Hey everyone! Chapter 3! Review please!
Keep in mind, the Australian characters have, well Australian accents.
Nobody has spotted any of the easter eggs/references yet…
Review responses:
Reishin Amara: hehehe it's going to get even crazier
Appbeza: yes, I was planning on doing something along those lines where the action jumps between events on Avalon and events on Earth
New Universe Returns: haha thanks. And alright, I'll leave my pathetic excuse of a first attempt up then
Ridli Scott: yeah, I'm trying to make this story a bit more serious and realistic so I changed her a bit… She still jokes around and is prone to outbursts, as we saw, but they're far and few in between and usually justified
david: nene, no voy a entrar en eso. Ya veras como escribo la influencia de los contratos. Pero por ahora, Saito, de alguna manera u otra se enamoro de Louise, SIN alguna influencia ajena. Ya, se acabo la discusion.
Previously on Convergence:
Everyone was baffled as to what that was and where it was going as the object quickly climbed back into the sky and headed away from the Academy. Saito however knew exactly what it was. However unlikely, he knew. And he paled at the repercussions of what had just happened.
Tiffania's presumed familiar had been on board an airplane.
And she'd summoned the whole damn thing to Halkeginia.
Tristain Academy, Tristain, Halkeginia
Everyone watched as the metal dragon accelerated back into the sky.
Saito was horrified at the implications of what had just happened. Tiffania had summoned not one, but potentially hundreds of people from Earth. Any one of them could be her familiar.
He leapt into action, knowing he had little time before the plane was out of reach.
"What was that?" asked Colbert.
Saito knew he had no time to play 20 questions.
"We need to get to the runway, now! I'll explain on the way" he practically shouted. Glancing at some of the students that had gathered he spoke.
"You two! Take your professor to the hospital wing! Now!"
Seeing them move to take Tiffa to the healers, Saito ran towards the gates, the others quick to follow. Saito could hear Colbert's questions but he knew he didn't have time to explain in detail.
"Long story short, that's an airliner" he began as they ran. Struggling to explain in a way Colbert and the others would understand, he continued. "It's an airborne transport from my world that carries people. We need to catch up to it. And we need to land it here. If we don't, it'll run out of fuel and crash, killing everyone on board."
As they ran around the outside of the walls, Saito formulated a plan. He had to get up there and fast before the plane was out of sight. That was the easy part.
The hard part would be communicating with and explaining the situation to the pilots and convincing them to trust him. Thinking, he suddenly had a brainstorm. If I could get Louise INSIDE the plane, she could show them magic is for real. I could use the Familiar link to show her where to go… But would that even work in this case?
As they rounded the walls, the airstrip came into view. The Ostland, impressive as ever was tucked into its hangar. Next to it, in a smaller hangar was the F-2 fighter jet he'd "borrowed" from the JASDF.
"Ok, I have a plan" he spoke as he climbed into the F-2's cockpit. ""Headmaster, I need you to trust me on this. We need every earth mage you can find to extend the runway out as far as you can. That airliner will need a long flat area to land. If they come in too fast, use your air spells to slow it down".
"Er Saito, I…"
"Headmaster. I promise I'll explain everything later". Turning to Louise, "Louise, I need you to come with me. I'll explain in the air".
"Very well Saito. But we must discuss this later" replied Colbert.
Louise jumped into the cockpit with Saito as he finished spooling up the fighter. The whine of the jet's engines began to increase in volume.
"The radio's in the hangar, Colbert! Use it like I taught you to communicate with me! Remember, don't touch anything but the microphone switch!" he shouted over the engines.
Motioning for everyone to step back, Saito closed the canopy. Once he and Louise were secure, he began taxiing the plane down to the end of the runway. Turning it around, he slammed the throttle full and punched the afterburners.
The jet roared down the dirt runway. It rocketed into the sky and Saito immediately turned it towards the southwest, tracking the plane on radar.
"Headmaster, can you hear me?
"Um, yes I can hear you Saito" came the hesitant reply from the radio.
"Alright… So here's the plan…"
Somewhere over Tristain
Captain Frank Rollins was, to put it in layman's terms, freaking the fuck out.
His First Officer, Seth Lapidus, wasn't doing much better.
They'd gone from a routine trans-Pacific red-eye to being bounced around in free-fall before appearing in a flash of light over a sunlit countryside.
Imagine their shock when, upon looking up at the sky to try getting his bearings, he'd noticed not one, but two moons.
Nothing in his 23 years of flying could have ever prepared him for this.
Alright Frank, calm down he told himself. Take a step back and assess the situation.
We almost fucking crashed. We don't know where we are. We have no navigation instruments. No radio contact.
On the plus side:
We have enough fuel for 10 hours. We're over land, which means there should be somewhere flat we could set down, God forbid.
There's buildings down there, which means people and civilization.
Priorities:
Try to establish radio contact and get a bead on just where "here" is.
Find a spot to land. Unless this is a dream or a REALLY bad acid trip, we're obviously not in Kansas anymore.
That last thought had his eyes wandering outside the windshield to where the two moons hovered mockingly overhead.
In the Business Class Cabin
Victor was getting frustrated by now. And he wasn't the only one. The other passengers were getting restless. The pilots at the front of the 787 hadn't said a peep since they'd somehow gone from the middle of the night to sunny skies and broad daylight.
Staring out the window, they'd passed over a few villages and farmland but no obvious signs of civilization. Just dirt roads and fields.
Leaning back in his seat, he checked his phone on the off chance there was a signal. No service he saw. He thought about hitting the call button and asking the flight attendants but he could see they were just as puzzled themselves.
A murmur began to rise from behind him. Looking back, he saw passengers whispering and murmuring as they looked out the window.
Turning to his own window, he looked around. And then he saw it. A blue fighter jet was coming up behind the airliner.
The fighter slowed as it entered formation alongside the airliner. Victor could see there were two people on board.
"Jesus Christ" came a voice seated next to him.
His Australian seatmate, who for most of the flight had been quiet was now moving to stand up. Victor hadn't paid him too much attention during the flight, but the guy obviously seemed distressed by all this. Not that I can't blame him he thought, standing up to let him pass.
His peripheral vision was drawn suddenly to a light that had suddenly appeared in the aisle.
What in the hell?
The other passengers had noticed too and were becoming increasingly panicked. His neighbor on the other hand seemed focused on the thing.
It looked like an oval of light… The light lasted for a second before it shifted into what looked like a portal.
The passengers' confusion turned to shock and amazement as from out of the portal crawled a well-dressed young woman. Rolling upon exiting the portal, it closed behind her. She took in her surroundings, a look of wonder and amazement in her eyes. She carried with her a stick in one hand and a note in the other.
Victor was at a loss for words. This was beyond human comprehension. The other passengers said nothing and just stared at what happened.
"Lady Valliere. You've no idea how much of a relief it is to see you".
Almost the entire business class cabin's heads snapped to the man who had spoken: Victor's Australian seatmate.
The now identified Lady Valliere had a look of shock and confusion on her face as well.
"You don't know me but I know you and your husband" continued the Australian. "My name is Special Agent James Hansen. I'm with SWORD"
Louise was feeling overwhelmed. Saito's plan had been for her to portal on board the airliner and deliver a message to the "pilots". Her mental link to Saito active, she could see where she was meant to go. It had been tricky casting inside the cramped cockpit of the jet fighter but the plan had worked and she'd crawled through the portal.
However, her initial wonder at seeing the inside of such an incredible machine was dulled into shock by what had just happened.
The man had identified himself as an agent of SWORD. Those are the people Saito talks to on Earth she remembered.
Holy crap! Ask him to help you Louise!
Saito's voice echoed within her mind, snapping her out of her daze.
"You might be able to help me then. I need to give this to the… "pilots?"" she explained, struggling with the foreign word and holding up Saito's note.
"The pilots? They're up front. I can take you there" replied the agent.
"Hey! Buddy! You mind telling us all just what the hell is going on?" someone asked. One of the other passengers was standing up, having been the source of the question.
Shit… There's no time for this…came Saito's voice as he saw everything through the mental link.
"Sir, I know we've been through quite a bit. I'll explain everything in a second but rest assured, this woman is here to help us" replied the agent
"We've been through hell is what we've been through. We deserve some answers!"
A woman in uniform came in from the curtained-off front of the airplane.
"Everyone, I need you all to remain calm and return to your seats… now" she ordered.
"No, you listen here" replied the irate man, now turning on the woman. "We've been through God knows what, and you people haven't said a peep. What the fuck is going on here?"
The agent stepped up to the man, holding some sort of badge.
"Sir, I'm James Hansen, with the Australian Intelligence Service. Please return to your seat or I will have to restrain you" he said seriously.
The irate passenger seemed to debate his options before sitting down gruffly.
"Sir, I need you to sit down as well" continued the woman in uniform. "We're going to be turning, so I need you to return to your seat".
"Young miss, I can assure you, it's in your best interest to hear what I and this young lady", he said gesturing to Louise, "have to say. But we need to include the pilots in this conversation. This involves them as well" he finished, still holding his badge.
The young flight attendant hesitated for a moment, racking her brain trying to figure out where the pink-haired young woman had come from, before nodding.
"Follow me".
Back in the Flight Deck
The two clueless pilots flying the airliner could only stare at the mysterious fighter jet that had pulled up alongside them. They'd been flying in a holding pattern high above the only thing they could recognize: the mysterious castle they'd left behind upon their mysterious appearance.
"That's a Japanese fighter, that is" said Captain Rollins. "F-2 from the looks of it".
Their thoughts were interrupted by the call button sounding, meaning the flight attendants were trying to page them.
Picking up the receiver, Rollins answered.
"Yeah?"
"Captain, the passengers are getting anxious. Also, there's an Australian Intelligence Officer here wanting to speak to you. He says he has information on what's happened"
Rollins digested this information for a moment.
"Alright, let him in".
The door opened to reveal the agent accompanied by a pink-haired young woman.
"Alright, Sophie said you wanted to tell me what exactly's going on?" he asked the agent.
"Well… It's a bit complicated and it'll be hard to believe, which is why I brought my friend Louise here"
Saito was growing increasingly nervous. His plan relied on Louise successfully convincing the pilots of the situation and tuning their radio to his frequency.
The fact that there was a SWORD agent on board was an unexpected but lucky break.
Now all Saito could do was wait as the airliner slowly circled over the Academy.
Of all the things the agent had said, the one Rollins had no trouble believing was that it would be hard to believe.
Magic… Real magic… he thought.
Of course, any doubts had been dispelled when Agent Hansen had pulled out a coin and the now identified Lady Valliere changed it into a miniature statue.
Still… Another world… How the hell are we supposed to get back anyway?
Banishing his thoughts, he turned to the more immediate matter.
Lady Valliere had provided him with a note, containing a radio frequency apparently linked to the fighter jet tailing the airliner. She was now staring in awe at the flight deck, amazed at all the fascinating technology displayed.
Quickly turning the radio frequency, he keyed the mike.
"Saito Hiraga, can you hear me?"
The response was almost immediate.
"Yes! I can hear you! Good job Louise! I knew you could do it!"
Louise merely smiled. "I learned from the best, Saito"
"Alright Hiraga. Your wife's filled me in. So now the question is, where the hell can we land this plane?"
"The Academy you're circling has a dirt runway that's being lengthened for you. Will that work?"
The captain grimaced. Dirt was not ideal to land on for a plane designed to land on clean, asphalt runways. His engines were designed to handle it but he wasn't sure about his tires. Unfortunately for him, however, this was likely the only runway in the world.
"It's not ideal but it'll have to do" he replied. Eyeing the fuel status, he saw they still had about 10 hours of fuel remaining. On the one hand, he'd prefer to dump as much as he could afford to lighten the plane. On the other, based on his conversation with Valliere and Hansen, there a possibility they'd have to get the plane back in the air to return to Earth. If we can return that is…
Fuck it, we can handle it. We need all the fuel we can keep.
Victor was speechless. He wasn't alone. Most of the cabin whispered amongst each other over what they'd just heard. Moments before, the captain and Agent Hansen had finally come over the PA system and informed them of their… situation.
Another world… Well, it's not that hard to believe considering… he thought glancing out at the two moons hovering overhead.
They were circling over their landing spot, a dirt airstrip next to the castle they'd passed before.
And now we're going to land on a dirt runway on a passenger plane half-loaded with jet fuel.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. Ever since his parents' death in a plane crash, he'd been a bit more apprehensive of flying.
The fighter jet that had shadowed them was gone now. He could see it down below making its landing first.
Trying to distract himself he turned to his seatmate, the now identified Agent Hansen.
"So you knew about all this?" he asked him.
Hansen looked at him and ran his hand through his hair.
"Well technically that information's classified but since the cat's out of the bag, yeah we knew about this world. We've taken to calling it Avalon. We've known about it for a while. Can't really discuss anything more specific" replied Hansen. "We'll probably all get debriefed by my people when we make it back to Earth".
Victor's mind churned with that prospect.
"So we'll make it back then?" he asked cautiously.
"I'm betting we will, mate".
Saito landed first, taxing the plane back towards the shed.
Louise was already waiting for him, having portaled back down to the ground. She was sitting down resting after blowing through her magic reserves casting two World Doors in a row
Powering the jet down, Saito hopped off to find Colbert waiting for him next to Louise.
"I've lengthened the runway quite a bit. Will it be enough?" he asked Saito.
"It should. I had plenty of room coming in" replied Saito. "Now, I imagine you want some answers?"
"If you would, please".
"That thing up there is called an airliner. Remember what I told you, about a larger version of this fighter jet that carries hundreds of passengers? They're pretty common in my world. The larger ones like this one can fly halfway around the world in less than a day without stopping. But they need large runways to take off and land".
"Amazing! I'm anxious to see it up close" said Colbert excitedly.
"You'll get your chance, Headmaster" replied Saito. Reaching for the radio, he tuned the plane's frequency.
"Alright Captain. Runway's set. You're cleared to land. Good luck"
Victor stared out of the window. They were descending. Finally he thought. I want off this damn thing.
(chime)
"Ladies and gentlemen. We are beginning our descent. Flight attendants please prepare the cabin for rough landing. Prepare to assume brace positions."
As the flight attendants ordered everyone to stow their tray tables and pull their seats up, passengers braced themselves for the worst. They'd already been through hell and now it seemed they would be tested once more. The flight attendants briefed everyone on the brace positions as the plane descended.
Frank and Seth began settling into their landing procedures as they lined up with the runway. Thanks to the extra fuel load, it would be a fast and hard landing.
"Flaps 1" ordered Frank as he maneuvered the plane into the glideslope.
"Flaps 1" replied Seth. The flaps and slats on the wings began to extend and deploy in order to facilitate maneuvering at lower speeds.
As the plane descended through 3,000 feet, the approach became the only normal part of the flight's past 2 hours as the two pilots settled into a routine they'd done hundreds of times before.
"Gear down" ordered Frank.
"Gear down 3 green" called Seth, noting that all three landing gear bays were deployed.
"Flaps 2" uttered the pilot.
"Flaps 2" came the automatic response and appropriate action from the co-pilot.
The plane slowed as it descended down towards the runway.
"Flaps full"
"Flaps full. Ok"
The flaps on the wing were now fully deployed, which would allow the plane to easily glide onto the airstrip.
"Landing checklist, all green"
Taking a moment to alert the flight attendants, Frank spoke.
"Flight attendants. Prepare brace positions".
Turning his attention back to the approach, he watched as the altimeter slowly clicked downwards. 1,500. Then 1,000
Seth began reading out the altitude to help Frank focus on the runway.
"One-thousand"
Practicing movements he'd done hundreds of times before, Frank kept the plane aligned with the make-shift runway.
Focusing on the task at hand he continued the approach.
"Five-hundred"
"Too low. Terrain" yelled the GPWS.
His heart rate picked up a bit.
"Four-hundred"
"Too low. Terrain"
Adrenaline coursed through his veins.
"Too low. Terrain. Pull up"
"Three-hundred"
His brow was sweaty. The altitude alarm sounded.
"Two-hundred".
"Too low. Terrain"
Quickly grabbing the mike for the cabin he spoke.
"Brace Brace Brace"
In the cabin, the moment those words came over the PA, the heads of all the passengers disappeared into their seats.
Victor sat with his hands on the seat in front of his, head down, but looking outside with his peripherals. They were close now.
In the background, the flight attendants continued shouting for all passengers to brace.
"Get your heads down! Brace, brace brace"
"Too low. Terrain. Pull up."
Frank looked at Seth for a moment, their eyes locked and they both knew. It was now or never.
"One-hundred"
Easing back on the yoke, he pitched the plane up to make it as smooth a landing as possible. The 787 wasn't meant to land on dirt runways but it was too late for that now.
"Too low. Terrain. Pull up"
"Fifty"
"Forty"
"Thirty"
One slight pull backwards on the yoke to ease the plane onto the field.
"Twenty"
"Ten"
You probably hate me for the cliffhanger. You should have seen it coming though.
You might be asking why didn't Louise World Door everyone off the plane before? The answer is she did not have the willpower to keep the portal open for the time needed to evacuate 100+ people off a plane. Saito had her leave because he knows the risks involved in an emergency landing. (It's not the strongest argument and we could all spend hours poking holes in it but I'd rather keep writing and get on with the story)
I CANNOT reiterate how much I enjoy seeing reviews. If this is your first time seeing this story, PLEASE review. You might spot something I missed and all that.