"If you're too dumb for this then send the tin man in instead, I'm a mechanic not a babysitter," Rocket said.
The engine compartment took up about two thirds of the third deck of the ship, stretching all the way up to the second deck, where actual power generation was done. The engine itself was divided into four parts. The large jump drive was the part that got them from point A to point B. There weren't a great many jumps to get to Knowhere, which was good because the raccoon didn't want to put too much strain on the machine before he could take a look at it with real tools, not this useless Earth crap. There was more than enough floor space for Rocket to get past, but Giant-Man Pym might have to watch his footing to not step on some mechanical part or another.
The part that actually needed replacing was the m-drive, which actually moved the ship through space. The hit that had brought this ship down had fried the m-drive, but compartmentalization had spared the other parts from the same fate. This was a small, scouting ship, so the m-drive had been made for superior speed and maneuverability, rather than raw power. This meant the stolen Skrull tech Pym seemed so proud of would be a perfect replacement, as luck would have it.
The third part were the fuel processors, one on either side of the m-drive. The actual fuel tank made up the majority of the ship's lowest deck, but some fuel was also stored in the ship's 'wings' on either side of the engine block. Lacking the tools to siphon fuel from other ships, the fact that this particular one had enough fuel to get them to Knowhere had been another reason Rocket had picked it. It was smaller than CITT, it wasn't half as pretty, and it only had one turret. But lacking half the old team, the Guardians no longer needed so much space. With just the three of them, they had room to spare.
The fourth part, as already mentioned, was the actual power station. It was located on the second deck, directly above the m-drive. There wasn't too terribly much to say about it, it was where Rocket had gone to turn the power back on. Right now, that just meant the emergency lights and the doors. Until the new m-drive was in place, there would be no serious power consumption. They simply didn't have the fuel for it.
"Right, this will take a few hours," the raccoon said, "So what I say when I say it and we'll get it done as quickly as possible."
Meanwhile, Peter and Flash had moved outside the ship. Things were in better hands now. Small, clawed, raccoon hands, but Rocket knew what he was doing and that no longer required the direct assistance of either other remaining Guardian. This meant that it was finally time for Peter to go through with something he'd had on his chest since they'd originally crashed.
"You know, Flash, Hank and Kevin could take you back to New York if you wanted," the man offered, "Or, we could, before we left orbit."
"And leave you and Rocket alone together? You wouldn't get out of the solar system before he blew you out the airlock," Flash joked.
"I'd kick his furry little butt if he tried," Peter smirked. But, no, this was time to be serious, "I mean it Flash, don't feel obligated to stick with us."
The other man waved him off, "I appreciate the offer, Peter, but the things I've seen, the places I've been, since I joined the Guardians? There's nothing on Earth that could even compare. Nothing that could make me want to give all that up. Earth has all the superheroes it could ever need. But the galaxy could always use more."
"It's good to hear your reasons are completely altruistic and have nothing to do with the fact that we are the coolest people you've ever met."
That got a laugh out of Flash.