Ep. 1.5 - The Pacific - Arclight I - Closed
May 3, 2013 22:02:54 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 3, 2013 22:02:54 GMT -5
In darkness, the Nighthawk flew like a black arrow against the night sky.
It was difficult to see - only the absence of stars gave its position away. Now and then a little light flickered from the nozzles of its exhaust, like a red tongue of flame. If you knew what to look for you would spot it. If you knew what to look for.
It flew at sixty thousand feet, where the air was thin and strewn with only a few wispy cirrus clouds. Ice crystals gathered on its canopy and the leading edges of its wings and blew away. Radar was deflected from its angular frame with similar ease. Tens of thousands of feet below air traffic controllers watched their screens and guided airliners from terminal to centre, and never once knew that a hostile had passed through their airspace.
Inside the cockpit of the black invader...
Surprisingly comfortable leg room.
"I apologise for this," said the jet.
Its engines droned in the background, quiet and steady. Its wedge-shaped cockpit was a constellation of red lights, a feature originally designed to maintain the night vision of a human pilot. Three big multi-functional displays dominated the instrument panel, along with engine gauges and gear position lights. Hundreds of circuits and switches studded every available surface, along with the big throttle quadrant. The flight stick stood upright in the middle; it waggled back and forth occasionally as the jet altered its flight course.
They had been flying for well over two hours since leaving the Nemesis. Stars glittered above the canopy. Beneath them the world was a black map of glowing cities and roads. The ocean stretched out ahead of the nose of the Nighthawk, utterly dark.
The jet continued to speak. It had a dull, mechanical voice. Dull and mechanical was often used to describe it during the times it was a robot as well.
"I am sure that your time is valuable," it said. "Nonetheless, I appreciate your help in this. While the others are certainly capable of retrieving the raw materials needed for this project, there are elements of a more sensitive nature that I trust only one such as yourself to procure. The thought of an Eradicon breaking into a guarded scientific research company gives me... what's the description I'm looking for. The creeping horrors. Yes. That's the one. The creeping horrors."
It was difficult to see - only the absence of stars gave its position away. Now and then a little light flickered from the nozzles of its exhaust, like a red tongue of flame. If you knew what to look for you would spot it. If you knew what to look for.
It flew at sixty thousand feet, where the air was thin and strewn with only a few wispy cirrus clouds. Ice crystals gathered on its canopy and the leading edges of its wings and blew away. Radar was deflected from its angular frame with similar ease. Tens of thousands of feet below air traffic controllers watched their screens and guided airliners from terminal to centre, and never once knew that a hostile had passed through their airspace.
Inside the cockpit of the black invader...
Surprisingly comfortable leg room.
"I apologise for this," said the jet.
Its engines droned in the background, quiet and steady. Its wedge-shaped cockpit was a constellation of red lights, a feature originally designed to maintain the night vision of a human pilot. Three big multi-functional displays dominated the instrument panel, along with engine gauges and gear position lights. Hundreds of circuits and switches studded every available surface, along with the big throttle quadrant. The flight stick stood upright in the middle; it waggled back and forth occasionally as the jet altered its flight course.
They had been flying for well over two hours since leaving the Nemesis. Stars glittered above the canopy. Beneath them the world was a black map of glowing cities and roads. The ocean stretched out ahead of the nose of the Nighthawk, utterly dark.
The jet continued to speak. It had a dull, mechanical voice. Dull and mechanical was often used to describe it during the times it was a robot as well.
"I am sure that your time is valuable," it said. "Nonetheless, I appreciate your help in this. While the others are certainly capable of retrieving the raw materials needed for this project, there are elements of a more sensitive nature that I trust only one such as yourself to procure. The thought of an Eradicon breaking into a guarded scientific research company gives me... what's the description I'm looking for. The creeping horrors. Yes. That's the one. The creeping horrors."