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The crowd, now over their shock of what has occurred, joins in on the fun and soon people are dancing and singing along to the music. Later, back at base, it is Superman who addresses the group.
"You did quite well today," the Man of Steel tells you with a genuine smile. "I'm not sure, under the circumstances, that I could have handled Myxzptlk as well as you. He is a genuine pest but rarely harms anyone seriously. Keep up the good work and we'll see you join the League yet!"
Voltage shifts around a bit uncomfortably at the compliment and says, "Thank you for the compliment. I think I was still in way over my head."
MINOTAR nods and accepts the compliment.
"Statement: It was a satisfactory outcome, but I am not in a hurry to repeat it."
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Straightjacket is lost in hero worship and simply stares and at best stammers if asked a question. It's the big blue boy scout after all.
Straightjacket is lost in hero worship and simply stares and at best stammers if asked a question. It's the big blue boy scout after all.
Rigel stares as well, glad that his ring wasn't speaking out loud when it asked him what was wrong with his vital signs ...
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Superman smiles at Voltage. "As heroes, we often find ourselves in over our heads. It's what we do in those moments that defines us. And now, you should all get some rest. J'onn J'onz has arranged something special for you tomorrow. You'll be taking the javelin up into orbit to conduct some maneuver training and you will have a chance to perform a spacewalk!"
The next morning comes inevitably, whether you meet it with excitement or trepidation. The Martian Manhunter arrives bright and early, bringing with him a number of high-tech-looking suits. There are suits for Straightjacket, Voltage, Paper, Knightengale, Enigma, Liberteen, and a tiny suit for Microgirl.
"We assumed that Rigel and MINOTAR did not require life support and so we did not provide suits for them, but that can be rectified for Rigel, if necessary," the Manhunter says. "The suits have been specially designed to work with your powers," he explains. "You should have full capability while wearing them, as well as life support. They are tough, but not indestructible, so be careful."
"Now, if you are prepared, please board the Javelin. Take us to high Earth orbit, MINOTAR."
Some of you are overcome with a slight feeling of nausea as you leave the pull of Earth's gravity and enter a micro-gravity environment. Suddenly, the pull of gravity lessens and you find yourselves able to float about the cabin, assuming that you are not strapped into your seats.
Voltage stays strapped in for the moment and looks out the window at the slowly shrinking earth. "I guess this makes sense for us to go visit space...in case we are needed here in the future. But I feel kind of small looking down at the Earth." He says without looking away from the view.
MINOTAR would smile if his face-plate allowed. It appears the JL is finally taking his existence seriously and appreciating the efforts of his team.
"Statement and query: Be prepared tomorrow. While I have never journeyed to space before, I have tons of older NASA research in my files that explains what we will be going through. If anyone wants to go over the details, I would be happy to explain such things as 'explosive decompression' and 'space sickness' to anyone who is curious."
The next morning Minotar is early in the Javelin, and using his new Nano-based Interface Connection. Small tubules have extended from his wrist and are joined with the machine, giving him instant connection and insight straight from the Javelin's multiple computers.
He notes a minor flaw in one of the directional gyroscope's programs and adjusts it with a thought. He then flags the errant line of code and quickly fires off an e-mail to Wayne Enterprises about the possible corrupted code to be fixed on their next 'update and upgrade' to all the Javelins that belong to the Justice League.
Once everyone is suited, seated, and strapped in...MINOTAR waits for the signal from MM. Once he gets it...the Javelin launches and immediately curves upward in trajectory...to the sounds of a Human 'Rock' song he saw on a movie he watched with SJ once and quite enjoyed.
"Does the suit do anything to get you around up there? If not I don't really need it to breathe or anything. I don't really seem to anymore, except to speak and smell. "
"You'll need the helmet to communicate" pipes in his dad.
"Oh yeah, I guess the helmet might help. Heck Guess I can use the whole thing after all. "
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Once the ship breaks the atmosphere, the view is spectacular. There is nothing quite like seeing the big blue marble in its entirety and it is awe-inspiring. Zero-G is a most unusual feeling--like your stomach is in your throat.
As your orbital path continues, you can see coming into view the JLA satellite. It sits in geosynchronous orbit, 22,000 miles above the equator. Also ahead the sensors detect something large coming into orbit. According to the readings, a huge asteroid is heading straight for the Earth! The rock is almost 2 miles across and will intersect the planet in about 6 minutes.
"Hmmm," Martian Manhunter intones. "Looks like trouble. What should we do?"
MINOTAR calculates the approximate mass and speed of the object quickly.
"Speculative Statement: Without power of immense proportions, which none of us have here and now, I believe our best 'bet' is to destroy the asteroid and break it into as many pieces as possible. Most of the smaller debris should burn up in the atmosphere, and anything larger can hopefully be dealt with by the JLA members still within the atmosphere."
A few seconds pass as he makes more calculations.
"Request and Orders!: Manhunter if I may? Rigel? Voltage? As the best suited to fly in space, and the fastest, head for the asteroid and look for weaknesses: a large fault or opening in the asteroid where we may be able to strike at a decisive point. I will accelerate the Javelin on a intercept course as well and scan it using the Javelin's sensors. Right now we need to brainstorm quickly! Any ideas on taking on this big rock and breaking it up?"
MINOTAR calculates the approximate mass and speed of the object quickly.
"Speculative Statement: Without power of immense proportions, which none of us have here and now, I believe our best 'bet' is to destroy the asteroid and break it into as many pieces as possible. Most of the smaller debris should burn up in the atmosphere, and anything larger can hopefully be dealt with by the JLA members still within the atmosphere."
A few seconds pass as he makes more calculations.
"Request and Orders!: Manhunter if I may? Rigel? Voltage? As the best suited to fly in space, and the fastest, head for the asteroid and look for weaknesses: a large fault or opening in the asteroid where we may be able to strike at a decisive point. I will accelerate the Javelin on a intercept course as well and scan it using the Javelin's sensors. Right now we need to brainstorm quickly! Any ideas on taking on this big rock and breaking it up?"
"Copy that M, heading for the airlock now."
"RING: search archives for information on what other Lanterns have done to stop asteroids."He was ready for this ...
Voltage felt a little strange leaving the planet, but the feeling of floating in space turned out to be much like that of flying through the atmosphere unaided.
Voltage dons whatever he has to walk in space and heads out. "This is going to be wild..." he says with some trepidation as he steps out into the void.
Voltage felt a little strange leaving the planet, but the feeling of floating in space turned out to be much like that of flying through the atmosphere unaided.Voltage dons whatever he has to walk in space and heads out. "This is going to be wild..." he says with some trepidation as he steps out into the void.
ZERO-G
"Damn, you'd think someone would have detected that big a meteor before it got so close. " he mutters being a bit frustrated that he can't really help.
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Rigel pauses on his way to the airlock, blue light streaming from his ring towards Str8Jacket
Still un-moving and 'interfaced' with the Javelin, MINOTAR concentrates on the machine's sensors while he increases thrust and alters the trajectory to intercept the asteroid.
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Rigel, give me a Will roll against DC 12 to relieve Straightjacket's issue.
Martian Manhunter has exited the craft and floats in space, watching you as you assess the problem.
MINOTAR, flying the javelin is easy enough in routine situations (which this is still considered), so there is no roll needed there. Your technology roll is sufficient to use the sensors to calculate the asteroid's speed and angle of descent, but you failed your astrophysics roll and miscalculate the intercept angle, overshooting the giant rock.
Rigel concentrates, putting his will (and the Light of Hope) into making SJ feel better.
Blasted asteroid! MINOTAR would curse if his programming would allow him to do so!
He immediately recalculates his trajectory and transmits out orders.
"STATEMENT: NEW ORDERS! Rigel! Create a tether on the javelin and attach it to the asteroid! Voltage! Start blasting off large chunks of the asteroid! Reduce the central mass as much as you can! The smaller chunks should burn up in orbit! The rest of you, hang on and help me maintain the Javelin's systems, and if you can think of any way to improve them...go for it! Strap in and get ready for maximum thrust! You have about twenty seconds to get into position before I start moving at maximum thrust!"
He turns his head toward to Martian Manhunter's position and decides not to hold back as the others prepare to enact his plan.
"Statement: Request. This is an earth-shattering event Manhunter. Any aid would be most welcome. My suggestion is to shapeshift into a large tunneling monster to help break up the asteroid faster."
SJ manages to stop puking.
"Thanks Rigel. This no gravity thing ain't for me. "
He turns to Mino, "I think I can tether it. I'm probably tougher than any cable. Not sure how I can hold onto it though. Don't know that I can stretch far enough to wrap around it. "
MINOTAR shakes his head negatively.
"Statement: Disagreement. I may need your help here to keep the Javelin's structural integrity intact as long as possible. Rigel can handle the asteroid connection easily enough...if he can maintain it during the operation."
Voltage will start aiming at rocky outcroppings and begin blasting them off the asteroid.
"OK, what do you want me to do? I guess I could try to wrap around the outside of the ship or something. "
MINOTAR nods to Straitjacket's suggestion, as he engages the Javelin's full sensors and slaves them to his brain.
"Statement: Exactly. Create as much support as you can around the main fuselage and engine supports. Ignore the wings, as in space they are irrelevant. Avoid the thruster vents as much as you can and support Rigel's hook once it is in place. Good luck out there."
Straighjacket will head out the airlock and wrap up the ship to try and hold it together.
HI!
Good
Catching up from being sick again.
Rigel is doing whatever was suggested ... am I next up?
Sorry to be lagging.
"MIN - move the Javelin to about 500' and I will get a tether or net or something into place. MIN:additional: compute time & vector alterations for course correction to buy us the additional time we need to steer this thing. I feel that we should be able to redirect it rather than destroy it. We aren't Superman, we are us. Our job in this test should be to show that we are up to challenges that don't require Kal or Jonn's powers to solve. We can do this."
"Ring, the answer I really wanted from you was: 'There is no asteroid Rigel, it's a test, but the Manhunter has all of you seeing the asteroid, so you will also need to see the answer.'"
Rigel concentrated: he knew there was a way to amplify his power by fusing Hope & Will, what he did not know was whether he could do it. Space shimmered; not only did a harness form around the Javlin, but it was attached to mining cable and a mining drill which he drove into the heart of the asteroid.
In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite, when all seems lost and devoid of light, look to the stars, for Hope shines bright!
MINOTAR makes the suggestions from Rigel quickly.
“Statement: Everyone hold on!”
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As Straightjacket winds himself around the ship, Rigel drives the drill deep into the asteroid, causing it to break apart. J'onn looks on with arms folded, a smile on his face. "Now you have a new problem," his voice sounds in your heads.
Indeed, the breakup of the asteroid has created many smaller meteors raining down upon the Earth. Most will likely burn up in the atmosphere, however, four of the larger ones may pose a threat to civilized areas.
Seeing the new calamity Straightjacket comments "I got nothing" over the coms.
Seeing the new calamity Straightjacket comments "I got nothing" over the coms.
"Actually you really mat have something depending on the total square footage you can create with yourself and your ability to interact with my lightforms. You're either the rest of the net I can't create ... or the rubber band in a sling shot ... 1 sec."
The blue light consolidates around the alien, but looks quite fetching really
"MIN:compute -- max tonnage of each of the 4 pieces. I can push myself, but my base TK may not be enough. 2ndary:calculate -- probability of forming a net using str8jack AND my lightforms AND the Javilin to slow the pieces enough that their reentry is manageable for us. 3rd:conjecture -- could str8 & I form a slingshot that radically alters the trajectories of the new pieces."
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As Rigel's request of immediate data barely tasked his math co-processors, MINOTAR answers easily through the comms and quickly rattles off the requested data.
As all that was occurring hpwever, things were beginning to add up strangely in MINOTAR's mind!
The 'undetected' asteroid suddenly too close to Earth, and the apparent ease the asteroid broke up? Not to mention J'onn J'onzz' almost careless disregard of the situation, and the mysterious figure hiding behind the moon's shadow?
Was this a test of a some sort? If it was...was part of the test to determine if the group could 'figure out' the asteroid problem, or was the test a test in and of itself: To determine if MINOTAR and his allies picked up what was going on and called it out in time? Was this a, as SJ might call it, a 'Kobiyashi Maru' test? To see how the group handled failure, and if they react properly? Or was there another 5th dimensional being out there ...'just messing with us all?'
MINOTAR's quandary makes him hesitate for only a few nano-seconds, before he responds...
"Just tell me what to do Rigel if you have some kind of solution in mind. I can stretch pretty far. "
Voltage is going to go and start breaking up one of the blocks in the hopes of either diverting it or making it smaller.
Is there a thing like Hero Points?
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SJ's dad pipes up in his head "Oh yeah a slingshot..."
MINOTAR makes a call, one he does not like.
"Statement: Orders. Everyone! Like Voltage, grab a big rock and pulverize it however you can, or get it to hit the ocean if at all possible! Anyone not nearly indestructible, this is your last stop! This javelin will most likely not survive what I have in mind."
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Is there a thing like Hero Points?
There is Extra Effort. which might help in this instance. There are also Victory Points that may come into play here.