Everyone was at the ship bright and early the next day, though looking less haggard than the day before. Mitch asked if they could come to main engineering first, he had a surprise for everybody. They all agreed and made their way towards main engineering. When they got there, they saw four battle suits hanging from hooks in the wall. Mitch asked Mike to come forward first and pointed to the suit on the far left. Mike looked at this suit taking in every detail he could.

The suit looked exactly like the battle armor in Halo, even the face plate on the helmet was identical to the one in the game. Mike notice his name was stenciled in black Roman lettering on the breastplate over the heart of the suit. The suit looked perfect, it was the color of cobalt and had rank marks by the collar of the suit. Mike looked expectantly at Mitch who indicated that he should try it on. Mitch told Mike that the suit would fit over his cloths without any complication.

Mike found the opening in the back of the suit and slowly closed it up. Mike thought that this suit was like putting on a wet suit, but instead of having a zipper in the back it kinda closed by itself when he had the suit up to his shoulders. Mike was a little worried about how to get the suit off, seeing as there was no apparent zipper or seam at all. Mitch looked at his face and told him when he wanted the suit to come off all he had to do was give a voice command that would only work for him and no one else.

Mike only shrugged and continued to put the suit on and when it was complete, he only had to put the helmet to finish the effect. The helmet went on and it was dark for a second, but a little heads-up display came online giving him a180 degree field of vision.

"Wow, the picture on this display is crystal clear."

"Yeah, you think so now, try giving a voice command and access the main menu."

Mike called up the main menu and saw that he several options for his suit; stealth camouflage, shield control, communicator, environmental control, visual spectrum control, and damage indicator. He decided to switch on the stealth camouflage and heard a collective gasp from the others. He asked what was the matter and Emily said to look down.

When Mike did he wasn't prepared for what he saw or lack there of. The battle armor was still there but it was like the skin of a chameleon, blending almost perfectly with the background. No one would be able to see him unless he made any quick movements. Mike switch off the camouflage and the suit shifted back to its' original state. He thought that these suits are cool and are getting better by the second. He asked Mitch if there was any more to them.

"Yeah, there is a lot more. First off the suits are made with a mix of platinum, duranium, and tritanium. Without the shields the armor itself can handle small munitions, heavy automatic weaponry, and small incendiary devices. In other words, most common guns, explosives, and a variety of energy based weapons won't even leave a scratch on this armor, let alone dent it."

"The armor is not invulnerable, but it can take up to five thousand pounds of pressure, so unless someone drops an elephant on top of you, you don't have anything to worry about. The shield can handle heavier energy based weapons, and a small tactile nuclear explosion, about 20-megaton payload. Anything over that and your screwed, but I doubt anyone's going to drop a nuke on you anytime soon so try not to worry. The shield protects you from radiation, and any airborne diseases.

The environmental controls basically keeps your body comfortable under any circumstance, and filters the outside environment so you can breath easily. So if by chance you end up in an environment that is hostile to our lungs the suit will convert whatever the atmosphere is on the outside into fresh clear oxygen for you on the inside."

Mike asked if the suit came with a microwave oven, because he wanted to cook some soup on those long out of town trips. Everyone laughed at this including Mitch.

"Ok, I know it sounds like I'm going overboard with this but I'm almost finished explaining the battle armor. The communicator has a range of several million miles, so it's from here to lets say Mars. You'll have crystal clear reception so don't worry about interference. The damage indicator works with your HUD display and shows you where you're damaged.

Now the visual spectrum control allows you to change how you see things around you. You can switch from normal to; night vision, thermal vision, and ultraviolet. With the faceplate you can see out, but no one can see in. Now that I've explained everything, Mike, why don't you get your sword. Attach the sheath to the back of the suit. When that's done allow your sword to interact with the suit."

Mike walked over to the corner and retrieved Crimson and walked back to the center of the room. Mike attached the sheath to the back of the suit and drew Crimson out of the sheath. Mike asked Crimson to try and interact with the suit. Crimson said he would try. Seconds later Crimson was glowing and the glow spread over the suit. Slowly the suit began to change color form cobalt to scarlet.

Mitch asked what had happened and Crimson said he was connected to the suit now, the armor was just reacting to Crimson's presence. The same would go for the rest of them when they put on their suits and connected their swords to the suit. Jack asked if Crimson could alter the color of the suit. Crimson said he would try, a few seconds later the suit started to change color.

Scarlet turned into emerald and back again. Crimson said that without him here the suit could only change to emerald color. Mike said that either cobalt or emerald were fine for suit colors and wanted the alternative color kept low key just in case.

Mike decided that everyone else could try on their suits later, right now he was focused on the new power test they were planning for today. He removed the suit without too much complication, though it took him ten minutes to figure out how to take it off. Mike had Jack and Mitch go set up the test for the new power source, while Emily and him would monitor their progress from the bridge.

It took a few minutes for Mike and Emily to reach the bridge, they had Sam bring up a display of the ship to monitor the power fluctuations. A two dimensional schematic of the ship appeared on the main viewing screen, showing that the current power levels were at thirty percent.

"Sam inform Mitch and Jack that whenever they're ready they can begin the power test." Mike said.

"Yes, Captain."

Three minutes later Mitch commed the bridge and said they were inserting the crystal into the new chamber now. Mike and Emily stood watching the display, hoping that this test was the answer to their problems. Slowly the power started to climb, in less than two minutes it went from thirty-five percent to fifty percent.

The power started to rise faster, it jumped from fifty percent to ninety percent. Suddenly a warning klaxon sounded throughout the ship, the power reading was at hundred and fifty percent above normal and rising. The klaxon stop blaring moments after, Mitch commed the bridge to tell them everything was fine he just underestimated the power of the crystal.

"What would have happen had you not shutdown the chamber?" asked Mike.

"Well if I hadn't shut it down, the power chamber would have gone critical in under two minutes causing a massive explosion." Mitch said. "I'm going to recalibrate the chamber system now. It'll take about five minutes, and that should be the end of those power fluctuations."

Waiting five minutes seemed like an eternity but eventually. Mitch commed them to tell them they were going to start again. The power started to rise more steadily this time from thirty to fifty percent and still rising. Mike and Emily watched with baited breath, hoping that this time everything would work out. The power level was now reaching ninety percent, not a sound was made during these tense moments.

The power rose to hundred percent, but did not stop there. Mike and Emily were crestfallen, it looked like they would have to stop the test and start over again. But before they could comm Mitch to stop the test, the power level halted at a hundred and ten percent and holding. Mitch commed the bridge to inform Mike that the current power level was stable and holding. Mike asked Sam for an initial report on the power output.

"Power is at a hundred and ten percent capacity, ship systems are online and are drawing a minimal amount of power from the power core. Captain this is by far the best power source that I've ever experienced, it's so clean and abundant. With the power available the new upgrades won't even make a dent in the power supply."

Mike was very pleased with the way things were turning out. Mike started to wonder if Sam had made any headway with the analysis of the green substance. Before he could ask about it, Mitch commed the bridge to announce that the ship was fully operational and ready for take-off. Mike had waited for this moment for the last three weeks and had planned for it appropriately.

Sam had informed him the other day that the ship was unearthed finally, and once they had taken off they could test the ship's other systems before heading for space. Mike headed to the captain's chair and had Emily occupy the navigation station to pilot the ship.

"This is the Captain to all hands, in two minutes we are going to lift off the ground and head for a synchronous orbit around Earth. From there we'll test the other ships systems and if everything works from there, Mitch can start installing those new upgrades. Sam when you're ready start a two minute countdown, seal all external hatches, secure all bulkheads and fire-doors, and activate artificial gravity."

Sam started to comply with the captain's orders, while Mike asked Emily to stay under radar detection and fly out over the ocean until they hit international waters and make their accent to a higher orbit. The controls for flying the ship were pretty basic and weren't very difficult to figure out. The console was configured with an array of buttons marked in strange symbols.

Sam had translated each symbol for them and Jack marked them with a strip of tape to make it easier for them. Mitch was surprised when he saw the controls for the first time, he stated that it was a setup he'd seen often down at the Asbury Park boardwalk arcades. Mitch had mastered every flight simulator video game at the boardwalk two summers ago and was still the reigning champion. So Mitch was teaching them how to fly the ship for the last three days, and when they weren't with Mitch learning to fly or making the ship ready for flight, they were in flight simulators they found on the lower decks sharpening their skills.

Sam announced that they had less than a minute till take-off. Mike commed Mitch and Jack and told them to get up to the bridge to man their stations, before lift-off. Mitch and Jack arrived at the bridge ten seconds before the countdown ended with enough time to strap in. The ship started to vibrate slightly, as Emily maneuvered the ship off the ground. They hovered there for a few minutes, excitement running through their veins.

Mike had Sam check that everything was ready for their flight into space. Sam reported no problems, all hatches and lower compartments were sealed. Artificial gravity, inertial dampers, weapons, shields, are all online. They would need to check the cloaking device when they hit space. Mike asked Emily to take them out slowly at first then pick up some speed when it was all clear. Emily advanced the ship forward over the tree line, turning in a tight arc towards the east, were the horizon seemed to stretch forever.

Emily kept the ship just over the tree line avoiding the most heavily populated areas, though it was getting tougher avoiding these areas, while heading for the coast. Mike recognized the area they were passing over, they were halfway down route 38, and it would take another fifteen minutes before they hit Browns Mills. At least they could avoid being seen for a while, if they stay to the rural back roads of Ocean County. Sam informed them that there was some activity from the two military installations, though there were no aircraft coming their way.

Mike noticed that the ship had passed Browns Mills and was accelerating towards the coast. Soon it was hard to determine what they were passing, because it all one multicolored blur. Mike read the sensor data, observing that the ship was making good time. They would make the coastline in less then five minutes. Sam reported that the military still hadn't launched any aircraft, though Emily should increase their speed to be on the safe side. The ship was finally over open sea heading to international waters. Mike observed that the sea was relatively calm with a slight overcast as the sun was setting under the western horizon.

Emily reported that they would enter international water in two seconds, and started a slow accent into the atmosphere. The ship didn't even feel like it was climbing, though the view on the main monitor said otherwise. The ship passed through the cloud cover with ease. The sky beyond the cloud cover was a light shade of red heading towards a darker shade of blue. Suddenly the sky faded out and stars appear in front of them, they had left the Earth's gravity a few seconds later.

Thousands of stars loomed through the main viewer; awe was rolling throughout the bridge like high tide. Mike needed to calm down from what they had just accomplished.

"Sam status report on the ship and any or all military activity concerning us leaving the planet." Mike said as the excitement was dying down inside himself.

"All ship systems are operating at top proficiency, structural integrity nominal; shields, weapons, artificial gravity, inertial dampers, communication array, navigation, and sublight engines are operating at peak efficiency. No one on Earth noticed our departure, all military bases and aircraft are inactive."

"Ok Sam take us to the dark side of the moon and hold a standard orbit on the dark side. We don't want anyone looking up and seeing us orbiting the Earth."

Mike had decided that staying in orbit around Earth, would only complicate things for them in the long run. The dark side of the moon seemed like an ideal hiding place for the time being.

"Mitch, once we get situated at the moon, you can get start those new upgrades ASAP." Mike said.

Everyone was pleased, but it had been an exhausting day for everyone. Soon the ship was in orbit on the dark side of the moon.