"Woohoo!!" Plummeting down alongside me, the raven howled with unrestrained joy as we shot past several spacecrafts exiting and entering the planet's atmosphere. "It's been ages since we've done this! Hahaha! Yeah!!"
Spreading his wings wide, Thorn ignited silver flames between his black feathers and began spiralling around me, matching my dive as I continued to fall straight after the castle-like dreadnought. I quickly closed the gap.
Humouring Thorn, I began spinning in tandem with him while plummeting through the emptiness of space, my speed rapidly increasing. The joy radiating from my ghostly raven filled my mind through our powerful mental connection, coaxing a grin to form behind the helmet I wore.
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest, enters into a void.]
Stretching out my right hand, silver light coalesced around me, cloaking me in an aura of concealment as I passed unnoticed by the numerous surveying ships and satellites surrounding the planet. I glided by the impossibly massive bastion of the Chinese-style space galleon.
Looking up past my helmet, I saw the foremost ships passing the largest space station above the planet, where thousands of ships were docking and departing.
'Thorn, inside now.' I sent the mental message to the raven. I could feel his irritation, but he complied, seeping into my back and vanishing from sight.
As I continued my descent through space, I noticed a particularly large satellite looming in my path. It was connected to metal rings that wrapped around the planet, and a laser-eyed orb scanned the passing dreadnoughts of the CGA,
In my smaller form, I should pass off as nothing more than debris or a small meteorite, so long as the chaotic energy from my launch wasn't detected.
Gliding along the rings, the massive red mechanical eye trained its scan on the colossal dreadnought. Its scanning light swept from the front edge to the back thrusters, passing right by me.
All seemed well as I passed the space station and entered the planet's atmosphere, the friction heating up my [Winter Inverse] armour in preparation for entry.
Druuu~
Hearing the charge, my left hand raised, projecting an amber shield of light that blocked a single red beam from the satellite's eye, sending me plummeting toward the planet even faster.
"Oh, come on!" Thorn's head popped out from my armour, angrily shaking his wing at the orb, which quickly turned its gaze elsewhere. "Try shooting my feathery ass when I tear you apart next time!"
Spiralling in circles as I fell through the sky, all control was lost. I waved my arms around like a bird, trying to stabilize, but to no avail. As I passed through the atmosphere of Idaten-II, the heat was becoming unbearable, cooking me inside the armour.
"A little hand, Thorn?!" I cried, desperate for help.
'I don't have hands. Figure it out yourself, princess.'
"You know a Vjestikhan will greet us if I use aether, right?"
Thorn's tone was indifferent. 'It'll just get to the scrapyard quicker than the others that join it. Not like the lords of Idaten will want their honoured guests to know their planetary defences failed, will they, princess?'
Chuckling despite the situation, I could see Thorn's point. "Haha. I guess not. They're already expecting us anyway." I raised my left gauntlet, orange motes of light gathering in front of my dark metal palm, and in the next moment, I clapped my hands together, sending a burst of aether across the atmosphere.
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest - severed space.]
An orange-gold slash erupted through the sky, cutting through the violent winds and propelling me downward at an even greater speed. Turning my body around, I regained control of my orbital dive, breaking through the upper atmosphere. The friction dissipated as my armour cooled, and I fell toward a dark yellowed savannah.
Landing gracefully, my armoured boots made contact with the earth as a stream of silver and orange neon light trailed behind me. I crashed into a rocky mountain at incredible speed.
Buoooo~... Dushhh!!!
The impact sent a quaking boom that echoed for miles, scaring all local wildlife.
Lying flat among the broken rocks inside a cave beneath a shattered mountain wall, I groaned in pain, noting the damage to my body. "...ow." The aether energy and [Winter Inverse] armour couldn't shield me from all the impact. "This is why people use drop pods."
Thorn, now berating me, flitted above the wreckage. "You kinda need to be inside the atmosphere to do that, princess. Weren't we somewhere between 'nowhere' and 'not even close' when you decided to jump out of the ship? You agreed to this too, might I add?"
"Urgh..." Groaning, I willed my body out from the stones, shaking off another small rock that fell from the roof. "Next time, I'm riding your back as a cushion, Thorn."
"Oh no~. I'm so~ scared, princess." Thorn's sarcasm was palpable. "Come on, let's get out of this cave and start heading for the capital. We have a party to crash."
With a resigned sigh, I climbed out of the cave's wreckage, moving toward the surface and stepping into the dry savannah. My knight armour morphed back into a long coat made of black scaly material, adorned with autumn and winter patterns.
[Skill: Winter Inverse, transfigures apparel.]
Walking through the savannah, the greaves transformed into hiking boots, and my coat swayed in the soft wind, revealing my formal shirt with an orange undershirt. "I really regret it whenever you manage to convince me." I muttered to the raven.
Flying beside me, Thorn defended himself. "But I keep things fun for you. What would your life be without me?"
"Quiet. And possibly prettier."
Thorn slapped the back of my head with his wing as he flew past. "Hahah! You really think that? I'm sure the whispers in your brain would be even louder if you were left alone. Admiring the non-existent greens won't help subdue their madness."
I paused, hearing the roar of rocket engines in the distance. My eyes scanned the sky as I raised a hand to block out the sun, spotting three shadows streaking across the horizon. "Me being unstable already helps somehow." Snapping my fingers, motes of silver light gathered and materialized a pink beanie, which I quickly pulled over my sensitive ears.
Duooo~
Suddenly, I stopped and watched as a human-shaped shadow fell from the sky above me. Expanding rapidly into the shape of a 60-foot giant robot, it landed with a massive bang in front of me, kicking up dirt and rocks.
Thorn sent a jolt of excitement through our connection before flying up to hunt the other two shadows in the clouds.
The robot's foghorn blared. "Illegal world crosser. You are hereby sentenced to immediate forced labour without trial for infringement of the CGA's immigrant policy section 9-A-3-C. Do not resist."
Looking up at the towering machine, I blew out a tired breath as its massive metal hand reached down to grab me. "Using machines against me isn't a good idea."
The robot's index finger barely grazed my back before amber lightning surged across its arm. Violent sparks erupted from the mech's joints, and it lost control, flailing and tumbling until it crashed into the savannah. Its limbs detached one by one, and sparks ignited fires in the dry grass.
With a simple thought, I extinguished the flames.
"To think, I don't even have to lift a finger." I sauntered across the wreckage, my left arm crackling with erratic bolts of power. "I'll never understand why you won't let me play with technology aether. It makes my games so much more fun."
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest - muscle enhance.]
With a burst of amber lightning, I appeared atop the mech's chest, my bandaged right hand raising. Amber light condensed around my fingers, and with psychic strength, I ripped off the armour, revealing the terrified pilot underneath.
Tossing the scrap metal aside, I dropped into the cockpit and stood over the pilot, peering into his visor. "Say I resisted, and lie about what happened next if you want to live..." I glanced down at his badge. "Captain America... you know what to do."
The pilot, visibly shaken, followed my instructions. "Code-7a averted. Suspect experienced power overload. Serious damage taken. Send a rescue team."
"Good boy." I patted his cheek and stepped back. Looking up from the cockpit, Thorn was perched on the mech's chest, staring down at me. "Now forget all about this and enjoy the time you still have with your family."
[Skill: Horizon Chain, alters a foreign mind.]
A black-and-red chain appeared from a tear in space and wrapped around the pilot's skull. In an instant, it tightened and vanished, leaving the man unconscious.
Climbing out of the cockpit, I jumped down and spoke to Thorn. "Spot the capital while you were up there?"
"We're on the wrong continent." Thorn complained, pointing in a random direction. "It's a hell of a way that way."
Raising my hand, I squinted toward the horizon. "I thought the space cruisers
vanished a bit too quickly. That laser really blasted us off course."
"I'm going to melt that satellite if it's the last thing I do before leaving this planet." Thorn hissed, silver embers burning from his ghostly form.
As Thorn vented, I began gathering aether around my legs, sparks of amber energy crackling around me. "It just means we have less time to kill. We would've been bored waiting for the others anyway. Gives us time to relax on the way over too."
"It's annoying how optimistic you are." Thorn took flight again, diving into my chest.
"A perk of my upbringing, I guess." I responded, a grin forming.
"We both know that's bullshit."
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest - Mach rush!]
Kicking off the ground, I shot across the savannah like a blur, uncatchable by the naked eye. Breaking the sound barrier in mere steps, I reached the ocean in seconds, then ran effortlessly across it, heading toward the blue horizon and my next adventure.