The release was instantaneous and they only heard the launch command as a soft whisper after being flung across the sky at high speed. Outskirt buildings of Citi flashed past them in the blink of an eye, their home left behind without a chance for even a final look back. The g-force pushed the three of them down against their seats, Josh struggling to maintain the tail flaps to keep the glider straight. He could hear the two behind seething through their teeth.

Closer and closer they went towards the brown, rusty, smoke-filled Tainted skies. The pod slowed down, and the gravitational force reduced.

From behind, Luce said, “Open the wings!”

He shouted back, “Not yet!”

“What are you waiting for?”

The Guide kept his hands on the joystick without reply. The closer they got to the apoapsis, the further the glider could exponentially fly.

Jacques exclaimed, “If you fly into the Taint cloud, we'll get ripped to shreds!”

He yelled for them to, “Just hang on!”

The cloud layer drew closer, an ocean of metal particles that covered the atmosphere. He watched the altimeter. 2000 pletz. 2100 pletz. The metallic dust outside scratched at the body, flashes of sparks from friction popping violently around them. 2200. 2250. They could practically smell the rust through the ventilation. He reached for the red pull button and yanked. The capsule jerked as electricity ran through the circuit, setting off the controlled explosive to the folded wing tubes.

With a loud crash and a screech from the stretching of the metal frame, the wings unfolded out the sides into position. The glider rotated to the left. He pressed hard on the right pedal and pushed the stick forward. Smoothly, the glider stabilized just below the main Taint clouds. The shell continued to spark against the rust, though less erratically than before.

Heavy breathing from his two charges told him they were still reeling from the launch. Unsurprisingly, Luce was the first to exclaim, “What the Titans? Josh!”

Josh let out a breath of relief, a grin spread as he switched the flight controls to cruise. “Weren't you ready for this to be a one way trip?” he asked as he sat back and stretched. “The higher we reach, the further we can glide.”

Luce angrily replied, “At what cost? Almost dying? Just to save a few plutz of walking?”

Josh went sombre, his tone lowered, and he leaned into his chair as a sudden wave of fatigue hit him. “Have you ever stepped onto The Walking Path? Seen the Titan War? I'd rather risk getting shredded by the Taint than spend an extra minute down there.”

Jacques mediated, “Come on, Luce, let's just drop it. He's the Guide. We should trust he knows what to do.” Their eyes met in the reflection of the glass aeronium and he nodded a thanks. She smiled back.

He said to them, “Feel free to stretch your legs. Not much room, but you could crawl here and there and lie on the floor.” The pod was just shy of their standing height, but the cushioned flooring made for a makeshift bed.

Even though Luce huffed in offence, he could hear her unbuckling her belt. He half turned back and watched as she laid down across the length of the glider, crumpling her red scarf under her head and turned away to sleep. Jacques freed herself as well, but instead of lying down, she angled herself against the back wall and leaned to look out the glass. As if the rush of the take-off had not happened, the cabin fell into a dead silence, with only the rustling of the wind outside to take an edge off the ringing of quiet.

He began to wonder if he had crossed a line. It would not do him good to alienate his charges before they've even landed. Over his shoulders, Luce started to snore lightly.

Just as he was wondering what he should say to clear the mood, Jacques exclaimed, “Oh...!” He turned over. “A Titan battle.”

He nearly jumped to his feet, but was restrained by the seatbelt. Calming down, he asked, “What Titans?” Josh returned his attention forward.

“It's hard to see...” Jacques got to her feet to get a better look. “The mech has two shoulder launchers, so I'm guessing gamma series. Oh! She just pulled out a fold cannon, so Gam-E.”

“Good,” Josh breathed a sigh of relief. “No long range capability.” He wondered if he should have asked for an aeronium floor to be installed for ground visual.

Even though mechs were Dogon's Titans, they were in restricted airspace, and he doubt they would hesitate to shoot down any aircrafts, even friendly gliders.

He asked of Seracue's Titan. “What about the golem?”

She paused, and he could hear her face plop against the glass. “Twice the height of the Gam-E. Give or take a little. Not sure what type though. I'm not that familiar with golem tiers.”

“I thought you said you were Titan Hunters?”

For the first time, she sounded annoyed. “Luce just finished her training and I've only been on the field once. We're not exactly veterans here.”

“So you're deserters then?” Her ensuing silence confirmed his theory, not that he cared. Pushing his attention back to more pressing matters, he asked, “Describe it to me. The golem.”

“Why?”

“Need to determine if it could shoot us down.”

“Right... so, twice the height,” he could hear her shifting again. “Spiked shoulders.”

“How many spikes?”

“Two,” she replied. He could feel the glider tilt slightly to the left as she got to her full weight up. With his hands back on the joystick, she continued, “Forearm's rectangular, about the size of a bus. Small waist, large base, heavy torso, looks like cryo-sigils on its feet.”

He breathed out again. “Tier two cryo-golem. It's a scout. No long range either.”

“So we're safe?”

“For now.” He wasn't actually all that confident. Out on The Walking Path, Titan battles broke out half a dozen times a day with variations. Even with their glider's small size, they were still a sore thumb in the comparatively chaotic skies. “But I'll take a detour to East Ampyre, just to be safe. We'll have to circle around a little, but it's better than being caught by a vanguard.”

There was no reply from his passenger, but somehow, he sensed she was fine with his decision. He listened as she settled back into her seat and the trip was quiet again. As the glider slowly descended, the sparks outside gradually decreased. The rumbling smoothed and Luce's snoring went into a gentle breathing as the glider stabilized.

An hour passed, and he heard Jacques gentle snore joined the younger girl's. He yawned, stretched, and wished he had the privilege of sleeping. But he was on the job. Even if he wasn't being paid, he was still working. They circled the long face of the Reveries Mountain, having lost too much altitude to go over. By the last hour, they had successfully peeked out from the eastern path, the lights from the town of East Ampyre flickering in the faint distance. Plains of greens plastered haphazardly across the land.

From behind, he heard Jacques revered, “Grass. And so much of them.”

He replied, “We're further north now. It's still hot, but not like the heat in Citidale. There are periods of lukewarm, and about an hour of nightfall a day. So plants can naturally grow here.” He could hear her let out a breath of wonder. He instructed, “You should wake your girlfriend. We're about to land soon.”

As she scrambled to Luce's side, she asked, “How did you know we were dating?”

“Just a guess. You two are close and I'm just not getting the 'buddy' vibe.” He recalled all their little arguments and jabs. “More like a married couple.”

“Ugh...” Luce began to stir. “You're so nosy.”

He grinned. The girl did not hold back nor minced word. He liked that in people. “Buckle up ladies. I'm going to release the parachute once we hit a hundred plitz. The glider's going to jerk real bad when that happens.”

In the reflection, he watched as the two got back to their seats and did as they were told, belts buckling with clicks as they secured themselves.

The horizon slowly rose above the glass window, and soon, he could see the ground before him. They were still a ways from the grassy plains, and it seems they would still land near the foot of Reveries. The landscape was barren and jagged, with rock formations protruding randomly. Sharp, towering spikes pierced out of the ground. Still, he managed to find a clear runway to perform the landing.

“Here we go!” he announced. Switching the controls back to manual, he steadied the machine. He reached out to the blue pull button on the console just as the altimeter read 100 plitz. He pulled for the chute.

Nothing happened.

He tried again and still, silence followed.

Quickly, he racked his brain and came to the conclusion, “Julian...”

Luce asked, “What's happening?”

Anger seethed as he spoke through his teeth. “That bastard! He must have not added the chutes! Son of a bitch! He geared us for two hundred cliqs!” They were going too fast. Without chutes, they would not just crash; The glider would disintegrate on impact.

Luce exclaimed, “What do we do?”

“Exactly as I tell you!” He barked back. “Jacques! Tear out the flooring. There should be a panel beneath it. Open it!”

He watched from the reflection as she did as she was told. The cushion was ripped out and as stated, there was a panel. She kicked at the plate and it broke off, hurdling to the ground below. Wind howled into the cabin. 50 plitz left.

She screamed over the gale, “What now?”

“Get back to your seat, buckle in, and ready your spear-cannon and station-rifle! Impact rounds!” Barely over the rushing wind, he heard them unzip their weapon bags and load in the ammunitions. 20 plitz. “On my command, I'm going to turn off the charge to the aeronium. Jacques, shoot to the sky at a thirty degree angle. Immediately after, Luce, shoot to the ground through the panel.”

Luce asked, “What's that supposed to do?”

“Three!” He started the count.

Luce cursed, “Shit!”

“Two!” The altimeter closed in to zero. “One!” He flipped the charge switch on the joystick.

The aeronium lost its electrical source and turned back into gas. The material expanded around them, the speed of the glider splitting the gaseous metal apart. Jacques fired her high explosive impact round. The glider hard-braked for a split second, slowing down in the air. They tilted upwards, the Tainted sky stretched out before them, smoky black cloud in the distant horizon.

Josh pulled the red pull button again, and the wings detached from the body, practically ripping away. Luce fired to the ground. Another high impact round. The glider slowed further, turned forward and over its head till the earth was their sky.

Reactivating the electrical charge, the aeronium solidified around them. But due to the distance between the particles, the consistency would be reduced, giving them the integrity of cardboard. The ground neared. They crashed. He blacked out.