The aircraft made straight for the capital of the Krizian Empire. Several hours passed with the occupants restlessly awaiting battles ahead. The engines that were retrofitted from cannons worked well enough to work as thrusters but ultimately they were designed to dampen recoil which meant they were highly inefficient at the task they were now being used for resulting in a flight time longer than a plane designed in modern day. Before they’d left they had run some number calculating the distance they needed to travel and the time it would take. They had no other way to determine when they were to their destination. Once they were in the air, the numbers had to be reran so that they were more accurate. It was definitely faster than over land, but it would still take the greater part of the day so some decided to sleep. Some decided to check their equipment again. Anything to pass the time.

When they had nearly reached the capital a light engulfed the craft. It was a blast from an energy weapon of an unknown source. It didn’t penetrate through the armor into where the occupants were, but the thrusters were destroyed. They plummeted to the ground. None of them had expected this. There were no parachutes or safety devices. A thought passed through Jason’s mind, that this mission had ended before it even began. He pushed it aside. The others were panicked, unable to think what to do next. Even Xev was showing signs that she was worried. She could survive the fall, but there was no way that she could save all of them. Another beam of energy crashed into them causing the entire structure to shake. Jason made a decision. He ran to the back of the compartment and hit the door. Another hit knocked Jason off his feet towards the door. His fingers caught hold of the corner. The other got to their feet and rushed to help him, but before they could he shouted, “Jump!” and let go. They looked at each other as if to communicate silently that they all thought he was crazy.

Rina was the first to leap from the back. She had faith that whatever his plans were it would work out. Also, she had her rifle holster unit that could act as a jet pack so she wasn’t worried about falling to her death. At worst they couldn’t overcome the force of gravity enough and she’d hit the ground hard, but that was no threat. She’d just heal herself. She used the thrust of the rifle fire to follow after Jason. That was her top priority. While she had things to take care of herself, she was uncertain of how he’d survive the fall which meant that she needed to get to him before it was too late.

Jello followed after her, but unlike Rina, he had nothing that could be seen to ease his fall or restore any injuries he might sustain upon impacting with the ground. Giving a growling shout he unsheathed the titan blade on his back and swung it vertically causing him to roll so that the point of his sword pointed straight at the ground with him hanging on. It cut through the air downward. Instead of slowing his speed his actions made him fall like a brick and soon he surpassed both Jason and Rina on their way to the ground.

Xev looked to the cloaked figure, “Will you be alright?” They nodded in response. She looked back to Alyssa, “What about you?” The former enemy scout was held onto the seats trying to keep from falling as another attack slammed into them.

“You guys are nuts! I can’t survive no jump from this high!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a ride,” Xev grinned at her wickedly as she reached out to grab Alyssa. Before she could resist it was too late. They were in the air and falling to what she presumed to be their deaths. Xev maneuvered them so that they’d land near Jello, assuming that Rina would do the same after retrieving Jason.

Rina raced toward Jason as the others plummeted towards the ground. She had the most maneuverability and was the only one who could catch him if anyone was. She was within arms reach when a beam of black light shot across where her hand was heading to grab Jason. He’d seen it moments before and kicked her away. It increased his rate of descent. She followed after him, trying to get to him. Beam after beam of energy flew at her from an unseen enemy. She dodged each of them but with every one she got further and further from him.

From above them a ball of white plasmatic energy formed where the aircraft was at one point. It began falling while simultaneously continuing to grow and then a stream rushed out of it in the direction of the harassing shots aimed at Rina. A moment late a mini mushroom cloud could be seen and no more shots came. Rina accelerated to catch back up with Jason, but it was too late. They’d reached the ground. Gabbi exploded from within Jason’s armor, producing a cushion for him to land on. Rina had made a mistake. In her haste to save him she had forgotten that she’d need to stop her own fall and now there wasn’t enough time. Worse, she wasn’t just falling at terminal velocity, but much fast due to trying to catch up.

“Gabbi!” came the shout from Jason.

The slime girl understood his intent. Luckily, Rina was trailing after them and it didn’t take much adjustment to catch her, but she was traveling much too fast for that to disperse all the inertia. Gabbi extended her form up so that she was now more spread vertically than horizontally. Rina dove into the ooze. Her impact was absorbed, but only just barely. Gabbi took her into herself and collapsed back down simultaneously spreading herself so that her kinetic energy was absorbed and dispersed out. It took her stretching to her limits but she managed. It rippled through her traveling out to the edges only to find there was no further it could travel. And then the edges of the thin layer of slime on the ground that was Gabbi snapped and popped before completely coming to a rest.

Next to the 3 of them Jello came down, slamming his mammoth sword into the ground. All of the force of the impact transferred into it and then through the ground. A wave of dust particles shot up and were blown away by an invisible force while at the exact same moment Jello released the weapon before the force recoiled into his body. It was a fraction of a second so small that anyone that was not observant of what he was doing wouldn’t see it before he grasped his weapon once more, resheathing it.

Alyssa meanwhile fell towards the ground trailing after Xev who was treating it like a normal jump of a much lower height. “So, uhhh, what’s your plan?” she shouted over the wind roaring past her. Xev cocked her head back towards her, “Oh I’ll be fine, but I suggest you figure out how to miss the ground.”

“What?!”

“If you didn’t have a way to land, why’d you jump?”

“I didn’t jump you bitch!”

Xev just laughed at Alyssa as they dropped, not making a single move to give her an idea of what was going to happen. As they approached the ground Alyssa’s anxiety grew until she had to do something. Less than 10 feet from the ground she kicked free from Xev’s grip and used her teleportation ARMS skill to hop from where she was to a foot above ground where she stumbled and fell on her face unharmed, the effects of the skill canceling out all momentum on the person or object that it was used on. Xev, on the other hand, simply came to a stop just above the ground, visually appearing like she landed on a cushion of air which was then forced out from under her and exploded outward.

The last member of their party, the short silent cloaked member, was nowhere to be found. They all looked up in the air just in time to see the ship vaporize itself upon colliding with the ground. They all knew that the last member of their party had jumped. They’d been the one who returned fire and stopped the assault on the group.

Gabbi pulled herself together and took shape at Jason’s side, helping him up. Like Rina, she too had grown, though she could take on any shape she desired, she now took on the form of a green woman with long hair and a shapely figure who wore glasses, a tight, but professional, blouse, and a pencil skirt. She almost resembled a fantasy librarian, but it was really just that she took on a number of traits that Jason found attractive. The link between them allowed her to get glimpses of things he found appealing and over time she adopted them as parts of herself so that she could seem to be aging and pleasant for him to be around.

“We should get going,” Jason said.

“But,” Rina started.

“We don’t have a choice. We don’t have a clue where they are but they know where we’re headed. It’s our best option, for both of us, to head there and hope they’re alright.”

“O-Ok,” Rina acquiesced.

The 6 of them checked over their belongings before setting off on the hike to the capital. They weren’t too far off. Maybe having an hour or two to walk before they reached their goal. On their way they saw the world that Chris had built. Every square inch of land had been converted to farming or harvesting of the natural resources. Every tree had been cut down and almost all the land was flattened. In the distance in every direction they could see huts at regular intervals with not a single visible difference among them. Despite the fight that had broken out just outside their houses no one seemed to be around. If they were in their homes they weren’t coming out, but if they weren’t, the question of who was minding the crop fields came to mind.

Before anyone could put words to the thought Alyssa answered, “They’re all in their homes. If they come out they will be punished by the overseer. Until we leave that is what they have been ordered to do.”

“We must end this. None should live like this,” Jello said.

“Let’s punish these villains!” Rina shouted as she ran ahead of the group, punching the air in a cheer.

The rest of them couldn’t bring themselves to return the cheer as they walked. Eventually, they found a path that made their hike easier, but it wasn’t long before they came across a person in the middle of the path. Jason stopped the party. The others didn’t recognize the person, but Jason did. It was the man that he’d fought at the harbor. His name was unknown to Jason, but after the beating he took he would never forget the 5 captains that he faced.

“Where’s the one who did this?!” he yelled. The enemy was Gannon. His clothes were tattered and appeared to have been burned. It was then that they’d realized what happened. He was the one that had been shooting at Rina and that the last of their party had put a stop to.

Jason’s lips cracked into a grin. “That’s what you get, ya moron,” he laughed at Gannon realizing that he’d fallen victim to his own tactics and because it had backfired on him he was angry.

“Just tell me who it was!” he shouted.

“Wait a second. Do I know you? I think I remember you from Earth,” Jason asked, squinting his eyes to try to get a clearer look at his face. “I’m pretty sure I know you.”