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What if Ronan hadn't broken the agreement and, after obtaining the power stone, had handed it over to Thanos as promised?
What would the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy be like then?
It was clear that Xandar simply didn't have the strength to counter the combined forces of Ronan and Thanos.
Even if they had the Ravagers' help, and a small group from the Guardians of the Galaxy assisting in the resistance, they were no match for the allied forces of Ronan and Thanos.
Forget about the combined forces of the two; in the original story, Ronan alone almost destroyed all of Xandar's ground defenses.
It's hard to imagine how such a weak force managed to forge a peace treaty with the Kree Empire.
Thanos's army, vast and mighty, coupled with Ronan's Necrocraft, completely surrounded the outskirts of Xandar with their combined forces.
Their objective had always been clear.
To destroy Xandar.
This was Ronan's goal, and it was also his agreement with Thanos.
Originally, if it had just been Thanos alone, he would at most destroy half the life on the planet, but because Ronan handed the power stone to Thanos as agreed, and Thanos was a man of his word.
Therefore, it became understandable why things had escalated to their current state.
"Oh, shit, shit, shit—! Hasn't Kevin arrived yet!!"
Star-Lord, flying a Nova Corps fighter and engaging the enemy in the air, yelled into his communicator.
Rocket's voice came through the communicator:
"Who knows what he's doing! Maybe he ran away after finding out Thanos and Ronan had teamed up!"
"Huh?!"
As the two argued, a voice cut in:
"Peter kid! I only promised to help you deal with Ronan, not Thanos. If you don't figure out a way to handle their combined forces soon, I'm taking my men and leaving!!"
This was Yondu.
During the period when Kevin was undergoing his class change within the crystal, other events were similar to those in the movie.
Star-Lord and Gamora suffered a crushing defeat, drifting in space on the brink of death, only to be 'rescued' by Yondu at the critical moment.
Then, under Star-Lord's persuasive tongue, Yondu agreed to help Star-Lord and the Nova Corps deal with Ronan.
The precondition was that Star-Lord had to give him the cosmic orb.
After all, that orb represented four billion.
This was the agreement between Star-Lord and Yondu.
But that agreement only targeted Ronan and didn't mention Thanos getting involved in the matter.
So Yondu wanted to run.
Even though he was very proud of Star-Lord, his adopted son, he now had to be responsible for his men.
He couldn't let these old brothers who had followed him their whole lives die on Xandar.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!!"
Star-Lord roared into the communicator.
He understood why Yondu wanted to retreat, but what good was it if he could think of a solution now?
Ronan and Thanos weren't using schemes or tricks, nor were they conspiring against Xandar; they were attacking Xandar with overwhelming power and an unstoppable army.
Any strategy was useless in the face of absolute power. No matter how much Star-Lord used his 'intelligence,' he couldn't think of a way to stop the two allied forces.
Even if Kevin, their currently recognized strongest combatant, came, it probably wouldn't be enough.
Or rather, how could one person's strength deal with such a massive army?
Star-Lord couldn't think of a solution, and the Nova Corps apparently couldn't either.
So they made the worst-case scenario preparations and sent a message to Star-Lord and the others:
"...All units currently engaged in aerial combat, withdraw from the front lines as quickly as possible. The planetary shield generator is about to activate. Units unable to withdraw in time will be isolated outside Xandar. Repeat..."
This was a public message.
It was a public message for all friendly units currently in combat.
The Nova Corps couldn't hold on any longer.
No one could hold on against the combination of Ronan and Thanos, not even the Kree Empire.
Xandar had no choice but to activate the planetary shield generator, creating a giant planetary shield to block the enemies outside.
"What the hell? Planetary shield generator?!"
Star-Lord heard that term for the first time.
After a while, he heard Rocket's slightly weary voice:
"The Nova Corps plans to trap us all here."
"What do you mean?"
"The Nova Corps' planetary shield is one of the toughest shields in the entire universe. Once it's activated, we'll be trapped here for fifty years! Quill."
"What?! Fifty years!? Wait, where did you hear that news?"
"Do you think my title of Rocket the Genius is just for show? How many times do you think I've hacked into Xandar's operating system? And that's not the point! The point is we're all going to be trapped here! You idiot!!"
Rocket roared into the communicator, but then sighed as if losing strength:
...However, it seems there's nothing else we can do now.
"Are you kidding me?! Fifty years!? I can't stand fifty years in a place where I can't see the sun!"
But Star-Lord was somewhat unable to accept the current outcome.
He was just an Earthling. Earthlings generally lived only seventy to eighty years, with the oldest only reaching about a hundred.
Star-Lord was already in his thirties; in fifty years, he would be an old man. How would he roam the universe then?
"Then you figure out a way to drive these guys away! I knew I shouldn't have saved you! Damn it! Why isn't Kevin here yet!!"
Rocket finished and started complaining again.
Star-Lord said nothing more and fell silent.
Indeed, if they didn't activate the planetary shield, they would likely all die here today.
And if they did activate the planetary shield, although everyone would have to live on Xandar, unseen by the sun, for the next fifty years, at least they could survive for fifty years.
Moreover, perhaps there would be a turning point during this period, and someone would repel Ronan and Thanos?
Besides, what Star-Lord and Rocket were saying now didn't matter.
The person who gave the order to activate the planetary shield generator was the Nova Prime, and at this moment, the Nova Prime had already activated the planetary shield.
Those still on the front lines could see the sturdy, thick shield slowly rising from both sides of the planet, converging towards the middle.
Seeing the shield about to protect all of Xandar, Thanos and Ronan immediately ordered their armies to approach the planet.
The sky-darkening interstellar warships attempted to enter Xandar, but the shield's speed, though seemingly slow, was faster than anything else.
Before the invaders from above could enter the battleship's interior, the planetary shield had already closed.
A thick barrier obscured Xandar, enveloping the entire planet within the planetary shield.
The last ray of sunlight disappeared through a gap in the planetary shield.
The sky was sunless, with only a faint glimmer of light cast through the barrier.
It was as if thick dark clouds had covered the sky.
The Nova Corps fleet began to return, and Star-Lord, in the air, stared blankly at the barrier in the sky.
Perhaps feeling the atmosphere was too heavy, he even made a joke on the comm channel:
...At least we'll die fifty years later than those guys outside, right?
"Quill." Rocket commented on Star-Lord's words: "...You're too stupid."
...
Star-Lord was long accustomed to Rocket's sharp remarks. Hearing Rocket say that, he merely shrugged and descended to the ground with the others.
With the planetary shield activated, they would have to stay here for fifty years. More important than discussing how those outside were doing was discussing how to live on Xandar, unseen by the sun.
Upon landing, the Nova Corps personnel had already assembled nearby, and the Ravagers brought by Yondu were also gathered in one place, staring menacingly at the Nova Corps members.
The Guardians of the Galaxy were in the middle of the two groups, in an awkward position.
"I am Groot."
Groot, who had descended with Rocket, looked at the two teams whose atmospheres were not good, and said to Rocket.
Rocket sighed: "I know, I know, this isn't a safe place, but there's no other safe place besides this."
"The unsafe part is yet to come."
Gamora, who had landed on the ground with the others, stepped out of the fighter and looked up at the sky:
"The planetary shield doesn't seem as powerful as you said."
"?"
Rocket, who had just slightly relaxed, looked up.
Not only Rocket, but all the Ravagers and all the Nova Corps members looked up at the sky at this moment.
Then a commotion broke out.
"Oh my God, the planetary shield... it broke?!"
"This is impossible! The planetary shield is the Nova Corps' highest technology, how could this..."
"It's the power stone."
Star-Lord walked over, gazing at the purple patterns in the sky, and murmured.
Above the sky, purple patterns continuously spread across the planetary shield. Under the erosion of the purple power, the planetary shield was like a fragile eggshell, easily pierced by an adult's finger.
The indestructible shield turned to dust in the blink of an eye, and in the firmament, the faint silhouette of Thanos clutching his gauntlet was visible.
He was the one who broke the shield.
The shield, which the Nova Corps considered indestructible, was as fragile as paper under the power of the power stone.
After all, this was the power stone.
Among the six stones, the offensive gem containing ultimate power and ultimate defense!
"Looks like we're really going to die here today, Quill."
The purple light reflected in Rocket's pupils, and Rocket murmured to Star-Lord beside him.
This time, Star-Lord said nothing. He silently pulled out the dual pistols from his waist, activated the protective shield on his head, and looked up at the sky.
The final battle was inevitable. Since there was no chance to even prolong their lives by hiding behind the planetary shield, then they would fight Thanos to the death.
At least that way, they could die gloriously.
"I never thought I'd die protecting this place one day..."
Star-Lord said with self-mockery.
Everyone was ready to fight to the last moment.
But just then—
"Hello, hello? Can you hear me? Peter? Rocket?"
A familiar voice came from Star-Lord's communicator.
Star-Lord and Rocket both froze, looking at each other. Star-Lord immediately connected the communication to his mask and asked:
...Kevin?
"Uh-huh, you guys should still be alive, right?"
"Still alive. Where are you now? Never mind, no matter where you are, don't come. Run as fast as you can, as far as you can."
Out of their bond from breaking out of prison together, Star-Lord didn't want Kevin to come here to die meaninglessly.
One less to die was one less.
But Kevin, on the other end of the line, rejected Star-Lord's suggestion:
"This... I'm afraid that won't work."
"?"
Star-Lord's head was filled with question marks. Gamora, who had been staring at the sky, suddenly grabbed his arm and pointed to the sky:
"Peter... look over there!"
Star-Lord looked up at the sky.
Above the sky, which was originally occupied by Thanos and Ronan's armies, in the cosmic cosmos, a gigantic whale, almost as large as a planet, floated in the universe.
No one knew where that whale came from, or when it appeared in the sky.
But everyone could see that the whale opened its gaping maw towards the dense fleet in the sky.
At the same time, Kevin's voice came again to Star-Lord's ear:
"After all, I'm already here."
Whoosh—
As Kevin's voice fell, the whale in the sky let out a cry that echoed throughout Xandar.
The next second, the planet-sized whale closed its gaping maw, as if eating a school of wandering small fish, sweeping away the dense black dots in the sky.
It ate Thanos and Ronan's fleet!
And Star-Lord and the others saw Kevin's figure on top of that whale's head!
At this most crucial moment.
Kevin arrived.
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