Part 1 Formation - Chapter 9

Bravo and his friends stood just outside the ramp to Kids shuttle. They looked around one last time with mixed emotions flashing across their faces, taking in their home before boarding the shuttle. They walked up the ramp and into a small corridor. To their right was a small door. Beyond them the corridor opened into a bigger compartment with a closed door directly across from them on the other side.

They walked into the bigger compartment and found a row of seats lining each side of the room. As they each took a seat the previously closed door slid open to reveal Kid standing in the doorway. "I'd recommend strapping in, planetary exits can get rather bumpy."

"Will we get to see space?" Mickey asked, his tone dripping with excitement, "I'd really like to see it."

Kid chuckled, "Once we're in space and out of the gravity well of the planet you can unstrap and walk around."

The boys each buckled their seat belts, then reached up and pulled down a metal bar that locked them in place. After Kid inspected each of them to make sure they were properly belted in, he nodded in satisfaction and walked back into the cockpit.

He settled into his seat and quickly flipped switches, and checked status screens. As lights and screens burst to life around him he grinned and flipped a black switch. A soft whine filled the air then quickly rose to a roar as the engines thundered to life.

The ship struggled for just a moment pushing against gravity until there was a sudden jolt. The ship leapt into the air, breaking free from gravity and the junk pile that tried to bind it to the earth. It rocketed away from the ground below, soaring higher and higher through the clouds and into the great emptiness beyond.

Kid unbuckled and moved into the passenger compartment as the ship sped away from Earth. He looked at the boys and smiled "If you guys want to see you can come up to the cockpit."

Otto and Mickey's eyes lit up and they rushed out of their seats into the cockpit, followed by an intrigued Data and cautious Buck. As the boys crowded into the small cockpit they could see the small white dots of stars floating by as the ship sped through space.

"Wow!" Mickey exclaimed, "It's very pretty"

Kid smiled, "Wait until we go into Altis Spatis."

They look at him confused. Kid just grinned again and reached for a red lever on the control board. He pulled it back gently and as he did the stars stretched from white dots into lines as the ship suddenly and rapidly gained speed. After a moment a small blue light appeared ahead of them gradually glowing bigger and bigger until the window of the ships was filled with a cloudy blue color.

"Wha-what is this?" Data asked, fascinated.

"Altis Spatis, it gets us from point A to point B in a galaxy in record time, otherwise it'd take centuries to cross a galaxy."

"So are we traveling faster than the speed of light?" Otto asked.

"Eh kind of, it's more like we've entered another dimension that shortens the distance between two points."

"I'd love to know how it all works." Data stated.

"If you think this is great, wait until you see the gates." Kid chuckled.

"The what?" Mickey asked.

"They are these huge rings that we use to cross from galaxy to galaxy. That is certainly a sight to behold."

"Crossing galaxies?" Otto asked.

"Yes, We're going to be crossing into the Dresis Galaxy to be exact, it should take us about three days. There we will find my father and the Resistance base."

"So we'll just have to get cozy until then huh." Buck remarked sourly.