The Solution (2nd Edition)

Xen

All com-links were about to be jammed, but before I'd made my last one, I took the moment to take stock of my teams, and where relevant, their loved ones...

    The Jong Brothers had made the ultimate sacrifice by staying behind to monitor the Fortress Docks and the Cylinder in Baikonur. Devout earthists, their family members were keen and proud to grace Base Team One of China in senior capacities and begin regeneration.

    Ling was on par with the proprietors of Meiser Group, for she had decided to remain earthbound, in order to caretake the Sub Colonies which were forged from the essence of her bio-holodome technology.

    Sadly, this meant that our Orbital Admiral, Stephen, would only have his father, Cassius, for company once aboard our sanctuary star.

    Others were luckier.

    All four members of my entourage had been made, eligible, and in return for my continued protection, I guaranteed they'd have VIP privileges across Stardom's small entertainment sector.

    Having finished the artificial gravity task for me on the Mongolian Plateau, James and his team were now on their way back to the Red Planet to resume their Landscape Project. Raythorpe's family were permanent residents in the hotel base on the Martian surface, courtesy of Sam and Virgin Galactica. In addition, the VG CEO planned to visit his establishment, 'Red Earth Two'...

    Meanwhile, back on our blue surface, Olaf prepared to command Atomic, and Aurora to oversee Solaris.

    Yan and Anho readied themselves to act as senior stewards aboard Horizon and Imperial.

    Furthermore, myself and Lee were keen to have outright control over Dynasty and Stardom, once orbitbound.

    More notably, O-Kenai was probably reveling about having demonic dominion of The Wealth Core and all things taboo and criminal. Our only saving grace was, Harris and Stephen would need to be based there to maintain their general and admiral statuses, as well as having the opportunity of keeping close eyes on the queenpin.

    Then a passive thought struck my mind. In response, I finally linked Chon.

    "Xiōngdi, you okay...?" he asked, beating me to the punch.

    "...Trying my best to hide it, but just nervous," I admitted. "Otherwise, I'm good. Little brother, regarding your clique, are Sarah and Mikey ready for this?" Changing the subject was a good calming measure.

    "Sarah, not so much. She was freaking out before she was even sedated. But Mikey's as pumped as he can be... He's, looking forward to the blast from six to zero gee."

    Chon was obviously hesitating over, Michelle Zungai. "Again, apologies," I said, us both knowing that her situation was the elephant in room. "Nevertheless, I plan to say something gnarly in a short while which might perk gigantor up, so tell him to keep an ear out for me..."

    "Got it," Chon nodded with buffered lips. "I'll let Mikey know. Talking of ears, did you hear from mùqīn before she was sedated?"

    "I did," I revealed, "and she told me to explain that everything is, on course..."

    "...Right," Chon sighed, likely fed up with mine and our maker's riddles.

    Amid the pause and his rebuttal, I took my chance to ask what had loomed in my thoughts. "Little brother, on another note, do you and Sarah have your gifts with you? The ones from mùqīn...?"

    "...We do," Chon breathed. "They're here with us in our dorm, and I haven't let them out of my sight."

    "Good," I exhaled with relief. "Mine is right here." I'd tapped at the outside of my H-Suit, indicating to Chon that the inner compartment was where I'd chosen to conceal my gift from the dragon maker.

    We both nodded with buffered lips. Then to finalize our conversation, Chon assured me with a simple statement. "Xiōngdi, not long now..."

    "...Little brother," I grinned, "I know. Now we have come to it at last, the great pilgrimage of our time. Now as Tengfei's Double Dragon, 'we rise'."

    Seeking all the courage I could, I cut the link with Chon and informed Stephen that I was ready to relay my speech. Respectfully so, the admiral jammed all personal com-links and patched in a transmission link to me for freighter-wide broadcast. Next, I made my declaration. "To The Eligibles of Atomic, Solaris, Imperial, Horizon, Dynasty, Stardom...and The Wealth Core...it is time to embark upon our collective maiden voyage..." Finally, thinking like a GGE; and in a low growl worthy of Zeus himself; I glared into the holoscreen spoking up from my wrist and made my last demand:

"'RELEASE THE KRAKENS!!!'"

    My hope was that Mikey would appreciate my acknowledgement of the 'Clash of The Titans'.

    A minute after, I cut the transmission and had my A.I.D.A tap into satellites and freighter-feeds, so that I could witness every visual surrounding our ascension!

    Far off, The Cylinder had been retracted.

    Next, The Wealth Core had been powered on and was ready for flight. Moments later, the world and I watched as O-Kenai's column blasted skywards. The column itself was filled with members of The Tripod Consortium, but more harrowingly, inconspicuous members of The Rising Clans who had boarded the vessel with the highest level of discretion.

    What remained of the Syr Darya River trembled in its dam and another mild earthquake was induced. Waves of vibrating energy pulsed out across the savannah steppe and loosened more soil and rock, and waves I imagined would easily reach Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan - some of Kazakhstan's geographical neighbors.

    Back at Stardom's controls, the VG pilots were orchestrating our ascension. The hover interface dials were calibrated by working in tandem again with the onboard A.I. Subsequently, our cold-vacuum freighter was powered on, allowing vibration and an inhumane hum to bring Stardom to life! Via A.I.D.A, it was like observing a mechanical Kaiju from another dimension which was getting ready to leap for the heavens and return home.

    As the shaking around us intensified, a friendly voice overrode personal A.I.D.A's to provide assurance. "Greetings, Eligible Patrons of China. This is VG Captain Mortensen," the Danish international started. "I will be taking you up to our orbital destination, so hold on tight and get comfortable. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is as normal. Thank you."

    Next, the captain began the countdown.

    "T-minus one minute until launch...

    "First confirmation: all hover super-cells operational with fuel, sound, and light suppression enabled,

    "T-minus forty seconds...

    "Second confirmation: all three Tesla-Core Engines ready for intermittent ignition,

    "T-minus thirty seconds...

    "Third confirmation: VG Pilots and onboard A.I link at one hundred per cent,

    "T-minus twenty seconds until launch...

    "...Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One...LIFT OFF!!! WE HAVE SUCCESSFUL IGNITION!!!"

    We were on our way.