The transport ship, The Sparrow, skimmed over the canopy of Sector 4.Below them, the world was an endless ocean of green. But it wasn't peaceful. The trees were massive, twisting together like wrestling snakes. The leaves were the size of cars. The mist rising from the jungle floor was a sickly yellow color.Sofia tapped her console while saying that "Atmospheric sensors are picking up high spore counts." "The air itself is hallucinogenic because it contains more than just plants." "Keep your masks tight," she said. "You need to keep your masks tight."Rook pushed down on the control system. "I don't like this place. The turbulence... it feels like the air is fighting us."Ethan sat in the back of the room to review his equipment. He replaced his long coat with a lightweight tactical vest. He carried a heavy machete on his back and a kinetic rifle in his hands.Ethan told Rook to "Relax, Rook" while he felt cold sweat forming on his neck. "We just drop in, grab the Key, and fly out."

The back of the crashed plane had been converted into a greenhouse.It was humid and smelled of wet earth and strange, sweet pollen. Vines curled around the dead flight instruments. Moss covered the pilot’s skeleton, which still sat strapped in the co-pilot seat.Dr. Aris occupied the seat of the commander. He began to serve tea from his damaged ceramic container."Sit, Ethan," Aris rasped.Ethan chose to sit on top of an ammunition crate which had been turned into a seating option. Jarek and Sofia stood outside the cockpit door to give him private space."You look like her," Aris said, his blind eyes staring past Ethan. "Elena. My greatest success. And my greatest failure.""She’s in a coma," Ethan said bluntly. "She exhausted herself to protect me. I was told you have the cure."Aris nodded slowly. He reached for a small, glass terrarium sitting on the dashboard.Inside, a flower grew from a section of blue moss. The object emitted a soft light which created glowing petals that look

The Great Tree was dying.Fire raced up the trunk like a living thing, consuming the dry vines and ancient bark. The heat was intense, blistering the paint on the crashed airplane fuselage."The fuel tanks!" Aris yelled, coughing in the thick black smoke. "If the fire reaches the plane’s reserve tanks, the whole village explodes!"Ethan stood at the wing's boundary. The drop extended two hundred feet straight down to an inferno which caused dizziness.The Sky-Gliders were arranged in a row across the wing. The Sky-Gliders were basic machines which used balsa wood and canvas for construction and showed bird designs through their painted surface."The heat is beyond their design limits!" Koda shouted while he fastened his harness. "The updraft will be too strong. It will break the wings!""Ethan yelled "It's fly or fry!" As he grabbed a glider he clipped his harness. "Grandfather please take the tandem glider with Sofia! Jarek you should take two because you are too heavy for one."Sofi

The wind on the mountaintop howled, but it was drowned out by the psychic screaming of The First.The immortal being was writhing on the black stone while he held his head. The Ghost Orchid toxin was filling his perfect brain with the noise of a billion living things. The chaos brought him to a complete standstill.Aris shouted at Ethan to act while he protected his eyes from the psychic wind. "You have only seconds until his body will expel the poison through his immune defenses. "Ethan stood above the fallen god. He held the jagged shard of metal in his hand.He examined The First’s chest area. There were no ribs. The skin emitted a translucent white light at its softest point. Underneath, Ethan could see it.It wasn't a muscle which circulated blood throughout the body.The object functioned as a Core. The fist-sized crystal of biological light emitted a rhythmic pulse which created movement in the surrounding air. Thump... Thump...Ethan spoke the words of apology, "Forgive me. "

The mountain was screaming.Outside the Vault, The Phantom had lost his mind. The psychic noise of the Ghost Orchid was tearing his consciousness apart, and in his thrashing agony, he was lashing out with his shadow powers.BOOM... CRACK.He was dismantling the mountain peak into extremely small pieces. The ground was shaking because of giant pieces of obsidian rock which were breaking off and falling down. The vibrations moved through the building, causing the Vault walls to tremble. The gigantic silo released a continuous flow of dust from its rooftop."He’s burying us!" Jarek roared, leaning against the railing as the metal walkway swayed violently. "He’s bringing the roof down!"Ethan shouted, "We need to leave this place!" He pointed at the enormous white vessel which hovered above the silo's central area. The Ark.Ethan ran toward the bridge to reach the ship's outer structure. The entry ramp was already open, sensing the proximity of the Key.Ethan ordered, "Get inside!" His gr