The Solution (2nd Edition)

Xen

Our titan blasted free of its launch pad, and within seconds, I became one with inertia as it moved through all of us like a collective exorcism! Still, everything seemed okay on a technical level. Stardom's vertical and horizontal alignment was good upon leveling out and once again, I had to thank the phantom efforts of fùqīn and Huányīn.

     They weren't just with the Double Dragon.

    They were with us all now.

    Progressing, I imagined that from the reinforced sub colony back on the ground, Ling and the Jong Brothers were looking up into the fire and darkness we were creating with absolute awe.

    Back in the stratosphere, the controlled chemical reaction in Stardom's anti-matter engine was dozens of times more powerful than any atomic bomb. Therefore, it'd maintained its course in catching up with The Wealth Core. At astronomical speeds, so did Dynasty, Imperial, Horizon and Atomic, until something back on the ground demanded that our ascensions be, halted... Utilizing their training, the VG pilots adjusted the throttles on each freighter's hover super-cells, and in quick succession, all five vessels slowed dramatically. So did the core. As a result, this halted the four-minute journey to orbit, and an unfathomable sound was generated, a cacophony of thunder from the Pantheon of Gods.

    I prayed again, hoping that we weren't about to break up.

    From Kazakhstan's low airspace, the ships' combined ruckus was probably heard as the greatest sonic boom of all time. Furthermore, as the six crafts moved slower now above Solaris, they looked like an alien armada ready to invade planet Earth.

    Meanwhile, back inside the crafts, people were petrified and some even became catatonic, forcing the nitrous oxide in their systems to wear off... Understandably, this led to some tickled eligibles starting to fall unconscious inside of their Habitat Suits. Thankfully, the life support response in each suit meant that they'd be sedated and okay until physician help arrived.

    Despite intermittent launches, things had worsened as the other freighters had aggravated the stability of the Eurasian tectonic plate. This caused additional earthquakes, further shockwaves, and for the Base-Isolated-Technology across Baikonur to be constantly in motion, the foundations rattling more aggressively than ever intended.

    While shockwaves moved through the earth, the atmosphere began to churn...

    Updrafts of hot and cold air had caused low-lying cumulonimbus storm clouds to instantly form. Naturally, sinister lightning and thunder sparked and cracked, followed by torrential rain which lashed down maniacally. Endless plumes of dust were also thrown up into the air and soon merged with the rain. This caused a silt-slick of epic proportions. Worse still, The Filters on Baikonur's boarders were now beginning to clog. Consequently, this was probably affecting Solaris' hover cells and forcing the freighter to delay its inaugural launch.

    This possibility was the reason for the aeronautical imposition.

    Keen to take action, I looked at Lee beside me and nodded. In response, he opened a multiple com-link to all the leaders, O-Kenai included, and shared the prediction of Solaris' stall.

    To follow, Aurora and her pilot were linked into the fold, hopefully to confirm. "Madame President," Stephen blazed with authority. "Status!"

    "Admiral Wu," she came back, her captain also in view, "the grounded conditions have immobilized three of our hover cells, making it no longer safe to ascend! What do we do?"

    Yet again, I imagined that silence claimed the world as we all looked on.

    "Aurora, it's too early in the game to abandon one of these things!" I interjected. "So just work quickly and figure out a solution!"

    "And don't fret," Stephen yowled in support of myself and the host leader, "we won't leave you behind!"

    "Oh yes we fucking will," O-Kenai added with raised brows, her casual words sailing around her glamorous dais atop The Wealth Core. "Like Peter Pan, I've got somewhere to be - second star to the right and then straight on till morning. Don't play with me, people..."

    Once again, Stephen intervened. Furthermore, he was just as brave this time around as we'd heard he was when confronting The Pink Lady during the Fengtai incident. "...O-Kenai, we need Solaris. It's our Archive Freighter. If civilization ever falls, that's the only off-world store of Earth's organisms, including humans, and Sakura trees..."

     "...Wu, fuck the store, and fuck the trees!" O-Kenai hissed. Then after a snippet of silence, the Devil's Daughter came back. "...Admiral, jeez, I'm just kidding! Very well, assist the Madame President and Solaris, but do it quickly. Tick-Tock..."

    Topside, I exhaled a mighty plume of carbon dioxide.

   It was also clear now more than ever.

    O-Kenai feared Mother Nature's wrath just like the rest of us. And she really was desperate to ascend. After all, based on the technical stall of Solaris, maybe this was why she'd deterred the initiation of The Solution - something which was a far grander undertaking with so much more risk?

    With a renewed air of hope, I stormed my brain, looking for an answer for the Kazakh's main vessel. But I had no luck. That was until I remembered the services of the GGE! With haste I fluttered my eyelids closed and com-linked Mikey. Then I brought him up to speed on Aurora's predicament. After a five-digit deduction of iCredit, A.I.D.A moved my consciousness back to the multiple link, and with confidence, I thundered the GGE's solution to Solaris! "Aurora," I screeched, "have Nikolai 'invade polarities'!"

    Thank Hasbro for 'Transformers: The (1986 Animated) Movie'! Based on the Strikebacks of Dromedon, Kup's old war story was the key to knowing how to jump start an ark ship!

    "I beg your pardon," Aurora then came back. However, while the Kazakh leader remained dumbfounded, Nikoli, her VG pilot, knew exactly what to do! Subsequently, he wrestled with hidden dials and levers until Solaris' A.I system vapourized all external molecules clogged in the hover cells! Now back in the race, the last of our freighters blasted free of its launch pad and rose through the troposphere to rendezvous with the rest of our fleet! Once Solaris had reached our height at ten thousand feet, one thing was apparent. Now as a combined force, the titans blotted out all remnants of daylight and hid the raw might of Sol's zenith. Moreover, their shadows spanned the length and breadth of the continental region, and on the surface, caused Celcius and Fahrenheit to plummet. Overhead, the only illumination available came from the hover cells as inferno flecks of fire. The suppression mainframes built into each one below the crafts were working wonders.