Rae woke Karl as they approached the city across the lake just before dawn.
[I think that we're going to land soon. We talked about it while you were asleep, and we want to come out and be welcomed with you.]
Karl chuckled. [I don't see a reason why not, as long as there is space.]
Rae seemed excessively happy with that answer, and Karl wondered what she had in mind and how badly it was going to terrify the locals.
Fortunately for Rae's plan, someone had notified the media that they were coming, and there were dozens of press members, bleary-eyed politicians who had been dragged out of bed before the crack of dawn and corporate reps waiting in a large field for their arrival.
[Oh, that will be perfect.] Rae cheered.
Karl refreshed his armour and got a new version in black with a Darklight Host Tabard under a blued steel chest plate. It was almost knightly, if you ignored the part where everything but the chest was leather and chitin or cloth. He skipped on the helmet, and waited as the helicopter approached the ground. Nobody else had changed, so Dana was in her cargo pants and hoodie with the armour underneath, while Ophelia had her heavy plate armour on. The Berserker was in her human form, though. That was a change, and it took Karl a minute to remember that she was normally a human and not a Werebear. She had spent so much time in her transformed disguise that everyone had gotten used to her being twice the size of the other women, and not just slightly taller than Tessa.
Even Karl had deactivated most of his skills for the flight, and the group only had [Eternal Lightning] active on them.
"Ready to face the press?" Colonel Valerie asked.
"I feel so short." Karl replied with a smile.
Ophelia laughed. "You feel short? I'm freezing. How did I ever survive winter without fur?"
Colonel Valerie chuckled, though her expression didn't change from its usual resting frown of general disapproval. "Good thing we're sending you all for a combat mission check after this. You need a few days to acclimatize to civilized life again.
But we will do this the standard way. As the host, I will exit first, then you follow by rank. How you sort that is on you."
There was a fair bit of space in the cargo hold of the helicopter, so everyone else arranged themselves in a double file line. Dana and Ophelia behind Karl, with the clerics at the back.
Then Rae came out in human form to stand between the mage and berserker, while Remi transformed back into Spirit Snake form to hang herself around Karl's shoulders for the best view.
Finally, A shining silver and gold knight with a horned helmet on appeared between Tessa and Lotus.
"Thor? Is that Thor in human form? Your armour is beautiful." Tessa greeted him.
Thor nodded and gave her a shoulder bump that made the cleric laugh. He always did that as a greeting, but she had been trying to get him to speak.
Hawk's voice in humanoid form was strange, while Rae's was beautiful and haunting. So, she wondered what Thor would sound like.
"We will escort the ladies out, and then we will join you." Thor informed Karl in a deep masculine voice that closely matched his mental voice.
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