Saros wasn't kidding when he said no one does it like Aevum.
The efficiency of the entire system was immaculate; it put the roman's military to shame.
Percy went to his dorm to find a thin black combat uniform, combat boots, a silver sword, and what looked like a black military backpack lying on this bed. He approaches to attire and picks up the note beside it.
Suit up bro! Your pack should have everything you need, including knives, food, an extra uniform, and more. Pull the strap in front for it to turn into a wrist band. The sword turns into a belt if you triple tap it, press the buckle if you want it in sword form.
~Saros
Percy curiously lifts the sword, feeling the weight and grip immediately adjust to his preferences. He grins. "Now that's pretty epic."
After getting dressed and turning the sword into the belt and backpack into the wristband, he makes his way to the Sector Zero base, which wasn't far from the dorms. Saros was already waiting in the same uniform, but the commander had an orange armband with three golden bars along it. He looks up and grins at Percy. "Looking good dude, are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." He sighs. "How long will it take to get there?"
"Maybe twenty minutes, it's fairly close compared to the other planets."
"Saros! Percy!" They both turn to find Aurora calling them from the other side of the base. "Your taking the RA25-8, I suggest getting it ready before Elara gets here. She's wants to be out as soon as possible."
They both nod, and Percy follows Saros to what looks like a military aircraft/spaceship. The exterior is a slick black, and has a large gold logo of eight arrows pointing away from the center. Saros opens a hatch, and Percy's mouth nearly drops open. It was something one would imagine out of a sci-fi movie.
Pure white interior assaults his vision with sharp, gold lines accenting it. Saros leads him down a small hallway to reveal the cockpit, which has five seats. Two are in the front as the other three rest directly behind them. Much like Galexia's tablet, the controls are also a holographic/touch screen mix. Though the sharp smell of roses and disinfectant makes him scrunch his nose slightly.
"Since you've never trained to be a pilot, you'll just be sitting in one of the passenger seats." Saros says, already heading to the front seat and tapping screens to wake them up.
Percy's heart jumps in his chest. "So we're flying? Like, for real?" He knows that Zeus doesn't have control over any domain outside of Earth, but it didn't make him any less nervous to be high enough to reach outside the atmosphere.
Saros laughs and slips a headset on. "Of course, how else are we going to get there?"
Percy grudgingly agrees, knowing that other than teleportation/flashing, there was honestly no other way of transporting oneself to another planet. As he approaches one of the second row seats, he hears the sharp clacking of combat boots making contact with metal. He and Saros turn to find Elara coming up the hallway to where they are. "Are we ready?"
"Yup." Saros nods. "Buckle up kids, we'll take off as soon as get the okay from ASTC."
With a small sound of agreement, Elara sits to the right of Saros, who immerses himself in speaking with the Air and Space Traffic Control. Percy straps himself in the seat behind them, not daring to look out the windows, knowing that they'll be taking off at any second.
"Fighter RA25-8 is clear for take-off." A static voice sounds from the speakers on the dashboard.
"Rodger that." Saros says into his microphone.
Without a proper warning, the entire spacecraft hums loudly. Percy's stomach drops as they take off into the air in an instant. The ground quickly shrinks from the windows, and Percy closes his eyes, feeling queasy from the sudden movement.
The trip wasn't too terrible, as long as Percy didn't look out the window, they were all good.
There wasn't much to speak about; they overviewed the mission and Percy learned how to use the signal tracker that traces to the spacecraft in case they got lost, and to the distress signals from the CSRU.
"As long as you have that thing, you should be fine." Saros explains to him. "Don't lose it though; Galexia would kill me." Percy chuckles and tucks it into his pocket. It was much like an iPhone, but solely for tracking purposes.
Percy smiles. "Don't worry, I'll keep it safe."
Elara was busy tapping along a holotablet(name given by yours truly). She had the frozen map of the planet, and critically looked over it, as if looking for something. She didn't say much for the majority of the ride—not that she needed to.
They were already above the atmosphere of Zibara and descending. Percy couldn't help but see the vibrantly warm color grade of the planet from the window. It was like a permanent autumn if he were to describe it.
Percy curiously examines her wings. This is the second time seeing them, but there was something about them that brought a sense of nostalgia. Has he met anyone with wings like those?
No, he'd remember if he did. But the gut feeling tells him otherwise. However, right before he tries to ask questions—
The loudest bang! sound Percy has ever heard startles all three of them in their seats.
Saros' eyes widen as he struggles to keep the spacecraft under control. "What the—"
Alarms start blaring, and the spacecraft shutters and coughs smoke from the view in the window.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is fighter RA25-8, we've been hit by an unknown object." Saros calls into the microphone of his headset. Percy clutches his chest tightly, feeling his heart pounding furiously into his chest.
When no response comes, the tension in the spacecraft rises. Elara glares at the pilot before checking the dashboard and system failures that Percy could barely recognize.
Then they started falling.
The second they reached the inside of the atmosphere of the planet, Percy's stomach get left behind.
Saros yells several curses as he tries to keep the plummeting spacecraft steady. Percy practically glues himself to his seat, trying not to vomit from the neck-jerking movements and the possibility of imminent death from falling several miles above a planet he's never been to.
"Elara!" Saros yells over the alarms and flashing lights.
"I'm working on it!" She calls back, eyes closed, concentrating on whatever she was trying to do. Percy's heart is about to run out of his chest, the ground is far too close for comfort at this speed. If they were to make contact, that would be the end for him.
They're seconds from impact now.
"Any moment now!" Percy yells as he clutches his eyes shut. We'regonnadiewe'regonnadiewe'regonna—
Suddenly, the spacecraft slows for a second, but their descent never stops. Elara's eyes glow from underneath her eyelids. "Everyone, brace!"
Percy lowers his head and protects it with his arms, preparing for what is to come.
Pain shoots through his spine as they make impact with the ground below. The spacecraft tumbles and flips several times, making all three of them jerk in their seats. It it weren't for the seatbelts, he could easily imagine becoming a splatter against the interior of the walls.
He clutched to armrests to the point of his knuckles turning white. The urge of vomiting becomes even more intense than before.
As soon as the seemingly endless tossing around comes to a stop, Percy hurriedly unbuckles his seatbelt, falls to his knees, and vomits all over the floor.
The taste of bile and whatever he ate before stains his taste buds, making him grimace at the horrid sensation. He shakily stands up, back still throbbing from the hit. He looks up to find all windows cracked and the dashboard sparking. A frustrated looking Elara tapping on some settings, and Saros with his eyebrows pulled together in a concerned manner gazed at him.
"How are—" He coughs, "—you guys not throwing up after that?"
"I dunno, tolerance?" Saros shrugs, leaning his weight onto his left side heavily. He grimaces as he tries to walk forward, instantly stumbling and leaning onto the pilot seat. "I think I twisted my ankle."
Elara turns her attention to the commander, expression turning concerned. "How did you do that sitting down?"
"Well, unlike you, us demigod/demipromordials are susceptible to stupid injuries, fascinating, right?" Saros says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Anyways, we crashed close to the right area. The CSRU SOS flares shouldn't be far from here."
"How are we going to do that?" Percy asks. "You're injured; we can't just leave you here."
Elara sighs. "Actually, we can."
Percy instantly glares at her; she can't possibly be thinking of leaving Saros on this unfamiliar planet.
"The spacecraft is protected, hence the reason why it didn't come apart like cardboard in the crash." Elara explains, grabbing Saros' arm to help him sit back down. "We need to find a way to communicate with base, and the only option is going through the spacecraft for that. Meanwhile, you and I can just complete he mission." Saros nods, agreeing with the major commander.
Although Percy was a bit reluctant. Was that seriously the best idea?
"I'll be fine." Saros assures. "You guys complete the mission; it shouldn't take that long. Just be back by sundown, yeah? There should also be a town nearby; if you can find any replacement circuits or other things, I should be able to at least fix the dashboard."
After a little bit of convincing, Percy agrees. They should only be gone until sunset.
Not that hard, right?
•••••
*Unedited*
Don't forget to comment on what's happening in the story. As much as I love the overwhelming feedback, I want to read you guy's reaction to scenes in the story! There's a lot of hints I put into these chapters, and I'm hoping you catch them💜💜.
IMPORTANT: Instead of posting all the info and stuff in the stories, I'm deciding to simply put them on my message board so I don't have to disrupt your reading experience. If you want to stay updated on stuff that may interfere with the stories, you can follow me or just check there every once in a while.
Also, who's your godly parent? I'm a daughter of Hephaestus, and a (distant) legacy of Athena!
As a thank you for 2k reads, here's a little aesthetic board I created for Elara:
•••••