6261/Milano Tales: We're going to need some help

Milano Tales: We're going to need some help
Date of Scene:	18 May 2021
Location:	Knowhere
Synopsis:	The Guardians attempt to follow the Dark Aster. Upon losing it, they fight with their own confused feelings about what Nebula has done and who she is to them. It is settled, they need help. Peter makes a call and the crew head to Knowhere. There they meet Phyla-Vell, a seemingly random woman who Peter has a lot of faith in. Rocket, Groot, and Mantis head off to weaponise Mantis.
Cast of Characters:	Phyla-Vell, Peter Quill, Mantis, Rocket, Gamora, Groot

---

Phyla-Vell has posed:
Jump 1 -- minor traces of the Dark Aster.
Jump 2 -- faint traces of the Dark Aster.
Jump 3 -- no trace of the Dark Aster
Jump 4 -- okay this was a bit of a shot in the dark... but they have lost the Dark Aster

    Moments after awakening from Nebula's ploy to save the crews life from Ronan the Accuser they decided to chase down the Dark Aster and save her. But they over-estimated their ability to find Ronan's ship. Now.. they are without a lead. Rescuing Nebula is going to be harder than they first thought. The longer they take the farther Ronan gets and the more likely it is he will return Nebula to Thanos.

Peter Quill has posed:
"Damn it," Peter, curses as they come out of that fourth jump and there's no trace of the Aster. "Guys, I'm not getting anything, any of you guys having any better luck?" he calls back from his console. He hasn't even put on music for this, though Blondie's 'One Way or Another' would fit, so you know he's serious.

His console is showing nothing but all the others on the bridge can run the sensors just as well.

Mantis has posed:
"If we, perhaps, built some kind of device to empower my...empathic reception," Mantis suggests, "I could have tracked feeling of distress, such as Nebula might feel being a captive of that Ronan guy..." it's a good offer except, "too bad we don't have such a device." Well, it was a suggestion at least, even if not a very helpful one.

Rocket has posed:
Rocket scowls, seated in his own spot, within the cockpit, though for a moment he rests a hand over his belly. Too many jumps in rapid succession might just be unsettling to the stomach. "You think I'd keep it to myself if I got something?"

There had been some surprise on the parts of at least one or two of the crew when he advocated for going after Nebula and getting her back. For someone who seemed to care little about the others, one might have expected him to take it as an acceptable loss.

But he isn't talking about that. Yet.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora just stares, glassy-eyed at the readouts in front of her, shaking her head slowly. She always fancied herself something of a realist; that's part of why her escape plan didn't involve Nebula in the first place. But part of her is still clinging blindly to a rather unfounded hope.

    Absurdly, an instinctive pressure not to fail is part of it, even without anyone to gravely disappoint.

"... Nothing. There's nothing. The ship is..." Gamora slams the bottom of one fist down on her console, cracks forming in her monthslong attempt to subdue her inner anger and passion, for practicality's sake if nothing else. "Damn it. God *damn* iiiittt...!" She snarls through gritted teeth. She's briefly silence as Mantis speaks, enough hope lighting up in her eyes to bring her crushing disappointment when she quickly realizes - and Mantis quickly confirms - that her suggestion is not actually possible.

Sucking in a sharp hiss of air, Gamora stands up and marches over to Mantis, grabbing a fist full of her shirt and pulling her closer. "Don't waste our time if you don't have anything useful to say!" She growls, before pushing Mantis back and turning around sharply with a sweep of her cloak, letting it enclose her body as it settles back into place.

    Distress. Gamora doesn't need an empath to imagine Nebula's distress. She's witnessed it enough. She's seen what her father can be like when his only goal is discipline, nevermind actual fury.

    "There has to be something. There has to be *something*..."

Phyla-Vell has posed:
    The crew is bonded not just by Nebula's sacrifice, mostly for Gamora but a little bit for the crew as well.. but also the fake blood they all have on their persons. Gamora's duplicate that Nebula had made was a massive invasion of personal space and privacy. Still it was a smart plan and clearly something Nebula had been working on for a while. That particular crate had been in their hold for weeks.

    Perhaps it's just the shock that Nebula would ever do something like that for this crew. It seemed like she hated each and everyone of them personally in a different way. But may be that was her love language all along. Or may be she was just looking out for her sister. Oooor may be she really just wanted to win for a change. Probably that.

Peter Quill has posed:
"Easy Rocket, just asking," Peter says holding up his hands. Glancing back at Mantis turns to Rocket after her suggestiom, stage whispering, "Any chance you can make something like that?"

You never know unless you ask, right?

Looking to Gamora he says, "We'll find her, Neb is part of this crew, so if we can't come up with some way to get back on Ronan's trail, get the word out to our contacts and try to figure out where he's gone," he says. "Besides a little extra fire power might not hurt too, if we're facing Ronan."

Mantis has posed:
Noting, and more so, feeling the tremendous disappointment in Gamora from Mantis' musing of a good idea for dealing with such issues in the future, Mantis pouts and offers an apologetic expression to Gamora. "I am sorry for my misreable failings, Gamora, I will try to do better in the future. I should have suggested to Rocket to build such a device many months before, just in case, it was a slight, and this one apologizes." Her words are barely audible, understanding that even now, she is doing what Gamora asked not to do. Talking while not offering something useful, which only leads her to squeak a high pitched, "...I guess I was useless again, I'm sorry!"

Rocket has posed:
Rocket returns to his own scans, sliding holographic displays around to reposition them and bring up other bits of info like it's completely second-nature to him. Gamora's handling of Mantis goes without response as he tells Peter, "I'm gonna find them, Quill. Somehow. And when we catch up to them I'll have all the firepower I need to melt his face."

Whether or not that is likely has no obvious bearing on his intent to do it. None of this, except for Quill's talk of Nebula being part of the crew, really explains his attitude. Then, he says, "Are you askin' me about that amplifier thingy, or are you askin' her?" He jerks a thumb toward the withdrawing Mantis.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora slowly cranes her nack to look at Mantis again over her shoulder, glaring with bright yellow eyes until the smaller alien pipes down. It's not fair... but Gamora's not particularly interested in 'fair' right now. If anything 'fairs been making her soft.

    Everything is irritating her right now. Everything that isn't progress. The very notion of what they're trying to make progress *on* makes her bristle. In her panicked, emotional state, she didn't properly think about what they were doing, but there is *so* much wrong with even the concept of attacking Ronan. Every time she tries to think of a solution, her brain just stumbles on a compelling reason to *stop.*

    Emotion demands action; rationality demands she stop; fear of cowardice demands action; just thinking about *Nebula* practically demands that she stop.

    "... Contacts?" She finally murmurs, making a face like the word tasted bitter. "Do you know who these people *are?* An *army* would not casually committ to incurring the wrath of Thanos, even disregarding the risk of attacking Ronan himself! No one will... no one will..."

    Gamora slowly presses her hand to her head, covering one eye. She has never been this confused in her young life. Even the mad idea of leaving Thanos had an appealing answer, evenn if she struggled to come to it. The choice of abandoning Nebula seems too craven to even suggest, but the thought of throwing away their only advantage of avoiding Thanos *alone* is too insane to properly consider. And for Nebula? *Nebula.* The fact that Nebula more or less arranged this to save them is a fact she hasn't finished processing, and, quite the opposite, is increasingly tempted to ignore outright just to make things easier and clearer for herself.

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter stands up. "Easy guys," he says to his crew. "Mantis sit back down, you didn't fail, none of us were prepared for this so don't go putting all the blame on yourself," he says, before he turns to Rocket "Mostly talking to you, but if you and Mantis could cook something up that'd be awesome," then he turns to Gamora and stepping around his chair to stand next to her station chancing putting a hand on her shoulder in support. "We're going to get her back, Gamora, and now that I think of it. I think I know a contact who might be willing to help us even against Thanos, and if we can meet them in a decent sized port Rocket can get whatever guns he's gonna need too. So, what do you guys think?"

Mantis has posed:
"I believe he was refering to you, Friend Rocket," Mantis says ever so peacefully, "you are gifted with engineering, whereas I merely survey emotions." Yet the way she utters the word 'emotions' itself carries a grandiose air, she would never truly talk down emotions. They are so important! "Did you know that emotions is what is driving you even now to hasten and find Friend Nebula?"

Mantis nods at Quill's kind comment, and looks around with a smile, "I did not fail, The Quill has spoken." She seems very pleased with that.

Rocket has posed:
"It ain't got a damn thing to do with emotions," Rocket claims, baring his teeth in a grimace. "Emotions make you weak." However, he doesn't give them anything else to go by that suggests otherwise. Quill mentioned the crewmember excuse. Is it the same for Rocket?

He is quick and eager to change the subject. "Yeah, I can probably whip something up, but if it's s'posed to track someone's emotions it woulda helped to already have it. But..we should go to Knowhere. There's a guy that owes me a favor for not killing him when he tried to con me. I'll bet he's got what I need."

At that moment, the woody one of the crew shows up, stretching as if he was napping or resting. "I am Groot?"

Rocket replies, "We're makin' plans to find Nebula. Were you sleeping the whole time?"

Groot shakes his head, explaining, "I am Groot" as he gestures about something, and Rocket scoffs but doesn't add anything more.

Instead, he just tells Mantis, "Whatever I can make, you stay outta my head."

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora stiffens up when Peter touches her shoulder, and reflexively forces his arm away with a short sweep of her forearm. Given recent events, she might have been more inclined to let Peter be Peter, but... literally everything bothers her right now; even the pang of regret for doing that just makes her more frustrated. Mantis' appraisal of their emotions doesn't help.

    What does she think? "Your contact is a mad man. If they can't get us in and out with none the wiser, he invites the destruction of everything he's ever cared for. As do we." It's starting to sound like she's trying to talk them OUT of this.

    Where Gamora was briefly touched by the crew's willingness to help Nebula, she is now increasingly flabbergasted by it. "... Do what you will." She finally says, dismissively, and turns around. "Alert me if anything happens before we reach our destination." is all she adds as she begins to walk out of the cockpit.

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter shrugs as his hand is batted away, and makes his way back to his station. "Point is Gamora, we've got you and Nebula's back, so don't worry, we'll figure things out," he says before adding, "And technically my contact is a mad woman," he says. "But you'll see when you meet her," he says punching up the comms and sending off a message, nodding to Rocket as he does, "And Knowhere works," he says about the meeting spot. "You and Mantis can work out this device thingy on the way."

Several jumps later?

Peter puts the Milano down on a berth in Knowehere, the giant celestial skull a hive of activity as always. "Okay my contact is coming to the berth to meet us, and after we've met we can load up on gear and get ready to head out, no time for drinking and gambling today."

He says firing off a final message to his contact before heading down to the ship's ramp expecting the others to follow, lowering it when he gets there.

Phyla-Vell has posed:
    alk about iconic moments, as the ramp the Milano opens up in berth at Knowhere. Lined up like a superhero team with the bright lights of the hold behind them casting out silhouettes.. the Guardians of the Galaxy.

    With a bag slung over her shoulder, a woman with wild short white hair takes in the vision before her and then drops her bag to the ground. Wearing a red body suit and faded purple cloak with golden trim, she walks forward.

    "Peter," she greets with absolute affection and walks up to the man to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. On her wrists, golden jewellery that looks quite strange. "I got your message," she says with a warm smile and then looks to the others. "Hi. I'm Phyla-Vell. You can call my Phyla. I understand you're looking for help rescuing a friend? who am I to say no to Star Lord," she asks.

Rocket has posed:
The smallest of the crew is among those leaving the Milano, and Rocket totes an oversized gun with him that can extend into something even bigger. One might assume he's compensating for something, but that might be dangerous to say aloud.

As he gets a closer look at Phyla-Vell, he squints up at her along with her way of greeting Quill. "Hmf. I say no to him all the time. It's really easy," he explains with a shrug and a look back toward Groot and Mantis. "C'mon, Groot. Let's go find our guy while the rest of them yap back and forth. Which way you wanna go here, Mantis?"

Mantis has posed:
"Nooooo," Mantis proceeds in a lecture probably nobody in the crew wants to hear, particularly not Rocket, "you're feeling of anger that Nebula is in danger, your desire for revenge, your love and care for a fellow Guardian, it is all driving you, Rocket, all feelings, all...-emotions-." At least she stops there, instead of going on, staring to get a feel for the room, as notable by a sudden choked squeak of concern.

Peering towards Rocket, Mantis murmurs, "you will not be angry with me if we work together, will you? I just want to help."

Then when they meet Phyla-Vell, Mantis remains silent, only offering a respectful bow. Her attention quickly returns to Rocket, "if we are to work on science, perhaps a lab?"

Gamora has posed:
    While Gamora may look - let's face it - rad as hell on the way down the ramp, she can't fight off a look of perplexion when Phyla embraces Peter. Shows of affection weren't exactly common back home, and they didn't turn up much more frequently amongst the crew of the Milano, nor the dives they would frequent.

    That, and... Peter had friends outside of them?? "Quill told you of our goal?" She asks, and adds, slightly incredulously, "And you would still volunteer?"

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter smiles and hugs Phyla back, yes, apparently there may be one woman in the galaxy not mad at Peter for something! "Hey Phyla, how's it going?" he asks her and he nods.to the other, "This is my crew the Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket, who's taking off, his buddy Groot, the girl with the attenae is Mantis, and of course Gamora," he gestures to them all in turn. "Anyhow step on board and we can catch up and we can tell you more of what you're signing up for." He gestures grandly for her to step onto the ship proper.

Rocket has posed:
Rocket and Groot move off to surprise the one they're going to visit. It's more fun that way, especially when the situation is such that it warrants some way of lightening the mood.

Getting the poor alien collector of junk and other knick-knacks to piss himself at the sight of them returning unannounced won't make everything better, but it will be a start.

And he can go on pointedly ignoring all the things Mantis pointed out about him, which is clearly not true in any way!

Phyla-Vell has posed:
    Phyla grins a moment to Gamora and says, "Well he was a little light on the details. But if you need help, I'm your gal." A wink and she nods to Peter, patting his shoulder. She walks back and picks up her bag, "Sounds good. Just tell me where my bunk is and tell me what you're up against."

    It has not yet become known to her that Gamora is a daughter of Thanos, or that they're trying to rescue another daughter of Thanos. But she's already pledged herself to help and she is a woman of her word. How this simple looking person could possibly help them against someone like Ronan or Thanos.. well..

    She walks backwards up the gantry as she watches Rocket and Groot wandering off, "Nice to meet you both," she calls out. Then she smiles to Mantis and says, "Hey." She makes her way in to the ship with the remaining crew to hear all about this call to adventure.

Gamora has posed:
    "... I see." Gamora says a bit stiffly. She nods politely as Phyla passes her, then looks to Peter. "... So who does she know, who can help us?"

Mantis has posed:
Mantis looks curiously at Peter's friend, but doesn't dally, she simply follows Rocket, not realizing Rocket currently has zero intention for getting to work on that science project at all.

Peter Quill has posed:
"Alright then let's head up to the lounge and get acquainted," Peter says before leading the way and when he's there he grabs drinks and plays host until everyone's settled. "So, might as well get to the point, one of our crew has been taken by Ronan the Accuser," he says taking a sip of one of his last Earth beers and grabbing a second for Phyla. "I know I don't have to tell you who he is, we lost his ship, and we *think* he's taking her to Thanos, but, we need some help tracking him down and when the time comes taking him on..." he slidess the beer over. "A big ask, I know, but was sort of hoping I could count on your help, you're about the only person I know who's on their level."

Phyla-Vell has posed:
    A hand slaps to Peter's back again and she tosses her bag on to the cargo floor. "Is that from Earth?," she asks curious to see the alien writing on the label. She's heard of the place from Peter but has never been there herself. "Can I try one?," she asks and then her eyes widen a touch as Ronan the Accuser is mentioned.

    "That man is wanted by Nova Corps. Kree Empire have distanced themselves from him and his cult... no problem there," she says. But then he gets to Thanos and her eyes narrow. "Yeah, I'm in. It's time people stood up to that madman."