The sound of a high-pitched whir and the sensation of zeta surging into his expansion suit woke Roun some six hours later. Blinking quickly as he tried to focus, he instinctually initiated an influx of zeta into his body to augment his still groggy system. Soon the residual effects of sleep were fading. Now more alert, he quickly made several realisations. The first and most obvious was the fact that the small jet was no longer motion. This caused Roun’s eyebrow to tip upwards and drew his attention towards the small window next to his seat.

The scene of blue skies and endless clouds, which persisted before he’d taken his slumber was now replaced by the amazing skyline of one of the world’s most developed nations. Yahzou was often lauded for its early adoption of zeta technology, even when global saturation was too low to allow these devices to be powered continuously as they were today. This resulted in its tech developers managing to secure an early lead in product development that foreign companies had spent the better part of a century trying to catch up to. As a result, the small nation that had always been held back by its lack of natural resources now found itself a peerless economic leader. A number of companies contributed to this bustling new economy but none more so than Itami Enterprises.

As Roun got his bearings, he realised that the the private hoverjet that had brought them to Genaisa – the capital city of Yahzou – was actually parked on the landing pad of Masamune, the headquarters of Itami Enterprises. The realisation caused him to jump up from his seat, startling Zadavia as he did and rousing her from her slumber as well. In her groggy state, all she’d managed to see was Roun making a dash for the door of the vehicle before she could sit up and try to get her own bearings.

Just seconds later, Roun was exiting the passenger cabin via the rear of the vehicle. He stepped out into the Genaisan night air and realised why his expansion suit had been making the sounds that woke him just moments prior. He smiled and exhaled, watching as frost escaped his lips and floated away on the winter air.

“It’s snowing…” He remarked.

Focusing in, he could feel the additional energy being consumed by the environmental regulator of his expansion suit, which had already switched from its previous function of cooling him under Merricent’s tropical sun to warming him up from Genaisa’s cold winter night. A smirk broke across his face as he whipped out his phone and accessed the functions of his expansion suit. Within seconds he was flicking through alternate configurations before he finally settled on a specific design and began to channel his aesis into the device. A bright glow engulfed his attire, before streaks of binary code raced down his bare forearms and around his hands. The short sleeves of his jacket began to lengthen down to his wrists, bringing this new expansion suit to resemble his more traditional gear. Next, thin gloves materialised over his hands to insulate them while a scarf condensed from the atmospheric zeta to complete his winter attire.

“Ah, you’re up.” Rueben stated as the bright glow and palpable influx of energy drew his attention to Roun’s location at the back of the Gull. “I was just about to come wake you two.”

“Zadavia’s in a foul mood so I wouldn’t really advise that.” Roun sighed, pulling the scarf up to cover his lips and the bottom of his nose.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Rueben shook his head before making his way past Roun and towards the interior of the vehicle.

As he did this, Roun’s attention drifted towards another occupant of Masamune’s spacious roof. Despite the large assault rifle that this young woman had slung over her right shoulder, as if the weapon was some kind of fashion accessory, the first thing that actually caught Roun’s attention about her was the burgundy sleeveless hoody that covered most of her torso. Most jarring was the fact that it was indeed sleeveless, as Genaisa presently exhibited sub-zero temperatures, but it further boggled his mind that the young woman couldn’t even be bothered to zip the hoody right up. Despite having on the hood, which he could only assume was a fashion statement, the actual jacket was zipped down halfway to reveal a black U-neck tank top. Luckily for the young man’s sanity, her legs were far more covered, with thick cargo bottoms that were tucked into the knee-high combat boots that she wore. Roun just shook his head, noting that even this woman’s gloves were fingerless and did little to protect her from the cold.

Continuing to shake his head, he just wondered how exactly this woman’s environmental regulator was supposed to do its job with so little fabric on her upper body to conduct heat through.

“Alright, let’s go.” Rueben sounded as he emerged from the plane behind Roun, followed by Zadavia who was now clad in a trench coat provided by him.

As he exited, he passed Roun and made his way towards the comparatively scantily clad young woman, who was waiting for the trio near the entrance to the single elevator that went to the roof.

“Is the building secure?” Rueben inquired as he approached, drawing an annoyed side-glance from the gun wielding woman.

“I’m head of security Rueben, what do you think?” She replied with audible annoyance, which just caused Roun to laugh lightly. “Clear the security checkpoint so I can take you three downstairs.” She commanded before muttering something else under her breath.

All Roun could do was follow Rueben’s lead at this point, walking through the security checkpoint that led to the elevator. As he did, he noted the resemblance to the massive array of sensors he’d encounter at The Garrison just days prior. This array however was smaller, the size of a door frame, and designed primarily to scan personnel.

As Rueben went through it first, the device lit up and bombarded him with green light. The entire process took just seconds, before the device not only confirmed that it was safe for him to enter but also his identity.

“Rueben Sayer Sol-Itami. Braver. Manipulator. Level sixteen.” It announced as he passed through and allowed Roun to follow.

“Roun Alexander Itami. Braver. Psycher. Level thirteen.” It went once more before Zadavia passed through.

“Zadavia Bella Donna Moreno. Braver. Morpher. Level six.” It continued before the woman with the assault rifle entered last.

“Jorna Charisa Medin. Braver. Psycher. Level eighteen.” Roun’s eyes shot open at the announcement as they all slowly filed into the elevator.

“Roun. Zadavia. This is Jorna Medin, Security Director of Itami Enterprises and head of security at our Masamune complex.” Rueben announced, opting to the do the introductions for the other three channelers.

“It’s a pleasure, Jorna.” Zadavia opened, extending her hand to shake that of the young woman.

“Yeah.” Was all Jorna replied as she allowed the massive assault rifle to slide off of her shoulder and hang by her side, before switching hands so that she could accept Zadavia’s handshake.

Roun just nodded, prompting a nod in return from the young woman before she swapped hands with her rifle one more time and slung it back over her right shoulder.

“Roun and Rueben, Shin asked me to send you two to his office immediately.” She explained, punching in the button for the building’s top floor. “Zadavia, you and I are going to see Mrs. Itami – she suspects that you will have questions.”

“Yay, girl bonding time.” Zadavia jested sarcastically, drawing another one of Jorna’s side-glances that caused her to immediately retract the joke.

“Right…” Was all Jorna said as the elevator came to a stop on the seventieth floor, prompting Roun and Rueben to disembark.

“A pleasure, as always, Jorna.” Rueben smirked as he exited the elevator, followed by Roun.

“Whatever, pretty-boy.” She retorted with a scowl before the elevator door slid shut between them.

“You two seem friendly…”

Zadavia’s voice was the last thing that Roun and Rueben heard before the elevator door slid shut, while Jorna turning menacingly towards the young woman was the last thing that they saw before it did the same.

“Those two should get along splendidly.” Roun’s voice dripped with sarcasm, much to Rueben’s amusement as the two approached the office of the company’s CEO and Roun’s father; Shin Itami.

“Oh yeah, Jorna’s a barrel of laughs.” Rueben replied with equal snark as the two approached the door to his boss’ office.

“Hey Mina.” He sounded to Shin’s secretary.

“Hey Rueben, you’re back awfully quick. How was your trip?” She inquired pleasantly.

“Not as relaxing as I would have hoped.” He sighed. “I understand that Shin wants to see us?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “He’s wrapping up a meeting with some other associates; he said he’ll buzz me when he’s ready for you two. Take a seat.” She motioned towards the plush couch that was pressed up against the wall on the opposite end of the waiting area outside of Shin’s office.

“Thanks.” Rueben nodded before walking over and sitting on the couch; prompting Roun to do the same.

“This is weird.” Roun stated quietly as he sat next to Rueben.

“What?” The manipulator’s eyebrow tipped upwards slowly at the strange comment.

“I can’t sense my dad.” Roun replied with visible unease, but Rueben just smirked.

“The walls of his office have a zeta-nullification effect – all known forms of active or passive scanning are blocked.” Rueben explained, causing Roun’s eyebrow to tip upwards in turn.

“That’s… interesting.” He replied after a brief pause. “I didn’t even know that kind of technology existed.”

“It has for years – it’s actually a bit disappointing that it wasn’t created by IE, because it’s become the standard for use in the military, law enforcement and as a measure to prevent corporate espionage.” Rueben explained.

“Sounds like my dad’s missing out on a lot of money.” Roun shrugged.

“Quite the understatement, it’s gotta be worth billions annually – and to think that it was developed by R&D at the Order of Demai of all people; Rayad Demar must be making a killing off the tech.”

“Indeed.” Roun nodded. “I didn’t know that the factions dabbled in commercial projects.”

“The factions have their hands in just about everything these days: technology, politics – hell Demar’s a practically a pop-culture icon.” Rueben shook his head. “When you call the legends that run those organisations the four most powerful men on earth, you’re not just referring to their channeling abilities.”

“How the hell do I not know any of this stuff?” Roun inquired with visible exasperation, but as usual Rueben just remained amused.

“I guess this kind of stuff doesn’t get reported on a lot.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they had their hands in the media-houses as well – they control practically everything else.”

“Rueben, Roun, Mr. Itami will see you both now.” Mina’s announcement forced the two to break up their conversation and make their way towards the large marble door that served as threshold to Shin’s office.

As they approached, they could hear the mechanical locks on the door snapping open, before the energetic seals on it also dissipated to allow the door to slide open. As they did, they both sensed the familiar aura of the magnanimous Shin Itami, one of the few legendary-tier channelers in existence. But as the door slid open and they entered the room, they realised that this channeling prodigy was not alone. As they each crossed the threshold, they found their own channeling abilities stifled and eventually suppressed, forcing them both to struggle to even maintain their braver forms at the lowest energy levels.

Soon they realised why.

While Shin sat before them, behind his massive oak desk, the walls of the room were lined with four other individuals, each of them much more powerful than the green haired man. Roun’s eyes widened in shock at the sight before he began to identify each man sequentially.

This first one to catch his attention was the one, perhaps, whose physical appearance clashed most heavily with the potency of his energy signature. Near the back of the large room, just to Shin’s right stood the most unlikely of legends. The brown-skinned, red-haired man was not just the shortest of these five legends but also the thinnest, possessing a frame that was barely taller and only slightly more bulky than that of Roun’s. What was even more outstanding however was that fact that his youthful features were highly exaggerated, even for a channeler, making him look arguably younger than the baby-faced Roun Itami. Based on appearance alone, Roun would’ve assumed this man to be in his late teens and not even his early twenties but that was almost mind numbing as he was certain of the legend’s identity. His outfit screamed who he was, being little more than a highly decorative version of the uniform worn by each of his charges. The darkened tones of his long pants were broken only occasionally by the tribal patterns of red that raced down the sides, starting on his hips and running all the way down to the hem. This pattern was mirrored on the form fitting, sleeveless vest that he wore tucked into his pants over which the massive golden buckle of his belt rested. On the man’s shoulder rested a long coat that was, like the rest of his clothing, black with red trim and it possessed the insignia of his military faction, surrounded by tribals in the centre of its back. This symbol, that of raging flames surrounding the head of a bull, adorned his pants and vest as well; signifying his allegiance to the Order of Demai. This deceptively young-looking channeler was none other than Rayad Demar, the eighty-six year old founder and Master General of the Order of Demai and dictator of the Aviv nation on the continent of Trajege.

Across from him stood his polar opposite, and probably the most easily discerned of Terra’s five legends. This rugged, almost haggard channeler stood almost two metres tall with rippling muscles and a body that still displayed the scars of the countless battles that he’d fought in; despite the amazing regeneration granted to him by his channeling abilities. His hair was primarily dark brown but streaks of grey still permeated these more dominant strands, which were buzzed into a classical military haircut that no longer characterised modern soldiers. Like many things about this one-hundred a thirty-three year old channeler, his hair was a relic. Much like the clothes he wore, which resembled the ceremonial attire of soldiers from the previous century, nothing about the man seemed to jive with the contemporary. Based on the creases in his stern face and the brown and grey stubble that cropped up around his chisled jaw-line, this hulking legendary channeler resembled a man in his late forties despite his actual age – but even this was strange for most channelers. If Roun had to choose a single word to describe this odd channeler it would be ‘anomalous’, which was amusing because it simply meant that is appearance matched his reputation. This particular channeler, Maika Smerkyov – the founder of Lehomik Military Alliance – had long been the source of countless rumours. From tales of his inability to actually perform ‘coded’ techniques to his absolute immunity to such, legends surrounding this man circulated the globe and accounts of his countless adventures before the development of his channeling abilities only became more and more grandiose with each retelling. When it came to this particular legend, it was impossible to separate fact from fiction and given his bizarre energy signature, Roun had to admit that he could see why.

As his gaze moved towards the centre of the walls, a far less anomalous channeler caught his attention. This man was pale with skin that was almost white in colour and ice-blue hair fell to the middle of his back. Appearing neither very old nor extremely young like the previous channelers, this man’s defining characteristic was undoubtedly his beauty. Despite his appearance being that of a man in his late twenties, his smoothly shaved skin and sharp facial features were not characteristically masculine in comparison to Maika’s features, giving him an even younger appearance. Still, by comparison he did look noticeably older than Roun. He was also significantly taller – by at least a head – which left him still a head shorter than the massive Maika Smerkyov. To further contrast him with Maika, he also possessed a much sleeker frame, one more comparable to Rayad than anyone else’s with this man sharing his highly defined musculature. And while those around him wore their faction’s garments, this man was adorned with armour fitting of a Knight of the Xelot Council. Though he was no mere knight. It was immediately apparent that this man was Marshack Almed, Chairman of the Xelot Council and the Lord Paladin that commanded their army of knights. As such, he wore the ceremonial armour befitting of his post. Unlike Maika, whose garments were largely ceremonial and of little assistance in battle, Marshack’s armour was both an artistic and technological marvel. Thought by many as the perfection of the expansion suit, the cybernetic armours worn by Xelot knights were as close to exo-suits as channelers could come to command. Designed to work in tandem with their abilities rather than substitute them, these shining armours of white and gold were an immediately recognisable symbol of a knight’s honour. Despite being designed to be form fitting at their core, the armours added significant bulk to the otherwise sleek frame of the tall, blue-haired man. Heavily reinforced, zeta-conductive polymers ran over his muscles and synched with them to augment their function while a gold elastic alloy held these polymer plates together. And as if his armour was not impressive enough, the entire thing was adorned with massive pauldrons, joined by an alloy bridge that formed a massive collar and gave way to the flowing white cape than ran down his back.

This left the last of these legends, who by simple elimination had to be the infamous Kyasho Mirakama, the founder of the Rogue Special Forces and Commandant of this elite army of channelers. Like Shin, Kyasho’s body resembled a man in his early thirties and was spared the trials that seemed to characterise Maika’s very existence. His broad face and square jaw played host to a well maintained ‘Van Dyke’. This black facial hair shared the colour of the hair atop and running down the back of his head to about neck length, while the sides of his remained completely bleached of colour, exhibiting a pure white similar to Rueben’s. Extensive training had left this legend with a broad frame, thick arms and a barrel chest with visible musculature that seemed ripe to burst beneath his formal attire. Despite his role as military leader of one of the world’s most powerful private armies, Kyasho’s dress was that of a businessman, manifesting as a grey three piece suit over a black shirt and a loosely drawn white tie. With the exception of the intricately designed walking stick that he carried, his demeanour was for the most part very mundane and understated. The irony of this was not lost on Roun, who knew well that this man in particular and above all else was far from mundane. Even among the legends, it was widely accepted that Kyasho was in a league unto himself and exhibited a mastery of zeta the likes of none other. Stories of feats to justify such claims were abundant, but none more popular than the legend that this man had battled both Marshack and Rayad to a standstill, singlehandedly ending a war between the Order of Demai and Council of Xelots that had raged on for well over a decade. Like many of these legends, its accuracy was no doubt dubious but even with his energy signature considerably suppressed; it was unmistakably the most stifling presence in the room for the two braver-tier channelers.

This left the last and weakest of these legend tier channelers, Shin Maximillian Itami. Despite being among the oldest of these channelers present, at one hundred and thirteen years old – some seventeen years the senior of Kyasho Mirakama – Shin exhibited the weakest of the legendary energy signatures. This tall and strapping man, who looked not a day over thirty, shared the dark skin of his kin but unlike his son and his employee his hair forewent a two-toned nature. Instead his unkempt, neck-length hair exhibited the emerald green pigment of veranos in its entirety and matched the piercing gaze of his green eyes. Like Kyasho, he sported a full moustache, but his connected to his goatee at the sides and was significantly less pristine than that of his former protégé. Like the younger channeler however, his tastes tended towards suits and for their meeting he’d opted for a black two-piece suit with a black shirt and green tie. Much like Kyasho, he preferred understated garments but went further in foregoing accessories that would cause him to stand out unnecessarily. Unlike the other four, he spent much of his time mingling with recreants and had long since learned that it was easier to deal with them if they forgot how different he actually was. So despite being the former mentor of the most powerful man on the planet, and the originator of much of Terra’s channeling principles, the host of the meeting was decidedly the most mundane of Terra’s five legends.

“Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to my latest protégé, Rueben Sol-Itami.” The comparatively mundane Shin Itami spoke. “And you’ve all met my son, Roun: the Synchros vessel.”