After the Tier 3 Eclipsed, the two encountered no more obstacles....well more like they ran over most of the obstacles.
The two remained silent, with Astra going back to humming the tune she had been earlier without a care in the world.
She even sounded a bit happy, or maybe pleased?
Nox, on the other hand, was still caught up in the previous battle between Astra and the Tier 3 Eclipsed.
There were a couple of things he learnt from it, one, Solar knights were terrifying and two, Astra was terrifying.
And perhaps most importantly… she drove like she fought: with zero hesitation and an unhealthy disregard for the laws of physics.
"Is… is there a reason we're going this fast?" Nox finally asked, his grip on the 'oh sh*t' handle tightening.
Astra turned to him with a grin, her eyes twinkling. "Of course. The faster we go, the less chance something stupid decides to jump in front of us."
As if to prove her point, an Eclipsed no larger than a hyena crawled out from a crater just ahead, screeching as it lunged straight into their path.
Before Nox had the chance to say anything, she stepped on the gas, speeding the Jeep up and running straight through the creature.
The jeep jolted violently as they ran straight over it. The rear wheels lifted slightly before slamming back onto the ground, sending dust flying behind them.
"See?" Astra leaned back with a satisfied smile. "Obstacle cleared."
Nox just stared at her, speechless, his knuckles white on the assist grip. "You're insane…" he muttered under his breath.
If it was a suspicion before, then he was sure now, Astra definitely was a crazy woman.
"Hmm?" she tilted her head innocently. "What was that?"
"Nothing," he said quickly, turning to stare out the window.
She smirked faintly, eyes back on the road. "Thought so."
With that, the silence returned and Nox went back to hanging on for his dear life as Astra continued driving straight into craters and Eclipsed.
He had gotten used to it after a while, so much so that he was surprised when the vehicle wasn't mid air for a few seconds.
Sitting up straight, Nox realized that the road had transformed from a crater filled wasteland to a green filled one.
The transition was so sudden it almost felt unnatural, like crossing from one world into another.
"Wha—" Nox blinked, leaning forward. "When did the road… change?"
He could've sworn the last time he checked, there was a wide expanse of nothingness as far as his eyes could see.
Astra smiled knowingly, easing her foot off the accelerator just a bit. "Welcome to Solara Prime's outer perimeter. The light field keeps the corruption back. Once you're inside its range, no Eclipsed can cross the border."
From afar, Nox could see something that looked like a golden dome, one that blanketed a vague outline that looked like buildings
"And that's," Astra pointed with one hand towards the dome, "is Solara Prime."
"That's… Solara Prime?" Nox muttered, his voice almost lost in awe.
"Mhmm." Astra grinned proudly. "The biggest bastion of human civilization. Home to the Solar Knights, the Council, and the biggest pain in my ass....the academy."
He glanced at her sideways. "You sound… fond of it."
"Oh, I hate it," she replied cheerfully, "but I also have no choice but to love it."
The closer they got, the clearer the structures got, and soon enough, they were faced with a massive gate, one that held the golden symbol of the sun at the top.
Astra rolled down her window as they approached it. "Astra Dawn," she said casually, taking out her ID and giving it to the two guards stationed at the gate. "Zone Nine cleaned, one civilian survivor."
The guards exchanged a glance before straightening. "Ascended Dawn, ma'am," one said, his tone instantly turning more formal. "You were reported missing a day ago. The administration thought—"
"That I was dead?" Astra interrupted with a smirk. "Wouldn't be the first time....still, I feel hurt being underestimated this much."
The thing was, although she was received the order, while on her Vacation, she never really replied back to the order so the administration just assumed she went on with her 'Vacation', entered a rift.... since she was crazy enough to and died in one of them.
Which meant she could've ignored the order with little to no consequences?.... Damn it.
Also, Zone 9 was located in a place that would take passing through deepest in the wastelands to get to.
Even some seasoned Solar Knights rarely ventured that far without heavy support, and when they did, the survival rate was less than twenty percent.
No sane person would've gone in alone.
But Astra Dawn was many things. Sane wasn't one of them.
The guards hesitated, unsure whether to laugh or not.
Astra didn't wait for an answer, she waved a hand in dismissal. "Now, unless you want me running over the perimeter gate like I did the last one, maybe open up?"
This, they knew wasn't a joke. She had enough SE to power that vehicle to smash straight through the gates so they immediately scrambled to open them.
The gates let out a hiss as the mechanism pulled them open, revealing exactly how heavy they were.
The guards didn't even bother asking for Nox's information as protocols required since he was with Astra.
No sane person would dare question Astra Dawn.
She leaned an elbow on the window frame and flashed the guards a grin. "Good boys. You're learning." With that, she drove away.
The two knights at the checkpoint gave uneasy salutes only to let out a sigh of relief, Astra Dawn was an unpredictable person, and her actions was never in the world of normalcy, so they had been holding their breath all this while.
Meanwhile, Astra continued driving with a small smile on her face, raising her head to the rear view mirror which reflected Nox who was looking around in awe.
"You're drooling, mystery boy," she commented, causing him to jolt upright instantly.
"I—I'm not!" Nox wiped his mouth instinctively, even though there was nothing there. His face turned a faint shade of red, and Astra chuckled, clearly enjoying herself.
"Relax," she said with a grin. "Everyone looks like that their first time seeing Solara Prime, I'll show you around later, but first, let's get you changed."