The Lonely Earth - Earth ISOT into Magitek fantasy

Chapter 2: Shock

Former Pacific Ocean: February 2, 2019

"Honolulu, this is Hotel-Alfa-Lima 834, reporting complete loss of GPS tracking, over," Jenna Weaver urgently radioed in, her voice tinged with concern. The reply from the control tower came after an agonizing delay. "We read you, Hawaiian Airlines 834. Be advised, no contact has been made with Sydney since the Event; stand by for vectors back."

Jenna's flight had taken off just before the sky started to shatter, and since then, she had been managing communications with the control towers, trying to make sense of the situation. With uncertainty about the fate of the world, no clear orders had been given for flights to return home. But as it turned out, the world was still there, and there were still passengers to transport, limited only by the remaining fuel.

Yet, the GPS satellites had gone dark, leaving Jenna navigating by INS systems. As she peered out of her cockpit, she was greeted by a surreal and bewildering scene. The time of day was different, with more than one sun in the sky. The horizon stretched indefinitely, lacking the familiar curvature, and the air felt unusually thick. Everything was inexplicably bizarre.

However, Jenna's unease intensified when a pair of delta-winged aircraft swiftly zoomed past her plane, their dark-colored exteriors adorned with an unfamiliar insignia of a winged creature. These enigmatic jets emitted blue flames from their exhausts and executed sharp turns around the airliner. Fear gripped Jenna; facing mysterious military aircraft was a nightmare for any airline pilot.

Desperate to establish communication, Jenna tried various radio frequencies, but all her attempts went unanswered. In her efforts, she heard an unfamiliar voice speaking in an unknown language. She knew they couldn't comprehend her urgent message, but she made an attempt nonetheless, informing them of civilians onboard her aircraft.

"Hello, this is Hotel-Alfa-Lima 834. We have civilians on board, repeat, civilians on board! Please identify!" Jenna hoped her plea would reach them somehow. Her airliner bore no resemblance to a military aircraft, with no visible weaponry and limited maneuverability compared to high-performance fighter jets or bombers. Yet, the mysterious jets refused to break away, maintaining their position with eerie persistence, adding to Jenna's unease.

She heard them speak again, and her desperation grew as the mysterious aircraft refused to leave her alone. Her passengers were rightfully terrified, surrounded by unfamiliar military planes. The threat of the shattering was abstract, but the fear of being shot down by fighter jets was all too real and immediate. Jenna knew they were defenseless, and the thought of their painful demise added to her own anxiety.

"Please identify!" she repeated, her uniform damp with sweat from the nerve-wracking situation. She wiped her brow, trying to keep her vision clear as other aircraft appeared in the distance. Her heart raced as she spotted larger planes below, seemingly searching for something in the waters and buzzing around a massive object pushing through the clouds. Was it some incomprehensibly tall structure they were building?

As the mysterious aircraft drew closer, she made one last plea for identification. To her surprise and relief, their words gradually became more comprehensible until she heard perfect English. It felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest.

"This territory is the airspace of the United Councils of Atericil; identify your origins and turn back or be detained."

"What is Atericil?" she whispered to her co-pilot, who could only shake his head, equally perplexed.

"This is Hotel-Alfa-Lima 834 from Honolulu, United States of America. We are a civilian craft, repeat we are a civilian craft."

"No such country exists, and you have no clearance to pass through this airspace. Turn back or be detained," the authoritative female voice replied. The clouds began to part, revealing the shape of a colossal aircraft moving through them.