GUARDIAN

Part II

By Anthony Crute

Day 6

This is the personal Journal of Captain Mar-Vell. I have been advised by Martinex and Major Victory…Vance, that this would be something useful to get my thoughts together and help me process the things which are happening to me.

The Guardians have welcomed me to their crew like I never thought possible. This crew is far removed from any ship I have ever been part of. My past crews of course consisted of fellow Kree, hardened soldiers trained from childhood to follow orders. Total regimentation. I imagine this is more in line with what The Avengers and the other superheroes of Earth feel within their teams. It’s felt…nice. Disconcerting but nice.

The past six days have been uneventful. We’ve seen neither hide nor hair of the enemy. The speeds were

Months aboard this ship…I really don’t know how I feel about it.

Day 9

I thought this time I would put forth my views of some of the crew which I’ve formulated over the past 9 days.

Major Victory… Two days ago he showed me the shield. This soldier of the future has the shield of Captain America. I’d know it anywhere and he wields it just as well as The Sentinel of Liberty can. In training today I think I got slammed with it 10 times. He’s a strong leader, a good man and a fine soldier. He shows more discipline than the rest of the crew and reminds me much of myself at a young age.

‘Hollywood’ reminds me a lot of the Wonder Man from my Earth. The others tell me he is often serious and morbid but I have seen little sign of this. Nikki informs me he has only ‘lightened up’ since I have arrived but he certainly seems to be like I remember from my meetings with him and The Beast.

Yondu the Centaurian is still guarded around me. We’ve kept conversation to a minimum between the two of us. He has problems with me and I’m not sure why. We’ve got months together on this ship and whilst it’s big enough that I could clearly avoid him if I want to I don’t really see that happening. I won’t tip toe around.

Day 18

I don’t think I’ve ever had this much ‘down time.’ 18 days without engaging in a conflict is unheard of for a Kree Soldier. I’m finding myself training so much more, I’ve been joined by ever member of the crew for a session…except Yondu who has spent the last 9 days avoiding me.

This is a strong fighting force. They have an array of powers, techniques and abilities which could make The Avenger’s jealous.

Martinex, Hollywood, Starhawk and Major Victory also sat down with me yesterday and explained that this is not my universe, this is not my future. They’ve encountered ‘my’ Avengers before but after a point where their universe had branched away.

There are many similarities. Vance informs me that he remembers a time where ‘his’ Captain Marvel came back from the dead before disappearing…something which he has no further information on. The superhero community never really explains these things to civilians often.

I wonder if the Mar-Vell of that universe is off somewhere in my world’s future suffering through similar difficulties as I am.

Day 19

Today was the conflict I had been waiting for…perhaps even looking for as Yondu and I arrived at the training centre at the same time.

It all started politely before some heated words were exchanged…and then some blows. The training deck is now out of order for what Martinex predicts will be a month.

The source of Yondu’s animosity has been explained. It turns out that the god Anthos to whom his species pray is none other than Thanos…or one of his clones perhaps. There is apparently an entire colony of alien creatures out there who view me as the antichrist.

We are to remain two decks apart at all times or suffer cryo-sleep until we arrive.

Day 50

Captain America II had dropped out of hyper drive and was flying at only several hundred miles an hour to save energy. Its solar nets were extended to their fullest taking in all of the life giving cosmic ray energy that they needed from a nearby Binary system.

The same energetic life giving rays which once sparked life throughout the cosmos and quite a while later sparked superheroes on Earth was now topping up the energy of the ship.

With the speed so low and the energy drained from all systems other than basic life support and lighting the crew were essentially adrift in space (a controlled drift, but adrift none the less).

Charlie-27 viewed this as the perfect time to teach some of his crew mates the finer points of Jovian 8 Card.

“It’s all mine now, caveman,” chuckled the thick set miner from Jupiter as he raked the star shaped chips towards him and threw down his hand of homemade cards onto the table to be reshuffled by the others. Every pack of true Jovian Bakal cards having been destroyed years ago in the war with the Badoon.

He shot a large grin at Captain Mar-Vell as he danced his chips over towards him and added them to his substantial pile.

“Charlie as a certified genius in every sector of known space I had hoped that by now I would have seen some kind of pattern of hands and winners which would help me ascertain the rules but I find myself at a loss,” Martinex said with a cocked head as he examined the cards on the table and compared them to his own hand. A hand which was 79% similar to the content of three previous winning hands.

“I’ve told you Plutonians just never get this game,” he laughed.

“He’s cheating,” grinned Nikki over her boyfriend’s shoulder. The flames from her head licked down her neck as he laughed slightly. The fiery Mercurian was always part of the fun and games aboard the ship.

“It’s called bluffing, honey, bluffing,” he laughed again. He was joined this time by Hollywood who guffawed with a deep belly laugh.

This caused a smile to spread around the other present Guardians. They had begun to get used to this happier and more positive team mate who was looking younger and more like Wonder Man by the day. Having a fellow Avenger around seemed to do wonders for him.

“Doesn’t he just remind you of The Thing at poker night?” he shook his head as if shaking off and old memory.

“I don’t really recall,” Mar-Vell was forced to admit with a solemn shake of his head. His memory from his previous life still had many a misty cloud strung throughout it.

“Not even Yancy Street Rules Poker?” Simon asked with a smirk and raised eyebrows. “I know you were there for at least one game. Ben pulled out a trio of 8s turns to Johnny Storm whose got 3 kings and has claimed the pot and says ‘8th Hand of the game. 8s are the high card…it’s the way it always was since old Miss Hancock from apartment 8 died’ and scoops the pot.”

Mar-Vell stared at him for a second and then a grin crept across his face. “The Human Torch bursts into flames accuses him of cheating, burns his own cards up and Ben says he has to sit the next hand out ‘Anyone who sets fire to the cards can’t play in the next hand…it’s the way it’s been since Jack the Pyro-Maniac moved in up the block when he was still in High School.’”

The memory had come back as clear as if it had happened just the other day. Mar-vell, usually such a calm and stoic man couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Hollywood cheered and threw his arms up in the air. The two had been talking more and more recently about what it was to be lost and alone and he knew how much regaining memories, especially happy ones means to a person in their situation. “I’m telling you guys, it was all in the way Ben said it. So matter of fact….Then it got even better.”

“Johnny called him a liar,” Mar-Vell interrupted “So Ben pushes his chair back and storms off, Johnny is complaining that Ben always cheats when The Thing comes waltzing back in carrying what looks like a phonebook slams it down on the table and there on the cover, written by him and a bunch of other 12 year old kids back in the day is the Yancy Street Poker rule book. He flicks to the correct page and makes Johnny apologise.”

Charlie, Nikki and even Martinex were laughing along at this point like they’d been there themselves.

Yondu stood silently in the corner of the room.

Suddenly all of the lights in the ship came on and a warning siren began to blare.

The Guardians were on their feet and moving without a second wasted. They were battle hardened veterans. “Major Victory report,” commanded Martinex over his com badge as he rushed followed by the others out of the room.

“You guys had better get up here now! Full scale red alert, enemy sighted at two o’clock. We were tacking around to get a better exposure and they’re all there on the other side of the damn star filling their engines the same as us.”

“How many?” Charlie barked.

“It’s what looks like two battle stations class transports. I think a few hundred individual fighters a piece. They’re heading right for us, we’ll be in weapons range in 4 minutes…if we jump to hyper space I don’t think we’ll have enough juice to outrun them for long.”

“Then we fight,” responded Charlie-27. “Nikki gun turrets 1-12, Yondu take 13-25.” The two broke off at the next split in the corridor and moved off.

“Marty, Vance I’ve got an idea to get us out of this. You two up for piloting this beauty and giving us cover fire?”

“Affirmative,” they both agreed in unison. Charlie held up his hands to stop the others. Martinex continued on to the bridge.

“Hollywood, Captain Marvel,” he quickly tapped his communicator “Aleta and Starhawk make your way…”

“I have already informed Aleta of your plan,” interrupted Starhawk over the coms.

“I hate when he does that,” growled Charlie-27. “I’m getting a space suit and then the five of us are going for to raise hell in the black. I just need a space suit.”

The three quickly and without any more chatter to the nearest space walk bay where Charlie-27 silently and quickly donned a space suit and engaged the door mechanism. Captain Mar-Vell and Hollywood were able to breathe in the vacuum of space so felt no need for protection. Still it felt strange to them, as it always had to stand in the vacuum once all air had been sucked from around them.

“Charlie I thought there might be a little more plan to this plan if you get my meaning,” confessed Hollywood as he prepared to launch into flight.

“The plan is simple, Starhawk and Aleta can travel at something passed the speed of light. They’re also as agile as a Martian squirrel-bird. They’re nigh untouchable and unmatched in destruction in short range combat. They can take 100 ships each without breaking a sweat. The Captain America’s guns can take care of most of the others. The warships however are ours.”

“So we head out there and smash their ships? It’s simple …I like it” nodded the white bearded ionic being.

“Mar-Vell will fly me into the heart of the closest ship, we tear it apart and he carries me home. I’m trusting you can take down a warship by yourself Hollywood?”

“I’m sure I can think of something.” He nodded in agreement. The three pushed off and headed into the blackness.

They had no sooner departed the ship that Starhawk and Aleta hurtled passed them at full speed to meet the attacking fighters and Captain America II began to unload its heavy barrage.

Mar-Vell hooked Charlie-27 underneath his arms and rocketed forward. Hollywood flew by his side before strafing away.

A number of fighters began to follow them almost immediately. The entire battle was bedlam. The enemy fighters swarmed like flies through the darkness firing their yellow laser blasts through space. They had six separate targets, the five fliers and the massive Guardian ship. They did not seem to be sparing their firepower; neither were the guardians.

Mar-Vell banked left, three fighters following close behind him. Blasts of energy whizzed past him narrowly avoiding the companion that he carried. He had no way of communicating with Charlie so hoped he would trust him with the next manoeuvre he had planned.

He tightened his grip on the thick Jovian and rocked his arms back for a second before throwing them forward releasing him. Charlie instinctively tucked himself into a ball and span through the air. Mar-Vell instantly stopped his powered flight and used momentum to spin himself to face the opposite direction.

He didn’t even have time to aim before he threw out a blinding wave of energy; the first two ships were reduced to atoms in seconds as their energy drives exploded. The Captain poured on his speed a second later as a fighter sharply banked passed him and after Charlie-27.

He began to unleash blasts of energy but the pilot of this ship was obviously no novice, despite Mar-Vell’s superior manoeuvrability he managed to dodge every blast. Captain Marvel felt a tingle as the cannons of the fighter charged for a split second, Charlie-27 obviously in their sights.

The ships suddenly exploded into a flash of light. This faded to nothingness just as quickly as it began. Aleta streaked through the space between them glowing like a new born sun. Mar-Vell poured on speed and caught the still spinning Charlie.

Onwards they flew. Hollywood was far ahead of them by this point. Captain Marvel watched as the lights of the guns in the distance lit up to launch a volley against the ionic Guardian. The tell tale purple and red flashes let them know that Hollywood was returning fire.

It didn’t take long before Captain Marvel was in a similar position. He dodged the blasts as well as he could whilst holding onto his thick set friend. He charged a blast quickly in his hand and spiralled left. Charlie pulled himself up against Mar-Vell’s body as the Kree soldier unleashed his powerful blast at a series of docking bays.

The doors exploded inwards showering the inside area with shards of metal before Mar-Vell threw Charlie-27 forward with all of his might. The Jovian again instantly curled up to add to his speed and careered into the heart of the vessel.

Mar-Vell followed. He landed to find the Jovian already in the heat of battle, bodies of the bug like aliens lay all around the hangar bay, they may have been dead or unconscious but the fact that Charlie was waving a large multi part fighter above his head and swinging it around by the nose cone gave him a clue. The ship was hurled sideways through the air where it tore through a wall into the innards of the ship.

The two men quickly followed dodging energy blasts.

They battled into the ship for a few minutes. The bugs whoever they were had been trained well, they fought like a solidly practiced unit. They were not, however, a Kree Captain raised for war since the moment of his birth or a freedom fighting Jovian solider.

The two managed to read the ship like an open book and track its energy pathways to the central core. They experienced resistance along the way but were far stronger than their enemy. The fact that they cared nothing about damage to the ship meant they could tear through its walls, floors and transport tubes like they were tin foil.

They found their way to the core power station in the centre of the ship. It was obvious the bugs had second guessed their plan of attack; the walkways and workstations were packed with soldiers.

Mar-Vell stayed as high as he could keeping attention on him with a series of energy blasts while Charlie-27 steamrolled straight through a long walkway of soldiers, their blasts bouncing off him almost like they were nothing.

The entire station suddenly shook throwing everyone sideways as the artificial gravity failed for a couple of seconds. “That’ll be Hollywood’s blast wave, he’ll never let us live this down” reported Charlie over his com. His thrusters burst to life and he powered forward on self propelling rockets until he could firmly fix his feet on a now slanted walkway.

Mar-Vell flew around to the other side of the power spire and affixed his hands. Charlie pulled while Mar-Vell pushed. It didn’t take long at all before there was a screech of metal and a crackle of energy. Lightning bolts shot around the room as warping fields of energy tore through the room.

Mar-Vell waited no time in swooping down to grab Charlie-27 and accelerated through the path of destruction they had already made. Decks, rooms and consoles exploded behind them as they tore through the burning environment out into the black.

The resulting explosion washed them forward through the vacuum. The enemy ships however didn’t capitalise on it because they were already too busy trying to make their escape.

Day 80

We have been encountering the enemy on various occasions, each time it has given us a decisive victory. I will honestly admit that I was beginning to doubt their effectiveness. It didn’t matter about their numbers or their weaponry we have managed to dispel them without a single injury or much damage to Captain America II.

This all changed today. We stopped to refuel again, just a top up really before we continue on what is to be our last leg of the journey.

We received a broadcast from Earth, it had been heading our way for quite a while but only just reached us as we came to a stop.

Earth was attacked around 30 days ago. It was a massive invasion force, you sometimes forget how far beyond ‘normal’ we are. While we are able to shrug off the blasts without much trouble the normal humans of Earth are not so lucky.

It looks like the two ships we had destroyed and the majority of the others we have come across since were just little lost ships who got left behind. Morale it goes without saying is low.

Later…

It took 112 days for Captain America II to reach the relevant star system. In that time Captain Marvel fought with and alongside members of The Guardians before being made an official member.

He bonded with the crew as soldiers do during war time. They became a single unit, a solid team with one focus. They became like a second family to him (his first if he admitted it consisted of probably just Rick Jones) as they shared their pasts with him.

He understood the struggle that they had went through to ensure survival of their entire species and Freedom for their home system. A system which he now felt was his own and he knew that when the time came he too would fight for it with everything he had to protect and save his new family.

The crew had gathered in the control room as Charlie and Martinex tapped at the controls awaiting the external cameras to adjust the video feed to what was going on outside. It was taking much longer than expected.

“It’s having real difficulty finding the correct settings,” Martinex informed with a slight note of confusion.

The team looked at one another wondering what was going on out there. Starhawk stood as ever paying little attention to the others, he was lost in a world of his own.

Mar-Vell and Yondu shared a glance. The two had built a respect for one another over the months. Yondu made no bones that he did not like Captain Marvel but had over the past few months become somewhat of an ‘atheist’ as Hollywood and Captain Marvel shared their knowledge of Thanos.

Having the core of his belief structure tested had changed him. He had spent many a night meditating on the lessons of Anthos and the priests who had followed him. He had sorted through those which troubled him and those he believed in with the entirety of his soul and was transforming it in his own mind from a religion into a way of life.

He obviously hated Mar-Vell for this but they were crew mates and out of respect for the crew he would not make a move against him.

“This should be it,” mumbled Charlie as he flicked a switch. The room was instantly bathed in intense white light causing the entire crew to flinch and turn away as the two began to click away at the keys again.

The screen dulled drastically. When they looked at it, though, it was still just white. An immense blank nothingness filled the screen. The light pouring from the monitor screen stung their eyes to look at. “Camera or monitor fault?” Vance asked.

“System shows neither,” Martinex shook his head. The Plutonian had run every single test he could think of on the systems and none of it was making sense to him.

“Well something is obviously going on,” reasoned Aleta.

The camera was panning around on the outside of the ship(unnoticeably on the whiteness) when suddenly something came across the screen like an eclipse. The darkness consuming the white slowly. The camera zoomed back automatically to show the object in full.

“By Anthos,” gasped Yondu before closing his eyes for a second. He still was not used to exclaiming his Lord’s name.

“That’s not a camera fault at all is it?” Hollywood said with a grim edge to his voice Mar-Vell had not heard. The others clearly had.

“No such luck,” said Charlie with a shake of his thickset Jenovian brow.

“By the Supreme Intelligence,” said Mar-Vell. He could barely believe it. His body tingled with static at the mere thought of that he was seeing. “It’s him…”

There before them in space hung the massive form of Galactus. The silver and gold body of The Keeper flew around him. It was only with the two of them in shot that the white light made any sense.

It was the system itself. It was made entirely of a giant ball of light. Keeper’s eyes flared as he turned through the blinding light and stared through the view screen towards them “Captain Marvel, I have been waiting for you.”

To Be Continued…