In an unknown desert, a cloaked figure, holding two metal cases by handles in both hands, are running through a harsh, windy desert, as explosions rage around. A Saucer Craft, a large fighter craft with a saucer at the top, a narrow midsection, and a blade-shape cannon at its bottom, flies overhead, blasting the ground and causing another explosion behind the running figure.
The figure reaches a cavern as the sounds of explosions continue. And inside the cavern, the figure finds a large metal cylinder with an opening, which the figure enters and secures the cases on two sets of clamps. The figure switches their attention to a keyboard and starts press a set of buttons. A door closes on the cylinder's opening.
Suddenly, shooting out of a rock formation, a cylinder pod flies high into the sky.
The figure holds onto a railing attached to the pod's wall, and looks at a computer screen which shows the fast approaching sky.
"Heading to the nearest inhabitant planet..." the pod's computer starts.
The pod flies away from Mars.
"Earth."
The pod vanishes from sight.
"Out of This World, pt. 1"
The Emirate, a large black and white ship, hovers over Mars.
The Emirate's bridge doors open, allowing Colonel Kaosling, a warrior in mostly black and gold clothing, with green sleeves and a long cape, to enter and approaches a row of consoles. Stationed at the consoles are couple Greyids, foot soldiers in black clothes with accents of either blue, green, or white, and grey heads.
Behind the Greyids is Dracon, a tall purple dragon alien with gold horns, wearing a long overcoat with a furry collar, and holding a large staff with a gold dragon head facing downward on its top.
"What happened to the escaped pod?!" Kaosling commands.
"It cloaked, Colonel Kaosling," Dracon responds. "We lost it."
Kaosling gets in Dracon's face, "I thought you supposed to be some old warrior, Dracon. Not just old." Kaosling pushes a Greyid out of the way and starts typing away. "It's an escape pod, not a subspace ion ship. We just need to track its trajectory from Mars and rate of speed to predict its location and destroy the pod!
"We could, but considering what we suspect is inside the pod, I guess the Emperor would prefer if we acquire it instead of blowing it to dust," Dracon suggests.
Kaosling pauses for a moment before pressing another button, and angrily says, "Saucer Crafts, fire to disable the pod."
Two Saucer Crafts fly through space, fire at seemly empty space, when one shot hits the corner of the escape pod, causing it to blink in and out of visibility as well as spiral uncontrollably toward Earth.
At the EDU Center City Base, a large square building, with guards seen outside holding large plasma blasters.
"Earth Defense Unit is a paramilitary organization founded to monitor and safeguard Earth against any extraterrestrial threats."
A metal orb with a red circle in its center hovers in the air of the base's training facility.
"To join the EDU, one must be athletic with quick reflexes."
Suddenly the orb starts shooting laser bolts at Hikaru, a young Asian man in a black uniform with "EDU" on an shoulder patch, who effortless back flip away from the laser bolts, then jump off a wall, spin kick the orb into another wall. Hikaru lands in a crunch and looks up.
"Unbridled strength with intelligence to match."
Another orb flies around a corner, "looking" side to side, unaware that Davis, a slightly older Latino man in the same uniform, is on the ceiling, holding himself up by pinning his hands and feet to the wall. Suddenly Davis lets go, grabs the orb, and slams it into the ground, crushing the orb.
"And trained in numerous forms of combat, including swordplay."
An orb falls to the ground with a slash mark across its circle. Two more orbs fly over it, toward Alexis, a similar dressed African American woman wielding a large sword. One of the orbs fires a laser bolt at Alexis, who blocks with the sword's blade. Alexis then quickly runs ahead, striking at the first orb, spins around and slashes the second orb, causing both to fall down, damaged.
"But each men and women are in top form to safeguard our world."
Three orbs fly at Neil, a young white man in the same uniform holding a small plasma blaster, who spins around, fires shots, blasting an orb each, follows by a kick to the third, knocking it into a wall.
Neil stands up to see Hikaru, Davis, and Alexis walking towards him.
"Training Run Alpha-Zeta completed," a computer speaks.
Neil looks at his watch, "We finished that two minutes faster. Not bad everyone.
"I have to agree."
Neil turns to see General Rollings, an older man in a military uniform, approaches them from an opening door.
"General Rollings," Neil salutes.
Hikaru, Davis, and Alexis line up next to Neil, saluting.
"At ease," Rollings says, allowing everyone relaxes their salutes. "Neil, may I speak with you alone."
"Yes sir," Neil responds, before turning to his friends. "I see you guys later."
Neil and Rollings are walking away from the training facility area.
"Your Alpha team training time is the best I have ever seen," Rollings starts.
"They're the best people I could work with," Neil says.
"Then why are you keeping them under the roof?" Rollings asks.
"Sir?"
"You know the EDU's higher ups been wanting to form a new exploration team, but you hadn't suggested your team yet," Rollings reminds him.
"A space faring mission could prove to be... problematic," Neil responds.
"Don't you means dangerous?" Rollings asks.
Neil looks at Rollings's face, but is unable to find the words he want.
"I understand been protected of your team," Rollings begins. "But if they're the best, then they can handle it.
Hikaru enters the base's large command center which contains several rows of computer consoles, some of which has their own monitors, in front of a large, half-wall size monitor which has its own console. Hikaru seats in front of one of the smaller monitors, presses couple buttons with Hikari, an Asian woman who is a year younger then him, appears on the monitor.
"Hey, Hikari, sorry I'm late today."
"That's okay, I understand you're busy," Hikari starts. "In fact, I might been busy soon, since I just moved onto the second degree rank.
"Congratulations, you actually moving up in ranks faster then me," Hikaru responds.
"Don't sound so surprised," Hikari grins.
"I'm not, and I'm sure Hiroshi would be proud of you too," Hikaru tells her.
"Thanks, in fact, I'm hoping to join the next exploration team, so I can search for Hiroshi."
"Hikari, I missed him too, but that could be too dangerous," Hikaru explains.
"Are you only saying that because I'm your younger sister?" Hikari asks.
"No I'm not."
Hikari flashes him a look.
"Okay, not just that," Hikaru admits. "But we might have to accept that we will never see him again.
"Maybe..." Hikari says, dejectedly. "Well, I have to go now."
"Okay, love ya'."
Hikari is seating in front of a monitor just like hers brother, at the EDU Japan Base's Command Center, "Love ya'."
Hikari presses a button with Hikaru's image disappears. Hikari then leans back in hers chair and exhales.
Hikaru enters the Center City Base's Mess Hall to see Davis is arm wrestling someone, who is clearly struggling to get Davis' arm to bugle.
"Hey, Hikaru, how your sister at the Japan base?" Davis asks.
"She fine, Davis. Another victim?"
"He asked for it," Davis grins.
"I almost got you..." the arm wrestling oppenent's having trouble breathing.
"You really don't," Davis tells him.
Hikaru walks over to the counter to see Alexis cooking at the stove.
"Alexis, you've KP duty again?" Hikaru asks.
"Oh no, I volunteered," Alexis slightly pours a small bottle on a piece of meat she is cooking. "In fact I want to try this recipe." Alexis slides the meat onto a plate and places it in front of Hikaru with a knife and fork. "Here, tell me if this is too spicy."
Hikaru cuts off a piece of the meat and places it into his mouth. Alexis watches as Hikaru chews, when suddenly Hikaru's face turns a slight red and steam shoots out of his ears.
"So, too spicy?" Alexis asks.
Hikaru looks to be in a slight pain, as he indicates an inch with a finger and thumb, "Just a little."
In the EDU New Zealand Base's large hangar seats the Cruiser, a gold and silver jump ship, and Al, a young man with some grease on his clothes, knees at the back of the Cruiser with an opened panel between the two large thrusters.
"Hand me a wrench," Al instructs.
Goldex, a gold robot with two pyramid shape "earrings" hanging off the side of his head, hands Al a black wrench, "Here, Al."
"Thanks you," Al takes the wrench and looks over his shoulder as he works on a bolt to see Goldex rubbing his shoulder. "Everything okay, Goldex?"
"Fine, but my shoulder joint been feeling very tight," Goldex rubs his shoulder some more. "Maybe after you done with the Cruiser, you could give me a tune-up?
Al slights chuckle, "Sure thing, buddy."
Kenneth, a young red hair man, is seating back in the EDU France Base's large command center watching a video on a monitor which shows the EDU logo in front of the Center City base building.
"But each men and women are in top form to safeguard our world. Here at Earth Defense Unit..." the video narrates.
"Kenneth!"
Kenneth nearly jumps in his seat, as he presses couple keys, while an older officer looks over to him before returns his attention to another officer.
"You supposed to be watching the sub space monitor," Kellog, Kenneth's superior, reminds him.
"Yes sir," Kenneth answers.
The introductory video is replaced by a radar system. Kenneth breaths a sigh of relief as he starts to lean back, but quickly springs back to look closely at the monitor, which shows a blip blinking in and out as it goes across the screen.
"Hum, General Kellog. General Kellog," Kenneth calls to his superior.
Kellog finishes sign a clipboard, hands it to an officer, and walks over to Kenneth.
"What is it, Kenneth?"
"I'm not sure, sir," Kenneth starts. "Something's appearing on the monitor, but it keeps on disappear.
"Probably just an instrumental error," Kellog guesses.
Kellog starts to walk away.
"But sir, according to EDU regulations, any irregularities need to be investigated, no matter whenever it nothing or not," Kenneth states.
Kellog rolls his eyes, "Very well. Where is it heading?"
Kenneth traces his finger across the monitor, "Its current trajectory would takes it to Center City."
"Okay then, I'll contact the main base."
Kellog walks away, as Kenneth smiles to himself and looks back at his monitor, which shows the blinking blip
The escape pod flies through the sky, as it keeps on blink in and out of visibility, while shaking.
The cloaked figure types frantically on the keyboard, as the pod continues to shake. Suddenly, the pod's door flies off, with the figure holds onto the railing, unaware that one of the cases are loose, with the pod shakes more violently.
All of a sudden, one of the cases comes completely loose and flies out of the door, with the figure tries and fails to reach out for it.
The case falls helplessly from the pod and into a forest, with the pod, completely visible now, continue to flies uncontrollable through the sky…
...until it finally crashes hard on the ground, in an industrial area, knocking up dirt.
Alarms ring at the Center City Base, as Nathaniel, a man in his twenties, stand in the front of the command center, staring at the large monitor.
"Are the alarms really necessary?" Nathaniel asks.
Rollings walks up to Nathaniel, causing him to turn his head to his colleague, "They are protocol."
"Well, I think we got the message," Nathaniel faces someone at one of the smaller monitors. "Shut off the alarms."
"Yes sir."
The alarms stop, as Neil, Alexis, Hikaru, and Davis enter the room.
"Generals, what going on?" Neil asks.
"One of the satellite bases detected a falling object from space, and it looked like it crashed in the industrial area," Rollings explains.
"It could just be a meteor," Davis guesses.
"Would landfall make it a meteorite?" Alexis asks.
"Either way it should be investigated," Hikaru states.
"Agreed," Rollings adds.
"Although I do have to question the decision to send our best for a recon mission," Nathaniel says.
"It because they're our best that we should sent them," Rollings argues.
"We appreciate the confidence, sir," Neil tells him.
Nathaniel notices Rollings's smile, but just sigh, "Very well, but don't bring any weapons.
"Not even a blaster?" Rollings's surprised.
"It is protocol for a recon mission," Nathaniel reminds him.
"That true..." Rollings reluctantly agrees.
"Besides it shouldn't matter, since they're our best after all," Nathaniel adds.
"We'll be okay, sir," Neil assures Rollings.
Rollings nods his head, as Neil looks to his friends.
"Let's move out!" Neil leads the group out of the command center.
"Besides what the worse that could happen?" Alexis asks.
At the industrial area, Neil, Hikaru, Alexis, and Davis are approaching the downed pod.
"This is kinda exciting," Alexis states. "First contact."
"I'm pretty sure it won't be first contact," Davis tells her.
"Okay, twenty-seventh or whatever contact," Alexis corrects herself.
Hikaru knees in front of the pod's entrance and looks in, "Sorry to disappoint, Alexis, but it's empty." Hikaru straights back up, "No one home."
Neil places a hand on the side of the pod, but quickly pulls it back, "It's still warm. Hadn't been too long since it crashed, they might still be nearby."
Alexis notices a set of footprints leaving the pod, "There're footprints." Alexis got everyone's attentions. "They are heading deeper into the construction site."
Neil stands next to Alexis, "They might want to avoid any populated areas. Let's go." Neil leads his friends away from the pod's crash site and onto the construction site.
Neil and his team continues to follow the footprints onto a concrete floor, where the footprints take the shape of dirty tracks that slowly faded the further they get from the dirt path.
Upon reaching the last "footprint", Neil looks around, turns and faces his friends, "Spread out. They might still be in the area.
The four nod their understanding and do as instructed.
Davis walks pass a pillar, looking around the corner of a building that is still just a frame of steel beams.
Alexis climbs onto a parked bulldozer and looks around the area.
Hikaru steps into the under constructed building's first floor, looking around, between its vertical support beams.
Neil, roughly in the center of the immediate area, looks around when something catches his eye: an isolated humanoid-shape shadow. Acting like he didn't saw the shadow, Neil turns around and slowly back up to the shadow while look around.
All of the sudden, Neil back kicks at the space in front of the shadow, obvious hitting something. Also suddenly, the cloaked figure, holding the case, appears out of thin air, as the figure back flips and lands awkwardly.
The figure, head still covered, looks ahead at Neil, as he, Hikaru, Alexis, and Davis all look at the cloaked figure, both amazed and suspicious.
The figure then runs in the opposite direction, but Davis blocks the figure's path.
"Whoa, there!" Davis states.
The figure looks to the unfinished building, seeing Hikaru is slowly approaching. The figure backs up to the right, toward the bulldozer. Alexis, still on the bulldozer, slowly approaches the figure, who quickly notices Alexis' presence. The figure swings the case at Alexis' legs, forcing her to flip over the figure and lands in front of the figure.
"Hey, watch it!" Alexis calls out.
The figure spins back to face Alexis, who grabs the case, but the figure refuses to let go of its handle. The figure then grabs the case's bottom, and with both hands having firm grips, the figure pulls it to the side, while simultaneously leg sweep Alexis, knocking her to the ground.
"Okay, that enough!" Neil yells.
Neil reaches to grab the figure, but the figure rolls under Neil's grab. From the roll, the figure dashes to the unfinished building. Hikaru tries to stop the figure with a roundhouse kick, but the figure flips over the attack and continue running without slowing.
"No you don't," Hikaru reacts too slowly.
Davis, after seeing everything, runs toward the side of the building.
Hikaru runs after the figure, jump off a beam, grabs the figure by the shoulders, forcing them both to the ground. Hikaru, grabbing the figure by the shoulders again, forcing the figure up, as the figure let go of the case.
Back on their feet, the figure grabs one of Hikaru's wrists, forcing his hands off the figure's shoulder and forcing the back of their hand against Hikaru's chest, forcing him to let go and back off.
The figure returns their attention to the case, reaching down to grab it.
"Hey, wait!" Hikaru tries to stop the mysterious figure.
The figure then uses their hands on the case's handles as leverage and kicks Hikaru back with both feet.
Then without losing a second, the figure picks the case back up by the handle and run out of the far end of the building. The figure looks back to see Hikaru returning to his feet and Neil and Alexis running through the building.
Suddenly, Davis comes from behind and grabs the figure around the waist, pinning down the figure's arms in the process.
"Got you!" Davis tells the figure.
The figure tries to wiggle out of Davis' hold, spinning around and then forces him back couple steps, until he slams against a beam hard.
Vibrations from the slam, causing beams lying on the edge of the topmost floor to shake slightly.
The figure continues to try to wiggle in Davis' grasp.
"Keep this up, and you only hurt yourself," Davis warns.
The figure stops, as Neil, Alexis, and Hikaru catch up.
"Good, you got ET," Alexis relaxes.
"Maybe now we find out what so important about that case," Hikaru suggests.
The figure tenses back up, before swings the case back and then throws it up, drawing Davis and the others' attention. The figure then grabs Davis' arms with both hands, quickly kicks both Hikaru and Alexis, using the momentum to pushes Davis onto his back, releasing his grip. The figure then returns to their feet, grabs the case as it falls and swings it at Neil, who dodges under the swing and wraps his arm around the figure's outreach arm.
"That enough of that!" Neil grabs the back of the figure's hood, as the two spins around.
Davis, Hikaru, and Alexis return to their feet and watches as the two continues to spin around.
The figure, continuing to struggle, spins around quickly, forcing Neil to let go as the figure spins around, free, but the figure's hood falls down.
The group watches as the figure slowly looks up, revealing their face as a human woman with brown hair and green highlights: Laira.
"It, hum, she's... human?!" Alexis' surprised.
"How many humans you know that can turn invisible?" Davis asks.
"Says the guy who can bench press a bus," Alexis responds.
"I can't bench press an entire bus," Davis sounds somewhat weakly.
Hikaru looks over to Alexis and Davis, "Either way..." Hikaru looks over to Laira. "We need to know who you are. And why are you here?"
Laira looks back and forth as the four form a half circle around her, when she notices something above her.
"Listen, no one needs to get hurt..." Neil tries to assure her.
The steel beams on the topmost floor starts to slide and falls off the building's frame and towards Neil.
"Watch out!" Laira rushes at Neil, shoves him down as the beams fall, seemly on them.
"Neil!" the other three screams.
They run up to the spot to see Laira and Neil lying on the floor, having completely avoided the beams.
"Neil, you okay?" Davis asks his friend.
Neil rubs the top of his head and returns to his feet, "I think so."
Laira then returns to hers feet and tries to run away, but Neil grabs the case, stopping her.
"Whoa, wait!" Neil tells her.
Laira stops and stares at Neil, who slowly releases the case, "Listen, we don't want to hurt you. Neil looks at the fallen beams on the ground before returns his attention to Laira. "And it's clear; you don't want to hurt us either. All we want to know is, who are you and why are you here?"
Laira looks over to the other three before looks back at Neil.
After a short pause, she answers, "My name is Laira, I'm from Mars."
"There's life on Mars?" Hikaru's surprised.
"There was," Laira starts. "We were attacked by the Cosmo Empire, which been conquering the entire universe galaxy by galaxy. My people were either captured... or destroyed. I managed to escape..." Laira holds up the case. "With the only things capable of stopping the Empire."
"We hadn't heard of any universe conquering empire," Hikaru shakes his head.
Alexis looks up, "I think we're about to."
The rest of the group follows Alexis' glance, as they, especially Laira, starts to look horrify.
"Oh no, I'm too late," Laira realizes, as the Emirate hovering high above the city.
On the Emirate's bridge, Kaosling stands behind a row of consoles, watching screens that appear in front of him that shows various screens of people walking or the city.
"So this is Earth," Kaosling notes. "It isn't much, is it? Even it's populate looks so weak."
Dracong approaches Kaosling, "You are correct. Perhaps we would be better off, just grabbing the Martian and leaves.
"No, the Emperor believes Earth have potential, besides..." Kaosling turns his head slightly to Dracon. "It had already begun."
EDU Japan Base's training facility appears similar to the Center City Base's, except with a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Hikari is hitting the bag with couple arm swipes, before delivers a strong kick at it sending herself flying back couple steps.
Hikari straightens herself up, with a smile, when alarms start blazing.
"What in the..." Hikari reacts.
After couple moments, Hikari runs out of the training facility's entrance, into a hallway, when she sees, at the opposite end of the hall, couple Greyids.
The Greyids aim their weapons, resembling large blades with curve guards, as the red line on the guard's front starts firing.
At the EDU New Zealand Base's hangar, Goldex and Al are seating on a bench, with a panel on Goldex's back opened, as Al is turning a wrench in his back.
"There's you go," Al removes the wrench and closes the panel on Goldex's back. "How that feels?
"Goldex rotates his shoulder, then looks over it to Al, "Much better. Thanks, Al."
Al starts to get up, "Don't mention it. I knew it was just a connector issue."
Goldex gets up and faces his friend, as alarms start to go off, "What? Are we under attack?"
Suddenly, the hangar's large entrance is blown apart, making both Goldex and Al jump slightly in their steps while shielding themselves from the dust. Then a bunch of Greyids pour in through the hole.
Goldex and Al look on as the dust clears.
"Never mind I asked," Goldex states.
At the EDU France Base's command center, Kenneth is typing at his monitor, when he notices someone approaches Kellog a little behind him.
"Sir, we are getting reports of a huge ship appearing over Center City," the soldier tells Kellog.
"It avoided the subspace scanners," Kenneth silently realizes.
"Have we managed to contact the Center City Base?" Kellog asks.
"All exterior communications appeared to be down," the soldier responds.
"Could this ship already take out their communications?" Kellog wonders.
"No sir, I meant our exterior communications," the soldier explains.
"What?!"
Suddenly alarms go off, grasping everyone's attention for a second before Kenneth types away at the monitor, which now shows a camera feed, with the words in the corner saying "INTERIOR CAM 01", showing a bunch of Greyids entering the base, firing their weapons to off-screen.
Kellog sees the attack on Kenneth's monitor, before turns to the soldier he was talking to, "Gets everyone to defense positions, now."
"Yes, sir," the soldier responds.
Kenneth spins out of his chair and approaches Kellog, "General Kellog."
"Kenneth, I want you to evacuate the base of all trainees."
Kenneth nods his head, "Yes sir."
Kenneth immediately starts to leave in one direction, as Kellog runs in the opposite direction, when laser blasts hit the command center from the same direction. The resulting explosions knock Kenneth off his feet.
Kenneth slowly turns to see, emerging from smoke, couple Greyids, their weapons at the ready. Kenneth is helpless on his back as he looks on, terrified.
Somewhere Kaosling states, "If the planet as weak as its so called Defense Unit, then Earth will quickly fall."
to be continued