Beneath Infinity

The City

The very air thrummed with violent reverberations as the huge ship split the sky and came to a shaky stop a quarter mile above the two Guardians and their Ghosts. It was red with black shadowing, its four-bladed wings and downthrusters shifting to keep it steady and airbourne. Six base-mounted lights threw a harsh glow over the surrounding area for miles causing the twisted metal of the bridge to glint blood-red.

"Get ready!" Shouted Brazen-61 over the hum of the engines. His tracking and radio kit, radar, and sparrow disappeared in a shocking flash of white before Brazen himself disintegrated with Little Blue in the same manner. Jacob was left on the ground shielding his now-helmeted face with his arm. Silver sheltered behind his elbow.

"I had forgotten how loud these things were!" She sounded slightly unnerved, as if she was struggling not to blow away. She dematerialised. "Still with you Jacob, was just getting tough for me to stay airbourne." Her voice came through Jacob's earpiece. He didn't even bother contemplating where she had stored herself; he had begun to simply accept things he didn't understand. Now it was Brazen's turn to talk unexpectedly in his ear:

"Bringing you in, Jacob. Stay still."

Jacob felt his whole body collapse in on itself; all the air was sucked out of his lungs and he saw spots as he was pulled from physical existence. He reappeared as quickly as he'd vanished on a comfy black flying seat inside Brazen's ship, having survived his first TransMat. After that experience he wasn't too sure he wanted to ever do it again. He took off his helmet again in order to breath fresh air into his vacated chest.

"Sorry, should have told you to hold your breath," said Brazen who was sitting in another seat just in front of Jacob, half turned towards him. Brazen had his hands on two joystick-like control devices and his feet strapped to two curved pedals.

"Welcome aboard the Warpath. Next stop; the last City on Earth."

The dark interior of the ship lit up orange as the instruments buzzed into life. It looked similar to the old ships of the Golden age that Jacob remembered but professional-looking modifications had obviously been made to its flight kit. Jacob knew a fair amount about flying, he had intended to be a pilot before the collapse.

"Accelerating. Belt up, Jacob."

Jacob did as he was told, strapping the thick black harness around his armour. Brazen pushed hard on a sliding lever to his right and the Warpath shot forward like a bullet, gaining speed indefinitely. Pulling on the control column, Brazen directed the nose upward, piercing the stratosphere within seconds. Through the small windows Jacob could make out the curvature of the Earth below him and the bright pricks of the stars above. The g-force was incredible, thought Jacob. He was glad that all ships built during, and presumably after, the Golden age had been fitted with force regulators which kept the external forces acting on the passengers in ships to a minimum or else both Jacob and Brazen would have likely been mashed to small piles of their respective bodily materials by now.

Jacob couldn't help but smile as the Warpath tipped back towards the surface of the blue planet. No vision could be as beautiful as this, he assured himself. The huge pearly marble with its swirling oceans and gyrating clouds rotated silently below them, a facade of peace to its truly violent and convoluted surface. He was sure he would be doing as much interplanetary flying as he could throughout the remainder of his life, whatever it was going to throw at him.

"Aaand down again".

Brazen set the ship up for reentry, calculating the necessary angles instantly with his Exo brain. Engaging retro thrusters, he brought the Warpath back into atmosphere. It lit up the darkened clouds like a great burning phoenix, casting a tail of fire rearward, cracking the sky in two. As Jacob watched the heat dancing at the windows his mind flashed back to the crashing frigate. That reentry had been a lot rougher than this one, he thought to himself. He was sure this one wouldn't end the same way either.