“The call to adventure signifies that destiny has summoned the hero.” — Joseph Campbell

Zach wakes up to find that his car had been keyed by Knotcher. When Zach goes to school, Knotcher made fun of his father’s old jacket. Zach pushes just enough to make him tripped on the curb.

Shortly after, a strange aircraft started to approach the school. As it got near, Zach realizes the ship. It was ATS-31 Aerospace Troop Shuttle, from his favorite video game Armada. He knew that he was not imagining things since everyone else around him was in awe.

When the ship landed, three guys in black suits walked out of the ship. One of them was Ray Wierzbowski, his boss at Starbase Ace. They publicly yelled for Zach Lightman and took him inside. He notices that the pilot is wearing a uniform from the game Armada.

Zach lost his mind after the ship left. So it turns out that Ray isn’t who he says he is. He explains that Earth Defense Alliance (EDA) is real. Their base in Nebraska, and that is where they are heading. The Sobrukai are not real; However, the alien ships are. The word sobriquet means nickname. He is a low-ranking officer to watch over Zach. The details of why is classified. The book explains it like he is Obi-Wan and Zach is Luke Skywalker. Ray had been watching over him for six years. The point of Starbase Ace was to train Zach.

Ray then goes on to explain a short storyline. Like Star Wars was financed by EDA without George Lucas ever knowing. How Space Invaders were created to make humans feel like fighting aliens was a good thing.

Zach slowly relaxes and understands what is going. With all the crazy theories that Ray use to give, it was like he was preparing him without him even knowing. Zach questions if his father was part of it because of the notebook he found. All that Ray know is that there is a classified file in the database but he is too low level to access it.

Ray says that Zach is going to be given the opportunity to enlist in the Earth Defense Alliance. If he takes it, he would be a flight officer and might have access to his father’s file. Ray ended the conversation with wise words, “EDA wasn’t created to murder people. It was formed to save them.”