13602/Guns. Lots of Guns

Guns. Lots of Guns
Date of Scene:	07 July 2021
Location:	Marketplace, Garnet (Knowhere)
Synopsis:	Star-Lord talks to a bunch of people on Knowhere about the Brood Invasion as the Guardians prepare to fly out to help in the fight.
Cast of Characters:	Star-Lord, Kinsey MacKenna, Rocket Raccoon, Mon-El, Supergirl

---

Star-Lord has posed:
It's one thing to go from contract to contract with a reserve of guns and ammo. It's quite another to be retained to assist in a war that shows no signs of stopping.

The galaxy has blown up with news of the Brood invasion of Shi'ar territory. By all accounts, the Brood are being held back; barely... but are pressing the Shi'ar hard. It's probably only a matter of time before things shift again.

So it is that the Guardians of the Galaxy came to Knowhere to restock... and find protection against Brood methods of assault.

Near one particular weapons shop, Peter is leaning against a rock wall, staring into it, his right hand flipping an Earth quarter over and over into the air, seeming lost in thought. From this angle, all that can be seen of him is his brown longcoat, face, and his shoulder length hair.

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
Kinsey had begun to be a little.. upset. What should have been a normal skirmish hadn't gone away. In fact, it was getting more dangerous as time wore on.

Something had to be done.

When she heard about Peter Quill, and his crew, she decided to drop in on him. What luck! Knowhere was as good a place to watch him, and eventually talk with him and get his opinion.

Star-Lord has posed:
He's not that hard to find in the market. There aren't many Terrans around, let alone Terran hybrids like himself... let alone people flipping Earth based coins in the air. As Kinsey walks over his way, green eyes side glance in her direction... nothing overt, but Peter is keeping an eye on strangers.

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
Bearing a smile she waits until he's not too busy, and begins to close the space between her and him. "Fancy that, meeting you here. It's not often you meet someone of your kind out here."

Yes Kinsey would be more aware of him, than him of her.

Star-Lord has posed:
There's a slight smirk as Kinsey talks to him, and Peter turns his head to give her a look up and down. It's not ogling... but appraisal. "It's not often I need to buy enough guns and ammo to take on a Brood army, so there's that." He gives a warm nod to her, "Names Peter Quill. Most call me Star-Lord."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
Kinsey is, at heart, a scientist. Still she bears herself with aplomb. And she doesn't bear the usual 'science-y' person when he gives her the up and down trying to place her.

"Peter Quill?" She notes that. "I presume you prefer the other one, yes?" She nods to herself. "I'm Kinsey. Pleased to meet you. Perhaps I can bend your ear for a minute. I do believe you will be asking for my help in the future."

Oh yes, she's getting her impression of *him* too.

But she relents. "I am the local Blue Lantern in sector 1914. You have been facing a little more than the usual skirmishes, have you not?" Very quietly.

Star-Lord has posed:
"It's my given name. Star-Lord is my outlaw name." Peter flips that coin again, before he catches it and pockets it. "A Lantern... you types usually get antsy around mercenaries, but I don't know much about Blues."

He sits up from the wall, turns fully to her, and crosses his arms. From this angle, she can see the front of his Jetboot frames around his ankles, as well as his element guns. "Not much of a secret took out a Brood cruiser by ourselves and have been working on the frontlines over there. What's it to you?" Peter casually asks.

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
She laughs at him quietly. "I realize that sometimes every person has their place. Provided they aren't hurting each other, and I'm not necessary.." She shrugs. "Blue is the colour of Hope. It's funny how many ways we can carry our hope."

Kinsey waited for him to turn around fully. She was not impressed if he thought she would be. "What's in it for me? To help you, I presume. Unless you do not want my help."

Star-Lord has posed:
"I haven't met any Blues at all. Good to know." If Peter is disappointed in her unimpressed manner, he's not showing it. "I'm not gonna turn down allies, if you're looking for an in. We have a few contacts in the Imperium. Are you looking to help their government, or their /people?" Peter asks.

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"Me?" Kinsey throws the question back at him. "When there is a dispute that calls for me, which do you believe I should stand behind? Usually?" Again, she is laughing to herself.

Star-Lord has posed:
"How should I know?" Peter asks, almost indignant in his demeanor; his voice certainly has it, "You Lanterns are all over the place with all your groups. I'm /good/ but I'm not /that/ good. For all I know, you give hope to the downtrodden or the elite or to criminals who have nowhere else to turn." Peter animiatedly explains.

Then, he brings up a hand and facepalms, "Look, You Lanterns have been random at best in the past for me. Don't blame me when I'm cautious around any of you."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"Usually I help individuals, not this group or that group. Every instance is individually thought out. Today might be you. Tomorrow someone else."

Kinsey spreads her hands open wide. "We, the blue, are particularly attuned to the people of a place. All my Hope is for protecting the people. Not the government. Not the rich. Not the criminals. But individuals."

"Nothing ever came of believing you can't."

Star-Lord has posed:
"See? That's a bit random, don't you think? You're with me one day, then elsewhere another." Peter brings the hand that was up against his face and gestures to her, "You want to help us, that's great and all, but I'll need to know what you can do and what you're not willing to do. The Guardians are a tight group and I try to lead them well."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"Star-Lord you have a pitiful regard for Lanterns, and for that I can only say I'm sorry. As for what I offer, there's a lot." Kinsey frowns.

Star-Lord has posed:
"I don't deny your power, but with all that power and all those agendas and all that randomness, can you blame me for being cautious about dealing with any of you? Especially the Greens." Peter snorts, "'Peacekeepers'." Then, he sighs a bit, "Ok, you're offering to help. I'm not gonna call you an ahole just because you have a Power Ring. I apologize if I give that impression... bad experiences, you know."

He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a thin tablet and starts flicking over it with his other hands fingers, "Once we're done here, we're set to head back to Raken." He flicks again, and Kinsey gets a signal from that tablet with a set of coordinates, "head there when you're ready. I'm not making an operation plan until we know what we're dealing with. The Shi'ar are getting dunked on last I checked, so I'm sure a Lantern will be very helpful."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"I can't say for all the others." And there were some which he should be leery of. "But you have my promise that I won't let you down." Kinsey nods. "Promise."

Rocket Raccoon has posed:
    Usually the crowd at the stalls is a homogenous mass, the brownian motion of living beings being jostled hither and yon as their fancy, their feet, their locomotive appendages, or their hurried pursuits of cutpurses takes them. But you can always tell when there's a shark between the minnows, because the crowd seems to part, a bit at a time, and reform behind what appears to be a local disturbance in the sea of beings trying their luck in the market.

    And as the spot of disturbance nears, it's even possible to make out an irate voice.

    "Out the way!"
    "What you loafin' around for?"
    "Move!"
    "Don't you have eyes in yer head... oh sorry."

    Now the crowd parts to reveal a hovercart being pushed by an angry looking Raccoon with enough firepower strapped to him to commit moderate war crimes by himself, bumping up against the legs of Star-Lord. "Ey, watch it bean stalk, comin' through he- Oh, hi Quill."

Star-Lord has posed:
There's a long, long moment of pause as Peter looks at Rocket. Then, he looks at the cart. Back at Rocket. "I wish I could say I was surprised." Peter gives in an amused tone, before he looks to Kinsey. "Kinsey, Rocket. Rocket, Kinsey, she's a Blue Lantern. Something about hope with them."

Another flick of the Earth coin in the air. "The others are on the other side of the market, and I got my repeating blaster and grenades a few moments ago. Are you all set, buddy?"

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
As Rocket unceremoniously arrives, Kinsey holds her ground and remains quiet until Quill has announced her. "Something about hope?" She has to laugh at that. "And you're Rocket. Obviously the polite one of the group."

Not.

"I was just explaining that I could help you. Though Quill doesn't seem to like our kind."

Rocket Raccoon has posed:
    "Bit light on the Triclonite explosives, but the Shi'ar ain't letting that stuff slip outta their hands anymore. You know how it is. War's good for business unless you're buyin', or stupid enough to fight in it." There's a hint of a discussion settled only shortly before in that answer, but Rocket shrugs and eyes Kinsey. It's a long look. A calculating look.

    "As long as yer not powered by hope, 'cause you're not gonna find much of it here. Or with the Brood." Cynic, thy name is Rocket. "Plenty of hope on the Milano though. Especially..."

    And Rocket's head snaps to the side as he seems to catch a glimpse of something from the corner of his eyes, rapidly snatching a dozen bottles of something from a nearby stall and flicking the stall holder a few coins of probably semi-legitimate value. "Oh yeah... liquid hope."

    It is probably best to ignore the sight of military grade weaponry and explosives revealed under the tarpaulin of the cart as Rocket stashes the bottles away. It seems this Raccoon makes his own hope.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar had spent some time on Earth recovering from the incident on the Brood ship several weeks ago. But he'd been keeping an eye on Brood activity on the cruiser as soon as he'd been well enough to do so. The reports were certainly disturbing, so he wasn't surprised when Peter contacted him to inform him that it had turned into a full-blown invasion in Shi'ar territory.

    Regardless of how much or how little he may trust the Shi'ar, Brood were bad news either way. If they succeeded against the Shi'ar, they weren't going to stop there, that was certain.

    So he made his way out to Knowhwere to meet up with the Guardians. He approaches the weapons shop where Star-Lord, Rocket, and Kinsey are gathered, having donned clothing that would help him stand out less in the crowd that usually frequents this place. "Peter. Rocket." he greets, nodding at them. He glances at Kinsey. "Kinsey McKenna, right?" A brow goes up slightly as his gaze goes back to Peter. "Thought you hated Lanterns."

Star-Lord has posed:
"I hate anyone with an agenda I can't predict, or those who pretend they know what's best for me besides me." Peter points as Lar comes into the market. That Earth coin gets flipped by his thumb again, "And before you ask, she came to /me/." Peter points out, rather defensively. "I haven't met many Blue Lanterns in my time, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt."

Then, Peter looks down to Rocket, "There's plenty of hope among the Brood, Rocket. What are you talking about? Hope that they get to be sadistic aholes and impregnate their share of Shi'ar colonies."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
A brow arches. "Very good.. you are.." And she thinks. "Mon-El, correct? It's been a long time since I met you. I was getting my training with Saint Walker then." Saint Walker was a big thing amongst the Blues. A *really* big thing.

She began to correct Rocket. "Actually, I bring the hope with me. It's my secret weapon." She winks. "In fact, if I dip too long in discouraging thought I most likely will lose my powers. I would not try it, though." A pause. "Well, you can. I can't."

Kinsey looks between the two 'men'. "I'm sure you have loads of hope besides the liquid kinds." And to Peter, "The Milano? Probably not after the Italian city I bet."

As for hating Lanterns.. "He does. I'm working on that." She shrugs.

Rocket Raccoon has posed:
    "That ain't hope, Quill, that's som'thing different." Rocket retorts and looks at Lar arriving. Fortuitously. The look he shoots the man is half loathing, half ... well, also loathing, but of a slightly different shade. "Well, ain't this friggin' great? Don't have to go find the brood, Brood's comin' to us, Quill. Or they probably won't be far behind now."

    Yeah, he's still not entirely happy about that entire episode. But then he's not the happiest of creatures at the best of times. Always best not to take his displeasure too seriously.

    "You ever fight the Brood?" he asks of Kinsey, leaning against the hover cart which, for some reason, doesn't drift sideways despite not having any ground friction to stop it from doing so. "Whatever doesn't kill you makes 'em stronger. Half the Shi'ar that go up against 'em end up adding to their fleet, it's like tryin' ta get rid of Grulax fleas after mating season."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Guess you can use all the help you can get, huh?" Lar replies, smirking a little bit. "Speaking of which, Kara should be here in a few minutes."

    He nods at Kinsey. "Yeah, but you can call me Lar. That's my...actual name. Mon-El is just a moniker that stuck." he explains.

    Hmm, hope and the Brood. "Huh, I don't know. I'm not sure if I'd equate desire with hope. I guess we'll eventually find out."

    "So, we got any idea where they're operating out of for this? They must have some kind of forward base they're using to organize themselves against the Shi'ar."

Supergirl has posed:
Supergirl has never been to Knowhere and isn't entirely sure what she's doing in such a shady looking place, but she had been hangout out on Lar's ship for some time now, and had promised to help him and the Guardians to fight the Brood, sooo somehow now they're on some alien asteroid perusing this weird black market square.

She arrives a bit late, yawning sleepily as she flies down to join Lar, "Sorry, I guess I'm a bit late. Soo what are we doing here?"

Star-Lord has posed:
"It's how they reproduce. Parasitic invasion. I can't imagine they don't hope for it when they seem to revel in the suffering they cause. A twisted sort of hope, but hope nonetheless. Hope through despair. Plenty of that in the galaxy, right?" Peter quips, that coin flipping once again, "I have no idea where they're organizing from. I got us out of the front line sector soon as the Milano was fixed. I was negotiating with their Imperial Guard for a retainer though, and I was gonna ask for an update when I got back. I'm sure you can talk to the Imperium yourself when you get over there. Our work might not be the work you wanna get involved in."

There's a pause, and another coin flip, "Our work tends to get dirty. I'm also keeping us off the frontlines. We work better as a guerilla or special forces team. I get the feeling we're gonna be doing a lot of assassinations on high value leaders. Disrupt their hivemind, slow down the advance." Another pause, and Peter looks to Lar with a semi-serious look, "and before you ask... it's bad. Real bad. The Brood are overwhelming the Haken system. 4 is being evacuated, and 3 is being ground down in a siege. Last I heard, 20 percent of the population's already been turned. The Skrull are keeping them out too, but the focus seems to be the Shi'ar."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"Have I? No. My route takes me along the Skrull and Kree borders." For some reason Kinsey has a faint look of disbelief when she tells them. Not because she told, but because she was reminded of something else. "The other time I'm on the MacKenzie Space Station, running their science labs."

She frowns though at something the Rocket says. "That many? That's not good."

"Hope is selfless. The Brood do not have hope." She seems quite firm with that.

Rocket Raccoon has posed:
    It's not often you see people fly without wings, jet packs or rocket boots. It stands out. It attracts attention. Rocket looks between the newcomers and Quill, quirking a brow. "Didn't know we were recruiting, Quill. Where'd you get these..." ahem. Nope, flying people implies strong people. And he's got enough explosives under that tarp that he does not need a fight right now. So, 'losers' as a comment is out. 'Amateurs' is probably not much better, especially after seeing what at least Supergirl and Lar can do. And let's not offend a member of the galactic police force. "... recruits?" There. Different word, implications the same.

    As for missions and retainers. "Getting the Shi'ar to pay for good mercenaries is like trying to squeeze blood from a terran. You get a little, but you gotta squeeze hard, and they'll complain about it forever. So it ain't glamorous, it ain't well paid, it ain't easy and it ain't safe."

    Pause.

    Blink.

    "Why we doin' this again, Quill?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar frowns. "I don't like those numbers." It was worse than even he'd thought the last he'd checked the reports. When Kara approaches, he nods. "Hey, Kara. You've met Peter, and Rocket. This is Kinsey." he tells her as he looks toward the Blue Lantern.

    "What, you don't like the idea of working with us?" he asks, smirking a little at Peter. Then he sobers a bit. "I...uh...never got to properly thank you for rescuing me from that infection. I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but--you're a good man, Quill." Most of the time.

    He peers at Rocket. "Since when were you guys concerned about safety?" It was an honest question.

Supergirl has posed:
Supergirl smiles and nods to Star Lord and Rocket, "Hey you two, how you been? I guess the situation didn't get any better with the Brood, huh? Sorry I took so long to get here but I'm here to help." she nods and smiles to Kinsey, "Hi, nice to meet you. Are you part of Star Lord's crew?"

Star-Lord has posed:
"We're doing it because the Shi'ar need all the help they can get, and they pay well if you know who to talk to." Peter reminds Rocket. "The Shi'ar weren't prepared for the invasion, and their border colonies are being overrun hard. If it gets any worse, you think they're going to stop at the Imperium?" Another flip of that coin. "You think they're not gonna infest you the second they lay their whatevers on you?" Peter points with his free hand at Rocket. Almost accustory. "This is Xandar all over again, except the death isn't quick. I don't need to repeat the Brood reproductive cycle to you. Right?"

Then, Peter looks to Lar, "We're ALWAYS concerned about safety." Another pause, "Except when we aren't. Sometimes you gotta go with an insane plan. Like that time we busted out of the Kyln." This time, the finger IS accusatory, "I don't care what you say, using their command center as a battering ram was insane."

Then, Kinsey gets a pointed finger, "She's a Blue Lantern, not on the crew." A look at Lar. A side glance, really, "I'm not a good man... I just know what those things do to people, and no one deserves that. Not even you, Prince Charming." A million Unit grin at him, "We can work with you, if you're looking to help with the fighting."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"Oh no," Kinsey laughs faintly at Supergirl. "Though I may be joining for as long as this war may be. But mostly I'm helping them. Supergirl, is it. Superman's cousin? Nice to meet you as well."

She doesn't seem bothered by Quill's saying he's not a good man.

"For the law, maybe, but there are many more measures of good men." She winks at him.

Rocket Raccoon has posed:
    It looks like for a moment Rocket was going to say something, but then he gets reminded about the Kyln and the comment is turned into an expressive snigger. And eventually, he shrugs at Lar. "Wouldn't say it's a maaaaaajor concern, but somebody's gotta think of it from time to time. Y'know, otherwise you'll just end up caught by the Brood." He'll leave it at that. No need to bring that up again. Today. Because Quill just did.

    "Lotta definitions of a good man, and you'd hafta look hard to see us fit any o' them." Rocket grins as he starts to tie down the tarp on the hover cart, getting ready to haul it off to the ship. "It's sort of our best quality. We get paid, we do the job. Rescuing Daxamites or a whole civilization, reasonable prices for everything."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar chuckles. "Sure, sure. Always, except when you're not. Like busting out of the Kyln in a makeshift battering ram." he says with a nod. That did sound pretty crazy. And very much something that Star-Lord and his team could've pulled off.

    He winks at the comment about not being a good man. "See that there? That's called modesty. And modesty is something a good man has." He actually doesn't seem to mind that Prince Charming nickname as much any more.

Supergirl has posed:
Supergirl isn't entirely sure what's going on here although she suspects they may be here to get new equipment or something as they prepare to engage the Brood once more, "Soo let me get this straight, the Shi'ar have hired your crew to help them fight the Brood, Soo we're not gonna be fighting them alone this time? And it's a pity I wasn't able to bring some of my own people along but I guess most of them do not have a lot of space experience, but once again I am happy to offer my assistance."

She nods to Kinsey and smiles, "Yes! Superman is my cousin.." like it wasn't obvious in this costume. As for the whole praise for Quill, she just arches a slight wary brow at that. "Hmm, I really can't vouch for Star Lord and I hear he'll switch sides for the right price. But even so, he's done a lot of good, at the very least he chose to save Lar's life when he could have simply abandoned him. Afterall, it's not like he was offered money to do it, right?"

Star-Lord has posed:
"We're not traitors. Unless you're obviously sketchy and an ahole, we usually follow through with contracts." Peter flips that coin again, "If you want a real piece of work, try Lobo. /He's/ a bounty hunter who only cares about the credits and nothing else... and far as I know, the only thing in the universe that can take him on is Gigas or your Supes guy." Another pause, and he looks to Rocket, "Got everything you need? I have to make some hyperspace calls."

Kinsey MacKenna has posed:
"It's not my job to put the labels on people, but to look at them as an individual who often needs help. Sure, some people dig themselves into the dirt so far that they seem that they aren't redeemable. But you would be wrong. Everybody deserves to be treated the same way, until they have shown themselves."

For example, if Kinsey took Peter at his word, she wouldn't have known that he had rescued Lar, or that he was helping the Shi'ar.

Rocket Raccoon has posed:
    "Everything we're gonna find out here, Quill. Might hafta stop off somewhere for a few bits, but... eh." Rocket shrug. "... good as it's gonna get." And at that, he begins to raccoon-handle the hover cart away again, sharing a quick glance towards Star-Lord when Lar jokes about them getting paid for rescuing him. It's the 'should I tell him or will you?' kind of look. But what actually follows is silence.

    Besides, they didn't actually get paid for that piece of work. New engines, sure, but no actual pay.
    And the Shi'ar still don't know about the engines.

    "Come 'round the Milano when you've got all ya need from the market." Rocket mentions to the others in passing, none too careful about who he shoves out of the way with the cart. "Can't miss it, it's the only ship worth a damn around here."

    This earns him a frown from a nearby alien.
    He frowns right back. "What you lookin' at?"
    The alien looks away quickly.

    Anyone so inclined could follow his progress to the landing bay just by the parting of the crowd and the torrent of random invective floating up.