A Story on Space and Mars

[Centurius]

While the risk to Carthaginian trade had been the primary reason the Senate signed off on the annexation and occupation of Cape Verde the real reasons for moving onto these islands had were varied. With the military primarily wanting them to enhance military power and most others in general just to expand the Kingdom. A final objective had come from the scientific elements in the decision-making process. It was well documented that the Athenian Federation built its space infrastructure around Praia and Cape Verde in general. While such things as the launch loop and the bases in orbit had long since gone the actual command centre was still very much in existence. As soon as a specialized unit had taken control of the facility and scientists were moved in the quest for information would begin. It took months to dig through all the information contained in the databases but in the end they had found enough to push the Carthaginian space program ahead decades. To the surprise of even the most ambitious scientists they had found more than just the designs of the space vessels used by the Hellenic Space Forces but also evidence that contrary to what was expected some of the Athenian space assets were still reporting home. Specifically the colony built on Mars.

With this information it didn’t take much to convince both the King and the Senate to increase funding to the space program. While the industry to build the larger space stations and ships simply weren’t there the smaller shuttle was well within the capabilities of Carthage. Using the Athenian designs within months two shuttles using VASIMR engines and capable of holding 20 people each were constructed while the crew for them, recruited from the Carthaginian Air Force and Sacred Band, were trained to adapt to the living conditions in space as well as control of the shuttle.

Once both construction and training were completed and calculations had figured out when Mars would be closest to Earth it was finally time to launch.

As soon as the final pre-launch checklists were complete and Carthage had given the all clear the launch in Praia would begin. While VASIMR was an excellent engine technology it wasn’t quite so useful in the atmosphere, as such boosters would first take both shuttles into orbit using more conventional mechanisms.

Colonel Félix Torres was the commander in charge of one of these shuttles and the mission named Eternal Exploration at large. As he looked over the control panel in front of him both a mix of excitement and fear went through his head. He had been preparing for this for a long time already back in the Kingdom of Portugal and was surprised the CDF had even nominated him for the position as he was only a recent addition. As the countdown reached 0 and the shuttle went up all his fears disappeared. If something was going wrong there wasn’t going to be anything they could still do about it anyway. The only thing still on his mind was the realization that if something went wrong his family probably would never hear the truth. After all the details of the mission and the very existence of a manned Carthaginian space program was still very much a secret.

As soon as the final boosters were dropped and both shuttles were in a position to activate the VASIMR drives the real fun would begin.

“Command this is Colonel Torres, detonation successful. Tanit and Ba’Al Hammon on their way” He said in code language over the radio to confuse any would-be listeners. By now most countries had probably detected the launch and some would even be able to see the two shuttles however the specifics could still very much remain a secret.
 

As soon as the course was set and the engines continued producing speed he would hand over control of the shuttle to another pilot. After all, they still had 40 days ahead of them.

40 days later

The last 40 days had steadily grown harder and harder. While the shuttles were large 20 people required a lot of space and tempers would get out of hand at times. Torres couldn’t even imagine such a trip with civilians. At least military were somewhat used to situations like these. As soon as they were somewhat in range of Mars a surprise was waiting for them, sensors went into overdrive as several alerts triggered and weirdly enough the Tanit and Ba’Al Hammon were both hailed.

“Unidentified vessels this is the ASS Galactica, you have entered the territorial space of Atlantis. Identify yourselves” A female voice said, mere seconds later the shuttles were surrounded by smaller space vessels that by the visual look of them were very much armed.

“ASS Galactica, this is the Carthaginian Space Shuttle Tanit and the Ba’Al Hammon. We have come on a mission of peace” Félix responded. For several minutes the channel remained silent but at least the smaller vessels weren’t shooting so that seemed somewhat positive at least.

Finally a response would follow. “Follow the escorts back to the Galactica. You will be allowed to land on the hangar decks”