13148/In the Belt

In the Belt
Date of Scene:	29 April 2021
Location:	Asteroid Belt (Sol, Sector 2814)
Synopsis:	An 'abandoned' freakshow of a ship comes into Sol and Star-lord tries to claim it... only to run into a blast from the past as he gets interrupted by Lar... and Gigas drops in. Somehow, love does not prevail.
Cast of Characters:	Star-Lord, Mon-El, Gigas

---

Star-Lord has posed:
Minutes ago, a ship of unknown design came out of nowhere at the edges of Sol(presumably hyperspace) at high speed, and the signal disappeared somewhere inside the Asteroid belt mid-system.

There has been no sign of the ship, so it's still in there... and presumably, it's drifting.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar had been spending some time on Earth and around its vicinity, that being the Sol system. It was as good a place as any for the Daxamite to hang around, after all he had some Terran friends and of course there's always the nice big yellow star there to keep him charged and on top of his game most of the time.

    When a mysterious vessel appeared on his shuttle's sensors then quickly disappeared as it drifted into the asteroid belt, he decided to investigate it.

Star-Lord has posed:
It takes a good ten minutes for Lar to get something vaguely resembling a starship ping in this field. Lots of metallics in the asteroids clog the sensors, but one ping returns a /lot/ more than your typical asteroid. Probably the ship right there.

It is, by all indicators, a patchwork ship of some kind. Obvious Skrull and Novan designs are piecemealed together. No one in their right mind would weld together something this terrible unless they had no choice.

Or terrible design sense.

Also of note is the Milano docked at the airlock already; When did the Guardians get into Sol?

Mon-El has posed:
    "Huh." Lar says to himself, once he gets close enough to the mystery ship to determine that it's some kind of weird patchwork job. Nova, Skrull, who knows what else. And then there's the Milano. That doesn't exactly give him a warm feeling--he and its captain hadn't completely 'made up' to each other about the fiasco that had gone down on Theseus previously.

    "Great," he mutters to himself. But just as he is getting close enough to dock at a different platform, he notices something else--there is a single lifesign aboard that vessel somewhere. The Milano would probably pick up on it, too.

Star-Lord has posed:
Lar would be able to pick up a half-terran half... something on board alongside that lifesign. Probably Star-Lord, since no one knows what that 'other' half is... or at least Peter isn't telling, and Lar's scanner can't tell him either. Something complex enough to throw his scanners off, at least...

A scary thought, when you think about it. It's generally only cosmic level beings that can do that to technology. Peter has cosmic heritage?

A cosmic space outlaw leading a team of half-pirate, half-mercenary, half heroes. The Guardians would probably be able to get a great deal on a contract to license their story on Earth, if they were so inclined. Half the stories about them would be unbelievable to move Terrans, even.

A voice comes over the commlink for Lar, the familiar tone of Star-Lord, "Welcome to the party! Is that you, Lar?" Star-Lord casually asks, as if Theseus never happened.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar peers at the sensor array readouts as his ship docks. Could that possibly be Mr. Quill? There was always something different about him, but it came as a surprise that the ship's sensor's couldn't tell him what that 'other half' was. But there is something very familiar about the other lifesign, something that gives him cause to disembark and move toward it. He begins to use his enhanced vision to look through the walls, assuming they aren't made of lead. Well--that is Quill, all right. This fact is further confirmed when he starts talking. "Star Lord." he replies. He's not complaining that the former catastrope of a situation wasn't brought up. It's not something he'd rather be dwelling upon.

Star-Lord has posed:
"I was gonna claim salvage rights on this bucket of junk, but I'm sure you could see the lifesign." Lar can see Peter using his Jetboots to zip down the corridors of the rather large ship expertly, his toggled helmet obscuring his face. But then, the man has had plenty of practice and is an ace pilot himself.

"Got any idea what it is? My sensors are all over the place with these asteroids."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I know what it is, yes. And if I were you, I would steer clear of it." Lar replies. "In fact, I would steer clear of this entire ship." Is he really looking out for Star-Lord's well-being, or is he just trying for an excuse to claim all the loot for himself? Hard to tell, without being face-to-face with him.

    If Star Lord is paying attention to his sensors, he'd see that the lifesign is now moving. Toward him. Fast. -Very- fast, actually.

Star-Lord has posed:
"uh... do I need any special weapons to defend myself here? I brought my usual element guns." Star-Lord states, with just a bit of worry in his voice.

Then, he deactivates his Jetboots midair, and does a mid air flip so they're aimed in the other direction now. For a normal human, the sudden acceleration the other way would have crunched bones. However, Star-Lord unsteadily wobbles a bit as he stabilizes his new flight trajectory... and that's it.

Definitely more than human.

Mon-El has posed:
    "Uh -no-, you should definitely get ou--" But Lar's voice is cut off when a pair of red lasers lance right past Peter's head and burn into the metal of the ship's walls just ahead of him.

    Behind Star Lord is someone he might recognize from that day on Theseus. Yes, that one Daxamite who didn't seem to be phased by Brainiac's little red filter on the sun trick. You know, the one who appeared to have been in some kind of berserk rage. That day, he'd had bigger, stronger targets to wail on. Today, not so much. He glares daggers at Quill. "You...." he growls, his voice filled with rage and his eyes glowing red--yes that means there was definitely more where that just came from.

Star-Lord has posed:
"Wonderfu-" Then there are eye lasers, and Peter does a barrel roll mid flight as he dodges down another corridor.

He lands, then pulls out his element guns, already covering the corridor in mountains of ice between the berserker and himself as he takes off again, filling the corridor as he goes. It should be enough to slow him down as he burns his way to the Milano, at least.

Burn his way, literally. He's heading right for the Milano relative to the ship... and aims his element guns at the wall, and activates a solid wall of flame in front of himself to incinerate his way through the ship.

Luckily for Star-Lord, he doesn't need to care about air.... and that ice wall between him and the berserker should keep both of them alive; him alive especially.

"Hey, Lar. I might poke some holes in the hull here. You might want to get this guy down from whatever he's trying to do to me. I don't want to have to do any serious damage to him."

Cocky little space semi-pirate, isn't he?

Mon-El has posed:
    "You will pay for the lives you took on Theseus!!" The older Daxamite shouts as he tears after Star Lord. The ice only serves to slow him, but it'll be enough for now--otherwise he probably would've been toast by then. While he does manage to melt his way through metal to get the Milano faster, that would also give his pursuer a faster route to him as well.

    Lar rolls his eyes. He really is cocky. "That's the -least- of our worries right now. You need to get your ship and jump to hyperspace -immediately-. I'm on my way, I'll see if I can keep him occupied." There's a hiss and a pop as the ice wall right behind him cracks and melts from the thermal vision. Uh-oh, looks like the cold void of space doesn't bother this guy.

Star-Lord has posed:
"Theseus? Don't remember it. I go all over the galaxy, pal." Star-Lord teases as he sets the Milano to remote... and Mon-El watches as the Milano visibly disengages the airlock... without closing the seal.

And then he watches Star-Lord fly right out into space, helmet on, and head for the asteroids clusters at top speed with his jet boots.

Mon-El has posed:
    This jab only serves to infuriate the older Daxamite even further. "Terran scum!!" he shouts, and as Star-Lord rockets off toward an asteroid cluster, Del tears after him, intent on ripping him apart.

    Lar mutters. << The hell do you think you're doing?! Trying to get yourself killed? I told you to get out of here! >> Grumbling, he flies after them, and tries to get his brother's attention by using their native tongue. "Del! Stop this! Revenge won't bring any of them back!"

Gigas has posed:
Another ship approaches. This one has more in common with an average size freighter ship albeit slightly refurbished and abit coloful with various painted artworks and gaudy decorations on it indicating the galactic travels it has under taken and the sights it has seen.

Within the large cockpit, largely allowing the ship to traverse on autopilot, is one colossal blue behemoth. Steroid Smurf to some. Gigas to others. He grumbles, arguing with his onboard computer system as a flurry of beeps and whistles resounds back at him in contrast to the rumbling reverb of his voice.

"Yes, yes, I know I didn't get him on Earth. For the last time..to many Terrans around! No I can't give the money back. I have already spent it! Yes it was embarrassing. I think I am going to have to have your personality circuits cleaned.."

Gigas stops as he notes the other ship as well as the tracking indicating the presence of Lars. A few more beeps draws his attention to the docked Milano and Gigas curiously hums before remembering who the ship belongs to.

"Ahh.. Hmm..wait here.."

A moment later and Gigas has set the Gigantes into a waiting position and has leapt from its own airlock to begin rapidly traveling the distance towards one of the airlocks on the patchwork ship. He flickers his comm on as he approaches, "Hello, hello! I am coming in!"

Star-Lord has posed:
Everyone around him is ignored for now... with Star-Lord focusing on making his plan work.

The thing about space... is that it's VERY empty, and VERY cold. If you know what you're doing, it's childs play to manipulate it with asteroids around. Especially with a tunnel visioned berserker with no wit to him.

As the berserking revenger comes close... and closer... and closer, Star-Lord brings up both element guns, creates a vortex that grabs up a large chunk of rocks, then tosses the rocks at the Daxamite as Star-Lord intentionally slows down for him.

That clouds his vision for the real attack; a combination of air and ice and earth that makes a mess... and is directed all over the Damaxite from a distance to encase him from head to toe in disabling amounts of the stuff.

By the time he's done, he's hiding in one of the larger asteroids... and the Daxamite has more than enough elemental mess around him to keep his senses from pinpointing Star-Lord immediately as he remote pilots the Milano in their general direction.

Mon-El has posed:
    Quill doesn't answer Lar. Neither does his brother, as he seems singularly focused on getting at Star-Lord. Figures. And to make matters worse, Gigas just happens to show up. It -had- to be now, did it? Of all times. Before the bounty hunter even disembarks, Lar hails his ship. << If you knew what's good for you, you'd get away and -stay- away. >>

    As for Del, he suddenly finds himself encased in a bunch of ice. And given that space is cold, that makes the ice even more effective. Still, he eventually breaks out of it. But fortunately for Quill, some of these asteroids do have some lead in them, and that prevents him from getting spotted immediately. At least not before Lar arrives and grabs him by the arm. "Brother, please--calm down...you--I don't want you to end up at Takron-Galtos."

Gigas has posed:
With chaos and confusion of the fight in sight now, Gigas lands atop a floating chunk of rock and perches that briefly. He had heard the comm communication from Lars just before departing his ship and he just clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and continued on with his movements.

<<What goes on here?>> he finally intones into the open communication lines. Audible for anyone to hear and answer if they see fit. He doesn't move in to the attack just yet but he peers closely at the elemental chaos and the struggle of the..two individuals therein? He looks confused and straightens up but for the moment holds his position, unsure on if he should go charging in or not.

Star-Lord has posed:
It's unfortunate for Del that Peter has been spending more time on Earth... and has bought a few 'modern' guns from the black market dealers specifically for Daxamites. After that whole thing, it seemed like a good idea to have on hand.

Unfortunately, Peter didn't think there would be Daxamites out here at all.. so all those guns are on the Milano. Sadface. If one could see his sadface through his helmet, it'd be very sad.

Still, Lar distracting him makes for a good escape, and he beelines it for the cargo hold hatch as he flies for it.

"Got a Daxamite looking to kill me because I called his people out for going on a murder spree and killed them right back. Just another tuesday in the galaxy, big boy. People don't like being called on their hypocrisy."

Peter may be a semi-former pirate, but at least he doesn't pretend to be a saint.

Mon-El has posed:
    Del struggles against his brother for a few more minutes, but he eventually seems to calm down. Once that happens, Lar finally lets go. He sighs, again questioning his past decisions, like the one where he gave his brother the serum. But what other choice did he have? Let him die? Or maybe he really should be in Takron-Galtos. But for now, he simply watches Del fly off back to that strange patchwork ship he'd previously been on and take off into hyperspace. All right, Lar feels sorry for the guy. But who could blame him, family is family, after all.

    "No, it's also because the serum that's keeping him alive is also driving him mad." he replies to Peter. Then he turns back to Gigas. Right, problem number two. It truly is just another Tuesday in the galaxy. "You again."

Gigas has posed:
"Hmm.."

Gigas watches the sudden departure of the ship into Hyperspace. He had been ready to aid Quill but it seems as if the fight has come to a sudden end.

"And you let him go? A mad Daxamite is a grave danger. You should know. You know..you would be easier dealt with if you were...less cocky, Mon-El. Perhaps a beatdown would do you some good but.. I am putting my contract to bring you in on hold for now until I find out more.. Or at least, I will let STar-Lord decide. It seems he is the one that is bringing you all to..justice is it?"

Gigas swivels, turning his attention to the Milano some distance away.

Star-Lord has posed:
"Wait, Prince Charming over here has a /bounty/ on his head? Since when?" Star-Lord speaks in obvious surprise as he hops into the helm for the Milano.

It'd take some serious moves to take him on in the Milano, now. "Lar, how in Nova did you manage that feat?!" Star-Lord laughs. LAUGHS! Over the comms, "I have to hear this one."

Mon-El has posed:
    "You think I don't know that?" Lar quips sharply at Gigas. "But I managed to calm him down, so that's a good sign. If I don't have to send him off to prison I'd rather not. He is my brother, after all..." he sighs. Ugh, right--that contract. "Listen Gigas, you need to go back to Glorith, give her back any downpayment she may have made and tell her you can't do this."

    Then Star-Lord starts laughing and calling him 'prince charming'. He isn't sure what exactly that's supposed to mean, other than assuming it's some kind of Terran idiom. He groans. "I didn't -manage- anything..." Eyeroll. Should he really tell Quill about this? Oh, what was the point, he'd just keep grilling. "Glorith is...complicated. And she's probably come up with some new way to coerce me into marrying her. Again."

Gigas has posed:
"I have been hired to bring him to a..certain beautiful woman named Glorith. However it seems that the matter is complicated." explains Gigas. He then just blinks as Mon-El further explains matters and a certain sort of...understanding dawns on him..especially as he overhears the Prince Charming comment.. And he did hear somewhere that Mon-El is some sort of prince among the Daxamites?

"Oh..I see. It all makes sense now. An arranged marriage. You ran away at the ceremony. She is in tears and ravaged with grief. Desperate to get you back she would do anything including pay bounty hunters and mercenaries of quality reputation. Like me. She longs for your love and you have abandoned her."

He shakes his head and says, "I am not sure I can get involved in such an affair..."

Star-Lord has posed:
It's probably a good thing that Peter doesn't need to bust a move with his ace piloting... because the Milano would be turned into an anti-matter fireball while he laughed. "And people wonder why I don't settle!" Star-Lord laughs a bit harder, "though I probably shouldn't be talking, what with Kori and me." He coughs a bit as he tries to get his laughter under control.

"Prince Charming here is a runaway groom. That's great. I love it. Are the Violets going to get involved? I can totally see them getting involved." There's a pause... "if they do, let me know. I have a tub of popcorn right here."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar immediately regrets having told them about this, as Gigas starts making up a story that Star-Lord gets a real kick out of. "Ugh! No it's not like that at all! She...I was never -supposed- to marry her, it wasn't an -arranged- marriage. She just wants to puppet me around, turn me into her loyal strongman lackey that's all!" Okay, he knows that isn't -completely- true, but he's not going to say that. "Just--like I said, give her back the downpayment, and tell her you can't do it, okay?" he folds his arms.

Gigas has posed:
"..Only because I helped rescue you and save your life and you owe me a life debt that you will never be able to repay..am I considering what you are saying." says Gigas while pointing at Lars.

"I also make it a policy to never get involved in affairs of love and lovers quarrels. I suggest you settle with her before the Protectors of Love get involved." He may mean the Violet Lanterns. It's hard to say with him.

His boots ignite and he lifts off of the asteroid he had been perched on - and begins to quickly approach his ship while saying, "We will see what she says. I hate seeing a jilted lover cry."

Mon-El has posed:
    "She...-doesn't- love me! Like I said, she just wants me to be her lackey." Lar insists, though his tone makes it clear that isn't totally true and he knows it. "Trust me, the last time I tried talking to her, she almost killed my friends."

    Ugh, the Violet Lanterns, he'd never even thought about them. Annoyed, he turns away and starts back toward Earth.

Gigas has posed:
He -did- say something about enslavement or somethign or other. Gigas did sort of gloss that over. Possibly on purpose. Perhaps for all of his brutish behavior..he's not above needling as well just for the fun of it.

"I'm not interested in collecting slaves. You are free to go." he says matter of factly while getting into his ship and beginning the process of powering it up for departure. It seems that the matter is dropped. For now.

Star-Lord has posed:
"ANY Lantern isn't worth your time." Comes a reply from Peter over the comms, "They're all insane, the Greens most of all."

Then the Milano, too, starts to head to Earth, "Oh, got a date Lar? So do I. I'd offer to double date, but Prince Charming needs all the help he can get."