"Athena Eleven, we show all LM systems green down here, standing by for pre-sep check," Starswirl scanned the board in front of him, then shifted his gaze to the massive overhead display screens at the front of the room. The tension in the Appeloosa Mission Control Center was palpable.
"Roger CAPCOM, Solaria pre-sep complete," the voice of Sunny Skies rang throughout the room, distorted by two hundred thousand miles of solar radiation and dust.
"CAPCOM, Phoenix pre-sep complete, all green here." Selene chimed in, the excitement in her voice palpable despite her professional tone.
Starswirl turned from his console, glancing back to the second row at the Flight Director. Orion was busy discussing the mission's next phase with some NASA officials Starswirl didn't recognize. Everything had gone smoothly so far, the flight controllers on the ground and astronauts above had functioned together flawlessly, exactly as they had rehearsed for months. Still, every step they'd taken so far had been done before. This milestone would truly put them into unknown territory.
Nothing ventured... Orion nodded to Starswirl. "Go for seperation."
"Athena Eleven, you are go for sep," Starswirl spoke into his mic.
President Sombra strode to the podium amid shouts and flashbulbs. Head held high, chest out, jet-black hair sculpted to perfection, every move precisely calculated to extrude the kind of power one could only wield as leader of the free world. He had meticulously planned out every last detail of his image early on in his career at the Maryland state legislature. By the time he ran for governor, it came so naturally he didn't notice anymore.
Reaching the podium, he motioned for quiet. The shouting reporters gradually settled down. He usually loved this part. The District of Canterlot press corps were jackals, starving dogs who would tear apart an unwary public figure and feed on the corpse. Here, in the White House Press Room, he would toss them bits of meat, spin them tales to chase, point them at his enemies. He was a puppet master, a natural at manipulating them to further his plans.
But not tonight. Tonight was different.
"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the United States and the world, I stand before you with a heavy heart."
Starswirl eyed the navigational track on the overhead screen. "Descent Orbit Injection looks good, Phoenix. Showing plus one point four five Delta vee here, you'll have some extra gas for final descent burn."
"Phoenix copies, CAPCOM," Selene's voice replied. "Passing Tycho crater riiiiiight... now. Mark."
Starswirl marked the time, then turned to the NAV controller. "How's she looking?"
Guiding Light's face scrunched up as he punched the numbers into his console. "She's umm, sixteen seconds early. Fast, but on profile. Should put her seventy-seven kilometers downrange, still within the Mare Tranquillitatis landing area. We can use the extra fuel from the DOI burn to correct."
"Thanks," Starswirl replied, running a hand over his stubbly chin. "Phoenix, Appleoosa," he began as he keyed the microphone, "NAV shows you sixteen seconds early. That puts you touching down long, but still in the footprint. We're running the numbers for a correction burn."
"Hmm, okay I see it now. Phoenix copies, Baby-Face."
Starswirl's mouth worked soundlessly as his fellow controllers chuckled. He hadn't heard that nickname in a long time. "Hey!" he cried, insulted. "We're not in the Air Force anymore. Besides, it's coming in quite nicely, thank you very much."
A melodious laugh chimed through the static. "Appleoosa, Solaria. Ten years and you're just growing one now. You were the one who showed up to the squadron with a name like 'the Bearded'. What did you expect to happen?"
"Gee, thanks Solaria." Starswirl replied, his sarcasm carrying through millions of dollars of electronics, over to a relay station in Australia, and out into the great beyond. "How is everything on your end, Sunny?"
"Quite well, thank you. Finished my enviromental check and I'm enjoying the view. Wish you could be up here to see it, the Sun's about to come over the horizon. Everything's in shadow, bu I can still make out the surface with the reflected light from Earth."
"I wish I could too," Starswirl said with a wistful smile. "That goes for all of us down here."
"...These two brave souls, Sunny and Selene Skies, risked everything to better all of mankind. They sought to carry a torch into the dark unknown, to expand our limits of understanding and guide our nation and species along its first uncertian steps into a new era..."
"Coming through ten thousand feet," Starswirl informed his colleauges.
Orion's steely voice cut through the background noise of the room. "Look alive, everyone. Phoenix goes to manual control at five, stand by for final Descent status check!" He began calling the names of the various controller positions, recieving a chorus of 'Go, Flight's in return. Satisfied, he gave an affirmitave nod to his capsule communicator. "Starswirl, Selene is go for descent."
"Phoenix, Appleoosa, you are go for final Descent."
"Copy, CAPCOM. Phoenix go for descent. I have the Sea of Tranquility in sight, but it's too far out to make out any landmarks in the landing zone."
"NAV has you dead on course, Sel," Starswirl replied, "correction burn did the trick."
"That it did, Appleoosa. Approaching five thousand feet aaaaaattt... mark. Autopilot off, DESCENT mode set, radar altimeter on. Phoenix beginning manual descent to landing."
Butterflies fluttered in Starswirl's gut. It's real now. One of his best friends was about to take humanity's first steps onto another world. He loosened his tie, suddenly very aware that the Mission Control Center needed a new air conditioning unit. This one seemed to be broken. "Appleoosa copies, Phoenix. We are showing a descent of seven hundred feet per minute, foward speed of seven five knots. Looks like a small amount of lateral drift to the left."
"Affirm, that checks with what I've got. Phoenix at four thousand feet, correcting drift."
The next few minutes crawled by. Orion stood near the back of the room, scanning the displays. Selene maintained a steady stream of height, velocity, and fuel callouts as she piloted the craft down to the lunar surface. Starswirl was the go-between, pinballing updates back and forth from Selene to the various controllers.
"Phoenix at one thousand feet, descent one five zero feet per minute."
"Looking good, Sel," Starswirl reassured her. "Right on target, nice and efficient."
"Radiation Alarm," Fresh Air's voice called out from the ENVIRO station, squashing the urgency in her voice. "Background EM just doubled."
Orion's eyes snapped to the yellow readout that popped onto the overhead display. "Looks well within margins," he stated, his commanding tone never wavering. "We're go."
"Phoenix, Appleoosa. You should've just gotten a radiation alarm, but nothing you can't handle. ENVIRO and FLIGHT are go."
"Speak for yourself. Unlike SOME people here, I can't pull off the no-hair look."
Starswirl rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Selene could make all the sarcastic quips she wanted, given her somewhat untouchable position of 'in-freaking-SPACE'. It was her way of dealing with the slightly increased stress of the moment. Had they been anywhere else, he would've fired right back with a quip of his own. While he couldn't needle her to the point of infuriation the way Sunny could, he was hardly the timid newbie they'd met in flight school. But right now she needed him and the rest of the Center laser-focused on their jobs, even if she was trying to provoke him out of stress. He simply moved onto his next task as Selene continued her descent to the Moon.
"...And while one day others may stand in their footprints, bringing all of humanity foward into the heavens, we will always honor the sacrifices made by these Sisters of the Sky..."
"Master Alarm! Flight Control Computer offline!" Thruster called out from the LM SYSTEMS console, her voice laced with panic. Starswirl froze. He suddently felt as if he had been drenched in ice-cold water. Up on the screen, a terrifying amount of red messages blinked brightly. The tension in the room exploded, erupting in a series of emergency calls from various stations.
"Primary RCS inop! Descent thrusters inop! Recycling now!"
"Nav computer offline!"
"Phoenix is off profile!"
Trying to make sense of what he was seeing, Starswirl called out to Selene. "Phoenix, this is Appleoosa, how do you copy?"
Orion snapped to Thruster's console like a lightning bolt, his commands instantly cutting through the commotion. "Talk to me, everyone. Thruster, what happened?"
"Electrical surge, sir. It just kicked all flight control and guidance offline."
"That EM radiation just spiked, sir," Fresh Air reported.
Guiding Light was next. "Phoenix is drifting. Selene's at seven hundred feet, descent is at three zero zero feet per minute and accelerating. Starting to pitch foward."
Fear flooding through his veins, Starswirl tried again. "Phoenix, Appleoosa. How copy?"
"Electrical surge..." Orion stated to noone in paticular, "must have kicked off the breakers. Main and emergency buses. Starswirl, can you reach Sunny? Ask her if she's got comms with Selene."
"Solaria, Appleoosa. Can you raise Phoenix?"
"Five hundred feet! Horizontal drift increasing."
The room was silent for a second, then Sunny's voice came through. "CAPCOM, Solaria. I have her. What's going on, Starswirl?"
"Electrical failure. We need her to reset breakers on buses, standby..." He looked to Orion as the director and Thruster hunched over a diagram, bouncing ideas back and forth and rapidly scribbling notes. A second later, Orion rushed to Starswirl's Capsule Communications desk. Spreading out a diagram of the lander's electrical system, he pointed to several circuit breakers circled in red pen. "Relay to Phoenix: reset breakers six-delta-nineteen, eight-mike-four, and two-alpha-one. Should get her at least backup RCS online."
"Six-delta-nineteen, eight-mike-four, two-alpha-one, copy. Relaying now." Sunny went silent as she switched to her short-range radio.
A pregnant pause. Everyone waited on baited breath to hear back from the two astronauts. The room was dead silent, except for the beeping displays and Guiding Light's warning call of "Three hundred!"
The entire room exhaled collectively as Selene's voice broke through the static. "CAPCOM, Phoenix is up. Descent engine offline, ascent engine offline, primary RCS offline, nav offline. Two zero zero and dropping."
Even as she spoke, Orion was already scribbling notes and handing them to Starswirl. Thruster and Guiding Light rattled off steps to correct the stricken lander's faults. Starswirl took the sheaf of paper. "Selene, we need you to reset breakers six-oscar-eleven and four-quebec-one. Then recycle the flight control computer, that should bring your engine online and let you brake."
"One hundred!"
"Six-oscar-eleven, four-quebec-one, recycle FCC. Phoenix copies, breakers reset. Computer recycling now. Seven-five and dropping."
Everyone's eyes were glued to the display screen, unable to look away as the lander's powerplant began to reset itself.
"Fifty feet!"
"FCC online. Warming up engine, bracing for impact."
Starswirl's mouth went dry. "Good luck," he wispered to his friend under his breath.
"Engine green, throttling up n--oh shi--"*ksssst*
Nothing but static. Starswirl felt bile rise in his throat.
"Impact Alarm, Phoenix has made contact with lunar surface," a voice rang out. He couldn't tell who. The people around him seemed dimmed out, like he was underwater. He keyed his mic with shaking hands.
"Phoenix, Appleoosa, check in. Do you read?"
A voice crackled over the airwaves, catching everyone by suprise. However, it wasn't Selene's. "Sel, a-are you there? Selene? ...Sister?"
"...not one moment of doubt for these heroes, and the brave men and women at NASA working tirelessly in the face of devastation to safely bring Sunny home. I speak now directly to our explorers above. Sunny Skies, you have faced tragedy the likes of which I cannot begin to comprehend. I, and the nation, wish you a safe and swift return home. The United States will stand beside you in your time of grief. Selene Skies. By now, you know there will be no rescue. No words I can offer will change or soften that fact. But know this, today you have broken the boundaries of what mankind once thought to be the very limit of possibility. Your sacrifice will be remembered, and it will not be in vain. Thanks to you, every human that looks up at the stars until the end of time shall know that there is some small part of Olympus that humanity calls home."
"I am sorry, but there will be no questions at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, good night and God bless America."