Starshot: Star Speaker

by Tums Festival

A Planet of Ice and Very Hot Sand

Chapter Image

"This party feels like one with too much apple cider," Luna said, her stomach tossing and turning like a ship within a hurricane.

Despite her team being securely strapped in within the dropship's transport bay, just the act of exiting the launch bay into the void of space was harrowing to say the least. Matters only got worse after they entered the vacuum. Every few seconds, the ship would forcibly shift its course, like it was unsure where to go.

"Perhaps asking for Rainbow's help wasn't the best idea after all," Doctor Whooves groaned, his cheeks puffed out as if he were about to hurl. “Maybe we should have just risked landing the ship.”

“Relax, doctor,” Tempest said, somehow keeping completely calm. “I’m sure this is all par the cour--”

"Heh, sorry about the, uh, chop," the intercom from the cockpit suddenly blared in Rainbow's voice. "Just some minor, er… technical difficulties. Give us a second."

“Or not,” Tempest blinked.

"Oh dear," Doctor Whooves began in a slightly panicked tone. "If we die out here, I just want to say that it’s been a pleasure; a most excellent adventure overall! I am proud to have spent it with all of you!"

--

"Okidoke, so this is turning out to be a bogus journey," Scootaloo gulped, strapped into one of the cockpit harnesses next to Rainbow. With a strained look in her eyes, she somewhat awkwardly adjusted the throttle, forcing the ship into another sharp course correction.

"Easy there, Scoots," Rainbow said. "We aren't facing the music, yet."

"B-But this isn't like the training program," Scootaloo cried. "The controls are so much more sensitive! Then there’s the g-forces and the--"

"Relax, buddy, relax," Rainbow said again. She wanted nothing more to reach over to give her a reassuring pat, but her harness wouldn't allow it. "We're clear of the ship, so there's no problem with getting used to things, okay? Nothing for us to run into. Worst thing that can happen right now is a few rough stomachs, but we’ll get over it."

"True, true," Scootaloo said, taking a series of deep breaths, before finally glancing away from her controls for the first time and out the cockpit window. "Woah."

Rainbow looked up as well. “Heh, woah is right.”

Planet Oddball loomed before them, and though they had seen it before out the Starshot's windows, something about seeing it in the position they were now made it all the more amazing.

"It's beautiful!" Scootaloo said in wonder.

"I'll say!" Rainbow laughed. "Definitely wasn't expecting this kind of sight last week. Or any week, really. Now, what's say we take a closer look?"

"Let's do it!" Scootaloo said, a restored note of confidence in her tone.

"Awesome possum," Rainbow grinned, before looking over the console before her. "Kay, Scoots, you have the ship control thing…"

"Throttle," Scootaloo said.

"Right, the stick,” Rainbow said. "Dropship computer’s saying we need to plot a course into orbit then slowly descend."

"'Don't go straight down, that's how you smack the ground,'" Scootaloo said, reciting an apparently self-created mantra. She then smirked over to Rainbow. "So what's our vector, Victor?"

"Hah, that's the spirit!" Rainbow cheered. "Computer says we need to set course 10 mark 15 degrees for now and get to a cruise speed of 4,335 KPH. We do one loop around the planet then we'll be at the waypoint. Should only need to adjust the vector slightly."

"R-Right," Scootaloo gulped. "Setting course…"

"And remember, don't fret too much," Rainbow smiled. "The computer will tell us if we're doing things wrong, remember?"

"That's true," Scootaloo said, relaxing once again. "Heh, guess I just needed a second for the training to come back to me, you know?"

"You're doing great, squirt," Rainbow smiled. "And as a bonus, keep this in mind: even in this brick, we're still going to be going faster than any pegasus ever has. That includes yours truly, by the way."

"Heh, that’s true," she beamed, before narrowing her eyes in determination as she adjusted the throttle. "Hah! Got it. In the pipe, five by five."

Rainbow blinked. “Scoots, uh, what does that mean again?”

Scootaloo thought for a second, then shrugged. “Dunno. It just sounds cool.”

--

Much to the passengers’ relief, the ship soon stabilized its course... somewhat. And now that they didn’t have to concentrate on not throwing up, it actually afforded them a chance to enjoy the sights. Out of the rear window of the dropship, they could see the Starshot in its home environment of space for the first time. It was somewhat ironic that despite spending the last week inside it, they hadn’t had a chance to see it in full until now.

Though it was hard to tell at the moment without a frame of reference, Luna knew from memory that the triangular vessel was indeed massive, ten times larger than the largest airship on Equis. This was so large that she was still surprised they had a crew big enough to operate it. Yet so far they had succeeded in at least moving it to where they needed it moved.

The current view of it was also the first time it looked so… imposing. Whether it was because she now knew it was armed with a multitude of highly destructive weaponry or if it was simply the sight of seeing something so large hovering high above a planet, she didn’t know. What she did know is that it was now a far cry from the almost innocent curiosity that was supposed to serve as a museum on the outskirts of Ponyville.

As the ship approached ‘Planet Oddball’, their attention became focused on it instead. The contrast between its dark and light side was being made more and more apparent, as well as the menacing clouds that were twisting over the ‘terminator zone’.

“Could you imagine that?” Doctor Whooves said. “Living on such a planet? The only place you could call home being a perpetual, wind-swept strip of land?”

“Do you think anycreature could live down there at all, doc?” Derpy asked.

“If you mean native life, I couldn’t speculate all too much,” Doctor Whooves said. “We still don’t know exactly how life came about on our own world. That being said, there are certain species I could see living in such a place if they were, say, transplanted there. Perhaps even thrive.”

“So it is possible there could be alien life down there,” Tempest stated.

Doctor Whooves chuckled. “Ms. Shadow, if there’s one thing my friends in the biology field always like to say, it’s that whether it’s in the deepest, darkest, caves or upon the highest mountain peaks, life tends to find a way.”

“Alright, everypony,” Rainbow squawked through the intercom. “We’re about to hit the upper atmosphere, so get ready for a ride!”

Rainbow wasn’t kidding. Because as soon as they began seeing clouds outside the side windows, the ship started to rumble. It wasn’t as chaotic as it was when Rainbow and Scootaloo were getting their bearings, but it certainly wasn’t a massage chair, either. And it was definitely rougher than when the Starshot had initially risen from Equis.

The rumbling only increased in intensity as they grew closer to the ground. Despite the terminator being wrapped with storms, both the night and day sides of the planets were completely clear. At first, this afforded them a view of a dark, near infinite glacial expanse, with jagged pieces of ice the size of Canterlot looming over the land. Then, after they crossed the terminator, growing closer and closer to the ground, they roared over a bleak, blazing desert similar in size, with not a single oasis to be seen.

“That desert makes Sonmambulus look like a tropical rainforest,” Doctor Whooves said, looking out the window in awe. “Like something out of that one novel.”

“With the giant worms?” Luna asked. “And the spice?”

“Yes!” Doctor Whooves nodded. “Just can’t put my hoof on the name.”

“Tremorers?” Tempest asked.

Doctor Whooves gave her a blank look.

“What?!” she said in an uncharacteristically defensive tone.

--

“Kay, scoots, final approach,” Rainbow said, her voice soaked with adrenaline. “But gosh dangit that was awesome!”

Scootaloo, in turn, was breathing heavily, though her voice was filled with more excitement than fear when she replied: “I’ll say! We’re flying above another planet! Another! Planet! Hah! Hard to put it in words. Guess I’ll have to make up my own. Mmm… how about awesomesaurus?!”

“Works for me,” Rainbow grinned. “I just wish Twilight were here to see this. Or maybe not, she’d probably have a nerd-joy induced aneurysm.“

“A wah?” Scootaloo blinked.

“Nevermind,” Rainbow chuckled, before trying to compose herself. “Anyway, concentration time. Ease up on the throttle a little. We’re close to the waypoint. Once we hit the storm band again, just keep slowly drifting down and let the computer guide us in.”

“Right,” Scootaloo nodded, looking out the window for a brief second once more.

Once again, they were approaching the equatorial band of clouds, though this time at a much lower angle. Their dark, black forms tossed and turned on the horizon like angry demons.

“Wow, the storms aren’t like anything back home, are they?” Scootaloo said in wonder. “They’re like the size of Equestria! Would pegasi even have a chance of doing anything with them?”

“Maybe if every pegasi in Equestria teamed up,” Rainbow laughed. “But even then, I dunno, Scoots.” She smiled at a distant memory. “Heh. I remember thinking the Everfree Forest was wild. Don’t tell anypony, but I was actually kind of afraid of it at one point. But this… this is like a planet-sized version of it.”

“Speaking of that…” Scootaloo said, gesturing ahead. “Take a deep breath! We’re going in!” She bounced excitedly. “Hehe. I’ve been wanting to say that!”

Soon, they were flying under it, rain pelting the hull of the dropship and thunder crackling around them. The rain eventually became so dense that they couldn’t even see out the window. They were forced to rely on the three-dimensional map the computer was providing.

“I’m really glad I did the rough weather training a few times now!” Scootaloo squeaked.

“Just keep looking back at it and we’ll be fine,” Rainbow nodded. “That’s what Spitfire always told us to do: hold your training true and it’ll see you through.”

Scootaloo nodded, before slowly retracting her throttle more and more over time.

“Keep easing us downward, Scoots,” Rainbow said. “Slower... Mind that plateau. Good. One klick… point five klicks… annnnd…”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “Woah.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, looking up from her console for a second and back out the formerly clouded window. Though it was still fairly hard to see, there was no mistaking the sight of the crashed vessel before them, wedged between two cliffs.

Rainbow had expected to see something like this, but what she didn’t expect was the look of the ship.

“Scoots…”

“Yeah?”

“Is it just me or does…” Rainbow furrowed her brow. “Does that thing look like a smaller version of the Starshot?”

“I…” Scootaloo blinked. “Huh.”

“Eh, nevermind,” Rainbow grunted. “Let’s just concentrate on landing. I think this is a good enough spot. Now, nice and easy…”

--

Yet despite all indications, the dropship descending from the misty skies did not settle to the ground unnoticed. Just as those within it gazed upon the ship, something aboard it gazed back at them. It was a shadow lingering at one of its many windows; one wearing curious, even excited eyes.

Brilliant, green eyes.

“So, it wasn’t just an illusion of that wretched light,” the figure whispered to itself, though with an air of unhinged manicy. “After all these years, you come at long last. And even better, you’ve brought gifts! Putrid gifts - tainted by starlight and ancient filth, no doubt - but gifts nonetheless.”

A great, ghostly, sharp-toothed grin formed upon the shadow’s ‘face’. “The Deep Ones will be pleased, my love. Oh so very pleased. Together we will embrace the void, and dance upon dead woodland leaves.”

Comments

[Steakthedog]

“With the giant worms?” Luna asked. “And the spice?”

Dune?

[Booster Spice]

Uhoh. No problems getting down, because the dice are saving it all up for the boss event?

[BleuBlooms]

I sensing old god? That probably wiped out live on other worlds? Im not going lie I did not expect that.

[Jphyper]

Wait... These ponies find themselves lost and marooned after boarding a ship for a three-hour tour? There's something very familiar about this setup...

[Scyphi]

“Is it just me or does…” Rainbow furrowed her brow. “Does that thing look like a smaller version of the Starshot?”

Yeah, I was afraid of that...whatever brought that ship down, I can't help but think they're not going to like it. It definitely wasn't anything good.

And--oh yeah!--they've got company awaiting for them to boot.

[Kris Overstreet]

How large is this planet? 4,335 KPH is nowhere remotely close to orbital velocity for an Earth-sized planet, but it's also too fast for sustained atmospheric flight. It's 1.2 kilometers per second... and orbital velocity at lowest stable orbit (200 km) around Earth is 7.8 km/s.

Also, "platough" is spelled "plateau".

[Tums Festival]

10467981

Good catch with the spellcheck. As for the size, I'd say slightly smaller than Earth. And the speed, while I try to keep things as scientifically accurate where I can (at least in regards to the aspects that aren't just flat-out fantasy), I'm no expert in any scientific field. I'm a science enthusiast more than anything. I have only a vague idea about how you would land a spacecraft on Earth, let alone a tidally locked alien world.

[Orange Glass]

I'm surprised they haven't asked the computer what it all has on the cargo. And hoping for a galaxy map as well, if anyone going to find that is has to be derpy

[Kris Overstreet]

10468006 Gravity is gravity and atmosphere is atmosphere, so those things will be similar. The two big concerns are planetary rotation and the storm tops. Hypersonic speeds through clouds are Not Advisable. And a tidally locked planet means you need more deceleration to land and require a lot more delta-V to get back to orbit. (On Earth, rockets launching from Cape Canaveral get about 900 meters per second head start towards orbital velocity because of rotational momentum. Oddball won't have that.) But since you've got a hyper-tech shuttlecraft, all of that can be hand-waved unless you need a conflict point.

[Alondro]

And then it turns out to be a tar monster named Armus that kills Tasha Yar… but nobody really cares that much anyway.

[Pascoite]

10467981

it's also too fast for sustained atmospheric flight

Why would you think that? Just assuming Earth's air chemistry for convenience, and taking a stab at the atmosphere there being about 120 C (thus the need for heat-resistant environment suits), that's around Mach 1.4. At 0 C, it's about Mach 1.7. What's unsustainable about that for a ship like this? (I'm an aerospace engineer, so this is right up my alley.)