Tearha: Keep Walking

Chapter Three: Arrival

Just as he was wondering what he should say to clear the mood, Jacques exclaimed, "Oh...!" He turned over. "A Titan battle."

He nearly jumped to his feet, but was restrained by the seatbelt. Calming down, he asked, "What Titans?" Josh returned his attention forward.

"It's hard to see..." Jacques got to her feet to get a better look. "The mech has two shoulder launchers, so I'm guessing gamma series. Oh! She just pulled out a fold cannon, so Gam-E."

"Good," Josh breathed a sigh of relief. "No long range capability." He wondered if he should have asked for an aeronium floor to be installed for ground visual.

Even though mechs were Dogon's Titans, they were in restricted airspace, and he doubt they would hesitate to shoot down any aircrafts, even friendly gliders.

He asked of Seracue's Titan. "What about the golem?"

She paused, and he could hear her face plop against the glass. "Twice the height of the Gam-E. Give or take a little. Not sure what type though. I'm not that familiar with golem tiers."

"I thought you said you were Titan Hunters?"

For the first time, she sounded annoyed. "Luce just finished her training and I've only been on the field once. We're not exactly veterans here."

"So you're deserters then?" Her ensuing silence confirmed his theory, not that he cared. Pushing his attention back to more pressing matters, he asked, "Describe it to me. The golem."

"Why?"

"Need to determine if it could shoot us down."

"Right... so, twice the height," he could hear her shifting again. "Spiked shoulders."

"How many spikes?"

"Two," she replied. He could feel the glider tilt slightly to the left as she got to her full weight up. With his hands back on the joystick, she continued, "Forearm's rectangular, about the size of a bus. Small waist, large base, heavy torso, looks like cryo-sigils on its feet."

He breathed out again. "Tier two cryo-golem. It's a scout. No long range either."

"So we're safe?"

"For now." He wasn't actually all that confident. Out on The Walking Path, Titan battles broke out half a dozen times a day with variations. Even with their glider's small size, they were still a sore thumb in the comparatively chaotic skies. "But I'll take a detour to East Ampyre, just to be safe. We'll have to circle around a little, but it's better than being caught by a vanguard."

There was no reply from his passenger, but somehow, he sensed she was fine with his decision. He listened as she settled back into her seat and the trip was quiet again. As the glider slowly descended, the sparks outside gradually decreased. The rumbling smoothed and Luce's snoring went into a gentle breathing as the glider stabilized.

An hour passed, and he heard Jacques gentle snore joined the younger girl's. He yawned, stretched, and wished he had the privilege of sleeping. But he was on the job. Even if he wasn't being paid, he was still working. They circled the long face of the Reveries Mountain, having lost too much altitude to go over. By the last hour, they had successfully peeked out from the eastern path, the lights from the town of East Ampyre flickering in the faint distance. Plains of greens plastered haphazardly across the land.

From behind, he heard Jacques revered, "Grass. And so much of them."

He replied, "We're further north now. It's still hot, but not like the heat in Citidale. There are periods of lukewarm, and about an hour of nightfall a day. So plants can naturally grow here." He could hear her let out a breath of wonder. He instructed, "You should wake your girlfriend. We're about to land soon."

As she scrambled to Luce's side, she asked, "How did you know we were dating?"

"Just a guess. You two are close and I'm just not getting the 'buddy' vibe." He recalled all their little arguments and jabs. "More like a married couple."

"Ugh..." Luce began to stir. "You're so nosy."

He grinned. The girl did not hold back nor minced word. He liked that in people. "Buckle up ladies. I'm going to release the parachute once we hit a hundred plitz. The glider's going to jerk real bad when that happens."

In the reflection, he watched as the two got back to their seats and did as they were told, belts buckling with clicks as they secured themselves.

The horizon slowly rose above the glass window, and soon, he could see the ground before him. They were still a ways from the grassy plains, and it seems they would still land near the foot of Reveries. The landscape was barren and jagged, with rock formations protruding randomly. Sharp, towering spikes pierced out of the ground. Still, he managed to find a clear runway to perform the landing.

"Here we go!" he announced. Switching the controls back to manual, he steadied the machine. He reached out to the blue pull button on the console just as the altimeter read 100 plitz. He pulled for the chute.

Nothing happened.

He tried again and still, silence followed.

Quickly, he racked his brain and came to the conclusion, "Julian..."

Luce asked, "What's happening?"

Anger seethed as he spoke through his teeth. "That bastard! He must have not added the chutes! Son of a bitch! He geared us for two hundred cliqs!" They were going too fast. Without chutes, they would not just crash; The glider would disintegrate on impact.

Luce exclaimed, "What do we do?"

"Exactly as I tell you!" He barked back. "Jacques! Tear out the flooring. There should be a panel beneath it. Open it!"

He watched from the reflection as she did as she was told. The cushion was ripped out and as stated, there was a panel. She kicked at the plate and it broke off, hurdling to the ground below. Wind howled into the cabin. 50 plitz left.

She screamed over the gale, "What now?"

"Get back to your seat, buckle in, and ready your spear-cannon and station-rifle! Impact rounds!" Barely over the rushing wind, he heard them unzip their weapon bags and load in the ammunitions. 20 plitz. "On my command, I'm going to turn off the charge to the aeronium. Jacques, shoot to the sky at a thirty degree angle. Immediately after, Luce, shoot to the ground through the panel."

Luce asked, "What's that supposed to do?"

"Three!" He started the count.

Luce cursed, "Shit!"

"Two!" The altimeter closed in to zero. "One!" He flipped the charge switch on the joystick.

The aeronium lost its electrical source and turned back into gas. The material expanded around them, the speed of the glider splitting the gaseous metal apart. Jacques fired her high explosive impact round. The glider hard-braked for a split second, slowing down in the air. They tilted upwards, the Tainted sky stretched out before them, smoky black cloud in the distant horizon.

Josh pulled the red pull button again, and the wings detached from the body, practically ripping away. Luce fired to the ground. Another high impact round. The glider slowed further, turned forward and over its head till the earth was their sky.

Reactivating the electrical charge, the aeronium solidified around them. But due to the distance between the particles, the consistency would be reduced, giving them the integrity of cardboard. The ground neared. They crashed. He blacked out.

Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thank you for reading Tearha: Keep Walking. This story is a novella prequel to Tearha: The Number 139 and Tearha: Titan War. If you like what you've read so far, and would like to support my writing, you can buy one of my books at my website. Or you could check out my Patreon to help out for the long run. Of course, just sharing, commenting, and reviewing helps a bunch as well!

Website: adenng.com

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