F is for Feedback

So…this is how I die?

Nick Loop'n Lopez had done hundreds, if not thousands of these low-level loops. He was famous for them. They were his signature move and he knew just how good they looked on screen…but that was dwarfed by the sheer and utter joy he felt as his skids turned to scrape the sky. Now that joy was gone, replaced by a feeling that Nick couldn't really identify.

So…this is how I die!

The loops had started nearly as soon as he was fledged. While those around him had constantly chastised him for taking stupid chances. He had laughed in their faces. They had said that flying on the edge like this would be the death of him…and he had told them that it would be worth it.

Nick did his best to live life on the edge, to make the most of every moment, and that philosophy had given him so much. It had given him a job…a career that he loved…which of course had given him Blade who he loved even more. He had lived a life of his own choosing, but there was so much to do…so much more that he wanted to accomplish…but it looked as though his hourglass of life had just run out.

So…this is how I die.

In the movies, this would be the moment where Nick's life would flash before his eyes. But this wasn't the movies, and he wasn't the type of helicopter to dwell on the past. Instead, he focused on the moment. He let time slow down ever so slightly as he felt the feedback from his straining engine vibrate through every fiber of his being.

Part of him was still praying for a miracle, still fighting with every ounce of his strength to survive…but part acknowledged the fact that everyone's luck runs out eventually. He spared a momentary thought for Blade…knowing full well that his partner was probably watching this unfold. Nick wished he had time to tell him goodbye…to tell him that he was sorry…but the ground was coming up too fast…gravity reaching out to snatch him from the sky and there was nothing his screaming engines could do save him. Nick locked eyes on the piece of boring black tarmac that was about to take his life.

So…this is how I…

Blade hadn't been directly looking at Nick the moment that things went wrong. He had instead been pouring over his script, preparing for his next scene. But something had caught his attention, a flicker of movement that was all wrong had forced him to look up just in time to see Nick just moments before he plunged into the ground.

The flames that had blossomed at the crash site had contained a horror that Blade had not witnessed before and would never witness again. Every fiber of Blade's being had wanted to rush to Nick at that moment…to save and protect him…but he had been pushed back for all the incredibly practical reasons.

Only after the embers had been drowned and the police had cordoned off the crash site, did one of the first responders come and check up on Blade. Maru came and patted the helicopter's side with tines streaked with ash and grime. Part of the set mechanic's paint was blistered by the heat of Nick's funeral pyre, but the little vehicle was clearly too exhausted and hollow-eyed to acknowledge his own pain at the moment. So, Maru turned the last of his reserves to try to comfort the vehicle left behind.

"I am so sorry, Blade." Maru's face was a frozen mask of grief. "I am so sorry…but at least we can find some comfort in the fact it looks like he died instantly on impact."

Term – Feedback – Feedback is the vibration that you feel in the steering apparatus when an engine is pushed to or beyond its limits. It is most likely to occur when there is damage to the engine, but it can occur during rough operational conditions or if the engine/other vehicle systems are redlined.