//------------------------------// // Riders of the Storm:Part 2 // Story: FedEx 715 // by BronyPilot //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Riders of the Storm: Part 2 Wind and rain formed an alliance to bash and crash against the sides of the 777 as it hurdled through the storm. The pilots had to go to manual flight because the autopilot wasn’t holding the plane on its heading of 058. The pilot’s were holding their control columns in place as the winds fought for control of the ailerons. Crashes of thunder were endless. One crash of thunder was followed by another crash in under five seconds. The lightning bolts were not just flashes in the distance now, but actual bolts forming nearby the plane and threatening to cast it out of the sky. The pilots feared for their lives as they continued the battle trying to exit the storm. “Roberts!?” “What?!” “Turn on our landing lights and strobe lights. I want to see where the heavier clouds are. They pose a higher threat and I really would like to avoid them!” A small click sounded as the pilot flipped two switches: one for the left wing lights and one for the right. He left the nose gear light off since the crew didn’t plan on having to lower the landing gear anytime soon; or so they hoped. An emergency landing was something they did not want to attempt, not in this weather. However, they didn’t know how much longer they could keep their plane in the air either. With some of the storm now visible in the light of the powerful lamps of the landing lights, the captain with help from his F/O maneuvered the plane away from the darker clouds. He suspected those clouds had the possibility of striking the plane with lightning. Though the plane was designed for the lightning to flow on the airframe and not do any harm to the plane’s systems, he didn’t want to take any chances. As the plane kept fighting its way through the storm and maneuvering around the clouds, danger appeared in front of them. A large black cloud blocked their path in a way so they would have to go through it. The pilots believed the storm had read their minds and put their worst fear in front of them. “Hang on!” As he said this the captain pulled back on the control column in an attempt to avoid the center of the cloud. The plane began to climb higher, over the blockage. However, it was in vain. The cloud above the one the pilots were avoiding shot out an unnatural bolt of lightning that seemed to have a blue tinge around its edges. Both pilots said their prayers as the bolt hit the plane and blinded them for about 2 seconds before disappearing and leaving the plane to fly on. About 5 seconds later, a similar bolt hit and blinded the pilots again. After this flash, the pilots hit the heaviest turbulence they ever encountered. Both of them knew that they were likely not going to make it to Florida if they persevered and continued to battle the storm’s power. *********************** Twilight frantically scanned for a book on her shelves that would explain the storm and why the pegasi had failed to move it. A quick opening of the door that was slammed shut right after interrupted her search. She turned around to see a soaking wet Rainbow Dash. Curious, Twilight asked Rainbow what happened that would cause her to come back?” “Dash, why aren’t you helping out the other pegasi?” Being defensive, Dash replied, “I was! But then I saw something you might want to know about.” “What did you see then?” “Well, I was flying over to help move people out of the park, when a bolt of lightning nearly hit me. After avoiding it, I saw this big metal bird-like thing not too high above me. It was purple and white and had wings and a tail. The wings weren’t flapping though. It also was glowing on the wing tips, like if it had lights attached or something.” Twilight attempted to match the description to anything she had ever heard of but to no avail. “Was there anything else?” Umm… I don’t think so. Oh! There was also some writing on that thing!” “What kind of writing?” “On its tail, something was written in our language!” “I believe Equestrian is the term Dash.” Not amused by Twilight’s correction, Rainbow continued, “Whatever, it said Fed..ex I think. Does that mean anything?” “Well, it’s not a term I know of, no.” “Then, it’s a name?” “Maybe. Was there anything else written on it?” “Uh, I think the name was written on the side too and something was written under it, but it disappeared before I could make it out. Sorry.” “Rainbow, that's ok. Telling me it’s out there and giving a small description was enough.” “Oh, ok.” “I guess is what I recommend is to ask the other pegasi to keep an eye out for it.” “Ok I’ll do that!” As Rainbow dashed out the door, Twilight yelled after her, “Don’t Exaggerate anything to scary everypony!” However, she knew that just the idea of a foreign object around ponyville would be scary on its own. ************************** “Topeka Center, FedEx 715 requesting vectors to an alternate airport! The winds are too strong to keep steady and we have been struck twice, repeat, twice by lightning!” Mark knew the situation was bad to begin with, and now his fears were confirmed. Things were only getting worse as time passed. “FedEx 715, roger. Descend to 9000 feet and fly straight in for runway 9 at Kansas City International. We are informing them of your emergency now. They will most likely want you to intercept the ILS [Instrument Landing System] glide slope for landing. Know that conditions at the airport are CAT III A because of heavy rain.” “Beginning descent to 9000 feet, altering course for ILS runway 9. Preparing for CAT III A landing. FedEx 715.” /////////////////////////////////// The First Officer looked over to the Captain and quietly asked, “A CAT III landing!? Are we even certified for that!?” The captain calmly responded, “I know this aircraft can do it, and I was certified not too long ago for it. Just do what I say, and everything will be fine.” “Yes sir.” Still on manual, the pilots began the descent to 9000 feet. They monitored their descent in case winds forced the plane to start diving or climbing without the pilots’ input. The First Officer started pulling the engines back towards idle, as the descent and winds increased the aircraft’s speed. This would later complicate things if they needed to quickly climb, but otherwise Roberts and Beckham knew they would risk going into over-speed. As they began to pass through 18000 feet and set the altimeter to the current barometric pressure setting for the area, they were hit by a large updraft knocked the plane into a steep climb, draining the plane of its speed and closing the gap between flying and going into a classic stall very quickly. The pilots reacted quickly by forcing the nose back down and throwing the throttle to max power. Once the nose began to lower, a massive wind hit them from the side nearly banking the plane past its limit. Once again, the pilots compensated and adjusted the plane back to its descent and lowered the throttle. A final updraft ended the battle by knocking the pilots unconscious against their headrests. The updraft this time had only knocked the plane into a very shallow descent as it continued to fly freely through the dark clouds. Not a moment after the wind’s final move, the lightning performed its finally. It unleashed a final blue-edged bolt and hit the aircraft dead-on, causing the aircraft to disappear to an unknown world. //////////////////////////// Mark was focused on his radar as he watched the numbers, under the dot representing FedEx 715, drop to indicate it was descending as instructed. He noticed the numbers suddenly change rapidly as the aircraft was hit by the first updraft. He was relieved slightly to see it start descending again as planned. However, the numbers changed again to indicate it starting to come out of the descent. Another updraft. This time, the aircraft did not return to its descent as it had before. “FedEx 715, what’s your status?” All Mark could hear was some static and silence as he attempted to contact the flight. “FedEx 715, did you hear my last transmission?” Again silence followed. What shocked him this time was what followed the silence. The dot disappeared from his radar. “FedEx 715, are you there?” A deadly silence with some static was all that was left. His fears took over and he yelled to another of the staff, “Call the Emergency crews and the FAA! An aircraft has gone missing over some of the plains just north of here!” As the employee nodded and alerted some other staff to contact other services about the situation, Mark slumped back into his chair. All he felt now was sorrow and the feeling of failure. It was his job to get the two pilots out of the storm and he failed them. All he could think of now is how he could have avoided his failure and that the pilots were okay, no thanks to any mistake he made in his instructions.