Spoiler: Captain's Log - Day 5 My crew has become settled in quicker than I originally predicted. Both Port and Starboard Decks are set up and settled, and our final crew counts have been finished. 52 ponies, 15 griffons, 5 dragons, and 9 changelings... that we know of. This leaves us 12 open beds that I'm not comfortable with, so I've coordinated them all to the same back area of the 3rd deck. Our seekers are currently working their magic with the Space Ripper Drive, while our mechanics are working tirelessly to make sure every seam of our Purium Engine is intact so it can withstand the jump through Torn Space. While Violet Dream assures me no harm will come to it in Torn Space, I've seen technology and magic pull away from each other before... and while I don't quite understand what goes on inside of the equipment, I know that safety never hurt anypony... and I need to earn the trust of my crew if we're to be successful in finding the Ultimate Magic. Our first destination is a point in space where we've detected high energy radiations which the seekers believe could be magic. Could be. Or not. We shall see, and either result will allow us to gain a greater understanding of what we all seek out. Welcome to the Mysterious, crew! The ship shadows much of Equestria from its position in the upper atmosphere. The launch from the space port was made a few hours ago, but there's still a feeling like a haze, almost like all this is an awesome dream for some of the stargazers now finally in the air. A special feeling of euphoria was with those who didn't have natural wings to begin with. The ship has quarters on the 1st and the 3rd floor. The quarters on the 1st floor are personal, while each room on the 3rd floor is shared. Our Security and Seekers have their crew quarters on Starboard, 3rd floor. Scouts and Staff are on Portside of the 3rd floor. Technicians and Bridge Crew have large rooms on the upper deck of the ship, supplying them with personal workbenches. The quarters on the 1st floor are bigger than most of the other crew quarters. The ship has 12 crystal-powered cannons that can be controlled two at a time from the 3rd floor by Security only. There are also two launcher bays for emergency crystal missile launches. This is also one underside dome rotational blaster on the underside of the ship, accessed from the 1st floor. From the 1st floor, there is engine access for Technicians with the main engine at the aft, and two thruster extentions at Starboard and Portside like wings. Important technical ship functions also exist on the aft of the 2nd floor. The Space Ripper Drive is accessable from the third floor at the aft, where Seekers have access. The Observation Deck is on the third floor with a wide view. Primary Bridge is on the 1st floor, while Tactical Bridge is on the 2nd floor. Briefing rooms, med bay, mess hall, kitchen, gymnasium, community restrooms, computer terminals, equipment storage and armory are all on the second floor. Wings was in the chamber of the Space Ripper Drive. This was a large circular room on the third floor above the engine. The drive was a large metallic cyllinder with clear round orbs in key locations all around it. When a unicorn, (or otherwise magically capable being like Wings,) focused their Magic upon one of the orbs, it began to fill with energy, which then transfered to power lines that cris-cross all over the large cylinder that made up the drive. The energy lines slipped away quickly, and were only increasing in the speed of their dissipation. This caused the seekers to focus harder, and with much less pause. It was really getting tired, even for Wings, who was one of the few changelings in there. It does... at least a little... allow him to feel like he was bonding with his crew mates in a way, even if the unicorns looked down on him for what he was. Cloud Chaser was among the rest of the technical crew. He was in particular working on the right wing thruster, running final diagnostics on the stability and control of the magical crystals that were powering the electronics on the ship. Something was causing them to react oddly, and reports of this strange activity was spreading across the communication channels. There were power fluxuations that the unicorn technicians were calling "crystal anxiety" but that seemed odd... they're just rocks. Right? Best to check the crystals set in the back thruster connections, just to be sure. Starry Vortex was on the main bridge, shadowing the senior navigator Tiny Nova, who was going over the steps of setting the course. It was something she had gotten to see in training, but actually seeing it happen was a much more enlightening experience. The destination for the ship was actually quite a distance away. With the power of the Space Ripper Drive, the ship was going to be able to skip through the atmospheric resistance and travel many light years through space to where they sought to go in a theoretical matter of minutes. The remainder of the crew was most likely on the observation deck... except Crackerjack who ended up doing his first repair job in one of the stallion's litrene sink. Apparently somepony forgot to seal up the drain pipe's seal on number 4 when they were building it. So of course, that meant taking that section off, putting a new rubber ring in and screwing it back in. From the observation deck, the crew could see the ship slowly flying through the clouds that occupied the upper atmosphere, which slid from the surface of the glass dome in a wisping manner. The watchers could also see ribbons of orange energy flowing over the surface of the ship itself, originating from a slowly growing ball of blackness that looked like a window into the stars, framed by a waving orange glow of power. The communication speakers made a short clicking sound, and then the captain's strong and commanding voice was heard, echoing throughout the ship: "Fillies... gentlecolts... mares and stallions... and our friendly dragons and griffons... today we mark a great day in history. Today we make the first leap into the great unknown, and the push to find the Ultimate Magic. I want to thank all of you onboard, for it is you who will make this all possible. I look forward to working with each one of you individually, to make this a successful mission... and to ensure that you can all return to the ones you leave behind this day. We are the ones who were selected, trained, and allowed to board... and let's make Equestria proud." The speaker system popped as the Captain took his hoof off the button. He looked at the viewport in front of the main bridge. "How long until the Space Ripper Drive is ready for use?" A purple scaled dragon on the bridge wearing a dark cloak slid a claw across the energy monitor. Justice, as he was known, was the main Seeker Liason on the bridge, at least at the moment. "Captain... the estimated time is less than ten minutes..." The Captain nodded, confirming that he heard the response.
Tiny Nova handed the navigation controls over to Starry after going through it. Void did it to see if Starry was paying attention. She moved it over to space quadrant Juliet sierra Victor 12 (JSV-12). She had gotten so used to using the phonetic alphabet in training so much it was now a part of her life. "Quadrant set, moving to sector co-ord plot". She then took another 3 minutes typing in the co-ordinates which void told her in briefing.
On the observation deck, there was a blue-scaled, green eyed dragon pressing her face against the glass window, trying to see everything possible. As the clouds whooshed by, she said to no one in particular, "Like, Gee See Emm... This is, like, so cool! Evening Breeze is, like, missing all of this, and, like, she would be, like, totally floored to see this!" She peeled herself off of the glass and spun around, like a foal playing in a meadow, arms outstretched. After nearly falling over, she addressed the others on the observation deck. "Isn't this, like, the coolest think, like EVER? This is totally the coolest thing ever! We're, like, the very first to ever, like, ever do anything even remotely like this. EVER! How cool is that?! Like, so cool!"
Light Showers stared out the observation deck windows like so many others, but unlike many who were doing so, he was thinking about all the potential things that could go wrong and require his services as a doctor, from radiation exposure to falling down a flight of stairs. Resettling his saddlebag that contained most of his medical supplies (he always had them just in case), he thought also thought about all the potential medical breakthroughs that could be achieved in such a new environment, but that was later, right now he was about to witness true history...
"Sure, leave out the changelings...", wings muttered at the announcement, transferring more energy to the space ripper drive, already feeling greatly exhausted right after using his magics
"Yeah, good on you!" Crackerjack grumbled as he worked in the bathroom. "Those idiots on the land can't even install a simple toilet properly, they don't deserve recognition." Crackerjack fumbled around with his tools, moving the gargantuan chamber pot and performing much needed changes. Fed up with the whole thing, he shoved it together and simply got it done.
Bliss smiled at the excited dragon. She blew her blue hair out of her eyes, and wondered exactly where she could be of use. Finally, a little awkwardly, she stood up, and walked over to the dragon. "I take it you're excited?" she said, chuckling. She stared out the windows. "I wonder who's out there"
Spoiler: OOC I'm assuming that Bliss is in her unicorn form because of her "blue hair" Kazzie stared at the unicorn incredulously. "Well, duh I'm excited! This is only, like, the coolest hint to happen to me since...well, I dunno...the last coolest thing to happen to me, I guess..." She brushed her claw on her chest. "I don't mean to, like, brag and stuff, but cool things happen to me, like, all the time." She then turned her attention out the window toward where Bliss was staring. "I dunno... But I'm, like, totally guessing that it's going to be way cool." She grinned broadly at the unicorn. "Name's Kazzie, BTW." She wiped her paw on her hip and extended it toward her new friend. "Nicetameetcha. What's your name?"
A smile flashed across Bliss's face. "I'm Bliss." she said in returns shaking the claw with a white hoof. She thought about what Kazzie had said. "What do you mean, about exciting things happening to you all the time?" she asked, as a customary changeling-green color flashed across her eyes. (OOC: You assume correctly. In pony form, she's a unicorn. EDIT: Ah, now I understand! Yes, currently, she is in Unicorn form.)
Kazzie's eyes positively lit up at Bliss' question. She clasped her claws together as she replied, "Like, this one time, during the big signup for, like getting on here, I saw this, like, totally hunky dragon!" She shifted her weight back and forth, side to side, as she told her tale. "But, like, I couldn't get up the nerve to ask him his name... I felt like a total spazoid afterwards. But then my PFF, Evening Breeze, like, told me that maybe I'd like run into him on the ship. I mean, it's not like he can all, like, leave and stuff, right?" She then added, "There's, like, other cool stuff that happens, too, but that's the coolest thing that's happened up until I met you!"
Kazzie rubbed the back of her head with a claw. "Umm...well... [size=-2]no...[/size]" She thought for a few moments before asking, "Should we,like, go looking for him? Or would that be too stalkerish?"
Bliss shrugged. "I don't see why not. I mean, if we just happened to run into him on the ship, well, that wouldn't be our fault, would it?" she asked, grinning mischievously. She tossed her blue hair, and her eyes flashed green again as she continued. "Other than his.. erm.. strength... how would you describe him?"
After a long period of Calibrations, course finalizing and more calibrations. Starry got a 10 minute break. So she just started to talk with the other university graduates two of which she knew from the senior graduation party. They chatted for 6 minutes about school life before returning back to their stations; taking over their seniors who were having a quick before launch briefing.
Spoiler: Wings' Concentration 2d12 = 5,12 Reroll 5 = 9 9,12+Willpower Total of 29 Wings' attempts were certaintly not in vain! He saw the energy fire into the system, and he saw it sink away into the drive. Suddenly, it lit up brighter from the top, as a swirling beam of energy fired up from the drive and into the series of orange crystals above it. Spoiler: Crackerjack's Work 2d12 = 3, 7 Gettin' it Done = 8, 2 Total of 20 Crackerjack gets the pipe fittings into place with expert precision (and the target was actually 12, so you may have just gotten an achievement... with your first post...) and not a moment too soon. He felt the ship begin to rumble, and the seats on the toilets rattle from the shifting. He could hear a dominant mare's voice over the ship's speakers. "Space Rift Shift in three..." The gathering on the observation deck got a spectacle. Through the opening portal they could see more and more space. Stars flew past the view as it got bigger and bigger, and while the ship wasn't moving, the view from the orange-rimmed tear seemed to be soaring through space. "Two..." The hold grew like an ameoba, as the darkness filled the sky before them. All along the upper dome, streaks of orange began to thicken, starting to surround the ship in a magical bubble. The ship itself trembled under the massive power of magic running through it. In the distance of the view, those watching closely could see something larger in the distance. "One..." The orange energy began to seep through the hull of the ship, blocking out the view of the happenings outside. Panic began to take the ponies inside of the observation deck, as some of them cantered for the call station, but the large amount gathered made it hard to move through. Even in the litrene and the room of the Space Ripper drive can the ponies see the walls becoming enveloped in orange energy. "Engage!" Suddenly, everyone on board feels an internal pull, as interdimensional travel hits them. Like being stretched thin, and then rubber-banding back into place, such a strong pull gave most of the ponies vertigo. Those that stayed up suddenly fell forward against the glass in a large pile when the pull HALTED all of a sudden, sending many of the crew tumbling towards the front of the ship in their respective rooms. In the confusion and groans, with apologies and seperations going around, the ponies in the observation deck found themselves looking at a view of a massive metallic object. It had tube-like rings around it, and a central stem, with a large part like a mace that the rings were attached to. Its ominous presence in space was paired with a planet which didn't seem much bigger than it, bluish and red in color. In the chamber of the Space Ripper... Master Seeker Violet Dream picked herself up from the floor and looked over the device as all of the energy drained from it. Energy that had taken weeks... neigh, months to fill... and half of it was back on Equestria. She sighed heavily and amid the groans from the seekers on the floor she pressed the communicator. "Captain... the device looks like it's used all of its power. It'll take a while to get back up and running." "Work on it, but don't tire your crew out. We have a new location to explore, it appears." "Understood Captain." She turned to the rest of the seekers and nodded. "Go rest seekers... we've earned our day."
Starry and the rest of the bridge crew pulled themselves up from the floor. They then cheered, high hoofed and hugged as they looked at the vast blackness that was outer space. Though celebrations were short lived as Starry slid back on her chair next to her senior and got back to work on checking the map.
Wings jumped back when the crystals it, yelling,"gah!", for the fact he didn't know what to expect from the ship then stood up after falling,"ah have a feelin' ah'm not gonna like this ship..."
On the Bridge... After the general celebrations and commotions, Captain Venture clears his throat and goes back into a more regal posture as he turns towards the viewport before him, looking at the floating metallic construct. Some of its walls reflect the light of a nearby star off of its sides. "Tiny Nova, location report." The navigator taps along the touch screen and passes through a number of calculation programs as he states; "We appear to be in Star System 10-13, far beyond the outer belt. We've jumped a long way from home, sir." He looked like he was about to go on to mention more, but instead of give the Captain useless information, he just brought it up on his screen. Using their conventional engines, this trip would've taken them more than 40 years to accomplish. He looked back at Starry for a moment. "Justice, are we close to the signal?" The cloaked dragon holds his serious look as he starts to tap away with his claws. "We've come near one of the larger signals reported. There is an energy source eminating from the structure before us. It is much smaller than the burst of energy recorded 8 years ago by our seeker station in Canterlot, however." "Still worth investigating." Captain Venture turned and looked around at the others, then to Officer Regal. "Regal, I want you to round up three investigation groups. You have the details. I want them to cover all needed skillsets." Regal Honor nods slightly, and turns to make his way from the bridge...
Starry vortex acknowledged Tiny nova's look. Waiting to see if she was about to say something. Though in the meantime she did some more sector scanning.
"Like, whoa!" was Kazzie's only intelligible reaction to the warp jump. Upon regaining her footing, she wobbled a bit, trying to regain her balance. "Like, whoa," she said again. "That was, like, one heck of a jostle. Are you, like, okay, Bliss?"
