Voices spoke, muffled as though separated by a veil of water, either them submerged or the one who listened. First there was no distinguishment between the voices, they could’ve all been from a single being, sight could not tell for there was none. Only the black empty surrounded the space beneath water, and only echoes of the other side could be heard.

Slowly though there was an ascendance towards the film, the voices begin to grow clarity amidst their conversation, separating into two, three distinct accents. As the darkness becomes more hazy, a hint of light peeking from past the fog, the tips of rays reaching sight, those voices begin speaking with words rather than sounds.

A distinctly female voice with an American Southern accent remarks, “It’s only her first day and she can’t even stay awake.”

Closer to the surface where the light is stronger, the fog in the voices are diminishing, with another one speaking in a more Australian accent, still feminine: “Guess she broke that quick, but hey least she ain’t screaming like her minions. Comm duty must either be overjoyed or in agony.”

Penetrating the film and emerging out into the surface comes an explosion of light and sound, perfect clarity of voice coming from the last girl with a South Asian complexion dressed in a suit of metal armor resembling a knight’s suit, standing in the center with her arms crossed as she giggles and remarks: “She’s definitely one of those deluders who spend the first few days acting like everything’s fine, but it’s those ones who crack the hardest. Man, I just wish we were allowed to play with her like the others, it’s unfair.”

Also standing in the brown rubber room made of tiles that covered all the walls, ceiling and floor with the only breakage of the repetitive design being the open door on the far end leading to the hallway that revealed the room on the other side– visible through the translucent red window to show the prisoner in uniform chained up to the wall by the black cables from the projector reels–, are the two women beside the first both of which had lighter complexions with one dressed in purple overalls and the other in a crop top under an oversized white jacket with red spikes protruding all along the sleeves complementary to her scarlet red hair.

That woman huffs and leans back with her arms stretched behind her head before she then sways forward with a devilish smirk, peering straight on at the viewer and raising one finger as she wonders mischievously, “But I mean like really like what’s the big deal, I’m sure nothing would happen if I-...,” as she then slowly moved her finger towards the viewer in a childish manner.

All the sudden a loud male voice reprimands from all around the walls, “Keep your hands to yourself, Ruby,” with such blaring volume that it sends a quake through all three women, the reaction most intense with the poker who instantly pulls her arm back and stumbles.

The woman in the overalls crosses her arms over her chest and sternly echoes, “Yeah, Ruby, you’re going to get us in trouble. We probably shouldn’t even be here right now.”

Ruby turns to face that woman to rebuke back, “Oh screw off Echo-,” before being cut off by a groaning from a new voice, one that all three of the women diverted attention towards as they all silenced with guilty expressions, facing straight at the viewer.

Squinting first before blinking twice, unable to use her hands to wipe her eyes given they’re both extended away and restrained in that place as her body was held up in a pose akin to crucifixion, the prisoner raises her head up thus allowing her short amber bangs to brush themselves to the side which permits her sight through her parakeet green eyes, clearly tired as though she’s just waking up. The tone of her voice fits that narrative as she inquires through murmurs, “Why are you all so loud…?”

All three women’s eyes expand in astonishment to the awakening, Ruby first to speak as she just remarks, “Woah…so she’s not dead,” before the woman in overalls glares in agitation and asserts, “We should leave, we’re not supposed to be here, we could get in trouble with higher rank if she says anything.”

Giggles came from the South Asian girl before asking fanatically, “Right, you’re worried the prisoner is going to turtle-tell? Really? I think she’s the one who’s afraid of us, Bea.”

“Why does…everyone keep assuming I am…?” wearily wonders the inmate, grabbing the three women’s attention yet again but now with more puzzled gazes.

Glancing between those three pirates, the detained leader sighs and lowers her head before muttering, “I mean…you’re all just low life thugs…just a different flavor of the same old rot found in every world….”

Blinking in shock to the harsh statements, the knight and Bea just freeze up whereas Ruby’s eyes sharpen to an agitated glare, and she steps forward as strange red liquid seeps from her fingers but suspends midair only a foot extended as she threatens aggressively, “Why you listen to me bitch-.”

“Ruby, hands off the prisoner,” again blares the voice from the walls, shaking her yet again with a terrified expression, one quickly hidden in shame as her friend in the knight armor sighs and admits despite her prior jests, “Okay Ruby, I think we should go, to be honest I’ve been hearing Mary’s been cracking down on more of us so I don’t think we should upset her….”

Tsking from the restraints placed now on her despite not being the one chained, Ruby lowers her head as the red liquid rises back up inside her finger and vanishes.

Through disgruntled mutters she complies, “Fine Manka,” before turning around and stomping towards the open door as the two others glance at her and then at the prisoner.

Her arms still folded, Bea stares down at the powerless leader and menaces with that same stern voice, “Keep telling yourself that, but you’re the one that’s going to rot in this cell for the rest of your life. And trust me, you’d prefer if that’s short,” before she then unfolds her arms and returns them to her side before turning around and walking with her friend out to the door.

Stuck under surveillance, the leader just watches as the three pirates step through the doorway and turn down the hall, although she can’t watch them entirely as brown nanite particles emit from the frame of the door before they then materialize the whole door in the same design as the rubber tiles, perfectly integrated with the rest of the pattern too as they perfectly close up the opening.

The very instant that door is closed, all sound of footsteps and groaning abruptly silence, for all external stimuli beyond the walls are shut off, leaving the prisoner yet again submerged away from the surface.

Gazing straight at where the door was, freedom so close and so attainable if not for the eyes that peered through the crevices all around her, Dana just lowers her head with a defeated sigh, her amber bangs again covering her face as in truth she struggles to maintain her own boldness.

For in truth, she was genuinely distraught, terrified about her situation as it was one in which she couldn’t escape out of, not entirely. She really was at this very moment stuck, locked in a cell with multiple doors all with their own locks, and those keys were scattered far and wide.

All Dana can do as she lifts her head and gazes up at the ceiling with those shimmering green eyes peering through the disheveled hairs is to wait for someone else to find those keys, as she frowns in anticipation that forms anxiety, her only method of retaliation being to wait.

Yet in that anticipation there is hope, for even though she can’t see through the rubber ceiling, she awaits through that ceiling, through the many ceilings of the several floors of the prison complex holding dozens of cells all on different levels with the higher levels accessible by bridges, bridges like the floors intensely guarded by pirates who pace up and down.

That prison complex consumes all three stories, for beyond the ceiling of the highest floor visible even from the base is the golden brown roof of the huge train, the exterior made of what resembles wooden planks even if they’re truthfully metallic, encasing the train cars separated by thin segments made of the grayer bronze-like metal the same tone as the panels scattered around all surfaces of the cars.

Similarly, along the sides of much of the train are arrays of open windows that peak into the interior of the vast mobile fortress, the windows emitting their own lights although ones vastly overpowered by the cyan sunlight of the afternoon day, one with scattered clouds amongst the train high up in the air.

For the train remains substantially stationary but far from ground, far from the distant island of mountains and far from the boundless blue sea that blends with the sky at the horizon, both of them expansive abysses that form a single domain sealing the prison within the train, one with a white shield in the form of the clouds that shroud the whole vessel.

Although the surface of the shield at this very moment is penetrated by the large bullet in the form of the sports pod who arrives into the atmosphere with a roar, a pod clad in an azure base with white and black trims. Upon entering the airspace, the pod’s roar falls to a near silence, only humming gently as it drifts through the white clouds of the upper layers.

Completely surrounded in the white void with no visibility, the pod just drives amongst the swirls, calm and calculating despite its ferocious design.

Navigating through the dense fog with sharp eyes, Meditat sits in the black leather seat shaped similar to a race car's seat by the curves and overall design, suited in the azure fabric armor that radiates from the streaks coursing from the pencil emblem on his chest. His black hood rests on the slim golden pauldrons, his head revealed with his starry irises exposed in front of his long black hairs, his determined glare prominent as he keeps silent.

Behind him in the back of the pod’s interior is the black leather bench which also follows the same race car aesthetic, although not as curved given the long cushion, thus it inevitably is more rounded yet still has the same head cushion shapes and outer rims. Seated on that bench is both Kokei and Ekitai, the former of whom holds her hands together and rocks back in forth outwardly filled with anxiety as the latter just rests his head against the cushion with a more outwardly calm demeanor, simply gazing at the window with little expression, seemingly indifferent.

Huffs emit from Kokei, ventilating perhaps due to the fortress they’d soon be arriving at, or even perhaps the less life threatening problem of her work projects, the task that strangely feels almost as imposing despite the lack of possibility in fatality.

Swamped with piles of tasks and contrasting responsibilities, she keeps her head low, her long pink hairs draping down the sides of her head over her large white cupcake hoodie, stuck in her casual clothing when charging into a war. Between the three, her appearance is the least suited for battle in fact, her legs almost entirely exposed and her clothing lacking much material strength when faced against blades and fire. That vulnerability only furthers her panic, for while this was very much not her first fight given the plethora of chaotic missions she’s embarked on over the months against other armies and devils, finding ease when heading for danger still is a struggle as told by the wideness of her pink eyes.

On the other hand, Ekitai huffs but in more of a blithe sigh, his body hardly moving but instead more like a statue. His own body may be perhaps the least healthy and the most frail, his cheekbones sunken in and his head badly wrinkled around his yellow irises underneath his bald head. He doesn’t exactly wear armor either, as while he is dressed less innocently with the large brown overcoat over the black jumpsuit, neither of them seem to be made of truly resistant material against weaponry.

That however is not cause for concern, as he very well could choose to drape himself in armors, but instead he preferred not to. Despite perhaps his unconventional attitudes and his conspicuous mortality, he was perhaps one of if not the most experienced fighters on the team, as while maybe he didn’t have extraordinary superpowers and so was not always able to take on larger threats, he was deceptively reliable. His ramblings and stories had some merit to them past the senseless gloating, but in this very moment that mask of jokes wasn’t on, for this expression lacked any comedy but instead is fully stern with sharp yellow irises and a subtle frown as he gazed out at the window.

For his expression isn’t the typical drowning in enthusiasm for another exciting mission, but instead an oddly mature hesitancy, not in explicit terror and anxiety but rather exercised caution to the path that they were walking down. His eyes shimmered in uncertainty, a growing dread to an altercation he hoped he would not intervene, but an uneasy feeling debated that hope. So he just stares out into the white clouds, the foggy fluffy space fly past, transitioning from the cosmos to the world, loading into the next mission.

In front of both Ekitai and Kokei neither of whom face towards, past the seats in front of the driver, Meditat, who in fact is facing, through the windshield view that displays several interface gauges along the edges with speedometers, batteries, gyroscopes, and additional screens streaming footage from the rear and side view cameras all of which are only compliments to the main display, that main display features the white foggy haze that clears up as it’s passed through, for the view clarifies to the next layers of clouds albeit far more scattered such that they allow view for the islands and grand sea far below, but in between the sky and the sea is another construct: the colossal golden halo.

Instantly taking note of the ring, Meditat’s gaze widens in stun, honing in as Kokei raises her head up and gasps to that same image simultaneous as the cloudy view passes Ekitai, who begrudgingly groans before facing ahead too only to also show some semblance of surprise given his abrupt silence.

Neither him nor Meditat speak, but it’s Kokei who softly asks, “What…is that?”

At first shocked, Meditat’s wide eyed gaze finishes interpreting the initial environment before it then sharpens to a determined glare, determined like his stoic tone as he concludes, “It’s where Dana’s being held captive. Our destination.”

Kokei grits her teeth in perturbation to the scale of the fortress she realized she’d be needing to infiltrate, her uncertainty clear seemingly same as Ekitai’s who leans forward on his seat and peers more keenly before curiously muttering, “Huh…those are pirates? A size like that should mean they’re Emperors but…I don’t recognize that look ....”

Through backwards logic though, he releases a subtle sigh of relief with a small smile creeping up on his face, though he chooses not to verbalize the reasons for such a reaction when facing danger.

At a pace more cautiously slow, the azure pod approaches the golden halo while still maintaining altitude high above. At the same time, the pod’s own color begins to shift as the white and black trims begin to swirl in an animation with a discoloration of the azure shell, the base color shifting into one of a brighter blue akin to the sky as the whites and blacks become hazier swirls more similar to clouds.

Focused solely on the mission without time for doubts, Meditat orders sternly: “Orial, do a sweep of the fortress, I need interior scans and Exhuman readings.”

A few seconds later a response is given off Meditat’s body, one by the British-voiced artificial intelligence who informs: “I regret to inform you, but it appears their fortress is heavily cloaked in several layers of deterrence walls, I am unable to get efficient internal scans immediately. Based on the assessment of the walls, I may be able to dismantle them, I estimate it will take about two hours and thirty minutes. Do you wish for me to continue?”

Stunned as shown from the wide gaze, Meditat raises his head and first bluntly demands, “Wait, what?? Two and a half hours??”

Gritting his teeth with a disconcerted tisk, he shakes his head and boldly answers: “Negative, we’ve waited long enough. You haven’t struggled to that degree in quite some time, Orial.”

Only able to detect the pod by the thin outline only visible from an intimate glance, the sports pod glides over to the halo with a gradual descendance, one that still keeps adequate distance but is definitive on seeking approach.

To that comment, Orial’s voice sighs and admits, “Unfortunately their security measures are unconventional to my database, these pirates seem to operate off of different protocols from usual organizations we’ve faced. Furthermore, I also admit that most of my protocols for breaching security programs traditional to worlds other than Earth 50 may be outdated as I have collected insufficient data over the course of the past decade and may not be accustomed to updated practices. I could brute force a breach in a shorter time, but the majority of the runtime serves to ensure concealment and prevent counterattacks, given that anticipation of such is not trivial.”

Next to sigh from that explanation, Meditat nods his head and more calmly acknowledges, “I understand you, it’s fine. We’ll find another solution.”

He then glances over to the side window to view the golden halo beneath, the pod now orbiting around it from above at a bearing tilt while the driver contemplates the next move with a pondering gaze.

Sharp-eyed, Meditat keeps his sight on the side window as he requests softly, “Orial, can you project the exact position of the transmission?”

“Right away, sir,” swiftly answers Orial to which the side window originally only exhibiting the view of the sky and ring without additional interface suddenly manifests a single blue dot, but one clearly not part of the outside image given it’s holographic luminescence that pulsates fading rings. That dot though has a sense of dimensionality beyond just a flat image, as it’s projected not just on the screen but in its exhibit, casted such that it appears to be sitting atop the roof of the train not too far from the current orbital position.

The pulsating dot is noticeably by the outer edge of the roof, but even stranger below the dot along the wall forming the outer casing of the train there is an array of squares projecting their own subtle yellow lights, squares that even from afar could be identified.

An eyebrow raising initially to the sight, Meditat silently interprets the screen as Kokei leans forward and peers over his shoulder for a look herself, her head tilting in befuddlement before asking, “Wait, Dana got up there? She’s already out? How would she even?”

Subtly shaking his head with his gaze still fixed, Meditat corrects sternly albeit not harshly, “I doubt it, her main body is likely still held captive where the pirates located her. Given the encryptions and jammers onboard, it’s likely she deployed a drone to reach a position where she could establish connection, hopefully in that case she wasn’t caught. And the way she must’ve managed to pilot the drone to reach outside without damaging the hull was….”

His glare tightening further in intrigue, Meditat murmurs to himself in analysis: “Windows…those aren’t mere projections either…they’re passthrough aren’t they?”

Behind him, Kokei leans further over his shoulder and exclaims, stupefied: “Wait, they just have open windows out up here?? Even in my workplace that’s dangerous, but for pirates isn’t that suicide?”

Beside her body with a chuckle and shake of the head, Ekitai answers but with a lighter tone different from his initial callous: “You’re trying to make sense of their actions Kookie, that’s not how they work. They don’t do logic,” to which Kokei pulls herself back to her own seat, allowing Meditat more free space which allows him to shift his shoulders in adjustment.

“Those windows definitely have an extent of filtration given the dangers of having unadulterated openings, but it’s likely an intentionally weak filter, one that’d let us…hmm,” Meditat analyzes before falling back into a hum, passing in and out of conversation from the team back to himself.

However, he had said enough for Kokei’s eyebrow to raise and for her to turn her head back to him, suspiciously asking: “That’d let us…what…?”

Still orbiting around the ring as the blue dot remains in the same position relative to said structure, movement animated to track the window screen’s display, Meditat watches down on the train, his eyes darting to the many windows all around the exterior, for there weren’t only on the distinguished car with the blue dot but rather there were scatters of arrays along many of the cars, for the one with the dot wasn’t particularly unique in that attribute.

Noticing such and investigating further into such observation, Meditat murmurs in a calm voice highly analytical, “Given that Dana deployed a drone from her captivity unit and the surplus of these passthrough windows…it’d stand to reason that even if the transmission wasn’t sent directly from her main body’s position, it should be close. In these situations she always makes efficient moves, she’d take the first escape possible if it was deemed safe, likely somewhere vacant and unguarded.”

“And…what if the first ones weren’t safe?” brings up Kokei with an apprehensive tone, expressing doubts but ones that were warranted especially given the delicacy of the situation.

Yet to that doubt Meditat simply answers, “She’d not miss more than three openings, and given the likely time frame from the reception of the transmission taking into account the schedule I acquired earlier, she’d likely not have had the time to make more than a full half trip around this structure.”

“You’re running off a lot of hypotheticals right now,” critiques Ekitai in the back after chuckling to himself, shaking his head and appending, “Pirates sure are dumb but that makes them harder to read.”

Sighing to that harsh critique, Meditat nods his head and admits bluntly, “I am, but without the ability to acquire a detailed internal scan of this structure, that transmission position is our sole lead. And I’m not planning to sit here for two hours while Dana remains down there. Moreover, given your insistence on partaking in this trip, you’ll need to come with me.”

Dumbfounded by the acceleration of a plan unspoken, Kokei just tilts her head with her jaw hanging before she faces Meditat and curiously inquires, “Wait so do we have a plan exactly? Are we going to try docking on that thing and sneaking onboard? I think I’m getting better at the stealth side of things….”

However little focus was given to that question as Meditat just subtly tilts his chin down and requests in a quiet voice clearly not directed back to the speaker, “Orial, are you sure you can’t get any scans? There’s open windows, can you work with that? Audio readings? I can deploy drones if you need specific angles. But right now we’re blind here.”

Noticing that lack of answer, Kokei tilts her head the other way and asks again, “Wait what are we-,” before Ekitai interjects with a jab still facing away: “He’s talking to the robot, but hey at least we know why he’s ignoring us” which is the truth as Meditat solely focuses on the words of his artificial ally whom reluctantly confirms, “I apologize sir, but without proximate sophisticated satellite technology I cannot conduct adequate scans, and I would not advise deploying drones as it is likely that they’ll be traced given the depth of their digital security.”

Tisking from the hard answer, Meditat grits his teeth and mutters, “Damn, we truly are restrained to that sole transmission position for a lead….” He lowers his head with a sigh, calming himself down to apologize, “Thank you Orial, we’ll use the traditional method of investigation.”

Raising her head up the same as her voice in another bleak attempt, Kokei urges desperately for answers: “Wait, what’s going on? What’s the plan?”

At the same time as the question is asked, Meditat tilts his head to the side as the pod’s engine hum loudens just subtly as it sharply turns.

From outside, the sporty pod whose hull animates to mimic the sky and clouds above it, resulting in a sky blue base with moving white swirls, breaks from its passive orbital path and instead begins a slow straight line down towards the center, over the ring itself although still maintaining altitude.

From inside, Meditat at last interacts with the two as he raises and aims his hand back at Kokei before it abruptly ignites and bursts an azure flame straight at her to which she instinctively winces and covers her head with her hands, yelping as she’s struck in the chest over her heart.

That flame extinguishes itself immediately after striking Kokei, or rather the full contents of the flame had been transfigured as she opens her eyes and lowers her arm to find that on her chest is a small, thin, silver disk, one that then lights up with a glowing blue dot in the center before suddenly projecting a thin sheet of blue tinted energy that wraps over her body.

Curiosity covers Ekitai as he also inspects the process over Kokei’s body, speechless at first though his raised eyebrow raises suspicions.

The sheet moves with her hands and arms which swing side to side sporadically in bewildered panic as a luminescent ring flashes around the dot on the disk, one that persists and furthermore is accompanied with a second one as the sheet flares a purple hue for a moment before suddenly vanishing altogether, or at least visibly so.

Blinking twice from that strange experience, Kokei instinctively grabs her sleeve only to find that it simply feels like her, the fabrics of the hoodie without an additional textured layer. She then moves her attention towards the only remaining effect: the disk on her chest, just to find that it flashes a bright white color before seemingly vanishing too.

She places her hand over her chest specifically where the disk was, again only feeling the fabrics of her hoodie which causes her further confusion to the purpose of the contraption which she hesitantly asks about after raising her head: “Uh…what was that?”

At the helm of the pod that slugs onwards, Meditat finally speaks back to explain briefly: “It’s a personal shield that’ll protect you from the high atmospheric pressures. In addition its energy absorption and dispersal functionality serves well for protection against assault given it’s likely we’ll face that.”

He then aims his hand at Ekitai, although the senile man shakes his head and hands before rejecting in the decrepit raspy voice, “Hey wait I don’t need a shield, I’m fine on my own.”

In rejection to that rejection Meditat insists coldly back, “From my research you lack any superhuman durability, your assurance is inadequate for me to risk your safety. I was far too lenient to bring you along, but I’m certainly not letting you deploy without this.”

Scoffing from that reprimand, Ekitai scolds back with his arms folded over his lean stomach: “Like I said, I was going to come here on my own anyways and I’ve survived your psycho brother, I don’t need your protection-,” only for Meditat to project another blue blaze onto his chest, manifesting a second silver disk on his black jumpsuit which again projects a translucent blue sheet that wraps around his body, one he desperately tries to peel off but to no effect as he curses, “-hey consent god dammit!”

In negligence to the request, Meditat just lowers his head and glances through the windshield screen, noting the gradual approach to the ring as the two blue rings emerge on Ekitai’s disk as the sheet vanishes before the disk itself.

As Kokei watches Ekitai continue peeling at his own body senselessly, Meditat grabs the back of his own black hood concurrently as Kokei’s eyebrow raises and she faces back at him to warily inquire, “Wait…you said the main point of this was atmospheric pressures?”

Over the head the hood is laid, and crawling from the edges of said hood are tendrils of luminescent blue which cover his face, and in between those tendrils manifest white plates first disjoint but as more appear over the face they weld together into a solid piece, all but for the eyes and a thin gap down the cheek as instead the eyes glaring sharp in determination are overlaid with parallelogram-shaped visors and a long glowing streak emerges along the side of the face down to the mouth.

The mask fully formed, Meditat lowers his head but begins to stand up from his seat which would have him hit his head on the roof, or that’d be the case if not for the burning of said room which torches itself in blue flames, flames that spread across the whole roof of the pod, or rather flames that become of the roof as the fires die out to reveal the open blue sky above.

Meditat stands fully upright at the helm as Kokei in shock darts her eyes around the opening pod as the full roof and windows are dissolved, although the blaze doesn’t spread to the entire vehicle but instead abruptly stops in such a fashion that the resultant pod has an appearance somewhat resembling a convertible.

Despite the high altitudes that the group is now exposed to at least without the pod’s protection, neither of the three show any loss in breath or chills, an attribute Ekitai seems to take note of with a quick glance down at his chest where the disk was formerly visible.

He then raises his head up to Meditat and groans but somewhat sarcastically as he follows the implication: “Man the old guy at least respected my strengths more, but I guess when you’re younger you’re dumber.” He then smirks though more fanatically before adding, “But hey, at least it looks like you too have that flair for entrances, maybe that’s a half point.”

He then stands up from his seat too, unaffected by the heavy winds that roar over his voice, that initial perturbation shifted to agitation now rounding out to anticipation given the promise of an interesting aspiration.

Further ahead the drifting pod approaches the golden ring, far below underneath a few layers of clouds as the pod had a solid distance away from the ring in avoidance of potentially being caught, yet now that concern seems to become obsolete.

The driver stares down at his halved ride, not from the windshield anymore but with his own eyes through the flaring mask as his cape dances sporadically in the wind, same with Ekitai’s overcoat and Kokei’s hair as she stands up last, grabbing the edge of the pod for stability as she peers over in consternation.

Standing in front of the two allies who embarked in this journey too to save their teammate, the man who shared the same name with the founder and now therefore his role raises his head up, and he orders against the wind in his voice modified with deeper tones and distortions to his accent: “Orial, straight shot deployment.”

Both Kokei and Ekitai stand in front of the leather bench, watching down from the sides of the pod as suddenly two cables emerge from Meditat’s back by his shoulder blades, each attaching onto one of the two, pulling their attentions as Kokei mutters, “Oh it’s going to be this again huh?” to Ekitai’s enthusiasm given his brightened smile.

Yet there is no verbal response given by the man in blue, for he just stares on, waiting.

First just cruising ahead at speeds reachable with walking, the pod abruptly bolts straight forward with a hum only slightly rising in volume but where it grows is pitch with the three standing on top, Kokei and Ekitai almost stumbling but Meditat remaining firmly grounded as the vehicle races through the clouds in a line over the halo.

In not a full second the pod flies right over the halo, and in that very instant that it does, Meditat bounds up in a jump propelled with a blue burst, and along with him both Kokei and Ekitai are yanked from the floor and up in the air with him.

Through swirls of clouds the three glide as the pod races off away from them, the one to reach the highest altitude in the jump being Meditat, but he’s also the first to reach zeroed velocity in the middle of an aerial backflip which is when his descendance begins to which Kokei clings onto the translucent cable.

Past both her and Ekitai, Meditat dives straight down with his arms against his torso and legs together, his hood wrinkling in the wind as his emblem flares bright like the sky above him.

Next both of the allies are pulled straight down, the cables holding them reeled in to tighten their grip as the three glide down the open sky from the pod that combusts in an open flame, down to the open ring.

Approaching that ring, Meditat breaks his stance and raises both arms forward, each hand projecting a cable from the open palm which is gripped by the fingers, each cable firing straight through the air and into the golden wood exterior of the halo, each one on the other side of an open window about six feet tall and four feet wide.

Those two cables instantly straighten and furthermore begin to reel in, a process sped up with yanks from both arms as Meditat redirects his course in a hard orthogonal turn, instead now bolting horizontally with his legs first and arms curled.

Soaring through a thin strand of clouds leading the two allies, Meditat flies straight along the cable’s path, straight to that very window, and straight through the center of the golden portal.

On the other side of that golden light emerges Meditat who disbands both ropes from his hands as his body is thrusted in a tight backwards spin to reorient himself so his black boots can be planted on the golden brown floor, skidding to a halt just as both Kokei and Ekitai pass through the rift although more narrowly as their bodies flail more chaotically.

Nonetheless they manage to ground themselves on the floor right beside Meditat, the three of them standing by the long wall in front of family-sized dining tables occupied by adults dressed zany on chairs, all of them immediately silencing from the entrance.

As the three allies glance around to their surroundings which they drove straight into without knowing where it’d lead, they find themselves surrounded by a huge company of men and women many of whom are seated at tables with plates of food and cups of drinks among others who stand holding trays containing those same platters.

All of them freeze in place, the allies and those adults, for the moment’s momentum has immediately ceased, and the air finally thins cold.