Ascent
28 Mar 2019SuperFixxxeR
It was raining heavily. Arwydd adjusted her Remlok suit and stood in the dark shadow of her Sidewinder. She was not used to wearing the new suit, although it fitted well in all the right places, the passive performance enhancements the Remlok provided made her nauseous and would take some getting used to.
Looking out across what was once known as Cardigan Bay she sheltered from the relentless pounding of the rain, hearing the heavy rain drops hit the top of the ship and watching it pour off the straight edge the ships huge metallic hood.
There was strong petrichor smell in the air. Arwydd knelt down to inspect the freshly water drenched ground she stood on, and reached down to take a small handful of the damp black soil. She had always loved the smell of fresh wet Earth, and it had not rained for about a month. It was almost as if the ground was desiderated for the moisture, a reward that came from the sky. Closely examining the soil, she felt the texture of it between her gloved fingers and watched it fell back on to the ground in wet clumps. Standing back up again, and letting out a quiet sigh, she grabbed the handle of the stern side ladder and ascended the vertical climb to enter her Faulcon deLacey Sidewinder - “Y Dechrau” - which translated from ancient Welsh roughly as “The Start” or “The Beginning”.
The background noise of the rain immediately muffled when the doors shut behind her, making satisfying ‘shump’ sound.
Verity announced “Welcome aboard Commander”
As Arwydd approached the cockpit, it automatically turned from low level lighting into a warm, welcoming orange glow emanating from the dashboards heads up display. The flight chair slowly turned with an eerie autonomy to allow her to take her seat, and as the chair started to auto adjust into the flight position, she opened the Galaxy Map to plot her route.
Luhman 16. First stop Jenner Orbital.
Arwydd’s journey began, and the ship began its ascent out through the atmosphere. She didn’t know it yet, but this was to be Arwydd’s last time on Earth, the last time she would see her family, her friends, the last time she would see the mountain vistas of the Menai Strait and the last time she would smell this land, moistened by the soft water that falls as rain upon the decimated but beautiful landscape of Snowdonia.
Verity “Frame shift drive charging... five, four, three, two, one... Engage”