The forbidden altitudes

The Sky-Runner’s Gambit

Sector 7: The Forbidden Altitudes

Jonny stood on the wing of the Aero-Stryke, the wind tugging at his red hoodie like a restless spirit. Below him, the world was nothing but an endless sea of suffocating white clouds. People said there was nothing left down there, but Jonny’s backpack hummed with a stolen frequency—a signal coming from the "Dead Zone" beneath the mist.

"Ready, girl?" he whispered, patting the fuselage. The plane groaned in response. It was a vector-style relic, a beast of chrome and courage in an age of boring drones.

Suddenly, the peace was shattered. A siren wailed from the floating fortress above. Three Sentinel Interceptors dropped from the sun, their laser-sights painting red dots across Jonny’s chest. They weren't there to arrest him; they were there to delete him.

The Vertical Drop

Jonny didn’t climb into the cockpit—he dived. He slammed the throttle forward before his butt even hit the seat. The engine screamed, coughing out a plume of blue flame that sent the Aero-Stryke into a terrifying nose-dive.

The Sentinels opened fire. Bolts of ionized plasma hissed past his cockpit, melting the clouds into steam. Jonny didn't pull up. He watched the altimeter spin frantically: 10,000 feet... 5,000... 2,000.

"He's going to crash!" the Sentinel pilots radioed, but they didn't know Jonny’s secret. He wasn't crashing; he was weight-shunting. At the last possible second, he pulled a rusted lever. The wings shifted into a vertical "V" shape, catching a thermal updraft so powerful it nearly snapped his neck back.

He performed a Vector-Flip, a maneuver that should have been physically impossible. The Aero-Stryke spun 180 degrees in mid-air, facing his pursuers. Jonny tapped a button on his dash, releasing a cloud of "Chaff-Dust" mixed with magnetic pulse mines.

BOOM.

The lead Sentinel's electronics fried instantly, sending it spiraling into the abyss. The other two veered off, their sensors blinded. Jonny didn't wait to celebrate. He banked hard, disappearing into a massive cloud bank that glowed with an eerie, rhythmic green light.

The Discovery: As the mist cleared, Jonny saw it. Not a wasteland, but a floating city of brass and emerald, hidden in the shadows of the clouds. His backpack stopped humming and began to glow. He had found The Engine of Icarus. The real adventure was only just beginning.

TO BE CONTINUED...