They Reign - 4
#4 of They Reign (TF Themes)
THEY REIGN - 4
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Welcome to chapter 4! This scifi story has been sponsored by Aaron Blackpaw , who definitely found this to be an intriguing idea, for sure! I shall look forward to your feedback!
Have fun!
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BIRNBAUMER 2 SYSTEM
GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT OVER BIRNBAUMER RESEARCH FACILITY
FEBRUARY, 2280
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The shimmer of the integrated control and display panels was almost otherworldly, reflected off the clear faceplates of the helmets both of the pilots wore. The gloved paws of Commander Franklin and his hare copilot Banks moved slowly from one spot to another, to mark off a computer announcement or to double-check each others' readouts.
"...cabin repress?"
"Check."
"Port-starboard inertial polling?"
"Check."
"Pilot's command power?"
"Check and clear."
"Commander's command power?"
"Check and secure."
"RCS pressure?"
"Check."
"Magnetic constrictors?"
"Standing by. Elements are pre-cooled to specs."
"Gotcha."
"Coming to optimal drop-off point in 2 minutes, boys and girls."
Captain Hodge's voice in their ears broke the curt back and forth that Franklin and Banks had been going at.
"Roger that," Franklin replied into his helmet microphone. "We're just about ready here."
"Roger that, Drop One. Standing by."
_"_Roger," Franklin said.
"Auxiliary comms...check," Banks commented.
"My ass is getting numb here, are we going any time soon?" another voice cut in, this time on the internal communications circuit.
Franklin hissed.
"No unnecessary chatter on the line, Pitman," the Commander chastised the lynx, "we're busy!"
"Don't shoot the messenger, we're all antsy back here!" she retorted in a tinny grumble.
"Just sit on your asses for twenty more minutes and you'll be able to do all the reckless running around you want," Franklin grumbled.
"We intend to, boss!"
"All checks out, want to confirm going on internal power?" Banks voiced.
Franklin gave one further once over at the readouts.
"Yes, we'll go."
"Bridge, stand advised that we're going to internal power now," Banks spoke to the ship while he tapped the necessary commands into the system.
"Roger that, Drop One."
"Both turbines look good," Franklin commented. "Output is still stable and clean."
"NAV data hookup...synchronized..."
"One minute."
"Roger that. We've got good data. Standing by for launch."
"We're finishing up the depressurization sequence."
Beyond the hull of the drop ship, the_Lexell's_ machinery sucked in much of the vital gasses before whatever remained was expelled via vents on either side of the ship, so as not to impart any undue thrust upon the vessel.
"Detaching umbilical."
This they could hear, a metallic rumble when the connectors supplying the drop ship were disconnected and their protective panel slid into place.
"All systems are still clear across the board," Franklin said.
"Hangar doors opening."
They could see the growing crack of light in one of the displays on the front that had been rigged to show the feed from the ventral cameras. It expanded to show a considerable sliver of the planetary surface, shrouded in clouds.
"25 seconds."
_"_Roger. We're ready for launch upon command."
"We're lowering you now."
The large mechanical arm that held the dropship in place over the open hangar hoors now began to move and extend downwards, to push the rescue craft outside the _Lexell'_s hull. The movement was smooth enough so that create barely a jolt for the crew strapped into their positions in the dropship's cockpit or the passenger compartment. It still brought excitement. They were finally on their way!
"Arm locked. Stand by for launch in 10, 9..."
"Spinning up the pre-fire turbine...fuel pressure coming up...boiler...online..."
"...8, 7..."
"Navigational data on AUTO, and clear," Banks said. "Beacon signal acquired."
"...3...2...1...release!"
The pneumatic clamps were released, and a few puffs of propellant from the control thrusters pushed the dropship away from the greater body of the Lexell.
"Radar confirms launch," the Captain's voice sounded calm and assuring on the communications band.
"Delta-v...point five meters per second..." Banks read out.
"Distance, 10 meters."
They moved away from one another slowly, for now, both zooming around the planet at the massive orbital speed. Any changes to this synchrony were the ones that they could perceive.
"20 meters now," Franklin read out. "25 meters."
"We've got 80% of pressure on the thrusters," Banks said.
"Okay, folks, we're underway," Franklin commented into the onboard circuit. "Stand by for atmospheric entry."
"Ready to take some distance," Banks said.
"Give it ten meters."
The co-pilot tapped his controls. This fired the main engines and gave them more speed, to take them further away from the mothership. It began to shrink rapidly on the aft-facing cameras.
"The hello buoy signal is coming in clear...we should have a good navigational lock," Banks said.
"Hold onto your tails, boys and girls...we're about to retrofire," Franklin added.
They were all business, but with the amount of trepidation that anyone would feel on such a situation. They were about to plunge into the atmosphere of the planet and ride chariots of fire until coming to what was hopefully a soft and a timely landing.
They had no time for poetics.
"Trajectory calculations are ready, and the computer concurs," Franklin said. "Shall we?"
Banks nodded.
"Aye, aye, Commander," he said.
"Alright, Lexell, we are GO for retrofire."
"Roger that. Proceed."
Franklin activated the autopilot sequence.
*
"...they look pretty good on their curve," Lester commented as he monitored the descent of the_Lexell's_ dropship. "Doppler has good contact."
"They're going down," Morrow sounded almost wistful.
"Would you fancy flying it down yourself?" Hodge suggested to the pilot.
The cheetah rumbled.
"Not my kind of flying," she replied. "Air comes on the way of some sweet moves."
"Didn't you crash the BX-5 trainer when you were flying for the Space Force, Rina?" Lester mused.
"So goes the tall tale..." she wouldn't oblige. "But I haven't crashed any spaceships lately. I promise."
"You've got an awfully large target out there..." Lester said.
"Hah hah," Morrow snerked.
Hodge cleared his throat.
"Let's stay professional here, shall we?" the tiger rumbled. "We're looking after their backs."
"And if they screw up...you'll have to fly to get them back," Morrow noted to the Captain.
"They won't screw up," Hodge said.
"And they are approaching ionization zone," Lester cut in.
"Keep tracking," Hodge rumbled.
He sounded more tense than he looked.
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The slide into the atmosphere was gradual. It took several minutes of the descent before the air grew thick enough to actually begin to buffet the vehicle that flew down like a dart, with its slim V-shaped wings and a sharp nosecone.
"Now we're talking," Banks commented. He sounded almost delighted.
Franklin's eyes were on the heads-up display projected onto the virtual windscreen. His gloved paws grasped the manual controllers attached to each of his armsrests. One controlled the rotation, the other the translation. They could be changed, based on personal preference.
"Maintain navigational lock on target," the lion said. "Going to active mode...now."
Banks touched the icon that would transfer part of the dropship's control over to Franklin's paws. While the computer was still in charge of flying for most part, the pilot could now suggest some actions to take and the lion could also override the computer, if required. He hoped not to.
Franklin's fingers gripped the controls more firmly. They were still high enough in the atmosphere that the vehicle's maneuvering systems would have very little effect on their trajectory. With the engines running, they could turn from side to side, but that was it.
The dropship shook again.
"High currents...it's getting windy..." Banks said.
"Nothing I can't handle," Franklin replied.
Deeper and deeper they went.
"Skin temperature within range."
"I would expect it to be. How's the Gs?"
"Tolerable," Banks said. "We're going down just the way we're supposed to."
The dropship could not generate the kind of power required to run a mass reduction coil. They simply would have to take it, the incessant pressure of the deceleration that squeezed them onto their seats.
"Let's just get down there in one piece," Franklin mused.
Slowly the images in their monitors became clearer, less prone to the interference caused by the burning air around them.
"Coming down to hypersonic speed."
"Feels like it, too..."
"Come about starboard, 5.3."
Franklin nudged his left paw slightly to the right. The numbers on his HUD rolled with the ship.
"Alright...that did it," he said.
"Got the signal again...and we're still on the curve."
"Thanks, Banks."
"Distance and down angle look good."
"Correcting...1.4...and .3..."
"Keep the nose angle like this for...12 more seconds..."
"Roger."
"Let's keep it steady..."
With every passing kilometer, and with their slowing speed, it became less of a fall and more of a controlled flight over the endless cloud tops of Birnbaumer 2. With air beneath the dropships wings and a thrust vector, the pilots were in charge of the flight, besides the laws of physics that had forced them down in their plunge towards the surface.
"...got visual on the outpost...12 mark 10...distance, 45,000 clicks."
The heavily enhanced visual in front of them was much like the image sent by the probe earlier. Now they were approaching at a slightly more leisurely speed than the automatic craft had done, considering their much more fragile cargo.
"40,000 clicks."
"Still need to lose some speed, I think..." Franklin mused.
"We've got you on a good approach vector, Drop One," came Captain Hodge's voice.
"We confirm that, Captain," Banks replied. "35,000 clicks."
"Got visual on the landing site...looks clean enough for vertical approach...got any auxiliary sites lined up?"
"Roger, 25 kilometers down at 24 mark 17 to your current location," the tiger replied.
"Roger."
"Tracking," Banks said.
"15,000..."
The treetops were a blanket below them, only broken by the square that was the outpost, clean ahead of them.
"11,000..."
"Alright, boys and girls, we are going down...now."
The lion pilot put them through a serious of maneuvers that killed their forward motion. A twist of a control on his joystick slowly swiveled the engines so that their thrust was actually directed blow them, allowing the dropship to hover above the outpost, now almost directly below them.
"And counting. 1,000 meters. 900."
"Easing on the throttle."
"800."
The dropship shook with another rush of wind upon its hulk. The Commander was quick to react, with the smallest dips of his paw.
"There we go..."
"500."
"Extend gear."
"Gear going down."
They felt it as a vibration. The graphics on the systems display confirmed that the landing gear was down.
"300. 250."
"Now just to keep steady and..."
"200."
"Stand by..."
"160."
"Maximum vertical vector in."
"140. 130."
"Just a little more juice..."
"100."
"Engaging autothrottle."
The landing was a business tricky enough even with automatic control, but while Franklin kept them steady, he allowed the autopilot to slowly turn down the engine power. He found their cooperation to that effect to bring a smoother ride.
"50...45...35..." Banks read out.
They were below the treetops in the distance.
"20..."
"About to land...stay put!"
They settled with a great rumble, the engines cutting off and the shock absorbers on their three great legs taking the strain of the dropship coming to a halt. It gave the final jolt to their stomachs, the termination of all motion relatively suddenly.
"And we're...steady..." Banks said after a few moments, to make sure that they were not falling over. "Got...1 degree port, 2 forward angle lists...nothing to consider."
Franklin secured the manual controls with a couple of quick clicks. He moved rapidly to continue the post-landing procedures.
"Alright, we're GO for staying, then," he said, "let's wind down and...and let's do this."
"Roger that," the co-pilot said.
"Lexell, please read that we have touched down and we are GO for staying," the lion rumbled into his comm.
"Acknowledged, Drop One. We've got your location fixed."
"I didn't quite land on the middle but...but we're here," Franklin mused.
"We got quite the show from the buoy's cameras."
As if on queue, the siren on the probe must have gone off, loud enough that they could hear it more than clearly inside the cockpit.
"Speaking of the probe, could you turn the alarms off, please?" Franklin said.
"We shall proceed with that."
_"_Thanks, sky people," Franklin noted.
"Roger," came the Captain's humorless reply.
Franklin switched to the onboard circuit.
"Alright, looks like we are GO for stay," he said, "stand by to disembark."
"Now we're talking!"
Franklin wasn't surprised that it was Larsen talking. He had expected it to be Pitman, more likely.
The Commander began to unbuckle his harness.
"Let's secure all systems and...let's get this rescue mission going," the lion noted to his co-pilot.
"Aye, aye," Banks said.
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