The vast and boundless starry sky.
Ego's spaceship is ahead.
The Enterprise closely follows, heading toward Ego's planet.
The journey is somewhat long, requiring until the morning of the second Earth Day to arrive.
In the captain's lounge of the Enterprise.
After taking a shower, Gwen changed into pajamas, walked out of the bathroom, and glanced at Hawk, who was leaning on the bed and browsing the 'Cosmic Travel Guide - New Star Legion Tenth Edition.' She chuckled, got onto the bed, grabbed the manual from Hawk's hands, and gazed at him with her emerald eyes that seemed to speak.
Their eyes met.
"Alright, talk now."
"Talk about what?"
Hawk chuckled, feigning ignorance.
Gwen said, "Ego, it's not as simple as he says, right?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow, pulled Gwen close, and after she settled comfortably in his arms, he recounted the origin of Ego and his affairs with Star-Lord.
"Ego is not human."
"He is indeed a Celestial God."
"Ego's true form is a self-aware planet that, over endless ages, developed a conscious life of its own, and gradually constructed a planetary body, granting itself the power a Celestial God should have."
"He has a goal, to spread his life across the universe, so that eventually, all life in the universe becomes him alone."
"All things are me, and I am all things."
"He believes this is the ultimate beautification and redemption of the universe."
"However, to achieve this plan, he needs another life possessing his genes, capable of inheriting his power, to serve as his battery and jointly initiate this assimilation program."
"Ego is indeed Star-Lord's biological father."
"But, Star-Lord is not Ego's only child."
As Hawk spoke, scenes of the mountain of bones inside Ego Planet from 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' flashed in his mind.
All those bones shared a common identity.
Ego's children.
In the movie, those remains were the children brutally killed by Ego because they hadn't inherited Ego's power.
Star-Lord was the only child who inherited his power.
If Ego hadn't implanted a tumor in Star-Lord's mother Meredith's brain, killing her, frankly speaking, his plan might have had a chance of succeeding.
Unfortunately…
Ego couldn't understand a child raised in a single-parent family, and their dependency on their mother.
To avenge his mother's death, Star-Lord pulled the trigger on Ego with almost no hesitation.
For his mother, he chose not to become a Celestial God.
For his mother, he willingly remained a Demigod, akin to a mortal!
Gwen listened quietly to Hawk's narration, and after he finished, she looked up at him and offered her evaluation.
"So, Ego is a madman, and moreover, a heartless, selfish, and ruthless madman."
"Ego was just a sphere to begin with."
Hawk chuckled: "And one that, due to some mutation, gained its own life in the Universe; without teachings, without guidance, called a person, but no different from a beast, so you shouldn't harbor any high hopes for him."
Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are we going to his planet? Is there something you want on his planet?"
"Yes."
Hawk did not hide it from Gwen: "Ego does not matter to me, but how he developed a self-aware life really matters to me, so I want to go over there and have a look at Ego's true form."
Perhaps he could gain some useful information about the Eighth Sense, the Sense of Life, from Ego's true form.
Gwen pondered as she listened to Hawk's words and nodded thoughtfully.
She had no further questions.
Except for one.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Of course it is."
"…"
Hawk said this, then before Gwen could speak, he continued: "For Ego, it's very dangerous. If he doesn't plan to show me his true form, for me, it's not, not at all, if I want, I can blow up his planet with one punch."
Gwen met Hawk's smiling face, remained silent for a while, and moved her small hand that rested on Hawk's waist.
The next second.
Hawk's expression twisted deliberately.
"Hiss!"
"Does it hurt?"
"Yes, it hurts."
"Good, it should hurt. Let that be a lesson for not beating around the bush next time."
Gwen said, switching from twisting to caressing, simultaneously rolling her eyes at Hawk, then curiously said: "Ego mentioned before he had Yondu pick up Star-Lord, but Yondu didn't take Star-Lord back. Could it be that Yondu knew something?"
Hawk nodded: "Yes."
Back then, Yondu indeed took on a contract to pick up the thousands of children scattered across the universe and bring them back to Ego.
Initially, Yondu didn't know what Ego did to those children until he went to pick up Star-Lord, learned what Ego had done to those children, and out of conscience, protection for an innocent child, and guilt for the children he previously sent back, Yondu violated the agreement with Ego.
He chose to keep Star-Lord, claiming publicly to have sold him, but in fact, to protect him, keeping him away from his biological father's lethal hands.
But that decision caused Yondu to pay a huge price.
Not only did he offend a Celestial God, but he also violated the Raider's code by 'child trafficking,' being ostracized and despised by the entire Raider community.
But Yondu never regretted it.
This is evident from the fact that he never explained to anyone.
Gwen pursed her lips.
"So according to you, Yondu is a good person."
"Let's say he's a bad person with a sense of principle."
Hawk said so.
What are cosmic raiders? To put it simply, they are space bandits, cosmic mercenaries, but they strictly adhere to an ancient code, the Raider's Code, and are a villainous organization with principles.
Simply put,
Raiders belong to the outlaw world of the cosmos.
Gwen leaned against Hawk's chest, her eyes unblinking, seemingly lost in thought.
Hawk looked at the pensive Gwen and smiled.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking, do you think we should tell Star-Lord about this?"
"He's on the ship ahead with his father."
After deciding to go to Ego Planet, Star-Lord and Destroyer followed Ego to his ship.
As for Gamora,
she didn't really want to stay on the Enterprise known for Thanos, nor did she want to go to Ego Planet, so now she just wanted to quickly help Rocket Raccoon repair their Milan ship overnight.
Hawk said this while meeting Gwen's eyes, then shrugged.
"If you want, you can tell Gamora. Isn't she Star-Lord's girlfriend?"
"This won't affect your plan, will it?"
"It will."
Hawk didn't hesitate but, learning from past mistakes, quickly added, "However, in the end, it all comes down to a show of force. After all, as you said, Ego is a selfish guy; I don't expect him to invite me to observe his true form."
Gwen, seeing Hawk had learned his lesson, smiled slightly, and after some thought, chose not to get up to find Gamora.
"Forget it."
"What's the matter?"
"It's someone else's private matter; we shouldn't interfere."
Gwen looked up at Hawk: "Some things can only be trusted when experienced by the individual. If they hear it from someone else, they'll only think it's false."
Hawk nodded, agreeing with Gwen's statement.
"Alright, then we won't get involved."
"But..."
Gwen paused and then looked at Hawk: "Still, they are our compatriots. If we can help, we should try to."
Upon hearing this, Hawk lowered his gaze to meet Gwen's.
The next second,
He laughed.
"Alright!"
As everyone knows, his Gwen is always a symbol of beauty and kindness.
So!
For Gwen's wishes, he is her protector.
But just as they were about to fall asleep,
the overnight-repaired Milan ship applied to leave the Enterprise.
Upon hearing Gamora's request, Gwen was a bit curious: "Leaving? We're about to arrive at Ego Planet. Aren't you coming with us to take a look?"
Gamora shook her head: "No, I'm going along, but Rocket and Groot need to leave first. We have a shipment on board that needs to be delivered on time."
Gwen understood and nodded.
After getting Gwen's permission, Gamora went to the deck where the Milan was parked, found Rocket Raccoon, and whispered: "I don't trust them, and I don't trust Ego either. Once you leave, find the nearest planet. If anything happens here, I'll contact you immediately."
Rocket Raccoon nodded his raccoon head while carrying his weapon.
"Understood!"
"I am Groot!"
Baby Groot, sitting on Rocket's shoulder, nodded seriously with a serious face and said.
Gamora smiled and patted Baby Groot's head.
Soon,
the repaired Milan left the Enterprise, seeming to move in the opposite direction away from the Enterprise and Ego's ship.
As the Milan ship left, communication came from Ego's ship.
It wasn't Ego contacting but Star-Lord.
"Why did the Milan leave?"
"There's a shipment on their ship that needs to be delivered on time, remember, Peter?"
"...I remember, but Rocket and Groot going is okay, right?"
Star-Lord initially wanted to ask about the cargo but understood Gamora's glance and went along with the questioning.
Gamora chatted with Star-Lord for a bit and then ended the communication.
The next day,
Near noon,
they arrived at Ego Planet.
Gwen rose from her captain's seat, looking at the planet before her, red with a hint of azure.
"This planet..."
"Is it beautiful?"
"..."
Gwen glanced at Hawk, who had interjected, and smiled slightly: "I was going to say this planet looks strange."
Hawk shrugged.
"Sorry."
"I accept your apology."
Gwen smiled slightly, then got down to business.
"It seems there isn't a Star Port here. How are we going down?"
"Did you forget the Teleportation Room?"
"..."