Issue 2.11: Clear Skies

## Overview

It's time. Preparations have been made and the count down has begun. The Callisto 6 embark on their most dangerous journey yet.

## Plot Synopsis

### Part I

The group has been working hard. For the past two weeks they have been able to get everything together. Cobalt has also been practicing to try and expand his powers. He didn’t have the same experience as the others so has had to scramble to get stronger. He has been working with both Lacy and Cass to move gradually larger and larger objects through walls. He’s had to stop to regroup himself for a few days, but thankfully no slip ups.

Lacy and Patel have been working hard to reworking the Endeavor for their needs. Patel’s wife Illiana has been instrumental as well, and has caught on to what is going on. She’s got multiple PhDs and above all knows her wife. She has helped as much as possible, but has also made it completely clear that Patel must come back to her. There’s been a lot of debate about Illiana coming back to LA to see Patel, but that has been quickly shot down. To deal with the turmoil she throws herself into their project.

The Endeavor has flourished into one of the most advanced ships to take to space. To accommodate Cobalt’s power the shutter is now a metallic blue. The wings have been removed and been replaced with metal divots that go right down the side. These will be used to create any necessary wing dynamic the team will need by utilizing force field technology. Lacy and Patel have also fitted the shuttle with the ability of vertical take off and thrust. They also know that once this trip is done, the Endeavor will probably never fly again, but it will get them there and back.

All of this is happening tomorrow. The anxiety is palpable as the reality sets in that tomorrow they are going to the Moon. Everyone has been dealing with this by honing in on comfortable, normal things and conversations.

And surprisingly Corporate LA has been quiet, more then likely still dealing with the fallout of Measure Z, from the dismantling of the security forces to the changes in the health care plans.

During this time Cass has asked Anton to try and teach her yoga, knowing if she gets agitated and punches a hole in the space ship they’re in trouble. Anton has gladly agreed, and the two set about helping the powerhouse find calm. With all that’s happened lately, between seeing her mother again, to Charlie’s upheaval, to the change in her relationship with Luma, it’s difficult, but Cass is determined to do her best, constantly reminding herself that she was the one that asked for this. Anton tries to get her to reflect, not necessary having to stand still, but just reflect.

> Anton: And she is taking to it like…a frog to water. Not necessarily a fish but…just as good.
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In one of the city blocks, near a community center just outside Raft City, Amelia is touching down with Lacy and Luma just inside. They’ve come to pick up Oniko. Since being rescued by the C6 crew she has stayed in Blue Dolphin Base, both to stay off the radar and because she hasn’t wanted to leave Sal quite yet who, while has come far with his aquaphobia, still cannot actually travel through it. But now she has wanted to get out. Luma has even taken her shopping to try and help Oniko personalize herself and distance herself from her old life.

Oniko walks up the ramp, waving hello and smiling quite softly. However about 200 yards away a car catches Luma and Lacy’s attention. It’s, and more importantly the woman leaning against it, are recognizable. Casey Montgomery. She gives a small wave with one hand, the other holding a small datapad. Lacy dives into it and sees that there is a story on there about a certain interim CEO of Pyramid Star solutions and recent sightings. Casey motions, asking to come close and, extremity reluctantly, Luma goes out ot meet with her.

Their exchange starts off rocky to say the least. Luma tries to convince her that randomly showing up at their homes and around their families is a very *very* bad idea. And perhaps using more normal channels of communication would be a better idea as they don’t know, and by extension, really trust her. Casey defends herself that she doesn’t know if she’s being watched. Luma states that she probably is and that the story that she’s writing, that Luma has *definitely* read, is also a bad idea. Cassie says that she has no idea the implications so she has come to try and speak with them before anything is published.

> Casey: If she’s on your team, tell me and I delete the story.
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> Luma: She’s on our team.
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And true to her word, Casey deletes the story. Lacy goes searching for any backups, but they don’t find any. This helps build a bit of trust so Luma holds out her hand for a proper introduction. Casey blows this over at first, but Luma is determined. She does it again and Casey catches on.

Luma goes on to state that they are people, not stories. Casey brings up what is going on at the museum and Luma reiterates that they are people. Their actions may be stories, but they themselves are not.

Casey states that she understands the animosity she’s receiving, but she wants to tell their story because she believes in what they are doing and that the people should know. However she doesn’t have a secure way to contact them. She goes on to say that she works for someone who also wants to help out; Hakeem Sophia. Luma becomes just a little bit star struck, stating Casey should have led with that.

Back in the dropship Oniko and Lacy are waiting and watching Casey and Luma. Lacy inquires what it was Oniko had wanted to tell them, but she just smiles and signs that she wants to wait to tell both Luma and Lacy together.

In her hands is a piece of tech, a familiar one. It’s a lattice bracelet that when worn will go up the arm, but has been compressed down like a telescope. When worn it allows the wearer to create multiple images of themselves. Oniko gives it to Lacy, stating that someone else should find some use with it, she doesn’t want it any more. It was part of another life.

Lacy asks how it has been with people like her (Oniko). They state they’ve never had ‘wheeler’ friends. Oniko states that it is nice. She never realized that deep down everyone is excited or nervous about something, and while she has come to care about all of the C6, there is something about being around people that can ‘speak’ her language. Lacy agrees. Oniko states that it’s helped her understand why she feels much closer to Luma and Lacy despite not always speaking the same language. Both smile, enjoying the feeling of family shared between them.

In the distance the watch Luma throw her hands in the air in frustration, yelling ‘We’re talking in circles!’

Fed up with this Luma asks for another of Casey’s cards, promising that she won’t throw this one away. She also asks that if Casey doesn’t hear anything from them by the end of the night that she’ll give up.

> Casey: It’s happening tomorrow, isn’t it?
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Luma facepalms and can suddenly hear Anton in her ear telling her to just walk away.
> Luma: She’s already writing a story Anton, get out of my brain.
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> Anton: I’ve been watching the whole thing and it’s painful.
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Casey says that she’ll make a deal, she knows that one of them (Lacy) is great with tech and maybe they can create a secure way to communicate.

Luma says that she’ll ask, but she can’t promise, cuz that’s not something she can do.

> Casey: I trust you guys. So whatever you’re doing tomorrow, good luck.
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> Luma: Thank you. And can you promise to never say that sentence again out loud.
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> Casey: Now that I’ve got confirmation I won’t need to.
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She goes on to say that she promises that until she hears from the C6 directly, she won’t write anything. Luma sticks out of hand for a pinky promise, much to Casey’s confusion. Anton argues that this isn’t legally binding, but Luma shoots back that nothing else has worked, she’s a reporter they may as well try and be nice.

Luma finishes with a reminder to build a relationship that will help smooth things over, and she’s leaving.

Back on Amelia, Luma’s frustration is clear and she vents for a second before, softly, Oniko says; “I picked a name.”

This stops both Luma and Lacy and they stare at her in astonishment.

Oniko: [The group picked] a name for me. They asked me a bunch of questions, and I told them about…I didn’t give them any details for obvious reasons, but I thought about…I couldn’t forget the first thing that I noticed when you all saved me. And so after a lot of conversations and talking, they named me Moonlight. Which I loved because that’s where we are going, and I get to see what it is that made that light shine down in the water.

Lacy signs ‘Nice to meet you’ and it illicts an instant reaction, tears pooling in Moonlight’s eyes.

Lacy immediately asks Sweet Baby to change designation.

> Sweet Baby: Designation altered. Friendly Moonlight, it is a pleasure to meet you.
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>

Amelia takes off, Cassie watching. She looks down at her datapad, gives a small curse, then proceeds to delete all the autosave files of her article before leaving.

Back at BDB, Sal is waiting for them to return. Moonlight immediately goes to him and signs her new name. He has trouble picking it up, and Luma and Lacy try to help, but finally Moonlight pulls Sal away so she can teach him properly.

Everyone else greets them, the air in the base anxious as everyone deals with the weight of what is going to happen tomorrow. Currently it is around afternoon time. Cobalt has been working close with Oya. Since the work has been taking so much out of him he has been working with her to age him to help speed up the recovery process. Not a lot,he doesn’t look physically older, but just enough to mitigate the power output.

Everyone gathers in the living room, Patel joining them soon. She looks tired, holding a cup of coffee and rubbing her eyes. She tells them she’s gone over all the information again, that Lacy’s robots have loaded the ship with everything that they need, everything is done. Now it’s just actually launching off. Lacy double checks if Honey Baby’s charging station is on board, which Patel confirms that it is, and Hopps chimes in that she’ll be there as a back up. Patel understands the desire to help, but there are too many variables that may make using her powers in space too dangerous. As they bounce back and forth on the subject, Moonlight comes up and nods hello. Patel says ‘Hello Oniko’, but stops when Moonlight shakes her head. Already tired and confused Patel asks if she’s actually Luma. Lacy quietly states that she got a new name.

Moonlight steps forward and gives them the same story that she did Lacy and Luma earlier. The group shows their excitement at this, knowing how much she had been wanting this. Cass even asks if she can throw her up in the air and catch her in a cheerleader-esque move. Moonlight states her enjoyment of this, saying that they should be doing this kind of thing to get ready for space.

In the corner Sal is softly saying ‘Moonlight’ over and over again as he tries to keep signing moonlight, looking to Lacy to help him. Lacy had videotaped Moonlight telling them, signing her name, and loops it over and over for Sal to practice.

Patel says that’s nice, her words mumbled with fatigue. Hopps starts to pull her away, directing her towards Patel’s room. Patel tells them to not let her sleep too long, that she just wants to go over a few things again.

Sal and Moonlight go back to their corner, leaving the seven to themselves. They decide to go over a last few things, like who exactly is coming with them, what they are doing when they get there, etc.

They hammer everything out, including unanimously electing a very reluctant Luma as captain. They each go over their own roles. Florence the Med Bot comes in and asks if if should come with them, and they agree that may be a good idea. Lacy goes over the equations, knowing that unlike other shuttle missions they wouldn’t exactly have a mission control. Luckily they are a planetary level technopath and will need to connect to satellites on earth to aid their mission. Hopps, trained in mathematics, helps with the rechecking and catching anything the worn technopath may have missed. They also cover the fact that their spacesuits are not specialized for them so beside Lacy and Cass, everyone should not use their powers.

Cass does an aside to Lacy, checking how they are doing. Lacy expresses their combined fear and excitement. They’re going to space, something they have always wanted, and they are the only one that can do this. Cass promises that if she could she’d do more, and Lacy just smiles and says she’s too busy punching the moon.

> Cass: You have to get me there first.
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> Lacy: That’s a good reason to get there.
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> Cass: Deal?
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They shake hands, some of the tension visibly gone from Lacy. Cass goes on to say that if there is absolutely anything else she can do she’ll do it, she’s really good at snacks. Lacy just laughs and gives the food stores inventory, and Cass happily cheers ‘I have a task!’ as she takes over as quartermaster.

With the plan worked out, they were going early, early in the morning, they were going to drive the Endeavor through the wall into the alleyway and take off from there. Everyone is too excited to go to sleep as they now have to wait. They spend the time saying goodbye to their people. Anton sends off a few messages to Melissa, both finding comfort in this. Lacy writes a letter to her dads thanking them for always supporting them, and that they are going to go be a hero for them. Anton also sends a regular message to his parents saying he’ll see them soon, but does not let on that there is anything out of the ordinary, that everything is fine.

Cobalt messages KP and receives one back almost immediately. KP is stoic, but moved as a father figure scared for his child would be. He writes back ‘Clear skies. I love you.’ Luma sends a message to her parents. She has been informing her mother, not of specifics, that just something was dangerous, but important was upcoming. She’d been trying to prepare her mother for awhile not to get her used to it. She also sends a message to Lacy’s Dads, promising that she’d look after their hero. She puts it on delay so it’s not sent until the next day. She also is going to contact Casey Montgomery and gets everyone’s input.

Lacy sends a large zipfile full of information. It’s essentially unanimous that their story needs to be out. It is also essentially unanimous that all of them wish to meet Sophia. Hopps, with Oya’s help, creates a VR message so that she can send it to her mother. She also, with Lacy’s help, sends a letter to Butch, thanking him for the training and that she misses him. Cass checks on Charlie, glad to see he is fitting in well. Charlie has taken a bit to get used to the opulence, but he and KP have meshed fairly well. He is taking the time to give himself space, Cass trying to teach him to reflect. He reacts to that as well as she did, but both know that it’s necessary. Finally Cass spends the last night with Luma. She knocks on the door and almost immediately Luma is there.

> Luma: Thank you . I can’t sleep. I can’t believe they made me captain. This is ridiculous, and another thing…(door closes)
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### Part II

The group all gather around the Endeavor, ready to launch. They notice they aren’t alone. Sitting off to the wide, teacup in hand, Kylan Krause sits, seemingly waiting for them. He explains that he’s not there to get in the way of their launch, he’s there because last night he noticed discrepancies and put two and two together. Over comms Patel asks if there is anything she can do, but Lacy just tells her to stand by.

Kylan says he just want to try and understand what is happening. That they expect to fly this mutilated shuttle…where? This staggers Lacy who is assured by Luma that it’s not mutilated as the others assure Krause it would be better if he didn’t know. He agrees and points out that this probably to stop a mutual enemy, gaining soft agreement and wishes them luck.

He offers that he doesn't know what they are going to find and that the astronauts that were chosen for the missions were deliberately selected. Despite having other more qualified candidates to chose from, they were selected due to having no earthly attachments. He doesn’t know what this means exactly besides something messed up.

Tired of waiting Cobalt flings out the two halves of his cannon, snaps them together and points it directly at Krause. The man jumps and everyone else is shocked.

> Cobalt: Look I have a new way for you to participate. You are going to send a manifest of everyone that you send to the moon directly to us. […] And you are going to stop messaging whoever you are messaging.
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> Krause: I’m not messaging anyone.
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> Cobalt: I’m going to tell you now! You are going to stop messaging whoever you are messaging.
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Krause is quite for a moment before lowering his hands and walking towards Cobalt. Immediately Cass situates herself between the two.
> K: Cass. Gun. Same thing. I’m looking you in the eyes now and telling you. What’s going to happen to me if you fail? There’s nothing that can come out of that barrel or the end of your fist that’s going to be worst.
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This information hits the group. Cass tells him to stop being cryptic, just say what he wants to say. He adds that he has nothing more he can add, but he does send whatever information he can to Lacy. They weren’t able to get this information previously due to the trap that was lying in wait in Krause’s computer. They find that there are 47 pilots currently up there and a quick perusal that shows Kylan was right. Cass asks if they ever come back and Lacy says that they are on a six month cycle, which Krause confirms. However he points out that while he does get reports and there have been press coverage, Fletcher does control Nystrel and is behind everything. He doesn’t trust anything through just a digital display.

He points out that if they do not succeed this would be the last time they speak. He then focuses on Cobalt and realizes that he doesn’t know him, to which Cobalt states that it’s going to stay that way. Krause backs off.

They all turn and get into the ship. After a beat Krause leaves and they start to get ready. Lacy calls Honey Baby over and the war droid steps froward. Before they had even left Blue Dolphin Base, Lacy had hid Aurora in a secret compartment so it isn’t messed with. They had climbed into the harness that had been attached to Honey Baby’s chest compartment, plates completely covering and protecting Lacy. A green glow emanates from Honey Baby as Lacy integrates with them. There are seats for everyone and Honey Baby sits into a deep groove that was carved into the floor, gigantic screws coming out to secure them down.

The shuttle heats up, and Luma gives a small speech as they prepare to help bolster them.

The shuttle turns itself and a massive spotlight shines on the wall. In the back sit Moonlight, who had hid as soon as Kylan had appeared, and Cobalt. His seat is fitted for what he is going to need to do and he begins to concentrate. Two rods are seated next to his seat and a cable that comes from the implants within his wrists comes out and connects to the rods, channeling the energy he is beginning to emanate to cloak the entire shuttle. Everyone notices they themselves are becoming blue, then translucent. Luma assures them that this is normal, it may tickle, but everything will be okay. Dizziness and nausea wash over all of them.

Cobalt begins to fade out and he pushes it out further, covering the seats and floor and others. Lacy pilots the shuttle through the wall. Cobalt pushes still, farther then ever before, and it’s only rods, built specifically for this, keep him from fading completely. As soon as they clear the wall Lacy yells “Mark!” and they solidify as Cobalt slumps into his chair. He’s breathing, whole, but it took a lot out of him. Everyone cheers for Cobalt and yell for Florence. The medical bot immediately begins to work on the tired young man, administering stimulants. It helps and he begins to feel normal, but still slips unconscious.

It’s now up to Lacy. They prepare and the boosters light up. The shuttle begins to lift and everyone begins to prepare, freaking out a little. The G Forces kick in, knocking all of them into their seats. Outside they see the flames on the outside of the shuttle. They hit Mach 3, explode through the sky. Radio transmission light up at the shuttle launch, but soon it’s out of range and cloaks.

They are in space.

Cass looks out in amazement as she watches the Earth slip away. The main engines cut off and the weight begins to rapidly drop off. They are weightless now as HB makes the ship adjustments, pointing towards the moon. Everyone unhooks, in awe of the sight of the earth below them and what is to come.

Luma unhooks from her seat and launches off the wall towards Cass, helping her unhook and throws her. “That’s what it feels like!” They both laugh as Cass, very *very* carefully catches herself.

Lacy is keeping track of everything, but a part of themselves is amazed at the sight of the Earth. They throw up the image on a monitor so everyone can see.

Luma and Cass help get Cobalt to the med station which had been converted from the cargo bay. It is functioning as a living space/med station.

It’s a three day journey to the moon.

Information about the station pops up. The station itself is called Pyramid Star Station 1, but is called Tranquil Shore. It’s located within the Sea of Tranquility, within sight of the original site of the Apollo 11 mission. Lacy swipes through the files, seeing the most recent batch of astronauts, including the Mission Commander Colonel Kenzi Yu. There are supposed to be 47 astronauts, but all of them cannot help but remember the anomaly pointed out by Krause.

Patel comes through. She lets them know NORAD watching them, and fighters scrambled from Andrew Air Force base, but the shuttle was gone too quickly to do anything. She speaks with them, asking how all of them are doing. Even though Lacy explains everything is going okay Patel still has her doubts and says that it may be a good idea to run a diagnostics to check everything.

Lacy runs one before Patel is even done speaking.

While the diagnostics runs, the lights flicker, but everything looks okay. Patel confirms this as well.

For two and a half days they travel, Hopps is going over whatever information she can find, having forgotten her cap with Patel so she is unable to sleep. After about six hours of space flight Cobalt comes around. He’s exhausted, almost aching. Hopps is there when he wakes up offering some pineapple juice to him. She lets him know that everything worked perfectly so far. He unzips himself and drifts out of the sleeping bag. He begins testing the solidity of his body, immediately knowing that he shouldn’t try that against any time soon, but knows that Patel could probably help him.

Patel contacts them again near the end of the first day. She explains that she’s going to have to bounce off a few satellite to keep in touch with them, due to soon being on the other side of the moon, but she will try and keep in contact. As she says this she gets a notification that Cobalt is trying to speak with her. She goes to answer, but Sal’s face comes into the screen. After a little issue with time delay Lacy catches Moonlight’s attention and she comes up to see him. Patel and Cobalt go to a separate screen so the two friends can talk.

Sal sits down in the screen, one massive hand up almost absently with a single chicken in the palm. The thing is flapping its wings, trying to find a way down.

Patel and Cobalt go over what he’s feeling, his concerns over the use of his powers. Patel agrees, saying he needs to let his body recoup. He then voices his greatest concern, the instability of his powers. He knows that retrieving the power source is his only chance, but even getting it is not guaranteed. She tells him that she understands, that theoretically she can refine the energy source and juice him, but she doesn’t know what that will do. He is more stable then the other test subjects, but if it does end up killing him, it would be pieces of him disappearing at a time. He understands. There are theories and stories abound, but she doesn’t know. She won’t until they have more information and data. She tells them though that they need to keep their heads up until that time.

Back at the main console Sal sets down the chicken and began to sign that they are his friends and they need to come home. Then awkwardly stares and disconnects.

Lacy, in constant communication with the ship, has heard all of these, including Cobalt’s, but files it away somewhere where they won’t find it.

On the second day, Lacy begins to feel a strange tingling sensation and the room around them grows dark. Noise begins to fade out and the computers take on a sickly green glow.

A voice in their head, a familiar breathy, dark voice says: “Is it time Lacy? Is it time to see what it looks like when people die?”

Lacy smiles and says “Just couldn’t stay away could you?”

## Cast

* Bonnie Gordon as Lindy "Hopps" Hopper
* Amy Dallen as Cassie "Cass" Charke
* Hector Navarro as Anton Andazola
* Aliza Pearl as Oya Guillén (played by Eric)
* Sam de Leve as Lacy
* Gina DeVivo as Luma Orsini.
* Eric Campbell as the Storyteller.
* Xander Jeanneret as Cobalt

## Non-Player Characters

* Casey Montgomery
* Moonlight
* Sal
* Anika Patel
* Florence
* Kylan Krause

## Locations

* Blue Dolphin Base
* Pyramid Star

## Quotes

* Xander: "Wake me up when we win."
* Xander (as Luma and Cass continue to horse around in Zero G: "Are you flirting over my unconscious body?"