The Perfect Ship for Guarding the Galaxy – The Milano Breakdown
In signature blue and orange, the M-class ship known as the Milano has saved the galaxy on more than one occasion.
The vessel known as the Milano is an infamous one throughout the reality containing Earth-616. Under the command of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Milano has helped save the galaxy on more than one occasion. But before that, the vessel had a reputation as a fierce raider and pirate ship.
Originally designed as one of the M-Ships used by the Ravagers, and specifically for the Yondu clan, the Milano has a storied history.
The Milano – Early History
The Ravagers were an interstellar crime syndicate comprising thieves, smugglers, criminals, baddies, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and pirates. Basically, anyone looking to break not just planetside laws, but interstellar law.
A truly widespread and loose-knit criminal syndicate, the Ravagers were organized into clans. And under Captain Yondu Udonta, the vessel that would become the Milano was used primarily for scouting and hunting purposes.
With a fast stardrive and a surprisingly maneuverable hull, the Milano was always a standout in the fleet.
As part of a deal with the Celestial known as Ego, the Yondu Ravagers were hired to abduct and transport Ego’s children. Which led to the Ravagers abducting Peter Quill from Earth in 1988.
After a rocky beginning that eventually led to Yondu Udonta learning the meaning of Christmas, Peter Quill started learning to fly the ship that would become the Milano.
When Quill was 10, Udonta gave him his own M-Ship, which he named after his childhood crush, actress Alyssa Milano.
For the next decade and a half, Peter Quill, operating under the name Star-Lord, sought to establish a reputation for himself, and the Milano as a legendary outlaw and pirate vessel.
And the Milano played host to crimes petty and grand. Everything from fraud and piracy to manipulation of system-wide royalty.
The Guardians of the Galaxy
Of course, all of this came to a head when Star-Lord took the Milano to the planet Morag in search of a mysterious Orb. The Orb turned out to be the containment unit for the Power Stone. Star-Lord, making off with the Orb, quickly flew off with his treasure, and that brought him directly into the prison where he would meet the criminals who would eventually become the Guardians of the Galaxy.
When Ronan the Accuser came to the planet Xandar in search of the Orb, the Guardians of the Galaxy piloted the Milano into battle, using her assortment of weaponry to blow a hole in the Accuser’s ship, the Dark Aster. The Milano careened into the Dark Aster, becoming severely damaged, but Quill and his companions Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, and Gamora, managed to defeat Ronan the Accuser with the power of friendship, dance, and mostly the Power Stone.
Though the ship was heavily damaged, the Nova Corps rebuilt it as repayment for saving the planet Xandar.
Later, the Milano was the headquarters of the Guardians of the Galaxy, taking them from world to world, including the planet Sovereign, where they fought the Abilisk. Or to bring the wayward Nebula back to Xandar to collect a bounty. Ultimately, the Milano was destroyed on the planet Berhert, but there her remnants remain.
Perhaps one day, some enterprising young space pirate will discover the ship, and her long career will resume again.
