Fire licked at the edge of the viewing windows as the sky faded slowly from black to eggshell blue. Just ahead of them Revelation was peeking over the horizon casing golden beams of light over a kaleidoscope landscape of color . White quarts rose as pillars into the sky interspersed with deep turquoise foliage , surrounded by glittering blue water and white sand beaches.

The shuttle vibrated and slowed, and the little tongues of flame licking at the glass died away as they leveled out over the water. Ripples burst out in all directions from the power of their engines. Behind him in the cargo hold, marines pressed themselves up against windows eyes wide as the peered out over the vast stretch of water.

As Adam watched, he saw a dolphin breach the surface of the water, spin once in mid air before diving back into the waves.

A dolphin, not some unknown alien creature, he cut in a slow arc over the water, their shuttle wing tracing lines of golden light over the waves . Another dolphin leaped from the waves, flicking water droplets into the air which were caught by the golden sunlight. More creatures burst from the waves, some of them earth creatures, some of them alien, all of them coexisting together on the surface of one planet.

He cut low following the coastline.

"You know where you're going." Lord Avex asked from the copilot seat.

Adam reached up, flicking a few switches over his head.

Behind them the engines wined and slowed slightly. Small rotating blades appeared from the wings, sliding into place and giving him lateral mobility that he didn't have with just the wings, "You know this is going to sound crazy, but yes, I know exactly where I am going."

Lord Avex didn't seem as surprised as he should have been.

Their blades beat with a heavy whirring sound disturbing the water underneath them.

Water lapped at the beaches as they roared past, and from this vantage point, Adam could see animals peering out from the forest. At one point he thought he saw the orange and black strips of a tiger, but they flew by too fast for him to get a better look.

The sun continued to rise, and that is when he saw it.

A colossal structure in the distance, just over the water. The structure was so large that it was almost completely blended into the background by the atmospheric blue haze. Squinting towards the shape it was... or it seemed to be some sort of mountain.

He accelerated them forward over the water, cutting away from the coastline and turning towards the massive structure.

A hazy white outline grew more distinct as they got closer, so he could finally see.

It was a massive thing, made up of mostly white materials. At first it appeared to be a mountain of some sort with steep rising sides, but the closer he got the more it appeared to be a structure? It was both organic and mechanical in nature, but how anyone could have created a structure so large that could survive on the surface of the planet without collapsing was beyond him. The main part of the structure was the shape of a crescent , but many peeks on the outer edges which towered upwards into the sky, vanishing into the blue they were so tall. The crescent itself sat like a cradle between the jutting peaks, and just above that floated a massive , glowing white circle , which radiated light. The closer they got the more he could see, and he found that the structure wasn't supported y the ground, but many of the pieces were separated, some of them rested on the ground and other pieces floated freely of their own accord.

"Unidentified aircraft you have entered restricted airspace, turn back now."

The radar on Adam's instruments began to blink as the signal came over the radio.

The Makers had found them.

He didn't bother to answer at first, "Everyone strap in and hold on, this is going to get messy."

Behind him he could hear the marines settling in, strapping down their great as they knew what was about to come.

Lord Avex leaned forward in his seat with an eagerness that seemed all to characteristic of his species.

"Unidentified aircraft, respond now or we will be forced to take lethal action."

Adam flexed his fingers around the controls.

Beside him, he could see a small team of Maker aircraft approaching from the left and right ready to hem him in, Another ship was closing in from above. They planned on pinning him against the water, causing him to crash.

He sped up, and they sped up with him.

"Unidentified aircraft, this is your last warning. You have entered restricted airspace and we demand that you turn around or you WILL be shot down.

There was no point in trying to hide anymore was there.

Beside him the aircraft had locked into place. They were sleek machines all white with tapering wigs and single bubble cockpits. They were so close that he could almost see the pilots as silhouettes inside. Light glittered off their canopies.

"Maker aircraft this is Prometheus , I wasn't aware that this was restricted airspace." He sped up a little more.

"Prometheus , pull back, or you will be destroyed!"

Adam actually laughed.

Their ships were much sleeker than his, definitely faster and with real firepower, but they would not have the lateral maneuverability that he had, and most importantly..... they didn't have the pilot he had.

"You don't want to do this." Adam said casually, "If you make one move on me, I am going to have to humiliate all seven of you, and that would just be rude."

There was silence over the line.

"If, you hadn't put two and two together, let me help you along." He flipped a few more switches, "I am Impetus, and I will battle gods to get my way." His hand tightened around the controls, "Since you are neither gods nor devils, I am afraid this conversation is over."

And then he pulled down and back on the controls.

Their ship dropped sharply from the sky and they dropped speed so quickly that the grouping of jets shot forward over his head. The two that were following overshot their new position as he cut left and up, cutting in just behind the confused jet at the back.

They were pulling away fast at their spends, but Adam had already fired..

The EMP buried itself into the tail of the aircraft and burst. It did not take down the aircraft as he had expected, but instead drifted out of the sky like a feather to land int the gentle embrace of the rocking ocean beneath

That had turned out better than planned. One down six to go.

Two of the jets cut right turning in a tight circle, two of them did the same on the other side. Adam slowed, and then pulled to a hover setting himself up to be in perfect firing position for the four jets converging on him.

But they weren't stupid, they couldn't fire or risk hitting their own brethren. Still they roared towards him, and he cut suddenly right, spinning their vehicle on a dime in the opposite direction. It was honestly the synchronization of their pilots that was their downfall. They had slowed so as to be in more control when they finally passed each other, and all of them had dropped to the same height.

His timing would have to be perfect.

There was a singular moment in time where the four cockpits of the four jets were lined up perfectly two going in one direction two going in the other, and just before that time came, Adam's instincts told him where they were going to be, and he depressed the trigger. The projectile he used was not explosive or of any real ordinance, but it was a super dense ball of matter running at incredibly high speeds.

And when it was shot it moved through space so quickly that the four jets were practically at a standstill as it moved through the air.

It went so fast that four cockpit windscreens seemed to explode in one instant as the projectile tore through the very front junction of the glass shattering its toughest point and causing the structure to crumble. Sudden wind resistance sent all four of the jets spiraling in different directions, and it was lucky that the pilots inside were Maker rather than construct as that would have been wildly unpleasant.

Sure the jets were still operational, but not at the speeds required to keep up with him.

Four jets regained their balance wind whipping into the now open cockpits as the four makers watched Adam speed away over the water in his much inferior shuttle.

"Mother f-"

Ramirez's exclamation was drowned out as Adam banked left, avoiding the projectile that attempted to take them down from the right. This maker was a better pilot than the others had been. The others were good, but they had been trained to fly in synchronization and had little imagination of their own when it came to tactical maneuverability.

This one was a little more wily than his counterparts and he found Adam's weapon blind spot. He cut low under Adam's ship and rolled onto his back, mirroring them in speed and keeping in their shadow as he moved forward, Adam was unable to fire at him from this angle, whish was frustrating. The other ship was attempting to mirror him but from above.

That was annoying.

But he could see a solution, he just had to keep them occupied. In this time the distant structure had grown up in his vision, loosing some of the atmosphere blue, and growing closer, still the object was far larger than he had even imagined, and it despite how large it was, it was still some distance away.

He was going to need that to change.

So he accelerated, pushing the ship to her maximum potential.

All around them metal rattled and howled, Marines groaned, some of them blacked out.

Lord Avex's eyes were bugging out of his head, and his ears were continually flattened against his head.

He rolled a few times, pulling maneuvers that would keep his tales occupied and unable to fire.

They were almost there.

Whit pillars rose up before them. White pillars and floating platforms. Just to his right, he saw a silver tree with blue leaves sitting stoically as the only life upon a single floating platform. Metallic blue leaves drifted down I Nall directions like spilling water.

He headed towards the most dense concentration of these pillars and platforms, and proceeded to make everyone suffer as he pulled rolled dived turned stalled and cut left and right, forcing the two others to break their hold on him.

They chased after him, but he was going to fast, flying to reckless, and they pulled up short with fear as he dived right in, spiraling through the obstacles as if he knew it like the back of his hand.

Which in a way he did.

He knew, deep in his bones that to flythrough this spot and not die, he would have to continually rotate at the perfect speed to avoid catching his wings on anything. And like a drill driving a screw into a piece of wood, he spun shooting them through the other side and out into space clear of pursuers. No one could have pulled off that maneuver.

Not unless they practiced it so many times....

Behind him marines groaned in pain, twitching and grunting as they recovered from G lock. Most of them were so dizzy and disoriented it was all they could do to avoid from throwing up inside their helmets.

Adam turned in a gentle curve his eyes focused on the glowing, floating orb suspended above the main crescent .

"We will have to go in on foot!" he announced

"Thank the architect." Someone groaned, and Adam picked out a spot on the cluster of floating platforms, landing them on a grassy platform sporting a single, massive red flower on one side, bright against the turquoise grass.

The ship eased into place and the engine cut.

Adam turned in his seat to look at his companions.

Lord Avex sat next to him eyes nearly bugging out of his skull, fur standing straight on end like a sear urchin. It took all Adam had not to bark with laughter at the white knuckled grip the emperor had one his restraints.

They had to all but pry Ramirez from his seat, his hands gripped so tight that the joints had locked into place from spasms.

Maverick was the only one who could walk at first, and that was only because of the gyroscope in her suit keeping her upright. The rest of them staggered from the back tipping one way or the other to the point where Adam had to catch one of them before they could pitch themselves over the edge of the platform and out into space.

They sat on the grass for a moment to rest, looking up at the sky and the massive pillars of white that surrounded them.

It was a structure like nothing any of them had ever seen. Below them, pillars plunged into the blue of the ocean, water lapping gently against incomprehensible bases. Floating pillars and platforms clustered together by the millions, creating a habitat of jutting white spires, and turquoise covered platforms which all surrounded the center crescent and the floating ball at the center. When the marines finally regained their feet, Adam took point and Maverick brought up the rear.

"Come on, before the Makers find us."

They left their shuttle behind, knowing that there was only one way they were getting out, and that was on someone else's ride.

Feet depressed against strange and alien foliage as they jogged forward, leaping down and clambering up onto the various platforms, making their slow way towards the glowing ball before them.

Overhead the sky had brightened completely, and the golden sun beat down.

A bird screeched overhead.

And the group of them looked up to find a bald eagle circling slowly around them. It was hard to tell what the bird was thinking/ did it recognize creatures from it's own system? It circled around them for a time before slowly turning and flying away. It wasn't the last earth animal they would see on their way through the jungle upwards towards their destination.

Wolves.

Big cats.

And even a black leopard.

Yet some how none of them were afraid, knowing innately that the animals wouldn't attack them.

On more than one occasion they hid themselves beneath trees as aircraft flew overhead looking for them.

They had no radio now, so now way to tell what the makers knew, but they kept on going marching in time with each other.

They cut through a small valley where white metal and rock jutted up on all sides, and a shallow blue stream trickled through past their feet, reaching the other side they ducked under the branches of a crimson tree and then past a perfectly whit deer with a seven point rack of antlers, which turned to look at them with curiosity as they passed.

One of the marines waved awkwardly at it, but the deer just dropped its head back to eating.

It wasn't far now.

Just a set of marble steps ahead lined on either side by flowing streams of water and more of the blue metallic and crimson trees . Rock gave way to metal as they stepped onto the last platform, large and circular with many shallow grooves glowing with golden light.

The edge of the platform went nowhere but stopped at a sheer drop equal height to the very center of the glowing orb, so large it took up most of his vision, forcing him to dim his visor just to see.

The marines drew to a halt as they saw what was before them.

A troop of Drev warriors in glowing armor, arrayed in a wedge formation, waiting patiently for their arrival.

"Impetus, you have finally arrived."