Several hours later, the Elixr ship broke through Earth's upper atmosphere like butter through a warm pancake.
Not the stealthiest landing, but they managed to disguise their trail using a high-tech cloaking mist that smelled vaguely of bubblegum.
They coasted over the Pacific Ocean, avoiding major air routes and curious seagulls, before steering toward their first landing site: a sleepy, uninhabited island near the southern tip of Chile.
It had three palm trees, one cranky iguana, and zero Wi-Fi.
"Perfect," Magira whispered as they touched down.
"Our little launchpad to the bottom of the world."
Alice Fox set up perimeter scans while Finch unpacked their inflatable kayak (don't ask why he had one). Magnet got the navigation AI working, and Stanley set off to build a campfire and immediately scared off the iguana.
"We need to move fast," Santy said, chewing on a piece of dehydrated moonfruit.
"If we stay too long, Earth's weather will get curious. And I don't trust that iguana."
Finch looked around nervously.
"Should we give him a name at least? He looks like a Gregory."
"No naming the wildlife," Alice muttered, scanning the sky.
"We've got company.
A drone.
Possibly human."
"We're spotted?!" Stanley yelped, dropping his snack.
"Calm down," Magnet said. "It's just a weather drone. We can jam it."
A quick blast from their signal disruptor sent the drone spinning off course, likely confusing a weather scientist somewhere who now believed a thunderstorm was shaped like a llama.
"Let's head to Antarctica now," Magira ordered.
"We've got a limited window before satellite eyes turn our way."
The team boarded a stealth sled (because obviously they had one) and began their journey southward, crossing the Drake Passage with a speed that would make most penguins jealous.
Magira stood in front of the team, hair slightly wind-blown, voice dramatic as ever.
"Alright, team.
Operation: Slide Into Antarctica begins now. Let's keep this clean, smart, and above all... silent."
Stanley pulled his hood over his ears.
"You do know we're literally dragging alien equipment through a human dockyard, right? If this is 'silent,' I fear 'loud' may involve nuclear alarms."
Finch, already dragging a hover-sled full of gadgets, muttered,
"You know what else is loud? You snoring on the ship. If we survived that, we'll survive this."
Santy was checking a digital map.
"Our boat's at Port Frowny-Face or something. We hired a ship disguised as a tourist research vessel. The crew thinks we're an environmental documentary team."
Alice Fox, donning stylish human sunglasses for disguise, smirked.
"Perfect. That means we only need to pretend to care about penguins for 48 hours."
Magnet elbowed Stanley.
"Still better than your idea of riding icebergs there. Honestly, did you think they came with steering wheels?"
Stanley just looked wounded.
Onboard the "Eco-Eagle" Ship — Day 1
The ship was not luxurious. In fact, it was falling apart in the kind of way that made it seem like even the sea itself pitied it.
Captain Roberto, a grizzled Chilean man with three teeth and one eyebrow, welcomed them aboard with the phrase:
"This boat has only sunk once. That's a good track record."
Finch leaned into Alice and whispered,
"I'm 73% sure he's counting the future."
Inside their cabin, which barely held all seven of them and smelled suspiciously of wet socks and goat, the team began plotting their Antarctic landing route.
Santy pulled up a holographic map (while trying to hide it from the human crew).
"We land near the Larsmann Hills. It's icy, isolated, and has just enough flat surface to build our base."
Magira nodded.
"Perfect.
We arrive, we build, we stay hidden.
No drama. No attention.
Simple."
Stanley snorted.
"You said 'no drama' just before Magnet turned our last camp into a disco with those malfunctioning solar panels."
Magnet, unfazed, winked.
"Hey, even the Moon needs rhythm."
The ship continued to sail with 1 human and 6 external aliens through the southern ocean aiming the southern continent.
The captain unaware of the team he is handling, infact the powers that came to dismantle the entire existing ecosystem, is heading the ship according to their preferred destination.
The sun rays started to disappear, as if it was drowning in the southern ocean behind the large glaciers, leaving the zeals and penguins behind.
The sea began to show its true nature by the dawn. The crew kept on sailing.