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Ryan meets the team outside the large stadium and looks surprised to see an actual Mother ship, this is a ship big as a city with other ships inside it, right above the stadium, "We're still missing three people you guys." Ryan states looking worried.
Xavier nods his head, "Yeah, that's why we're the first team here, 6 hours early. They will be here on time." He looks relaxed ignoring Ryan's confusion.
"Oi oi Jones wassup." A blonde male in casual clothing with two others right behind him with bright smiles on their faces approach the team.
"Now we have 8 members." Xavier gestures to the three members walking towards them addressing Ryan's anxiety.
The doors open and Ryan jumps since he was leaning against what he thought was a wall.
"You may enter." A woman in a red dress standing behind the door posing with a smile on her face says leading them inside.
They enter the stadium that looks like a mountainous landscape, somewhat like a junk yard with robot pieces here and there designed to look like a war of the machines occurred.
"You're not allowed to use your real names under this program so please be creative when choosing your names, and after signing up find me." The woman in a red dress states leading the team to the start of the Trial wearing a long red dress that covers her ankles but does not touch the ground, long gloves that reach her forearm, and a matching scarf that compliments her perfect straight sleek and shiny hair do.
She leaves them at a panel where they will enter their names, position on team, and number one skillset.
"Ladies first," Xavier comments writing his name first, Madafakah Jones, Position: Pilot A, Skill: Piloting. Next is Angel's cousin typing her name in as Ranger, Position: Scout, Skill: Gunna.
Angel follows writing her name next.
The list is finally displayed in its simplified version it takes a while to sign up due to the lots of questions asked to make sure everyone signing understands the risks involved with becoming a space traveller, people die, others disappear, and worse ...
They are required to read the entire disclaimer at the end of the questionnaire and there's a monitor to see if someone is actually reading.
Xavier and his online gaming friend Shadow had to start over twice with the entire process because they found out the hard way to not skim through the disclaimer, you read it word for word.
When everyone is done with the entire signing up procedure, they are issued cards they are required to have on them at all times. Anyone who is in space without one will be deemed a space pirate and end up arrested until they provide the proof of ID
Failure to provide proof of ID results in life time imprisonment AKA instant death if you run into the wrong group of Rangers.
Name: Madafakah Jones – Position: Pilot A – Skill: Piloting
Name: Ranger – Position: Scout – Skill: Gunna
Name: Devil Mask – Position: Engineer – Skill: Creating
Name: Captain – Position: Team Leader – Skill: Super Strength
Name: Ghost – Position: Informant – Skill: Information gathering
Name: Six – Position: Pilot B – Skill: Hunting
Name: Spirit – Position: Team Medic – Skill: Combat
Name: Wind Rider – Position: Hacker – Skill: Hacking
~
Monitor Broadcast Room.
"Well, that was quick, let's hope this team can catch up to the others, none of them are making any progress in this round." A tall white male in a suit and tie says observing the multiple projected screens intently.
"Yes, but there are still 6 hours to go, so they have a good enough head start. All they have to do is find the exact android that invited them in." A tan female states wearing a space jumpsuit confident about the teams making it into the next round.
"That seems to be difficult because they don't know that." The tall male states pointing at the screens, disappointment already plastered on his face.
"Let's be a little more hopeful, they can make it. They have to."
~
"Anybody got an idea how we can find that lady?" Six asks looking around the field with obvious traps and fake mountains.
"That wasn't a lady, that was an android. I am detecting multiple androids. We were kidding ourselves thinking we're the first team here, I'm counting 27 if not more." Wind Rider comments holding the tablet he asked Angel to bring along with her for him.
Xavier shrugs his shoulders, "It doesn't matter, you already know where our lady is, right?"
Angel nods leading the way through the make shift maze.
They wonder around dodging the traps sprinting behind the fast-running android in heels.
So far, the traps have been falling over metal objects. Flame throwers, and pitfalls. The entire team is doing a great job at sticking together and dodging the traps.
Ryan put everyone in a formation to make sure they stick together, he's at the front and will yell out any obstacles ahead, he's actually 3 feet ahead of the group, whatever the trap he's best equipped to handle it. Behind him is Lily, because she's got the fastest reaction time and she's the smallest one on the team.
Behind her is Xavier, a towering giant compared to Lily, but his position is to make sure he can get her out of the way in time should anything go wrong, behind him is Wind Rider, he's not so fit so he's in the safest position between Xavier and Ranger.
Ranger's wearing an amour made out of weapons, guns, blades, grenades, If you can guess it, she has it on her. She trained daily to move around wearing all that heavy stuff, but the benefit is that it doubles as a shield.
Behind her is Ghost and Six running side by side outside the straight line formation acting as the wings, also carrying guns to watchout for any surprise attacks, their position is strictly offence. Shoot first ask questions later are the instructions Ryan gave them.
At the very back is Angel, because first of all she might just give up half way and get tired of running. She's a liability to give an important role too, she prefers to be the guy behind the desk, but now that will be Wind Riders position unless she can do something about that, and that's all she's thinking about, how she can get away with slacking off.
This is the dragon formation.
The head and the neck are 3 to 5 feet apart always, that's Captain. The spine is behind him, that's Spirit, behind her is the muscle, that's Madafakah Jones. Behind him is the heart of the dragon, that's Wind Rider, behind him is the body of the dragon that's Ranger, behind her the wings and claws on the right is Ghost, and on the left is Six.
At the very back is the tail, Devil Mask.
"What the hell?!" Xavier complains slowing down, breathing heavily, and panting, bending over resting his hands above his knees, "We'll never catch that damn thing it doesn't need stamina or breaks." He looks up to see Ryan and Ranger doing just fine running after the Android.
"Dammit!" Ranger yells frustrated by the weight holding her back, she stops in her tracks grabbing the sniper hooked to her back.
"What? Are you hurt?" Ryan stops. Turning around hysterically, forgetting his main goal is to run after the Android now he's worried, jumping, when Ranger has her sniper aimed for the android's leg, "Wait! Wait! Ranger, we need that thing."
She takes her shot and sprints after the Android when it goes down.
"I'm team captain you know." Ryan says disappointed she did not listen to a word he said.
Ranger smiles, "It's nothing Dee can't fix, let's find the others."
Xavier hi-fives Ryan and Ranger when they comeback while the rest of the team is getting high under a tree.
Angel gave up a while ago so the wings and claws followed, the entire formation broke and they let their two strongest handle this. It would have been futile to keep going for the rest of the team.
"I thought they'd take longer." Angel comments offering the joint.
Ghost nods pointing a finger between Ryan and Ranger with a curious look, "They are Martian right? Doesn't that mean they don't qualify for this test because we need a team of Pure South Africans for this program." He inhales slowly and exhales waiting for an answer.
Xavier sits up, "They were born here first before being taken to Mars, we read the rules don't worry about it."
"Man Dee, these babies of yours sure as hell are amazing, what did you do to make it lighter?" Ranger compliments her sniper checking it out and moving it around admiring it from every angle before hooking it back on her back.
Angel turns to Ranger, "I used Saturn sand, when you heat it up high enough you can convert the ashes into a dense material that feels paper thin, but strong enough to stop a bullet, thought it would be something you'll need."
Saturn Sand is not really sand, she uses keywords like that to disguise what exactly she's talking about, Lily and Ranger though would know exactly what she's talking about, she always makes it a point to teach them everything she knows.
Ranger smiles, "You become more badass every time I see you."
Angel smiles turning her attention to the key the android is holding out towards them, "Is that an actual shuttle key?" She asks exclaimably, snatching it from Xavier and turns towards the Android pointing a finger at the mother ship.
"You will find your vehicle in there." The Android states and immediately powers down.
Angel jumps up excited and taps the lightning strike emblem attached to her tank top, her body being covered by a bodysuit and mask instantly. She flies straight up using the rocket boots attached to her body suit with hidden hi-tech gadgets and tools.
Lily does the same giving the rest of the teammates a peace sign as she follows behind Angel racing her to the top.
Ranger jumps tapping her chest smirking as the automatic suit covers her body and the built-in voice commands system is online, "Sorry, no boys allowed. Fly!" Her suit is designed to accommodate her many weapons, she's tagging along as the shield in case there's a trap waiting for them.
Ryan picks up the lady and starts scouring the place for tools they could use to fix her leg.
~
"Why are we worried about the android's leg again?" Xavier asks exhausted from the none stop walking, it's been 10 minutes since the female members of the team left.
"In case points get taken away if our lady is broken." Ryan calmly replies confusing the rest of the team with the way he is dragging the Android around, he's doing more damage than necessary.
Xavier turns around and the other three have stopped in their tracks looking at the screen of the tablet in Wind Rider's hands.
"Hey, found a matching signal that way." Wind Rider states.
Ryan turns and follows behind the team hacker, "Did you have to list your skillset as Hacking?" He asks.
The slim male in glasses stares at Ryan's card, "Did you have to list your skillset as Super Strength?"
Xavier narrows his eyes at Rider not about to let the disrespect slide, "Careful there buddy, that's the team captain you are talking to."
Six rolls his eyes, "Everyone relax, it's not like we're forced to tell the truth on those things. Where this conversation is going is not worth it let's keep moving. We could have written telekinesis, or flying if we want. The rules were that we don't use our real names, lying or exaggerating is not out of the question. Both of you wrote the truth, but do you think anyone will take you seriously with those skill sets? No, so let's focus on the mission."
~
Angel smiles looking around the room full of actual shuttles, "Woah! These are the new models. The Jet shuttles with crazy awesome speed. I crashed in one 500 times in the simulator trying to land it, the trick is to not do it like you would a normal shuttle."
Lily drags Angel along by her collar annoyed with her none stop chattering and muttering, "How do we know which one is ours?" She asks looking around the room full of shuttles lined neatly in the dark space each shuttle with a bright light shining under it.
Angel jumps up excited, "We try the key one by one?"
Ranger snatches the key and observes the key card attached to it, looking around the room observing her surroundings, she has excellent sight in the dark. The walls have Alphabets, and each shuttle has a number on it.
"We have to look for Shuttle 7 in area G, we are in area W, how does the alphabet go?"
Angel points at V straight ahead, "Let's follow the Alphabet backwards."
They run around the place for some time and find their shuttle next to an empty slot.
"I think someone already beat us to the punch let's hurry up and get the others."
~
Xavier blinks back tears staring at an actual shuttle as it flies down from out of the mother ship towards them, "It's the new Jet you guys."
Ryan rolls his eyes listening to Xavier fan-boying. The team climbs aboard with a patched-up android lady.
She automatically plugs herself into the Jets Android charger shutting down until they are up in the air and she turns on again, a static sound eminating from her getting the teams attention.
"Testing, one, two, one, two, can Team Jones hear me?" A voice is heard talking through the Androids speakers.
Angel smiles, "Yes we can, this is Devil speaking, current operating pilot."
"Well done on being the third team to make it this far, you're doing us proud you guys. You've actually made it to the last stage of phase one of the trial. The jet will automatically be set on autopilot for you guys and you must enjoy the ride.
"When you reach your final destination, you are required to explore the place for a minimum of three hours and bring back souvenirs, samples, and anything you can find. Make it back home with something for us and you'll make it into the phase 2 of the Beta trial program. Good luck. Please remember that there's also a time limit."
~
Monitor room broadcast.
"Mm, I'm impressed with the top three teams. The last team seems to have a good communicative relationship. They came prepared and they may as well have the best engineer in the country on board that ship." A male in a blue jumpsuit and guest tag attached to the right side of his chest states to his fellow team member next to him.
"Yes, reading her stats and history she has what this program is looking for, if the team doesn't make it, she still has what it takes to make the cut, add her to the list." A male with green dyed hair states back to his partner.
"The first team isn't responding. Don't we have any way of communicating with them once they enter another sphere?" The sceptic male in a suit and tie still standing in front of the screens asks facing the tan female.
"Unfortunately, we will only receive tech like that after we pass the trial, but there seems to be an increase in the number of shuttle keys the androids are passing out." The tan female replies narrowing her eyes at the males in blue jumpsuits, they are a big threat for any country taking part in the trials.
"I wonder if it is possible for a team that will arrive at the set time to complete this test." One of the males in a blue jumpsuit asks.
"Yes, there is, it's just that the more serious ones came early and they get a head start." The tan female answers turning her attention back to the screen.
"Shuttle B, just went offline after sending a distress signal sir." A young man announces suddenly with a worried look on his face.
Everyone's eyes in the room widen at the short male in a red jumpsuit who just ran into the V.I.P room where many officials from other countries are watching the first phase to show support to South Africa.
It's actually to scout good and talented rookies who they want to add to their own countries team.
"Distress signal? What the hell is the distress signal about?" The white male finally takes his eyes off the screen glaring at the short male in red, he couldn't just pull him aside for the announcement, he did not need to announce that in front of the guests.
"We don't know sir, but the nearby shuttles received the signal maybe we can hear it from them."
~
The Android aboard the Team Jones shuttle goes online, "Team Jones, are you there?"
Ryan replies yes and the team at the HQ sighs in relief.
"Please play the distress message you received."
Rider clicks away at his make shift station and plays back the audio, it isn't a distress signal more like a warning.
~
"If anyone can hear this, we are Team Joey, when you reach the planet, you need to know that first of all we cannot breathe in this space, when we arrived our shuttle automatically went offline and everything was quiet so we prepared to leave the ship and we realised there's no air here.
"After 5 minutes our ships lights turned on and weird - alien - spider birds started attacking us. Whatever these things are they are attracted to the light, they leave us alone when the lights go dark, but come back to terrorise us when the lights come back. Find a way to keep the lights off
"We're waiting for our three hours to be up so we can start this ship and get out of here, if anyone can hear us, we're running out of air and we need help, one air tank is all we need.
"I repeat, once you land the ship won't be going anywhere until the three hours are up. We don't have an engineer on our team, and two members need help. If anyone is out there, please help us."
~
Ryan turns to his teammates, "What do you guys say when we land, we spend our three hours delivering the air tank, that should count as exploring right?" He asks and everyone ignores him.
Rider is working on pin pointing the exact location of the distress signal.
Lily and Xavier are passing out the skinsuit rings Angel designed for each member based on the avatar they asked for on the group chat.
Xavier received replies within an hour of posting the ad on Lily's Instagram. A lot of people replied, but the three on board are the ones who stood out the most and so they teamed up with them. They already sent their measurements for Angel to make custom made suits.
"Yeah sure, but we don't know exactly how long we have until we land let's just paint the damn thing with black paint on the outside, rough land the sucker, turning off the ships main power source. We will kick into auxiliary power from the get go to make up for the lack of an air tank since the team leader wants us to hand over ours." Angel states narrowing her eyes at Ryan.
Xavier shakes his head at Ryan, "You're going to get us killed." He states, but no one debates Ryan's idea.
