(I'll likely make this a two parter seeing as how it's so freaking long.)
Flight of Icarus Pt. 1
"What? When did this happen?" Alex demanded in the encrypted cellphone all Xcom personnel were equipped with. "I think we should cancel and I'll come back." He said.
"Oh no you will not!" Bradford's voice barked out from the receiver causing Alex to recoil slightly. "This launch is more important than you being here. We've got the situation well in hand here, Captain. For now you focus on flying, that is an order." With that Bradford promptly hung up.
"Well, I guess that settles that." Alex said dryly. He said this to nobody in particular as he handed the phone back to a technician. "I'm going forward."
"Alex. Vhat help vould you have to offer anyvay?" His phycian asked as he shaved a part of Alex's chest to where the bio-med sensor, one of the many, would go over his heart. Alex quickly sucked in some hair when a hair was pulled.
"Yeah, I suppose." The pilot admitted hesitantly. "My job is to fly crates, not hold a rifle." He said. "Heh. Actually I've never held a firearm in my life."
"See? You vould have been nothing but a hindrance to them." The doctor said as he finished shaving and stuck the sensor to Alex's chest. "Now son. Focus." He said, again.
"Alright. Alright!" He said.
Matthews was surprised when he came into the Interrogation section of the labs. Surprised at what he was seeing and how respectful the creature was. It had actually bowed to him when it saw him.
"So, has it told you anything?" He asked to Liesl.
"Nein. It only now has awoken. It's been unconscious for three days."
"Well, you can't blame Jackson for that. After all, it was trying to kill her." Matthews said. In fact he also had to ask Jackson to exactly how the devil she even go this thing here. That would be an interesting conversation no doubt about that.
"Alright. Get as much information from the thing as you can." Matthews said as he straightened his jacket. "I've got to get to Mission Control. Cody's gonna be taking off in about an hour."
Liesl watched as her husband turned and headed out the door. When the doors slid shut behind him she turned back to her subject. The creature was watching her as she approached. "Very well. Let us begin shall we?" She asked to her fellow scientists. She nodded and after flicking a few switches herself, she watched as the creature fidgeted when the two arms extended out of the walls. These two arms would each deliver 50,000 volts of electricity into the subject. And with recent upgrades, they could withstand several thousand pounds of force per square inch of either physical or psionic strength.
As it turned out, the Aliens, no matter the species, were highly susceptible to the, as the younger scientists called, 'tazers on steroids.' She found the analogy rather amusing and logical as the body would lock up as the nerves were temporarily and instantly paralyzed, much like a tazer.
Soon the arms began to glow and the serpent like being looked nervously at the arms. The being looked back at Liesl began shaking his head. Slowly the massive blast doors began to close and just before they slammed shut, Liesl gave the command. "Proceed."
When the first bolts hit her, Nara'Shuul felt like her whole body had been grabbed by an enormous and scalding hot hand and squeezed. Her body had failed to respond as the current ran through her. Then just like that it was over. She crumpled to the ground and after a moment began to shakily get back up.
And no sooner had she straightened she was hit again. Again she crumpled to the floor. Gritting her sharpened teeth together she almost wanted to stay down, vainly hoping that if she stayed down they would not electrocute her again.
It was here that she heard a beep in front of her. Slowly she looked up, still shaken, and saw letters in bold and deep green appearing before her. The language was not legible to her, but then a series of numbers began appearing as well. These should could understand.
The numbers were made out so she could understand them as they were a series of ones and zeros. It was in the language humans called Binary. It was obviously a translation of what the strange words said.
'If you understand either of these sentences, pressed the button on the right.'
Rapidly, almost in blind panic, Nara'Shuul crawled over and began rapidly smashing the holographic button. It was then the message disappeared. The wall beeped again and another message, both English and Binary appeared.
'Will you cooperate?'
Nara'Shuul was about to press the button when she had a thought. If she gave the humans what they wanted, what was to stop them from disposing of her? And instantly she began pressing both the yes and no buttons in rapid succession.
"What the hell is it doing?" A scientist asked as Ys and Ns began filling up his screen. Liesl came over and watched as the letters continued to appear. At first she had no idea what this being was doing.
Then it slowly dawned to her. The serpent was using Binary with the answer buttons. It was communicating with them. "Oh I understand now. Mein Gott. The Ys are the ones and the Ns are the zeros or visa versa. Dr. Zere?" She asked and stepped back so her colleague could translate.
The older man read the message as soon as the letters stopped appearing. After a moment of quick calculations he turned to Liesl.
"It is asking us what guarantees it has that we won't destroy it."
"This one is clever." Liesl said with little admiration. This being could think for itself and was good at it as well. It was genuinely concerned for it's own wellbeing and leery of any deals by what it might consider the enemy."
"Ask it what reason should we not destroy it?" She asked. The scientist began entering the code in and the computer converted it into binary and sent the message into the interrogation chamber.
Liesl watched as the serpent began reading the messaging and began rapidly button smashing the replies. She watched as the Ys and the Ns filled the scientist's screen again.
""Because...I...am...not...like...them." Zere said as he read the message as it was transmitted."My...people...are...not...different...from...yours...We...are...slaves...facing...destruction...everyday."
Liesl began considering this. If this creature was telling the truth, then the Ethereals were truly genocidal. They did not seemed to care what destruction they wrought. Just as long as their goals were achieved. The same callousness that they had witnessed in the war, if it had truly ever ended, was now showing in its own people.
She thought about this for a few more minutes. The Sectoids were cruel, the Thin Men sly, the Mutons brutal, the Ethereals apathetic. And yet this thing, this being, this sentient being that could think, could learn, could adapt and could feel, was afraid.
She looked at the screen again and as if by some cue, the serpent turned it's head so she was staring at Liesl, or the camera Liesl was using to watch it. As she stared into the red eyes, she could almost feel the pain, the fear and the distant and likely vain hope for just another tomorrow.
"Open the doors." Liesl said. "I want to see this creature with my own eyes." This was generally not like her. Normally she watched every specimen they've ever captured from the CCTV cameras inside the chamber. Though she was the boss and the scientists complied.
The metal doors trembled and parted revealing the surprised Alien before them. It watched Liesl carefully as she approached the glass. Sure enough when Liesl moved closer, she could see both curiosity, a rare thing in Aliens, and fear, even rarer. They said that the eyes never lied, and Liesl could tell this thing, this person, was telling the truth.
"Ask it if we don't destroy it, will it cooperate with us?" She listened to the scientist punching in the correct words and watched as the words and numbers began appearing on the glass before the Cobra, in reverse from Vahlen's perspective, and started reading it. She could see it's mouth moving slightly, likely saying the words softly in its own language, but the thick glass prevented virtually anything short of an explosion from escaping.
The Alien turned to Liesl and nodded. It then began rapidly punching the buttons before it. After a few moments, Zere told Liesl what the Binary translated to.
'What would you like to know?'
In all honesty, Alex had never been so frightened in all his life as he walked down the corridor of Baikonur. On either side of him were Xcom soldiers, they were his personal guard from any reporters, or in the worst case, attackers from getting too close to him. They were the last line of defense should anyone get through the Kazakhstani and Russian security and Special Forces respectively. After what happened in London, Matthews was not taking any chances on any Xcom personnel's safety outside the bases.
Though he was more worried about the massive rockets strapped to Icarus than anything else. These rocket would act as the boosters for her to get out of the atmosphere and would help save on fuel. A little fuel would be expended to get her up to and for course corrections aided by the on board computer.
Though it would not take as long as everyone thought it would. After displaying that Icarus could go just over mach 8, the operation to get there and to get back would be little over a month and a half. Xcom had been waiting for the right time to launch Icarus, and that time had been March. That would be when Mars and Earth would be closest and on the same side of the sun. Without gravity and friction, Icarus could safely go up to what would be Mach 9. And that would be approximately 164,376 everyday, 1,150,632 a week.
Still. The distance was approximately 48,000,000 miles away. So enough food was piled in for a man at rest and two meals a day for over a month with a week more stored in the craft when Cody actually touched down to explore and plant Mankind's flag. This would be accomplished by a suit that he could slid up over his flight suit that would allow him to safely exit. Medicine in case of any medical emergencies, oxygen for several months and battery life for the instruments, oxygen generator and the cameras.
Water was the biggest issue. It was calculated he could go one or even days at frequent intervals without water before any pain would experienced and that was to save water. Otherwise his ration was at total 1.5 liters a day. Cody could stretch this by drinking about a swallow or so every hour while awake. It would get hard but that was one of the latter stages of his conditioning, conditioning his body while at rest to take less water safely. He would be sure to drink more when he touched down.
Soon they reached the doors and Alex sighed as he stopped. "Well guys." He said and closed his tinted visor so as not to revel his identity. "Lets do this." He said as they opened up the doors.
Thankfully this time, he was not bombarded by questions by anxious reporters but camera men were still on either side of him. He was glad for the visor as it reduced the amount of light reached him.
He kept a decent stride as he headed down the long pathway laid out just for him. Strangely all he could think about was when he first applied to the academy back in Colorado Springs. He had only been 17 and had gotten both his parents permission to join. He chuckled as he remembered that both his parents had been in the Navy so this was a bit of far cry from what they wanted from him. Still, they had been and were now extremely proud of him. Outside of Xcom, they had been the only two people on Earth that knew of his mission.
Before long he was in the elevator on it's long journey up to the hatch inside, appropriately named, Daedalus. An upgraded Ariane 5 provided by the EU brought out of retirement, with much of the equipment built by the CNSA, with the craft itself carrying one Russian and two Finnish scientists up to the ISS, piggybacking an American and all western Mission Control Centers and Beijing's MCC coordinating with Xcom, this truly was an international mission.
Alex laughed a little bit. His Icarus was attached to the exterior hull of the Daedalus. It broke the streamline figure of the Ariane but her added weight and her frame wouldn't slow her down at all. Simulations and close to 1000 small scale tests were run almost since the idea of putting her on an Ariane just to get her in the right position to not affect center of gravity or lift.
He shook hands with the Russian crewmembers as the elevator stopped and they were let out. Alex would be let out further up into Icarus itself. They would have the boring assignment and he would get the glory. Not that he particularly cared. This whole thing was to uplift the species and provide it belief that mankind was not destined to remain on Earth forever. The secret aspect of this whole thing was to exodus Xcom, keep the eyes of the world off of them for a while and to eventually provide a front line of defense against another Alien incursion.
Alex sighed as the elevator reached his level and there before him, tucked safely and securely to Daedalus was his own Icarus. With a couple of Xcom technicians on either side of the hatch. Their job would be to ensure he is securely fastened in. Slowly he began walking towards his craft. With each step he took it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He could feel his hands sweating and it felt like time was slowing down.
Somehow he had managed to reach the hatch and after handing his Air Conditioner unit to the technician on his right, took hold of the arm on his chair and hopped in. He skillfully slid his legs to the pedals that would control his yaw and pitch. Once in, he simply put his arms on the chair arms and let the technicians go to work.
He felt one put his foot down on his shoulder gripped and pulled on the safety belt. It hurt when the technician's foot pushed painfully hard down on Alex's shoulder, then again as he tightened the other belt. Now he knew what the astronauts and cosmonauts felt.
"Lexi you're all set." The technician said after a while and shook Alex's hand. Nodding to the techie Alex turned and gazed back at his HUD. The technicians pulled back and he watched as the bubble shaped canopy, made up of three inches of tempered safety glass began to lower itself mechanically. Within 15 seconds it was fully closed and now Alex was left in mild silence. He could feel the vibrations as Daedalus was being ready.
"Xcom Central, Houston, Darmstadt, Korolyov, Baikonur. This is Icarus, how copy my signal." Alex said in the broadband.
"Central solid copy, Icarus." That was Bradford's voice.
"This is Houston. That's a good copy."
"Korolyov Control center. We hear you Comrade."
"Darmstadt Center. We read you."
"Beijing here. We are ready."
"This is Baikonur. We read you loud and clear."
Then he felt it. The vibration that indicated the fuel was being pumped in. As if in confirmation he heard Xcom Central say. "Fuel's being pumped in kiddo. This is it. A few bumps and the mail's being hauled."
"Yeah." Alex said chuckling. "And I'm the mail." He said as he made sure he was pressed firmly against his chair. After the shake down run, he knew they were about to pull some serious g-forces. Though he was not too worried, he laughed actually. Alex had not eaten anything yet today.
"We are go for launch. In 15 seconds." the launch tower said and began counting down.
"12. 11. 10. 9." The whole craft began vibrating and soon it became a violent shaking at the last three seconds.
"2. 1. Ignition!" There was a distant but deep booming noise beneath Alex. He could hear the support structure begin tearing itself away from the spacecraft with the sound of wrenching and tearing metal. The structure on above him began sliding past him at remarkable speed.
"We have lift off!"
At those words and the sight of the Ariane lifting heavenwards cheering broke out inside Central. Dozens of people who were not assigned to Icarus, namely soldiers, scientists and engineers who had worked so hard on this and many of the support staff watched the whole event on the big screen.
Shen took off his glasses as he watched as the ship he and his people spent almost 2 years of their lives building ascended with it's parent ship. That was a rare thing for him. His eyes almost looked misty.
Liesl tightened her grip with Matthew's hand and found herself smiling. "Come on baby. Come on." She heard him say quietly. The camera panned upwards as it tracked the massive rocket.
Off to the far left, watching was Fang Yin Fong. As she watched, Cody's parent vessel continue to race through the sky, she sighed enviously. This was precisely why she wanted to fly rather than train a ground force. She understood the reason for training the force, and Mathis Lambert, 'Honcho', Belgium, was taking to her training and he was a proven leader, but she was a bit selfish.
Still, the teaching was going well and she would soon leave it entirely in Honcho's hands. On that note, Shen, Vahlen and the Commanders had a surprise for them after the first stage of the launch was completed. She couldn't help but wonder at what that was.
"Roll complete. We are pitching." The pilot of Daedalus said over the radio and Alex felt like his stomach, though flattened by the g-forces was rising. This meant they were pitching forward. That way they would skim across the atmosphere to their destination. Though as soon as they reached the ISS, Alex would disconnect and be on his way.
At the though of disconnecting, he glanced over to his left and there, within arm's reach, was the 'Abort' lever. All he had to do was twist that thing and Icarus would perform an emergency disconnect and he would fly her back to CAR Xcom HQ. This was only in the event of an emergency.
Yet there so far did not seem any need to use it. The gimbals looked good, and the trim. Speed was increasing like they wanted. So far everything was right in line.
Before his eyes, the white clouds faded away and Alex beheld the vastness laid out to him. Stars filled his canopy as the weight began to slacken tremendously when he looked to his right. There the bright blue aura of the world seemed so bright. For a moment, just a moment, Alex swore he could see Heaven.
"I've been waiting for this moment my whole life."
Fang followed behind Shen and Matthews with Lambert right beside her. The Belgian was just under six feet tall and was actually pretty slender. Yet however frail he looked, he was actually and deceptively strong. He ran his hand through freshly cropped blonde hair as a sign of nerves as he walked behind the two senior officials.
"So, now that Cody is secure around ISS, what is in store for us?" He asked. Unlike Fang, Shen and Matthews, Lambert was in civilian clothes; blue jeans, brown combat boots, Xcom long sleeve OD shirt and lighter shade of OD vest.
"You'll see. It's something we've been working on for almost a year. It will be of great aid to you major." Shen said proudly. Lambert noticed that they were heading to the drydocks, the massive, biggest part of the base. Here the massive carrier Titan loomed. Her black and gunmetal grey shone brightly against the huge flood lights 500 feet up. Beside her was the transports Toolbox, Empire and Alahambra.
Despite the size of the ships, the transports actually could not hold that much. Perhaps, besides the crew, only about 200 people and 10 tons of cargo. Therefore it would take several trips. The first would be the massive barges cum transports would tow the carrier to her destination, the orbit of the moon Phobos which would also serve as a frontline base. There she would be finished and would patrol in an orbit outside Deimos.
And besides the four ships that took up at least half the dock, there were also half a dozen of the small Alien patrol disks that were first ships encountered in the war. They would also act as armed tugs for Titan. Also in the hanger were at least three dozen Firestorms tucked away in small alcoves with their ground crews lovingly maintaining them. In alcoves above them were the ten modified Interceptors now named Paladins, their most noticeable change was the 20mm vulcan gun under the nose.
Then they reached a pair steel doors. These were under guard by a pair of regular sergeants. They stood at attention when the four approached and when Matthews commanded, both sergeants opened a pair of panels that revealed number padded electronic locks. They both entered their respective codes, and both Matthews and Shen entered separate codes. This unlocked the doors and they began screeching as they slid to the sides. Shen smiled at their gapping mouths.
"Colonel Fong. Major Lambert. May I present, the Avenger."
