Episode 31
Not a Fun Job
Refueller guy showed Green Guy and Purplespacegirl the new transfer nozzles Rocket Tech had installed for him. They were a lot better than the old ones, but that they would only work with amazium and fantastium. He was going to need a new system altogether for pandemonium. Green Guy told him that they put a new refuelling unit on their list , but he didn't know if they will get a new one
Purplespacegirl decided running away was actually not the best idea and went back to talk to the Flight Coordinator. He showed her the details on his portable data device. She agreed that it was the best way to do things and signed off on it.
The satellite tracking crew compared notes, trying to find out what could explain that strange energy signature that their rescue sat picked up out near Neptune. The satellite seemed to be functioning normally, but it was a really odd reading, like a flash of lightning in space.
Their dish was too small to look that far out into space with enough clarity, so they decided they would ask Green Guy if he could get one of the other stations to lend them a more powerful dish.
Purplespacegirl and the Space Dart pilot met Jenny so she could model her new blue space suit for them. Jenny was very pleased to look like the other members of 929, and the Space Dart pilot was also happy to see other blue Legonauts on the base.
When Green Guy got back from the Supply Base, he was really worried. The moon base had all kinds of problems that had to be solved, but he had no idea how they were going to pay for all the things they needed.
Purplespacegirl then told him how she had approved the flight and duty schedules for the pilots.
"How are we going to afford that? With every flight of every ship being escorted, this is going to consume a huge amount of fuel and flight hours and we don’t have enough techs to keep up as it is."
"We can’t afford not to. Escorts aren’t just to protect from ‘what ifs.’ They are to cover real contingencies, like if a ship crashes. These spaceships aren’t perfect. Sometimes they come apart, and at the worst possible time. Escort ships can make a rescue."
"Ok, that’s true, but it still doesn’t explain how we pay for these extra flights, nor how we cover off the additional maintenance.
"We can do the maintenance with the two additional techs Dr Oz said he was going to send us. It will be difficult until they arrive, but we’ll make do until then. To save money, we won’t do any more research missions and use the smaller transports instead of the bigger ships.
"What about 497 then?"
"We will just have to fly it less, is all."
"But it looks really cool with the fancy lights!"
"Sorry, Green Guy, but that’s just the way it is."
"But the lights in the back even blink and stuff..."
"You need to rethink your priorities, my dear."
"I thought this job was going to be a lot more fun when I started...."
"Meanwhile, 894 and 889 finally made it back to the moon base. They told Purplespacegirl and Green Guy that they had detected those strange signals again."
"We should probably send this in a special report right away. That guy in the time lord get up, what’s his name?"
"Dr Oz?"
"Yeah, that guy. He was really concerned about the signals, so we will let him know right away."
So Green Guy and Purplespacegirl went to write up their report in the Command Base for them to transmit back to Åstvej Station.
To Be Continued...
Episode 32
Aliens
Green Guy and Purplespacegirl went to the Command Base to send a special message to Åstvej Station, along with the recordings of the strange signals 894 and 889 had detected.
When they arrived, the white suit guy told them he was just about to go looking for them. The Supply Base had a super important message for them.
Two vehicles from the mining group were out in the Glooskap crater when something flashed over them, moving very fast. They were very frightened and they think it was an alien!!!
Both Green Guy and Purplespacegirl thought this was very serious, and added that to their report to Åstvej Station. Then they made a plan for protecting the moon base from the aliens.
They decided that they should launch the scout ships to head over to the mining operation to see if they could find this alien spacecraft.
Purplespacegirl asked Flight Coordinator to put the fighters and the 920 crew on high alert, ready to launch at the first sign of trouble.
Green Guy then asked Jenny to have the 929 crew in orbit to be the lookout for anything out of the ordinary when she took the shuttle back up to the spaceship. He also asked the Space Dart pilot to stay in a low patrol over the moon base and turn on his spinny thing, as that would create the energy field that would protect the moon base from any long range attack by Fazoo weapons.
That was assuming of course that the aliens even used Fazoo cannons, but he had no reason to assume they didn’t.
The whole moon base was a buzz of activity.
Suddenly, the Command Base came on the net to tell Green Guy and Purplespacegirl there was an urgent live message for them from Åstvej Station.
Who is it?
I dunno, but he’s in some kind of cheesy Time Lord costume.
We’ll be right there!
You don’t have much time. Jupiter is going to pass in between us in only a couple minutes, blocking the signal.
Dr Oz, we’re here!
*radio static* Who are you?
"I’m Green Guy...uhh...I work here."
*more radio static* "Who??? Wait, is that Purplespacegirl behind you?"
"Yes, I’m here!"
*increasing static* "Oh, Purplespacegirl, thank God you’re here. This is a very serious situation. I have received your report. Listen very carefully. Do whatever you feel you need to do. I will send you whatever resources you need. I am sending Space Sue a special emergency account number. Charge any and all expenses to that."
"Really?"
*static getting worse* "Yes, really. Spend whatever you need to spend. This could get serious. Send some cargo ships here to me at Åstvej Station as quickly as you can. I will load them with the raw materials you will need for any infrastructure."
"Oh, excellent! We’ll make that happen right away!"
"Lastly, I want to speak with you about some parking enforcement on the Moon Base. You have some excellent ideas th...."
"Wait!! What happened to the signal?"
"Jupiter is blocking our transmission. It will be several days before we are in alignment with Åstvej Station again."
"Oh, isn’t that a shame! Guess we'll just have to do without parking enforcement for now."
To Be Continued....
Episode 33
920's Big Mission
Green Guy and Purplespacegirl had a meeting to decide what to do first. They thought the safety of the moon base was the most important. They really didn’t know if the aliens were friendly or not.
They decided that they would keep ships on patrol around the area, two groups of one fighter with one scout ship each. That way there was a lighter, faster ship and a bigger armoured ship in each group.
They also sent a message to 929 up in orbit, asking them to keep a sharp eye out for anything approaching the moonbase or mining section. The 929 crew were feeling pretty good about things in their spiffy new blue space suits.
Space Dart stayed on patrol over the moonbase so his spinny thingy could generate a force field against fazoo blasts.
Next, Green Guy and Purplespacegirl talked to Flight Coordinator about getting 928 and 924 ready to fly to Åstvej Station as soon as they could.
The crews of both ships were very excited about having an important mission.
They were told they were going to pick up important cargo to bring back to the moonbase, so important new infrastructure could be built. They said they were ready to go!
Escorting the ships would be a problem though. 6980 was coming back with 497 and would need some turnaround time before it could go back out again. 917 and 918 were needed to protect the moonbase, so it was decided that 920 would get the call.
This made the crew of 920 very happy, because this would be their first ever real mission.
920 was not a classic space ship in the proper sense. Some of the other legonauts actually said it looked like it was made out of spare parts. The crew was very eager to perform well on their first mission and prove to everyone that 920 was a real spaceship, just as good as the other ones.
The crew was confident 920 could do the job. It was a very fast ship and had a big upgrade recently, including a new sensor package. If there was going to be any trouble, 920 would be able to detect it from far away.
The mining section members all came together at the Supply Base. With aliens somewhere out there, no one wanted to be by themselves.
The mining section members all came together at the Supply Base. With aliens somewhere out there, no one wanted to be by themselves.
The heavy rocket team stayed behind to launch a satellite that would do surveillance over the far side of the moon. But as soon as it was launched, they would hurry off to the Supply Base to be with their friends.
At the same time, one of the light rocket teams launched a relay satellite, so Mission Control could get the signal from the heavy team’s far side orbiter. Just in case an alien showed up, the scout launcher vehicle came with them.
After that Green Guy and Purplespacegirl had to decide on what infrastructure to build first. Should they build a processing lab for the pandemonium? Should they build an addition to Mission Control? Should they increase their maintenance capacity? There was much to decide.
Meanwhile, survey guy starting taking measurements down by 928's control building. He was very happy to be useful again! Nobody knew why he was doing that, but they trusted that he had his reasons.
Finally, 497 returned from Åstvej Station. The maintainers, Flight Co-ordinator, Green Guy, Purplespacegirl, and the two crew members who stayed behind welcomed them back home, while the crew of 6980 kept a watchful eye overhead. Cosmobot was ready with coffee and bagels for everyone.
Episode 34
Satellite to Neptune
Green Guy and Purplespacegirl noticed how nice and calm the moon base was with all the spaceships away flying somewhere. They were enjoying the peace and quiet but they also knew it wouldn’t last. There would be a lot of spaceships coming and going before things fully got back to normal.
The satellite team spoke with Green Guy about launching a satellite that directly orbits Neptune itself. This satellite would be poised to directly observe the strange energy surges in the Neptunian magnetic field they have been detecting.
Green Guy wanted to make sure they had a spare rocket booster and satellite. The satellite team assured him they did, so Green Guy told them to go ahead.
Exo Guy, Drill Bot, and Survey Guy were almost done construction of the new canteen. They got some help from two members of the 497 crew.
Mission Control got word from 928 and 924. They had left Åstvej Station with escort from 920 and were headed back to the moon base. They should be back day after tomorrow. Both ships had cargo and passengers on board.
They both agreed this was exciting news.
6929 and the escort fighters headed back from the mine site to take the load of processed Amazium back to the moon base. The guys from the Supply Base waved as they went by.
Everything was slowly getting back to normal at the mining site. No one had seen any aliens for several days, and the legonauts were glad to get back to work.
427 and 6980 took off again for Åstvej. Because it was just another cargo run and not a science mission, Flight Coordinator decided they should only take half the crew. This time, the red guys would stay, and the white guys would go. They would swap around next trip, so nobody would get too tired. Flight Coordinator, Purplespacegirl, and Green Guy were there with the remaining red guys to wish them a safe flight and speedy return.
Before they left with 497, the Flight Engineer on 6980 suggested that the Science Module would be able to carry extra passengers. Flight Coordinator thought this was a great idea.
The new satellite launch was a success. If there is one thing legonauts love more than anything else, it’s launching a rocket. They will launch a rocket at the drop of a hat, and for the flimsiest of reasons, so everyone came out to see the new satellite go up.
And Purplespacegirl presented Maintenance Coordinator with a new helmet, one that fit his visor better. He was pretty happy about that, because now he felt like a real member of the maintenance team.
To Be Continued...
Episode 35
Another Flash
Green Guy and Purplespacegirl met with the Maintenance Coordinator and the Flight Coordinator to talk about setting priorities for the moonbase expansion.
They agreed that a processing lab for the pandemonium should be the first priority, followed by maintenance, and then lastly expanding Mission Control and other base infrastructure.
Purplespacegirl noticed that the Maintenance Coordinator’s visor didn’t fit very well on his helmet. She asked why and he told her that he still had an original 1979 helmet, and it wasn’t suited to a visor.
She thought, “I’ve got just the thing for that!”
The deep space satellite picked up that strange energy surge again!
The satellite team ran over to Space Sue’s office to see if they could it find on her radio telescope.
"Hey Space Sue, can we use your dish? Our deep space satellite picked up that energy anomaly again."
"Sure. I need a break anyways. So is this like radar?"
"Goodness no, radar is really slow. Radar waves can only travel at light speed. Radar would take about 3 hours to get to where we’re looking and another 3 to get back to us. It would only tell us what was out there six hours ago. We want to see what’s there right now."
"So if you’re not using radar, what are you using?"
"Sci-fi imagination stuff. We don’t follow the same rules of science and physics that actual astronauts do. But trust me, we have all the details worked out if someone ever wanted a plausible explanation for all of it."
"Fair enough! So what do you see?"
"Hmmm, nothing unfortunately. We’re looking at where the energy pulse was, but it seems to have quickly dissipated in all directions."
"It was kind of like a lightning bolt, a bright pulse of light and a huge amount of energy, then instantly gone."
The canteen is finished! They just need to get the ovens hooked up and the appliances connected to the moon base power system.
Survey Guy told everyone not to worry. He heard a new tech who specialized in infrastructure was on his way to the moon base on 928, as well as a new cook to work in the canteen itself. Everyone was pretty happy about that.
6929 took off to get another load of fantastium from the supply base, and was escorted by the Griffon fighters.
The satellite team talked about how this was the third such energy burst in Neptune’s magnetic field in the last two bricks. But their latest satellite would be in Neptunian orbit very soon now. If the energy burst happened again, their newest satellite would definitely get some great data.
The scout ships took over area patrols around the moon, in case any new alien activity was observed.
Space dart continued his patrols over the moon base itself, staying close to home.
Meanwhile, on the far side of Neptune…
End of Chapter One...