Luminary Of The Stars

Preparations

        This was happening. This was actually happening. Kaito Momota was walking into an actual space center. There was a more official name for it he was sure, but he was too excited to care. Years of his life had been leading up to this. He was going to be sent into space to save the world. It seemed like the perfect first adventure for the Luminary of the Stars. 
        Yeah, there had been some not so stellar events leading up to this. The Invasion was definitely not stellar. For twenty four years now, Earth had been subjected to routine abductions carried out by an unknown extraterrestrial race. The abductions happened every three weeks. Kaito had been present for many. It was uncanny how quickly they happened. Lights would appear in the sky, and soon reports of humanoid creatures would crop up. Finally there would be reports of break ins, people snatched from their homes and dragged back onto the ships, and back to wherever the aliens had come from. 
        No one had ever seen one. No one who was still alive and well on Earth anyways. All pictures were blurry. All glimpses were fleeting. There had never been any corpses discovered. Only theories, speculation and a few facts. 
        One such fact was that the creatures were far more advanced than humans. Earth was trapped under their inhuman thumbs. (Actually, Kaito wasn't sure that they had thumbs...) There had never been a successful way to prevent the Abductions. Earth was a specimen jar stuffed full of cool things to these space bastards, and they didn't show any signs of leaving. 

        Aliens on their own were bad enough, but it was what they brought with them that was even more concerning. The aliens at least left some hope that their victims were alive. The Plague showed no such mercy. 
        It had been nicknamed "the space pox" in regards to the fact that it literally had come from space, and due to its similarities to smallpox. Both diseases occurred when humans were exposed to creatures that carried germs that their frail bodies weren't equipped to handle. Both swept across the nation killing thousands, maybe ten thousands a day. 
        Any advances in technology to fight off the aliens had been halted by the space pox. There were too many things to focus on at once. Humanity could very well be facing the end of the world. 

        But Kaito knew that there was one hope. The Ultimates. A few short decades before the Invasion, the Ultimates were discovered. Individuals who were exceedingly talented. The best of the best, professionals in their fields. It was a miracle. 
        So of course it didn't last. 
        The Ultimate Phenomena as it became known, didn't last long. Ultimate stopped naturally appearing within three years, and by the time of the Invasion, there hadn't been a natural Ultimate in decades.
        Ultimates were no longer born, but they could be made. 
        Kaito didn't fully understand it, he was a man of science after all, but there was a genetic trait that Ultimates had carried, something that enhanced their minds, gave them the capacity for their greatness. The gene, the Ultimate gene, could be replicated, and transplanted into humans at birth. It was custom for every baby to be given an injection containing the Ultimate Gene. 
        Sometimes the gene took, other times it didn't. When it did take, the child was changed, transformed. As they grew, they would develop a talent. While that in itself was remarkable, it had been revealed only a few short years ago that Ultimates were immune to the Plague. 
        This had given humanity hope, that the Ultimates could hold both the cure to the Plague, and the end to the Abductions. 
        And that's where Kaito came in. 

        As the Ultimate Astronaut, he had taken interest in all things space before he even understood what the Invasion was. He knew that he was destined to be among the stars, even if others around him didn't believe it. With a little luck, and some possibly sketchy fake credentials, Kaito had proved himself once and for all on an astronaut exam, becoming the youngest person in history to pass, and securing his legacy as an Ultimate. 
        It was only natural that he had been chosen for this. 
        Kaito had assumed that the government had finally decided to arrest him when the men in the suits showed up. He had kicked over a chair and fled outside, before his grandparents called him back. The men had brought a formal request, not handcuffs.
        The governments of the world had finally decided to make a move. They had decided to form a task force of sixteen Ultimates, who would be sent into space to gather intel on the Invasion. Their immunity to the Plague would guarantee that they would not be harmed by close contact with the creatures, and Ultimates would have specific skills that would be needed.
        And Kaito was one of them. An astronaut was perfect, they said. By accepting the mission, he would be saving the lives of not only his loved ones, but everyone. He'd be a hero.
        And he'd be dammed if he passed that up.