Tenno POV:
After putting together the Liset and getting her to activate her scanners, Ordis spotted a ship in Orbit around my location.
"Operator, there seems to be a Ship in orbit around your location that might have the capability to get you back to the sol system, there is only one small Problem"
I looked at the holomap in my meditation space and analyzed the scans.
"I know Ordis, it's only operable with a certain amount of minimum crew. We will not be able to fly this old relic on our own"
I answered thinking about solutions to this little problem we had here.
"And you are shure that the Liset is not capable of going and surviving these things they call jump points"
I asked Ordis, still not liking the Ideas that popped into my head.
"Yes Operator, though the tech they use is ancient, they have the engine needed for this kind of maneuver. With enough time and if you would get me the engine to sample it, I could recreate one compatible with our technological standard, but right now the one thing we don't have is Time, so it would be safer to just get on that ship and with it back to sol" Ordis explained.
It was clear to me now what we had to do. But before I decided anything else I had to figure out how big the risk actually was and if there were any alternatives, besides staying here and waiting for my life support to fail, so I checked the Math again.
"Ok, I will go with the, letting myself getting captured and planning from there plan. It seems to be the best option right now where we also get the least amount of attention. The Kubrows will have to stay on planet till I get back though, can't have our Bioweapons get into enemy Hands."
I said as I finished up my preparation for the Liset.
Observer POV:
The Eclector drifted in space, its hull a looming shadow against the distant shimmer of stars. Jagged scars in the metal caught glints of light, and deep in its steel hull there was laughter.
Tullk's voice rose above the noise, ragged with fury.
"You can't do this!"
Hands seized him, belonging to men who had once called him brother. He thrashed as they dragged him across the grated deck, boots scraping, nails clawing at seams in the metal. The laughter grew louder.
"This is mutiny! Mutiny!"
They ignored him, hauling him toward a narrow, cylindrical chamber. The door slid shut with a hiss of hydraulics and a thin shiver of glass between them. He pounded on it, shouting, but the sound came muffled, distant.
Half-Nut grinned through crooked teeth and pressed a button. The exterior hatch yawned open. Tullk's scream died as the vacuum seized him. He spun away into the endless dark, the heat in his blood boiling under the sudden void. His body swelled grotesquely, the light fading from his eyes.
The ship's shadow curved around him, and beyond his drifting corpse lay dozens more. Ravagers who had sworn loyalty to Yondu Udonta now floated like scattered debris into the nothingness of space.
Inside, Yondu sat bound to a chair, his head bowed, torn flesh and exposed wiring where metal had been fused to bone. His eyes tracked the mutineers as they seized another, Oblo, who kicked and shouted in terror.
"Cap'n, help me! Cap'n?!"
Yondu's gaze fell to the floor, shame heavy in his chest.
A mountain of a Ravager stepped forward, fists clenched.
"You're the one what kilt those men by leadin' 'em down the wrong path."
The punch slammed Yondu's head to the side.
"Because you're weak."
Another punch.
"And stupid."
The brute turned toward the gathered crew, his words thundering in the cramped space. Nebula leaned against the bulkhead, arms folded, eyes sharp and unreadable. Kraglin stood farther back, watching with a crease of worry on his brow.
"It's time for the Ravagers to rise to glory again," the brute declared, voice swelling with self-importance. "With a new Cap'n… TASERFACE!"
A roar of approval shook the chamber. Taserface, drunk on their support, raised his arms high, only to freeze at the sound of muffled snickering. His head turned.
Rocket sat bound to another chair, shaking with barely contained laughter.
"I'm sorry," the raccoon managed, grinning wickedly. "Your name is… it's 'Taserface'?"
"That's right," the man replied.
"Do you… shoot tasers out of your face?"
"It's metaphorical!" He screamed getting loud approval again.
"For what?"
A pause, as if the answer might manifest from sheer confidence.
"It's a name what strikes fear in anyone what hears it!"
Rocket tilted his head, mock concern in his eyes, while the crew also looked confused. "Really? … Okay, sure." Yondo said
The insult landed. Spit flew from Taserface's mouth as he roared, "You shut up! You're next!"
He strode toward him, blade drawn.
"Udonta, I been waitin' to do this for a long ti—"
The laughter came again, cutting through the tension. Rocket hunched forward, burying his face in his chest, shoulders shaking.
"What?! What?!" Taserface barked.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Rocket wheezed, tears at the corners of his eyes. "I just keep imagining you waking up one morning, looking in the mirror, and seriously thinking, 'You know what'd be a really kickass name? Taserface!'"
Even Nebula's lip twitched. The crew stifled their chuckles, but the dam broke with Rocket's next one.
"What was your second choice? Scrotum Hat?!"
Laughter erupted from all sides.
Taserface's jaw clenched. "New plan. We're killing you first."
He shoved Rocket back, blade poised to strike. Rocket's grin vanished, replaced with a cold, unblinking stare.
"Well," he said evenly, "dying sounds better than living an entire life as a moronic shitbag who thinks 'Taserface' is a cool name."
The knife inched closer…
"That's enough killing for today."
Nebula's voice cut through the noise like a blade.
Taserface rounded on her, irritation flaring. "Thought you were the biggest sadist in the galaxy."
"That was when Daddy was paying my bills." Her eyes glinted. "The Priestess wants to kill the fox herself. And him," she inclined her head toward Yondu " he's worth bounties in at least twelve Kree provinces."
Taserface held her gaze, measuring the risk.
"I assure you," Nebula continued, voice icy, "I'm a far harder mark than an old man without his magic stick or a talking woodland beast."
A moment passed. Then Taserface stepped back, unwilling to test her.
"I want ten percent of the take," Nebula said, "and a couple more things."
Rocket POV:
"Taserface is really the most fucked up name I ever heard"
I thought smiling as I crashed onto the floor of the rusty old thing they called a cell on this fucking Ravanger ship.
"We deliver you to the Kree in the Morning"
Taiserface said making the pain of the whole day even stronger then it already was as the door closed.
"Neither one of you will last much longer after that" The new captain said.
"Ok Taiserface, hey tell the other guys we said hi, TAISERFACE" I said, making him look back annoyed one more time before he left. A small win for me.
"No offense, but your employees are a bunch of jerks" I told Yondo as I sat down leaning against the wall.
"I was a kree battleslave for 20 years when Stakar freed me" Yondo suddenly started talking.
"He offered me a place with the Ravagers, said all I needed to do was adhere to the code.
But I was young, and greedy, and stupid Like you, stealing thouse batteries." He said while looking into my eyes smirking.
"That was mostly Drax" I answered playing ignorant.
"Me and Stakar, the Other Captains, we weren't so different from you and your friends. The only family I ever had. But I broke the Code. They exiled me, This is what I deserve."
He spoke again, clearly depressed.
"Slow down, drama queen, you might deserve this, but I don't, we gotta get outta here"
I said, not letting my mood getting pulled down by this guy.
"Where is quill?" He asked finally.
"He went of with his old man"
"Ego?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's a day for dumbass Names."
Ego laughed
"You're smiling, and for a second I got a warm feeling, but then it was ruined by those disgusting ass teeth" I said as I observed his face first smiling and then pulling a face as if I just farted.
"You like a professional asshole or what?"
"Pretty much a pro. Why didn't you deliver Quill to Ego like you promised?" I retorted.
"He was skinny, could fit into places we couldn't, good for thievin."
"Aha" I said not really buying it
"I got an Idea on how to get out of here, but we're going to need your little friend" He said after a while of thinking.
Tenno POV:
After waking up from the little sleep I let myself have after the whole mental stress I had to endure over the last hours or so I reconnected to Rhino and looked around while still playing dead.
I seemed to be in a cell, there was the raccoon thing I saw fighting against these people from the ship earlier, and the Captain, both without any weapons obviously. Good, no real threat around. I activated my scanners and searched for an interface I could link with but it seemed like nothing here worked like any plans we had in our database, so also no connection.
"Fucking shitty Tech" I thought while looking at the Status of the Frame.
No Damage, Shield was still deactivated and the energy was fully charged. "Good good, what else" I thought looking through the eyes of the frame again, now slightly moving the neck to look down at the body, where I felt some kind of restraints.
"Operator, There seem to be some kind of cables from a not defined metal around your body, what are they there for"
Ordis asked confused.
"I would guess improvised shackles"
I answered.
"Don't they know of the strength of a warframe Operator?"
He asked more confused now.
I chuckled a bit at that question.
The Warframes were built to fight Beings like those that lived inside the Zariman Ten Zero or even worse, so it would take quite some power to keep them locked in place.
They had to know that they weren't normal people wearing armor right?
The story's of Warframes spread far and wide after all.
"Let's observe for now, the patient Hunter always wins" I said to Ordis playing dead again.
Observer POV:
The corridor outside the Eclector's holding cells was dim, the light strips flickering as if even the ship itself had grown uneasy under the new leadership. Small, uneven footsteps echoed through the shadows.
Groot shuffled forward, his head low, the scent of spilled alcohol clinging to him. His tiny frame trembled, every movement looked heavy.
A voice rasped from inside a cell.
"Hey, twig. C'mere."
Groot turned his head. Behind the bars sat Yondu, watching him with a sharp glint in his eye. Rocket leaned beside him, ears flicking as he took in Groot's sorry state.
"Oh, man," Rocket murmured. "What'd they do to you?"
Yondu's voice was low, deliberate. "You wanna help us get outta here?"
Groot nodded once, happy to be of help.
"There's somethin' I need you to get," Yondu continued, speaking slowly. "In the Cap'n's quarters, there's a prototype fin. Like the one I wore on my head."
Another nod.
"There's a drawer next to the bunk. It's inside. It's red. You got it?"
Groot's eyes brightened. He nodded emphatically, spun on his heel, and scampered down the corridor. Yondu allowed himself the smallest flicker of satisfaction. Rocket, on the other hand, looked… concerned.
The captain's quarters loomed in shadow. Inside, drunken Ravagers sprawled across the floor in tangled heaps, bottles overturned and rolling slowly with the ship's subtle movements.
Groot crept in, his eyes sweeping over the mess until they locked on a half-open bureau drawer, his little mouth curling into a grin.
Moments later, he reappeared outside the cell, beaming, holding a pair of tattered shorts high in triumph.
"That's my underwears," Yondu said flatly.
Rocket sighed. "Yeah, I figured he didn't know what you were talking about. You've gotta explain it more careful."
The explanation came again, slower this time. Groot darted off. When he returned, it was with a squirming, squealing orloni clutched between his hands.
"That's an orloni," Rocket said dryly. "It's a fin, Groot."
Yondu jerked his chin toward Rocket. "You explain it this time."
Not long after, Groot returned holding a cybernetic eye, wires dangling from the socket.
"That's Vorker's eye," Yondu said. "He takes it out when he sleeps. Go look again."
Groot turned to leave.
"But leave the eye," Rocket called after him, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
"Why?" Yondu asked.
Rocket could barely speak through his laughter. "He's gonna wake up tomorrow and have no idea where his eye is!"
Yondo just rolled his eyes and looked after the little one running away again.
A scraping noise announced Groot's next attempt, this time dragging an entire desk across the corridor, legs screeching on the metal floor.
"That's a desk," Rocket groaned. He held his hands a few inches apart. "We told you it was this big."
Groot blinked at him, then made a tiny "oh" with his mouth, as if the mystery had finally been solved.
He returned next with something far worse, a severed human toe.
"Tell me," Rocket said slowly, "you've got a refrigerator somewhere with a bunch of severed human toes."
Yondu shook his head.
"Okay," Rocket said, "then let's just agree never to discuss this."
With a sigh, Yondu tore the Ravager patch from his own jacket and held it out. "The drawer you want's got this symbol on it. Understand?"
Groot studied the patch, nodded, and then — to both their dismay, set it carefully atop his head.
"What? No," Yondu said.
"He thinks you want him to wear it as a hat," Rocket explained.
"That's not what I said."
Groot removed it.
"I am Groot."
"He's relieved you don't want him to," Rocket translated.
"I am Groot."
"He hates hats."
"I am Groot."
"On anyone. Not just himself."
"I am Groot."
"One minute you think someone's got a weird-shaped head, next it turns out part of it's a hat. That's why you don't like hats?" Rocket asked confused.
Yondu blinked at him. "This is an important conversation right now?"
Rocket smirked. "No. Let's try again."
Taserface's snores rattled the dark room. Slobber pooled on the corner of his mouth as he shifted in his sleep. Beside him on the bed lay the Ravager patch.
From the shadows, Groot's vines slid up the frame, pulling his small body onto the mattress. Clutching the patch, he scanned the room.
There, the same symbol, carved into the drawer of a nightstand.
He compared patch to drawer. Patch… drawer. Patch… drawer. Again and again until certainty bloomed on his face.
Extending his vines, he hooked the handle and eased the drawer open. Inside, among pens and a small tin of candies, rested a red fin, sleeker, more dangerous than Yondu's old one. Groot's eyes lit up. He reached in…
and pulled out the candy tin with both hands, smiling.
"That ain't it," a voice rumbled.
Groot froze. In the doorway stood Kraglin, silhouette stark against the light, his presence filling the room.
Moments later, the red fin clattered to the floor of the cell. Groot dangled in Kraglin's grip as the man stared at the ground.
"I didn't mean to do a mutiny," Kraglin said quietly. "They killed all my friends."
Yondu's expression softened. "Go get the third quadrant ready for release."
Kraglin gave a small salute.
"One more thing," Rocket called after him.
Kraglin turned.
"You got any clones of Quill's old music on the ship?"
Elsewhere, Brahl stood in the cramped bathroom, scraping a razor along his jaw when the intercom crackled to life.
A bright, brassy tune filled the air.
Come a little bit closer, you're my kind of man…
Brahl froze, his brow furrowing.
In the hallway, two Ravagers outside the cell exchanged a look as the song echoed through the ship. The door to the cell slid open as they stepped in to look for the disturbance.
By the time they stepped inside, to Yondo, sitting steady as Rocket tightened the last connection on the new fin flickt into position. A faint pop of electricity danced through its circuits.
The two Ravagers reached for their pistols.
Too late.
A silver fist flew, splitting the skull of one of the guards, sending his corps into the cell wall.
(AN: FATALITY!!!)