Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
[Spaceship Zero] Q-Ship (actually updated 19 May 2007)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1150029" data-attributes="member: 6294"><p><strong>"Blast Off!" - Part 8</strong></p><p></p><p>The next morning, the four crew members are driven out of the city to the space port, where the gleaming silver shape of the <em>XS-Pathfinder</em> has pride of place upon the launch pad.</p><p></p><p>"She's a real beauty." Fury enthuses, "Fastest thing we have. Earth to Pluto in thirty hours."</p><p></p><p>"Did not Commander Ivanov say thirty-six?" Doctor Gustav wonders his eyebrows beetling, "<em>Ja</em>. I am sure that he did."</p><p></p><p>"Depends on the quality of your piloting, really." The Captain replies in airy tones, as their car draws to a halt at the foot of the <em>Pathfinder</em>'s stairs. The four exit the vehicle, Fury emerging last, a small metal crate tucked under one arm. "Emergency supplies." He tells the guard by the stairs, walking past before the man has a chance to react, "In case the MDR fails."</p><p></p><p>"MDR?" S'Ondra has not heard the term.</p><p></p><p>"Ze Matter Deconstitution and Reconstitution device, Leibchen." Doctor Gustav follows the Captain up the stairs, then turns to watch as Archie trundles into the ship through the aft cargo entrance, "For ze food."</p><p></p><p>Within a few minutes, the crew are all safely aboard the vessel and settled in. As they have been warned, the quarters aboard the ship are quite small, though some effort does seem to have been made to ensure they are as comfortable as possible.</p><p></p><p>"Launch in ten minutes." The radio crackles. Fury leans forward and flips a switch,</p><p></p><p>"Roger that, Tower." He flips the switch again, then turns back to face the others, "Strap yourself in, folks. We've just got the usual flight checks to go through, and we'll be on our way."</p><p></p><p>As S'Ondra buckles herself into her seat, she has to admit that the Captain cuts a dashing figure in his uniform, even with the bulky atomic pistol hanging by his side. Clipping her heat lance - a spear-like weapon capable of firing energy blasts - to the side of her chair, she surreptitiously admires his calm and professional attitude as he runs through the pre-flight checks.</p><p></p><p>"If only he wasn't such a -" words fail her, and she settles for an articulate exclamation "- the rest of the time."</p><p></p><p>"Vot vas zat, leibchen?"</p><p></p><p>"Nothing, Doctor." S'Ondra pretends to study the complicated board of instruments in front of her. Venusians lack Erath's sophistication with technology, and nothing she is looking at has any meaning to her, "I was just wondering what all these things do."</p><p></p><p>As expected, this distracts the Doctor from his original question. It also means sitting through a long and involved explanation of every knob and dial in sight, but the Princess has long ago learned how to tune out such lectures.</p><p></p><p>"All clear and confirmed, Tower." Fury snaps his seat belt closed, and pulls back two levers on the controls in front of him. "Launch in T-minus sixty."</p><p></p><p>"Confirmed, <em>Pathfinder</em>. Good luck and Godspeed."</p><p></p><p>The voice of Space Port Control fades away, to be replaced by a mechanical sounding countdown. As the count reaches ten, the ship's engines rumble into life, and Fury flicks a couple of last switches.</p><p></p><p>"Here we go!"</p><p></p><p>Super-heated Xenon flares from the ship's exhaust ports as the pad tilts, lifting the nose into launch position. The <em>Pathfinder</em>'s view screen now looks directly up at the Space Port dome, which cracks open, the two halves sliding apart as the cold emptiness of space howls into the dome. Safe within the ship, S'Ondra's fingers tighten on the arms of her seat.</p><p></p><p>"Atmosphere vented, Tower?"</p><p></p><p>"Atmosphere vented, Pathfinder. You may launch when ready."</p><p></p><p>"Roger. Launching now."</p><p></p><p>Fury grips the two levers he had previously pulled back into their locked position, and slowly and smoothly presses them forward. The rumble of the engines sharpens into a fearsome whine, and then there is a sudden and deafening <strong><em>ROAR</em></strong> as the ship surges away from the ground.</p><p></p><p>Despite the noise, the ship's ascent is smooth and graceful. Gauges all over the control board hover just a fraction below the red-line, as Fury pushes the ship right to its very limits - but never over them. The moon falls away with startling speed, and within moments, the <em>Pathfinder</em> is alone in space, hurtling toward the edge of the solar system, and its historic mission.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 1150029, member: 6294"] [b]"Blast Off!" - Part 8[/b] The next morning, the four crew members are driven out of the city to the space port, where the gleaming silver shape of the [I]XS-Pathfinder[/I] has pride of place upon the launch pad. "She's a real beauty." Fury enthuses, "Fastest thing we have. Earth to Pluto in thirty hours." "Did not Commander Ivanov say thirty-six?" Doctor Gustav wonders his eyebrows beetling, "[I]Ja[/I]. I am sure that he did." "Depends on the quality of your piloting, really." The Captain replies in airy tones, as their car draws to a halt at the foot of the [I]Pathfinder[/I]'s stairs. The four exit the vehicle, Fury emerging last, a small metal crate tucked under one arm. "Emergency supplies." He tells the guard by the stairs, walking past before the man has a chance to react, "In case the MDR fails." "MDR?" S'Ondra has not heard the term. "Ze Matter Deconstitution and Reconstitution device, Leibchen." Doctor Gustav follows the Captain up the stairs, then turns to watch as Archie trundles into the ship through the aft cargo entrance, "For ze food." Within a few minutes, the crew are all safely aboard the vessel and settled in. As they have been warned, the quarters aboard the ship are quite small, though some effort does seem to have been made to ensure they are as comfortable as possible. "Launch in ten minutes." The radio crackles. Fury leans forward and flips a switch, "Roger that, Tower." He flips the switch again, then turns back to face the others, "Strap yourself in, folks. We've just got the usual flight checks to go through, and we'll be on our way." As S'Ondra buckles herself into her seat, she has to admit that the Captain cuts a dashing figure in his uniform, even with the bulky atomic pistol hanging by his side. Clipping her heat lance - a spear-like weapon capable of firing energy blasts - to the side of her chair, she surreptitiously admires his calm and professional attitude as he runs through the pre-flight checks. "If only he wasn't such a -" words fail her, and she settles for an articulate exclamation "- the rest of the time." "Vot vas zat, leibchen?" "Nothing, Doctor." S'Ondra pretends to study the complicated board of instruments in front of her. Venusians lack Erath's sophistication with technology, and nothing she is looking at has any meaning to her, "I was just wondering what all these things do." As expected, this distracts the Doctor from his original question. It also means sitting through a long and involved explanation of every knob and dial in sight, but the Princess has long ago learned how to tune out such lectures. "All clear and confirmed, Tower." Fury snaps his seat belt closed, and pulls back two levers on the controls in front of him. "Launch in T-minus sixty." "Confirmed, [I]Pathfinder[/I]. Good luck and Godspeed." The voice of Space Port Control fades away, to be replaced by a mechanical sounding countdown. As the count reaches ten, the ship's engines rumble into life, and Fury flicks a couple of last switches. "Here we go!" Super-heated Xenon flares from the ship's exhaust ports as the pad tilts, lifting the nose into launch position. The [I]Pathfinder[/I]'s view screen now looks directly up at the Space Port dome, which cracks open, the two halves sliding apart as the cold emptiness of space howls into the dome. Safe within the ship, S'Ondra's fingers tighten on the arms of her seat. "Atmosphere vented, Tower?" "Atmosphere vented, Pathfinder. You may launch when ready." "Roger. Launching now." Fury grips the two levers he had previously pulled back into their locked position, and slowly and smoothly presses them forward. The rumble of the engines sharpens into a fearsome whine, and then there is a sudden and deafening [b][I]ROAR[/I][/b] as the ship surges away from the ground. Despite the noise, the ship's ascent is smooth and graceful. Gauges all over the control board hover just a fraction below the red-line, as Fury pushes the ship right to its very limits - but never over them. The moon falls away with startling speed, and within moments, the [I]Pathfinder[/I] is alone in space, hurtling toward the edge of the solar system, and its historic mission. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
[Spaceship Zero] Q-Ship (actually updated 19 May 2007)
Top