Disclaimer: All original movie characters, lines, settings etc. Belong rightfully to their creators. I own nothing except Rachel Velsing.
Chapter 1 - T Minus 6 hours
A R M A G E D D O N
What are we made of?
Chick slowly approached the house, a gorgeous, red haired woman opened the screen door simultaneously. Her face was questioning. Chick held a nervous grimace/smile. He spoke quietly, and near breathlessly, "Hey."
The woman crossed her arms, "What are you doing here?"
Chick shifted, his eyes holding an apologetic look, while his face was filled with love. "I-I was just passin' by on the uh, uh, I came-"
He was cut off as a young boy came from the side, with a toy car, impersonating it's noises. Diane; The woman immediately laid a hand on him. Chick stopped, not even bothering continuing. He stared at the young boy; his son with the utmost love a father could offer. He placed his hands in his pockets, and smiled, nearly tearfully.
The little boy's voice spoke, "Who's he?"
Diane shifted to her knees, "That man's a salesman. Would you go inside?"
The little boy turned and walked in through the screen door with a last glance at Chick, Diane spoke kindly,
"Thank you."
Chick looked at him with pride, and his gaze shifted back to Diane. "He got big." He smiled as he spoke, a knot forming in his throat, as he knew he may never see his son again, and his son may never get the chance to have a true life.
Diane shook her head, "You can't come around like this…the course says you can't….It confuses me."
"No, I, know, I just…I wanted to say, I'm sorry….about everything. And I got something coming up…somethin' kinda big…..You just might be proud of me."
Diane nodded her head in a confused manner. Chick spoke again,
"Would you do somethin' for me? Would you just, give him this? I-You-uh, You don't have to tell, w-who it's from, just…"
He spoke no more and slowly set down on the side walk, a toy space shuttle.
The knot in his throat grew bigger as he looked at the love of his life, and how he destroyed the greatest thing that had ever happened to him through stupidity. And through his own stubbornness and denial, he may never get the chance to have her and his son back.
Chick turned back, going back towards the street, the knot in his throat getting larger as the distance grew between them. He wished he had more time, to tell her how much he loved her. He wished there was more time to spend it with his son, the danger of this mission and the reality of it all finally hit him, and hit him hard.
Chick sat down in his car, shutting the door. He saw a photo in the passengers seat. It was him, Diane, and Richard; His son. His lips curled slightly as he tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, his lip trembled and one by one, the tears flowed.
His heart ached terribly for a lost love, and a son he may never get to see grow up… He clenched his fists as he leaned against the stirring wheel.
He was never going to see him family again.
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Day 3
By the next morning, everyone knew something was going. A chunk of the rock they were trying to destroy had broken off and struck Shanghai; Killing 50,000 people. People were rattled, and they wanted answers. Somehow the media picked up on NASA's full scale Military alert, now even further alarmed. They pushed. And Truman gave.
"We have a special team of Astronauts that arrived in Florida this evening. NASA sent an emergency launch preparation in cooperation with Russian, Japanese, and French space agencies on the most massive joint space venture in history."
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Launch Day: T Minus 12 hours - Day 3
Harry walked towards the old shuttle lift, the same place the space venture, APOLLO 1 lifted off from. She stared down at a puddle of water, crossing his arms he spoke softly,
"Gracie?"
She looked up, and slowly rose to her feet.
"I got your note…. What are you doing out here honey?" Harry said softly.
"Um…Just thinkin'." Grace replied.
Harry nodded his head, and spoke in a near whisper, "Yeah."
"I, um, want to apologize to you for-"
"No, Grace, stop. You don't have to apologize at all. I-I-shou- I shouldn't have dragged you around on all those oil rigs…I just…I don't think I did the right thing w-with you-"
Grace replied in a choked voice, "Your wrong. I love my life. I love everything about my life. And I don't blame you for my mother leaving. She left us both. I love you. And don't talk like your not comin' back…Promise me that you'll come back."
Tears welled up in Harry's eyes as Grace spoke, her voice becoming more hoarse as she went on. Harry replied in barely a whisper,
"Ok."
Grace responded, "Say 'I promise'."
"I promise, Grace." Grace grabbed him in a hug, pulling him as tight as she possibly could. She whimpered in fear, her lips trembling.
Harry whispered in a choked voice, "It's gonna be all right, Grace."
Grace then spoke softly, "If it's not too much trouble, can you please bring my fiancée home with you?"
Harry sighed, closing his eyes, "Jesus."
He didn't hate AJ, but he didn't want Grace to marry him. But then as he thought about Rachel's words, 'You can't control love.'...He knew she was right.
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They all sat in the 'Astronaut' room. Harry smiled somewhat bitterly, Bear rubbed a hand over his face. AJ remained solemn. Rachel's breath was shaky, but she remained completely calm, not allowing fear to show on her face.
Accepting fear, would only make her panic. She was going to get this job done, and by God she would do everything in her power to make sure it got done. Chick still held the picture in his hand, not willing to let it go.
Rachel looked up from her leaning position, to see Quincy holding her suit out to her. The name across the front, 'Rachel' and the special missions patch on the side, made her smile. "Thanks. Dr."
"No thank you." Quincy spoke seriously. He turned and walked away, Rachel looked down in thought. Everyone pulled on their own suits, no one spoke, and the air was filled with tension. Truman's words echoed in her head, 'The most massive joint space venture in history.'
Oscar had been very correct, it was historical, deep blue hero stuff.
As she pulled on her suit, she looked up. This was her crew, this was her family. And she wouldn't fail them. Suddenly empowered, by the sheer need to save the ones she loved. She was ready to go. Sharp looked up from his position at a table, he looked at everyone in the room, his face completely solemn. His eyes met Rachel's.
She nodded in respect, and a good luck. He understood.
Her gaze turned to Oscar, who was examining his special missions patch. Rockhound simply tapped his foot nervously. A man stepped in the room,
"Astronauts."
This was it.
They exited the room, Harry stopping momentarily to hug Grace and for a quick kiss goodbye. Several men in white watched them leave the room, Rachel's eyes looked around her. Hopeful expressions on their faces, she looked straightforward, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Grace and AJ pulled themselves into each others arms. AJ leaned his head against her forehead.
I looked away with a smile, walking alongside Harry towards the exit. I heard AJ speaking in a singing tone,
"All my bags are packed…" Grace giggled lightly.
He continued, "I'm ready to go." Grace still smiling, albeit now was tearfully.
"I'm standin' here outside your door… I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. So kiss me-" He pecked her on the lips. "-and smile for me. Let me know you'll wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go-o."
Several of the crew members, stopped and watched them. And now AJ grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her in the air,
"Cause I'm leavin' ON A JET PLANE!" His voice squeaked from the effort that went to picking her up in a -as Freddy said- stiff ass Astronaut suit.
Harry, Chick, and I stopped to look back. I laughed out loud at the look on their faces, that was somewhat of a cross between a smile and 'What the hell'.
"…Don't know when I'll be back again!"
Bear suddenly joined in deeply, "Leavin' on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again."
Rockhound looked around and withour hesitation jumped in with Bear, "Leavin' on a jet plane-" Max smiled broadly as he too began singing. "-I don't know when I'll be back again!" Grace laughed happily.
Harry muttered, "That boy doesn't take anything seriously."
Chick responded, "Yeah, Reminds me of a guy I used to know."
Harry shot Chick a look, and Chick returned in.
As they were told it was time to go. Bear, Rock, and Max left and continued singing as AJ spoke softly,
"I'm marryin' you."
Grace grinned with a kiss, "You bet your ass you will."
AJ chuckled happily, sending her a smile as he left. They lined up at the door, Rachel took another breath, her lips curling in anticipation and fear. Harry was staring straight ahead seemingly, emotionless. Though Rachel could see right through it, she whispered softly,
"We'll get the job done, Harry."
He looked at her, his eyes flickering hopefully. The door lifted a line of Officers snapped their heads to the right. Camera's went off, and chants were sung. Everyone cheered.
As we walked on to the carpet, all at once the Officers looked straight, snapped to attention and saluted. Harry nodded his head in their direction. They walked down the carpet, many news casters stopped, and stared. Stared at the people that were in a race for all of humanity.
Rachel glanced at Sharp, and him looking to her. They looked straightforward, sharing no looks, no words, nothing but the simple understanding of the great human mind.
And as we reached the middle the crowd; NASA employees, stood on their feet and raised a roar of cheers. And as we exited to the outside world, a massive applause exploded, along with whistles, and cheers. Everyone there and around the world in support of us, oil drillers.
Richard; The son of Chick was lying in the floor. Watching the TV as the Astronauts left the bus, and suddenly he spoke,
"Mom! That salesman is on TV!"
Diane looked at the TV, and she dropped the phone entirely, her mouth opening in complete shock.
Diane held Richard in her arms, and she spoke softly,
"That man is not a salesman, that's your daddy."
They stepped inside the list, she found it hard to breathe, knowing, that this may be the last time she ever set foot on earth again. They all stepped out, and a NASA man spoke while pointing,
"Freedom Crew, Independence crew."
The two crews went our separate ways, Rachel shot a final look at Rockhound, Max, and Chick. Rockhound merely nodded, Max looked positively sick. And Chick waved, she nodded her head and turned back, walking towards Independence's Shuttle. Rachel passed by Harry who was speaking with AJ.
"How ya' feelin'?"
AJ responded, "Uh…Good, y'know considering I've never been this scared in my entire life. I-uh, y'know."
Harry nodded his head, "Listen, once you get up there, Your gonna be on your own. If anything should happen-"
AJ interjected, "I know Harry, I'll try not to disappoint ya'." Harry laughed as AJ began walking away with a smile.
"Don't kill yourself kid." Harry said in a fatherly way, with a smile on his face.
AJ smiled and turned onto deck of shuttle independence. Harry then spoke,
"Rache."
She backed up a few steps, "Yeah?"
"I approve."
He nodded his head, a smile forming over his lips. Rachel looked completely clueless, until she realized what he was talking about. Her eyes widened. He had figured it out. Harry laughed heartily as he turned and walked away to Shuttle Freedom's deck.
Rachel shook her head in complete disbelief, as he had, without flaw derived something had happened between her and Sharp. And she thought she was being pretty discreet too. And that only proves, nothing gets past Harry Stamper.
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Launch Day: T Minus 2 hours - Day 3
"How ya' doin' Oscar?" AJ spoke.
Oscar replied complicatedly, but showing he was excited, not truly afraid, "Great, I got that "excited/scared" feeling. Like 98% excited, 2% scared. Or maybe it's more - It could be two - it could be 98% scared, 2% excited but that's what makes it so intense, it's so - confused. I can't really figure it out."
He then spoke to the NASA Tech, "Will you make mine really tight, 'cause I don't wanna fall out. I mean, almost to the point of cutting off circulation."
I smiled, AJ then looked at me,
"How ya' holding up Rache?"
"Fine, not excited, terribly afraid…trained to drill oil and fix computers, and here I am going into space with fellow crew members to save the world."
Freddy laughed. And then Oscar spoke,
"But you should be used to that!"
I shot him a look of complete disbelief, "Are you aware of what happened in any of the wars? I protected people to help a country, not to save the world."
Oscar grinned, I couldn't help but smile. Nothing could bring him down, not even the potential end of the world.
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Launch Day: T Minus 1 minute - Day 3
We heard a voice speak over the intercom, "All crew members, close and lock your visors."
The man began speaking to the pilots, and then suddenly Truman spoke,
"Ok gentlemen, your our warriors up there. God be with you. You're all already heroes, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
"T Minus 20 seconds!"
Suddenly the shuttle began shaking as it revved up, and prepared for launch. Rachel listened as the countdown began,
"3...2...1"
The shuttle shook rapidly and violently as it lifted off, the entire space craft vibrating as it gained speed through earth's atmosphere. She felt the G's build, and press against her body, she suddenly felt a wave of excitement. She was on the most historical journey and mission in the history of humanity, and she was chosen to do the job. She had been chosen to help save the world, and that was exactly what she was going to do.
She couldn't and wouldn't allow this asteroid to defeat man, to defeat her.
She breathed deeply forcing herself to stay calm as they began to enter space. The shuttle began twisting as it went faster and faster, Rachel closed her eyes momentarily, taking in all the forces and the rapidly changing environment.
They had passed through the 2nd zone of the Earth, Colonel Davis shouted,
"HOUSTON! THIS IS A KICK ASS RIDE!"
She grinned although fear lurked in the back of her mind. And suddenly it all stopped, the violent shaking, the vibrating, everything went calm as they leveled out. They were in space.
We pulled our visors up, AJ was looking around in wonder,
"Oh my God."
Oscar spoke enthusiastically, "This is space! Course, we're just in the beginning part of space, we-we haven't even got to outer space yet!"
Rachel heard Colonel Davis speak, "Roger Houston, we've got visual on the Russian space station. Initiating retro burn."
Truman responded, "Remember the Russian space station has been up there for eleven years, most of us don't have cars that old. Now that cosmonaut on board has been on that tin can for 18 months…alone. So don't be surprised if he's a little…off."
Tucker looked back, "All right crew, lets exit these flight suits."
As we got out of ours seats we started drifting around. Bear laughed deeply and patted AJ on the cheek, making him grin.
Sharp turned and spoke, "All right gentlemen, we're gonna dock in a minute. Now the Russian space station aspired rockets that will let us work faster, and it's gonna make it queasy, so prepare yourself."
As Sharp spoke Rockhound quietly, 'wee'd' as he pushed Harry's foot, making him spin. Rockhound looked at Sharp,
"Well it's about time, I haven't thrown up in about an hour."
Harry laughed heartily.
Colonel Davis turned to the Independence crew, "Locks are engaged, fuel teams, lets go."
Rachel exited right behind Oscar, she heard Davis speak,
"Colonel."
Sharp raised his hand to his head in a lazy salute as they reached the center. Davis spoke,
"Where is he?"
Tucker speaking loudly, "Anybody home?!"
Suddenly a man's head dropped out of a hole in the top of the tunnel like area, AJ jumped in shock as he stared at the man,
"Welcome everybody."
He dropped down in a front flip. Chick using his arm as a defensive tool if he so happened to hit him.
"I am not gas station! This is a sophisticated laboratory! I am in charge! So do not be touching anything."
He started to head down one of the tunnel ways, he spoke, "I need one, tiny…You." He pointed at AJ. AJ in turn pointed at himself, "Me?"
"Go with him." Gruber spoke quickly.
"Yeah I need you, hurry up! Hurry up! C'mon…."
The Russian man trailed off as they headed down the passageway. Sharp spoke,
"All right, Tucker, Colonel Davis take to the hoses, Independence crew grab one and take it to your shuttle, Freedom do the same."
Sharp took off down the tunnel way, AJ had just gone with the Russian man, Tucker and Davis started down one way calling us along to follow them.
Harry was looking around at all the technical ware of the space station, Rockhound was looking at a picture on one of the computer screens. Suddenly Andropov came storming out of no where and spoke,
"Don't touch my uncle! You know? He's a genius of my family."
Andropov suddenly went off on a whole thing about bombs, Rachel couldn't quite understand due to his accent. Rockhound looked at him as if he was crazy, he, Harry and her sharing a look. Watts came in,
"Check your hoses we are getting thermal variation. Stamper lets look at the couplings back on the shuttle."
Chick came in, Rachel nodded her head in a greeting.
Suddenly there was a flickering, and a sound began to echo. Rachel looked around in alarm, Andropov looked at one of the camera's as we saw AJ flipping out down the shaft. Rachel straightened as Andropov launched down one of the tunnels, Rachel not allowing herself to stay behind and do nothing sprinted after him.
Sharp ran past and stopped, "What's going on?"
"Big leak, big leak! GET YOUR MEN BACK TO THE SHUTTLE!"
Rachel followed Andropov, Sharp yelled,
"VELSING!"
She didn't stop but continued, they reached the shaft, she looked down AJ screamed in frustration,
"THIS IS THE LEVER!"
Rachel looked down, Sharp launched into the room, she hissed to Andropov,
"We need to get him out of there!"
Andropov echoing, "COLONEL WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"
Sharp looked down the shaft, he shouted, "AJ! COME ON!"
Sharp looked at Rachel, "Find Davis and Tucker get them and the crew onto your shuttle! Go!"
Rachel looked down the shaft, "I'm not leaving with AJ!"
Sharp growled, "That is an order! We'll get AJ!"
Rachel hesitated, but decided she could trust him. She sprinted down the tunnel, shouting,
"GET OUT OF HERE! GO, GO, GO! INTO THE SHUTTLE NOW!"
Rockhound and Max immediately got on the move.
Sharp stayed at the pod, yelling, "AJ! HURRY UP!"
Sharp suddenly grabbed Andropov, "IT'S TOO LATE, BACK TO THE SHUTTLE!"
Andropov screamed, "NO!"
"IT'S GONNA BLOW!"
Tucker grabbed Sharp now, and pulled him away, Sharp having no choice but to leave them behind. It was only them or everyone.
There was a large explosion sending them all off balance. Rachel reached the center where suddenly Sharp appeared she yelled,
"WHERE'S AJ?!"
She tried to go back down the tunnel, Sharp grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from going any further, Tucker having to hold Chick back who was too trying to go back.
Rachel yelled, "I'M NOT LEAVING AJ!"
Chick shouted, "WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A MINUTE, WE GOT MEN IN THERE!"
Tucker shouted, "OPEN THAT DOOR AND WE'LL ALL DIE!"
"AJ!" Rachel shouted, she resisted against Sharp's hold.
The ship rocked again with another explosion of a fuel pipe.
Sharp pulled her further from the tunnel's door, and pushed her into the pod area. Harry shouted,
"Where's the rest of team?!"
"We're not leavin' without AJ!"
"AJ'S GONE!" Shouted Sharp.
"IT'S TOO LATE!"
Harry fought viciously against Sharp's and Chick's grip. Bear shouted,
"RACHE! COME ON!"
Alarms echoed across the space sation as all chaos had been let loose, the station rocked violently, twisting in the air from the force of another exploding fuel pipe.
Bear grabbed Rachel, pulling her down another tunnel towards their own pod. He shouted,
"AJ'S STILL IN THERE!"
"WE CAN'T SACRIFICE OURSELVES FOR A DEAD MAN, WE HAVE A PLANET TO SAVE!" Davis responded.
Rachel spoke, "NO! Hold on! AJ's coming!"
Bear and Oscar slammed the door shut.
The station shook violently as the top half exploded, Chick strapped himself in, when he looked up, his eyes widened at the huge chunk of space station falling straight towards them,
"Whoa!"
As it continued to fell, Chick spoke rapidly,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! COLONEL THAT THINGS COMING RIGHT FOR US, WE GOTTA GO!"
Sharp pushed several buttons, moving as quickly as possible and just as the large piece of station inched closer, they pulled away. It smashed devastatingly into the bottom half of the station.
As the shuttle started and began it's ready launch, AJ appeared at the door with Andropov screaming,
"WAIT! OPEN THE DOOR! LET US IN!"
Bear and Oscar yanked the door open, allowing them both in.
Davis shouted, "CLOSE THE DOOR NOW!"
The entire station began a domino effect in explosion. We all strapped in, as the flames licked the shuttle, we launched just as the explosion hit. Our ship rocked but never the less took off, We were all right.
Freddy who was floating around spoke, "Pretty intense, huh?"
Andropov responded, "That's why I told you touch nothing. But you're bunch of cowboys!"
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T Minus 17 hours - Day 1
Truman spoke over the intercom, "Well guys, it's time to suit up I guess, uh, we've got a big day."
Rachel had gotten into her suit fairly quick, she sat down quickly, strapping herself in. "How many G's?"
Davis replied, "About 9 G's for 11 minutes."
"Holy shit."
Davis chuckled, "Yeah."
AJ spoke, "So is this the part where we hold on real tight, and hope we don't die?"
Oscar was bobbing his head looking around, Rachel grinned,
"It doesn't make it anymore interesting to 'bob' your head, Oscar."
Oscar looked at her, "Oh, it just feels funny."
Freddy muttered sarcastically, "Yeah, lets do something because it feels funny."
Rachel and Bear laughed.
Davis spoke, "Stand by for lunar roll."
Tucker began shifting the gears, and raising the thrusters, "High inclination orbit."
Davis turned and spoke, "Now men this is what we trained for! NOW SUCK IT UP!"
Rachel grinned, "Man, I'm liking you more and more Colonel."
The shuttle began to shake rapidly as the engines roared louader and louder. Gaining speed they were shoved to the back of their seats.
AJ shouted, "IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS?"
Oscar spoke calmly, "Don't worry this is normal!"
Rachel heard Bear shout from behind, "How would you know?!"
She chuckled weakly, as she was slammed against the back of her chair, and her eyeballs felt as if they were sucked to the back of her head. In all honesty, it was extremely uncomfortable and on a level of somewhat pain.
As they began counting up the speed AJ shouted,
"THIS IS REALLY HEAVY MAN!"
Oscar then shouted, "THIS ISN'T NORMAL!"
AJ replied through gritted teeth, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISN'T NORMAL?!
"THIS IS WAY WORSE!"
"I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" Max shouted. Chick looked at him with raised eyebrows as Rockhound shouted,
"AH, WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
As they began groaning through gritted teeth, that led to shouts of pain, Rachel held it all in. She felt as if her lungs were being compressed upon, making it difficult to breathe, her bones were flat against the seat and the rest of her felt like it had been stripped away.
Rachel faintly heard Andropov laughing, she normally would have shook her head if it wasn't pinned against the seat.
Suddenly Davis shouted, "22,500!"
And everything went calm, the shuttle's engines roared down, the shuttle in general slowed down. She swallowed breathlessly as she was finally allowed to lean forward a bit,
"Holy. Shit."
Tucker sent her a grin.
"We've got visual of the target."
And suddenly it was there. The massive rock strung out ahead of them leaving trails of ripped space atmosphere. Rachel stared at it as Oscar muttered, "Oh my God."
Davis turned, "Everybody hang on, this could get a little rough."
Davis spoke, "Engaging grids upon us."
He then shouted as few small rocks hit the shield, "HOLD ON!"
Sharp spoke, "God damn, we've got debris!"
Watts turned a few controls, "We're turning up, dropping off artillery boosters."
Tucker shouted, "Houston! We've got a lot of debris!"
Davis continuing, "We're comin' in hot!"
Tucker shouted, "THERE'S TOO MUCH DEBRIS, WE'VE GOT PULL UP!"
Davis shouted, "NEGATIVE!"
Davis spoke, "WE'RE HIT!"
Truman dropped his coffee cup, it smashing against the floor. His knees became weak as he stared in fear at the screen, and listened the terrible screams of his men.
Rachel opened her eyes in alarm, her hands went for her straps. Though she hesitated, waiting until she knew help was needed.
Davis shouted, "MAYDAY MAYDAY! WE'VE LOST MAIN THRUSTERS, GET EM' BACK UP!"
Tucker continued, "MAYDAY SIR MAYDAY! WE'VE LOST OUR SIESTE THRUSTERS! MAYDAY!"
Davis shouted, "HOUSTON CONTROL WE ARE GOING DOWN!"
"FREEDOM DO YOU READ ME? WE ARE GOING DOWN!"
Rachel ripped her straps off, stumbling lightly as jumped towards Davis,
"What's been shut down?! I can fix them!"
Davis looked at her, "No! There's too much debris out there!"
"It doesn't matter I'll die either way!"
Davis shook his head, "We're going down, there is nothing we can do!"
Rachel growled, "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY COLONEL!"
She pulled on the head set and shouted, "HOUSTON WE AREN'T DONE YET!"
Truman looked up, mostly in shock. Clark looked at him as did Quincy.
As her voice shouted over the intercom, Harry shouted,
"YES! I KNEW SHE WOULD DO IT!"
Watts looked confused, as Sharp spoke, "Velsing has taken over Independence piloting."
Rachel began turning many controls, she shouted,
"Tucker! Turn main thrusters all the way up!"
"There broken!"
"Doesn't matter, get them on, it might give us a little lift!"
"HANG ON INDEPENDENCE!"
They were spiraling out of control, she shouted,
"MAYDAY! FREEDOM WE ARE OUT OF CONTROL AND HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS YOU!"
Rachel growled through gritted teeth as she pulled hard on the controls, the main thrusters provided a little kick as they barely skated over Freedom's shuttle.
Harry shouted, "WHOA!" Jumping lightly in his seat. As Independence shuttle skimmed across their shield.
Chick looked on fearfully, and Rockhound squirmed in his seat. Sharp shouted,
"THEY'RE GONNA HIT!"
Rachel looked down at the radar, and pulled hard on the controls as she saw a massive rock, she spoke through gritted teeth,
"COME ON!"
They passed above the rock, as the tip scraped the underside of the shuttle tearing away part of the ship. Rachel screamed,
"FUCK!"
Davis shouted, "EVERYBODY GO TO YOUR LIFE SUPPORT! LOCK YOURSELVES IN THE CARGO BASE!"
Rachel yanked hers on, it clicking with attachment. They began descending downwards, Rachel shouted,
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! WE'VE LOST OUR THRUSTERS!"
"HOUSTON WE ARE GOING DOWN! WE'VE LOST ALL CONTROL!" Davis shouted.
Rachel spoke, "ROGER THAT HOUSTON! I CAN'T GET THE THRUSTERS BACK!"
Sharp looked at shuttle independence with dread, him and Watts shared a look. Oscar shouted,
"I CAN'T GET IT ON!"
Rachel shouted, "GET THAT FUCKING HELMET ON OSCAR, OR SO HELP ME GOD-"
The ship rocked with another hit, "HOUSTON WE'VE BEEN HIT AGAIN!"
Davis spoke calmly, "Good luck Freedom."
Rachel looked at the two of them, Davis spoke, "You're a brave woman, Velsing."
Rachel chuckled, "Nah, I'm scared shitless, Colonel!"
She pulled hard on the controls, as a huge rock came into view. The shield began cracking, Tucker spoke,
"Oh my God this is it."
Rachel slammed her fist down on the controls, and suddenly one of the thrusters powered up. Rachel shouted in excitement,
"YES! HOUSTON WE'VE GOT ONE OF OUR THRUSTERS BACK!"
Davis shouted, "VELSING GET INTO THE CARGO LOCK!"
And then they saw the rock. Rachel spoke knowing there was no way of escaping something of that magnitude within a few hundred meters.
"THAT IS A BIG ASS ROCK!"
"HOUSTON! MAYDAY, MAYDAY! HOUSTON WE ARE GOING DOWN!" She spoke in finality as the rock hit, she flung herself over Oscar who was still struggling. The terrible sound of it ripping through the shuttle's interior rang in her ears. She screamed,
"HOUSTON!"
Truman stared at the screen, as the rock ripped through the camera's the radio signal went dead with the final scream, 'Houston!' By Rachel.
Everyone sat in a solemn silence.
The radio signal switched to Freedom, Harry shouted, "SHARP WHAT THE HELL IS THAT, IS THAT COLONEL DAVIS?!"
Truman's legs gave out, he sat down in the chair, staring at the screen.
The body hit their shield, Harry got a glimpse of his face, and it was.
Sharp stared as the shuttle was torn to pieces, the debris continued to rock the ship though it was less now. He swallowed painfully.
He then spoke, "Houston! Independence is a dead stick, they're not gonna make it."
Not even Rachel…He ripped the thoughts from his mind, it had only been an attraction, and albeit he was hurt by her death, he couldn't let it get in the way of saving the entire planet.
Sharp watched as the shuttle slammed into the rock,
"Houston, Independence has gone down."
Their shuttle began to rock violently, Sharp spoke,
"When I touch this baby down, full reverse thrust!"
"Fire on your left! Sharp!"
Sharp shouted, "HANG TIGHT, HANG TIGHT!"
"Houston, we overshot our landing field! We overshot our landing field!"
Rockhound shouted, "OH NO!"
The crew shouted in fear as they touched down and the shuttle began sliding and veering. Harry remained quiet.
Within a few seconds, the ship slowed to a stop. Max was breathing heavily, his face covered in sweat. Harry looked around, a grim look on his face as he made sure everyone was all right.
"Initiate system right system check." Sharp spoke.
"Make sure we can still get off this rock."
Watts replied, "Well our electrical system is screwed, I'm going to back up. Fuel seals check, engine seals check. Pressure seals check."
Sharp turned, "Anyone hurt?"
Rockhound spoke breathlessly, "W-where's- Where's the other shuttle? What happened to the other shuttle?"
"Independence is off the grid." Sharp said in a more solemn voice. He stood up walking towards the back.
Rockhound spoke, "Off the grid?! What are you a frickin' cyborg, what does that mean?!"
Gruber bent down and spoke, "Hey, you saw Davis yourself right? They're gone."
Max whimpered, "Bear…"
Harry spoke softly, "Let's just ask God to take care of our friends."
As his eyes began to water, he rolled his head to prevent them from falling,
"May they rest in peace."
Chick spoke,
"Amen."
Harry turned, "We've got eight hours, lets get this job done and get home."
"All right lets get the tools unpacked and fire up the armadillo."
"We're not gonna get a damn thing on the inertia net system." Sharp said towards Rockhound who was staring at it.
"I know where we are." Rockhound responded.
Sharp walked towards him, "Please step away….Radio signals dead!"
Watts spoke, "Flipping the back up generator. Radio signals gonna be cut in half until we get main power back."
Rockhound slapped some papers down, "We're in segment 202, lateral grid 9, site 15H32 - give or take a few yards. Captain American here blew the landing by 26 miles!"
Sharp craned his neck and spoke, "How the hell do you know that?"
Rockhound gave him a completely serious look, "Because I'm a genius."
Watts came in and spoke, "The gauges will not read; they're all peaked like we're plugged into some magnetic field."
Rockhound rolled his eyes, and spoke sarcastically, "Well, who on the spaceship wants to know why?"
Gruber looked at him curiously, "By all means."
"The reason we were shooting for grid 8 was because thermo graphics indicated that grid 9 was compressed iron ferrite. Which means you landed us on a goddamn iron plate!"
Sharp looked at him and then spoke, "All right we all heard the man, lets roll out the remote satellite link, we need that radio."
There were electrical explosions, from side to side of the ripped shuttle. Pipes hung down, and still swung from the impact of ship. Small fires flickered from the fuel. And suddenly a hand rose weakly, and slowly the piece of shuttle scrap was lifted as AJ stood up wearily.
He pushed his way through the destruction, and stopped when he saw Oscar. He grabbed him and immediately tears flowed.
"Oscar! OSCAR!"
He whimpered staring down at his longtime friend, "HELLO! ANYONE? IS THERE ANYONE THAT'S ALIVE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
Suddenly Andropov screamed, "AJ!"
AJ looked up in hope, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"I'm here."
AJ slowly let go of Oscar and walked towards Andropov, "There's no one else? There's no one else."
"I know."
And suddenly, Bear's deep voice rang out, "Ah, man."
They turned quickly. AJ's voice shouted, "BEAR! Where are you!?"
"AJ? AJ!" Bear's voice was questioning, then turned to a breathless laugh of relief, of somebody else being there, alive.
"I'm on the shuttle man!"
Andropov leaned over and began pulling the pipes off of Bear. AJ, bent down and pulled him out,
"You all right?"
Bear responded, "I'm so glad to see you man. I've never though I would've been so happy to see your ugly face!"
---
The ramp lowered slowly, Harry stepped down first looking around, "Wow." he murmured.
Sharp shouted, "Down here! In the valley!"
Rockhound looked around, he frowned, "This place is like Dr. Seuss's worst nightmare."
Sharp began speaking, "Lets get the remote satellite. We'll get better reception up there.
"Bring that down." Chick's voice rang out.
"Watch yourself through here Max, we got a couple of big fishers." Harry said calmly.
"To the left, bring it to the left!"
"Rockhound you come on down here and take some readings down on a flat spot." Harry said opening the radio satellite.
Sharp spoke, "How's the iron?"
"God I hate knowing everything." Rock muttered.
"We couldn't have picked a worst spot to drill."
Harry walked towards him, "Well your pretty much guaranteed it's not gonna be thicker than fifty feet."
"How you figure that?" Rock asked curiously.
Harry looked at him, "Because if it is, we're screwed."
Max lowered the arm, and it began striking the rock. "Max, you good?" Harry said as he moved along side the Armadillo.
"Yes, just makin' a hole."
"Turn it around!"
"Friggin' outerspace."
Max lowered the arm slowly, as the razors began turning faster and faster, it shredded through the rock. Harry spoke,
"We're in!"
Rockhound muttered, "There's some stuff in here I ain't never seen."
Max shouted, "All right, Let's punch it down!"
The arm began to shake violently, and suddenly something shot out. Rockhound moved to the side, as Max spoke,
"Hey Harry did you see that?"
"Yeah Max, I see it, I see it, What is it?"
"We lost a pipe on the bend."
"Alright, back it off, back it off!"
Max growled, "God damn it!"
"Good, good, hold her there."
They stared at the severly damaged blades of the driller. Rockhound spoke,
"Wow, this is a goddamn greek tragedy."
"You've all seen a broken drill before." Harry spoke.
Chick looked up, with raised eyebrows, "Not after ten feet!"
Rockhound looked at him, "I've never seen one."
"Well now you've seen one." Harry replied.
Chick spoke, "What do you want?"
"Unpack the judged."
----
"There! That!" AJ said pointing at the Armadillo.
Bear spoke, "It's still together."
AJ muttered, "Rache reinforced it three times with extra bolts and steel plating. She was gonna make sure nothing could destroy it."
"We're only three Astronauts left now." Andropov spoke.
AJ stood ontop of the Armadillo, "We're not Astronauts, we're oil drillers, we're not even supposed to be here."
Andropov looked at him with a frown, "What? Your not astronaut?"
AJ ignored his question, "I'm getting us out of here, get in."
"Why?" Andropov continued.
"Just get in the Armadillo, I have an idea!" AJ said forcefully.
----
Watts still sat at the radio she spoke, "Houston, this is Freedom, do you copy? Houston, do you copy? Freedom shuttle has landed."
She heard some static on the end, and realized she was finally getting through. She continued,
"Houston, this is Freedom do you copy?"
She heard Truman sigh as he spoke, "Ah, thank god we still have you Freedom."
"Don't lose them Lennoy!" Truman called out.
Watts shouted, "SHARP I'M GETTING SOMETHING!"
"Houston! This is Freedom, we have landed safely!" Watts said.
She continued, "Our coordinates are 16h-32."
Truman turned, "Ok, I want to know everything we can about that location!…Get it before we lose them!"
Sharp appeared and began speaking, "Houston, we've got some mechanical difficulties."
Truman turned, "Walter get mechanical on that."
"But we have commenced drilling."
Sharp began to cut out, his next words being nothing but static. Sharp spoke,
"Houston? Houston? We lost them, get them back. Gruber! We need that hookup." Sharp turned and walked out of the shuttle, Watts returned to working on the radio signal.
----
AJ unleashed fire on the side of the broken down shuttle, the .50 caliber bullets ripping through it. He revved the Armadillo up and shouted,
"Hold on!"
They launched through the weakned side easily and began on the move to find the other shuttle.
----
"I see it! All right, get ready Max! Thread it!"
The drill began spinning locking the new razors in place. Harry and Chick pulled up the locks in place. Max shouted,
"Guys the clock is ticking! Lets go, go, go, go!"
"All right good! Drag and loose! Keep it at 25! Lets kick a little asteroid butt!" Harry shouted.
"All right Chick give me more torque on the turbine, huh."
"Max I need some more power out here!"
"All right Boss!" Max replied.
"Turn it to the fourth and drop the hammer!"
"Lets drill through this dirt!" Max said with a grin pulling down a lever.
"C'mon boys we gotta hop, we're falling behind!"
Harry continued, "Dig, dig, dig! Chew this iron bitch up!"
"Chick the trains stuck!" Max spoke.
Chick shouted, "HARRY!"
Harry turned, "What is it?"
"Chick come on help! At least decline-"
Harry cut him and started waving his arms, Chick spoke through gritted teeth,
"Ok…this things not movin'."
Harry shouted, "NO, NO, NO, SHUT IT DOWN!"
The transmission pipe then exploded, Chick was sent flying. He slammed into the ground heavily. Max spoke solemnly,
"This is not working out Harry."
Rockhound moved over Chick, "Oh! You'll all right?"
"Blew the tranny….blew the tranny."
Harry murmured, "Come on God, just a little help, that's all I'm asking."
Max muttered, "I think we're close enough he might've heard ya'."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
T Minus 6 hours - Day 1
Within the wreck, there was complete silence except for the crackling of the flames. The shuttle wreckage creaked and moaned as parts if it collapsed. As if by some miracle, something stirred. Something alive.
Rachel whimpered in pain, she rolled over. She had been completely thrown from the shuttle and lied before it. It was because the rock had ripped the whole top off, she survived. Rachel struggled to her feet, her eyes skated over the shuttle's parts everywhere.
She stumbled into the cockpit, and there lied Oscar. Her lip trembled as she grabbed onto the wall for support, she spoke quietly,
"Oh…Oscar."
Her mind flashed back to just before the crash landing, before the rock had completely shredded the ship.
Rachel flung herself on top of Oscar. Tears rolled down his face, he knew. Oscar screamed over the roaring engine, and the rock shredding,
"I LOVE YOU RACHE!"
And just before the rock had shredded through her, he threw her off of him.
Rachel swallowed the knot in her throat, Oscar had saved her life, even though she was trying to save his. She walked towards him slowly…almost fearing to see him. His visor was severly cracked, and his face was bloody from chips of glass.
His eyes were closed peacefully, he had gone, doing exactly what he had signed up so enthusiastically to do.
"Man, this is - this is historic. Guys, this is, like, deep blue hero stuff! Of course I'm in."
Rachel closed her eyes as tears fell slowly, she collapsed to her knees by his side, laying her head on his chest. She whimpered, "I love you too, O-Oscar."
She stared at him as she slowly rose to her feet, "I'll never forget what you did for me, what you did for this world Oscar.-" She choked in a sob as she smiled tearfully, "You're a deep blue hero, Oscar."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I love Oscar so much xP I was so sad when he died. I had to redo this chapter too, a lot. I just want to get the characters right, I want to do them justice xP But anyways, one of the sadder, and longer chapters, actually the longest I believe O.O Heh, anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, next one will be up very soon.
R T R:
Bunny94 - Lol, I love cold weather O.O Texas heat sucks xP Lol, well now you know… Heh, thanks for reading and reviewing!
Thanks to everyone that reads, and please review? x)
Sincerely,
Marinec