A/N

Greetings for the first time ever! Welcome to the enigma that is my mind. After reading a fantastic fic titled Flaming Rebellion I have decided to dabble in the art of the pen. Thanks to CCougar42709 for that great story (seriously go read it, it is quite good and there is a sequel to it.)

Just a heads-up this will be based in the Star Wars universe circa Rebels post season 1 (for enough character development but not toooo much), but will be featuring technology and theory from several universes. At this time I am unsure if that qualifies for crossover or not. Featured universe tech will be from both Elite: Dangerous and possibly Mass Effect simply because those are fantastic universes with "hard" (used exceptionally loosely, i.e. not like in The Martian) science concepts that are theoretically possible but just fantastic enough (looking at ME in particular) that they qualify for science fiction. I highly recommend looking up several things from those universes in order to get an idea of what things look like and/or the specifics of their operation.

That said this will end up being AU. Don't be surprised if some familiar elements (mostly super OP space combat and non-Newtonian flight models as Star Wars is known for) are portrayed in a way that makes sense for this story but not the rest of Star Wars at large.

I own nothing but my character. Star Wars, Elite: Dangerous, and Mass Effect are all owned by their respective companies. (Thanks for making them by the way, you magnificent people, you.)

Without further ado, ON WITH THE SHOW!

"Captain's Log Entry #F4524: I have been away from the bubble for far too long on this shakedown, I'm starting to wonder if this was a bad idea to head for Colonia in this tub. Magnanimous Cavalier may be old but DeLacy builds them well. My onboard "intelligence" the Automated Defense and Management Interface, or as I call him Adam has been plagued with problems that were unforeseen by the designers over at The Jet's Hole. I just hope that it holds up to the stress of interdiction. Yeah, that's a laugh, ship'll probably implode before we even drop out of Cruise*. Ah well, you know how it goes. Got around 75 more jumps before I reach Jaques' . Too bad the neutron highway isn't mapped yet or it could be just 5 or 6. This is Commander Thomas Padmore, signing off. End Log Entry"

I push away from the console at the back of the cockpit as I let out a tremendous sigh and scrub my face with my hand, fatigued and eye-strained from too long jumping between stars.

This trip is taking forever, sometimes I wish that there was a way to make it all in one jump. Heh, that's a good one, nothing is ever easy that way. I think as I slowly walk back to the tiny living compartment.

One quick glance around the cramped area tells all there is about it, dull, uniform and very stark, clearly meant for short cruises. It gets the job done but does no favors for creature comforts, a testament to its origin as a smuggling ship the Cavalier sure had it rough for the first leg of its life; before I found her in the shipyard just waiting to be scrapped for parts. I poured everything I could get on a loan into this little ship and got a fairly capable little frontiership for my new gig ferrying mining equipment and ores back and forth to Jacqes'

Laying down in the small bunk I nearly hit the top bunk as Adam's voice materializes out of nowhere.

"Sir, would you like fo-"

"Jesus Adam! You nearly gave me a coronary." I say as I nearly smack my face on the upper bunk.

"Apologies Sir, that was not my intention"

"Just get on with it, what did you need?" I say as I slowly rub my now slightly sore neck.

"My inquiry is if you would like for me to plot and carry out the remaining jumps as per the usual or if you might like to try a, erm, theoretical shortcut?"

"Define theoretical?" I ask putting much emphasis on the term.

"Certainly, I believe you are acquainted with Ms. Ryder?'

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, Ms. Ryder has come up with an algorithm similar to the old 'slingshot' gravity assists that the now defunct NASA used, but on a larger scale."

"How large we talking here?"

"Many orders of Magnitude, it involves black holes Sir."

"Tell me again, how crazy is this woman?" I ask with great apprehension and worry in my voice.

"Ms. Ryder is an esteemed engineer with many merits and accomplishments in the field of theoretical faster than light ventures, she is quite sane and the math involved is entirely sound and peer-reviewed." Adam said, sounding as indignant as an intelligence that uses an old synthesizer to speak can.

"How accurate is that data, and has it been done?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow, now intrigued rather than flat-out panicked that my intelligence had gone bat-shit insane.

"This data is nearly 100% accurate as of the last up-link that I had with Gal-Net. I have no awareness of its prior use by a human, however numerous unmanned vehicles have performed the maneuver successfully."

"I don't know, sounds OK I guess but how can we be sure?' I ask once more apprehensive about the possibility of becoming a pancake under the immense pressure of a black hole.

"We cannot be." Adam say simply and without hesitation.

"Then we are NOT going to do it." I instruct my only company on this ship.

"Very well Sir, I will avoid plotting the course via those parameters."

"Wake me in 9 hours, ship's time, unless something demands my attention, like pirates or a hailing."

"Very good Sir."

With that out of the way I once again attempt to drift off, however my mind is occupied with worry, Adam has not exactly proven to be very obedient in the past when unproven science is in play….

So, what do you guys and gals think? If you couldn't guess already, this chapter takes place not in a galaxy far, far away but here in our own. This friends, is the galaxy of Elite: Dangerous where my very own original character, Commander (CMDR) Thomas Padmore and his "buddy" the intelligence Adam, start their story.

Fear not fellow fans! Our heroes will be in the next chapter! I can't resist me a good opener! I know, I know, Cliché black hole is Cliché. But tell me, where else can you find an unexplainable phenomenon that could be using gravity (or dark energy) to create a tear in space-time and deposit my main man in the right place?

P.S The story cover art is a screenshot of a Cobra MKIII from Elite: Dangerous that I am using as the visual aid for the Magnanimous Cavalier. All mentions of the ship are feasible parts as per the rules set in place by that game.

*Cruise refers to Supercruise, the FTL method of traveling in a solar system in the Elite: Dangerous world. It is essentially space being warped in front and behind the ship to achieve a very high rate of speed.

**Witch Space is similar to this but on grander scales, it is more akin to using a portable wormhole to Supercruise from A to B in less than a minute. Used to jump between stars rather than in system. So where Star wars has hyperdrives, that drop you right on target with travel time, Frame Shift Drives (FSD) have no travel time between stars, but have more time between planets or asteroids or whatever you may want to approach and once you approach using the much slower standard Supercruise then you can drop near (20km) the target, not right on top of it.