Alright first time writing a bit o E, let's see how it goes.
Through the brightly lit surroundings of the vehicle bay, Samuel made his way towards the gunship, the modular building having been designed as early as the 2200's to hold smaller, military-grade vehicles, suited for ground operations, it was never designed to hold jury-rigged spacecraft, and it showed. He stepped over the mechanized clutter that littered the vehicle bay, almost tripping on a sheet of duraframe plating as he maneuvered to the access hatch on the underside of the ships hull. He clambered inside, the internal atmosphere of the ship readjusting itself as the hatch closed, the ships internals coming to life as he practically crouch-walked the short distance to the cockpit, this flying brick was built for functionality, first and foremost, pilot comfort was not a priority as long as it wasn't too detrimental. He entered the cockpit, scooting past the pilots seat to get a better view of what he was working with, none of the three stationed at BERMUDOS-3 could exactly be called experienced pilots, so during the refitting of the former aircraft, they practically stripped the cockpit, making it as simple as possible. Little more than two joysticks along with the thrust control modules, an assortment of buttons situated on a panel right of the pilots seat designated for more complex actions, hardpoints, landing gear, internal/external lighting, countermeasures and the like. A child could pilot this thing, and they could do it well, he found himself grinning a bit at the irony. He sat himself down, the synthetic leather of the pilots seat contorting to fit his frame, the bulk of his APECS exosuit straining it slightly, the array of cameras built into the exterior of the canopy provided a total view of his surroundings, linking with each other to provide one clear image from the interior of the cockpit. He brushed some of his hair out of his eyes, flicking a switch on the panel to his right, the PM Generator that powered this monstrosity beginning to spin up and provide power to its main modules.
Two more switches, each corresponding with the energy-mass conversion chambers that provided material for the rather primitive hydrogen fusion thrusters that powered the ships movement, and a press of a button, the landing legs unclipped from the ground, retracting into the ships carapace before panels slid over their entry points, sealing them flush to the ship, it remained suspended, kept airborne by its KEIS microthrusters. Samuel took a deep breath, his induction into the Source Empires armies had him staffing a cruiser for about a year, he had found interest in its numerous hangar bays, occasionally stopping by during his free time to learn more about this little microcosm of their military, having learned a thing or two about piloting strike craft, he was the most experienced out of the three, but that wasn't saying much, different systems, different environment, different everything... He'd be fine, he thought to himself, after all the shit he's faced here on Briar, and the rugged construction of the gunship, pilot error was the least of his worries. The Raven, named so after the aircraft it was originally salvaged from, the AAX Raven 1, lurched forwards, its KEIS thrusters automatically readjusting themselves to keep the ship on a narrow, uninterrupted path. It exited the vehicle bay, Sam letting out a relieved sigh, the first hurdle was crossed, things would go much smoother from now on. Rising high above the compound, the island of Briar came into view, the improvised spacecraft going unnoticed by the uncaring crowds below, but a few newcomers turned their heads, either in awe, or in fear of the mechanical, airborne tank. "Takeoff successful, beginning approach to transverse point." The boy spoke, the ship automatically logging his words, the technology may have changed over the course of 3 centuries, but a black box was still a black box. He smoothly angled the nose of the craft up, at around a 45 degree angle, reaching for two switches on the panel that activated the energy-mass conversion chambers. with one final press, both chambers activated, hydrogen gas forming and fusing together, the sheer force of the fusion exerted through the main thrusters on the back of the craft, launching it forward with a bang.
He accelerated, rocketing through the sky as he slowly increased the thrust, g-forces negated by the force dampeners situated in the cockpit, providing a smooth transition from still to moving. The view around the canopy gained a corona of red, friction heating beginning to evaporate the air around it, enveloping the craft in a ball of fire as it punched through the skies, now moving at a near straight line up. The Augmented Reality Display built into the cockpit gave a handy readout of his surroundings, the planetary altimeter rising quickly as he ascended, 20km, 30km, 40km, he was reaching the absolute limits of the atmosphere, close to breaking through the barrier that separated Briar from the outside world. "Coming up on transverse point now, activating sensor suite." On command, the craft began emitting tachyon bursts in all directions, once he passed the transverse point, he would be visible to all craft within a multi light year range, and they would be visible to him, assuming they weren't running silent. The fireball began to dim as the atmosphere thinned, and the boy found the world around him slowly drifting into silence, save for the low thrum of the ships PM Generator and its modules. Freedom, even momentarily, from the chaos on the surface, he would have taken this time to reflect on his time spent in Briar, but it would have to wait, the transverse point was rapidly approaching, the blue planet below slowly receding, drained oceans and dark, radiation-choked land beginning to take its place, the true nature of the world Briar infected finally revealing itself. 12 kilometres. "Crossing transverse point in 3... 2... 1..." [End]
