Fiery wind roared past Valkyr 52’s blast shields as it descended through the atmosphere, a result of the plasma entry shield being superheated as it passed through the atmosphere at many times the speed of sound. As the ship slowed, however, the flames died down, and Lihandii was able to open the blast shields. She and Feri’Andi smiled as they looked upon blue skies and clouds for the first time since leaving Thor.
“I’ve missed this feeling,” Lihandii said in an almost nostalgic manner. “There’s nothing quite like flying a giant rock through the air, is there, Feri?” She gripped the flight controls more tightly as she adjusted the angle of descent, reducing the ship’s speed in the process. As she did so, however, she noticed the navigational screens begin to diverge with multiple paths. “Feri, which of these courses am I supposed to be following here?”
Feri’Andi looked over from her screens, her brow furrowed in sweat from making all the rapid power adjustments to the Timids systems, her hands still maintaining a blur over the controls, unceasing in their attempt to maintain total control over power usage during the ship’s path through the atmosphere. “Follow the one plotted out in green for now. In five millidays, switch to the one plotted out in blue, and another five after that, switch to red for landing. We’re going to map out the hypenet on this planet during the descent, if that’s alright with you.” Her words were strained, and her now fully-lit eyes continued to dart between Lihandii and her screens, the various systems in constant need of adjustment, one of the primary reasons it was typically left to the computer.
“Understood,” Lihandii said, her gaze hardening as she began to plot hype parameters mid-flight. In order to hype to the second course within five millidays, she would have to plot the parameters manually, making calculations more than five times faster than the computer. As she began to undergo the task, her eyes shone even more brightly, the green light beginning to spread even into her hair. Her left hand continued to navigate the ship through the sky as her right blurred to the point of transparency as she entered the necessary parameters for the hype. Unfortunately, the preprogrammed vector hypes were designed for shorter distances than what were necessary for these course changes, so she couldn’t use those like she would if she were just dodging attacks.
As Valkyr 52 screamed through the air at speeds still several times greater than the sound it produced, Lihandii toiled away inside, entering various parameters and moving through the controls as if they were an extension, not only of her own body, but of her very mind. Her fingers became as the air itself as she moved through all the necessary calculations for a custom hype inside the atmosphere of a habitable planet. If it were uninhabited, she wouldn’t have to make so many adjustments for passing through living beings, but as it was, the chance of a hype interfering with the quantum consciousness of another person was too great to just pass through the surface of the planet. The hype she was plotting was actually a composite of multiple hypes performed without exiting hypenet, something that most ships wouldn’t even consider attempting because computers couldn’t handle the vast degrees of parameters involved, with the Timids barely able to handle changing course mid-hype once, let alone six or seven times, which was exactly what Lihandii was currently planning to do.
Feri’Andi smiled, providing the necessary power adjustments as the moment came for the first hype. Only Lihandii, the prodigy pilot who was said to be the most powerful and intelligent Valkyrie who ever lived, could have plotted this hype in any given timespan, let alone only five millidays. Lihandii’s hand moved to the hype activator and quickly glanced over to Feri’Andi, who nodded to indicate the necessary power adjustments had been made. Then, Valkyr 52 imploded, the air around it collapsing in a roaring bang.
A third of the way around the planet, Valkyr 52 exploded into existence once more, pushing the air out of its way as it continued to scream through the sky. Lihandii returned her hand to the control array as she began plotting the next hype. This time, some of the parameters were able to remain the same, though the planet’s rotation, revolution around the sun, movement about the galaxy, and expanse from the rest of the universe had to be taken into account in the altered parameters, as the absolute position of the planet would change considerably in the five millidays before the next hype. However, in only three millidays this time, Lihandii’s fingers ceased their blur, the controls slightly worn by the friction of it all, and her hand red and steaming. The light in her hair ceased as well, her powers calming as she slowed her rapid healing factor that had kept her hand from being torn apart by the rapid movement. Her head gave off steam, as well, her brain well heated from the high density of thought processes it had just undergone.
Lihandii returned her hand to the flight control, now flying with both hands once more, and tried to relax somewhat, her task now all but complete. Feri’Andi continued to work her way through the power adjustments as the moment approached for the second hype. Lihandii quickly moved her hand to the hype activator and looked only for a moment at Feri’Andi, whose nod would have been indiscernible to most. Valkyr 52 imploded away once more, exploding over the planet’s third largest continent.
Feri’Andi’s hands slowed too, now, passing control of power adjustments back to the TMDS computers. The Valkyries smiled at each other with smali-esque grins, sweat pouring down both their faces, which had turned red from all the extra blood flow to their heads. “Well,” Feri’Andi panted, “that was fun, wasn’t it?”
Lihandii chuckled slightly. “Yeah, it
really was. I’m going to pull us down to a subsonic speed now. We’re getting a bit close to the ground.” She pulled the throttle back, checking that the speed was, in fact, reducing to the desired point. “Why didn’t you tell me I was going to have to plot those hypes, Feri?” She gave her copilot an exasperated look, which seemed strange when combined with the utter exhaustion her body did not fail to express, her chest still heaving from the effort. “I could have plotted them out ahead of time, and it would have been much easier.”
“True,” Feri’Andi admitted, a mischievous smirk appearing on her face, “but this was more fun, and we were both able to go all-out. You were amazing, Liha!” Her eyes and smiled widened as she said this. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Valkyrie’s hair light up the way yours did.”
Lihandii grabbed at her hair in response. “Did it?” She sounded a bit self-conscious. Valkyries could all be very touchy about their hair. “I hadn’t even noticed, but it does feel a bit warm.” She passed her fingers through her straight locks a few times before letting go. “In any case, it’s almost time to land. Why here?” She asked as she inspected the area in which she was supposed to be landing.
“This is the best spot,” Feri’Andi said in a matter-of-fact tone. “If we had landed anywhere else, we’d either be too far from a populated area or hypenet signal source, or too close to a military location. This was the planet’s best choice, overall.” She crossed her arms in front of her, clearly proud of herself.
“Well, good, then,” Lihandii said, entering a few commands into the control array and pushing away the flight controls. “You land us. It’s your turn to fly, anyway, and I want to figure out how we can keep ourselves from being noticed once we dust down.” She started to work her way through the various data encryptions in wireless electromagnetic broadcasts in the region, determining their purposes, sources, and varying levels of usefulness.
Feri’Andi groaned as she pulled out her own flight controls, bringing up the navigational displays and grabbing hold of the controls. “Fine,” she said, “but I get the first shower. I’m soaked.”