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Toulouse Space Centre, Toulouse
France
The group of government observers stood expectantly at the observation wing, pointing and nodding at the launch facility outside. A safe distance away from their bulletproof windows stood the Héliades Expendable Launch Vehicle, a thick white pole reaching 60 meter into the air. Powered by a cryogenics main stage and flanked on both sides by solid rocket boosters, the beautiful brute is just finishing being injected with the hundreds of tonnes of fuel it needed to escape from the Earth's gravity.
"Sir," a middle aged man with heavy glasses approached President Alain Mamère, who stood by himself at the back of the chamber. "We're ready to launch now."
Alain nodded at the man, Cyrille d'Escatha the administrator of CNES himself, and stepped closer to the viewing area. As the countdown began his heart was gripped by pride and excitement. After a decades long hiatus France will now pick up her ambitions for a grand presence in space, and today's test launch of the new Héliades model will herald a new age of French Space Programs. Never mind the fact that the designs were largely taken off the Ariane 5...
"That was our brainchild anyway," he muttered to himself. Cyrille raised an eyebrow from behind the him, but kept quiet. Then the count reached zero.
With a massive roar, fires and fumes shot out from beneath the Héliades system while support structures disengaged and swung away. For several seconds all was still, and doubt crept into the back of Alain's mind. But before he could react, slowly but surely the rocket began pushing strenuously upwards, fighting against the pull of the Earth with all the thrust technology could muster for it. Inch by inch it crawled towards the sky, while smoke steamed out from below it, shrouding its lower sections if a volcano is erupting upside down.
The observers, government officials and scientists from all over France, stared in awe at the impressive sight. The silence lasted while the rocket broke away cleanly and began an ever increasing acceleration, then a cheer broke out from a corner of the room. Suddenly the entire assembly of onlookers, just as staff members from across the entire sight and civilians watching from afar, were clapping each others' back in congratulations of a job well done. Turning around Alain smiled at Cyrille. "You did it!"
The scientist beamed with glory, but quickly restrained himself. "Thank you for your support Mr President, I'm glad we did not disappoint the nation." Enthusiastically he began laying out the grand vision he had, explaining to Alain that a Moon settlement, or even Mars, could not be far off.
He was still talking when the room chilled into hushed whispers.
Above them, the rising rocket had veered off noticeably. Within moments it was apparent that instead of carrying the tricolours to the great vacuum the rocket is now headed for a collision with very solid dirt, and muffled cries of panic broke out. Then, without warning, the fires propelling the rocket from behind exploded into an enclosure of flame hiding away the entire structure. A split second later the tip of the Héliades reemerged from the blaze, now headed for a nose dive. Behind it the flame wall disintegrated into a thousand balls of fire, shooting in every direction until gravity called them back to earth in a rain of destruction.
It descended upon the vicinity of the launch site like some hideous cloud of flame. Stunned, Alain and Cyrille watched as devastation unfolded before their very eyes. Plant life combusted under the extreme heat. Cars and planes were melted through by searing particles, setting off several explosions that tore the air apart. Nearby the tip of the rocket crashed into a suburb, setting off more explosions and fire. By the time firefighters had been mobilised, the fire had already swept through acres of land and engulfed dozens of homes.
Later the same day, amid rising casualty figures the French Parliament convened in Paris. By midnight the Gendarmerie Nationale were empowered with the authority to conduct national emergency management and relief. Funding were to said to have came from budgets cuts to the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales Facilities.
"Served them well, money wasting nerds," Alain murmured on his way back to Paris, still in a state of semi-shock.
OOC: I got a Disaster Relief Agency!
Was planning to buy a Space Program until I realised how expensive those new wonders are...
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