[The Kingdom Stone Heist: T-3 days. Location: Shuigang Snowfields; Dreadnought crash site]
Maria, Danny, and Xander cruise through the Snowfields, trike engines humming smoothly. Without warning, Maria, leading the group, halts abruptly: Danny and Xander have to swerve to avoid crashing.
"What on Avalice are you doing, Maria?" Xander growls in frustration.
"There's a huge shooting star in the sky!" Maria answers. "Don't you think it's pretty?"
"It's too low to be a shooting star," Danny cautions.
"Aw, you're such a spoilsport," Maria retorts.
The shooting star slams hard into the ravine the track runs alongside. The trio dive for cover as rocks, soil, and uprooted vegetation is sprayed into the air, re-emerging only once the debris has settled.
"Let's go check it out," Danny suggests. The trio return to their trikes, clear the rubble from them, and head back the way they came. They halt near the edge of a cliff overlooking the object's resting place, where they dismount and lay down at the cliff edge.
"That's big," Maria breathes in disbelief.
"What on Avalice is it?" Xander asks.
"I think the better question is 'What off Avalice is it?'" Danny corrects.
"OK then," Xander sighs, "what off Avalice is it?"
"It's a spaceship," Danny answers.
"A spaceship," Maria repeats, amazed.
"Where did it come from?" Xander asks.
"That bike shop in Zao's shopping mall," Danny quips, deadpan.
"Very funny," Xander sighs.
"Do you think there are any survivors?" Maria asks.
"I doubt it," Danny responds. "Just look at the trail of devastation it left when it hit the ground."
"Then who's that, standing on top of the ship?" Xander points out.
Danny looks to where Xander is pointing, spotting the silhouette of a large caped figure.
"Who is that?" he asks.
"You're the one with all the answers," Xander replies.
"Not this time."
"How much longer are you guys going to argue?" Maria interrupts, annoyed.
"Why, do you know-" Danny begins to ask, halting when Maria punches him hard in the shoulder.
"It was rhetorical," she growls.
"The caped guy's disappeared," Xander interrupts.
"Fancy a quick look around, see what we can steal and sell on?" Maria asks.
Danny checks the perimeter of the crashed spaceship through his binoculars. "Want to take on an army of hundreds of robots?" he replies.
Maria takes a look through her binoculars. "Maybe some other day," she mutters.
"We should get out of here before we're spotted," Danny advises. "It'll be a bit difficult to meet up with the lovebirds if we're captured or dead."
"Do they know we're coming?" Xander asks. "And when did we arrange to meet them?"
"No, and five seconds ago," Danny confirms. "I figure they'll be interested in what we've seen tonight."
"So long as I get to tell them!" Maria demands.
"Knock yourself out," Danny assures.
"If I did that, you'd have to carry me home," Maria quips.
"No, I meant… ah, I see what you did there," Danny sighs in amusement. "Come on."
As the trio flees the scene, they see a small green shuttlecraft fly overhead, heading in the direction of Shuigang.
"Looks like the caped guy's off to get help," Danny remarks.
"You sure about that?" Maria asks. "That's one mean army he's left behind. Plus, that shuttlecraft looks nasty."
"He's just making sure no-one nicks his stuff while he's out, that's all," Danny theorises, but he doesn't sound totally convinced.