Dengaron P.E. (Personal edition)

The Ostrich

As everyone prepared the days came and went with a little more sense of panic, a planet killer was on a journey too fast and furious for mars to defend against. Scarlett, Tank and Jayden had left almost 24 hours ago and Charlie had learnt a few things about '516' or 'Hella' such as an 'eject' button which would activate the robot to fly the most important person within a kilometre to a safe distance. He had attempted to hack the code and make it so Alex and himself were a little higher on its priority list but he thought better of it after 5 hours of what could've been sleep.

"2 hours till launch, you all packed?" Charlie asked Alex like he was his mother.

"I've got enough." Alex replied.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for Alex, he had unintentionally killed 36 people, one of which being the mother of one of the men on their team called Redd, one of Jayden's top engineers.

"Hey," Charlie put both hands on his shoulders. "I promise things will be alright." He smiled at that and Charlie silently prayed he wasn't just saying it for show.

They were in the ship named after a extinct animal known as The Ostrich, she wasn't the fastest ship ever but with current orbital patterns she could still get them to mars in just 2 days leaving them another 3 to find Henry and save that world. The ship was coloured a deep grey with bright purple highlights, it's shape looked similar to a sideways water bottle with pods on the left and right sides, both being bedrooms. The interior was designed to look simple, however all the important components remained, usually hidden behind panels or below the floor itself. Six bedrooms surrounded the ship's engine room and the two were separated by a thin hallway which loops into an oval, the engine room being incased in the centre. Although they had all six bedrooms they'd have to bunk up, Charlie and Alex obviously chose to pair up. pilot and copilot console which would  be operated by Jay, a short girl who looked a lot similar to Jayden, but with black hair. She was a technological genius and not a bad pilot, she'd been Jayden's human number two for as long as he could remember. Copiloting was Hella, the 516 robot Charlie had been researching, although he hadn't been able to find anything besides a strange explosive compound hidden within her arms, presumably fuel for a weapon of sorts. Redd would be focused in the engine room being one of Jayden's specially modified human mechanics, and the rest of them were simply passengers for now.

It was finally time for launch; Charlie, Alex, Aaliyah, Rose, Countraverse, Adam, Jay, Redd and Hella piled onto the main deck and each took seats at both side of the room before they strapped in, except for Jay and Hella who took the controls. The Ostrich was bursting back to life, hundreds of coloured buttons blinked to life, rock music came blaring from the speakers before it stopped and Redd apologised.

"We humans work best with music." He explained, looking at Hella.

Vibrations from the engine room behind rattled through the entire ship as a voice came through the speakers surrounding the room.

"Spacecraft Ostrich you are clear for lift off." A man's voice announced.

Charlie had learnt that the ships here need take off clearance, being so close to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The three pilot seats were in the centre of the room towards the front, three chairs in a 'V' like pattern, each with monitors and too many switches to count. In the centre seat sat Jay with Redd to her left and Rose on her right.

The whirling engines behind intensified as the burnt cityscape seen out the giant front window began to sink lower and lower.

"Hey! aren't Ostriches flightless?" Adam shouted.

"Shut the fuck up!" An frustrated Jay replied.

Everyone shared a laugh as Jay pushed up a large red lever which caused the ship to jolt upwards, then continuously higher and higher until the sky turned a deep navy blue. The world grew smaller and smaller below them and Charlie's fear of hight, which he had conquered years ago began to Chern his stomach. Once the sky turned black and their arms started to float the ships artificial gravity kicked in with a loud clank, causing a few things which were suspended to fall.