Dead Reckoning - A Gregorio del Pilar x Reader story

A/N: The Story behind "Dead Reckoning"

Dead Reckoning is more than a feeling. An explainable feeling of being bothered by someone's death than you would have expected. As per the definition of Chapter XLIII - Dead Reckoning, which is by far, the longest chapter in this story.

Well, especially for me. Dead Reckoning is more than that.

The first time I heard the word "Dead Reckoning" was during College. As an aviation student, we have a subject solely for "Navigation". Me, an aspiring pilot at that time, and had been in love with maps, was immediately interested with it. And as students, I've learned three ways of Navigation: Pilotage (flying with the use of visual landmarks on ground), Radio Navigation (through frequencies such as GPS), and Dead Reckoning.

Dead Reckoning, in navigation, is simply navigating with the use of computing distance, speed, time and gallons of fuel. Later on, I'll find out that it is actually computing distance, speed, time and gallons of fuel in relation to altitude. Anyway, the concept is there. Dead Reckoning is a type of navigation that involves computation.

Fast forward to November 2018 when I started my ground school as a student pilot. Again, Navigation subject. Figures has it that in our book, Dead Reckoning has a whole chapter dedicated for it. But with the simplicity of it as a type of navigation alone, it is roughly 5 pages out of 600+ pages (and that Radio Navigation has its own individual 700+ pages book).

That time, the idea finally hits me. What if I am to correlate "Dead Reckoning" as a book title? And the hype for GOYO: Ang Batang Heneral is such a mainstream? And how I tell myself that if Goyo had been alive in the modern world, he'll be a pilot; and if a soldier, then an air force pilot. After all, this idea sticks with me, especially with his mannerism of looking up at the sky and his nom de guerre of "Aguila".

So, finally, I have a title for a planned fanfiction. A story with a title, but... how will it flow to that? That's when I start searching for the chapter titles. A list of words regarding unexplained feelings. Or strange words to define strange feelings, per se. Surprisingly enough, Dead Reckoning also ends up to be part of the list. And the meaning?

n. to find yourself bothered by someone's death more than you would have expected, as if you assumed they would always be part of the landscape, like a lighthouse you could pass by for years until the night it suddenly goes dark, leaving you with one less landmark to navigate by—still able to find your bearings, but feeling all that much more adrift.

"How fitting," I told myself. That too many were surely bothered by Goyo's sudden death. The end of his life, as a young general full of dreams, comes as a shock.

And so, I finally have a very fitting title. A journey that started from Kakarong and ended in Tirad. A trail of navigation where, for us pilots, consider flying blindly being dependent in computations. For the story, Goyo searching blindly for the real essence of his life.

By the way, try listening to the song Learn to be Lonely by Minnie Driver. My Phantom heart delves with it when I was writing the latest chapters. For Goyo who've been surrounded by too many people at the height of his career, only a few remained with him in the end. And it is painful to think, that in the end, meeting with Death is a lonely road.

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Another thing, my profile background is a view of Dagupan shoreline. It isn't my first time at that time, but it is so fitting to capture it that well and at that time. My last flight of last year, 2019, had been supposed to be of Subic to Vigan to Subic. However, Typhoon Tisoy halted that first long cross-country trip, and we're forced to make a 180 back to Subic upon passing Dagupan. The rest of the ride from Subic to Lingayen at that time is bumpy and cloudy (cloud surfing!), and only got visuals with the ground by the time we're in Dagupan. In short, since I am not an instrument rated pilot (which means I'm not allowed to fly with the use of Radio Navigation), I switch to Dead Reckoning instead for a short while in search of having ground visuals. Weather forecasted a variable and gusting wind of 30 to 40 knots (1 knot is basically 2 kph, so imagine a car speeding down a highway at 60-80 kph with your hand outside the window as if to catch air; and variable means it can come from all directions) by Botolan at about noon, and it endangers our flight back to Subic, if ever. So, we return right away, not even reaching San Fernando, La Union at least. I was so excited to make it to Vigan that day. But to make it only until Dagupan on that day is a given. The date? December 2, 2019.

My last flight before Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown was last March 14, 2020. And, for the first time, such flight was completed. Subic to Vigan to Subic. But, due to hazy condition, the mountains couldn't be very well seen. However, according to my FI, they're very well seen in good weather. Even a glimpse of Tirad's peak can be seen if it hadn't been hazy... :<

And I'll be able to correlate this and more of my experience with flying on my other story FLIGHT PLAN. Every support of yours count for that one, too! ❤️