//------------------------------// // Valediction // Story: Operation Final Destiny // by Armguard //------------------------------// ~ Chapter 1: Valediction ~ GOOD MORNING, CAPTAIN. 0600 HOURS. EXIT SLEEP MODE AND PROCEED TO BRIDGE FOR SYSTEMS DIAGNOSTIC CHECK. "...good morning, Jonah. I will be on the bridge in a few minutes." EVENING STATUS UPDATE - MAGNETIC FIELD REDUCTION IN QUADRANT 2. REQUIRES 15% FIELD POWER MIGRATION FOR OPTIMAL SHIELDING. "Go ahead and make it happen. What's on the menu today?" BREAKFAST CONSISTS OF IMITATION CHEESE OMELETTE, ALMOND MILK, IMITATION SAUSAGE LINKS, AND AN ASSORTMENT OF GREENS. "Time since initial departure?" TIME SINCE DEPARTURE: 6 MONTHS AND 1 DAY. "Incredible, isn't it? Already at the edge of the solar system..." Unbelievably, only ten years ago, it would have taken our race almost 30 years to travel this far. The Intragalactic Space and Aeronautics Coalition was formed in 2015 with the goal to dedicate a good portion of the world's remaining resources to collect candidate systems to colonize. I never thought we would be at this point; only in science fiction novels and doomsday predictions did you hear about the human race depleting most of the essential resources for survival. Our current technologically advanced position cannot be sustained for another couple decades. I was jettisoned into space for this reason; what is comedic surrounding my position is that I wanted this. The thrill of being sent into the unknown, and being the first to go this far into space from Earth; I never considered how it would affect me. How it would frighten me. How it would end me. What happens if the ship receives critical damage and I cannot fix it? What happens if I fall victim to an incurable 'space disease'? What if aliens attack the ship? I am stuck out here no matter what happens. I'll just stop having an existential breakdown and listen to my Beatles while I cruise to my inevitable fate. That sounds like a better alternative. Observing nothing but deep, empty void the past couple months is just getting to me, I concluded. At least Jonah is still around to keep me company, right? WELCOME TO THE BRIDGE, CAPTAIN. DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETED. MAGNETIC FIELD AT OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE. "Well done, Jonah. Got anything else for me?" THE CAPTAIN SHOULD PREPARE FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF TRAVEL. "You mean- is it really time?" ARRIVAL AT THE SYSTEM'S KUIPER BELT IS EXPECTED AT APPROXIMATELY 16 HOURS FROM NOW. TO BORROW AN EXPRESSION, 'PREPARE TO BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELT". "I didn't know you had a sense of humor, Jonah! Well, you only say that because I inserted a subroutine in case we got near the Belt..." The following 16 hours of hellish travel through an asteroid-infested brick wall will be tough. This is the only part of the journey I feared the most because our automatic piloting algorithm remains physically untested. What makes me doubly concerned is the country who lead development of the algorithm: Japan. I know they are known the world over for their creativity and precision, however, their translations of certain button names and instructions left me in a pickle too many times. Often, I would get odd ones, such as the 'Emergency Life/Death Switch' instead of simply calling it the 'Life Support Toggle' or something far less panic-striking. Being an astronaut was not a career aspiration of mine, for starters. It was to be a web designer, comfortably living at home, maybe have a family when I became independently wealthy and felt I could support more than just myself. But then, 2015 happened, and the League of Nations gave a disturbing premonition of future human habitation on Earth. It became clear we could not live the way we were living now, and that's not necessarily because we are incapable. It is because humanity has grown increasingly incompetent! Living beyond our means, refusing to make the tough choices in life; for the second principle, I gave up comfort to dedicate my life to I.S.A.C. and its ultimate purpose. That's how I became an astronaut: I had no idea what a struggle training for space would be, both mentally and physically; they say the armed forces don't receive the brutal blitz of education and physical challenges I'm put through day-to-day. All of that to send me in a tin can millions of miles away from home, now with nobody at my side to keep me from going absolutely bonkers...well, there's Jonah. Sometimes I pretend he's actually getting half the things I say; but being the nutcase I am, I program 'euphemisms' and 'jokes' into his database just to humanize him. Fun stuff, I tell you. YELLOW ALERT: OUTER KUIPER BELT OBJECTS AVERAGE VELOCITY: 3.6 KILOMETERS PER SECOND. "Jonah, it almost sounded like you said there were super-massive space rocks traveling at hypersonic speeds outside our ship. I am so glad that's not the case right now." CONFIRMATION: OBJECTS AVERAGE VELOCITY: 3.6 KILOMETERS PER SECOND. "No need to repeat! I heard you! Prepare to anticipate object trajectories and evade. Jonah, one thing I am not is a pilot! I'm counting on you!" CAPTAIN, WE WILL BE OUTSIDE OF THE BELT IN APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES. STAND BY FOR EVASION. These objects are more menacing than I assumed; the astronomy division sized up some of the kuiper belt objects to be nearly half the size of Jupiter's moons! Should be rather intimidating, consider I would be colliding with objects thousands of times larger than Destiny. However, with Jonah leading the way, my concern for our safety has diminished; computers can turn out to be such accomplished pilots! EVASION COMPLETE. EXITING KUIPER BELT AND EXITING THE SOLAR SYSTEM. WE HAVE COMPLETED STAGE 2 OF TRAVEL. "Great work, Jonah! Can you map out potential coordinates for our continued investigation?" AFFIRMATIVE. POTENTIAL CANDIDATE SYSTEMS INCLUDE ALPHA CENTAURI BETA, 61 CYGNI, AND GLIESE 832. CLOSEST SYSTEM TO CURRENT POSITION IS ALPHA CENTAURI. "Next destination is the star Alpha Centauri. Calculate distance needed for observation and let's skedaddle!" AFFIRMATIVE. BEGIN TRAVEL STAGE 3. "I can't believe it, we're actually doing this! Hahaha! We are actually traveling to Alpha Cen-" RED ALERT: UNKNOWN DISTURBANCE INTERRUPTING FLIGHT PATH. ATTEMPTING TO DIRECT COURSE AWAY FROM THE ANOMALY. "Speak up, Jonah! Describe the anomaly!" ANOMALY DETECTED IS IMPOSSIBLE. CLASS A SCHWARTZCHILD WORMHOLE. "Jonah, we can't approach that thing, we will dissolve and perish if we get too close!" WARNING: CANNOT MANEUVER AROUND WORMHOLE. COLLISION IMMINENT. "JONAAAH..." "..." "..." "..." "...Jonah? Where are we? How did we live? Ow..." Turns out, those astronomers were wrong about that classification of the wormhole. There are still events in the universe that cannot be explained simply by observation alone. I had to experience what was supposed to end in death, in order to confirm that the wormhole we just passed through had legitimately sent us far into space. I took out a guidebook on stellar navigation because Jonah's AI shutdown during that experience. I'm literally alone with a metaphorical compass to guide me. Great. "Let's see here...okay, so none of these stars I'm seeing match up. So we are literally in another part of the GALAXY?! JONAH, WAKE THE HELL UP! I need you. At least give me a calculator or something!" Well, after frantically pressing unlit buttons for about an hour, the manual override kicked in, and I gained the ability to find out I was technically still alive. All air pressure is now in the bridge and nowhere else, there is severe damage to all other life-preserving areas on the ship except the medical bay, and the astronomical atlas has no idea where we are located. I can only draw three conclusions from this information: I'm breathing, I'm lost, and if I can't land anywhere soon, I am screwed. All it took was a look out the side view to see that my prayer had been answered; a planet! I had been fortunate enough to end up in orbit around a planet that resembled my Earth! I sent out a probe to discover if the atmosphere made it habitable or not; let's just say the good news kept piling up, big time. The hydrogen-oxygen-nitrogen-carbon dioxide ratios were consistent with a habitable atmosphere. I CAN LAND! "Fantastic! We can land, Jonah...how do I land? I told you, I'm not a pilot! WHY AM I TALKING TO A INANIMATE, MUTE and BUSTED CALCULATOR?! Wha-" WARNING: CRASH LANDING ONTO PLANET IMMINENT. HULL BREACH IN QUADRANT 2. "Finally, you WAKE UP! I thought you fixed the issue a day ago! I...woaaaaah-" "..." "..." *CRASH* "What a beautiful night for star-gazing, isn't it Spike? Not a cloud in the sky. I have to thank Rainbow Dash for doing me that huge favor!" While Twilight Sparkle was busy fidgeting with her telescope, Spike gave a mighty yawn, signaling his body's intention to collapse at any moment from exhaustion. "Yeah, yeah, Twilight...just don't wake me up, okay? I'm...*yawn*...sleepy, and I...can't..." Twilight cradled Spike and laid him in his covers, gave a good night kiss, and jogged over to the telescope that was perched on her balcony. This night was a critical night for astronomers and stargazers alike. This was the night, without fail, of the annual Starswirl Meteor Shower. All around Equestria, ponies observe this day with celebration because the anniversary of the night of Starswirl the Bearded's death holds great significance. The legend goes that shortly after sunset, and after Starswirl had passed away, a brilliant meteor shower engulfed the night sky. What is special about this shower is that it happens on the same day each year without fail, and no object ever hits the ground. The shower is more significant to Twilight because it gives her the chance to observe a phenomena that would otherwise be uncommon to witness. She positioned her eye atop the viewing lens and jumped back suddenly, seeing something impossible happen. Twilight was stunned, as a massive object caught aflame and rapidly approached the ground, far away from Ponyville. "No way, that's not possible! This is the first time an object ever reached ground! I have to investigate this! SPIKE! SPIIIKE! Ugh..." Twilight prodded Spike from his slumber. "Twilight...I thought I said- hey, what's wrong?" "Spike, we have an object to investigate. Tell Princess Celestia about this: it is a rare day in astronomy." Spike frowned at his caretaker with displeasure. "I knew I couldn't get sleep tonight, it is the same thing every year with this meteor shower..." "But this is different, Spike! Nothing has ever, EVER touched the ground from that shower! I must know what it is." Twilight frantically assembled a pack of scientific instruments and urged Spike down the stairs. "Wait, wait, I can't write while walking! Twilight!"