Buried Planet

23 - Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"Landfall"

Thunderclaps amidst all the heavy rain announce to those aboard the strange-looking aircraft stubbornly making its way across the sky, that they have just entered Beriheim. It is the UX-Rg31 prototype; also known by few as the 'Bolt Lander', a most unique aircraft amongst its peers as its main purpose is to travel anywhere undetected.

But not tonight though, for tonight stealth must be sacrificed for haste, and so nothing will be able to hide it and its sounds of fury as it makes its way across the skies. It departed from the Human Capital not even two hours ago, and has been cutting clouds and deafening anyone caught under it since it took to the skies. It is headed towards the top of the Beriheim Mountain and the large flashes of white light now pouring through those thick glassed windows let everyone aboard know that they are getting closer.

An old man is confidently taking the pilot seat, his face is spent and his wrinkly hairy hands shaky, but he is still the best pilot on the continent. His eyes are not what they used to be, but Airman Sheiska has always displayed an uncanny knack for flying as he keeps demonstrating with his almost purely intuitive manoeuvres between one lighting strike and the next. It is imperative that he brings those five men as close to that Mountain as possible. Four figures sitting in the dark, two on each side of that cargo hold and with their silhouettes barely visible, except for now and again when those flashes of light storming the outside manage to break in. And a fifth who refuses his seat preferring instead to stand proud between them; he is holding himself to a metal bar right above his head as the entire aircraft keeps shaking. Every single time a big flash of white dumps its light through those small windows, a thunderous roar and a violent shake immediately follow. It is quickly growing worse as all six aboard can easily tell. These five are its cargo, for the Bolt Lander is transporting, as it usually does, the very best of all the Human forces. The elite team that King Hervies deploys when he needs something taken care of quickly and surely.

They are the "Hervies Hand" for they always operate as a team of five and they are the most trusted and capable of all at the Human king's disposal. They are the best. Five elite soldiers; capable of all sorts of tasks that their king might ask of them, including most of all, combat. Time and again have they survived what no one else would and just as often have they fought and vanquished all sorts of enemies in all sorts of preposterous scenarios.

They go in and they come out successfully, that is what they do, and they have never failed their king, not once.

Everyone knows that the Hand is only called to serve during states of emergency. Their work is few and far between, but it is always impactful, and many times has the outcome of their missions changed the course of Human history. They are preparing themselves to accomplish yet another important mission for their majesty and no amount of rain or thunder is going to shake them. Fast has the Bolt Lander traversed the lands, faster than any other aircraft can, but this is the rarest occurrence for very seldom is she called to serve in the first place and when she is, it is to make use of her more cunning and stealthy capabilities. She can fly in almost complete silence unlike most noisy and smoky propellers plaguing the lands and it is often able to drop the Hand real close to their target without any realisation of those not involved. Covert infiltration it's usually her main focus, for it is an aircraft designed to remain unaware while making sure it never arrives in second place.

Tonight, however, the Bolt Lander's bold nickname is to be tested, as its speed is its best quality.