ghost ship
The Oolafat lead the Guardians to where a large mound rose out of the jungle below. Vines and mosses covered its surface in a mat of vegetation. Nevertheless, tarnished metal dully reflected the suns light here and there. There were no signs of life, but six partially decomposed Skrull bodies.
It was clearly a Skrull ship, but had appeared to have been abandoned for some time. The vegetation had completely overtaken it, and the metal had oxidized and rusted in the sun. When the guardians attempted to enter the ship the primary entry port would not respond. There were no other visible modes of entry, so Drax resorted to using his brute strength and tearing the port from the ship and tossing it aside. A few moments after entering the ship, 2 crew members resembling Skrulls, save for their bone-white skin and eyes appeared. The 2 Skrull-Ghouls armed with what appeared to be a machine patching kit moved towards the new breach in the ships hull. The Skrull-Ghouls calmly set about repairing the breach regardless of whatever Star-Lord or Rocket did to distract them. The Headman, who still accompanied the Guardians, became agitated and hid behind Drax. The Headman then began mumbling prayers to ward off the Underspirits.
"What's so bad about these guys?" Star-Lord asked.
"They are the Underspirits that haunt the Oolafat village. The only way to keep them at bay is to feed them the flesh of the Oolafat, twice for every 30 sleeps." The Headman whispered as he cowered.
"Hey...repair-ghost. Why you guys picking on the Oolafat?" Rocket asked the ghouls.
Rocket was only met with terse suggestions to see the captain. Drax asked again, and when he was met with a rather rude retort he hauled off and struck one of the ghouls. Drax's victim oozed a green, strange-smelling fluid from the attacks contact point. Neither of the 2 Skrull-Ghouls attacked in retaliation, save for a malevolent glare.
The Guardians then reveled in the freedom to explore the ship. In the galley Groot found a salty-smelling, red liquid slowly broiling in a pot. Bones lay submerged in the liquid. Disembodied fingers and toes littered 2 of the bunks found by Mantis and Silver Surfer in the barracks. Gamora found the Cargo hold filled with supply crates. A vacant crate shifted and fell as she entered and startled her, but otherwise the hold was empty. In the Engineering room, amongst all the fully operational machinery, Rocket found a small box containing red soil. Drax made his way to the bridge followed shortly behind by the Headman. A massive, muscular skrull looked up from a computer terminal as the 2 entered the bridge. The Skrull's skin was translucent and lifeless as putty, but its coal-black, soulless eyes held a spark of evil spirit. Its sharp canines jutted over its lips, and a dark red stain ran down its chin. "Welcome aboard. Do you have any last requests?" the Skrull-Ghoul captain asked as it engaged Drax in battle.
The Oolafat Headman fled the scene in fear, while the remainder of the Guardians aided Drax in battle against the ghoul who attacked them one-by-one. After defeating the Skrull-Ghoul-Captain and converting him to a puddle of green muck, the Guardians decided to examine the bridge's computer logs. It indicated that Skrull command had ordered the ship and its crew to patrol Earth's quadrant and intercept any Kree vessels detected in the vicinity. Apparently, the Kree had created a new Cosmic Cube and wished to transport it to their throneworld. At last report, Skrull spies noted the Cosmic Cube had not yet been activated. The Skrull command wanted the Cube intercepted before it was.
The log continued to read that the ship had just detected a Kree vessel leaving hyperspace less than 10 hours ago. They moved to intercept, but the Kree vessel flew towards the sun to disrupt their sensors. The Kree ship passed dangerously close to a stray planetoid and unaccountably crashed. This ship followed it to the surface. Six Skrull scouts uncovered the location of the Kree crash site, and a strike force of the 24 crew members and 14 officers embarked to invade. Their mission was to retrieve or destroy the Kree's newly created Cosmic Cube before it could be turned on them by their mortal enemy. According the final entry of the log, none of the Skrull crew members returned. Taking the coordinates for the Kree ship on this rogue planet, the Guardians decide to travel there.
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Traveling by flight (Silver Surfer and Mantis on his board, Rocket, Drax, Gamora, and Star-Lord by jet-pack) while Groot travels along the ground. Far below the jungle canopy a dozen figures crawled towards a jagged shape through dark shadows. A flash suddenly erupted from a hidden lump, lurking beneath a broad-leafed plant and the crawler fell motionless.
The crawling creatures were Skrull, wandering towards innumerable Kree that waited to spring an ambush. On one end of the clearing could be seen six large Skrull carrying a large crate of alien technology explosives. To deal with the threat and mediate the conflict, the Guardians split into 2 groups. Drax, Silver Surfer, Mantis, and Star-Lord headed towards the Kree ship while Rocket, Groot, and Gamora would attempt to disarm the bombs. The ambushed Skrull temporarily withdrew creating a standoff
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As the group approaching the Kree ship got near, a blue-skinned Kree soldier stepped into the open from an entrance to the ship. He held in his hand the newly created Cosmic Cube that he suddenly activated and transformed himself into a super-being. "How about i knock you down to size?" Asked the super-powered Kree as he held out the Cube directed at Drax. His control over the reality-warping cosmic cube cause a power-draining curse to come over Drax. Being recently activated, the cube was not yet strong enough to drain Drax on a grand scale, but it would continue to do so gradually until the guardians could get their hands in the cube and counteract the Kree's wish. The Cosmic-Kree starts laying waste to all the Skrull he sees as he fought the Guardians.
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As the Skrull and Kree conflict wages around them the other group desperately fought their way to the highly lethal Skrull explosive to disarm it. Once at the bomb, Gamora and Groot provided cover defense for Rocket who attempted to disarm the bomb. Despite all attempts however, Rocket could not seem to recall the procedure for disarming the bomb. Groot and Gamora deftly defeated a number of the defending Skrull.
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As the Guardians and the Super-Kree fought for control over the Cosmic Cube, the omnipotence granted by the cube began to corrupt the beings mind. Looking at the ground: "what did you say?". Addressing the sky: "Is this personal?". Looking into the distance, "What do you mean by that?". Staring at a nearby tree, "Nobody really likes me, they all just want the cube.". Finally, "Here, you can have the cube if you want it." and the Kree held out the Cosmic Cube to the Guardians. When Star-Lord reached for it the Kree snatched it back, and screamed. "I knew you would choose the cube!"
The maddened SuperKree then began violently lashing out against his own allies. His unassuming companions were effortlessly beaten down by the crazed omnipotent being.
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Rocket, in a last ditch effort to save everyone, was able to delay the complex explosives detonation. He was unable to disarm it, so bought them all time to escape. He notified the Guardians defending him and and they ran to meet up with the others. As they did, they noticed that the entire terrain around the battle was beginning to morph and alter.
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The Guardians watched in horror as the planet they stood on began to stand in revolt against the crazed Super-Kree. Earth and vegetation began to ensnare the enraged being. Only Silver Surfer bravely wrestled the Super-Kree for the Cosmic Cube. Both the Surfer and and the Super-Kree were being swallowed by a growing sinkhole, and Rocket told the others of the imminent explosion. In fear of their own lives the Guardians began flying to their borrowed vessel, to avoid the collapsing canyon and the massive bomb. Mantis weeped openly and the others mourned as they watched Silver Surfer consumed by the powerful waves of soft earth that enveloped everything.
The Guardians flew to see that there were no longer any Oolafat villages and that the ecosphere had completely degraded into a barren tundra. As the Guardians boarded their ship they watched on the horizon as a scarlet mushroom cloud blossomed, following by the painful wracking of the vessel by the explosions powerful shockwave. As the vessel rolled and looped into the vast ocean of space, and away from the planet all of the Guardians aboard were knocked unconscious by the extreme turbulence of chaotically escaping atmosphere.
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