//------------------------------// // 7. Launch // Story: Another Mare's Sky // by PeppyJoe //------------------------------// Eighteen weeks after discovery. It was a momentous day for Unicornia. In truth, it was momentous for all ponykind, but to the pegasi, the occasion was soured by the sting of defeat. Eighteen weeks ago, a pegasus astronomer had discovered the likely home of their former ruler, and in the time since, the pegasi had confirmed the planet to likely be habitable. They had declared their intentions to send a team of ponies to investigate, but the unicorns had beaten them to it. Today, the unicorns launched their mission to Lambda Prime. Thirty miles to the east of Industrial Three, the Endeavor dominated the horizon. A fully-assembled and heavily modified space station, with aerodynamic plating mounted to its top and a massive single-stage rocket booster beneath it. The station was never intended to reach orbit in one piece, and the rocket would be incapable of getting it there anyway. Instead, it was simply meant to carry the station a safe distance above the launchpad before allowing the craft's internal teleportation matrix--dubbed a "Jump Drive"--to bring it into space. It would not be in orbit, but through a series of additional teleports, could build the necessary velocity to escape the planet's pull. Dozens of earth ponies and a few unicorns milled around the base of the rocket, performing final checks and ensuring that everything was ready. The four-pony crew had already boarded, and they were conducting checks of their own. The crew had been chosen hastily, given the rushed nature of the mission, but all four were experts in their field. Only two had been in space previously, but they were the best that Unicornia had. With the launch less than five minutes away, the crowd of onlookers were growing restless. There were, naturally, hundreds of unicorn spectators that had shown up to see the historic event, but there were also several pegasi diplomats who had been invited. They sat in an isolated section of the Launch Control building, watched over by several guards. "T-minus four minutes," a mare's voice broadcast over the speakers spread throughout the facility. The ponies around the base of the rocket gathered any remaining tools and began to move away. A slate-grey earth pony paused briefly to discretely speak into a communication gem before moving away with everypony else. In the control room, ponies sat hunched over displays and communication consoles, working away. "T-minus three minutes." Among the crowd of onlookers, several ponies moved around, wheeling carts loaded with various snacks and selling them at exorbitant prices. "T-minus two minutes." In a small autonomous signal-routing hub next to the custodial closet, an earth pony worked furiously at rewiring machinery and gaining control of the broadcast system. "T-minus one minute." The earth-pony finished his work and turned around, nodding to another who stepped forward and cleared his throat, standing over a communication gem. "Ten... nine... eight... seven..." The sound of hydraulic whirring and hissing filled the air around the launch-pad as the clamps attached to the rocket began to loosen and withdraw. "Six... five... four..." Alarm klaxons began blaring and red lights began circling on every external structure. "Three... two... one..." The last of the mooring clamps released and the massive booster engine ignited, slowly pushing the massive craft into the air. "We have ignition! The Endeavor has cleared the launch pad. All systems reading stable, ascent appears stable, crew reports-" A burst of static interrupted the launch announcer and several seconds of silence on the speakers followed. The ponies in Launch Control did not even notice, until a different voice filled that silence. "Today, our nation undertakes an endeavor to claim its place among the stars. Yet, this Endeavor was built on the backs of slave-labor, and there is no greater proof that we are not worthy of the stars' bounty." The security ponies watching the pegasi diplomats exchanged a few words before rushing off to find the source of the transmission. "You will not escape justice with your tin rocket. You will not hide from your actions. Until we are free, you shall not be." With that, a deafening boom louder than the roar of the rocket washed over the crowd, and the various displays in Launch Control lit up with warnings and failure-alerts. As the warheads hidden in the empty section of the booster detonated in sequence, the rest of the fuel blew up at once and the whole length of the rocket fragmented and exploded outward. The debris fell away as the payload--the station itself--continued upward, carried by momentum and the force of the blast. Knowing that the craft had no safety measures, an unfortunate side-effect of such a rushed design, one pony in Launch Control had a bright idea. He rushed forward and slammed his hoof down on a communication gem and shouted at them to use the jump-drive. His message was never heard, both due to the signal being hijacked by the freedom-fighters and the fact that the explosion had damaged the Endeavor's communication systems. Fortunately, the mission's captain had the same idea, and gave the same order. With a flash of light brighter than the detonation moments earlier, the craft vanished. In the hours that followed, news reached the wider Unicornian public and Pegasopolis that a faction of earth-pony freedom fighters had attempted to sabotage the Curiosity mission. Rumors and suspicions circulated that the pegasi had orchestrated it, but there was far too much evidence to the contrary for any such fears to spark a wider conflict. Stargazers and satellites alike confirmed that the Endeavor had succeeded in reaching the Eris exosphere, and was already undergoing its acceleration process. With communications not yet restored, the ground team had no way of knowing the crew's condition, but the ship would remain above Eris for nearly a year before leaving for Curiosity. Eighty weeks after discovery. After months of delays and last-minute alterations, the final iteration of the Guiding Wing was ready. The name itself was one of the last changes made to the ship, given after the late Commander's assassination. There had been talk of even more launch postponements, but after his death and the continuous subsequent military escalations, there was a general sense among ponies that the launch might never happen if it did not happen soon. The Guiding Wing would rest in its hanger for a few days more before transferring to the launch pad. Its six-pony crew had long since been selected, and had spent most of the past year training specifically for the mission. Despite the presence of a unicorn among them, the team could not be more close-knit. Crystal Clear had, in fact, bonded well with the other ponies and earned their respect. The ship itself was a work of art and a marvel of engineering. It was long and slender, designed specifically for the mission. Through careful use of recycling technology and lots of redundancy, the design allowed for minimal storage space. Carefully stowed within a closed-away aerodynamic hatch was the key to the mission; an ultra long-range magic receiver. It was modeled on the ones used to send power to moon-bases, but redesigned so that it could collect that energy without a specialized transmitter. In effect, the Guiding Wing would draw its power from its destination. That power would be used to charge the engines for several extremely long teleports. Each charge would require years, but that time would diminish with each jump as the ship grew closer to its power supply. It was no secret that one celebrated physicist had run the numbers and found that the pegasi would likely reach Lambda Prime before the unicorns did. With only days until they left, the crew's training had finally ended. Most were resting and spending time with their families. They knew that soon, they would leave on the greatest voyage in pony history. They could only hope Discord was waiting for them at the end.