7

Ryan stands behind Angel and Xavier glaring at each other.

"Can you believe they didn't see each other for a whole week?" Ranger asks confused.

They were acting normal and even organised everything so well with the team over the phone, but it's like the moment they see each other face to face they don't recognise each other.

Lily nods sighing in disappointment, "I've been stuck with them for the longest time." She states glaring at the two of them who shriek from her angry expression, they start locking pinkies calling it a truce, secretly aiming guns at each other while smiling at Lily keeping a close eye on them.

Three other teams arrive and they board the shuttle that came to fetch them all.

Angel locks eyes with the team captain of a team dressed in baby blue matching jumpsuits. The male smirks looking away towards the Egyptian den-brother assigned to them, the den-brother is basically the baby sitter.

The den-brother stands in front of the gathered teams after they board the ship, "We'd like to make sure by the time we arrive at our final destination I have explained everything you need to know."

He takes a seat and gestures for everyone to get comfortable, "First of all I'll introduce myself, I am Ox, I'll know your names only if I need to know your names, so far I only know Devil Mask, and Golden, I don't know who those names belong too, but I'll know that when you guys hit my radar."

Xavier narrows his eyes at Ox keeping his mouth shut after Ryan nudges him before he can flip out.

"That is the attitude the people at those camps carry, you are all nobodies until you meet certain criteria. What you need to know is that when these next 40 days with us are over and you are out there, you won't be training they will be testing you.

"We have to train you in the next 40 days to be perfect fliers, perfect rangers, perfect information gathers, perfect at everything, and we don't have time to play games with you." Ox projects a day-to-day schedule for the teams.

Lily's mouth drops, there's no time for sleep anywhere in that schedule.

"This is the schedule you will all follow here, and on the very same day you arrive at RTF there will be a test pitting team against team. They have a ranking system for each round of the tests, you won't just be a 100 people there, you will be a thousand. Fun fact, the test is in space on the country sized shuttles, that's how many of you will be out there.

"Teams will be divided in districts and sections, but that's not important. You will be individually ranked and the sum total of your team's performance will be how you are ranked overall, so if one member is lagging behind you will all go down together.

"The best strategy to win these trials is to work as a whole, all of you must push each other forward and work as one team, do not get caught up in the competitive thrill of these trials. All of you in this room are one team, don't forget that."

"Even Owen?" Angel asks pointing at the lightly tan male sitting next to her, he is still smirking at her since he saw her at the airport boarding docks.

Owen glares now angry, he did not realise his staring was making Angel uncomfortable.

Xavier huffs, "We're open to an alliance with any team, but that one." He points directly at the captain of the team dressed in baby blue jumpsuits. That being Owen.

Owen rolls his eyes smacking Xavier's hand away and slinging an arm over Angel's shoulder leaning in to whisper in her ear, "I'll deal with you later."

Angel gulps.

Ryan shakes his head at his three friends being the idiots he wishes they weren't, "Excuse them sir, please carry on." He says with a guilty expression on his face.

Ox flips the schedule around and the first test is displayed on the screen, "You will each be given a number when you get off the plane, for now, I'll stop here. Enjoy your flight."

Lily and Rider groan feeling nauseous.

Angel gets an idea and leaves to get her bag and comes back to measure Lily and Rider's head and shoulders.

Xavier smiles, "Sober Angel, equals peak performance Angel. She'll do anything to keep herself occupied so she doesn't think of getting high."

Ryan shakes his head, "Stop talking about her like that, she's not an addict."

"She must burn until she never touches another joint in her life." Xavier carries on like Ryan never said a word to him. He already has a full proof plan to rehabilitate Angel, "Completely depraving her of what she wants is not the way to do it, the best I can do is teach her to take moderate doses, we'll move on to completely quitting after that."

Ryan rolls his eyes standing next to Owen with a hot drink in hand, "You're looking good man."

Owen smirks, "Obviously, how's my baby doing?"

Ryan groans, "She's fine, how are the literal babies doing?"

Owen smiles taking a sip of his tea before chattering none stop confusing his own team mates who barely heard him say much yet he's actually expressing human emotions when talking to Ryan. They barely got a sentence out of him.

Angel designs masks that can help with air sickness, she once made a prototype but never got the opportunity to test it out so she'll make the new one based on the old design.

She smiles looking around at the large room granting her access to more tech than she has ever imagined, and not whatever she and Lily could find at the metal yard, where only metallic trash is allowed.

This new mask will be made out of Neptune moon fish shed slime that can be turned into a thin blanket material that elasticises naturally when dried after a 2-week period, left in a hot sauna, when the elasticised moonfish slime comes in contact with heat the material thickens naturally taking shape of knotted buttonholes. That will act as a base for the complete suits.

Rider asks Xavier for tips on how to fly a shuttle regretting it instantly, Xavier's ego went straight to the moon and back.

"Of course I'll help you, I'll help you all. I saw shuttles on our way here, follow me." Xavier finds the shuttle and breaks in, "Want me to teach you that too?" He asks.

Lily nods, she doesn't care what number she gets she will go for an SBA shuttle that won't make her feel air sick.

Ranger goes to sleep.

Ryan is giving team Joey private flying lessons.

~

The plane lands and they each receive a number gathering around Ox, "Alright, the first test will not be a race against each other," He points up at the sky, "See those jet drones in the air? You will each be required to chase after the one assigned to you and keep up with it.

"The aim is not to catch it but to keep up, you are not allowed to fly more than 3 to 5 feet close to the drone, or more than 3 to 5 feet away, and you are not allowed to fly more than 7 feet above or below the drone.

"You have to maintain that distance at all times, learn this technique first, master this, and you will be a flying prodigy. You will not only be following it around, but you must dodge or twist at a moment's notice this is to train you to better handle any random meteor showers out there, as well as to dodge lasers.

"That is why every day at 4AM you will have actual classes to teach you about the different types of shuttles out there, you will rotate on a weekly basis to get used to flying any kind of shuttle in case of an emergency."

The teams suit up and enter their shuttles.

Ox adds a last miute detail before they officially begin the test, "Every time you are too close, or too far from the drone you will hear a loud gong, get three gongs you fail the test. Begin."