7827: Replacing the standard SRBs with your propellant that would make everyone at the Otto Hain Institute orgasm is not okay!
7828: Phoenix, what have you done?!
7829: Phoenix, report to the Admiral's office.
7830: Phoenix is confined to her quarters both as a suitable punishment and to keep the shuttle girls from murdering her!
Phoenix cackled to herself as she slipped silently across the open field and down into the flame trench. Above her sat Columbia. Her fellow science!shipgirl sat vertical connected to her stack and she was sound asleep. Perfect! Phoenix set down the load she was carrying. A pair of boosters identical to the ones that currently loomed above her. The only difference was in the propellant. The standard SRBs used solid rocket fuel hence their name. But these would be using her own specially designed propellant. It burned at the same rate as the old stuff but gave off twice as much thrust! Quickly, she switched out the boosters, allowing herself a snicker as she carried the old ones away. Come morning, this was gonna be quite the show!
Launch day. Phoenix was among the crowd gathered to watch Columbia's second launch as a shipgirl and the fifth overall. Beside her stood fellow science!shipgirl South Dakota who was eyeing the cruiser knowingly and getting an affirmative nod in return. And Challenger, who had lead the way in the new program for shipgirls. All three turned their eyes to the clock.
"10 seconds." South Dakota read.
The crowd picked up the count. "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... LIFTOFF!"
All three girls cheered as Columbia made a flawless assent, clearing the tower and beginning the roll onto her back. And that's when Phoenix's new propellant began to change things. Challenger was the first to notice. "She's going a bit fast." She said.
"She'll be fine." Phoenix shrugged, not concerned. Of course, that's when all hell broke loose.
Due to the extra thrust on the boosters, Columbia still had too much speed going when she hit Max Q. Phoenix only realized this too late. "Ah shit." She cursed as Columbia half broke off the stack and half blew herself off, tumbling over backwards and heading head first for the ocean. "Fuck." Phoenix cursed again as she saw the splash. Challenger was looking at her with a murderous look in her eyes. Phoenix turned to South Dakota for support, and found none.
A quick trip to the Admiral's office saved her a pounding by Challenger only to receive a harsh grilling by the Admiral.
"You are confined to your quarters until further notice." Admiral Briggs said.
Phoenix only nodded, a small smile on her face as she began to walk away. The propellant worked fine, but she just needed a way to introduce a throttle down switch on the boosters. Then maybe...
"Your lab still counts as your quarters!" Admiral Briggs added. Phoenix couldn't sulk enough.
In the repair docks, Columbia could only groan at the final tally. 6 weeks! She was going to kill Phoenix when she got out. "I'm gonna kill that cruiser." She moaned.
Medusa ruffled her hair. "Phoenix is getting a suitable punishment from the Admiral and your sister is handling the rest." She assured her.
Between Briggs and Challenger, yeah Columbia could be satisfied with that. She leaned back, relaxing.