//------------------------------// // To Heaven, From Earth // Story: [Forlorn Ascension]|[Rites of Dominion] // by Desrium //------------------------------// The Iopteryx's inner walls were milky white and the floors were a darker gray than the exterior plating. Already, the ship was more visually stimulating than his room at the academy, but it only got better! On the walls were multicolored lines which were visual maps of the vessel. Red lines led to the officer station, blue lines to the scientific research labs, green to the medbay, so on and so forth. Orange led to the engineering deck and subsequently; the engine room. The way to the bridge -and the navigation center- was off in the complete opposite direction. "Thank the glory of the princesses," Phineas thought, tracking the route as it was laid out by the light purple strip running across the wall. He and Lighting Streak might have been on the same ship but they would rarely cross paths should fate be so kind. Phineas did not get his hopes up though. Eventually Lightning will seek him out to try to spite him in some way. Maybe the Crystal pony would succeed, then Phineas would be the one looking for the Navigator and it would all be a vicious cycle. "The joy of rivalry." *** A small group of ponies walked the halls conversing, all wearing the white and black cadet uniform. Some, like him, still had their traveling cases strapped to them. Phineas arched a brow. Was the crew for this ship comprised completely of fresh graduates from Starfleet? He expected to see some veterans with medals and pins decorating their uniforms. That's how the pictures made it seem at the very least; that everypony who went up on a vessel and did their tour of the galaxy became honorable heroes decorated by all manner of prestige. "Hey, Phineas!" he heard someone with a deep voice call out to him. Phineas glanced around the hallway for the one to do so and it did not take long at all for him to see the minotaur waving a large hand at him. He was standing next to one of the Iopteryx's large windows, previously looking out at the spaceport and those still boarding their ships. He recognized the burly person as someone from his physical training regiment, specifically the weight training segment. One look at his rippling muscles and it was no surprise that the ,minotaur was one cadet Phineas found it impossible to best in terms of displays of brute strength. Phineas always thought the uniform the minotaur wore -despite being both extremely flexible and durable- would fray and break around each bulge in his body. "Amadeus!" Phineas replied, trotting over to the dark haired minotaur. He had a set of horns strange for his kind. They dipped down off to the side with the pointed ends then arcing upwards. They looked more like tusks than a minotaur's horns. "You made it! High-four-hoof!" the bull said, preparing to swing his palm around. Phineas had to rear and do a small hop in order to meet it with his hoof. In addition to being extremely well built, Amadeus was more than twice Phineas' height. "As if there were any doubts that I'd make it through the academy!" Phineas said with a small twinge of arrogance. He leaned against the wall and inspected a hoof aloofly as he said it. "So you're Star Commander, first class, huh? I'm honored that you're even talking to me now!" Amadeus replied with a bit of a smirk. When Phineas became rigid and wide-eyed, he had to fight back a fit of laughter. "Don't sweat it, kid. No pony is just made Star Commander. Even captains have to prove themselves to get that rank!" Phineas let out a soft sigh. "I already had this talk with the council, but I appreciate the effort, Amadeus." "Don't mention it," the minotaur replied before pressing on "so what is your position?" "Chief Engineer. Apparently the council thinks that I would be more qualified ordering underlings around rather than fly a spaceship," Phineas answered with a flick of his hoof. The corner of Amadeus' mouth dipped down slightly. "That's a pretty crummy way of looking at it..." "Oh, no I didn't mean anything like that... I just find it strange is all. They say I would rather show that I'm better than other ponies than help them... so they put me in a leadership position?" Phineas explained. He wasn't ungrateful for his assignment, especially when so many others were rejected for lesser ranks. It just... wasn't what he expected. "I'd say that's a good sign then," Amadeus responded. "How so?" Phineas inquired. "There are some things the academy can't teach you. Teamwork and compassion are things we all have to develop on our own. If the council is willing to put a pony without those things in a leadership role, then they probably believe that pony will develop them on their own," Amadeus said in a strangely profound, intellectual way. Phineas could never have guessed minotaurs had that side to them, he only saw a wall of muscle and power in his mind's view of the bestial-looking creatures. What was it that he was told three days ago in the council sanctum? May you continue to grow after leaving the doors of this chamber. "Lesson learned..." Phineas mused. To Amadeus, he asked: "But what if there's an emergency? What if something happens and those engineers need me to direct them and I can't? I'd be more inclined to fix a problem myself before sending somepony else to! That's a pretty scary situation... every life aboard this ship could be in peril before we even take off because their Chief Engineer is unfit to do his duty!" Amadeus made a thoughtful hum and stroked the fur on his chin until he had a short beard of sorts. "Well if you're that worried about it, I'd say go to the captain and ask for a reassignment. Would be difficult on such short notice." "Tell me about it..." Phineas mumbled. "As I see it though? The council believes in you. Do you believe in yourself?" "Hell no!" Phineas blurted out, making a group of three passing by pause and shoot him strange looks. As Phineas visibly drooped from embarrassment, Amadeus continued: "And there lies your problem. You can't hope to accomplish something if you don't believe in yourself. I would have thought the academy taught you that! What happened to the confident Startrot that was here just a few minutes ago?" "He's having an awkward talk with fear and inhibition." Phineas deadpanned, then he took a deep breath. "Do you think I can pull it off?" he asked. Amadeus shrugged and started to walk down the hall. "I don't know. You tell me. You are the best, right? I've got to go get ready, blast off imminent and all that. You should hurry along too, you haven't even unpacked." As he he watched the minotaur leave, the realization struck Phineas that out of all the months he spent at the academy, Amadeus was the closest thing to an actual friend he had. "Hey, wait! You didn't tell me what your assignment was!" Phineas shouted to the departing minotaur. "Security detail and combat, where else would a minotaur feel right at home!?" *** In just a few minutes the Iopteryx would be airborne. It was -along with the multiple other ships currently docked- to be one of the first of the next wave of starships shooting around the galaxy. Phineas kept reminding himself of that fact within his quarters near the ship's aft. He did not bother unpacking his traveling case; moving into his new place was not a priority when the craft was moments away from hurtling into space. As plain as it currently was, it was a lot more than what he was used to. It was larger, for one. His desk especially, which was almost as large as one of the walls with two cabinets on either side of it. On it were three terminals and screens and the chair situated in front of it was a big, blocky, swiveling one that had padded cushions. The bottom of it transitioned into the floor itself. His work station came complete with its own desk lamp too! Its mount was chrome and it had a light green shade on it. His flashlight could finally be put to rest. His flashlight as well as his cadet uniform. His inventory of issued assets included his CE attire and the accompanying PDA that came with it. They where placed atop his bed, his new uniform found in a case and the device resting on top of that. Phineas was quick to change into his new outfit. The uniform was black and enclosed his entire body, made from the same material as the white and black suit he was accustomed to. Resting over his torso was an orange vest made of a hard metallic substance that was still quite light to wear. Just before his right wrist was an orange leg band that had a case where PDA could be stored and used. The PDA was a small rectangular module. It was brown save for the screen, which was a minty green color and the text on it was white. The device had the built-in lens of a flashlight for when Phineas found himself working in low light conditions. It also served as an environmental scanner and data uplink for the rest of the ship. It would allow him to keep in touch with all other sections of the Iopteryx and the rest of its crew, which numbered twenty in total. It would also keep him informed on the state of the ship's many...many systems. "If only clothes made the stallion..." Phineas muttered to himself, then he started chuckling. It did feel pretty good to wear the uniform, and with some vanity he felt it looked pretty well on him. "What am I worried about? I am Phineas Startrot! There hasn't been one challenge that couldn't beat, learning how to lead a few ponies should be no sweat! Amadeus is right, I've come too far to start doubting myself now!" The silver pony puffed out his chest and looked as heroic as he could to an imaginary crowd. He could see his awards already, pins, broaches and medals bestowed upon him with the greatest of reverence. The best of the best being recognized as such. The prideful grin on his face faded though when his PDA chimed and the sweet voice of a mare flowed through. "Engineers to your stations please! Take off in five minutes! Commander Astartex, out!" "Whoa..." Phineas said under his breath. There was one veteran aboard the Iopteryx, and it was the Star Commander Astartex. She was indeed first class, and she was to be the Iopteryx's captain? Four other voices followed her own, all saying things along the lines of "Affirmative." and "In position." Phineas raised the PDA and reported in: "Understood." He then left his room through the automatic sliding door. That much was the same as his miniscule dorm. *** The engine room was an incredibly large, circular room yet occupied by a group of four. The walls had all manner of panels and monitors. Metal ridges, tubes and bulky machines added a constant, low rumbling ambiance to the room. At center of the room, the floor dipped down into a containment field, a dome of reinforced glass enclosing it. There, four arched metal pylons stood like monoliths. The ones to tend to this part of the craft were a group consisting of one red unicorn stallion, two pegasi mares -a yellow one and a cream one- and a black scaled young dragon male which stood taller than the others, yet was not gripped by his kind's innate nature. They all wore their engineering barding. When Phineas came through the automated doors they all became stiff in salute. They all knew him, but he knew nothing about them. He raised his PDA and cycled over to the crew list. He then went through to all those assigned to the engineering unit, finding that his name was the first on the list. "Prancer, Sunbeam, Moonshine and... Gem" Phineas murmured. "Who names a creature that eats gems...Gem?" Phineas disregarded the oddity that was the black dragon's name. "Hello, all!" he said to them cheerily to make a good first impression. He ended up sounding like a Sargent at the academy, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Lets go ahead and get this thing in perfect condition for flight, shall we?" "Affirmative, Chief Startrot!" said the others in unison. Phineas raised a brow. They were probably together in the academy and now they were all together aboard the Iopteryx. The unicorn, Prancer... pranced over to one of the myriad of displays mounted on a wall. Sunbeam rushed over to the large terminal across the way, pressing the keys upon the keypad rapidly. Moonshine fluttered on over to the to large, bulky machine with several circular holes arranged one above the other along its height. Gem followed and started tapping away at the small panel on the steel plated contraption. With a hiss and a whir, cylindrical rods glowing an energetic, bright purple were released. Gem then put the rods into the larger machine, which was returned with a loud hum. Phineas looked to his PDA, monitoring the change in the ship's energy levels. "Spell-core engine powering up nominally," he reported to the bridge. He expected a reply from Commander Astartex. "I read you Chief Startrot. Power levels are looking fine up here," another mare replied, but not the Star Commander. Phineas went through the crew list once more, discovering that the superior officer was not in charge of the ship. That responsibility fell to a certain Shirley Novashot. "Commander Astartex isn't at the helm?" the silver stallion asked, "She is... indirectly. She will be supervising this entire operation, Chief Startrot," was the answer given to him. "Ah. Good to know," he responded evenly, though his thoughts were the opposite. "Figures. The council risks putting an inept leader in position with a Star Commander as the backup plan. Brilliant." But there was no time to lament. The pylons at the central containment field had begun to rotate, magical energy swirling into an orb in the space between them. As the pylons gained speed, the energy intensified until it was nearly a solid, bright sphere with energy jetting off in random directions before arcing back inwards. It was like looking at a pink star from the observation deck. Before the minute had passed, Startrot got confirmation that the Spell-core engine was active, the ship's boosters blaring to life. At the shipyard, struts and supports were recalled as engines roared, ships of all shapes and sizes lifting from their docks. They were slow at first but like the engines that drove them, they gained momentum, angling upwards as they sped up into the skies. In time, the departing fleet had reached altitudes that no pegasus could hope to survive at on their own. In time, the fleet of explorers were rocketing away from their colorful blue world into the darkness of space, with only the light of distant stars to decorate the vast emptiness in between systems. The Earth fell away, ringed by a halo of blue-green.