Xandar.
The defensive barrier formed by the Nova Corps air force gradually warped under the massive Dark Aster's impact.
The energy beam Ronan unleashed through the Power Stone became the final straw that broke the barrier.
The barrier began to collapse.
Apart from the dozens of fighters directly annihilated by the beam, the remaining ships forming the defensive grid were about to face the desperate fate of being crushed and exploding.
Just then.
The Dark Aster suddenly stopped falling.
As if an invisible giant hand had caught it in midair.
It could not descend another inch.
At the point under the greatest pressure, where Captain Saal led the formation, the ships had already suffered severe deformation.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pilots had lost their chance to eject and escape.
They were tightly trapped inside their badly deformed ships.
A few pilots had suffered fatal injuries and already died.
The luckier ones, like Captain Saal, could only grit their teeth and endure the agonizing pain of multiple fractures.
Drenched in sweat, they prayed for a miracle.
But the teeth-grinding sounds constantly coming from the ships reminded them:
Their lives had entered a countdown.
Rocket heard Captain Saal's desperate howl and was frantic.
All he could do was roar through the communicator, telling him to hold on a little longer.
But it was utterly powerless.
Just as Rocket turned his ship toward the Dark Aster, intending to rush over and support Quill.
A figure impossible to ignore appeared high in the sky.
Dazzlingly radiant.
"Commander! The Commander is here!! Haha..."
The fighter quickly magnified the figure's image, revealing Su Ming in a magnificent scarlet formal suit.
Golden light glittered all around him as he strolled out of a ring.
Under the illumination, every detail of the suit was clearly visible.
To say