Episode 1
497 arrived at the moonbase for the very first time. Green Guy and Purplespacegirl were there to welcome them to their new home.
The crew was eager to get settled in and make some new friends. They had heard a lot about the moon base and were excited to be a part of it.
The Flight Coordinator and the Maintenance Coordinator came over to welcome 497 too.
At the same time, a mysterious woman named Space Sue just suddenly appeared at the moonbase. Nobody knew who she was, or why she was there, but she stepped into the role of Business Manager for the base. Suddenly, paper started moving north-south that previously only ever went east-west, so nobody questioned it.
Soon after 497 was landed, 928 took off for a research expedition to Pluto. 917 & 918 accompanied them as far as Titan before turning back. They were excited to do a research mission to such an interesting dwarf planet. They knew they would be gone for a long time.
A satellite was launched to be a communications relay between 928 and the moonbase. Because Pluto was so far away from Rhea at that point, having the satellite to track and monitor 928’s status was important.
Meanwhile, the crew got to meet some other members of the moonbase and socialize a little.
The maintenance crews got to work right away on 497, making sure there were no faults or problems with the ship after its’ maiden voyage.
The techs were a little suspicious of 497’s design. It seemed a little too “flexy” for them. The other ships were based on a solid platform, and then built out vertically. 497 used very different engineering, being built on differing axes based on a hollow frame. They were concerned it was too fragile, and wouldn’t hold up under hard turns or acceleration. They had also never worked on Psiaki 202 engines before and were curious to see what they were all about. Some the of the crew went with techs to help.
One of the pilots from 6980 was also really curious, but was too shy to just walk right up like that.
Purplespacegirl was really impressed with the living quarters in back of the cockpit. Green Guy said hello through the airlock door.
And Cosmobot, the refreshments provider, went around to the various members of the base, dispensing tasty beverages and raising spirits. All in all, it was a big day for the moonbase!
Episode 2
894 and 889 were out at with the crews setting up the mine site. They were setting up the long range communications with the moonbase. As they were doing this, they noticed some strange signals coming from the far side of the moon they had never heard before.
The crew of 497 was ready for their first ever research mission to the Kuiper Belt. It was a chance for them to fully test all of their systems on the spacecraft and use all of their scientific instruments. They were really excited to start.
Benny and the Flight Co-ordinator checked in with Mission Control for final instructions. 929 was going to take up a position in long term orbit, directly over the moon. There just weren’t enough landing pads on the base for all the ships, and it was thought 929 could maintain orbit overhead for long periods of time. From up there, it could quickly respond to emergencies, or go somewhere in space very quickly if the need ever arose.
The techs and crew started the upgrades on 920. These upgrades were something the crew had wanted for a very long time, but the parts were never available. But now, the parts were finally here so everyone was eager to get started.
It was a lot of work.
929 took off for its’ orbital position and 6980 took off at the same time for a test flight. 929 would accompany 6980 during this flight for safety escort, before breaking off for orbit.
And right after they were clear of the moonbase, 497 took off as well.
Meanwhile, the other techs got busy on the upgrades to 920.
The new avionics suite and sensor package were now ready to be installed.
And the new fazoo cannons were also ready to be mounted. The crew lent a hand to speed things up.
Episode 3
497 is on their way to the Kuiper Belt and excited to start their mission.
The crew was very happy to be on their first science mission together.
Suddenly they notice a cockpit alarm. The system was warning of a possible structural failure.
The Crew Chief went back to check the mainframe computer. There were critical failures across multiple systems.
This was a crisis! They knew they weren’t going to make it back to the moonbase before the ship broke apart. They had to do something about it, right now.
The crew started looking at their options, and saw that they were within range of another of Saturn’s moons, Iapetus. That was their best bet. If the ship held together long enough, they just might make it.
But suddenly, things went from bad to worse. The control panel lit up! Both outboard engines failed, one right after the other. They were losing power!
Prepare for a crash landing! With the remaining system power, they sent an emergency distress call to the moonbase.
Brace for impact!!!
After the crash, first thing was a crew check. Is everyone ok?
Once it was determined everyone made it through alright, the Crew Chief held the cockpit door open while the rest of the crew scrambled out.
The crew looked around, and saw that it wasn’t good. They had a problem.
It definitely wasn’t good. They were in a real pickle.
The ship was down and had no power. Nothing to do, but wait and hope the moonbase got their emergency message. Hopefully, a rescue mission can get to them in time. The main thing is to stick together and not panic.
Meanwhile, back at the moonbase, Mission Control got a distress call from 497. They were going to crash!
Flight Coordinator, Green Guy, and Purplespacegirl were called immediately on the comms net. 497 had crashed on Iapetus and something needed to be done!
The three of them all met at Mission Control where they were briefed on what happened, what was known, and what was unknown. Then they put their heads together to make a plan for the rescue.
Flight Coordinator talked to the Maintenance Coordinator. If 497 was salvageable, some techs would need to go to the crash site to make emergency repairs.
Green Guy sent a message to Benny up in 929 to tell him what happened, and to head to 497’s last known position as quickly as possible.
To be continued...
At the same time, Purplespacegirl asked the heavy rocket team to get a satellite over Iapetus right away so the moonbase would have communications with the rescue mission.
Episode 4
The Rescue
929 heads directly for the crash site. They also heard the distress signal from 497, and immediately plotted a course to Iapetus. They went at maximum speed.
The heavy rocket team drove out immediately to a spot where they could launch a satellite to get images and information about the situation.
917 and 918 had just returned from their escort mission when they heard the news. They refuelled and got ready to go back out in case they were needed.
The Maintenance Co-ordinator got on his scooter to gather the technicians. They would need to round up equipment and supplies for the rescue mission to find 497 and get her back to the moonbase.
The techs decided to make a hasty workshop from the science lab of 6980. They started to gather things they would need.
Once the emergency supplies were loaded into 924 and 6980, they launched and headed to the crash site on Iapetus.
Meanwhile, 929 arrived over the crash site and did a low pass overhead. The crew of 497 saw that help had arrived!
929 stayed on station to guide in 924 and 6980. Once all three ships had arrived, they landed and surveyed the crash site.
Repair work begins. First step is to reassemble the hover crane so it can begin to unload the repair parts for 497.
They handed out tools from 6980's science lab and everyone get started.
929's maintenance robots were reprogrammed to help recover parts from 497. That made things a lot faster.
Once 497 was minimally spaceworthy, the squadron lifted off for the return flight to the moonbase. There, the main repairs could begin.
Episode 5
The Repair
Once 497 made it back home, it was all hands on deck to get it repaired and fully spaceworthy again.
It was given a complete overhaul, from systems analysis, to structural welds, to engine component replacement and repair.
Everybody who could be spared from other work was brought in. Everything on 497 had to be repaired and inspected.
The repairs required the outboard engines to be removed and put on a service rest. This was a big job.
Starting with the starboard engine, the techs got straight to work with disassembling it and inspecting the components. A Psiaki 202 engine is a really big and complex piece of equipment, so the techs really had to buckle down and mind their work.
Other work continued with the frame and structure of the ship. One wouldn’t normally think there would be squeaky things that needed lube in outer space, but here we are.
The cargo doors and ramp superstructure was reinforced and strengthened.
Maintenance Co-ordinator kept Green Guy and Purplespacegirl up to speed on the scope of repairs and the pace of completion.
And Cosmobot was there to offer some hot drinks and a warm welcome to the crews.
So cute! That Purplespacegirl is the epitome of cool <3
Purple girl foreva!
SUPER. What a cool idea. We cannot stop.
Good to hear there were no injuries or lasting damage! *Cosmobot for Galactic Premier!
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