The high pitched whine of the engine building up slowly grew and grew until it was a roar that drowned out everything. Strapped into the back of the VTOL Rian leaned forward from the seat and flashed the pilot a thumbs up before letting himself recline and relax with a smile as he was pressed down by the craft’s take-off. It was more than he had expected from them and he couldn’t help but feel happy they were willing to do this; a show of camaraderie apparently. He didn’t know how they managed to get authorization for such a thing and could only imagine it had involved a lot of paperwork at the minimum. As the aircraft rocketed forward, he could only hope that he could meet with them in less dire circumstances in the future. 

The flight passed in relative silence for Rian as he sat alone in the transport with his own thoughts. It had been a productive, enlightening, and exhilarating summer all in a high-strung and tense environment. With a sigh as it hit him that those months were now behind him, he perked up slightly  as the intercom crackled to life. **“AcadeMMO in sight kid.”** Too bad there weren’t any windows for him to look out of though, he imagined the view from this on high would be pretty amazing. He was jerked upwards slightly as the plane began its descent though, and he collected his runaway thoughts and memories as he prepared to depart. It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two before a soft thump rocked the aircraft and the engines began to die down. The intercom came to life once more, informing him everything was good, and at that point he finally unstrapped himself from the seat.

Of course, next came the slightly humiliating part where he had to wait for the pilots to also unstrap themselves. Given this was a combat transport, it wasn’t expected that people would be bringing things they couldn’t just carry on themselves. In Rian’s case though, the overhead compartments were needed and as things were he couldn’t really reach them without constantly jumping and making a fool of himself. A quiet chuckle had him glance unhappily towards the pair as they exited the cockpit area. 

2nd Lieutenant Barlk and 1st Lieutenant Marley had been the ones to fly him over today, and the 2nd simply leaned against the door frame with a smug grin as the 1st came over to help him. **“Thanks,” **he muttered as he took the bags she’d pulled down from him, blushing a bit from embarrassment and irritation as she ruffled his hair. The fact that the Barlk was busy crowing from the stands didn’t help in the slightest. Grumbling as he slung the bags onto the shoulders, he nonetheless turned and bowed to both of them. Barlk gave him a genuine smile at that along with a wave and nod, while Marley ruffled his hair once more with a grin before nodding from him to get on his way. 

On the ground once more, he stepped back to a safe distance to watch the aircraft lift off. As the engines built up to the deafening roar, he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the generated wind. Giving a wave with the other as the plane spun around and rose, Rian watched as it got further and further, sighing when the noise was distant and fading. Shrugging his shoulders from his bags’ weight, he dismissed the glances and stares he was getting from some of the people that were present. A glance at his watch told him he had probably missed the ceremony and the new students were probably in the middle of their tours at the moment. He was a bit outside AcadeMMO at the moment and had some distance to go, so it all worked out.