http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fR6SK85t.gif [http://i.imgur.com/R6SK85t.gif]
The Red Valley, Sahara.
Thursday, the 3rd of April, 1025
10:15 p.m.
A massive bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, cutting the Saharan skies into two. For a brief moment the entire Red Valley was illuminated. Over the horizon loomed a giant twisting red hurricane.
A large Military aircraft zoomed across the skies as it broke through the sound barrier. The aircraft was shaped like an inverted ‘V’. Its glossy surface was colored black making it nearly invisible in the night sky. On its side was engraved in bold letters ‘Avalon’.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. The Avalon rattled and shook as it approached the hurricane. The winds howled as the aircraft passed through the raging tide of vortices around the giant red hurricane.
To call this hurricane massive would be a gross understatement. It stretched far beyond the horizon without an end in sight. It’s said that to truly grasp the immensity of the red valley one must shed their earthly shackles and soar to the heavens for only the dead can comprehend its true nature.
This was no ordinary hurricane. The Red Valley hosts one of the six anomalies of the world designated with the title UWP (Unknown weather phenomenon).
The hurricane called the ‘Core’ was located at the heart of the Red Valley. The Core was a massive hurricane made of swirling iron dust which colored the hurricane red. The hurricane was so large that it blotted out the sun creating a place almost permanently devoid of the sun. The only source of light was from the countless unnatural lightning which shed light in short bursts.
A flash of lightning lit the sky. The sky visibly shook as the thunder began to rumble. The Avalon’s frames rattled as it rode along a wave of red iron clouds. Its engines groaned in protest. The plane’s hull was pelted with hails of sand, filling the plane with an ominous pitter patter sound.
“Night owl, this is ground control, MRT field changes, descend and maintain 8000."
“Roger that ground control, descend and maintain 8000."
The pilot turned on the hazard sirens.
* De- De- De- De- De!*
Inside the observation deck on the Avalon were filled with military personnel and observation crew. All the occupants collectively looked up to see the red hazard sign flashing
“MRT route change. Please hold on to your collective asses.” The pilot announced with wry humor. The military personnel, scientist and technicians scrambled to secure themselves.
Plane rattled again as its nose dipped in a sharp dive. Turbulence rocked the plane as it passed through the red clouds. Space distortions started forming around the aircraft, as though the world itself wanted to swallow the plane whole. People in the observation deck suffered from a sudden bout of weightlessness as the plane continued with its near vertical dive. Soldiers with practiced ease caught hold of the rails to stabilize themselves.
“God damn! Is this rustbucket gonna make it?!” Major Zan cursed under his breath.
“Don’t know Major. But if it doesn’t Sir, you got to pass on my last words!” A red haired Irishman yelled over the rumbling aircraft. He had piercing green eyes with a constant smile on his face as though he is always enjoying a private joke.
“Alright! What is it Mulligan?!”
“Tell your wife that I always loved her!”
The surrounding soldiers roared with laughter even though they were still clinging on the handrail for dear life.
But then suddenly two enormous aura shot up surrounding the plane. Muffled roars of dragons could be heard in the plane. The gravity mysteriously realigned itself much to the relief of the civilian crew.
Major Zan stood up slowly while saying “That joke would have been funnier if I was actually married.”
Lt Mulligan wiped a sweat from his brow at the sudden display of power
“With all due respect Sir, I sincerely doubt it.”
Despite his domineering attitude Major Zan was well liked by his subordinates. He had an aura of invincibility, like a proud dragon overseeing the world. Under his wing his men had the belief that they could conquer anything. This was the result of absolute strength. Major Zan was a young man in his late twenties. But his age was no cause of doubt for his troops. Major Zan had already proven himself in combat countless times. Through sheer power he destroyed everything in his path; the medals on his chest were proof of that.
Major Zan walked around the observation deck checking if everything was in working order. Wherever he went there was an officer following him like a silent shadow. The officer shadowing Major Zan was a giant bear of a man. His height was around 6, 7’’ and was built like a tank. He towered above everyone as he followed the Major, but never spoke a word. Silent and stoic, only constantly watching everything around him.
The civilian crew got back to their stations. A slew of scientist and technicians were checking various instruments. At the center of the observation deck stood the lead scientist and his assistant. The assistant looked like she was barely out of college. She had bright eyes but they were now scrunched as she looked at the readings on the instruments.
“This doesn’t look right.” She muttered looking at the lead scientist.
The lead scientist was a balding senior who looked to be in his sixties. His beard was trimmed short had streaks of white hair in them. He was wearing a classic white mage robe. All he was missing was a staff. There was a pair of glasses hung around his neck with a string. There were dark circles under his eyes which were laser focused on the instruments. He didn’t even seem to notice the turbulence.
Major Zan and his shadow appeared silently behind the lead scientist.
“So….what do we have here Doctor?"
The old scientist shook his head.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing." he said has he tossed his pencil on to the table. He traced his finger across the time line "2050 hours discovery of anomaly. 2120 begin Mana Surge. 2209 signal lost...
.. and now nothing. Whatever it is, it was emitting enough radiation the fry the Avalon thrice over."
He straightened up and scratched his beard, eyes still focused at the numbers “Lately activity within the core has been increasing. And this one has been the biggest one yet.”
The young assistant next to him perked up "We could do a fly by?"
Major Zan said gruffly “Near zero visibility, Rapid Env changes and not to mention the sand. I would highly advise against sending your crew out there.”
“We could send yours.” The doctor said looking at Zan. Major Zan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Seeing Major remain silent the doctor hurriedly added “Major, You have the best flying unit stationed at this valley. We don’t know what the core is going to throw at us next and this could be our best shot.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The Major spoke in an even tone “We are protective detail, Doctor.”
“Just one man is enough. I’m sure the High Command won’t pressure you for this. They want this data as much as we do. And besides, why would I worry about protection when I have the Hero of Cali with me." The doctor said chuckling.
Zan gave the Doctor hard looked then turned to the grizzled veteran behind him “Captain, what are the procedures for a recon flight?”
The old giant's voice rumbled as he answered “Recon flight … required when entering hostile territory, SFD operations, Or……. In case of midair maintenance check.”
Major Zan adopted a thoughtful look as his foot lightly tapped on the floor of the aircraft. The gravity in the plane shifted slightly making it seem as though the plane was leaning to the left.
“Do you think the current situations qualify?”
“I believe so, Young master.”
Major Zan had a small smile across his face “Our left wing seems a little low. Mouse, suit up.”
Lt Mulligan leapt to his feet grinning "Aye Aye, Major."
Zan turned to the doctor "This will be purely a reconnaissance flight. And if he is carrying sensory equipment, I never heard about it."
Doctor Chakwal chuckled" Thanks kid!"
Zan showed a rare smile "Anytime Doctor."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lt Mulligan had reached the launching deck
"This is Lt Mulligan. Coms check. Preparing for recon dive, stand by." Mulligan dropped his earlier snarky attitude. This is will be one the most difficult dives he had performed. The Core was treacherous, randomly forming space distortions. Once you get pulled in there is no coming back.
Lt Mulligan was already in his Mech-suit. He looked like he was an armored knight. An aura of power radiated around him. The air around him vibrated with energy. Lightning flashed in his eyes as sparks of electricity flew from his skin. Each blue bolt raced across the blue metal exo-skeleton. This was his personal Mech-Suit, the Alaria. Alaria looked like it was built for speed. The suit was small and compact, giving him a full range of motion. It was fast, sleek and most of all deadly.
Lt Mulligan did a few maneuvers in his suit checking his mobility. After that he quickly attached the suit to the launching rail to give him enough thrust for lift off. The launching rail hummed with power as it charged up.
"Launch."
The rail accelerated him to a blinding speed. The mech suit raced across the tarmac on the carrier jet. As he took flight the suit’s wings opened up. Clouds were cut apart as he took to the sky. He left behind a jet trail as he approached the Core. The mech suit was barely visible from the Avalon as the shiny metal man raced away.
Few minutes passed. Lt Mulligan had a body cam, which was constantly streaming images of the core. On the screens of the Avalon images of the hurricane could be seen. The fast spinning red iron clouds around the core would occasional light up in a flash of lightning. The closer the Lt got to the core, more violent the storm became.
*Beep!*
Lt Mulligan was close enough to the Core that the interference field was lifted. The sensors finally started working, sending streams of data back to the Avalon. The doctor and assistant immediately tasked themselves to rummage through the data to trying to make sense of it all. In the background the silent old bear was walking by, his eagle eyes ever watchful.
"Lt Mulligan correct your course to 30 degrees east."
" Acknowledged, captain, 30 degrees east."
Zan’s eyes were glued to the screen. Visibility was poor, these were very bad flying conditions. But he had absolute trust in Mulligan. He was one of the best pilots in the academy.
*Beep!*
"We got a hit!" the trainee yelled
Doctor Chakwal put back his glasses, looking at the streams of data that came pouring in.
"Ergium reading 235kJ. MPM is ……… 3 million psions." he looked at the screen dumbfounded. His face was aghast, he expected the mana radiation to be high but this was preposterous.
Zan’s eyes narrowed.
...... 3 million psions
He rushed to the communicator "Lt Mulligan. What’s your visual? What do you see?"
There was a slight pause as the Lt answered "Nothing yet, Major." the camera angled around as he did a full 360 degree scan. Red clouds came into view. In the distance thunder could be heard almost as though announcing the arrival of something ominous. The sky suddenly rumbled. The plane rattled and shook.
* De- De- De- De- De!*
Sirens started blaring.
"A second mana surge!" doctor hastily put his glasses back on again. The camera feed went static. The people in the observation deck had their eyes glued to the screen only to see black and white dots dance across the screen.
"Mulligan, what is the visual? REPORT!"
Crackling sound came from the communicator. A bead of sweat fell down from the Doctor’s brow. Time seemed to tick by ever so slowly. Every second the screen lay dead more panicked he became.
Just as the crew were about to give up hope the screen can back to life. The Doctor gave out a sigh of relief. However, Major Zan was still tense. His eyes were still concentrated on the screen as if he dared not miss any single detail.
“Lt Mulligan. Report your Status!”
The audio was still having problems. The sounds making through were barely audible.
“I can ….” *bzzt** crackle*
Major Zan was straining his ears to hear the message.
“Lt, repeat your last message.”
The camera panned to look at the sky. The veil of red clouds disappeared to form what look like a window to the sky. A red sun could be seen casting its glow on the clouds turning them red.
The communicator crackled back to life.
*crackle* “I can" *bzzt* ".....see the sun."
The grizzled old bear for the first timed voluntarily broke his silence "That .... is not the sun."
"Is not the sun? ....because..." Mulligan repeated through the coms.
"Because, the sun set two hours ago, Mouse." finished Major Zan grimly.
http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fKfgWTMQ.jpg [http://i.imgur.com/KfgWTMQ.jpg]
Author’s notes
Guys this is my first fiction, So I’m going to need a little help to make the story better.
1. So if you notice any grammar mistakes please let me know.
2. The updates may be slow. Currently it’s tough for me to get time for writing and I don’t want to publish anything substandard.
3. I need help with names. Major Zan and Cali is some random names I came up with. Zan doesn’t exactly sound right to me. So if you guys have any better names please let me know.
a. Zan needs a Japanese name
b. The silent old bear needs a Chinese name.
c. Cali. (Any name that sounds American, European or Indian)