I edged closer to the city, becoming more and more nervous with each step. I could hear construction noises growing nearer; I wondered how I would get around this.
Once I reached the opening where the construction ponies were, I noticed that the forest went around the site, so I kept to the woods. I checked my battery life on my communicator,
100%
Strange, it wasn’t 100% when we left Earth. As I walked around the construction site, I noticed that more and more houses were everywhere. I kept walking in the most blend able areas of the forest, hoping to make it as far in as I could before having to sprint to the castle.
I reached the base of a mountain, and just over the peak I could see a tower, that must be the castle. I pulled out the climbing equipment from my bag and started to scale the side of the mountain, which happened to be nearly straight up.
I set a brace every 20 feet or so, just enough to break my fall without breaking me in the process. After about 20 minutes of climbing, I checked my progress by looking behind me.
Bad Idea.
I was nearly 300 feet above the ground, and only about halfway up, and I was running out of braces, I only had about ten left, not enough to make it up unless I placed them very sparsely.
Now I was placing a brace every 40 feet, if I slipped too far form I brace, death was certain. Again, almost ten minutes later, I this time looked up, and to my relief, the top was less than 30 feet above me.
Except for one problem, I hadn’t placed a brace in40 feet and I only had 1 left, the one I needed for the very top. I would have to be very careful when climbing the next area, or else it would be a very unpleasant 7 story fall.
Okay, there seemed to be a few ledges that I could grab a hold of and mount myself to get to the next one. By now I could see more of the towers, it definitely was the castle, once I reached the top, I would use the beacon on my communicator to locate the transmitter.
“Son of a .....Buttermilk.....biscuit!” I gritted my teeth as I pulled my self on the first ledge.
I looked above me and noticed that there wasn’t just a ledge above me, but there was a huge cave system below the castle, I’d have to check that out for later. I placed a small locator beacon under the dirt in the middle of the pathway.
I went to the side of the wall and started climbing again; it would be mere seconds until I reached the top. The ridge started leveling out as I drew nearer to the top, which let me feel confident enough to place the final bracket about 5 feet from the top.
As I rolled over the top, the situation became very serious, there were guards patrolling the grounds, coming around in patrols of two to five. I ran and dove into a bush, and then switched my weapon’s safety off.
Peeking out of the bush, I spotted a door, only illuminated by the moonlight; it looked as if the guards weren’t even paying attention to it. I sprinted to the door and tried to open it, no use, the door was locked.
But alas, I had a “Key”.
I placed the barrel of my M4 against the handle and let loose ten rounds, causing several very loud bangs. I threw my shoulder against the door and it fell open, allowing me to go inside before the patrols could locate the area where the shots were fired.
Okay, I was in what seemed to be the west guard tower and about a kilometer from my probe, according to the beacon.
___________________________________________________________
Major Gabriel Aroyo and Lorhanna Childers walked towards their spacecraft, a much larger one than Griffin and Parkers, this one held supplies and equipment for 10 people, themselves and eight soldiers, plus two HUMVEE light vehicles.
“All ready sir!” the commander of the squad as Gabriel approached them.
“Good, brief the men, we take off in an hour.” Gabriel told the Sergeant.
“Yes, sir!” The soldier then walked off.
“Captain, the soldiers are being briefed, shall we check over the equipment once more?” Gabriel said to Lorhanna.
“Yes, you check the equipment bay; I’ll check food and supplies.” Lorhanna commanded, and then walked off.
Gabriel headed to the munitions bay first, where the two vehicles and weapons, including another two communications probes. He first checked the two HUMVEE’s.
HUMVEE Variant 4 litter soft-top ambulance W/ mount...tied, locked, check!
HUMVEE Variant: Armament Carrier M1025A2 Tied down and locked, Check!
Gabriel went into the munitions locker where all of the infantry weapons were held, and looked around. The cages which held the weapons were locked, all except for on particular case, which held Gabriel’s favorite weapon...
The M134 minigun, the one that was to be mounted upon the ambulance, that case was not locked, mainly because the minigun itself was attached to the ship be several locks. The minigun wasn’t in a closed case because in the event of an emergency, going through more than one lock would be life threateningly long.
Gabriel went into the probe area; both of the probes were locked down and next to each other on trailers that were pulled by the humvees. He closed the entire area and headed towards the front of the ship.
“Everything in order Captain.” Gabriel said as he met Lorhanna on the bridge.
“Same here, the soldiers are bringing the drums of gasoline on board now, they will go in a fireproof room beside the armory, one that’s not connected to the area.” she said as she was checking the control systems.
“How long?” he asked.
“Twenty minutes, make sure that you get your suit on,” she gestured to a locker near our seats.
“The soldiers are strapping in and are ready for flight.” the sergeant, in his full spacesuit, said to the two of us, his soldiers were in the next area.
“Let’s get to it.” I said, putting on my spacesuit.
“Control?” Lorhanna said through her headset.
“As much as I don’t want to help you, it’s my job.” the colonel voiced through the comms.
“All passengers and supplies accounted for, pre-flight checks complete, about ten minutes.” Lorhanna said to control.
“Skies are being cleared; new travel speed is 8,500 miles per hour, clear?”
“Crystal sir!” Gabriel said through his headset.
“Alright, as soon as he skies are cleared, you are cleared to depart from the Kennedy Space Center.” control said.
__________Ten minutes later_______________________________________
“WE are clear, Crystal Empire, you are cleared for takeoff.” Control said through their headsets.
“Alright Major, engines on, prepare for liftoff!” Lorhanna said. The sergeant ran back to his men and started his own strapping in; his seat was in view of the pilots, and his men.
“Engines on!” Lorhanna cried.
“Go!” Gabriel said. The ship started barreling down the runway, reaching a speed of nearly 2 thousand miles per hour before it went airborne.
“Speed is 5 thousand miles per hour Captain.” Gabriel reported as the hit an altitude of 100,000 feet.
“Hit booster number 1.” Lorhanna ordered, Gabriel followed.
The craft immediately accelerated almost two thousand miles per hour faster than it had been going, the crew prepared for travel.
“Control, our speed is 8 thousand, preparing for travel.” Lorhanna said through her headset.
“Roger Crystal, God bless!”
As the craft approached travel speed, the crew could only hope they would survive.