Serial Sunday - The Outsiders: Year Three (pt. I)

It truly was serene, he thought, looking down at the blue marble suspended in a sea of infinite darkness, illuminated only by the star at his back.  The beauty of a planet in tranquility never failed to take his breath away, no matter how many jumps he had under his belt.  In a moment that should bring with it jangled nerves and a belly full of eels, he found himself at peace.  He took a deep breath and deliberately moved his left arm to the temple of his helmet and found the communication switch.

"How're things up there?" came a voice through the static.

"Stunning.  Am I good to go?"

"Tut, tut," replied Sofia; he could hear her smile and picture the way she rolled her eyes.  "You know as well as I that The Author has to have a full report.  Start from the top."

"Yes ma'am," he grinned behind his HUD, clinging to a jump platform on the outside of The Sabre.  Clouds drifted miles below him, obscuring the glittering city-scapes that dotted the continent which held his target.  "Start Recording.  Log: Jump 382.  Sector A0.  Star: Alpha. Planet: Prime.  This is Hara O'Ans, Company man, ID 07.  Vector Suit, flight 349.  Mission purpose: Rendezvous with D.D. and Aela for artifact recovery.  Control, am I good to depart?"

"Yeah, Hara. Oh, hold on," the com cut for a moment.  "Author says to keep all systems on this time or that when you get back up here, he'll have you compile the data for the last three weeks.  Manually.  Go when you're ready.  Be safe," she added as an afterthought, going dark.

Hara took a deep breath. Squinting intently at the illuminated landmass below him, he leaned forward and leapt, as well as he could, into the abyss.  

His suit was well-designed and the first 150 miles of his descent went swimmingly, as he noted in the log.  As he entered the atmosphere, his adrenaline started to pump.  This was the part that Hara always felt nervous about. One suit failure, a momentary lapse in concentration, or some random act of chance and he'd spiral uncontrollably to an unfortunate, untimely demise.  It had nearly happened once before, and he no desire to repeat the experience.  The readings on the HUD were giving him the all okay though, the jet wings on his pack deployed without a hitch, and as he broke the sound barrier, he yelled in exhilaration - something Arturi would surely snidely bring up later.  This was what he was born to do, he thought, as he plummeted downwards.

Before him lay a small continent, relative to what he was used to seeing.  Appropriately humble, he supposed, calmly cataloging his observations to accompany the video recording that Arturi would doubtlessly obsess over.  A partial ring of mountains was the centerpiece of the land mass with another mountain range to the north.  A canyon lay in the far west, with decaying infrastructure, visible from space, spanning its width.  Vast metropolitan areas stretched throughout the continent.  The southeast, he noted in particular, was a steel jungle.  The valley within the circular mountain range was fairly developed as well, along with the regions near the canyon and the far north.  Presently, he found himself hurtling towards the southern coastline, north of a sea dotted with thousands of islands, faster than the speed of sound.

Hara evened out his flight path and felt the propulsion systems ignite.  Following the coordinates on his HUD, he turned northeast.  

If orbital diving was his true love, atmospheric flying was his mistress.  The Vector was by far his favorite suit, capable of exquisite maneuvering, even during the drop.  And in air, it was simply beautiful.  He was executing some of his favorite acrobatics, zooming past a long-dormant volcano, when he noticed he was being hailed by Aela.  "Howdy.  What can I do for you this fine afternoon?"

"Glad you made it in one piece.  You inbound?"

"Right on time-"

"-Late-" she interjercted.

"-About 10 minutes with deceleration," he finished, feeling a familiar, affectionate pleasure for the grouch at the end of the line.  

"Fab," came the reply, as the comlink was cut.

As tall grasses gave way to fine desert sand, Hara slowed, skimming the surface of some dunes that reached skyward to kiss him, convincing lovers beckoning him back to earth.  Spying two figures in the distance, he descended, alighting with an easy grace in front of of the duo.  Wings retracted, Hara cleared his visor, winked at an unamused Aela and turned to D.D., who greeted him with a rare, but warm grin. 

"Welcome to Prime, kid."