| “ | Picket turned to the eager band of rabbits rushing behind him, all fastening buckles and checking their partners' glider packs. | ” |
— Ember's End, pg. 369
|
Emma, Picket, and others using glider packs.
Glider packs are a type of machine created by Heyward as an improvement upon his glider cape. The packs are worn like a backpack or cape, and can be engaged simply by flicking the wrist.
Use[]
As the name suggests, glider packs are used to glide through the air, and when properly controlled can carry a rabbit over considerable distances. They are frequently used to get from one place to another in a short amount of time, and can also be a useful asset in battle, being one of the only ways to engage raptors in combat directly. They do suffer from a number of drawbacks, most notably requiring either a high launching point or an instrument of force, such as a catapult, for their users to become airborne. Damages to the fabric making up the glider wings can also result in the gliders becoming unstable or even crashing.
History[]
Ember's End[]
Jo Shanks and Cole and Heyna Blackstar utilized glider packs to escape the Terralain camp after gathering intelligence and sabotaging various assets. Jo and Cole subsequently joined Picket Longtreader, Lord Captain Helmer, and Princess Emma Joveson in using packs to return to the camp to meet with Kylen. Lallo later arrived at the camp with word of Morbin Blackhawk's forces moving on First Warren, and returned there by glider with Emma. The Fowlers, meanwhile, used their gliders to travel to Harbone Citadel after it was attacked.
Picket utilized his glider pack to return to First Warren ahead of the party from Harbone, and Jo used one in traveling between points in First Warren and later to meet Lady Glen and the Pilgrim's band. Picket and Cole made use of them to join the massing forces of the Cause just before the Siege of First Warren began. Picket used his again to launch an attack against Farlock, and he and Jo later used them to insure the successful deployment of the Blackhawk Option. Jo's pack, though damaged, also enabled him to survive a fall from the wall of First Warren after he successfully killed two of the Six.
Picket, Helmer, and Lallo used their glider packs to fly across the city and aid the Royal Warrenguard reserves under Wilfred Longtreader. Picket and Lallo, along with several other bucks, also used them to escape a flood unleashed on the city by the destruction of the Lake Merle dam. Picket would later lead the Royal Fowlers Auxiliary, all equipped with glider packs, in a desperate aerial charge against the final wave of attacking Preylords. His pack enabled him to confront Morbin Blackhawk himself, though it was badly damaged when Morbin severed Picket's right arm.