Two tin cans, both racing at the altitude of 1200 miles, seven times faster than a sniper round, with the bigger one performing an irregular rotation. Atlantis's breathed shakily, she looked at Bravewing, unsure of what to do. Bravewing did a quick calculation on his notepad as he came up with the conclusion, "Okay... we have to find a parallel angle with our docking module facing LC-4's, which requires a large amount of RCS. Since we used half of our fuel on rendezvous, that left us with a maximum of four strikes. Scarab, try to calculate the orbital pattern of LC-4 and give out the coordinates, and Atlantis... "
He then looked at Atlantis, and seeing her reaction, he made the decision, "I'll take over if you struggle."
Atlantis nodded, the only help she could offer now is to not be the obstacle.
Bravewing saw that fear and anxiety from her expression, he knew what would possibly happen to her if this emotion continued further on, a panic attack. He gently patted the hippogriff on her shoulders, "Relax, lettuce," he had that confident smile, although deep inside not as confident as he is, "You're flying with a stallion who had over 65 hundred flight hours, flew in Kirinam War, and the best engineer we got here. Unless I do something idiotic enough... WE, are ALL going to make it..."
The two feathers on top of Atlantis's head, which were down before, slowly raised back up, although her expression stayed the same, Bravewing saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Seeing that, Bravewing returned to his concentration. After about 3 minutes, or Bravewing thought, Scarab came up, "Commander, the docking module is located at the bottom of the service module, from the direction and the rate of rotation, seems like LC-4 was most likely to be hit by a satellite module or some sort... As for the docking module, according to our current orbit and speed around the station, we'd run into an interception line approximately every 5 minutes; and the next interception line is approaching in 70 seconds."
"Much appreciated Scarab." Bravewing said as he slightly adjusted the direction of the craft, a single light bump against the structure of the spacecraft could lead more waste of RCS fuel to readjust, and they have limited attempts. Atlantis on the other hoof, was looking at the front camera view, seeing the docking module now turning towards them at the speed which she'd not DARE to maneuver around.
Scarab's voice rang, "Interception in five, four..."
Bravewing's hoof is hovering above the accelerate button, he could feel sweat start to form on his forehead.
"Three, two, ONE."
On the mark of 'one', Bravewing pushed the button, and the entire crew felt a quick and swift push from the craft, the docking module came speeding up towards the camera view... However, the commander quickly came to realize that their incoming angle was off by .7 degrees...
"SHIT! PULLING OFF!" Bravewing could feel his heart exploding in his chest as he immediately boosted the RCS backward, barely avoiding the docking module which went swinging inches away from their spacecraft; goddess of luck is on their side... For now.
"Darn, that's strike one." Scarab sighed, "two more and we're out. Literally."
"Not helping Scarab." Bravewing wiped the sweat off his forehead with a tile. Attempting to return to their interception orbit took another 3 minutes, Scarab was busy diving his head into the storm of formulas while Atlantis was on the lookout.
"My bad, there was a minor error on my calculated perpendicular line and the angle of interception." Scarab scrubbed his nuzzle, "won't happen again Commander."
"Make that accountable Scarab." Bravewing said as he went ready to dock.
"Interception available in 40 seconds."
Atlantis shook her head, trying to stay calm, however, her overspeed heart beat is slowly overtaking her, Bravewing glared into the camera view, awaiting Scarab to set him off.
"Interception in five, four, three, two, ONE."
Another firm push on the acceleration as the 'Serpent' went down once again, "Sweet Celestia please..." Bravewing muttered.
This time, the docking module went straight into the space station. A low yet clear metal clash was heard as the entire spacecraft was shaken by the sudden impact, Bravewing's face went pale for a second, but was relieved when he heard the breach lock sound.
Looking aside at him, Scarab looked as if he was going to throw up, Atlantis looked as if she's having a panic attack. Bravewing decided it's his time to lighten up the air, "Cheer mates! We just accomplished the first ever manned dock with a non-cooperative object!"
"Damn sure they're gonna throw us a party back home." Scarab let out a small laugh, "Well now I know what story to tell my sister."
"Anyway... the next part would be... simple... I hope," Bravewing said as he put on the spacesuit, "Atlantis, come with me into that tin-can, wear your suit, celestia know whether or not the debris punched a hole through that thing. Scarab, stay back here and be ready for any emergency evacuation."
Atlantis reacted fast, due to the two emergency experiences she just went through, she's getting adapted to her job pretty well. After making sure their helmets are clipped tight, the two astronauts went by the hatch.
"Ready?" Bravewing asked.
"Anytime." Atlantis nodded.
As soon as the hatch lock was off, Bravewing felt a sudden pull from the opening, as if getting sucked away by a giant vacuum cleaner. The hatch bursted open, at that instant all the air in the docking module was taken away violently, and was exposed to the deadly vacuum of space.
"Holy celestia, Atlantis you alright?!" Bravewing asked as he grabbed onto a bar next to him, he looked at Atlantis who were drifting around, luckily to be tightened by her safety tethers.
"OH SHIT!!! WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?!" Atlantis exclaimed, her breaths were heavy and rapid.
"Atlantis! Calm down! You're fine!!!" Bravewing said as he checked the damaged LC-4 modules, "Damn it, feels like a big hole to me. Let's hope the navigation module is not offline..."
He then turned on the flash light, after a quick survey around the station, the Pegasus found himself in a critical situation. He looked over to Atlantis, who has gotten hold of herself, and drifted towards him, "Atlantis, the seal to the navigation module is locked dead, the electronic system are completely destroyed, if we were to restart the deorbiting procedure, we gotta get through that thing..." Bravewing said as he looked at Atlantis, awaiting an answer.
"Yea- yeah, if I remember training correctly..." Atlantis gulped, searching through the storm in her mind, "The seal between the navigation module and the service module is always on manual mode, it'd automatically lock dead if the modules were depressurized, and this procedure is controlled by a solar powered cell outside the station...."
"Good idea, my oxygen level is at 91 percent, enough to stay out here for an hour or so, you?" Bravewing asked.
"Uh, mine's at 82 percent." Atlantis said, nervously.
"Okay, probably due to your irregular breathing pattern, try relaxing your breath." Bravewing then maneuvered outside the damaged station, "take the right side, there's more hoof-hold spots, grab these, and advance slowly."
"Copy that..." Atlantis replied as she detached her safety tethers and then reconnected them onto a metal bar closer to the navigation module.
Time passed insanely slow, Bravewing could hear Atlantis's breathing become heavier, "Atlantis, report your O2 level."
"69 percent." Came Atlantis's panting voice.
"By the way lettuce... about our conversation before..." Bravewing decided to step in and lose the tension on Atlantis a bit, "You got any plans after getting back home?"
There was a moment of silence, then Atlantis spoke up, her voice a bit sad, "No sir, I... I'm not sure whether I can get back to regular bases down there..."
"Hmm, so you like it up here?" Bravewing chuckled, "No wonder they put you with me." He then sighed, looking towards the beautiful glimpse of Equis above, the sunlight bouncing through the atmosphere, reflecting the pale blue color, soft and comfortable...
"Aw darn it, you're making me depressed now," Bravewing laughed lightly, pity in his tone, "they ain't putting me back up again, they said I'm too old for that... Buck that shit, I ain't too old for anything..."
Then it was another long period of silence, Bravewing didn't start another conversation, knowing it'd be the best for Atlantis to stay quiet and save some breaths.
Bravewing stopped in front of an antenna, he looked at the damaged navigation module, a big frown appearing on his face, "It's worse than I thought..."
Atlantis came up behind him, upon seeing the mass scene of destruction, she looked helplessly at Bravewing. The main antennas were completely torn off by the debris, the 2 out of five of the battery cells were dead, and the worst of all; the solar powered cell in which is the control of the seal breach is covered up by a can shaped debris, it might've been stuck there when the debris was knocked apart.
"Not good, the high temperature of the sun must have glued that debris together with the station... luckily, we're not too late..." Bravewing looked at Atlantis, "Atlantis, you have that hammer with you the entire time correct?" Atlantis checked her kit of tools which she'd brought alongside in case of an emergency breach, "I got it."
"Okay, now we're gonna hammer that debris off!" Bravewing said, causing the hippogriff to look at him strangely, "Yeah I know that look, but what else can we do? Let's get to work."
Bravewing grabbed the hammer, locked his back hooves onto a metal bar, tightened it with his safety tethers, then raised the hammer over his head. With a heavy blow, the first strike landed, from Atlantis's point of view, Bravewing simply knocked the debris 'lightly', soundless space made it even more frustrating. Bravewing quickly landed the second strike, the third, fourth, fifth!
Five minutes later, Bravewing stopped, frowning at the debris which... did not move an inch at all after five whole minutes of constant knocking. Atlantis looked at the Oxygen monitor, "Commander, my O2 level is at 40 percent."
"Yeah, mine's not any better, 48 percent." Bravewing sighed, however, as he caught the glimpse of the dark side of the planet, the warm orange-reddish glow of sunlight through the atmosphere sparked an idea, "Atlantis, remember what you learned in Thermochemistry class? Metal would be weaker in extremely cool temperatures, plus, we still got 2 minutes before hitting the night side."
"Our O2 level would hit around 35 percent by then, enough for us to perform EVA for about 15 minutes." Atlantis replied.
"Alright, you're getting the hang of it..." Bravewing chuckled.
As they talked, shadow of the planet itself loomed over them, seeing their last chance, Bravewing immediately returned to work as Atlantis continued to keep watch.
Blow after blow, the frozen scrap metal began to tilt, seeing hope, Bravewing went harder than he could, faster pace, however, time seemed to be extremely inpatient, Atlantis looked at the watch and her O2 Monitor, "Not good commander; 3 minutes before sunrise, my O2 level is at 20 percent."
Then, as if agreeing to her statement, her warning system began to ring, "I'm critical in O2 and CO2 level!"
"Atlantis abort mission! Return to 'Serpent' immediately!" Bravewing ordered.
"What about you?"
"I'll be there, go now!" Bravewing said sternly as he continued his work, ignoring his complaining warning system.
Atlantis bit her beak, then made her decision, slowly returning to their spacecraft, leaving Bravewing behind...
"Com' on Celestia damn it!" Bravewingf would feel the dizziness in his head, he shook himself awake and kept hammering the tilting scrap metal, as if energy were slowly drained from him, with a loud cry, Bravewing brought the hammer down with the rest of his strength. He felt as if he'd hit air, no cling, the scrap metal finally lost its firm grip on the station as it drifted away. As soon as the scrap is gone, LC-4 hit daybreak, first ray of sunlight hit on the solar powered cell, the signal light turned green as the sealed breach opened. Bravewing knew he must act fast.
"10 percent of O2 is enough for me to make a dash for it..." Bravewing gritted his tooth as he pushed himself off the station, towards the unlocked breach, pushing open the breach, he saw the control panel, as well as some disconnected wires. Bravewing had to knock his helmet twice to keep himself awake, approached the wires then quickly reconnected them.
Just as Bravewing restarted the navigation system, Scarab who was in full control of 'Serpent' immediately began to enter the manual deorbiting procedure into the navigation system of LC-4. Atlantis on the other hoof, had successfully returned and now looking at the frontal camera view, which she saw Bravewing slowly advancing towards them.
Bravewing's eyebrows grew heavy, each breath hurts, as if his lungs were getting sat on by an elephant. 5%, he glanced at the monitor, then fastened his pace.
Scarab, finally able to plug in the final procedure code into the navigation system, pressed 'enter', just as Bravewing grabbed the airlock entrance. Suddenly, the entire crew members felt a heavy push from their chest, they were pressed onto their seats; the RCS boosters onboard the failing LC-4 has completed its final task of pushing the broken space station back to its deorbiting course.
Bravewing's world is fainting black, his vision became darker and darker per second, almost there... Bravewing, with his final pull, opened the airlock breach and pulled himself in, quickly closing the breach he pressurized the airlock, snatched off his helmet, and inhaled his biggest and largest breath of his life. The breach opened as Atlantis came floating in.
"Commander!" She cried as she grabbed Bravewing by the hoof and dragged him back to the descent module.
"Hey, hey lettuce, I'm fine." Bravewing said as he patted the hippogriff's shoulder, Atlantis smiled, "You better be."
"Commander, procedure is completed, are we cleared for undocking?" Scarab's voice came.
"Cleared," Bravewing sighed in relief, "nice job guys, we just saved an entire space program out there... Let's go home."
With a slight tumble of the 'Serpent', it separated from the space station, which went down faster than them due to its trajectory, it reentered the atmosphere first. The crew watched in indescribable emotion as LC-4's solar panels were torn off as the remaining modules glowed orange-reddish from the terminal velocity. Then they were too, broken down into smaller parts and faded into the atmosphere...
"Tri-module separation in three, two, one, mark!" Scarab said as they felt their pod rumble, the service module and the orbital module were dumped off.
As they made their way down through the atmosphere, Atlantis thought of many things, but one thought remained in her mind, for the rest of her life.
I'm getting back up there....