<recording audio and transcribing>

CMDR. Alex Rodriguez
U.T.E. Corvus
0927hrs 14 June, 2463 Local

The first real wireless test of the translation “speaker” went well yesterday. There were a few hiccups, like Rose ‘forgetting’ to pause the system when I was sealing my suit and removing the helmet. Tell you what, it is so strange to hear all this in practice though. There’s that line between seeing a pony talking, and knowing it is a talking pony. Kind of surreal to be honest.

Explaining what we are doing today, or at least trying to explain, was a bit more interesting. Eventually Rose managed to get the point across at least. At first, they wanted to be in the main compartment of the ship if they could come with. Thankfully they realized that doing so would contaminate the rest of the ship, and we have no idea what filtered air would do to them. After a bit of back and forth, it’s come down to Princesses Aine and Boann along with two guards each, while Princess Brighid is apparently going to look for our new home.

Oh, that’s what I was forgetting. Apparently winter is coming and we are in an avalanche chute. Generally getting buried in snow and freezing to death would be kinda bad, so we’re moving. While we are away, frames 3 and 4 are going to mount the shackle points onto the enclosure and prep a harness. Figure why disassemble it when we can sling load it for a short distance. Three cheers for hooker training.

Back on topic though, we’ve had a few modular displays unhooked from the wardroom and locked into sockets in the airlock. Between the three displays, that should give the ponies a fairly decent view around the ship. Thankfully the displays are solid state, so decon for them is stupid simple. Rose will be staying in the airlock with the ponies for the trip to explain whatever comes up. We’ve decided to use two of the ‘oh shit’ emergency air canisters to hold contaminated air for the locals. Considering we’ve got a way oversized life support system for a crew of one, redundant systems, and another thirteen canisters, I think we’re okay.

Lastly, frames 1 and 2 are going to be handling the last of the beacon constellation deployment. As always, I’ll be holding the ship steady and reducing the grav plating in the troop bay for that. Rose will ask the ponies if they want to try microgravity while that is going on, and if yes, she’ll lower settings in the airlock.

Considering this is kind of a weird first for anyone in the UTE, all raw footage will be automatically forwarded to the constellation as it happens, as well as getting hard copied into the ship log. This is going to be a weird day, mini horses in space, go figure.

<end recording>

“So you’re sure this is safe and can fly that far, right?”

Yup, it was going to be one of those days. The royals were right on time, with both Aine and Boann seemingly giddy at the thought of going to space. Princess Brighid seemed a bit more reserved about the whole thing. If I didn’t know better, she seemed a bit depressed about her sister going to space. At the least, the overly long hug and uncomfortable fidgeting made it seem like that, but it could be a cultural thing. Who knows.

As always, they are accompanied by a quartet of golden armored guards carrying spears. At least those guys are dedicated despite seeing what the rear anti personnel turret could do to something. They’d probably crap themselves if we ever put warshots out of the main guns though. Or not, considering their ruler can kind of sling the local star around like a yo-yo. Note to self, get them home safely so we’re not incinerated by a pissed off god-horse… thingie.

“The plan is for Defending Blade to go into the Raven first, so he can seal it behind himself. We’ll go in after and watch through the displays. I can answer any questions you have though.”

At least Rose seemed to have it well in hand. It was strange to have just the soft hissing of my rebreather, hum of the ship, and metallic clanking of my boots as my only company going into the airlock. I don’t want to bother Rose, but it just felt weird kind of being on my own for so long. She’d be babbling endlessly over comms when we weren’t running quiet in the UTE Navy.

The painted steel walls lit up in flashing yellow when I reached forward and started the decon and air swap system. While the doors closed, it would be hard to argue that I enjoyed the last view being a cute redhead. Even though a few weeks had passed, the decon and purge still annoyed me. It just took forever standing in the airlock, watching the decon solution and blowers coat everything until the blinking yellow light came from everything. When the system detected no more contaminants, everything gets bathed in crimson tinted frost as all air in the compartment was vented externally. I wasn’t even bothering to turn on the defrost for my visor as ice coated it. In training it takes forever to keep people from panicking during EVA classes. That first time that you hear nothing but your heart pounding in your ears and hiss of your air systems stays with you. Even after so many years, that sensation of being utterly isolated stuck with me.

“You know I saw you looking at my ass?”

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! Scare the shit out of me why don’tcha!”

Well, less isolated when you have a pain in the ass that can see everything you do and exactly where your eyes are looking. After an eternity, the red light flashed to green as shipboard air poured into the compartment. The ‘glas built into my suit automatically linked to the Corvus and began scrolling data through the corners of my vision. As the large metal doors opened, I stepped through with purpose, eager to begin preflights and get off the ground. After years of flying, being grounded just gets on your nerves after a while.

“Do you mind if I show the ponies the inside of the ship through the displays? Princess Boann seems to be rather interested in what it looks like. I’ll keep the displays away from anything sensitive though. I doubt they’ll try to steal and fly the ship, but why take chances.”

Mounting the top of the carpeted stairs leading to the cockpit, I just nodded a yes. My thoughts were only on getting my butt back in the seat and off the ground. Thankfully Rose already had my comfy and custom fit seat sliding back. Yeah, it seems a bit weird to take a crash seat out of a racer, but man those things feel great during long flights. Boots clicking softly on the pedals, I pressed the stud to deploy the controls and start my checklist. Yeah, I could have just whacked the ‘shit switch’ on the bulkhead, but unless it is an emergency that is a bad idea. Hell, I could have had Rose do the checklist, but she knows like it.

External cameras? Check.

Nitrogen purge? With a press of a button, pressurized vapor poured out of the differing main and maneuvering thruster nozzles.

OTC power… on.

Reactor containment… stable.

Tertiary reactor startup... firing… online.

Secondary reactor startup… firing… online.

Primary reactor startup… firing… … … online.

Shield generators… online

Through the cameras I could see the ponies outside shift uncomfortably when the reactors powered up. They jumped slightly as the shields snapped into being around the Corvus, a barely visible wall of energy flowing through the air. Most people feel weird when massive magnetic fields kick into place. Could be a tingling or weird sensation, but it happens.

The list went on and on…

Finally it was time, and the first time the Corvus had flown in a fair number of days. It’ll be good to get her back into space. With a final button press, I watched the engine pylons open and flex like a bird rearing to fly.

“Ready when you are Rose, how are things going back there?”

Oh, I loved her laugh.

“We’re good back here. They expected you to hit a button and zoom off into the sky apparently. So why don’t you give them a good show. Just caress my controls like you always do and you’ll do fine. Show us girls a good time.”

There’s only one thing you can do at a statement like that. Laugh. Well, laugh and try not to focus too much on the sexy purr at the end of it. If they wanted a show, they’d get a show. Flicking the controls over to PRE (precision) and adding a bit of throttle, the Corvus slowly rose above the supports the landing gear rested on. Through the belly cameras, I watched the frames disconnect the safety shackles from the ship. Knowing we were good to go, I tabbed over to the internal speakers in the airlock.

“Thank you for flying Corvus Airlines. Our flight path is set from ground level to high orbit before breaking off to interplanetary space. Estimated time to orbit is approximately five minutes. Shipboard artificial gravity will be coming online momentarily so you don’t feel a change in orientation or gravity. For the comfort of our special guests, inertial dampeners will be at full power in the airlock for the duration of our trip. Thank you again for flying with Corvus, and please hang onto your butts.”

Pushing the throttle forward, we lept away from the ground. It wasn’t a massive rate, just under fifty meters per second, but you don’t want to go crazy low to the ground. Once at a safe altitude, the fun was about to start.

“Ready back there Rose?”

After a moment of conversation with our passengers, her soft voice chimed in my ear with a giggle.

“All good back here. Now stop telling me I’ve been a bad ship and punish me.”

All I could do was grin and slide the throttles forward and watch the ground blur below us as the altitude scrolled higher and higher. Reaching up to flip a switch, armored covers began to slide over the windows across the ship while an automated version of Rose spoke, “Digital cockpit online.”

The bulkheads disappeared, leaving only the video feeds from outside the ship and scrolling flight data while wispy clouds flickered across the nose of the ship. As the nearby mountain receded below us, I waited for the displays to show it was safe for primary engine startup. At 75,000 feet the light flipped from red to green as a soft whine filled the compartment.

“Hang on ladies and gents, this is where it gets fun. We’re at 75,000 feet and climbing. Orbit is around 6,500,000 feet. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Oh and Rose, you’ve been so very bad that I’m going to have to make you scream for me.”

I made sure that last one wasn’t over the speaker system, chuckling to myself while pushing the throttles forward to the locks. Time to relax and enjoy myself. Next Chapter: 20. The night in the skies here tonight... <unedited> Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes