Hey, it’s been a while. This might be the second to last entry here, most of the rest of the story will be in RPs

A new fighter had been built specifically for getting across the void, and Sky was going to be the one piloting it. He didn’t dare risk the rest of his fleet incase the corrupted sentinels were able to produce another armada. That’s why he was going alone.

“But who’s going to be in charge while you’re gone?!”

“The Admiral is a great commander, he’s done perfectly well when I’ve been out there plenty of times. The ships will be fine.”

“Who’s going to watch your back, Sky? If we’re not there with you, then—“

“I’ll be fine. Besides, once enough of those drones are built, we can use them for support if I need any.”

“I don’t like the thought of you going alone… what if you get stuck there?”

Sky hadn’t thought about that, he had been focused on helping with research or planning the rescue mission.

“I’ll find a way. If Stardust created that anomaly, she can do it again.”

“Still, I’m worried… please don’t do this,” the Avali hugged him, “I’m worried it’s not that simple… I’m worried I’ll lose you forever.”

“Relax, if it’s a case where I can’t make it back without a teleportation device, I’ll build one and hook it up to the network system. It normally works across galaxies before.”

“Still I’m nervous.. but it looks like you’ve made up your mind.”

Sky nodded as he got into the new prototype starfighter.

“Handheld weapons and explosives are in the back in the event you need them. Got everything you need?”

“Yeah… let’s run the final systems check. And Aanvi.”

Aanvi had turned back to him, “yes?”

“Don’t do anything too crazy while I’m gone,” Sky chuckled.

Aanvi started laughing. “Come on, you never let me have any fun.”

Pilots had begun to gather around the ship as the final systems checks were almost complete. Most were cheering, though some were worried he might not return. He knew he would though, he always found a way.

Now everything was complete, the ship was ready to fly. There was only one thing left to do.

“This is Sky in The Challenger of the Void, awaiting permission for take off.”

“Permission Granted, good hunting out there Sky. Save a few sentinels for the rest of us.”

“We’ll see.”

The Challenger lifted off and exited the hanger bay. Suddenly Aanvi’s voice was heard over the intercom.

“Sky, you know the weapons specifications? You only have a modified mining beam and modified pulse cannons.”

“Yes sir.”

“You’ll be joining the next group of free sentinels gong in. Four cruisers, twenty frigates, and about 500 fighters are going with you. Good luck.”

He then heard the Admiral in the background, “may the Atlas guide you.”

Sky saw the group of AI controlled ships going into the anomaly and linked up with the new task force heading in. This was it, all or nothing.

“Be careful, we don’t know how close the corrupted sentinels are to the entrance.”

“I’ll enter it with the back of the pack.”

He received a message from the allied sentinels, they were beginning their new assault. As soon as the first two cruisers and 200 fighters were in, he and the rest of the task force followed. What he was met with when he entered the anomaly could barely be described. Debris from ships was being illuminated by an unknown light source and canon fire, no star was present. Ships were scattered, waging multiple battles. As soon as he was in, most of the task force split up to support separate areas, only about 20 fighters remained with him. Even so, Sky felt this was a little unnecessary. He saw text appear on the side of his heads up display.

It read:
“Our orders are to protect you by any means necessary until you’ve reached the target. Target is 3000 kilometers away. Estimated time to arrive: T-minus 3 minutes and 24 seconds, we will follow your command. What are your orders?”

Sky only replied with, “follow me and keep up. We’ll cut that time in half.”

Seconds later, he and twenty other AI controlled starfighters began weaving their way through the debris field.

About 40 seconds later. He heard Aanvi over the radio again. “You’re almost half way there, keep it up. Heads up, a corrupted frigate broke off from one of the battles and is attempting to intercept you with thirty starfighters.”

“Acknowledged, correcting flight path.”

Another 32 seconds later, there were only 100 kilometers left to go. Sky and the 20 free sentinels were passing by the remains of a cruiser on their left and a mess of debris on the right when they saw the frigate approaching. They saw as the fighters launched from their hanger bays in an attempt to chase them through the debris field.

“Sky you’ve got a straight shot, punch it!”

Text appeared on the HUD at the same time:

“We will hold them as long as we can. Do not stop.”

Sky didn’t plan on it. He pushed the throttle all the way forward. However, the corrupted sentinel frigate abandoned its fighters to chase after Sky and began firing at him.

10 seconds to exit, shots were flying past his fighter and get caught in the shields.

6 seconds to exit, a shot blew apart near by debris and shrapnel ended up stuck in the right wing.

4 seconds to exit, the frigate had almost caught up.

2 seconds to exit, Sky put all the power he could into the engines. He heard Aanvi over the radio panicking as the shields were mostly lowered to divert power to the engine.

1 second to exit, the right wing was hit as the shields absorbed their last blow and began smoking. The next two shots missed.

He made it through. Dropping the shielding for more speed wasn’t the best decision, but he was fine. Now he saw what usually happened when you entered a black hole. Stars began to fly past as space folded between the two destinations. Then it began to turn black, which meant he was either being dumped out, or he was flying between empty space. He soon saw light again as the fighter flew on. Sky warped into the system in the lower atmosphere, just like the drone before, but he immediately lost control of the fighter that was now plunging into a jungle.

Two seconds later, he was tearing through trees, until he hit the ground. The Challenger slid across the burying anything that was in the way until it came to rest by a cliff edge. Surprisingly the shields were back online for that but now were severely damaged. He heard cheering through the ship intercom.

“Target reached. I’ll get started on the repairs so this thing is ready to fly again.”

“You had me at the edge of my seat Sky. Hurry up, we don’t know what’s out there. Get The Challenger into the air as soon as possible. I don’t want you staying there too long.”