Star Knight

The ship, Milano

Somewhere in space

A video camera turns on to reveal a young man's face up close in the lens.

"I think I got it working this time," he says, then he moves the camera farther away and place it on a stand. The young is shown to be about 18 years old with a light complexion and dirty blonde hair spiked to the side. He wore a navy blue shirt under a navy blue armored body vest with red outlines. His pants were also a navy blue color with silver boots, and he wore armored gauntlets that matched his vest. To top it off, a silver shield with a gold Ravager symbol was on the vest.

"Ok, then," the boy started, "Star Knight, first log. It is currently, I believe, Monday, June 4th, Earth time. Today is the day I finally turn 18, which means I get to go on my first solo mission. Not gonna lie, I've been waiting for this moment for a really long time, but I'm still gonna miss being around my family here with the Guardians of the Galaxy…"

"Yeah, I'll miss ya too, Connor." Said a voice behind him. Connor turns around to see an anthropomorphic raccoon and a tree-like figure standing in the doorway behind him.

"No one really appreciates the explosions and weapons I make like you do. It's gonna be a shame having you gone for a bit." The raccoon continued.

"Oh, hey Rocket." Connor said, "How's it going?"

"Eh, not much," Rocket replied, "I finished making those modifications to your helmet and I thought you were going to need it for your solo op."

"Really?" Connor lit up, "Let's see it."

Rocket gestured to Groot, who walked up and placed a space helmet onto Connor's desk it was silver with a gold faceplate and was similar in design to Star-Lord's, but with a few differences. The top of the helmet was closed, and there was a red visor angled slightly downward instead of two eyeholes. Connor picked up the helmet and examined it.

"Very nice!" he said.

"Oooh, you doing a log recording?" Rocket asked, noticing the camera.

"Uhh, yeah, I was before you guys came in." Connor replied.

"Oh, whoops, sorry. We'll let you finish that up. Once you're done though, your dad wants you at the launch bay for your big sendoff."

"Oh, geez, already?! That was fast. Alright, I'll wrap this up and meet you guys down there."

"Sounds good, pal. Come on, Groot."

After Rocket and Groot had left, Connor turned back to the camera and continued: "So, yeah, I'm gonna miss the gang. But ya know what? I have a feeling that I'll enjoy this mission even more. I already know where I'm going and everything, so hopefully, all should go well. Until next time, Connor Quill, signing off."

Turning off the camera, Connor, donned his helmet, syncing it with his armor, and then went down to the launch bay of the Milano, where the rest of the Guardians were waiting by a small, one-man fighter craft, which Connor had spent the last few years building himself, with some help from Rocket, of course. Standing closest to the ship were none other than his parents, Peter Quill and Gamora.

"There he is!" Star-Lord said, "My birthday man, all ready for his big solo mission!"

Connor couldn't help but smile as he approached; this was a big moment for him, and his dad knew how to lighten things up. He deactivated his helmet, retracting it into his armor.

Hugging his son, Star-Lord asked, "You know where you want to go?"

"I've given it some thought," Connor said.

"And?"

"I've decided that I'm going to where you were born. To Earth."

Star-Lord's eyebrows went up in surprise: "Really?"

"Yup. I've been to almost every other planet in this universe with you guys, but I've only heard stories about what Earth is like. Now that I'm old enough, I want to actually see it for myself."

Drax nodded his head: "Sounds like a good enough reason to go."

Gamora thought for a bit: "Are you sure you want to go there? It's a great planet, for sure, but it can also be pretty dangerous for those who don't know who to trust."

Connor walked up and placed a comforting hand on his mother's shoulder.

"Mom, I get that you're worried," he said, "And I know Earth has its share of criminals and villains. But what I also learned is that there are heroes there as well, and I know who those heroes are thanks to the books and magazines Dad showed me. I'll be fine. Besides, I have these," he says pulling out two plasma pistols from their holsters on his belt. "Plus, all the crazy gadgets and tools Rocket and I made, plus the sword you helped me build. I think I'll be fine."

"He got a point, Gamora. Besides, we knew this was coming." Star Lord said. Gamora sighed, then nodded and hugged Connor.

"Be safe," she said, "I love you."

"Love you too, Mom." Connor replied. Just then, Mantis ran up and hugged Connor as well.

"I will very much miss you." She said.

"I'll miss you too, Mantis," Connor chuckled, then turning to the others, "I'm gonna miss every single one of you. You all are my family and I am proud to call you as such."

Drax nodded to Connor, Rocket gave a thumbs up. Groot and Mantis were slightly humorous as they were both tearing up, but also trying to hide it. Star Lord high fived his son: "You go and kick some butt for me, alright?"

Connor nodded: "You got it, Dad."

Rocket walked up to the cockpit of the fighter and opened it: "Welp, now that we got the farewells out of the way, your steed awaits, Star Knight."

Connor walked up, entered the cockpit, and began to turn on the ship. Within a few seconds, the engines began to roar to life. Closing the cockpit window, Connor looked to the side at the Guardians, all waving good-bye to him. Rocket hit a lever to open the launch doors at the back of the ship. As the doors reached their full opening width, Connor gave one last salute to his family, and then gunned the engines forward, shooting off into space truly on his own for the first time. Then, he typed the coordinates for Earth on his nav computer. Engaging the hyper jump engines, the fighter shot forward through the jump gates, one after another, until twelve jumps later, Connor arrived at Earth.

"Wow, it really is so blue," he said, marveling at the planet's beauty, "Just like Dad said."

His amazement was cut short however as a signal began to go through on his com.

"Mayday! Is anyone there?! This is an emergency distress call. We are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack!" came the voice. Tracking the signal's source, Connor looks to the right towards a small ship hurtling towards Earth. It was damaged and smoking, so He could not tell what kind of ship it was, but he could make out it's pursuers. The attacking ships were angular, almost like flying insects. 'Trisectoids' Connor thought. He had read about them before. They were mean to just about everyone and incredibly lethal. Turning his ship towards them, Connor gunned the engines and raced to help. Once he got close enough, he fired his ship's plasma guns, destroying one of the Trisectoid ships. The other two ships whipped around to face Connor.

"Yeah, that's right." Connor said, "How bout you pick on someone your own size, you bastards." Resuming fire at the other two ships, he destroyed the second one, but only damaged the third as it soared around to chase him, firing its own guns. Connor's fighter was being hit, but he wasn't quite out of the fight yet; the shields he had installed were holding up fairly well. Rotating his fighter around, he faced the Trisectoid ship.

"Nice try, bug brain!" he said before firing a torpedo. The missile shot forward and completely destroyed the ship before it could even react. Turning the ship around, Connor had enough time to see the ship that had sent the signal streaking through Earth's atmosphere.

"Looks like this mission just got a little more exciting." He said, turning his ship and flying down after the other craft.