The wind blew across the barren lands. The year was 2090 and still nothing grew out of the cracked earth. Radioactive isotopes from the previous nuclear runs were embedded within the ground. InterCon Overcast Mach-X Bombers streaked across the sky above a single man standing alone in the desert. The dry wind blew across the cape he wore over his lead shielded suit. Bearing the emblem of an ice cube on his back, he clutched his only dog-tag and stared longingly up into the sky.

"The time has now come..." he said with a smile.

TKE and Claev stood in the MAXIS containment chamber. Instruments of various purposes stood around the core.

"My, my..." Claev commented. "This is one extraordinary artifact! I have never seen such abnormal readings before. This is really out of this world!"

TKE spoke rather monotonously, "Well I highly doubt that MAXIS is from our universe, doc."

MAXIS stood still in the middle of the room, plasma swirling around its blue mass. The radio readings on the RIG data-logger spiked, almost as if MAXIS was trying to communicate. It was at this moment the swirling mass of plasma drifted towards the only window in the room.

Claev sighed. "I think MAXIS is tired of our analysis. Let us leave her be. We will continue another day."

He headed towards the door with the closely trailing TKE.

Now walking down the hallway back to the R&D sector, TKE looked out the station's crystal clear glass windows. Staring back at him was the dusty brown ball that was once planet Earth. Little mushroom clouds sprouted from what used to be Central America. And from there, a smoke spiral stretching into the sky.

"A rocket launch? Is EarthGov sending something up again? Not to mention all those explosions." TKE mumbled to himself.

"Luckily I'm up here. I never want to go back down there again. All my friends are here too. Especially..."

His thoughts were interrupted by the loud, rapid footsteps of Clanedd running towards him.

"...Te... Sir, you are needed in the room of operations. Sorry for the late notice but Mr Saegen wants to speak to you." Clanedd said amidst rapid panting.

"OK, thanks Clanedd. I guess I will see you around?"

Clanedd nodded and ran off. Hyperactive as usual, TKE thought to himself as he briskly made his way to the Command Sector.

Sitting at the Head Engineer's seat, TKE waited for Saegen to begin his briefing. He was feeling a little nervous as Saegen never called for meetings over such short notice and the white walls of the meeting room did not help ease his anxiety. Claev sat at the Head Scientist's seat fidgeting, almost sharing the same anxiety with TKE. There were some other people seated across him and beside him, obviously of rank as well. Some of them were deputy scientists, security and even a few geologists were present too.

Saegen, in his white lab coat and highly unnecessary sunglasses walked into the brightly lit room. With a serious tone he began.

"Gentlemen, I apologize for such an unexpected calling but I have some important news to share."

Thank god it is not another emergency, TKE thought to himself.

Saegen continued. "The R&D department have decided to put forward a new project regarding the Alcubierr's Drive. This time, we are going to man a FTL capable starship!"

That's it? TKE thought to himself. That could have waited, instead of disrupting my work!

"Head Engineer?"

Saegen suddenly started. "Y-Yes sir?" the engineer replied.

"I need you to stay for a while after this." said Mr Saegen quickly. TKE's eyes widened. He sank back into his chair and let out a sigh.

"OK, now what is it?" TKE asked impatiently.

Here he was sitting alone in the meeting room directly opposite Saegen while he could be doing something else more fruitful.

Saegen cleared his throat and spoke slowly, "Well, Head Engineer, I need you to go down to the surface of the Earth."

TKE's jaws dropped. Did I hear that right? He thought to himself.

"B-Back to earth?" TKE stammered.

"Yes Head Engineer. Of all the people on this station I have chosen you. You should feel honored."

"Horrified." TKE muttered under his breath.

Saegen continued, "Basically, you are going to negotiate some terms with that... how should I put it... obtuse ice company. ICY Products if I am not wrong."

Saegen paused to make sure TKE was listening. The latter merely replied with a stare.

"We need a cargo load of metals, polymers... You name it, for our new manned FTL ship, code named, Project TeraNova. This metal is going to come from ICY and we plan to give our nuclear fission tech to them in return. "

TKE put his hand to his chin, thought about what Mr Saegen said and spoke, "Alright, who shall I introduce ourselves as? And why nuclear fission? Isn't that like, 150 years outdated?"

"Well, they lost it when one of their incompetent members dropped a 150MT HyperNuke when he was told to 'drop everything and come over here'."

"Right... So, name?"

Saegen looked up for a split second and rattled off the first thing that came to his mind.

"Call ourselves NanoTech."

"But that is such a cliché name!" TKE tried to argue.

"Fine! NanoTec then." Saegen snapped.

"Alright, alright. NanoTec it shall be." TKE said after he threw his hands into the air.

"Now all I have to do is negotiate some terms right? Sounds like a piece of cake." TKE commented. "Just like a school trip to Florida."

Saegen shook his head, "I don't think so. Ever since we, or more specifically, I, cheated them of their MAG technology and strapped their weird android that I found along the hallways to Daledalus. I'd say they do not appreciate it. Just remember Head Engineer, do not ever let your guard down."

The atmosphere reentry shuttle had been designed a good year or two ago by yours truly, TKE. The first was built within the next two days.

It was about 20m long and was of a delta wing design, with the fuselage as long as the pair of broad wings. Ablative shielding was mounted along the undercarriage of the shuttle, making it suitable only for a single use before it has to be refurbished again.

Regardless of specs, it would still do its job. TKE and his assistant, Clanedd prepared to depart. While TKE would have preferred Clanedd to stay behind, she would not stop whining about his 'safety and wellbeing' until he obliged. The pilot and TKE's escort were already on board.

"Good morning sir! Welcome to the FasterthanLight Express! Are we ready to fly?"

TKE gave a quick nod and sat himself down on the nearest seat and Clanedd next to him. I have a bad feeling about this... TKE thought to himself.

The pilot yelled once again with a smirk on his face, "Alright then! Belt up! This is gonna be the ride of your life!"

The doors and stairs of the shuttle folded and slid shut. The landing gears or skis, more specifically, retracted into the smooth body of the shuttle and it was then moved by a magnetic rail and slowly eased towards the airlock. The blast doors closed behind the shuttle with a dull clang.

The computerized voice resounded through the shuttle "*Atmosphere pressure one, initiating depressurization. Venting atmosphere, 90%,80%...Vacuum achieved.*"

The blast door opened, exposing the shuttle to silence of outer space. Slowly, the pilot eased the shuttle out of the airlock carefully using the RCS thrusters. The sun was rising above the horizon of the brown planet and the sunlight glinted off the beautiful white hull of the shuttle.

The scenery was breathtaking, something that could not be seen from a mere observation deck. A full view, nearly 270 degrees with only a double layer of thin plexglass separating the cosmos from the interior of the shuttle.

Suddenly the pilot flicked a switch and the shuttle lunged forward. TKE, Clanedd and his escort were buried in their seats. The pilot then placed his left hand on the throttle and pushed it all the way upwards.

"Hold on tight guys! Here is where the fun begins!" The pilot yelled over the roaring combustion engines.

He pulled the joystick and pushed the rudder fully to his left. The shuttle responded immediately, internal torque twisting the craft around before nose diving straight into the planetary atmosphere.

TKE and Clanedd's eyes widened. The Head Engineer noted from the corner of his eyes, his bodyguard closing his eyes and having his hands cupped in front of him. Apparently nobody was enjoying the flight.

"*Altitude dropping.*" The computer said monotonously. "*Atmosphere contact in three... two... one...*"

Sudden, loud screeching sounds immediately resonated throughout the shuttle's fuselage and cockpit as the craft made contact with Earth's skies. Showers of sparks flew from the hull, threatening to tear the entire craft open.

Clinging onto TKE, Clanedd yelled at the top of her voice, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us all killed?! Our angle of attack is too steep! Pull up now!"

The pilot shrugged his shoulders. "Nah, relax young lady. I got this!"

The altitude meter was dropping extremely rapidly. So rapidly that the shuttle calculated it would crash into the dusty ground in a mere ten seconds from 200 km up. The shuttle was enveloped by fire and plasma, leaving a burning trail while streaking across the sky.

"*Hull Temperature critical!*"

The computer seemingly shouted, almost pleading with the pilot.

"Shut up!" The young pilot said almost casually as he continued his mad descent down to earth.

The altimeter now read 25 kilometers. TKE closed his eyes in fright.

"Its over" he thought to himself. Almost as if responding to his thoughts, the pilot smiled. He pulled the joystick towards himself and pushed the throttle into the overdrive.

The craft flipped upwards onto its belly, parallel to the ground. The shuttle's speed dropped sharply and white fluffy turbulence currents flowed from the wing tips and the undercarriage.

The G-force exerted was excruciatingly painful as the shuttle decelerated and started climbing, mere inches off the ground, dust and soil blasting in all directions. The plasma that accompanied the shuttle on the way down scotched the ground, leaving a shockwave similar to that of a thermobaric bomb.

Now cruising at nearly Mach 3, just a couple of meters off the ground, the pilot switched the throttle to idle and glided the creaking space plane to its destination in just five minutes.

Flying over a derelict, crumbling city and wastelands over Central America, the pilot turned his head and shouted towards his passengers.

"So, how was the flight?"

Not a word. TKE, Clanedd and their escort were all knocked out due to the g-force. Complete blackout.

"Aww sleeping during my flight." The pilot said rather disappointedly.

"I think I wasn't flying fast enough."

The space plane's landing gears deployed again as the pilot eased it down onto flat land in the desolate and abandoned city. The skis kicked up a good amount of radioactive dust in its wake before the shuttle finally came to a stop. The engine's bright yellow glow cooled to a dull red and the whining of the turbines faded away.

TKE, now recovering from his previous unconsciousness spoke wearily, "Oh my god, I'm alive."

The pilot replied proudly and almost arrogantly. "I told you it would be the flight of your life! Right Sarge?"

The escort was still out cold. No reply. I bet this guy was from InterCon, TKE thought to himself. No sane man would fly that way.

He regained his composure and asked, "Young man, what is your name?"

"I am Kuro. A pleasure." He replied still, grinning.

"Exactly how old are you?" TKE pressed further.

"Why, I am ripe 15 years old! And if you want to know, I was an ex-ICY products member."

TKE groaned. No surprise there. TKE thought to himself. If I had known that we were flying with children then... TKE's thoughts were interrupted by Kuro.

"Oh yes, ICY Products would like to apologize for the Dalek probe thing, no hard feelings?"

"Wait... How do you know about that?"

"I have my ways."

"Did ICY really apologize?"

"Dunno. I just made that up sir. Ha ha."

TKE, Clanedd and their escort suited up into their individual LongExposure TV2 EVA suits. Although the suits were designed for space use, they are still extremely effective at protecting its users on the ground.

Kuro on the other hand was going to stay in the shuttle to await their return. Or so he says. While suiting up, Clanedd spoke in a rather disturbed tone to TKE.

"I'm really worried about this pilot of ours. I have a really bad feeling that he is going to blow something up. "

TKE cleared his throat and spoke in your typical scientist accent.

"Let me put your doubts to rest." he leaned in closer and continued. "He probably will."

That did not help at all, Clanedd thought to herself. Before she was able to say a thing, TKE and his escort were already disembarking from the shuttle. Clanedd tottered after them in the protective EVA suit and she was immediately greeted with the sight of a man bearing the insignia of an ice cube on his radiation suit.

"Good morning sir." the man said a little over esthetically, obviously referring to TKE.

"I am Robert, executive Head Marketing officer of ICY Products. On behalf of the founder, we welcome you to Earth."

TKE stood with a rather disbelieving attitude. Are you sure this is an 'executive' officer? He seems a lot dumber then his title sounds. We're not aliens! TKE thought to himself.

Sighing deeply, he replied. "A pleasure. I am the Head Engineer of, ahem, NanoTec. We are here to negotiate with your leaders about an exchange of material."

Robert began laughing, "Ah! Of course!" he exclaimed.

"We were informed... about five minutes ago?" TKE felt like screaming internally, was 'NanoTec' really such a bad name?

Clanedd almost instinctively pressed her palm to the visor of her suit. Their escort, as usual was indifferent about what he heard.

"Yeah, I get that quite often." Robert replied rather nonchalantly.

"Regardless, let us proceed. Our base of operations is stationed over there." Robert pointed at a glass dome easily 10 km wide, sitting over the horizon.

TKE again began to question the intelligence of ICY's head.

"Mr Robert, if you don't mind me asking, but why would you guys build such a dome over the wastelands? I mean, it is such an obvious target that I am surprised that nobody has bombed it yet."

Robert tilted his head, seemingly in confusion. "Huh? Our founder did not build that. It was Green, our head Fishermen who suggested the idea. There are also dome shield lattices across the hull. Even InterCon's missiles couldn't put a dent on it"

"A-Alright then... I guess I will not press further." TKE stumbled over his words, surprised by the advanced technology at use. I guess that would explain why I didn't see it on the way down. TKE pondered, perception filters... or was it the pilot's fault?

Slowly, Robert ushered the visitors towards the dome. It was going to be a long walk. TKE stared at the scenery before him. The sun was a small yellow circle hanging in the orange-brown sky and the ground was awfully rocky. Damaged skyscrapers towered into the bleak sky almost seemingly screaming to have their broken days to end. The wind blew dust across dusty landscape and unlike an Oldie Western movie, there was no tumbleweed in sight.

Clanedd tugged at TKE's suit and spoke softly, "Teeke, I really wonder how it was like on this planet."

TKE turned his head to face Clanedd. She continued, "Could there have been a day where we humans can inhabit the planet surface once again?"

TKE replied, "Well, I certainly believe so. Earth is now like Mars. No ozone layer and almost no water on the surface. EarthGov has already terraformed Mars for human habitation even though they have no plans on sending anyone there in the near future. Somewhat. But I am sure that one day humans can wander the Earth without the need for suits as now."

"Really?" Clanedd said again, eyes twinkling. "Then I await the time where we can do as you have described." TKE just smiled and gave Clanedd a quick nod.

The engineers, ICY executive officer and escort stepped in front of the gigantic blast doors which was the entrance to the ICY Products headquarters. Their long walk had come to an end. Their trip to the dome would have taken about half an hour but Robert had taken the route suggested by his Satellite navigation system and had taken almost three times as long.

The dome before the engineers and escort was even more massive than they had expected. It towered over them casting down a shadow as though they were ants. The hissing of steam was heard together with the dull grating of metal as the giant blast doors slid open slowly.

"Follow me." Robert ushered them towards the dome.

As they approached, Clanedd noted that the gigantic blast doors were merely for show and the real entrance was just a 2m tall double door.

TKE was now the one to plant his hand onto his visor obviously taken aback by the 'fantastic' design as can be seen by the entrance.

The door led to a dark and gloomy hallway. The hall itself was small and cramped, not to mention that the walls were patched with black stains and the already present white paint was peeling off.

Clanedd nudged TKE's shoulder and he responded with a nod, already aware of the condition of the dome. Ahead lay yet another blast door, this one much smaller than the one at the entrance. Robert spoke through his communicator quickly, rattling off a bunch of numbers and individual letters. The blast door opened. This time revealing a pristine looking room, with glossy white walls filled with suit lockers on all sides.

The installed AI spoke in a monotone, "*Welcome back Robert, executive marketing director 01*."

Robert replied back cheerfully, "Why, thanks Sally. These people are here to speak with us. Have the turrets stand down."

"*Understood sir.*" The AI replied in the same tone as before.

TKE and the rest stepped into the airlock and began taking their protective suits off. Out of curiosity, TKE asked.

"Executive officer, may I ask, why was the previous hallway so poorly maintained?"

Robert chuckled and spoke, "That is to put people off trying to loot our base."

TKE nodded. I think I can understand the logic behind this. Somewhat. Robert snapped his fingers and the blast door leading into the main structure opened.

The first thing TKE saw was a lush deciduous forest behind the doors. Trees towering up into the sky, flowing rivers and he was sure he saw a mountain in the distance.

'Dalek' shaped drones were rolling around almost leisurely. One drone approached TKE, "*Would you care for some tea?*"

TKE was taken aback. He continued into the dome slowly.

"*You do not require tea?!*" The drone began screaming.

TKE ignored it. As he continued, TKE saw, sitting on a table between two oak trees were two other men bearing the same uniform and seemingly of the same rank.

Robert pointed towards the table. "You shall sit there. I am going to make tea for us."

Clanedd tried to open her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Robert.

"I'm British. Of course I drink tea. Even in this time and age!" Robert stormed off, apparently feeling insulted over something.

The escort was still as quiet as ever. The engineers walked over to the table.

The man seated on their right spoke. "You must be the ambassadors from NanoTec if I am not wrong. I am Shanekaltulocifu, and this is *data redacted*. Sorry, he refuses to tell others his real name."

The man seated next to Shanekaltulocifu waved. "Its a pleasure."

Stunned slightly by the impressively long name, TKE stuttered, "Ah, yes. Of course."

He pointed towards the plastic seats standing behind the wooden, elegantly built table, "May I?"

"Of course! Take a seat." Shanekaltulocifu replied.

As TKE sat down, Clanedd following closely. The escort took his stand behind them. Robert holding a platinum platter with tea cups and tea walked slowly, knees bent, back towards the table.

After placing the platter down, he took his seat.

"Alright then," Robert finally spoke, "The tea, help yourself."

TKE poured himself a cup. The transparent brown liquid flowed easily into the highly oriental teacup. Little yellow-brown tea leaves danced along the corners of the cup, spinning and sliding. Clanedd on the other hand politely declined.

"Jasmine tea?" TKE inquired.

"Yup! My favorite!" Robert replied.

"I thought the Brits drank Earl Grey?"

"Hey! Tea's tea you know?! You're talking just like those stupid reds across the late Atlantic!"

"You mean the New CCCP?"

"Yeah! Those stupid savages drink nothing but vodka!"

Shanekaltulocifu suddenly lifted up his hand and pointed to the bottles of alcohol by Robert's side.

"Hey! Whose side you on?!"

Shanekaltulocifu replied with a short laugh. Robert stood up in a huff, grabbed the bottles of alcohol by his side and walked towards the entrance blast door. The doors closed and the sound of something being charged up could be heard before a loud explosion drowned out all the other sound in the dome.

Nobody seemed to notice.

TKE shrugged. Better get on with the treaty. He thought to himself.

The blast door opened again and Robert reappeared with a smirk on his face, and the bottles of alcohol missing. *data redacted* shook his head and let out a sigh.

Robert sat down threw his arms behind his head and exclaimed, "Ahhh... That felt good!"

TKE raised an eyebrow. Another new day, another thing learnt. That day, he learnt why ICY Products have so many blast doors. He also learnt never to declare himself a communist in front of people like him.

Robert then regained his composure, straightened his tie and sat up straight before opening his mouth to speak.

"Oh yes, by any chance you guys have the Radiator?"

"You mean that one?"

"Yeah. The one I've never seen before. Apparently it was used by the Head and Founder in the good old days for their old endeavors."

"How did it look like?"

"Oh I don't know. I just heard that it is big, clunky and others kept calling it a dual nitrogen radiator. God knows what that stands for."

TKE paused for a moment. He considered his next question.

"For how long has ICY Products been looking for it?"

"Decades! Ever since 2016... Heck! I wasn't even born yet!"

"When was the last time you tried looking for it?"

"Oh, back in 2079. Quite a while ago. I was observing the cargo and crew module of SkyLab2 being taken into space."

The descriptions fit. The radiator the Head Engineer and his assistant attached to a failed reactor matched the description completely. Not to mention that the cargo was taken up last as well. It was on board.

"Any special features of this radiator?" TKE pressed further. Clanedd nudged TKE on the shoulder and shook her head.

TKE gestured back, telling her it would be fine. She nodded, but still looked unconvinced.

Robert replied to the question. "I don't think I should be telling you. It's top secret."

"You have to tell me if you want me to help you people find your toys."

"OK, OK fine."

That was easy. TKE thought to himself. Just like taking an iPhone from a kid or an idiot who bought the iPhone.

"I just know it can create inventions when attached to something and has high voltage applied to it."

That was the Radiator. TKE thought to himself. Robert's descriptions matched the object perfectly. TKE opened his mouth to reply but held his tongue at the last minute. As he contemplated on how to phrase his words, Robert turned to Shanekaltulocifu and said.

"Remember that day when the final module was launched into space?"

"Yup." Shanekaltulocifu replied.

"I really hoped the Radiator was not on board that rocket."

It was. TKE thought to himself. He cleared his throat, and began speaking slowly.

"Hmm... No... I don't think we've ever seen it."

"Is that so?" Robert pressed. "Then how were you guys able to create the whatdoyacallthat... Alcubierre Drive huh?"

TKE was taken aback slightly but other than that, remained calm. He replied with a straight face.

"Well, that's because we're smarter than you."

"I get that a lot too..." Robert frowned.

"And we can freeze water." TKE added with a wink.

Clanedd nudged TKE again, this time seeming to be slightly annoyed. The Head Engineer replied with a smile and a slight laugh. Clanedd responded to that by nudging the Head Engineer again.

Robert's eyes lit up.

"What?! You can freeze water?! How? Tell me!"

TKE's jaw dropped and he resisted the strong urge to bang his head on the table.

"Umm..." TKE slurred his words before replying sarcastically, "I guess you put the water in a freezer at 273 K or 0 degrees Celsius. Maybe that would work."

Robert shook his head. "No, no, no. That is a ridiculous idea. The last person who mentioned it to the head was kicked into a pit of LEGOs. That idea will never work. I shall assume that freezing water is out of your grasp as well. Please speak no more of that idea."

This is not your everyday stupid, TKE thought to himself.

"I really would like to know what your head has been telling you guys! You can't be this stupid!" TKE continued.

*data redacted* who was quiet throughout the entire conversation suddenly spoke.

"I am afraid that it is impossible to see the head. He went up into space yesterday evening. GMT 1345 if I am not wrong."

TKE's mind flashed back to the smoke trail rising out of Central America.

*data redacted* continued, "Apparently, the boosters on that one failed so the head and Founder on board calculated an emergency quantum shift using the remaining energy produced from the combustion generators and ended up in successful orbit."

TKE thought about what he heard for a while. They still use combustion generators in large scale payloads. Therefore they may not have nuclear fission... Maybe.

Finally Clanedd could take it no longer and punched TKE in the arm. The Head Engineer grimaced, not from pain but from surprise. Her eyes almost glowing, she whispered into TKE's ears menacingly.

"You idiot! You have not introduced us yet!"

"Oh! So that's what you were trying to tell me!" TKE exclaimed. "Sorry... Right!"

TKE stood up and said.

"Oh, my apologies. Where are my manners. I am TKE, code initials, Head Engineer and this is Clanedd. The assistant or Deputy Head Engineer. Pleased to meet you."

"We already know that." Robert and Shanekaltulocifu said simultaneously.

"Right..." TKE smiled awkwardly. "So... We've wasted enough time. Let's get on with it."

"Oh well." *data redacted* said. "It cannot be helped. Let us begin yeah?"

TKE nodded and said. "OK. That would be good. I am sure you are all aware that we are here to negotiate the transfer of material and technology, correct?"

The three ICY Products officers nodded their heads.

Hmm, this guy also has code initials for his name, just like our head... Robert thought to himself.

TKE continued, "Let's go straight to the point shall we?"

He cleared his throat again before continuing. "NanoTec requires about 3000 tones of aluminum, 1000 tones of steel and about 100 tones of Plexiglass, silver, and carbon each. In exchange, NanoTec will offer up a piece of technological hardware."

Robert remained seated and spoke calmly, "That sounds like a good deal. However, I am not so sure..."

Robert then stood up and pointed his finger at TKE almost accusingly, "I still remember that you guys ripped us off our MAG technology!"

"Well, you guys tried to conduct industrial espionage on our facilities!" TKE replied, trying his best to maintain a professional and straight face.

Robert continued ranting, "Then you tossed it into an alien sun!"

Almost in sync, Clanedd and Shanekaltulocifu tried to calm the two shouting officers down, "Guys, gentlemen please." they started, "We still have a transaction to carry out!"

Robert sat down with a huff. Folding their arms, both of them let out a sigh.

Robert spoke more calmly now, "Fine. That is the deal. Now the question is what is the tech you are offering. You can't be giving us the tech to freeze water. Obviously you have no knowledge of it."

The other two executive officers nodded their heads. TKE shrugged his shoulders. He was not going to push that matter any further. Never argue with an idiot. TKE thought to himself. For they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

TKE cleared his mind, coughed once before he began speaking again, "Yes... The tech we will exchange will be the Trans-Lightforce 'Fubuki' Reactors or more specifically, nuclear fission."

TKE's eyes darted between the ICY Head Marketers. "Is there no objections? Because I think it is a good de..."

Robert stood up, interrupted the engineer and exclaimed, "Perfect! It is a deal! For so long ICY Products have been looking for this tech on the market and finally found it. We have actually managed to research and secure this tech about 20 years ago. Then some idiotic bimbo dropped a 150MT hypernuke onto the floor." Robert then acted out a large mushroom cloud with his hands.

"Well..." He continued, "The resulting outcome was pretty obvious."

Now I have heard everything TKE thought to himself. He stood up and nudged at Clanedd's side. She nodded in response.

"Good. In that case, our job here is done."

An official document materialized almost instantly and was placed on the wooden table.

"Please sign this. The terms are all listed out here in bold letters. Read carefully and sign here."

TKE pointed to a box at the bottom right hand corner of the document, adjacent to the box which held Saegen's signature under the title of 'Chief Manager of Administration, NanoTec'.

Robert took out a feather quill out of nowhere and signed in the box without hesitation. There was however, no mark.

"Invisible ink!" Robert said proudly.

TKE's face collapsed into one without emotion.

"Please sign it Head Marketer." He said nonchalantly.

"Ugh. Fine." Robert replied disappointedly.

Once the contract had been sealed, TKE left the document on the table.

"Keep that one." He said. "I have the softcopy."

Robert nodded in reply.

TKE acknowledged that and saluted lazily to the ICY Products personnel.

"Good. Glad we settled that quickly... Somewhat. Executive officers of ICY Products, we shall take our leave now."

He turned towards his assistant. "Come Clanedd, let's get going."

TKE gestured towards their escort who was still standing at attention in his spot. He nodded and trailed after the leaving engineers. His back turned towards the waving officers, obviously bidding farewell, TKE muttered to himself.

"Now let's hope we don't get bombed on the way back."

Meanwhile back on SkyLab2, Claev was seated by his desk drawing out the plans for the NNT TeraNova.

The ship was a magnificent, Dreadnaught size, 722 meter long colony ship. It was designed to hold nearly 130 thousand people in suspended animation to be taken to a whole new world on the rim of the galaxy... or Mars. That works too.

Mounted on the rear of the ship, along with the Shangri-La Fusion was the iconic ring of the Alcubierre Drive, designed to propel the ship to speeds never heard of before.

The design was half complete though, but it followed EarthGov designs almost to the letter, not because they looked cool but because they worked. At least better than any other design up to date.

It did not, at that point in time, boast anything special, other than its FTL engine, in its design or specs. It was pretty average all things considered.

Claev lifted his head from his work to the sound of two distinct and loud knocks on his door. Saegen entered the room.

"So, any news yet?" Claev asked anxiously.

"Nope, nothing of that sort yet. The Head Engineer still has not contacted us. I am assuming that ICY is giving them a hard time."

Claev continued, "I also heard you told him to introduce himself as engineers from 'NanoTec'. Am I right?"

"Umm, well..." Saegen stuttered, unsure of what to say and getting a little hot around the ears.

"Don't worry. Mr Saegen." Claev reassured him. "I like the name."

"Oh..." Saegen breathed a sign of relief. "Thank goodness."

"One thing..." Claev began.

"Yes?"

"The name sounds like 'NanoTech'. Could you be anymore creative than this?" Claev remarked sarcastically with a smirk on his face.

Before Saegen could continue, one of the communications crew came running down the hallway, nearly tripping over two piles of documents as he burst into the office.

"S-Sir, this is an emergency, the communications officer have gotten a new contact. He says it is urgent and that he would like to speak with one of the 'higher ups'."

Saegen replied immediately, "Ok, I am on my way."

"Count me in too!" Claev said shooting to his feet. "Let's go!"

Saegen entered the communications room briskly, nearly knocking over two other officers on the way. He ran over to the active channel with Claev and the crew member trailing closely behind.

The radio operator handed him the microphone and head set. He put them on, linked them to his RIG and spoke through the link.

"This is Saegen, Manager and Administrator of NanoTec. Also Head Scientist. May I know who I am conversing with?"

The voice spoke through calmly but with a tiny tinge of excitement, "My name is not important, but I am the Head of ICY Products PTE. LTD... Hmm that did not sound quite right..."

Saegen was taken slightly aback. ICY? What would they want from contacting SkyLab2 directly? He thought to himself.

Before he could reply, the opposite party spoke again, "Never mind. There is a slight situation on Earth. The engineers you sent down to our base of operations? They are all going to die. I can detect InterCon bombers approaching at combat speed. I'd tell you to pull them out but... Where's the fun in that?"

Saegen stumbled over his sentences, "Wait, wait, hold up. Exactly what is going on? And why don't you just call them at your base?"

The Head of ICY spoke again, putting up a sadistic sounding voice, "Well, there are some people down there I want dead. Ha! Ha!"

"Couldn't you wait a little longer? And in any case, my scientists have nothing to do with your internal power struggles. It will be your responsibility."

"No it isn't."

"What?"

"When they die, there will be no evidence at the site. I'm sure you would know InterCon well by now."

Saegen remained silent. He clenched his fist, ready to throw another threat or argument back through the link before the Head of ICY interrupted his thoughts and spoke again.

"Anyways, your engineers are in danger. Adds a little fun to their lives I must say. I woul... Oh?"

The ICY Head stopped to giggle, "EarthGov ships are approaching your location rapidly. Are those... Yep they are. Seems like you all are going to be boarded. Wish you best of luck... I mean the station. Hope they leave it in one piece."

The communications were cut, leaving Saegen slightly dumbfounded and unsure of what to do.

TKE was all ready to leave the dome when the internal lighting all turned to red and the sirens blared out loudly.

"*All hands to combat stations! I repeat, all hands to combat stations!*" The AI shouted.

Robert stood up and ran over to the NanoTec personnel.

"Well... this is kind of awkward but this is a state of emergency, we need you t..."

Robert was interrupted by the further shouting of the AI, "*New contacts, InterCon bomber formation. High speed, and closing. Long range, bearing 034 degrees, angle of elevation 20 degrees!*"

Robert continued where he left off, "You need to come with us. It is unsafe here. Come on!"

Shanekaltulocifu then proceeded to start yelling commands. "Code red! Raise the shields! Man the guns! Shoot them down! What are you doing?! Don't load the guns with potatoes!"

As Robert guided the NanoTec personnel towards the underground bunkers, the radar man shouted, "Oh my god, what the hell are those things?!"

The radar screen showed the two red dots closing in onto the dome. They were the size of ancient B-17, but flying at Mach 10. It seemed like something straight out of a horrifying Sci-Fi story.

The AI proceeded to yell out, "*Target acquired, opening all gun ports, VLS heating up... All weapons, FIRE!*"

Many loud roars echoed through out the base. 88 ICY Anti-Air Missiles were all in flight, with their target locked with thermal tracking. The thundering of the many Flak cannons of a variety of calibers resonating through the base was deafening.

"Radar scan report!" the radar man shouted once again, "Those bombers are not manned! They are drones!"

Shanekaltulocifu shouted back, "It doesn't matter! Blow them out of the sky!"

The missiles and shells all converged onto a single InterCon bomber. A bright flash lit up the sky and a loud blast was heard even from the inside of the base. Pieces of burnt metal were seen falling from the sky.

"We got him!" Shanekaltulocifu yelled in triumph.

"*Not yet!*" The AI suddenly stated bursting the officer's bubble. "*The target is still airborne!*"

Upon hearing this TKE, Clanedd, Robert, and everyone else turned towards the screen displaying the fireworks. Much to the dismay of the ICY Products officer, the target was indeed still flying. What was even more surprising was the absence of even a single scratch on the aircraft fuselage.

"Oh well... This is what happens when I don't study history." Shanekaltulocifu said to himself with a shrug.

Saegen still stood rooted to the spot. Almost immediately after he took off the head set was the sound of dull metallic thuds resonating from the outer hull of SkyLab2.

Before he could say anything more, Claev immediately picked up the microphone and began barking orders through it.

"Security Alert 02! All hands prepare for combat! Security team Alpha to Delta secure Sectors 1 to 13!"

He turned towards Saegen. "Get the NightStalker. The prototype railgun."

"Huh? That one?!"

"Yeah! I want to field test it. I know you want to do it."

A smile crept across Saegen's face.

"Alright. Where is it?"

"Your work place. I left it there after nearly blowing a hole in the hull."

"What?!"

"Just go get it will you?!"

Saegen nodded and made his way swiftly towards the R&D sector. His footsteps quickly receding down the white hallways of the space station.

Claev threw down the microphone and ran off in the opposite direction towards the station security sector or more specifically, the armory.

Putting on a bulletproof vest and a biological gas mask, Claev picked up his M-24 Assault Rifle and pulled back the bolt. The first bullet from the horizontally mounted magazine slipped into the chamber smoothly, ending with the bolt making a clang noise once the bullet had been chambered fully. Claev did a final check on his gear and proceeded to join the squad at SkyLab2's CNC sector.

As he entered, sparks were already flying from the internal hull plating. The EarthGov boarders was using thermite. Claev identified immediately. Outdated but effective, the boarders were trying to burn their way in through the outer hulls of the unarmored space station.

Pushing down the steel tables onto its side, he ordered everyone to take cover, and await the inevitable. The sparks that were tracing a human sized rectangle onto the wall suddenly stopped after making a complete circuit.

"Here they come..." Claev mumbled. Almost immediately after, there was a loud bang and that section of hull was blasted back with a great magnitude of force. So much so that Claev was able to feel the wind rushing past him.

"Suppressive fire!" Claev yelled, left hand directing the shots, right hands gripping the assault rifle and pulling the trigger. All the guns began to blaze. Making sounds akin to that of heavy rainfall, round after round was flung forth at three times the speed of sound, leaving behind a faint but visible trail of gaseous metal. The smell of gunpowder and smoke filled the air, thickening with every shot.

The bullet frenzy soon ceased almost after six seconds of fully automatic fire. The clanging of empty magazines were heard as the security team began to reload their weapons. This was when the enemy began to retaliate.

Shanekaltulocifu stood rooted to the spot, shaking his head in disbelief. Of course the InterCon bombers would still be flying. They were made out of Titaniumite.

The radar man yelled back, "Tar-Target is 120 km away and approaching rapidly, we sti... Oh my god..."

The radar operator stared at more than a hundred blinking red lights diverging from both of the bombers.

The AI shouted in response, "*Warning! Incoming missile!*"

From where TKE was standing, he could already see the approaching missiles. Burning with a bright orange exhaust, and leaving trails of pure white smoke, the missiles closed onto the base in mere seconds.

"Shields up! Shields up!" Shanekaltulocifu yelled. A pale blue barrier soon draped over the domed structure, stretching from the top of the dome, down to the dusty ground around it.

Loud and closely packed bangs were heard as the missiles made contact the energy shield barrier. Sounds similar to the splashing of water was heard as the shields flared bright blue at the impact points, absorbing the heat and deflecting the shrapnel of the blasts.

The ICY engineering teams yelled out, "Sir our shields are down to 32% and dropping. Rapidly! We cannot take much more of this!"

The shields were flickering. Almost collapsing due to the energy it had absorbed. Seconds after the bombers were already above the base. Their passing was loud and glorious, the sheer speed creating massive 'booms' in the atmosphere.

Of the mere seconds the bombers spent above the base, TKE could easily see the turning of the bomber's tail guns and releasing a mighty stream of projectiles that were easily 20mm shells or larger. The striking of the barrage came down like torrent, completely overwhelming the capacitors of the shields, and cracking the bubble like an egg down the center.

The energy shields lit up in a beautiful shade of blue and was seen splitting open in many areas. The ions that comprised the shield began to diffuse away, riding the wind that the bombers brought with them.

The remaining cannon shells struck multiple areas of the dome. The ground shook and the glass shattered. Everyone was thrown onto their backs. Electrical arcs flew across broken cabling and the red lights flickered on and off. Large steel shutters immediately came down over the hull breaches in a desperate attempt to prevent any atmosphere from leaving the dome and any radiation from entering.

The radar man, now with blood pouring from his forehead gripped the side of his console and pulled himself to his feet. He stared back into the cracked screen of the radar only to find out the bombers made a full 180 degree turn mid-flight and was heading back towards the base, this time even faster than before.

Two new blinking dots appeared on the radar. The radar man stood up to shout, but his words were lodged tight in his throat. The AI tried to speak. Now her voice was full of static, and her speech seemed very strained and very much forced. Her final words, "*Warning...##Nuclear... L...Launch Detec...ted!*"

A loud metallic clang sound filled the air as one of the security personnel dropped to the ground. There was a gaping hole through his helmet and his RIG blared out a flat-line noise.

Claev dropped his head back down behind cover instinctively. Bullets flew above his head, whining and spinning. He could hear the footsteps of fully armored EarthGov soldiers all around him. The sound of their footsteps told him that they were converging around onto the security positions from the sides of the room while the rest lay down a blanket of suppressive fire.

Another security personnel peaked his head above cover. The bullets rained down onto his position and he immediately put himself back behind cover.

He spoke over the comms, "The enemy has a heavy machine gun there! Orders?"

Claev opened his mouth to speak but hesitated at the last moment. His communications link suddenly opened, "This is security unit 12. The enemy is advancing through the base, from multiple hull breaches on this side! We can't seem to drop them! We need...!"

His voice was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream of pain. A flat-line noise was heard through the comms network, following closely was the sound of a limp body hitting the ground and the clatter of a dropped radio apparatus.

Behind Claev, the firing of the machine gun continued, drilling a multitude of holes in his cover and the wall behind it. He was out of options.

One of his squad members suddenly spoke up, "I will hold them off sir! Get everyone else to retreat! We might have a chance sir!"

Claev nodded. "I pray for your safety soldier. Get back alive." He got up and gave the retreat order. As his men fell back, Claev heard yet another clanging of metal against metal followed closely with the loud flat-line noise. "Rest in peace good man." Claev mumbled to himself as he ran.

Running down the hallways, Claev heard the heavy boots of the EarthGov boarders closing in onto his squad. The CNC sector was about 40 meters away. Where is that Saegen of ours? Thought Claev. He was sent off almost fifteen minutes ago and yet he still had not returned.

Out of the blue, from a corridor branching towards the right, came an EarthGov soldier. He charged at Claev and knocked him onto his side. It came so quickly, he could not have returned fire, even if he wanted to.

The soldier stared directly into his eyes. The unearthly green glow reflected off the pupils of Claev's eyes. Something was not right, the doctor thought. The soldier was not armed so he, or it began pulling onto his arms with a demon like strength. His men had run on ahead without him, completely oblivious to the ordeal that was unfolding.

The soldier continued his assault. Claev's eyes widened. A loud cracking noise was heard throughout the hall. Claev's arm went numb and he bit his lower lip, holding back the scream that had built up inside of him.

Claev tried to pull back, but to no avail. He had no strength left in that arm of his and what was left of the strength in his right arm was not enough to stop the vicious and violent attack of the soldier.

Claev shut his eyes, in anticipation for what was to come. He let out a grueling scream as his flesh began to tear. The pain climaxed quickly but suddenly stopped as fast as it came. Claev opened his eyes and found a pale green fluid and plastic fragments lying scattered around him and on his face. The soldier collapsed, revealing a carcass not made of flesh and bone but rather that of a machine, made out of cold, hard steel.

Saegen stood posed with an M2 Handgun still pointed at the disfigured head of the soldier. A large, black appliance hung on his back and he had another M2 by his right waist.

"Sorry I'm late." He said with a grin.

As the two nuclear payloads approached the dome at an astonishing rate, the structure's stability began to falter. Steel scaffolding and pylons fell from the roof along with broken glass.

"Watch out!" Clanned yelled.

She ran and shoved TKE onto backwards onto the ground. A steel beam barely missed his side. Their escort was not so lucky. While standing at attention, attempting to formulate an escape route for his superiors, he was struck on his helmet by a glass sheet that shattered instantly upon impact. He dropped onto the ground, body limp.

The InterCon bombers broke off their runs and began flying into the sunset towards the west. The dangerous situation was however, far from over.

"Missiles at range, 90 km!" The injured radar operator shouted.

The engineers and Robert were already above the bulkhead leading down into the emergency bomb shelter. Robert then shrugged his shoulders and kicked the dirt on the ground.

"Bummer." He said. "I was hoping that I'd die in an amazing space battle."

Almost as a response to this, a loud roaring of combustion engines were heard in the skies.

Those engines, TKE thought to himself. I recognize that sound!

The comms channel opened.

"I knew it!" Kuro's voice blared out, sounding very excited and ready for anything.

"You guys were having fun without me! It is my turn now!" Kuro grinned as he pulled out an ancient M1 Garand rifle seemingly out of nowhere and placed the eight round magazine into the receiver. The magazine clicked, indicating a perfect loading.

He brought the butt of the gun to the side glass panel sharply and the viewing port formed cracks like spider webs throughout its structure. Kuro slammed the butt of the rifle into it again and it shattered into a million fragments which danced in the sky like glitter.

Flying at nearly the speed of sound, Kuro brought his head and rifle out of the aircraft and pulled the rifle bolt. The wind speed blew his hair and he felt his skin prickle from the effects of atmospheric and solar radiation.

He braced the stock of the gun on his right shoulder and placed the first missile in between the sights mounted on the gun barrel. He squeezed the trigger. A spark shot off from the side of the first missile payload and its boosters shut off instantly.

A transparent fluid with a slight yellow tinge spurted from the small breach. Apparent enough, that was rocket fuel. The round ruptured the fuel pipelines. The whole thing fell from the sky, locked in a free fall.

The empty shell flew from the top of the gun and the bolt immediately chambered a new round. Aiming down the sights again, Kuro took a deep breath. Steadying his shoulder, he pulled the trigger again and like before, the second missile fell harmlessly to the earth. Both missiles hit the ground without so much as a peep from them. No explosion.

Kuro smiled with satisfaction. He climbed back into the cockpit of the plane, put his rifle away and then put his EVA helmet on. Earth's atmosphere was certainly not safe to breathe. He turned the plane around, and landed it back down onto the ground.

Putting on the rest of his EVA suit, Kuro stepped out of the plane and onto the ground. The engineers' escort was coming back to his senses and his walking was assisted by Clanedd.

The NanoTec engineers walked out of the broken dome while donning their protective suits. Following closely were the three executive marketing officers of ICY Products.

Kuro began speaking again, "There we go! Safe and sound. See? I did not blow anything up this time! Now ICY can keep those warheads as souvenirs!" he winked at Clanedd.

She ignored him.

Robert took one look at Kuro and spoke, "My, my! Look how big you have grown! How are you now? I hope you are no longer affiliated with EarthGov."

Kuro brought his left hand behind his head and spoke, "Nah! I was actually, but our group went rogue. SkyLab2 is now our base of operations. We are now known as 'NanoTec'. Don't laugh. On behalf of them, we would like thank you guys for the huge amount of assist into the SkyLab2 project." Kuro laughed.

He really was from ICY, Clanedd thought to herself.

Robert then spoke, "Well thank goodness. It was lucky you happened to come by, or we may well be sitting in a crater by now! And the assist wasn't that much anyways! We only supplied boxes."

He turned towards TKE and continued, "Ah yes, about SkyLab2, even though we did partially fund it behind the scenes, we would like to apologize for that 'Dalek' drone incident. Not because I want to though. It seems that we owe you and I'm not repaying it."

TKE sighed and said, "Fine, whatever."

He was not in any mood to start another conversation with someone who nearly indirectly endangered his life.

Robert shouted, "Great! Now we are even! Right guys?"

Shanekaltulocifu and *data redacted* nodded.

Kuro continued, "Well, it was great seeing you guys again! But I have to take my leave. Come on guys let's go! Keep those suits on. I busted the window." He laughed as he ended his sentence.

Clanedd dropped her head, "He really did break something after all!"

Claev withered on the ground in agony. Short, sudden gasps of air escaped from his lips. Saegen looked at the EarthGov combat drone sprawled on the ground, the escaping fluid making a gleaming pool on the floor.

Saegen felt something in his mind click. Why had he not thought about it before? Nobody in their right minds would send military personnel into a space station that mutinied. They would send... He paused to think.

Drones... Of course they would. Saegen thought to himself. What else are any more efficient then them? Now, what do we need when we operate drones?

Saegen reached his hand out to Claev.

"Can you walk?"

"Maybe..."

"Good. Fall back quickly. Go!"

Saegen pulled Claev to his feet. He grimaced as he held his broken left arm for support. Claev turned and half staggered, half ran off down the hallways.

There were more EarthGov soldiers approaching. Their footsteps were already echoing down the corner. Saegen gritted his teeth, and ran for the nearest airlock. It was not far. Just turn right from where he was and there it was. A small cross junction and a firefight taking place in that junction separated Saegen from his destination.

He paused for a moment. He reared back slightly before running and diving through the junction, avoiding EarthGov fire at the same time. Using his RIG, Saegen opened the blast door remotely as he slid into the airlock right under the drone's noses.

He closed the door and put the airlock to emergency decompression mode after taking the NightStalker off his back and throwing it onto the deck. Immediately, he pulled an EVA suit off from the wall and just as quickly pulled himself through the long baggy appendages of the apparatus.

"*Opening blast doors in 10 seconds!*" the computer rang out.

Fighting with the suit, he pulled the sleeves on and fastened on the helmet just as the blast doors opened, sucking all the air together with the scientist out into space.

Saegen reached his hand out and grabbed the NightStalker just as it flew past his face. It was adapted from ICY Product's '$10' MAG technology, and was never tested. Until that day.

The first thing he saw was the rows of boarding pods lined up on the outer hull of the station as far as he could see. Hovering slightly towards his right, was a destroyer sized 'station'.

It had spike like antenna mounted on the sides and top of it. This was definitely the drone uplink, designed for semi-autonomous operation of combat drones and a clear broadband for direct control.

Directly in the center of the fifty meter diameter hull were blinking red lights and graphite radiators. Clearly indicating the rough location of the fission reactor.

Saegen gritted his teeth, both in anticipation and anxiety. What if the railgun catastrophically malfunctioned during the firing process or what if it misfired? He shrugged those thoughts off. There was no time for that.

He opened the firing chamber of the prototype gun and loaded the empty slot with a single soft iron slug encased with a tungsten carbide outer shell. He pushed the bolt back into the gun and it chambered with a dull, inaudible clang.

Saegen flipped the switch for the power bridge between the inbuilt Shangri-La Fusion Reactor and the NightStalker charged with a low hum. The power levels rose steadily. 80%, 90% and eventually 100%.

Saegen took a deep breath and looked through the scope of the rifle. Four diagonal red lines pointed to a single blue dot in the very center of the electronic targeting scope. The power levels rose into overcharge and electrical arcs flew across the barrel of the gun.

The NightStalker, was producing a high pitched whine now and shaking violently in the scientist's hand. Saegen held his breath, he braced himself and pulled the trigger.

A flash of bright light erupted from the gun barrel. The electrical discharges began flying all over the place as the slug was spat forth at nearly fourteen times the speed of sound, grinding against the barrel of the railgun, producing a tremendous amount of sparks as the shell left the chamber.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The butt of the NightStalker was pushed backwards sharply and it buried itself deep into Saegen's shoulder.

The pain was excruciating as he was thrown backwards nearly 30 meters by the sheer recoil of the gun. The metal slug arrived at its target almost instantly with pin point accuracy.

The slug buried itself deep into the armor of the drone link, leaving the surrounding metal glowing orange from the heat of impact. The slug tumbled within its target and pierced through the other side. Uranium oxide gases spilled out of the gaping hole punched through the hull as the uplink's lights flickered and eventually shut off entirely.

The device fell into deep sleep. It was now at mercy of the hands of the NanoTec engineers.

Saegen opened comms link, "How are things going on there? Everything OK?"

Amongst static came the reply, "This is security squad 01, we don't know what happened, but the soldie... I mean drones' performance have seemed to have dropped."

The soldier cleared his voice and spoke again.

"They are malfunctioning sir! Their actions are so predictable now! Proceeding with the clear up sir!"

Saegen smiled and replied, "Alright! Our job here is done! Clear up the rest. I expect a report."

"Yes sir!"

Saegen maneuvered himself back towards the airlock and prepared to board the station. He gave a sigh of relief, as he held his right shoulder. It began to feel cold and numb and he was sure the gun dislocated it.

"So much for prototype weapons." Saegen mumbled to himself. "They never work well. Not like in those movies..."

Saegen sighed again as he lazily grabbed onto the edge of the blast door before pulling himself back into the station. If he had paid a little more attention to his surroundings, he would have spotted a distinct ball of plasma headed towards SkyLab2...

Clanedd was clinging on to TKE for dear life again.

"Could you really do without flying this fast?! She yelled."

Kuro shouted back, "I certainly can but that is for losers!"

Clanned wailed, "Why did we ever hire this guy?!"

The spaceplane was blazing through the upper atmosphere climbing steadily and quickly. The shuttle's ablative heat shielding had completely peeled away and some of the plasma was leaking through the crack in the window.

The altimeter read 90 km and climbing as the plane left the atmosphere. A loud screeching sound was suddenly heard as the final molecules of Earth's atmosphere tore the left wing off the plane. The plane spun on it's 'X-axis' periodically before Kuro cut the right engine's thrusters, bringing the plane back to stability.

Clanned fainted due to fright and TKE held onto her tightly.

"*Solar wind levels critical!*" The computer pleaded again, as though it were saying, "Please stop doing this to me! I have a limit too!"

Kuro ignored it again. The large silhouette of SkyLab2 loomed closer and closer, completely eclipsing the afternoon sun that hung above.

Kuro spoke quickly through the comms network for SkyLab2 to open their landing bay blast doors. The blast doors slid open slowly with some friction between the joints of the machinery, producing a small amount of sparks.

Kuro aimed the nose of the spaceplane directly into it and stepped on the accelerator... Metaphorically. He drew nearer to the landing bay at a breakneck speed of more than 200 meters a second.

As the grey of the blast doors drew nearer and nearer, Kuro casually mentioned, "By the way, the inertia and breaks control were mounted on the left wing you know."

TKE groaned. He saw his life flash by his eyes.

"You're kidding." He said weakly.

"Yup. There are no breaks... Yup. No breaks."

"Well hallelujah." TKE said sarcastically as the spaceplane flew straight into the hangers.

To be continued.