Episode Two: The Descent
"The Descent" & "The Descent 2003" by Toby Emerson
"Crikey," yawned Marcus, slouched in the forward pilot seat of Gekkostate's secondary typeR606, "You blokes sure know how to stuff a mate. Need a tonic or somethin'..."
"You're the one who agreed to let Dr. Bear do more tests on you," reminded Holland, who sat behind him and completed the pre-flight checklist.
"Don't remind me," moaned Marcus with a half-hearted chuckle, "Didn't think he meant that early. Mornin' means after sparrow's fart. Nice bloke, though. Sure love his lollies."
"Much to Mischa's chagrin," Holland smirked.
"Which reminds me, still got a couple," remembered Marcus, removing some candy from his pocket, "Better than a Dingo's breakfast."
"Nervous?" asked Holland.
"A little crook," admitted Marcus, "Me heart's in my throat; kinda in an off-zone, to be frank."
"Well, you best change zones when we start," Holland smirked, "But you've flown before, right?"
"I'm an avionics engineer, not a pilot," rebutted Marcus, "While I am wrapped, never taken an aero up so why you think I can is loony toons. Blokes train donkey's years before they fly these beauts, yeah?"
"L.F.O.s haven't been around that long," reminded Holland, "Plus most are designed to be point and click; thought the girls went over that with you."
"Somethin' like that," yawned Marcus, "But a vertical tank ain't no toy and I'm just a swaggie surfie."
"Humanoid Coralians, regardless of how they were created, apparently have a natural ability to pilot L.F.O.s," explained Holland, "Dr. Bear could explain the why better. So you have a leg up on most prospective pilots; and I did give you a decent rundown about ten minutes ago."
"She'll be apples," sighed Marcus, "Keep forgettin' I'm not me old self anymore..."
"Hey, doesn't have to be a bad thing," encouraged Holland, "You got another chance at life. Might not be much but most people would kill for that. So why not go for broke?"
"Fair enough," stretched Marcus, before cracking his gloved knuckles, "Guess I just need to believe. Boss wouldn't put a twit in the pit if he wasn't fit, yeah?"
Holland chuckled, "Exactly."
"Say, does Dr. Mischa and the Doc have history?" asked Marcus, "With how she gets on him, you'd think somethin's up."
"They're divorced," inform Holland, "Dr. Bear would like to see them back together but Mischa says he needs to lose weight first. Believe it or not, he's has trimmed down a bit."
"Oh really?" chuckled Marcus, sitting up, "Right then; so, just like you showed me?"
"Right, just give the signal and the catapult system does the rest," confirmed Holland, "Flight check is complete. All systems are: go. Dominic! You about ready out there?"
"Good question," remarked Dominic over the intercom, "The last time I piloted a L.F.O. was back at the academe; and we never flew a Terminus series. Are you still sure you want me in the 909?"
Flying the Terminus typeR909, Dominic wore pressed tan khaki pants with a tucked-in dark blue short-sleeved polo shirt, and black high-top shoes. He also wore the standard Terminus C.F.S. helmet.
"You haven't crashed yet, right?" Holland pointed out, "Besides, your C.F.S. is better than the one I had so I wouldn't worry. Despite what Matthieu says, the 909 has the best learning curve of the series; plus I can't expect a Second Lieutenant to not have his wings. Besides, if Marcus can do it, then you better!"
"You realize I was the youngest to be promoted to that rank," reminded Dominic as Holland chuckled, "I'm not that experienced. Besides, I am a… I was a field intelligence officer, not a combat pilot."
"You stood up to a egotistical madman, openly rebelled against you fellow comrades, confronted an army of inhuman creatures, and risked your life for a women who cared nothing for you; and you're still apprehensive of taking on someone with absolutely no L.F.O. experience?" smirked Holland, "This is not the Dominic I remember."
"Point made," sighed Dominic, "You ready for this, Marcus?"
"Not really," replied Marcus, "But that never stopped me; just don't baby it to me, mate. Want my defeat to be absolute."
"Think positive," encouraged Talho over the intercom, "You'll do fine. Now show me what you got!"
"You got it, love!" acknowledged Marcus, "Sorry, mate, gotta kick your arse now, savvy?"
"Got my orders, too," Dominic chuckled, "Don't expect me to throw this match."
"If you two are done now," hinted Holland with a sigh.
"Right!" both replied while Marcus sent the signal for launch.
Within seconds, Gekko's catapult system launched them. Matthieu and Stoner rode in their typeR606 and cruised above the Gekko while Dominic, in the typeR909, formed up with Marcus from below. Matthieu followed at a distance, allowing Stoner to have a field day with his camera. Marcus tried to relax and let things come naturally, but his face betrayed his efforts.
"…wow, maybe this is a piece of piss," he remarked with an unsure smirk, "Heh, famous last words…"
"Told ya," smiled Holland, "Once you're ready, we'll start with some basic moves."
When Marcus was ready, Holland began calling a random series of basic flight maneuvers, including turns, barrel-rolls, stalling, altitude adjustment, boost, and recovery among others before progressing to more advanced techniques like trapar anticipation and weapons deployment. Dominic followed suit and mirrored all of the maneuvers after Marcus was finished. This took a couple hours to complete.
"Reckon you were right, Boss," remarked Marcus, "Wasn't slog at all."
"You did well," nodded Holland, "You, too, Dominic. So, ready for part two of your adventure?"
"Square off!" laughed Marcus, "I can take it like a man."
"Ready," Dominic sighed.
"Okay, here's the plan," announced Holland, "Same set up as yesterday, energy weapons only; your target areas will be displayed in your monitors. Marcus has the add-on beam turret from Matthieu's 606 to balance things out. Just don't kill each in the process. Begin hostilities!"
Marcus and Dominic split off from their parallel flight and began ascending arcs. Marcus took the initiative and opened fire. Though caught off guard, Dominic dodged the attack and returned fire. Marcus took several hard hits but managed to evade the rest. He then changed course and headed towards Dominic, weaving wide. Dominic, now above him, stalled out and opened fire as the two raced towards each other. Marcus returned in kind. After passing each other, Dominic had only lost a fifth of his points while Marcus was down a third. Without stopping, Marcus inverted himself and directed the typeR606 down towards Dominic, who had leveled off and was banking right while ascending. Instead of going directly after him, Marcus streaked towards the ground. When Dominic had come about, he could no longer see the typrR606, as it was now under the typeR909. With several well-placed shots, Marcus equalized the damage count. Dominic chased after him and forced him on the defensive.
Unable to shake him, Marcus reversed his refboard stance and opened fire. Dominic dodged and returned fire. Marcus sidestepped the counterattack before forcing his refboard on its end, using it as a break. Dominic followed suit. When they lost most of their momentum, both launched in different directions. Dominic doubled backed and opened fire. Marcus did barrel roles to evade most of the attack but the hits he did take were critical. Reduced to only a third of his points, he raced skyward. Dominic followed and took potshots at him. Marcus dodged the attacks. Then, in a bold move, he performed an inverted cutback drop-turn and fired his boosters, launching himself towards Dominic, who tried his best to avoid the imminent collision. Marcus reached for the edge of Dominic's refboard and sent him tumbling out of control; but Marcus soon found himself in a turbulent spin. Dominic quickly recovered and arced back in a wide circumference.
"Hey, we're not out for blood!" growled Dominic, "What the hell were you thinking?"
Marcus did not respond as he fought to correct his own spiraling descent. Holland was about to take control when Marcus finally leveled off and slowed down.
"I would advice not doing that again," remarked Holland harshly, "Unless you want to die."
"No shit, Boss," Marcus laughed nervously, coming about, "Won't bloody do that again."
"You alright?" asked Dominic, noting Marcus' aggressive stance.
"I think so," Marcus sighed, "Sorry 'bout that, mate; my bad. Now, let's have another burl, shall we?"
Dominic smirked as both opened fired before weaving around the other's attacks. Their points began to drop faster the closer they became, though neither seemed to notice. By the time they collided, both of them had lost all their allotted points; of which, Marcus dropped first. Unaware of this, the two continued to grapple each other for control.
"Give it up!" grinned Dominic, "You're a rookie. No one will think it less of you."
"Buckley's chance, mate," laughed Marcus, "Gotta show Boss-man I'm true-blue."
"Don't embarrass yourself, old man," Dominic chuckled, "You're out of date and outta time!"
"You wanna piece of me, ya piker?" retorted Marcus with zealous.
"With pleasure!" replied Dominic in kind.
Both aimed their beam cannons at the other's cockpit.
"Okay boys, you're both out of points," interjected Holland, "Time to ease up."
"Stay out of this!" they yelled in unison.
Holland did not find this amusing and disabled both of their weapons remotely. Unaware of this, they fired on each other and were surprised when nothing happened. Pushing off the other, they took out their boomerang knives and began exchanging blows, their blades sparking with each pass.
"Alright you two knock it off!" yelled Holland, "Or I'll send you both to the brig."
Neither of them paid attention.
"Matthieu!" yelled Holland, now very upset.
"I'm here, leader," replied Matthieu, coming up behind Dominic and grabbing the typeR909's arms.
Holland then switched the typeR606's controls to his console.
"Holland!" yelled both of them.
"Both of you grow up!" growled Holland.
"Come on, Boss!" pleaded Marcus, "Ain't done with this blighter yet!"
"Seriously, Holland, this rookie needs to be put in his place!" rebuffed Dominic.
"Alright, you idiots wanna take this to the next level?" growled Holland, "Matthieu! Show these greenhorns how real L.F.O. pilots fight!"
"You got it, Leader," acknowledged Matthieu as he released Dominic.
As they were given back control of their L.F.O.s, Matthieu targeted Dominic and Marcus with his arm-mounted chain gun and a large black assault-rifle. Caught off guard and unable to defend themselves, the two quickly scattered. Stoner chuckled as Matthieu opened fire. Both pilots wildly tried to dodge the assaults as they were chased.
"Holland, you said live-fire was restricted!" protested Dominic.
"Deal with it," replied Holland, watching Marcus struggle to adapt.
"Dominic!" called Marcus, "Think we whipped a hornet's nest somethin' proper. Suggestions?"
"…follow my lead!" Dominic responded after thinking for a moment.
With much effort, the two formed up as Matthieu continued to give chase. Dominic sent an encoded message to Marcus while they weaved and dodged the inbound attacks. Marcus chuckled as he suddenly broke away and made a mad dash for the ground. Sensing an easy target, Matthieu dove after him. At the same time, Dominic rose skyward and arced backwards before descending and giving chase. Matthieu recognized this maneuver and turned about to counter as Dominic unsheathed his boomerang blades. While Matthieu sighted his target, Marcus turned about with his boomerang knives at the ready and slowed his descent until Matthieu came within range. With a smirk, Matthieu abruptly pulled back and stalled away from the two, watching as they slammed into each other.
"Nice try but you rookies need to do better than that!" laughed Matthieu as the L.F.O.s tumbled.
"Crikey, that's smarts," moaned Marcus as he untangled his L.F.O. and leveled out.
"Damn!" growled Dominic, doing the same, "Well, it's the best I could come up with."
"Nice work, you two," complimented Holland, "Especially you, Dominic. I think there's still hope for the both of you; but ya gotta lot more to learn. Now, let's see if you can get us back home."
"Gravy, Boss," remarked Marcus, "After this, I need a smoko."
"Marcus, you haven't forgotten, have you?" asked Valkyrie over the intercom.
"No, love," Marcus assured with a sigh, "Once Gekko berths, I'll grab our gear and we'll get started."
"Moondoggie and Gidget have the refboards all ready for you girls," informed Talho.
"Roger," acknowledged Valkyrie cheerfully, "And, thank you."
Dominic and Marcus made ruff but successful landings. Once Matthieu and Stoner were on board, the Gekko touched down. As they taxied, Anemone greeted Dominic with a slap to the face.
"What was that for?" protested Dominic as he sat in the cockpit, his L.F.O. in vehicle mode.
"That's for pulling that little stunt of yours," replied Anemone crossly, "Seriously; you could have killed yourself! Honestly, I can't trust you with anything; but hey, I am proud of your efforts."
She wore a rose red frayed full-length skirt with embroidered flowers and a dark pink holster-top sleeveless blouse with matching ankle-wrapping high-sole high-heels. Her hair was draped around her shoulders and styled with ruby butterfly braids. A light touch of makeup completed the look.
"…and you were right, things are easier when you think outside the box," shrugged Dominic.
"And you wanted to argue with me," smirked Anemone.
She fell back into his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and locked their lips.
"Should I be jealous or just sorry for the bloke?" asked Marcus to Holland as they watched the lovers from atop their typeR606; also in vehicle mode.
"Some days; but he's gotta pretty sweet deal," he replied, "She's just very direct about her emotions."
"Crikey," sighed Marcus, climbing down, "Hey, you two! Show some flamin' decency!"
Anemone giggled and pressed a button that closed the cockpit hatch.
"Don't encourage her," sighed Holland, "I still have to fly that one for now."
"They're still Billy lids," smiled Marcus, "Let 'em have their fun."
"Billy what?" inquired Holland as the Gekko berthed and the rear cargo doors opened.
"…oh, right," stumbled Marcus after a moment, "Billy lids means children; you know, kids."
"They're not that younger than you," reminded Holland, "Plus you're making me feel my age."
"Ain't me, Grumblebum," chuckled Marcus, "Should I fetch the walker or the casket, ya ol' fart?"
"That's it!" Holland smirked as he grabbed Marcus by the neck and proceeded to give him a noogie, "Show you old, ya crazy Aussie..."
"Really, you two," Talho scolded, walking over with Vernon in hand, "I have enough children to look after already; I don't need two more."
"Just givin' Boss a bit of Curry," laughed Marcus, finally able to free himself, "No worries."
"Holland, we have an update on: them," informed Talho in a serious tone.
"Marcus!" waved Moondoggie, with Gidget by his side.
They stood next to seven standard refboards in addition to his. They also wore wireless headsets, which reminded Marcus to put his back on. While Talho and Holland walked off, he ran over and grabbed his refboard and two of the smaller ones. Moondoggie and Gidget carried the rest. The three then headed down the hanger-bay ramp. The Swallowtails, who also wore wireless headsets, met them at the bottom with eager smiles. The group followed Marcus over to the nearby grassy field. As they walked, each Swallowtail was given their own refboard to use for the day. The girls sat down in a crescent around Marcus on the grass with Moondoggie and Gidget on his left and right.
"Now, we'll fancy a once over of the board itself to start," began Marcus, using his refboard as a reference, "Mind you I'm a surfie so if I get off, Doggie 'ere will set me straight. Top of the board is the deck; bet you'll guess why. The front is called the nose; obvious. Surfboards have either rounded noses, like mine, or pointed; standard refboards like yours come to find have blunt ends. The rear is the tail and comes in many styles, unlike most refboards... Anyone guess what me board has?"
The girls looked at each other with no conclusion reached.
"Swallow-tail design," grinned Marcus.
The girls giggled.
"Talk about irony," chuckled Marcus, looking to Moondoggie and Gidget, "Now, the sides are known as rails. You grab 'em for tricks and whatnot. The bottom is called: the bottom! Here on refboard you'll find all what makes 'em float and go… and that's where my knowledge ends, as the rest involves buoyancy, wave types, and Noah's Arks; surf stuff, ya know. Doggie 'ere will fill the blanks on the mechanics behind liftin'. Doggie?"
"What makes a refboard float is the skin that covers its bottom," explained Moondoggie, "Reflection film is created from skyfish skin, which reflects trapar energy; hence the name. It is used by refboards of all models and sizes. Other air-vehicles like Gekko and Super Izumo also utilize it and most that do could not fly without it. The wheel under the nose controls stability and ability to perform tricks by manipulating trapar waves. Generally, larger wheels give more stability at the cost of agility and trick proficiency but this is not always true; placement also determines performance, as will their amount. The trapar intakes under the tail provide propulsion and are controlled by foot placement and taps. Their size and count determine max speed. Trapar induction provides propulsion. Standard refboard length is one-point-four meters, with some reaching two meters. Shape and design vary. Gekkostate prefers the more traditional reboards; then you have this unique two-point-eight meters custom board."
"So how does all that translate to this refboard?" asked Valkyrie, pointing to the large refboard.
"This refboard is special," explained Moondoggie, "Its length and design is virtually unheard of and creates its own dynamics due to its dimensions. While the three large wheels should give unmatched stability, their count and central triangular placement under the nose should give surprising agility. Its three overly large trapar intakes likely give it a top speed only seen on L.F.O. refboards. While it can perform tricks, its primary purpose is apparently for long distance travel; though it should be noted that said trick ability is more a reflection of the rider's skills than anything."
Marcus turned red and meekly grinned.
"What about these refboards?" Columbia asked.
"Each of you has specially tweaked refboards," explained Moondoggie, "That means they are not your standard-issued refboards in terms of specs and are designed for speed, agility, and above all, freestyle tricks. They may not be the best refboards for beginners but it's what we have on hand. With a little caution, however, their enhanced abilities can help you better learn how to lift."
"Now let's talk theory," smiled Marcus.