Khalon flew quickly but steadily in the air. He hoped he'd make the flight, and he kept up high in case he had to glide at any point in time, which he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to stay up. He just knew he had to make it there quickly. He could always engine swap and come back to his island, right?
After a scary pit stop for fuel in New Mexico, Khalon went off again, his engine surprisingly holding up. That was one fear he had before leaving. Stopping for fuel. He figured at that point he was well approaching Alabama soon, and lowered into the sky to check his surroundings. He wasn't sure where he was at that point but he knew he wasn't in Alabama yet. He flew a tad bit lower to check out any signs he could see, but saw a huge river instead sprawled across from him.
"Mississippi River." He noted to himself. Almost there. He had enough fuel, and his engine had so far, been running smoothly.
Until he felt intense heat spark up in front of him. Before he knew it, a thick black cloud erupted into his face and he let out a yelp, steadying himself to keep straight. He was loosing altitude as his engine slowed and began to stop. The engine sounded empty and something scraped. He fell fast from the sky and could have sworn he saw flame.
Trees whipped by him suddenly and he braced himself for impact, where ever he was. He felt something sharp nag his underbelly and he crashed onto what felt like long grass. He didn't know, he couldn't see from the smoke whipped in his face. Objects that felt like small tress tore at his wings as he landed. He slid across the grass until something firm stopped him in his tracks. It was a tree. The smoke rose up towards the sky and Khalon could tell where he was. He was surrounded by trees. A small dirt path was near him that led away into the trees. He coughed and didn't even try to pick himself up. He saw no more flames flicker out from his exhausts or cowling and tried to just get a grasp on what happened.
"We have a serious situation located east side." A voice called from the distance. Khalon could hardly pinpoint where it was coming from.
"Crash land from an aircraft. Get over here now!" The voice was closer. Khalon tried to shift himself to see the stranger.
An engine roared up to him. "Hey, calm down now, buddy. You're gonna be okay now."
Khalon felt cold water splash over his hood and gave a sigh. He looked up finally and saw a bright red Jeep standing next to him.
"Help is on the way, sir. Hang in there." He said. The Jeep drove around Khalon to inspect the damage. "Gear not unleashed. Wing damage, apparent belly damage. Bent prop." He said into what seemed to be his radio.
"Kha-Khalon.." Khalon muttered from the grass.
"Pardon?"
"Khalon.." Khalon muttered louder.
"Ah, I'm Kyle." The Jeep nodded. "Where ya headed, Khalon?"
"Alabama." Khalon groaned.
"So close, huh? We'll get ya there in no time though." He then paused. "Good, good. I'll set up a flare." He talked into his radio again. Kyle looked up and in the area he was in, chose a clear path through the trees and shot a flare attached to his rim up into the sky. It was bright red. "I got a copter comin' over to bring you to our main base." He said. "Are you able to get your gear down at all?"
"One seems nonfunctional.." Khalon sputtered as he tried to raise himself. Kyle quickly drove to the side Khalon managed to get off the ground.
"Oh, yeah, it's gone." Kyle noted. He looked up, hearing the copter's blades chopping the air. "Guy's here now anyways. You're safe." Khalon looked up and saw a large helicopter hovering over the clearing in the tops of trees. A pitty came down from a line and Kyle helped him attach Khalon to the line. He was then slowly but surely lifted from the dirt and hung grass and up into the sky, a wing bending downwards in the process.
The helicopter wasted no time in bringing Khalon back to a small base on the edge of the trees Khalon had just landed in. He was lowered slowly near a large garage and he saw Kyle race out from the tree line to head over.
The pitty with the copter placed down aircraft jacks underneath Khalon and he was rested gently on top of them. Two pitties began to work on Khalon's landing gear so they could get him moved inside the garage if needed. Kyle came up to Khalon.
"How you doin' so far, pal?" He asked.
"Not, not so good." Khalon said lowly. He looked down at his hood.
"Ah, don't fret. We'll have you up and running again soon."
"Don't know 'bout that." Khalon said. "I been havin' issues with my engine not functioning properly."
"Don't worry." Kyle tried to act positive. "Our techs are very skilled. They'll figure something out."
Khalon didn't say anything after that. He only hoped this Jeep was right.
The technicians didn't have a spare landing gear for Khalon, so they hoisted him on top of a rolling jack and carefully pushed him inside the garage, one tire touching the ground. The jack was locked into place and the technicians began to repair Khalon's exterior as well as his engine. Khalon could only do one thing and stand still through it all. He didn't even have the guts to radio Drake. He just stared at his exposed engine and watched the pitties work. What could they accomplish that Ryan couldn't? Could these technicians find the issue of his engine?