Everyone had tuned in when they heard that House Path had selected three Equians for some sort of new project, since everything was tight lipped everyone was kept in dark, most if not all of the major news networks were speculating, and when it was released that they were going to make an announcement the news networks were rampant in their coverage. House Path had the habit of going to varying networks to disclose news, so that no one network was favored. When Faceted Garnet was talking about the latest top news at the CNN (Crystal News Network) she was stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the producer galloping around getting whole crews to get cameras in position. Soon she figured out why when out of the corner of her eye she saw two very familiar grins.

“We have breaking news, Lord Path and Lord Free are in the studio, and I believe that they have something to tell us?” She said unable to withhold a grin on her muzzle.

Path and free walked over to the other table as they were given mics.

“So I bet you are wondering why we are here tonight... and what we are up to?” Free rested his talons on the table, tapping them slightly.

“Yes! We all are!” Garnet Exclaimed.

“Well, about five years ago House Path set forth the task of getting the very first Equians into space, all of the major world governments submitted people, it took two years to whittle it down to the best of the best, as we constructed the rocket.” Path was grinning.

“Constructed... you mean the rocket is already built?!” Garnet looked at them, eyes wide.

“Constructed, and on the launch pad actually, undergoing final checks. We are at about t-minus one week. And we figured everyone should meet the three that will be going down into the history books as the first Aethernauts.”

Path made a motion as a griffon walked up into view of the camera, he was a strong griffon, muscular but not bulky. He was a mix of a lion and a golden eagle. His bright blue eyes looked right in the camera as he smirked. “Carnot Highstrike, Pilot and mission commander for the ESA-1M mission. The first crewed mission into space.” He did the Griffonian salute first, then the House Path bow before he went to the table.

Free waved the next one over as a Prench mare came into view, she had the most wonderful teal coat with a golden yellow mane, her matching eyes looked back into the camera and she smiled warmly and started to speak with a Prench accent. “I am Madame Gala Neighan, Chief Science Officer and Mission Specialist.” She bowed as well.

The two aethernauts called over the third person as a Violet changeling bounced into view. “Hiiii! I’m Quorn! Chief Medical Officer of the mission!” The changeling was small, but her chitin was shiny and without imperfection. For those that knew what to look for she was in peak condition for her species.

They all waved at the camera and free cleared his throat.

“They are going to be launching in a week from our main Griffonian spaceport into roughly a 120km by 85,000km orbit, do a few mission tests, tech experiments, public outreach and then head back, all things considered the mission will last only a few days.” Path smiled before he looked right into the camera. “In a week there will be a new star in the sky. Everyone in the world will be able to see the moving point of light, and to everyone, if you want to see the launch, you know where to go.”

Path stood up as did the others and they started to walk out. “Ta-taa for now!”

Everyone filed out of the studio just as quickly as they left.

Free snickered. “You really love catching them off-guard, don’t you?”

“I gotta keep them on their toes somehow!”

Everyone chuckled.

---

Midnight before the big launch, the peninsula was opened up so that people who managed to get to Griffonia could get as close as was safe, around 3km from the launch pad. In the few days since the announcement, nearly every source of lodging was booked up on that side of the kingdom, Those in the hospitality industry loved the boom that was being caused by this event. The launch wasn’t even set to go until dawn.

Large GemVee screens were put up in the viewing areas, about an hour before launch those in the mission control were talking about the rocket in question.

“This is a special variant of the Triad I. It adds two boosters, newly designed by Magitek Corp. These are High Performance ARB (Arcane Rocket Boosters) and while they aren’t efficient enough to get the craft into space, it provides enough of a kick to get the core high enough before separating to allow the Nine Starswirl 1D+ Engines to push the craft up to orbital velocity. The last stage is smaller with just One Starswirl 1D engine to kick it into its final orbit. We are now going to bring you footage from inside the craft!”

The crowd watched on as they saw the three aethernauts talking every now and then with mission control. The comms were open so they could hear them starting the rocket up as it was finished being fueled, flicking and tapping a switch or button as they nodded. Carnot looked into the camera and did a thumbs-up.

Time ticked down and the crowd turned oddly silent as they watched the astronauts on the main screen, far far on the horizon they could see the rocket standing there, steam rising from the bottom as it prepared for launch. Starry Path came up on the comms.

“T minus 2 minutes to launch. Begin final sequence.”

Carnot started laughing “Let’s light this candle!”

“All monitoring stations reporting, downlink established. T minus 30 seconds.”

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

Zero!

Everyone became deathly quiet as they saw a second sun begin to ignite as those arcane boosters started up. It was still silent as the sound had yet to reach them. Steam shot out covering up the rocket for few moments before the spire started to climb into the sky, those twin boosters roaring at full power.

There were squeals of delight as the massive booming wave finally hit the crowd well after the rocket had left the pad. The twin trails of arcane fire were longer than the rocket itself as it slowly started its roll maneuver. All the cameras zoomed in on the rocket so the crowd could see the zoomed-in image.

The astronauts were pressed into their seats as they were rocked back and forth. “... all systems nominal, right down the line...”

The crowd kept watching as the rocket became smaller and smaller, the trio of small dots sailing toward the horizon.

“Go for booster separation...”

“Go separation.”

The crowd gasped as they saw the two boosters detach and pull away from the rocket just as the center core ramped up to max power, The two arcane boosters spent, they continued on a ballistic path toward the ocean. The three astronauts went silent as they were pressed into the chairs, Carnot grunted as he started to speak out.

“..3G...4G....5G....”

The astronauts were getting pressed further and further into their chairs. And they were starting to grit their teeth/beaks.

Carnot’s breathing and his voice was very hoarse. “Separating first stage... lighting second stage!”

The videos showed the trio suddenly lunged forward in their seats, then when the second stage ignited, they were slammed back into their chairs.

At this point the craft had already gone over the horizon, the crowds were staring at the screen as the graphic showed the launch craft still climbing into orbit... and then the second stage shut off, four little arms extended out with scientific instruments and a glove floated by the view of the cockpit. The three astronauts took off the helmets, their eyes wide.

“Mon Dieu! The Stars!” Madam Gala exclaimed as she looked off camera.

Carnot grinned a bit and unbuckled his belt. “Since we only have 30 seconds before we lose video contact, we have made it into our parking orbit, for the next 15 minutes we will check our systems and do the second burn into our mission orbit.”

He waved to the camera as he picked it up and pointed it to his other crew members. Gala had her face mashed into one of the windows, looking outside, while Quarn had her horn lit up, scanning over Gala and then Carnot. “Everyone is okay!”

Carnot grinned into the camera as he spoke. “This is Commander Carnot!” Quarn waved as she floated by. “Chief medical Officer Quarn!” Gala missed her cue as she just stared out the window dumbstruck, as the griffon laughed. “And she’s Madam Gala.”

“Signing off. In a few hours we will be telecasting to the world.”

Two of the crew waved as the screen went to static and was soon replaced by another countdown timer.

-Time Until Telecast: 6:41:30-

Next Chapter: Ad Astra 2 - Perspective Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes