Ever since I learnt that the orb contained an Infinity Stone, I was apprehensive of the future. A lot of blood had been shed in the past over these Stones, and I had hoped it had ended.

Apparently not.

The Stones were there, right in front of me. Even from a distance, I could feel the radiation of its power. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in it's destructive capabilities, in the hands of a warlord whose mission was to dominate and decimate all life in the universe.

Thanos. The Mad Titan, who was thought to be dead, had been resurrected. He'd fulfilled his quest of finding the Stones and this time, there were no Avengers, no race of heroes, to stop him.

Nobody, except us.

"Squadron, charge!" I tried to shout, but my voice faltered. My legs became heavy as if they were made of lead. My hands refused move as my heart lurched in my chest.

"CHARGE!" I screamed.

We advanced. So did they. We clashed again. Our ships ascended in the sky and rained fire upon him.

Thanos gave a grim smile. A ray shot up from his gauntlet. Any ship it shot turned to ashes.

"No!" I screamed as I tried to push back the beasts. With the arrival of Thanos, they seemed more vigorous and powerful, as if his mere presence granted power to them. Like a pack of wild elephants charging madly in a field, they charged at us. We resisted, but they were slowly gaining the upper hand.

"Fun isn't something one considers while balancing the universe. But this...." His voice boomed. Thanos smiled cruelly as he kept on destroying the fleet. He brandished his gauntlet, which gave out a bright golden light.

"This does bring a smile to my face."

I aimed my blasters at him. But before I could fire, a bright light emerged from the gauntlet, a light so bright that it burned through my eyes, searing my skin and incenarating every cell in my body. Pain cascaded through me. His fist came crashing on the ground, sending an enormous shock wave. The earth tore apart, leaving behind a wide chasm. Thousands of humans, Scavengers and monsters fell down in the dark abyss.

I struggled to keep my balance. All around me, people were dragged down into the pot, as if some invisible force was pulling them into the darkness. Our fleet, or whatever was left of it, came plumelling down to the earth.

Before I knew it,a scorching beam of energy hit me square in the chest." AAAAH!"My weapons fell, as I clutched my bleeding chest in pain. It felt like my whole body was burning furiously. I was covered with my own blood which kept on oozing out from my chest. My vision became blurry. My foot slipped.

"Captain,no!" I heard a scream in the distance.

Before I knew it, I was falling you into the abyss, a bloody burnt figure, claimed by oblivion, to the point of no return.

Max's POV

Pity how a few hours could change everything. We thought we stood a chance. Now I know, even with all our numbers, our weaponry, we were never in the game as I struggled to keep my ship afloat.

"Enemy X-wings, three o'clock!" Someone cried out. I took over the turrets and fired. Most of them dodged, but I managed to take down a few.
My communicator buzzed and I recognized the voice to be the Captain's." Max, we need air support, immediately!" His tone was laced with urgency.
I shouted into the speaker as I kept on firing." We can't. It's a surprise attack. They're outnumbering us. Hardly can keep afloat-" I got cut off as a missile detonated against our ship. Our engines burst as the ship tore apart in two. We spun around in circles as we plumelled down to the surface." Abandon ship." I cried out as I strapped myself to the Captain's chair. I pressed the eject button. POOF! I ejected, leaving behind the remains of my ship. The sky was a mess, with detonations, explosions, clashes between fighters.
I opened the parachute attached to the seat, and slowly descended hell-fire on the ground. It was way messier than the sky, and our team was rapidly dwindling. Taking out my blaster,I leapt down to join the fight.

The monsters kept on coming. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tania and Steve blow the incoming enemies to bits. I rushed to join them, but was blocked by a huge two-headed alien which charged towards me.
"Take that, bastard." I shouted as I blew his head off. Turning my hand in an arc, I fired rapidly as the monsters near me turned to ashes.

Suddenly, someone crashed into me. My blaster got knocked off my hand as I fell. The zombie towering above me raised its axe, ready to strike.

I closed my eyes, but the blow never came. I opened my eyes to see the zombie wobbling, and the sharp and of a spear protruding from its chest. It disintegrated into a pile of ash, and I was surprised to see my saviour.

"Glen? You're alive?"
He grinned as he extended a hand to pull me up. I obliged.
" You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?"
I shook his hand." Let's give these son of a b****es their proper welcome, shall we?"

Together, we fought. With the help of the Scavenger army, we pushed them back. For a moment, I thought we were winning. Glen disappeared from my side, saying he had to help the Captain.

But, luck isn't on our side.

A bigger portal opened. And there was no mistake recognizing the figure that came through.

The Master. Thanos.

We are soo busted.

Still, we fought. As Thanos kept on destroying our fleet, we stood against his army. But they seem to become more energetic, as if granted power by the mere presence of Thanos.

"Fun isn't something one considers while balancing the universe. But this......this does bring a smile to my face." His voice boomed as he brandished the Infinity Gauntlet. A beam on light emerged from it, burning everything it touched. I ducked under the carcass of a fallen Scavenger, as I saw the monsters behind me burn to ashes.

His fist came crashing down on the ground. The earth tore apart, leaving behind a wide chasm. Thousands of warriors fell in it. Getting up from my shelter, I stepped back to avoid falling in the pit.
"AAAAH!" I heard a scream. In front of me, I saw a figure at the edge of the pit, kneeling down in pain. He'd obviously been hit by the beam, as his whole hand and body was covered in blood.
Wait a second. Isn't it a Captain's jacket of the Nova Corps? The Golden Eagle on the back of the jacket confirms it. And in this mess, there is only one Nova Captain left.

He staggered. His foot slipped. And he disappeared in the dark chasm, falling into the darkness.

"Captain,no!" I shouted.

That was the last thing I saw before a blow landed on my head. I plunged into the darkness.
-----------------------------------------------------------

"Aghhh! Ughhh!"

I grunted. All I wanted was rest, but the surface on which I was lying wasn't very smooth. Something kept on poking in my back.

"He received a nasty blow on the head." Someone said.

"He should be coming around now." Another voice was heard.

My eyelids fluttered. I slowly opened them. I still  felt a throbbing in the back of my head, as I tried to sit up.

" Whoa whoa! You don't expect to be running around so soon, yeh? Ye received a nasty blow on the head." Someone called out. He laid a firm hand on my chest and forced me to lie down again, but I pushed it away." I'm fine." I muttered.

Kragil shrugged." Suit yourself. Can't say I didn't warn you."
"Hey man. Glad to see you're okay." Glen appeared beside me. He looked quite beaten up. His face was filled with cuts and bruises and a trickle of blood flowed from his lips. Yet, he smiled.

" Where am I?" I asked.
His face fell." You're in Kragil's ship. We found you unconscious by the pit. Good thing we managed to drag you out. We're one of the few who managed to make it out."

" Make it out? You mean......"

"Yeah you know what he means. " Kragil spoke up, irritably." We never stood a chance. That Thanos guy destroyed the whole damn fleet, while his minions wrapped up the survivors. We're lucky to be alive and make it out."

My throat became dry." What about Tania, Jim? Are they-"
"They're fine." Glen said." Tania's in the cockpit. Jim and his men made it out too. But not many more. We lost."

"And the Captain?" I asked, though I knew the answer.

They looked down and said nothing.

I sat back. It was over. The Captain was dead,killed in battle. Thanos fulfilled his mission. The Novas and the Federation are destroyed. We had lost.

" Where are we headed?" I asked in a small voice.

" To Lyra." Glen said softly." The survivors are regrouping there. We trust that they can't track us there, especially with Strange's cloaking spells and all. We hope it'll be safe there."

Safe. A simple four-lettered word, but found in short supply now. With Thanos and his allies in power,there was no place "safe" enough for us.

I looked out into space. It was dark, blotting out the stars.

Just like our fate.

New update has arrived. Yup you might be wondering that why I'm updating so fast. Well the answer is -exams! Our finals are approaching and I have to finish this story before this. This is the last chapter before the epilogue.( Yes I'm sad as you are.....I was quite enjoying writing this story.)
The next update will be here shortly. Stay tuned.
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