[center][b][color=orange][h3]THE ENGINGEER[/h3][/color] VITAE FUSION and PLASMA MONITORING STATION[/b] [/center] "YES ALL OF THEM!" He was pushing the comms button down so hard he thought for a moment he'd break it. Crew Chief Keith Sullivan called while he ran back and forth from station to display, monitor, to NOAH readout. Sullivan wasn't the Chief Engineer yet, but he might as well be. His boss had his own problems doing some final checks on the Jump Engines, meaning it was up to Sullie to make sure that a thousand different plasma impulse reactor and engines were working. He was doing about two weeks of work in less than four hours and was lighting a fire under everyone's ass to do it. Lift off was pushed forward three months, than 2 weeks, than another 5 days, until finally all hands on deck a mere 22 hours prior. Frigging aliens, couldn't even give them a few more days before they tried to kill them all. "If we turn on the main engines and we got a blowout on any of those little ones, we could have a plasma leak anywhere on the ship, and then we're gonna look real damn stupid when we can't even get off the ground! We're cleared on the ground and cradle, get them primed to test fire!" Sullivan designed and installed some of these systems himself, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. He trusted his team, all these guys and gals were hand picked and they've been working together for a few good years now. Hell he and his family were living on that ship that entire time. But most of the time, it was just scaffolding and some plating. He got to see the skeleton grow organs, flesh, a beating heart. He knew that everything was going to work out. He knew that everyone did their job and everything was brand spanking new. Unfortunately in this case new meant untested. The hum of the spare reactors kicked on, the coils worked to make their plasma. The Hydrogen containers were loaded, hundreds of them, all the size of a bus. His screen lit up with green lights by the second, the console monkies screaming out updates, readings, crews that were finished, engines that were primed. Every single piece of sun smoldering fire was being relayed to a single persons command. For a shining moment, he was more captain that that soldier boy 24 decks above him who was probably coming up with his motivational speech. Sullie waited for that phrase to be called out from his immediate subordinate. 'All impulse engines primed.' "Conduct test fire on my mark!" He did one last pace. They would work, all of them. "3!... 2!....MARK!" There was a thunderous BOOM followed by a groan then a woosh as dozens of injectors clicked on within the range of a second. Every display, every camera of every single work station all jumped to life as the bright flow of plasma kick started the engine. The split second of gas exchange made each engine explode to life, sending out blue flame into the spaces of its docking cradle. Outside it would look like the entire VITAE sneezed blue all over its hull no doubt surprising alot of dock workers who wouldn't know just how loud it would be. And after a flash, they all fell back into dormancy. No malfunctions or leaks detected, the stations all reported green. Sullivan heeved a sigh to the hopeful crew. "Great job! Moving on! The sub-reactors and cooling systems! Statuses report people! Assholes and elbows!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They were about as ready as they were going to be when the boss boss of this whole shabang went over the loud speakers. It was the first time in a day that the Engine level was relatively quiet. Each and every one of them, sweating, tired, covered in grease and burns and god knows what else looked up to the voice. All of them filled with overwhelming pride and heart breaking sorrow of what they were leaving behind. It was this moment where a few finally broke down, cupping their hands over their face to give a soft whimper. It was expected, and there was no shame in it. They would barely get a second tear before the call was made. Duty stations, the crews were exactly where they needed to be. Sullivan gave his Chief the good news, all green, good to go and he knew the old codger would be sending that right up to the Bridge. Some of the techs were getting to their strap-in seats, or latching themselves to security lines and handles. Sullie grabbed one such handheld in preparation. It was going to be a bumpy take off. He had the reactors going for an hour now, and the power flow was steady but it would be those skyscraper sized engines that would be the big test if everything was going to mesh together. The second test. If they kicked it off, theyd be in space. If one thing went wrong, well it'd be a real expensive fireworks show. The order was sent down to start the engines and throw on the dampeners. The Pilot had the key, it was up to them to monitor how it worked. If it didn't, maybe Sullivan could tell everyone they were about to die a second before it happened. The VITAE shuddered, rocking just enough to make everyone nervous and then, it breathed... its the only way to describe it. The VITAE was alive with the roar and grumble of those engines and it was ready to take its first step, and now she just had to shake the sleep from her eyes. The loading cable was off and there was a massive shock as force took hold of the ship, knocking over cups and papers and probably making everyone's heart skip a beat. But it eased, as every ship does, and took to the skies. Sullivan watched the pressure, the flow put, the fuel lines, the power output as they steadily grew... the gauge transitioning from white to green, and hoping to god they dont go to yellow beyond. "C'mon you fat bitch..." he whispered. He knew it would work. It was his design. He trusted his big booty'ed beauty, no matter what names he called her. The ship would jerk again and then gravity would feel off, as the pull of the earth wasnt quite the same as the pull of the gravity generators at the bottom of the ship. They were canting upward, they were flying. And suddenly a whole deck was filled with another sound that rose above the 3 10^27 Terra Joule output Plasma Engines roaring behind the ship. It was the deafening cheers from the men and women of the VITAEs engines. They did their jobs.