"Do you really hate your sister that much?" Carina asked, her voice barely a whisper as she peeked through a gap in the hangar door at the debris field outside.
"Shut up," Nebula snarled, her voice like grinding metal. The ferocity in her gaze was enough to make Carina flinch back into silence.
A short time later, Carina returned from her scouting mission.
"What's the situation?" Nebula demanded impatiently.
Nebula knew her own face was too recognizable after the battle; she'd be a target the moment she stepped outside. Carina, however, was just another one of the Collector's former servants, mostly anonymous. It was a vulnerability Nebula had quickly exploited, forcing the terrified woman to be her eyes and ears.
"It looks like… they're gone," Carina reported, her voice trembling slightly. "Both fleets. Outer space is just wreckage. I think they've all withdrawn. Can you… can you let us go now?"
"No," Nebula said flatly. "Do you know where we can get a ship?" She knew Carina and her companion wanted to escape Knowhere as desperately as she did. She could use that. She'd deal with them after she was clear of this lawless rock.
Carina exchanged a helpless glance with her friend. She knew Nebula was dangerous, but they were out of options. "Our ship was carrying valuables from our old master, but you crashed into it. We could have used them to buy passage off-world."
Though they were only servants, the Collector had been obscenely wealthy, and Carina knew where some of his hidden stashes were. A fraction of it would have been enough to set them up for life. But now, it was all gone, lost in the wreckage. They had nothing. If they wanted to escape, they had to rely on the terrifying cyborg who held their lives in her hands.
Nebula's mechanical brow furrowed. "I'll get us a ship," she finally said. "We can't stay here."
[Outside the blast door, Star-Lord armed the Hadron Enforcer on his chest while Groot, frustrated, kept banging on the sealed entrance.]
[Inside the power room, Gamora smashed the protective casing around the power conduit with the butt of her gun. She ripped the glowing cables free, and the blast door slid open.]
[Two Sakaaran guards spun around at the sound, but Gamora was already one step ahead. She fired two energy blasts up through the grated floor, then leaped up through the hole she'd made.]
[As the guards turned back, Gamora shot one dead, and Drax, charging through the now-open door, finished the other with his blade.]
[Star-Lord rushed past them, aiming the Hadron Enforcer at Ronan, who was just turning around. Peter fired.]
[The cannonball of energy flew true, striking Ronan square in the chest. A blinding white light and a deafening roar filled the bridge, followed by a small mushroom cloud of smoke and debris.]
[Through the haze, Star-Lord retracted his mask, staring intently at where Ronan had been standing.]
[Drax was ecstatic. "You did it!"]
[Peter allowed himself a smile, but it froze on his face a second later.]
[From the center of the explosion, a figure slowly rose. Ronan was still standing.]
[Star-Lord and Gamora looked at each other, their faces etched with disbelief. For a moment, they both thought their eyes were playing tricks on them, but the shared horror confirmed the truth. He was alive.]
[Green smoke curled from Ronan's chest, where the Hadron Enforcer had left a cauterized, glowing wound. It hadn't been enough. He lifted his warhammer, and the Power Stone pulsed with an invisible wave of force, sending all four of them flying.]
[Drax was the first to recover, roaring as he charged Ronan, only to be effortlessly caught by the throat and lifted into the air like a child.]
[Drax clawed at Ronan's massive hand, struggling desperately, but it was useless.]
[Ronan stared coldly at him. "I was wrong about you. I do remember your family. Their screams were—"]
[Ronan's taunt was cut short by the sudden roar of an engine. He turned his head just in time to see the Milano hurtling straight for him.]
["RAAAAGH!" Rocket screamed, crashing the ship through the bridge, striking Ronan and Drax and sending them both flying.]
[Star-Lord scrambled back to his feet, tackling Groot to get him out of the path of the crashing ship.]
[The impact crippled the Dark Aster. Sparks erupted from every console as the entire warship lost power, beginning its long, final plunge toward Xandar, trailing a thick plume of black smoke.]
[Groot was the first to stand amidst the ruins of the bridge. Wreckage was everywhere. Gamora got up and immediately rushed to check on the unconscious Drax. Star-Lord climbed into the ruined cockpit of the Milano and pulled Rocket's limp body from the wreckage.]
[The ship's internal structure was failing, collapsing all around them.]
[Groot half-knelt, his dark eyes looking over his fallen friends. He glanced at the unconscious Drax, at Rocket, and in that silent moment, made a decision that went against the very nature of his ancient race.]
[He opened his arms. From his body, dozens, then hundreds of branches began to grow, weaving together into a dense, living thicket.]
[Gamora noticed what he was doing, her expression confused.]
[The branches grew toward them, surrounding them, until they were completely enclosed in a protective, wooden sphere. Inside the sphere, the darkness was pushed back by tiny, floating spores of bioluminescent light.]
[Groot even grew a single, gentle branch to secure the unconscious Drax, cushioning him for the coming impact.]
[Rocket, beginning to stir, saw what was happening and realized the truth. He scrambled toward his friend.]
["No, Groot! You can't! You'll die! Why are you doing this?!"]
[Groot looked down at the tears welling in Rocket's eyes and silently extended a single, delicate vine to gently brush his cheek.]
[The tears fell freely down Rocket's face.]
[Groot's voice was soft, deep, and full of a love that encompassed them all. "We… are Groot."]
[The Dark Aster slammed into the city at incredible speed. The massive impact shattered the warship's hull, consuming it in a final, fiery explosion.]