Editing KSGU:Volume 5 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 4===

The light that rose up from beside the feet was so bright that even the anti-glare filter could not negate it completely. The pink incandescence light continued to swirl in a vortex, and a halation appeared on the all-view monitor as the plasma surrounding the machine continued to let out terrifying cracking sounds.

The speed of descent was more devastating than expected. The worry that the machine would burn up at any moment and the fear of being devoured by the heat wave struck her. Mineva Lao Zabi continued to be rattled by the shockwaves striking the cockpit as she stared at the monitor that was heating up as her tense body continued to be pressed down on the assistance seat. The incandescence light was formed by the thin air that was converted into plasma, and not the burning of the machine itself; however, the surface temperature was already past 1,500 degrees Celsius and rising. The frictional heat from the atmosphere and the aerodynamic heating caused by adiabatic compression caused the “Delta Plus” to be burned by the unavoidable heat as it descended into the atmosphere. As the name Waverider implied, the aerial fighting machine that was burned red as it rode on the plasma wave was gradually gliding down this large and thick atmosphere.

It was approximately 2 hours ago from the moment the machine broke through the absolute defense line and got detected by the patrolling Federation warships. The “Delta Plus”, which was deemed to be a ‘ghost’ that died off in battle, appeared, stopped, went through endless questioning that was repeated, and ended up choosing to shake off the pursuers and move forward. The machine made use the rebounding effect of the atmosphere to enter low orbit as it entered the atmosphere through the polar track covering the axis of the north and south poles. It was unknown whether the ‘family’ Riddhe mentioned about used its power as the intercepting satellites did not take action, but it did not matter to the “Delta Plus” that entered the atmosphere from the south pole.

One would know that this layer that surrounded the blue planet like soap bubbles was a scorching hot endless wilderness the moment they ended. Once they rushed into the atmosphere, they could only leave the machine’s controls to the electronic navigation system and wait for the moment they leave the burning hell. The “Delta Plus” frame that was pulled by gravity was heating up as it broke through the atmospheric wall at a speed of Mach 20. If one believed in the inertial navigation device capabilities to calculate the current location through speed, time and machine movement, the current height at this point would be 70km. it had been more than 10 minutes since they entered the atmosphere. They were entering safely at a more gradual angle to reduce the resistance, but did this really take that much time? The incandescence light became red hot light without warning, and the machine that went from the thermosphere into the mesosphere started to be covered by heat as Mineva glanced at the face of the man sitting on the linear seat beside her.

Riddhe Marcenas, who was holding onto the control stick tightly, had his tense face covered by red hot light here. It was probably the first time that he entered the atmosphere in a unit alone without hoping for any data link from the mothership or ground control. Mineva recalled how she used to observe the burning atmosphere from the small window when she rode on a shuttle into the atmosphere in the past. She would also imagine herself riding on the shuttle as she glided through the atmosphere through the visuals obtained from the observation satellites that could still receive visual feed as she descended. ''Leaving a white scratch in the transparent atmosphere and creating a shockwave trajectory that’s 1/3 the circumference of the planet—that was really beautiful. '' Mineva felt that she, who was born in space and could logically view planets and colonies equally, was instantly absorbed by the established Nature at that moment. ''I wonder if this “Delta Plus” is carving out a similar trajectory?'' She turned her neck that was originally frozen in fear and looked at the roof through the normal suit visor.

The machine that was protected by anti-heat functions was feeling the frictional heat from below, and the rear top side of the all-view monitor was not covered by the red hot light. The thin atmosphere that looked distorted by the shockwaves went from pitch black into thick indigo, and after that, the vacuum that turned navy blue swayed as the sharp starry light continued to flicker as they faded fast.

''Space became sky—''The moment Mineva inadvertently said that, the red hot light at her feet decreased drastically, and what replaced it was a strong light that shone in from the right side on her.

Riddhe pulled the control stick, and the activation sounds of the rear wings was mixed together with the tremors. The main wings endured the thick atmosphere, and the G-force that struck back leaped on the machine that decelerated out of a sudden. The “Delta Plus” moved through the stratosphere as it switched into manual mode. Mineva felt the force pushing her forward hard, but she continued to look at the source of the light that was shining into the cockpit.

The light of the sun was there. It was not an extremely hot celestial body that was seen in space, but a friendly light that was apt for a day. ''It’s the bright warm light that passes through the atmosphere and graces all living things below it…!''

The overly bright light caused Mineva to reach her hand out to block it as she turned her stare to the front. As the blue sky showed absolutely no traces of clouds, the white patterns of the altostratus clouds could be seen floating at her feet. The sea should be further below at where the plains of light below the intertwining clouds floating around were. ''Our estimated course is that we’ll be above the Caribbean Sea, so is this the place? '' Mineva inadvertently opened her helmet visor and stared at the sea that was dazzling as it reflected sunlight.

She could not see the waves rising and falling from the stratospheric height they were at, and the sea was like a transparent blue glass panel that covered the surface of the planet. The long and wide arc that marked the horizon was lying further down, and the two layers, the sky and seas showed the contours of the Earth. ''What a color, what a magnificent expanse!'' Mineva could not tell what sort of situation she was in as she faced the world that expanded in front of her on the all-view monitor. She felt the blood in her body moving to her buttocks, but she did not feel uneasy about it. She knew that her body cells were being active, reclaiming the sense of balance humans originally had. She understood and recognized real gravity, and her body was radiating heat because she was shuddering in delight rising from deep within.

''The place where all life was born, and the place where all life returns to; this is—''

“Welcome to Earth.”

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Riddhe said as he smiled slightly, the same scenery was being reflected off his brown eyes. The voice that was not heard for a long time was half negated by the roaring of the fusion core jet rocket engines, and the rumbling air flow covered the cockpit. Everything and anything was rich, noisy, and unlike space, where time stood still, everything here was bustling. Light, wind, sounds, everything was changing at the moment. She could not hear her own breathing as she got engrossed in the breath of the Earth, and stared at the horizon that was on the other end.

The Shock Cone surrounding the machine expanded gradually as it merged itself within the blue sky. The “Delta Plus” that had decelerated to Mach 2 slowed down further and let the worn out scorching hot machine descend to the troposphere. The North American continent did not care too much about the invaders that came barging in from space as it expanded in front of their eyes, basked in the gentle light of morning.