Ultraya: Origins

Chapter 25: Launch

28/05/4013 AD – 14:47 – Iceikco – Ultrayan Alliance Headquarters – Hangar Bay Three

The exploration team were in one of the small hangars at the left side of the base; the hangar was integrated into the fortress walls. This little hangar was nothing special to look at; a grey ceiling, grey walls and a black floor with several lifts that delivered flight-ready military aircraft from the maintenance room to the launch deck. A large open door allowed ships to head out into the wild. Four Mylialta fighters lined up the front row of the main deck, with another four behind that and two large craft behind those that Anmarina, Olicleaver, and Dracolast did not recognise.

"What is that thing?" Dracolast pointed to it as the group walked to the first row of Mylialta, all in their Human forms.

"That is a Gravity Bomber, typically shortened to 'Grav-Bomber'", explained Hyperzio. "No fancy names here, it does exactly what it says on the tin: drops bombs with small thrusters that propel the bomb downward from the craft, regardless of the gravitational environment". The bombers seemed to take inspiration from an ancient stealth bomber from over two-thousand years ago. A wide, sleek, black body with two ports for dropping payloads on the underside. Below the two-seater cockpit lay a bow-mounted Gatling gun and micro-missile launchers were concealed within the wings.

"And what's the point in that?" asked Dracolast. "Why not just, oh I don't know, do as the name suggests and let gravity pull the bombs down?"

"So what if you wanted to bomb something in space?" asked Olicleaver, who sounded a bit irritated. "I'm assuming that the idea of those thrusters is to simulate a situation where gravity is in effect". Hyperzio nodded in confirmation.

"Or how about bombing something whilst the bomber is upside down?" Anmarina cut in.

"Really Dracolast", Olicleaver continued to ridicule. "The first time Hyperzio gives us a straight answer and you can't even fill in the blanks".

A large rumble shook the ground and, outside of the hangar, the four could see a Carazstar emerging from doors hidden within the grounds around the headquarters. Snow fell through the floor as the base ship launched into space.

"Come on, we're late", said Hyperzio as he boarded the Mylialta on the far left. The others got into their own Mylialta and Hyperzio gave the same set of instructions on how to fly as he gave Olicleaver back on Earth; only this time, an extra detail was added.

"Your Wyperian forms shall be unaffected by the vacuum of space, but your Human forms shall not. We board these craft in Human form because it saves space in the cockpit; be sure to switch forms if you are going to leave the craft in this environment", he explained. The team each entered their vehicles and ignited the engines. The screens flared to life, showing the neon-blue heads-up display. The underside jump-jets of the spacecraft all blasted a small burst of lime-green energy performed their small jumps before rocketing out of the hangar.

28/05/4013 AD – 17:10 – Open Space – Near Earth's Orbit

"These fighters are pretty fast", commented Dracolast upon seeing Earth. The large planet was in full view. Although the continents and oceans had changed during its time in this new universe, it still retained its beauty; a big, brilliant, blue ball of life.

"It's not that these fighters are particularly fast per se, it's just that Iceikco is fairly close to Earth, more so than the other planets. Iceikco is actually closer to Earth than Ultraya's sun is", explained Olicleaver.

"Wow!" exclaimed Dracolast. "You've really done your research; I'm impressed!"

"No, he just paid attention in science class", Anmarina grunted. "You slacked off".