//------------------------------//
// Finishing the Modernization 
// Story: Equus' Unexpected Future 
// by Robert Emerald Fountain 
//------------------------------//

After getting the message from the Squid Sisters, the time had come to begin building the ship for exploration and battle situations. This ship would be equipped with powerful warp engines for traversing long distances, strong weapons and shields for defense, and shuttles for making excursions in areas where the main ship could not go. The full construction, along with the design and testing phases, took a year and three months to complete. Once everything was tested and the ship was fully assembled on the space station, the Main Six, the Young Six, Flurry Heart, Luna, and Celestia met up to discuss what the ship would be called. After much debate, a name was finally settled on. The ship was soon christened as the E S S Harmony and the exploration mission was scheduled to commence in three months. Everyone was excited to begin searching deep space for possible life signs. They also hoped to explore the planet that was discovered by the probe before it was destroyed. All that remained was for a crew to be formed and to explore the planets that had been seen.

Twilight decided that she and her friends would direct the exploration from Canterlot. Flurry Heart and the Young Six would make up the crew and explore the planets. Celestia and Luna agreed to this and the seven crew members were flown to a training area that had recently been constructed in Griffonstone. The first stage of training included how to properly get into a space suit for E V A in case they had to perform repairs outside the ship. 

Once they were certain that they knew how to put their suits on, and how to monitor their oxygen levels, they proceeded to the next stage of their training. This involved sitting in a capsule on the end of a spinning arm. The operator gradually increased the arm’s speed in order to acclimate the crew to g-force. To begin with, all seven crew members got motion sickness from the intense speed and they threw up. After a while, they were all acclimated and they were ready to practice E V A in the next stage.

Training for E V A was done underwater to mimic weightlessness, and a life-size model of the Harmony was in place to give them a first-hand experience. Divers moved the crew members between work areas for different situations that would involve repairing their ship in any emergency. 

After the E V A training was done, it was time for the final stage, which involved simulated emergencies such as fires and depressurizations. This stage also involved learning how to properly enter the different shuttle bays and how to dock the Harmony on its space station. Once all of the training was finished, it was time for the real deal.

Flurry and the Young Six boarded a helicopter that took them to a launchpad in the North Luna Ocean where a shuttle was waiting to take them to the Harmony. Once they were strapped in their seats, the shuttle was tilted back until it stood vertically on the pad. At that point, Twilight began counting down from Mission Control in Canterlot. After blasting off, the shuttle flew higher into the sky until the crew had cleared the atmosphere. Once they were in orbit, Yona took the controls and flew the shuttle to the space station. After docking the shuttle, everyone changed out of their space suits and into their crew uniforms before taking their seats on the Harmony. They had three star systems that the first probe had spotted before its battery died. They would be exploring the systems in accordance with their distance from Equus. The closest system was forested, the second system was oceanic, and the farthest system was volcanic. 

All of the systems were equidistant from each other, which meant that it would take the same amount of time to go from one to another. After locking in the coordinates for the forested planets, Flurry Heart gave the main order to proceed.

“ENGAGE!”, she cried.

Gallus pulled the switch and the ship zoomed forth, bound for the first leg of its mission.

**

When the Harmony arrived in the first planetary system, everyone got ready to begin mapping the five planets. After landing on each planet, they marked the Harmony’s location and headed into the woods. The air was safe to breathe on all five planets, so they were able to wear only their crew uniforms. 

The inhabitants of these planets were very friendly and kindly guided everyone through the lush forests as they took pictures. Three planets were rainforests while the other two were deciduous forests. In the rainforests, they came across what looked like ancient ruins that could be explored by archaeology teams, so the crew made sure to record the locations for when they got home. 

On all five planets, they forgot they were on another planet, because the forests looked nearly identical to the forests on Equus. Once they were all finished, they packed up their supplies and boarded the Harmony to move on to the ocean worlds.

**

Arriving in the oceanic system, they saw six planets and noticed that one was not receiving any sunlight. They would definitely need their headlights for this one. After landing on a platform above the water on each planet, everyone put on their scuba gear and dove under the water to look around. They took pictures of all of the marine life from distances to avoid startling the fish. 

They also learned from inhabitants on planets two and three that they could keep the sharks away by using a fluid that reeked of dead sharks. This was helpful because they had to escape from sharks on the first planet. This fluid almost made Silverstream throw up as it was being smeared on their gear, but she pressed on. The sixth planet was the one without sunlight, which was due to the fact that storm clouds were constantly wrapped around the planet. 

Landing on this planet was tricky, because they had to avoid being hit by lightning, but they made it to the landing platform without too much trouble. After boarding a submarine to avoid being exposed to the water, they started looking around for the marine life that awaited them. Aside from there being hot-water vents and many different types of large fish, they also found underwater mines on this planet. This meant that explorers could mine for different metals and crystals for research in the future. Taking note of the mines, Flurry piloted the submarine back to the landing platform and everyone thanked the inhabitants before taking off.

**

Having mapped out the forested planets and the ocean worlds, everyone knew they had one more group of planets to chart out before they went home to Equus. The system of volcanic planets had seven planets to map out. Upon entering the first planet’s atmosphere, the exterior thermometers jumped WAY up, more than anyone anticipated. Even Smolder was shocked when she read the final result. 

“There is no way we are going out there unless we are wearing our heat-suits. The temperature is close to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. In that amount of heat, we would be cooked alive in less than a second.”, she reported.

Flurry Heart was blown away by this. She sent probes to scan out the other six planets, and they showed similar temperature ranges. After getting their suits on and starting the liquid nitrogen pumps for coolant, they exited the Harmony after raising the heat shield. The inhabitants of these planets were used to the intense heat, and gladly assisted the crew with their mission. All of the planets had giant rivers of lava and the volcanoes were erupting at least twelve times a day, which was very dangerous. It was also why the inhabitants had heat shields around their bases because they were worried about the lava wreaking havoc and damaging their equipment.

With the temperatures being so high, this portion of their mission was very grueling and difficult. Everybody was sweating even though they had their coolant lines at maximum, and they came close to heat exhaustion at least once on all seven planets. In the end, they successfully charted all seven worlds and identified possible areas where research bases could be constructed and rare metals could be mined.

Once all of the planets had been mapped out, it was time to return home to Equus. Flurry Heart and the Young Six took their seats on the Harmony and set their course to head home. Once the switch was thrown, they were well on their way. Three days later, they arrived in orbit and then docked on the space station. The exploration had taken two years to complete. After disembarking and getting on the shuttle, they descended to the ground and added the information they had gathered to the star-charts. 

**

During the course of the Harmony’s voyage, the Inklings and the Octarians were hard at work designing the ship they would use to reach Equus. The time passed slowly, but in a productive manner. Multiple simulations and test launches were run in order to find out the right materials, parameters, and designs with which to build the Inkstar. This was not an easy task, because many of the tests for vacuum environments had a negative result where the hull would rupture, and some of the launch tests resulted in the engines not firing correctly, which caused the ship to flip over and explode. Once they had these issues nailed down and the rocket engines fired correctly, it was time to start designing the Inkstar. 

This stage was where Taylor got to use the skills he had learned in college. He chose that the warp drive core would be at the center of the ship to provide sufficient power at all times and the bridge would be towards the front. Cabins would be constructed partway back from the bridge for all of the crew members to sleep, and the escape capsules would be close to the rear. The ship would also include a gym for the crew so they didn’t lose bone density or muscle mass. 

After Taylor had finalized his designs and generated the blueprints, the construction began. During the construction, Callie and Marie decided on who would be manning this mission. They would command the mission on the bridge, Taylor and Lizzie would work the controls, Agents 3, 4, and 8 would keep tabs on the ship’s structural integrity and navigation, and their parents would chaperone the trip. Callie and Marie’s grandfather, Craig Cuttlefish, along with 12 engineers, would oversee the mission from a command center on the ground. The crew’s lives were in their tentacles. Octavio’s workers were stationed in the white-room and at the launchpad to get the ship going.

Along with the Inkstar, a second ship was constructed at a larger size. This second ship was called the Inkblazer and would house a fleet of smaller ships in case war ever broke out and everyone had to defend themselves. Both Inklings and Octarians were trained for this fleet in every way possible, from piloting to shooting down targets. All of the training was done in simulators that were programmed to create lifelike situations, such as fire in a spacecraft, depressurization, and power failures. The Inkstar was small enough to be constructed on the ground, whereas the Inkblazer had to be constructed in orbit after a hangar was built for it.

Once all of the ships were built and the training was complete, the time came for the Inkstar to make her trip to Equus. Everyone started gearing up at once. They were ready for the voyage of a lifetime.

**

When everyone was ready to go on the excursion to Equus, they were quarantined a week in advance to avoid exposure to germs. Once the day had come, the white-room technicians started getting everyone into their space suits. They started by hooking up electrodes to monitor everyone’s health during the mission and then started getting them into the suits. The first part of the suit was a temperature regulation jumpsuit to prevent overheating. This went over regular clothes that the crew was already wearing. 

After the jumpsuits were on and the coolant lines were running, it was time to put on the main suit. The main suits were lightweight and the crew needed very little assistance to put them on. Once the white-room technicians had hooked the oxygen packs to the suits, the crew started putting the last few components on. 

The first piece they put on was a radio headset which they plugged into the suit’s electrical conduit, then they put on their gloves. These gloves were custom-fitted to each crew member, so they did not feel uncomfortable. Once the gloves were locked in, it was time to close up the helmet, which was attached to the top of the suit and closed with only a zipper. After a quick radio check, it was time to board the Inkstar. The crew collected their luggage and walked down a pressurized tunnel to the main hatch on their ship. Crowds clapped and photographers took hundreds of pictures as the Squid Sisters, their parents, their children, and Agents 3, 4, and 8 walked down and began boarding the Inkstar for their trip to Equus. 

Once all of their luggage was secure, everyone made their way to the bridge and started buckling in. After they had fastened their seatbelts, Callie radioed that the hatch could be closed. The pad workers acknowledged and sealed the hatch snugly in position before turning the latch handle. Once Mission Control got word that the hatch was sealed, they started checking all of the systems to ensure the mission was ready to begin.

Craig checked the mission status with the flight controllers to make sure everything was reading nominal. All of the flight controllers said “Go”, which meant the data was good. Knowing that the mission was all-clear, Craig radioed Octavio. Marina was on the launchpad intercom to announce when the crew was ready for takeoff. The plan was for the crew to state the time they cleared the tower by using military language. The launch was scheduled for 2:12 PM, or 14:12.

“Launch Control, this is Cuttlefish. We are go for launch.”, he said.

“Copy that, Cuttlefish. Pad Leader, what is your status?”, said Octavio.

“We are go for launch. T-Minus sixty seconds, and counting.”, said Marina over the loudspeaker.

Everyone who had come to watch the takeoff started clapping and cheering. 

At Mission Control, the flight controllers were as follows. Frye was on CAPCOM, meaning she worked with the radio. Shiver was working EECOM, meaning she was in charge of monitoring the atmosphere, environmental controls, life support, and emergency procedures. Pearl’s position was Flight Surgeon, which meant she monitored everyone’s health. Sheldon was on GNC, which dealt with the ship’s orientation. 

Thirty seconds before the countdown began over the speakers, Frye radioed the Squid Sisters to tilt back to get the Inkstar in launch position. The ship was mounted on a hydraulic frame that tilted backwards to get vertical for launching. When the crew boarded, this frame was horizontal.

“Inkstar, this is Frye. It’s time to enter launch position.”, she said.

“Copy that, Frye. Tilting back.”, said Marie as Taylor and Lizzie flipped the switches to lean the ship back.

Once the Inkstar was vertical, the time came to take off. All of the crew members counted down from 15 seconds together in excitement.

“T-Minus 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, ignition sequence start.”, they said.

Fuel began to spew from the main engines.

“Five, four, three, two, one, IGNITION!”, they concluded.

A pad worker in a protective suit clicked the ignitor switch to light the fuel. Thrust began building up once the fuel was ignited. 

“The clock is running.”, said Callie’s mother Sally.

True to her word, a clock had started counting the seconds after the fuel was ignited. Taylor and Lizzie had unlocked two pairs of switches that would release the clamps holding them in place on the launch pad. Once the correct amount of thrust built up, Marie’s mother Iris called out to them.

“Release the clamps.”, she said.

Taylor and Lizzie flipped the switches and the clamps opened up. At once, everyone felt the g-force on their bodies.

“We have liftoff.”, said Marie’s father Michael.

“Pops, we have cleared the tower at 14:12.”, said Callie’s father Jerome as he looked at his watch.

“I hear you, Jerome. Be careful on the mission you all. I love you.”, said Craig.

Callie and Marie quickly acknowledged what their grandpa had said as they made it into orbit.

Once the Inkstar had reached low orbit, Agent 3 engaged the artificial gravity so they didn’t have to be floating weightless on the mission. Once gravity was confirmed, everybody took off their space suits and changed into regular clothes so they didn’t have to worry about their space suits’ heavy weight. 

After returning to the bridge, they took their seats and Taylor started entering Equus’ star coordinates into the navigation computer. Once the coordinates were set, Lizzie spoke to Callie and Marie.

“Mom, Aunt Callie, Taylor has set the star coordinates. We’re ready to fly.”, she said.

“Fasten seatbelts.”, said Marie.

As everyone buckled in, Taylor reported he had set the warp engines to fire at half-power. This meant they would arrive at Equus after six months. They had intended to arrive after six months so the mission would be more relaxed instead of rushed. Once the warp engines fired off, which had a little bit of g-force to begin with, it was safe to take off the seatbelts while they were in transit. 

During the flight, everyone learned more about space and got plenty of exercise to avoid losing muscle mass and bone density. Taylor and Lizzie checked the escape pods regularly to make sure they were working fine in case they had to bail out in an emergency. At this point, they were three months away from reaching Equus.

**

After the Harmony had finished its voyage, Thorax picked up the makings of a meteor shower. He ran simulations and determined that it would be spectacular to watch, but Equus was not in danger of being hit. Everyone started planning for this out of excitement. Even though everyone knew that the Inkstar was coming, they had no clue that they were about to meet two more groups of individuals.