely go for a drink."
"It was an honor working alongside all of you," Gamora said with sincere respect.
Embo spoke a few words in his native tongue, causing Star-Lord to nod thoughtfully.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all," Peter admitted. "Maybe Rocket could tinker with your hat while we're there—make it even more impressive."
"Observation: I recommend pursuing this course of action. The rewards would be substantial," HK-47 interjected, raising his rifle to demonstrate several features he hadn't needed to use in combat. "Statement: This unit finds combat alongside organic meatbags surprisingly tolerable when they demonstrate competence."
The group began walking toward their respective ships, the mood light despite their recent battles.
"I'll admit, it's been a genuine pleasure working with you," Sugi said before helping Embo board their vessel.
"We'll see you on Tatooine," Peter called out. "First round's on us."
"We'll hold you to that," Sugi replied with a grin.
Unknown Location
A small reconnaissance ship glided through the void of space, its destination a drab brown-gray planet that hung like a bruise against the stars.
Several larger vessels orbited the world, and closer inspection would reveal countless droids working around the clock to retrofit and enhance the spacecraft with new weapons and armor plating.
The small ship bypassed the fleet and descended toward the planet's surface, heading for a particularly ominous industrial complex that sprawled across the landscape like a mechanical cancer.
Small maintenance droids and patrol fighters buzzed around the factory like metallic insects. The reconnaissance ship flew directly to the facility's highest tower—a massive smokestack that belched thick, acrid clouds into the atmosphere. The vessel hovered over the structure until a concealed landing platform extended from within the pillar.
As it touched down, the entire platform descended into the factory's depths.
During the descent, it passed level after level of production lines, conveyor systems, assembly cranes, and manufacturing bays where robots of various sizes were being constructed—all sharing the same sleek, threatening aesthetic.
The platform finally came to rest in a hangar bay where multiple ships of similar design sat in neat rows. When the hatch hissed open, a damaged but still functional battle droid emerged and took flight.
The droid navigated through a long corridor that led to a massive door. The barrier slid aside silently, and the robot entered a circular chamber.
At the room's center sat an imposing throne constructed from twisted metal, countless wires and conduits snaking from its base like the roots of some technological tree.
Seated upon this seat of power was a tall, imposing figure that radiated menace and barely contained malice.
"I see you've returned from your reconnaissance mission," the figure said, his voice an unsettling fusion of synthetic modulation and organic undertones. "How did it proceed?"
The battle droid didn't respond verbally. Instead, its optical sensors flickered rapidly as it approached its master.
The seated figure reached out with one metallic hand and grasped the droid's head, his fingers interfacing directly with the lifeless photoreceptors.
With a swift motion, the robot's head detached from its body and was lifted to eye level. The figure held the severed head for several moments, downloading and processing the intelligence it contained.
He made a low, rumbling sound as he reviewed the audio and video feeds from the battles the droid had witnessed.
"Earth music?" he muttered, his tone sharpening with interest.
As far as his intelligence networks knew, the only significant connection to Earth culture in Republic space was the Avengers. How had this element appeared on some backwater agricultural world?
"A talking raccoon? And humans operating in Outer Rim space?"
His expression shifted into something that might have been a smile, if smiles could be so thoroughly devoid of warmth.
"Fascinating. These 'Guardians' represent an intriguing new variable in the equation." The figure casually tossed the head back to the waiting droid, which caught it with mechanical precision. "Repair yourself and return to your duties."
Ultron leaned back in his throne and resumed monitoring his vast manufacturing operations, knowing that soon—very soon—his time would come.