[center][h1]Launch Pad, inside an Arianne 7, Île de la Tempête, Reunion [/h1][/center] [center][h2]Launch[/h2][/center] [center][h2]0830 Hours[/h2][/center] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://pie.yt/?v=https://youtu.be/GuyGoiQkWAo?feature=shared&pieshare=1] Elton John - Rocketman[/url][/b] [hr] Samantha began pushing buttons and flicking switches on the dash. She looked confident as lights began to blink and gauges woke up and started to show movement. Samantha started her preflight check. [color=ec008c]Samantha: “This is Chaos to Vulpine Control. Preflight Check has begun. I am not reading any errors or system malfunctions. Does Raven One have permission for takeoff?”[/color] Keller's voice came through the comms on the rocket was getting prepared, Sam's request getting a response from Mission Control. [color=fff200]Keller: "You are clear, Chaos. Permission is granted, sequence is commenced." [/color] Sam’s focus was on the instrumentation as Mission Control cleared them to take off. She missed Skye’s nod. Samantha was amused by the fact that with advances in computer technology, artificial intelligence, and automation that came with space flight in this age, for safety reasons administration still opted to have a human press old fashioned buttons and switches to start the space craft up. Samantha pressed the sequence of buttons and switches that would start the take off countdown. Samantha spoke into the comms once more. [color=ec008c]“Mission Control Take Off Sequence has been activated. Take off in T-5 minutes.” [/color] [color=fff200]Keller: “Confirmed Chaos takeoff sequence initiated.” [/color] Samantha switched over to Raven comms. [color=ec008c]“Takeoff in 5 minutes.”[/color] As the countdown automation began, the crew would feel the gantry entry platform pulling away from the spacecraft. The spacecraft was held vertical by the heavily armored and shielded launch tower on the opposite side of the craft. The launch tower had three circular support clamps that would pop open as the propulsion rocket engines fired. Samantha maintained vigilant monitoring of the data coming into her station. She made sure that there were no errors that might cause them problems on lift off. As the tension in the spacecraft crept higher about a minute to launch, Samantha heard Eloise singing quietly. She couldn’t help but smile as she joined her. The song was very appropriate to what they were about to do. Samantha was watching the countdown clock on her hud. As it reached the final 10 seconds she counted it down over comms. [color=ec008c]Samantha: “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Launch.” [/color] As Samantha said launch, the engines ignited and it took a moment for the pressure to build beneath the craft. There was an audible clunk as the docking clamps popped open releasing the rocket. The craft shook from the power of the engines as the rocket began to slowly lift away from the ground. Suddenly the first engine booster kicked in and then they were punched upwards. Everyone in the craft was thrown against their restraints. Observers from the ground would see the massive steam and fireball from the fuel ignited and pushed out by the massive engines on the craft. The rocket began to slowly lift off the launch pad. The fuel line dropped away as the ship began to rise. The massive explosive force of the first booster kicking in as the rocket gained free air above the launch pad hurled the rocket up into the air. The rocket began to gain speed faster, and faster, as it left the ground behind and flew up into the sky. The first stage booster fell away just before the ship passed into the thermosphere. The booster would fall back to Earth and land in the ocean. The rocket was no longer visible by the naked eye. They were being tracked by telemetry from Vulpine Space Control. Keller’s voice was calm as it was heard over the roar of the engines and the rattle and shaking of the spacecraft. [color=fff200]"Okay, sequencing. And.....separation."[/color] As the rocket cleared the upper stratosphere, there were a few moments of a surreal feeling as gravity faded and the rocket continued to coast forward. The view from the windows faded from a hazy blue white of atmospheric disturbance to the void black of space punctuated with the distant glow of a sea of stars. The vibrations and shudders faded as the rocket hit outer space. The passengers would float a little held in place by their restraints. Samantha spoke into the comms. [color=ec008c]“Raven One has exited the atmosphere. Booster one separated cleanly and was on target for retrieval according to telemetry and radar. Booster Two ignition and course correction burn in five minutes. Confirm telemetry readings Vulpine Control. Raven One will need to fire booster two for seven minutes while attitude thrusters change trajectory moonward 45 degrees apogee?” [/color] Keller’s voice was calming in the oasis of adrenaline fueled excitement caused by sitting in a rocket. It was the ultimate adrenaline junky adventure. [color=fff200]“Vulpine Control confirms reading Chaos. The adjustments have been uploaded over the secure link.” [/color] [color=ec008c]Samantha: “Chaos confirms adjustments programmed Vulpine Control.” [/color] Samantha switched comms over to the team channel. [color=ec008c]“We have one more burn to go before coasting to our destination.”[/color] Chaos’s voice once more counted them down. [color=ec008c]“Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Ignition.” [/color] Once again the rocket was propelled forward as if hit from behind by the hand of a god. This time thrusters along the nose and side of the spacecraft fired, changing the direction it was headed. The nose was pointed at the space lab station Ark Angel in the distance. The rocket vibrated with the energy released from the secondary booster engine. The firing sequence shut down and now it was a short ballistic trajectory to the space station. [hr] [u][center][h1] Part Eight: The Final Countdown [/h1][/center][/u] [center][h1]Somewhere......in Low Earth Orbit [/h1][/center] [center][h2] 1100 Local Time (Reunion) [/h2][/center] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://pie.yt/?v=https://youtu.be/iYYRH4apXDo?feature=shared&pieshare=1] Space Oddity - David Bowie[/url] [/b] Samantha’s voice came over coms. [color=ec008c]“This is Chaos. We have about 30 minutes of ballistic travel before we come in to dock in a parking orbit near the space station Ark Angel. I suggest we use this time to get used to moving in freefall. There is also an amazing view out the window.” [/color] Samantha set a timer on the hud that would alert her to anything dangerous she needed to react too. It would also give her a five minute warning that she needed to be back on the bridge to fire the parking sequence. She put the view of Earth up on the bridge’s main screen for everyone to see. She unstrapped her harness, releasing herself. She didn’t bother to unstrap her weapons yet. She pushed away from the pilot’s seat with a gentle push aiming for the ceiling and a bar that ran down one side of the craft. Her hand grasped the bar securely. [color=ec008c]Samantha: “The trick is slow steady movements. Every movement has an equal and opposite reaction. Push off gently aimed for another surface to push off of.” [/color] Samantha’s voice was whimsical as she continued to look at the view of the Earth turning slowly below them. [color=ec008c]“One day I would love to come back after everyone is used to zero gravity. Zero gravity tag sounds like fun.” [/color] Samantha noticed Skye moved to one of the smaller side windows on the craft. [color=lightblue]Skye’s voice came over comms: "Valkyrie, Frigga, you two alive?" [/color] Athena’s excited voice blasted through the calm of the passenger cabin. [color=a187be]Athena: "Holy shit! My eyeballs feel like they bounced off the back of my skull on launch, but yeah, sure, good! Woooo!" [/color] Samantha shared the view from outside over the HUD for the two giants in the cargo hold. She took a moment to look at the view of Earth from space as the western coast of the United States passed below them. Down there somewhere were people she cared about. They were why she was up here. She wanted to stop this kind of shit from happening to more innocent people who didn’t deserve the worst that humanity can do to one another. [color=lightblue]Skye responded: "Good to hear."[/color] [color=a187be]Athena: "Well, it's pretty awesome out there! Wow!" [/color] Samantha had moved along the bar attached to the ceiling.She demonstrated how to push off and grab the handholds built into the side of the craft to move. She then showed how to push off using your legs or arms to move. She had checked on everyone before she began making her way back to the pilot console. She was just starting to have fun when she felt movement from thrusters adjusting the ship’s course once more. She sighed and headed back towards the pilot seat’s. She executed a perfect somersault and landed in her seat at the pilot’s console. She noticed that Keller had fired an automatic adjustment to start slowing the spacecraft down. That is what she felt. [color=lightblue]Skye’s voice came over comms once more: "Keller, what's our ETA?"[/color] [color=fff200]Keller: “You are ten minutes, and closing. Chaos, standby, I need a few inputs from you to adjust trajectory and placement. Can you confirm?" [/color] Keller's calm voice asking for her input came over comms. Samantha was reviewing the information that Keller asked for. She was pulling it up on her console and having Bob verify that the readings were correct. [color=fff200]Keller: "Are you familiar with Ark Angel, Miss Ly.....Queen?" [/color] [color=lightblue]Skye: "Enough to know it's about the size of the ISS, there's two ways in, and a ridiculously big set of solar panels anchored to it. There's pods across it for evac, if we can't make it back to the Arianne." [/color] [color=fff200]Keller: "Affirmative, Queen, we're tracking Ark Angel now, feed it sent to you. We have activity, with a docked cargo unit suggesting signs of movement. Standby, we will be in position to open cargo doors." [/color] Samantha was paying attention to the conversation. She knew there was a door to the cargo bay on the backside of the passenger compartment. That is how the crew conducted their experiments and released satellites into space using the craft. It sounded like instead of making a hard dock with Ark Angel they were space walking to gain entry. [color=lightblue]Skye: "Right. Everyone want to take a moment to get used to this? As per what I mentioned. Move slowly at first. Hold onto something. Nice gentle breathing."[/color] [color=lightblue]Skye: "You've got a grapple on your left arm if you need to hook yourself to something, and an MMU pack, that will allow you to move forwards and back, up and down, right and left, with control by your left waist, should be on a tether to your arm. Once we're clambered out, test it and check you're happy with it while hanging onto the rail. We're fighting in many more dimensions now, so don't think about the rules like normal. But that does mean hostiles will come from any direction too." [/color] [color=lightblue]Skye continued after a short pause.: "Rose'll have some mercs with her, likely her inner circle, whatever loyalists she's chosen for this. They'll fight hard as hell and will do anything to stop us. But we'll do better. We've all got samples that will kill Sol Hestia dead if injected into the containment, so that's priority, we cannot let her send any of it down. And if you see Rose, shoot first, ask questions later. The bitch dies, no matter what happens." Skye exhaled, looking on at one last time to the group. "This ends here."[/color] Samantha spoke to Keller now that Skye was done. [color=ec008c]“Chaos confirms data and direction Keller. My calculations say that puts us 50 meters from the unused airlock on the Ark Angel.” [/color] [color=ec008c]Samantha over comms. “Make sure your helmets are on. I have to begin pumping air out of the cabin so we can exit the craft.” [/color] Samantha waited till she got confirmation from everyone before she began pushing the buttons that would pump the air out of the cabin and store it for when they came back. If they came back and used this craft for their exit. There was an audible hiss as the air was moved to large storage tanks. Samantha accepted another set of course corrections from Keller. She watched the feed and navigation as they drew closer to the space station. The craft slowed even more. The micro adjustments done by the attitude thrusters along the nose and sides of the craft. [color=ec008c]Samantha: “Keller, my readings show we are a little shallow. Manually adjusting pitch attitude to adjust. I think your calculations are off. I think the weight is off because not everyone is in their typical armor. We are not as heavy as what you thought we would be.” [/color] [color=fff200]Keller: “Damn your right. Good catch Chaos.” [/color] There was back and forth between Samantha and Keller until the spacecraft stopped moving and assumed a stationary orbit next to the Ark Angel Space Station. [color=fff200]Keller: “Chaos, my instruments show stationary orbit. Confirm?” [/color] Samantha looked over the instruments as she put the craft into automated station keeping mode. [color=ec008c]“Keller, Chaos confirms stationary orbit. Automated station keeping mode has been engaged. I show our position 50 meters from the unoccupied air lock.” [/color] [color=fff200]Kellers: “Vulpine Control confirms stationary orbit next to the Ark Angel station. God Bless Raven One team. Our prayers are with you. Hurry Home.” [/color] [color=ec008c]Samantha: “Thank you Vulpine Control.” [/color] Samantha put the ship’s systems in standby energy saving mode as well. Might as well make sure they had enough juice to return home. It was a strange feeling. It felt like putting god in the driver’s seat to abandon and leave the perfectly good space craft for the space station. She knew there were non-friendlies on that station. That might have had something to do with the feeling. The spacecraft felt safer. She had more control here over what was happening. Skye had made her way to the door between the passenger cabin and the cargo hold. The door swung openly easily now that the pressure was the same as that in the cargo hold. Samantha cleared the pilot’s console after locking under a password just in case any non-friendlies tried to steal their ride. She pulled out her knife bandolier and fastened it over the clumsy space suit. She then strapped her holsters over it. She had adjusted the length of them to fit over the space suit back at Vulpine before they loaded up in the Arianne rocket. She had extra ammo as well but wasn’t really sure about using that kind of weapon on the station. She didn’t want to fight explosive decompression if she put a hole in the hull. She felt much more comfortable with her tool belt. She had her small velcro closed tool pouch on her right side of the belt. She had used the space version of duct tape to secure an extension cord to Bob. The space seal all tape allowed her to thread a variety of connections for Bob through the arm by her right hand. She had used the tape to seal up the hole created by them passing through the seal. She might need to hard dock to a computer and she couldn’t exactly take off her space suit to take care of that. Samantha made her way over to her MMU unit. She carefully pushed back against it until she felt and heard the click as it attached to the back of her space suit. Samantha reached down and pulled the arm with the controllers up along each side of her. Her arms resting lightly along them with her hands on the controls. She carefully pushed off with her legs and floated through the door into the cargo hold. She reached out and grabbed a handle to one side of the door. She looked around to get her bearings and saw that the Cargo Bay Doors had already been opened. Skye was attached by a tether to a rail that rang the length of the Cargo Bay. Everyone was tethered and testing their equipment. Samantha carefully took her tether and fastened to slide along the rail. She then pushed off aiming to join the others. And the spindly space station, with all of its solar arrays, sitting in the distance, now at 2 o'clock, about on horizontal level. It couldn't have been more than half a kilometre, though any semblance of understanding distance went completely to shit with a view like that in the background. Sitting there, sprawled out, over the Horn of Africa. [color=lightblue]"Right."[/color] Skye simply understated in classic British tone, taking the lead, peeling herself up, and casually floating along the rail, making room, feeling the module shift beneath her before coming to a resting stop, although in relative terms, that wasn't exactly noticeable beyond the slight drift that still continued. [color=fff200]Kellers: "Okay, Queen, this is as close as we can safely put you for now. You are cleared to move. Good luck."[/color] Keller's voice actually seemed to creak, even the Dutch controller cracking at that last one. A feeling of hope, even in spite of everything, she'd done all she could to get them there. Now they had to deliver. [color=lightblue]Skye: "Okay, Raven. On me then. Let's go sort this mess out, yeah?"[/color] Skye understated once more, checking her team were following, and knew whatever came next, this was going to end here. [color=ec008c]Samantha: “Roger that Queen. Everyone’s equipment check out okay? Anyone need help into their MMU? How about you Archer? Boraro, Are you doing okay?”[/color] She paused a moment to see if anyone needed help from those with a regular MMU. She then turned to help the two giants. [color=ec008c]“ Frigga and Athena, I threw together a modified MMU pack to go on your armor. Just put it on like a backpack. It looks small for you, but I extended the straps. You weigh less so it should still work to get you to the station.”[/color] Samantha went over to the two giants and helped them with the MMU backpacks she had jury rigged for them at the last minute. The thruster assembly from the MMU was tied into virtual controls in their armor’s HUD systems. [color=ec008c]“It is tied remotely to your HUD. Just click the engage MMU button and then it will follow your eyes to move you in that direction. I went with simple.”[/color] Samantha had been to space before but not in a combat situation. This was going to be a mission for the storybooks for sure. Samantha had done all she could for the team. They were as ready as they could be. [color=ec008c]Samantha: “Chaos is ready for space jump.” [/color]