Krauss wasted no time once they broke through the Ring of Thunder. He quickly made his way towards the small hangar bay on the ship. As much as he wanted to see the clear skies beyond those growling clouds of thunder and air currents, he had a baby to check up on. Opening the door hatch, he found some the maintenance crew scattered about, picking up papers and tools that had been flung about during their journey. The Chief of the crew noticed Krauss's entry. 

"Oh, sir! Glad you here. I-"

"Sorry, but please, is she okay?" Krauss said worriedly, cutting off the poor crewman's words. The crew chief huffed then gave a small laugh. 

"Yes yes, she's fine. Got a little bit a dent here or there from our tools being knocked about, but she's most definitely still air worthy." the crew chief said. Krauss visibly relaxed and then began to inspect the aircraft itself. As he ran a hand along the engine pod of the plane, the crew chief continued. "As I was trying to say earlier. I assume you want to get her up in the air as soon as possible, on account that we finally made it through that blasted storm. While she's still got fuel in her from earlier, if your willing to wait, I'll have the boys fill 'er up for ya." 

Krauss finished his quick inspection, then nodded to the crew chief. "That's a fine idea! Go ahead and get her refueled, I'll go clear it with the captain in the meantime." just as he finished the doors to the hangar began to open... 

The sunlight temporarily blinded those inside, but as Krauss's eyes quickly adjusted, his mouth was agape. B

Before him stretched an endless blue sky, a sky that he had only seen in his dreams. A sky that every pilot in Avalia worth half his skill dreamed of seeing. It was the infinite sky, what lay beyond that ancient ring of storms... 

[img]http://i.imgur.com/tftBP70.png[/img]

Krauss quickly made his way onto the landing pad, breathing in the clean, salty air. In the distance, he could still see those angered cloads, but all around him, blue. Blue, blue blue! And the sun! My god the sun! Krauss had never seen such beauty in his life. He knew what he had to do. Krauss quickly made his way through the ship towards the rear where he remembered captain Conway heading. He quickly found the man in the store room, talking to the supply officer. 

"Captain Conway, sir. I'm here to request permission to take our aircraft for a maintenance flight. I want to feel her out after we got tossed and turned around like that. Make sure our precious prototype hadn't taken any damage we can't already see. " He paused, thinking for a moment as an idea wormed its way into his head. "This would be a great time to get that reporter to take a bird's eye shot the ship, you know? Mark the occasion and all now that were finally, truly underway." he finished.