Bellamy was standing with Clarke, running over the plans one more time.
"Bellamy.. I just wanted to thank you. For all you have done.." Clarke started.
Bellamy shook his head, "Why does it sound like you're telling me goodbye?" He asked worried.
"I just need you to know, just in case something happens. You need to know that I appreciate all you have done, all the times you have saved me. I may not have agreed with your ways in the beginning, but I see now, you did all that you could for your sister, for me. I admire that" Clarke smiled.
Bellamy was going to protest her morbid speech when the sound of sparks followed by Raven's "No! Damn it!" filled the lab.
Bellamy, Clarke and the rest of the crew rushed over to view inside the cockpit.
"What's going on?" Bellamy asked, his deep voice coming out filled with worry.
"We are pushing too hard, we don't have enough time.." Raven groaned.
"What's going on?" Harper asked in a scared tone, Raven raised her hand, "Wait... Computer! Systems check"
The hum of the machine cooed to life and it began, "Launch system, optimal. Navigation system, optimal. Life-support system..assessing damage."
Raven looked up to the worried group, "That's okay, we're using supplemental anyway.."
The computer continued, "All life-support systems are offline. Landing system, optimal. Communication system, assessing damage."
There was a long pause before the reality of their situation set in. "All communication systems are offline.." And there it was.
Raven gave out an aggravated huff, "Computer, recommend repair options.." She waited.
Harper chimed in, "Who cares? There is no one to talk to anyway.." Raven gave her a side eye, waiting for the machines response.
"Damage is beyond repair. Total system replacement required".
Raven shook her head, "No, no, no!" she pushed off from where she was sitting and climbed out of the cockpit, everyone else followed.
"Hey, wait. What the hell is going on?" Bellamy asked as Raven paced the floors.
Raven grabbed the small tablet, looking over things. "We aren't going anywhere.." she mumbled in defeat.
"Wait, what do you mean? Raven what's going on?" Clarke chimed in.
"It's simple, there's no power in the ring. Two minutes ago I thought it wouldn't be a problem. Because I could activate it remotely over the rockets comm system.." Raven explained.
"So we turn the power on from the inside" Bellamy offered.
Raven shook her head, "No, we can't get inside. That's the point. With no power, we can't even open the damn hangar door!"
Clarke stepped up, placing a reassuring hand on Ravens shoulder. "Raven, think. You have solved bigger problems than this before"
Raven backed up, shaking her head as she sat down on the steps. "Yeah, not in 53 minutes" again, her voice cracked with defeat.
Clarke gave Bellamy a look, this was time for one of his big motivational speeches.
Bellamy stepped up, kneeling down in front of Raven so they were eye to eye.
"I can't do this, I can't. I mean, maybe if Alie was still frying up my brain! But I can't do this on my own.." tears were starting to sting her eyes.
"Yes, you can, Raven. You can do this. I know you can. You have saved our asses too many times to count, even before we knew anything about Alie..." Bellamys voice was deep but calming, it sparked an idea in Raven and she perked up.
"That's it... Alie. She was on the Ark.." She stood and began pacing.
She could tell the hesitation on Clarkes face.
"We have a freaking Satellite!" Raven paused, "I'll explain on the way. Harper, Echo, Emori, you three back in the cockpit and finish those restraints. Bellamy, Clarke, suit up and come with me"
As they headed out the door, Raven began to explain to Bellamy and Clarke how all of this would work and what exactly they would need to do.
Once outside, they were getting the gear ready when they were interrupted.
John gave a huff as he struggled to carry the heavy machine, "Murphy, Hey Murphy!" Bellamy called out and rushed over to help him.
"Where the hell is Monty?" Bellamy asked.
John shook his head, struggling to catch his breath. "He had to take his gloves off, he got exposed and he passed out..I had to leave him. Look if we hurry, we can get to him" he turned and started to head back to where he left Monty.
Bellamy gave Clarke a look and she nodded, "I can do this. Go" she said.
Bellamy hesitated, not wanting to leave Clarke.
"Come on, we gotta go!" Murphy called back to Bellamy.
"I can do this. Bellamy, hurry." she gave him a nod, sending him off.
Once they were out of sight, Raven stepped closer to Clarke.
"You have to leave that tower with 10 minutes on the clock or you will be left behind.." Raven trailed off and Clarke gave her a small smile with a nod, she understood exactly what that meant.
Raven struggled to bring the machine back inside on her own, "Hey! A little help here!" she called out.
Harper and Emori came running, helping her with carrying the machine.
It finally set in with them, "Where is Monty?" Harper asked, "And John?" Emori added.
"Something happened with Monty, they went back to get him. They will be fine" Raven assured.
Emori and Harper exchanged looks.
"Oh no, no we don't have time for this. We have to finish things up so we can launch. They will be fine, let's go" Raven spoke with urgency.
The girls let out a sigh and continued to help Raven set everything up.
Raven looked around for a minute, "Wait, where is Echo?" both Harper and Emori shrugged.
"Echo! Echo where the hell are you?" Raven called out. With no response, she huffed, getting back to work.
Echo was around the corner, out of sight. She could hear Raven calling for her, but she wasn't going to answer.
She didn't belong here, she wasn't meant to be saved. She raised her hands to her face, smearing the white paint in a pattern on her face.
"Gon ai Kru.." She whispered to herself, meaning 'For my people'. She was settled on it, she wouldn't be going up with them.
Monty was dazed, his vision blurry when he came back around. He blinked a few times until he could barely see what time he had left.
He tried to stand, taking a step and stumbling back to his knees.
"There he is!" the familiar voice called out as Bellamy and John rushed over to him.
Monty threw his arms around Bellamy, hugging him.
"Oh yeah, of course he gets the hug" John teased.
Monty looked up to John, "You took the machine back and left me.." Monty trailed off, John started to defend himself, but before he continued, Monty threw his arms around him and hugged him. "Thank you.." Monty said.
"Yeah, yeah. You're gonna have 5 long years ahead of us to thank me. We gotta go".
John and Bellamy took a hold of Monty, helping him back to the lab.
Clarke made her way to the tower and began the work that Raven had left for her. Following each step perfectly, she checked it twice over to make sure she did everything correctly.. but it didn't work. The machine began to repeat, "Dish not aligned." over and over.
"No, no.." She spoke out loud, trying to figure out her best solution. She pulled out her radio, clicking in the button, "Raven..we have a problem.." She started.
The buzz of the radio is what caught Echos attention. She was on her way to sneak away from the lab when she heard Ravens radio.
She heard Clarke's voice and stopped to listen.
"I did everything you said, I don't know what went wrong.." She stopped, looking over the box. She noticed the printed instructions on manual operation. She knew exactly what this meant. She checked the clock on her wrist, knowing she wouldn't have enough time to get back.
"I bear it, so they don't have to.." She whispered to herself, taking a deep breath.
She clicked in the radio again, "Raven.." she started "Bellamy, I hope you can hear me. I'm sorry. Do not wait for me". She let go of the button and looked up to the long climb she had ahead of her.
Bellamy and John got Monty safely back inside the lab, passing him off to Harper who was going to tend to him.
"Come on, we need to finish up. We don't have much time." Raven instructed. Bellamy looked around, "No wait. Where is Clarke?" He asked.
Emori gave Bellamy a sad look, shaking her head. "She hasn't come back yet.."
Bellamy looked to John then to Raven before looking down to see how much time she had left to get back.
"Bellamy no..you can't" John started.
"Murphy.." Bellamy placed a hand on his shoulder, "You make sure that Raven is ready to go when we get back. I mean it" Bellamy turned and took off towards the door, ignoring Raven's calls for him not to.
But Bellamy wasn't the only one going after Clarke. Echo was a good ways in front of him, after hearing her over the radio.
Clarke had made it only a few feet up her climb before Echo reached her.
"Clarke! Wait!" Echo called up to her.
Clarke let out a frustrated huff as she looked down, "Echo, go back. I can do this".
She started to climb back down, hopping back down on the ground. She gave Echo a look.
"I can do this, you need to go back." Clarke pushed.
Echo stood her ground. "No, I will not let you sacrifice yourself. Your people need you. He needs you"
As if on command, Bellamy caught up with them. Worriedly checking their time once again.
"Come on, we need to go" He called out as he approached them.
Clarke gave him a look.
"What, what's wrong?" He shook his head.
"The Sat..it needs to be manually aligned. Bellamy, you need to take Echo back and get in that rocket." Clarke's voice broke slightly.
"Like hell I will!" He grabbed a hold of her hand, "You're not leaving me. Not again. Raven will find a way." He started to pull Clarke with him,
"I can do it.." Echo chimed in. "Tell me what exactly needs to be done and I can do it" She said with confidence.
"No, I am not leaving you either!" Bellamy's voice came out slightly angry.
"No Bellamy! Go! Go back to the Sky where you belong. This, this is where I belong.." Echos eyes started to fill with tears, but she blinked them away.
"No, Echo. You do this, you die. You know that" Bellamy pushed.
"I betrayed you! Why are you trying to save me? Let me do this, let me save you. I need to redeem myself. For him" She bit the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling, she was named a coward already, she would not die looking like one.
Bellamy looked to Clarke, looking for her guidance.
"This is how we save our people.." She said quietly, repeating the words she had heard so much in the past few days.
Echo stood strong, knowing this was what she had to do.
Bellamy was still hesitating, but stepped aside. Clarke began to explain exactly what would need to be done.
"Thank you for this.." Clarke said, putting on her best brave face.
"Thank you, for giving me this second chance." Echo said proudly.
Bellamy looked to her, without saying a word he hugged her tightly.
"Roan would be proud.." He offered before letting her go.
Echo watched as they disappeared back towards the lab.
Once inside, they rushed towards the rocket and climbed inside.
Raven gave a confused look, "Where is Echo?" She asked.
Bellamy looked down, so Clarke chimed in for him, "She's not coming..."
Everyone looked around to each other, giving sad looks.
It was a hard thing to come to, but they knew it was what had to be done, they were out of time.
So they shut the door to the rocket and began the preparations for launch.
"Opening launch door" Raven started, the release of the doors sounded in the lab which brought a slight glimmer of hope to them.
Raven looked to Bellamy who was staring at the closed door, "Are you sure about his?" She asked.
He kept staring, "It's the only choice..."
Raven gave a slight nod and continued, "Initiating countdown.."
The machine chimed in, "Go for launch in T-Minus 10, 9.." It continued to count down. Harper braced herself, clinging to her restraints.
Emori looked to John, he gave her a small smile.
Clarke looked over to Bellamy and they locked eyes, he was searching for any amount of comfort in her that he could find after leaving his friend behind. She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it.
The countdown finished and the rocket began to shake a bit as they started on their way.
Bellamy closed his eyes, "May we meet again.." He whispered, holding tighter to Clarkes hand.
About half way in her climb, Echo saw the rocket, making it's way to the sky, she smiled to herself.
Once she made it to the top of the tower, she began struggling through the commands that Clarke gave her.
Reaching up higher, she struggled to move the satellite into a position where it would be clear to go. She tilted it a few ways, looking down to the tablet to check if it was proper or not.
The tablet began to repeat, "Dish aligned" over and over and she laughed, feeling proud of herself.
She hopped back down and pressed send, giving her friend and the others, a chance to survive.
She looked out over the horizon, seeing that Praimfaya was quickly approaching her.
She couldn't help but laugh in the face of it, "Gon ai Haihefa" 'For my King', she exclaimed proudly. Smiling in the face of death.
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R & R are always appreciated :) I may continue this story line, depending on feedback :)
