As we finally reached Orbit, the crews morale was understandably low. The loss of one's Teammate is never easy. Like every loss, it came in Stages and right now, they all were in the 1. One, Denial.
The scanners were turned on Maximum after Rocket told everyone that he gave Yondu a space suit and an aero rig, but the possibility they had survived, fighting that low inside Ego, witnessing how it collapsed into itself right now, I had to say, weren't the best.
"Operator, I managed to download myself onto the Liset, only leaving the most important parts for your survival on the Orbiter, for the last step I have to do a reboot and will be offline for the next hour"
"Sure Ordis, just make sure you tell me once you're online again" I replied.
"Of course Operator, until then, don't die please, Ordis would never be able to forgive himself not being there for the Operator in any kind of need" he said and disconnected.
I just started researching for anything interesting on the data pad as I heard one of the ships scanners, showing a life form and the suits locating beacon being activated.
"We got a life signal"
I said pointing to the screen, after which everyone who looked out of the Window, as if that would help on these distances, suddenly turned their heads and ran to their seats, checking for themselves and then getting pinned to the seats as Rocked activated the thrusters full power.
After some minutes, we could already see something coming our way, looking like a black dot with a blue light blinking on it.
Quill and Yondu touched down in the loading bay, sliding across the deck before slamming into the far wall. The aero-rig retracted from Yondus back and fell away, the Space suit of Quill doing the same.
Gamora, Groot and Drax ran happily to Peter, Rocket staying behind, being with me the only one who did not tune out the blue corps lying in the cargo bay.
I laid a hand on Rockets shoulder, to which he didn't even react to after which I pushed him, making him stumble a bit.
He looked at me confused and angry, but I only looked at him deadpan, gestured for him to go and pointed at Peter, crying on the floor in Gamoras arms like a little baby.
He first looked confused, then smiled gracefully and walked towards his believed dead friend.
I swear I could even sea a tiny tear on his eye, if from happiness over a friend's wellbeing or sadness about his other friends death, I couldn't say.
After some time I felt a presence standing next to me, as I looked to my left, I saw Mantis, holding her neck, seemingly still not completely recovered from the hit she took from me.
"Thank you for the healing thing" she said while smiling at me.
I just nodded and turned to the door, where Kaylin stood, tears rolling down his cheeks, trying to keep it together.
I nudged Mantis and nodded to him, which only gave me a confused look from her.
"Your powers help with emotions, don't they, they all are in emotional need right now, bring them together in a group hug or something and let them greave in unison, can you do that?" I asked her and again only got a nod from her, before she walked up to Kremlin, pulling his arm and leading him to the others.
Somehow after some time they all ended up in a circle in the middle of the room, hugging each other, crying tears of sorrow, sadness and happiness at the same time.
I sighed and went to the flight deck, so that they had their moment together without any unwanted interruptions, where nebula was sitting like a drop in the wind, obviously completely clueless what to do.
I sat next to her, seeing how she slowly closed her eyes and put her head on the console.
"So bad huh?" I asked, looking at her annoyed face, pressed against the tablet.
She just groaned and laid her head into her hands.
I shook my head and looked out of the window.
After an hour or so, Kraglin came up to the flight deck, where we were talking about ships. Nebulas interest suddenly peaked when I told her about mine, she seemed actually interested in seeing it as I promised her to show her once I got it back.
He said something but got overshadowed by Ordis voice echoing through my head.
"Operator, I'm proud to announce myself to be online and operational at full capacity again" He said, a good amount of content in his voice.
"Good to know, do some self diagnostics and come back to me later, you've caught me doing some socializing, so please repeat everything that happened till now as fast as conceivable for me, so I don't seem rude" I replied.
"I'm so sorry operator, I should have looked at your surroundings and situation first, there really seem to be some diagnostics in order, here are the recordings of the last seconds"
Kaylin spoke to me, so much I remembered, and then all sounds drowned away as Ordis replayed what happened, like I asked him to.
Suddenly, Kraglin was leaning over me after I didn't answer his question, slapping my cheek, which didn't register with me.
I was still looking straight ahead, not moving.
Kraglin waved his hand before my face, then looked back to the others, saying something but there was no sound.
Drax was suddenly shaking me, but I stayed unresponsive.
Nebula just gave up and sat down again.
Finally they decided that Kraglin would slap me and Drax would hold my arms and legs together, while Gamora poured a bucket of Ice cold water onto me, hoping it would help somehow.
But it didn't, I was still sitting there, unresponsive, until Drax got frustrated enough to hit me again, which made me jerk up, and holding his arm in a reflex, Drax not able to free himself, scanning my surroundings, again on track what happened and let go of his arm, some bruises seemingly forming.
Everyone stood around me, well, everyone except for Nebula who was sitting at the flight console, seemingly looking for something on the radar.
Gamora sighed relieved and looked at me with a questioning look.
"What was that all about" she asked, clearly representing the thoughts everyone had right now in their heads.
"Sorry about that, I lost the connection for a second" I said in reflex, obviously leading to more questions then answers.
I went over to Drax and sprayed my healing mist on his arms, which he analyzed interested, seemingly being fine with the adrenaline shot.
"You lost connection, what does that even mean?" Quill asked, slightly agitated, rightfully.
"Well, that was pretty much the worst answer I could possibly give" I said to myself.
"Technically not Operator, but I know what you mean, might I suggest an escape route"
He asked, me just shaking my head, leading to even more confusion with the crew.
"It's complicated, I'm fine, so don't worry about it" I tried with a new approach.
Rocket laughed sarcastically and then spoke with a mean undertone.
"Don't worry about it, I mean I'm not a doctor for whatever species your from, but being completely unresponsive for straight up two minutes is not fine" the rest of them nodding in support.
"As I said, it's complicated" I tried again, now slightly confused by their seaming worry for a total stranger.
"Then decomplicate it my friend, we share such secrets around here if we want this whole, being a big fucking happy family business to work" Gamora said, clearly more agitated then I thought.
"So I'm part of a Family now" I thought sarcastically in my head,
"Well, that was quick, Yondu was about the same amount of time with them as I was though, Rocket said earlier that he was also part of the Team as he died. Well, he said family but what do I know, mine is dead or scattered throughout Time and space, when you look at it from a certain angle. I guess a new one wouldn't really do any harm would it?" I tried to reason with myself, still trying to figure out if it was a figure of speech or if Gamora really meant what she said.
Gamora spoke again, putting a hand on her hip like an angry mom.
"You put your life on the line for everyone here, without you, quill, me and Nebula would definitely be dead from what he has told me and this whole thing would have been a whole lot less smoother without you on bord, so forgive us for worrying about you" she said, speaking herself into a rage.
"Wait" said Drax,
"Do we even know his Name?" he asked, the group looking at each other, everyone seemingly thinking they were the only one not knowing.
"You can call me Tenno, I don't really have a Name" He said as he sat down, the conversation not going into a direction he was really confident in.
"A Warrior like you has to have a Name"
Drax said, seemingly confused.
"Well, Lotus never really called me and my siblings anything else then Tenno, after the ship we gained our powers from, the Zariman Ten-Zero, so Ten-O, but it's more a race description then a Name" I thought as I just shook my head in denial.
"Then I will give you a Name, Drax the Destroyer. Shall you give my name honor and glory so that everyone thinks I am the one doing the deed" He said sticking his breast out proudly, seemingly very confident in that Idea.
"That's the most stupid shit I ever heard" Rocket said while shaking his head.
"I am Groot" Groot said looking at me smiling.
"Operator, he said, and I quote, Yes, Drax is the Most stupidest Name I ever heard of"
I just nodded at him, Rocket smiling as he realized he didn't have to translate, then he frowned, as he realized what he didn't have to translate.
"I think he should choose his name for himself" Gamora said, getting a round of nods from all the other Adult minded around.
"Then I will think about it, but yeah, I'm fine, I will explain another time, just know, this is a Warframe, and I connect to it through a mental link. That connection was lost for a second, more I won't share at the Moment"
I said, trying to calm them down.
They all looked at each other again, even more questions popping up in their heads, then Kraglin spoke up.
"Ok, let's leave him alone now, come on, we have things to do" he said dragging Drax away, who still wanted to argue.
The rest followed behind him, leaving me and Nebula sitting next to each other, she was the only one staying with me, which I found annoying.
"She probably wants to talk about my ship and its stealth capabilities again" I thought, trying to not catch her attention while typing on the Data-pad again.
Observer POV:
Yondu's body rested on a wooden plank in the center of the Eclector's crematory. Strips of cloth in deep, vivid colors lay across him, covering his face and chest. Yaro lilies were arranged beneath him, their petals pale in the red light cast by small pyres. Around the plank, a scatter of his trinkets and toys had been laid.
Rocket, Groot, Drax, Gamora, Mantis, and Kraglin formed a loose circle around the bier. At the head stood Quill. His hands gripped the edge of the plank, his shoulders tight. When he began to speak, his voice was rough.
"The other day I told Gamora how I used to pretend my dad was David Hasselhoff."
Rocket glanced at Drax, who returned the look without comment.
"He's a singer and actor from Earth," Quill went on, "a really famous guy."
Drax gave a slow nod.
"And, you know… today it struck me. Yondu didn't have a talking car, but he did have a flying arrow. And he didn't have the voice of an angel, but he did have the whistle of one. And both David Hasselhoff and Yondu went on kickass adventures, hooked up with hot women, and fought robots."
A faint breath of laughter stirred in the stillness.
"So… the thing is, David Hasselhoff kinda did end up being my dad after all—only he was Yondu. I had a pretty cool dad."
His voice wavered, the words dragging as emotion caught in his throat.
"And what I'm trying to say is… that thing you're searching for your whole life? Sometimes it's right there by your side all along, and you don't even know it."
At the edge of the light, Nebula stood half-shadowed in the doorway, Rhinos frame shimmering next to her. She watched for a moment, expression unreadable, before turning away. Gamora's eyes followed her, then she stepped quietly after her, Rhino watching after them as they turned around the corner.
Groot's gaze rose toward Rocket, who stood with his head lowered.
"I am Groot?" the small voice asked.
Rocket's mouth twitched. "Yeah. That's the friend I was talking about."
"I am Groot."
"He did call you 'twig.'"