White beams of light gradually appeared outside the spacecraft, swirling around in rapid rotation. As they increased in number, they finally formed a massive glowing sphere. My vision was flooded with intense white light, and immediately after, the spacecraft started to plummet.
The violent acceleration left me dizzy, my vision blurred, but I forced my eyes to stay open, peering through the cockpit glass. What I saw made my blood run cold.
In the distance, countless fighters were swarming out of massive motherships like a plague of locusts, blotting out the sky. Beams of energy crisscrossed through the air, explosions lighting up the dark heavens like fireworks, while debris scattered in all directions—a suffocating display of destruction.
"Titania, where are we?" I asked, my voice tinged with panic.
"Hmm. Based on my analysis, the planet underneath us is Xandar, and those fighters attacking it are Kree," Titania replied, trying to sound as natural as possible despite her confusion.
"You've got to be kidding me, Titania!" My anger flared. "Not only did you strand us in the wrong universe, but on the wrong planet. And to make it worse, it's a planet under heavy attack, and we're freefalling straight toward it!"
"I'm just trying to keep you on your toes," Titania quipped nervously, trying to salvage the situation with humor. When she saw that her comment didn't help, she quickly defended herself. "That was hardly my fault! Considering the hastily forced teleportation, something must have interfered."
"It doesn't matter now," I muttered. Acting quickly, I activated the fighter transformation mode of our aircraft. My memories of my life on Krypton were a jumbled mess, but I still remembered enough to know we had modified this aircraft. Soon, a sleek coat of nanites began covering the exterior of the ship, while I hastily blasted my telekinesis at full power, hoping to decelerate our freefall.
Meanwhile, the Nova Corps' ships were putting up a desperate fight, but the overwhelming difference in numbers turned the battle into a one-sided slaughter. One after another, the Star Blasters were shot down, plummeting to the ground in flames of despair. The Kree had clearly seized air superiority, transforming the sky into their hunting ground.
A massive Kree mothership, braving heavy anti-air fire, slowly descended toward the surface. From afar, it looked like a giant, cold iron beast. As it touched down, armed vehicles poured out like ants, surging toward the heart of Sandaari's cities.
"Xandar... is finished," I muttered softly, my hands instinctively gripping the control stick of the newly transformed aircraft.
Suddenly, a few fast-moving red blips appeared on the radar display. I turned my head and saw several Kree fighters breaking formation, heading straight toward me. They had locked onto my ship.
My heart tightened, my pulse quickening like a drum. "They're coming! Accelerate now! Warp jump!" I practically screamed, my fingers frantically sliding across the control panel, desperately trying to find an emergency escape option.
"Why the hell did we think modeling our aircraft after a Nova Corps Star Blaster was a good idea?"
"You thought it looked cool when I showed you some photos," Titania murmured under her breath.
"Titania, stop daydreaming and get us out of here! I can't operate this thing!" I yelled in the now larger cockpit.
"Just select a warp destination, mistress."
"To hell with warp destinations! Just initiate the jump!" I was on the verge of losing my mind. The enemy's gunfire was already flashing before my eyes, and I could feel the shadow of death closing in.
"Mistress, the warp point is outside Xandar's atmosphere. You need to completely exit Xandar's gravitational pull," Titania responded with a sense of urgency.
I watched several Kree fighters diving from high altitude, and my heart sank. I wasn't a fool—my aircraft, struggling to accelerate under the planet's gravity, stood no chance of outrunning enemy ships swooping down from above.
"Dodge them! Quickly!" My voice trembled, frantic and anxious.
"We haven't had the time to equip the aircraft with an automatic evasive system," Titania yelled back, equally anxious.
"Activate the auto-fire system! Shoot them down!" I practically roared, my patience completely gone.
"Same for the weapons, Krypton... we thought we had enough time," Titania said, while her feet became suddenly quit interesting.
"What? Are you kidding me?" I couldn't believe it—this seemingly advanced fighter jet didn't even have basic weaponry!
"Oh, crap!" I muttered.
The Kree fighters were now just a few hundred meters away, their glowing cannons locked onto me.
I glanced around, my heart heavy. Suddenly, I grabbed the control stick beside my seat and growled, "If I survive this, I'll tear the Kree empire apart piece by piece!"
Gritting my teeth, my knuckles turned white as I gripped the stick. I moved it slightly, feeling the responsiveness of the ship, and a small sense of calm washed over me.
"Shields! I remember we equipped it with shields—focus them forward! Maximize engine output!" My voice carried a tinge of desperation.
"Shields activated. Current integrity at one hundred percent," The ship's AI, finally brought me a shred of good news.
"Yeah! Finally, some good news!" I sighed in relief. I wasn't ready to die—especially not after just having obtained a Kryptonian body.
But even as I stared at the oncoming Kree fighters, my heart remained heavy. Their energy beams could breach my shields at any moment, turning me into a fiery burst of cosmic fireworks. I clutched the controls, my hands trembling, and my heart pounded like a war drum.
"Warning! Shield integrity at 75%! Please evade!"
"Warning! Shield integrity at 55%! Please evade!"
The AI's alerts hammered at my nerves, but I no longer paid attention. I tightened my grip on the controls, heart racing, and suddenly charged straight toward the Kree fighters. Their particle beams struck the shields continuously, blue ripples shimmering around the ship like vibrating honeycombs.
"It's either you or me today!" I gritted my teeth, resolute.
Just as we were about to collide, I steadied my hands and flicked the stick, causing the fighter to nimbly roll to the side, narrowly dodging the Kree ships. We barely scraped past each other, my shields now reduced to a mere fifteen percent.
"Yes! Behold the prowess of an ace pilot!" I exulted, a wave of pride sweeping over me. I had successfully dodged their lethal pursuit, the thrill momentarily making me forget the danger I was still in.
Breaking through the Kree blockade, the speed of the aircraft increased rapidly. The twin helium-3 engines and four auxiliary thrusters kicked in, and the ship's power was staggering. A slight tremor passed through it, but it quickly stabilized. The Kree fighters turned to pursue me again, but they were already falling behind.
The blue sky disappeared, replaced by the endless expanse of space, dotted with countless stars twinkling in awe-inspiring majesty.
"Oh my god, it's beautiful... Is this outer space?" I murmured, mesmerized by the sight. Despite the peril, for the first time since escaping Krypton, I truly felt the vastness of the universe.
But my reverie was short-lived. Suddenly, a blue energy beam streaked past me, snapping me back to reality.
This was no time to admire the scenery. Turning my head, I saw countless Kree fighters swarming out of the mothership like angry bees, heading straight toward me. My hand tightened around the controls again as fear gripped my heart.
"No!" I yanked the stick, but the Star Blaster, reacting harshly to my panicked maneuver, spun out of control, flailing wildly like a lost fly in space. For a moment, it made me an impossible target to hit, the chaotic movements throwing off the Kree's aim.
Earlier, I had charged head-on, relying solely on the energy shield to withstand their bombardment, without much thought to maneuvering. It was sheer luck that let me break through their encirclement. But now, as I struggled to stabilize the ship, a sinking feeling washed over me. The energy shield's strength had dropped below ten percent due to my erratic flying and the extra hits I'd taken.
"If we don't jump soon, we're dead!" My voice cracked as I screamed, watching the swarm of Kree fighters descending on us like a plague of locusts.
"We have not yet exited Xandar's gravitational field. The jump engines cannot be activated," the onboard AI and Titania reported simultaneously—one calm, the other anxious.
"Damn it! We're really done for this time!" I felt utterly helpless, frantically searching for a solution but finding none.
"Your shadow dimension, try entering your shadow dimension," Titania pitched in, sounding desperate but hopeful.
"Are you out of your mind?" I shot back. "We don't even know the rules of the shadow dimension in this universe! What if we fly into a rock or something as soon as we enter? Not to mention the shadow dimension is aggressive toward matter—it'll corrode our ship!"
Titania puffed out her chest, trying to adopt a 'teacher' role, which would have been cute—if we weren't in mortal danger right now. She continued, preaching, "According to the data the future version of you managed to collect, your shadow dimension here is quite similar to the mirror dimension that Kamar-Taj sorcerers create, only on a much, much larger scale. So, since we're in space, we should be in space there as well."
"I'm sure there's more to it, and I'm equally sure your database is missing key information!" I replied sarcastically, but there was no denying it—it was our only option. I closed my eyes, trying to sense the darkness of space around the aircraft, but there was nothing. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my frantic heartbeat for a second attempt.
Suddenly, a flood of information overwhelmed my mind, forcing me to disconnect. "For crying out loud, it's not that easy! We're in space! Darkness is omnipresent—it's beyond overwhelming!" I exclaimed, looking at Titania, who was still stuck in her 'teacher mode.'
Inhaling deeply, I tried again, this time limiting myself to the darkness directly in front of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, Titania was visibly nervous as the Kree fighters closed in on us, getting nearer by the second. Then, without warning, a circular aperture covered by a foggy veil appeared in our flight path, pulsing with energy and flickering colors. The ship was swallowed whole in microseconds.
From the Kree's perspective, it looked as if the light reflecting off Xandar suddenly stopped reflecting on the escaping aircraft. But when they checked their radar, the ship had completely vanished. It couldn't have been stealth—the Kree could detect stealth ships once they had their signature—but it seemed like their target had simply ceased to exist.
...
What must have been a trip of just a couple of seconds through the shadow dimension still took a heavy toll on me. I had to blast my telekinesis at full power to shield the aircraft during the passage. The sheer strain of it left me feeling drained, but it was enough to escape the immediate danger. As soon as we exited, there was no time to relax—I moved quickly, determined not to waste a single second.
"Engines have switched to jump mode. Three… two… one… jump initiated!" Titania's voice rang out.
A blinding blue light flashed across the stars as my fighter soared away from the battle-scarred skies of Xandar. Finally, we were out of that nightmare—if only for a moment.