Twilight's Spell

The Beginning of the Battle

"So, is this a good plan?" Yondu asks. Those of us that escaped from the Kyln are standing in front of the Ravagers. All eyes turn to me. There's no question about who he's really asking that question.

"It's risky, foolish, and feels impossible," I announce to the room, "but it's also the best damn plan we've got that has any chance of succeeding." A silence hangs in the air.

"Let's hear it then," Yondu finally says. We all look at Gamora for her to start.

"The stone reacts to anything organic," she begins. She has the attention of everyone in the room. "The bigger the target, the bigger the power surge."

Peter takes over the explaining. "All Ronan's gotta do is touch the stone to the planet's surface and zap. All plants, animals, Nova Corps."

"Everything will die," Gamora finishes for him. If it weren't a battle plan to stop a genocidal maniac, it'd be cute that those two are finishing each other's sentences.

"So Ronan does not make the surface," Peter says. He moves on to the actual plan. "Rocket and Brooke will lead a team to blow a hole in the Dark Aster's starboard hull."

"You mean the princess and the rodent are gonna lead us?" one of the Ravagers asks, laughing. I recognize him. His name is Gef and he's still got those stupid glasses that make his eyes too big on.

I pull out my necklace and hold it up for the crew. "Not sure if you all knew this or not," I yell, so everyone can hear me, "but Horuz is an idiot." There's laughter and a shout from Horuz. That got their attention. "This here is an Infinity Stone, similar to the one Ronan has. Trust me when I say you want me on your team, and I intend to fly the best shooter in this room. Which means, yeah, you're taking orders from the princess and the rodent."

"Anyway," Peter takes back control, "our craft and Yondu's will enter."

"Won't there be hundreds of Sakaaran soldiers inside?" Kraglin interrupts. I can practically feel the annoyance on Peter from being interrupted so much.

"I think of Sakaaran as paper people," Drax says. Kraglin punches Drax on the shoulder, in a friendly way, and instantly gets the look of death from Drax.

"Once they know we're on board," Gamora brings everyone back to the plan, "Ronan will isolate himself behind impenetrable security doors on deck. Which I can disable by dismantling the power source."

"We'll make it to the flight deck," Peter continues, "and I'll use the Hadron Enforcer to kill Ronan."

"Once Ronan is dead, we will retrieve the stone. Use these devices to contain it," Gamora finishes while we pass around containment devices for the stone. "If you touch it, it will kill you."

"I'll contact one of the Nova officers who arrested us," Peter says. I'd bet any amount of units we get after this that it's Dey. "Hopefully, they'll believe we're there to help."

"There's one more thing we need to complete the plan," Rocket announces, speaking for the first time since we began. He points at Joeby, a Ravager that has a false eye. "That guy's eye..."

Peter quickly jumps in. "No! No, we don't. No, we don't need that guy's eye."

Rocket and I both begin to chuckle. Joeby could use a bit of a scare, he's always been a bit of a know-it-all. "No, seriously, I need it!" Rocket argues back. He starts laughing again. "It's important to me."

"Get suited up," Yondu orders out. All the crew runs off to follow suit. "Same goes for you all. If we're talking part in this dumbass plan, we might as well look alike."

The boys go in one direction while Gamora and I head towards my room. "Looks like those guys got to work on getting you some clothes," I say, noticing the outfit thrown on the bed. "Good thing though since you're a bit taller than I am." We begin changing.