400,000 FEET ABOVE EQUIS

All was peaceful in the silence of space. The planet of Equis turned on its axis as it had done for millions of years. Clouds moved along their way in the atmosphere gracing the beautiful blue and brown marble. Everything seemed calm and at peace.

In orbit around this beautiful ball was one of the great engineering feats of the modern age. Shooting out bursts of gas from its thrusters, the USE Endeavor slowed down and turned around preparing itself for its next maneuver. Using the thruster on the upper nose of the shuttle fired and put it into a control flip so that her belly was facing the planet.

In side the cockpit, in the co-pilot seat was a young astronaut at the controls piloting the ship and getting her ready to return home. She had light blue skin, golden amber eye and her two toned orange hair was hidden by her cap and helmet. Major Lightning dust pulled and pushed the shuttle control stick till she was sure they were were they needed to be.

She and one of her crew mates were going through a few final checks while they waited for the commander.

“Hey Crank I’m coming a little hot, give me some drag will ya?” The commander’s voice called from from further back in the shuttle.

“Copy that.” Crank said and stuck his arm out and felt the commander grab hold and slow himself down before gliding into the pilots seat. The commander had white skin, deep blue eyes and a few strands of his three toned blue hair were poking out from under his cap in his helmet. Getting his buckles locked and tightened he listened to Lightning give him an update.

“We are in attitude and ready for an entry interface.” She informed him as he got himself situated.

“Nice work major.” He complimented. Getting the last strap in place he took hold of the control stick and started doing his own checks.

“I have the controls now for E.I.” He noticed out of the corner of his eye Lightning pouted slightly making him hide his smirk.

“I can take us in.” She said, the words ’may I please do it’ were what she left out though but he still ‘heard’ them.

“You could, but you won’t.” He said with a slight chuckle.

“I’m ready for this Shining.” She stated proudly getting a long suffering look from her commander.

“Oh, no you’re not Dust. You’re trained, and you’re certified-- Doesn’t make you the commander and the commander lands the bird.” He heard a quiet grumble from his co pilot and decided to trey and cheer her up a bit.

“Hey, you got to be the youngest person in space you should say thank you and be happy.” He said with a smile. Lightning didn’t want to but a small smile of gratitude forced its way onto her face.

“Now…” Shining armor flipped a switch and waited for flight to give the green light. He didn’t have to wait long. As the voice of command crackled to life over the radio.

Down on the surface of Equis in the N.A.S.A. command center in Hoofston Texas people were manning their stations and computers making sure everything was ready for the crew to come home

“Endeavor, Hoofston, at this time we show you go for re-entry.” One of the techs spoke into his microphone. Behind him stood the flight director, making sure everything was on the up and up. She had lightly tanned skin, bright blue eyes and black and white striped hair. She had a cane in her hand due to her injured leg. Zecora listened in and was checking the readings on a monitor as Lightnings voice came over the speakers.

“Hoofston, Endeavor descending through four hundred thousand feet coming upon entry interface.” She announced making Zecora smile in amusement. She tapped a button on her head set so she could speak to the crew.

“Endeavor, this is flight. Weren’t able to annoy the commander into letting you bring her in this time?” She asked, amusement clear in her voice. She heard a chuckle from Lightning.

“That’s a negative stick. I’ll have to be more annoying next time.” She joked.

“Is that even possible?” Shining asked without missing a beat and getting a bark of laughter from their third crew member. Back in Hoofston Zecora smirked at the commanders jab while the tech spoke.

“Endeavor , we see you in good entry config.” The tech said

“Roger, Hoofston.” Lightning acknowledged. The shuttle brought it’s nose up slightly as they started to reenter Equis’s atmosphere. The belly of the shuttle started to glow with the heat and flares of plasma trailed behind them like a fiery tail.

“Yep, I’m seeing those plasma trails now.” Shining Armor confirmed.

“We’re mach twenty four and a half.” lightning informed getting a nod from Shining.

“So, a minute to air.” He calculated. He heard a huff from Lightning.

“I don’t even believe in belts.” She said. Shining eyebrow rose but he kept his eyes forward. Making sure the shuttle didn’t flip to far back and bounce of the atmosphere or go to far forward and burn up. She sighed slightly, reentry was always been the worst part in her mind.

“Just get me through the planet’s atmosphere in this spaceship.” She mumbled. In Hoofston that was the last thing they heard as the coms went out, the video went static and the ship vanished from the screen showing its re entry course.

“Com drop out.” A tech called out getting Zecora’s attention. Loosing coms during reentry wasn’t unheard of but it was still a cause for concern till they were restored. She felt a small knot of worry start to form in her gut as she and her staff anxiously waited for com reconnect.

The shuttle quickly made it through the planet’s atmosphere, much to Lightning’s relief. She knew her commander and crew mate would tease her a bit but she could grin and bare it. She and her crew made idle conversation as they descended.

As the shuttle came lower into Equis’s atmosphere the signal to the shuttle was restored as well as video and coms.

“Com restored.” the tech called out. Zecora sighed in relief as she listened to the crews idle chatter. Her relief turned to fear as an alarm went off and her eyes snapped to the big screen. Her blood ran cold as she read the notice on it.

Re-ENTRY DEVIATION ALERT - SHUTTLE RE-ENTRY FLAWED. OFF COURSE BY 129.0276 MILES.

“What they hell happened?” as her techs voices grew louder with the development.

“Quiet!” she called out and getting them all to settle down. They were no good to Endeavor if they let panic control them. Up in the shuttle they too were finding out something was wrong too. As they pass through the cloud cover and saw land Shining’s eyes narrowed in confusion and worry.

“We are out of position here.” He said calmly but his mind was racing to figure out the problem.

“Guidance shows us on energy and on course” Clank said from behind Lightning, Shining just snorted.

“Well, I’ve made this approach two hundred and thirteen time in the simulator. We’re not where we should be.” he said. His hand gripped the control stick a little harder.

“Where the hell are we?” Lightning asked, confused and worried. Down bellow Zecora was sharing those same feelings.

“Endeavor, Guidance is bad. You are now one-two-niner off course.”

“Roger Hoofston, we sort of noticed.” Lightning relied looking out her window and her eyes widen.

“Is that?”

“Los Angeles. That is confirmed.” Zecora’s voice said over the radio driving the last nail into the coffin for Shinings fears.

“We are one five thousand feet. We got maybe two minutes of glide time left.” He said.

“This doesn’t make sense. The guidance, the beacons are all wrong?” Clank asked shining, trying to make sense of what was going on and keep his mind off of fear. Lightning didn’t help in that though.

“We are heading straight for downtown.” She said grabbing her personal folder with some measuring equipment and a map inside. Her eyes darted over the map trying to find a place to land and doing the calculations as fast as she could. Down on the ground Zecora was push her people to work as fast as they could.

“They’re going to hit downtown L.A. at three hundred knots.” She mumbled to herself as she worked with her people for a solution. As they crew flew through the air Shining was racking his brain to find a solution.

“Shining, you know L.A.? Because I have an idea.” Lightning said but Shining was to focused on the problem to hear her.

“Hoofston those buildings are getting mighty big. Can you clear a freeway?” He asked hoping to God that they could. Zecora looked at the tech making the call and grimaced as she heard him get put on hold.

“Come on. Come on.” Shining growled as he was forced to wait for an answer. The tech gave Zecora a no head shake and she wanted to strangle the person on the other end of the phone but she forced her anger down and kept calm.

“It’s rush hour, commander and it’s bumper to bumper.” She replied and hated having to say it. Lightning was doing equations on her map and smiled triumphantly as she figure it out.

“Sir, I have an alternate. If you turn to heading one-seven-five…” But Shining interrupted her.

“It’s Hoofston's call. Hoofston?” he asked, even though he was annoyed that he had to ignore lightning. Zecora watched with a grimace as her tech typed furiously on their keyboards trying to find somewhere the shuttle could land. Cursing in her head she answered.

“Computers are still plotting.” The techs and computers seemed so slow. Shining grit his teeth at her answer.

“Come on.” He said again as his eyes were locked onto the outside as he did his best to try and find somewhere for them to land. As the shuttle got closer and closer, people on the ground started to notice. An opening day game for the L.A. Dodgers was going on and as soon as the batter hit the ball a loud boom sounded drawing all eyes skyward as the shuttle flew by over head.

Shining was near certain he could read the names of the players as he passed by they were so low..

“Hoofston, we are running out of time here.” He said, praying for a miracle.

“Sir I have an alternate.” Lightning said firmly, like she was answering his plea.

“Alright Dust, what do ya got?” He asked. Lightning nodded and got on the coms.

“Hoofston, I have coordinates for an alternate landing site. Can you confirm?” She asked. In Hoofston Zecora pounced on the chance with zeal.

“Endeavor, give them to me.” Zecora said.

“I show possible touchdown at 33.55 North, 118.10 West.” Lightning said and the tech put it into the computer and to Zecora’s delight it highlighted a long straight stretch in the city.

“Well?” she asked, the tech thought about ti for a second then nodded.

“It’s theoretically possible.” He admitted but he didn’t sound sure. Zecora didn’t care and took the chance.

“Endeavor, That is confirmed. Turn right, heading one-seven-five. Expect visual contact with Los Angeles river in five seconds.” Shining got a bad feeling in his gut but he pushed through it. Leaning the control stick he turned the shuttle to the new heading. His eyes widened slightly as the river came into sight. The odds of a safe landing seemed to dropped even lower.

“No, that will not work, Hoofston. We‘ve got bridges every few hundred yards.” he said. But there was little he could do now, they were locked into that course.

“Our wingspan alone is going to fold us up.” He explained while Crank sounded off their altitude and speed.The voice of Lightning Dust pierced his fear.

“I’ve figure the “L” over “D” max. We can make it if you can bring us straight in.” She said. Shining just went with it as it was the only chance they had.

“We’re coming high and hot.” Crank announced as he tightened his harness. As the river bed loomed closer Shining forced himself to calm down. His crew needed their commander level headed, calm and steeled and he wasn’t going to let them down.

“Two-ninety feet - Three twenty… two- seventy feet - three-oh-five.” Lightning called out loudly.

“Arm the gear.” Shining ordered and Crank flipped open a cover and pushed the arm button.

“Gear armed.” he said and a second later shining ordered him to lower the landing gear.

“Gear in transitions.” They all heard the hydraulic whirl as the landing gear lowered.

“Two-forty feet - two-ninety.”

“Hang on this isn’t going to be subtle.” Shining grunted as he fought with the controls and brought the shuttle into line with the river below them. Angling the nose of the shuttle down till the right moment he steered them onward.

“Two-ten feet - two-sixty-five.” pulling hard back on the stick and bringing the nose up for the landing, Shining prayed they’d make it. Below the shuttle on the bridges people scrambled to get out of their cares and off the sidewalks and to safety.

It seemed like time slowed to a crawl for the crew of the Endeavor as they waited to see if they’d land in the river bed. They didn’t know if they would till the heavy jolt of the rear gear hitting the concrete jerked them around a bit and back to reality.

“De-rotate.” Lightning said.

“Inward.” Shining responded and like a well oiled machine they both worked to keep them from crashing. The nose of the shuttle came down with a slam as they slowed enough. Shining kept his breathing calm as his eyes looked forward with laser forward.

“Two-thirty… two-ten.” Lightning kept track of their speed. To shining's annoyance they weren’t slowing down fast enough.

“Speed breaks!” He called out and Lightning yanked back the lever next to her seat making two flaps on the tail extend giving them more air resistance.

“One hundred percent.” She stated. Shining still wasn’t happy.

“Oh, we’re way to fast.” He tried to grumble to himself but Crank heard him.

“Deploy the shoot.” he advised but Shining didn’t agree.

“No. We’d snag the bridge. We’ll tear the tail off.” he explained through gritted teeth. Ahead of the he saw one of the bridges had a support post in the middle of the bridge. His eyes narrow in concentration.

“Banking right.” He said and pulled hard on the controls to turn and avoid the pillar. A loud screeching noise is heard by them and Lightning looked out her window and sees the right wings scrapping a furrow into the concrete wall of the river. Pieces of the wing flew off from too much friction and abuse.

Shining focused ahead and ignored the breaking wingtip as he steered them back to the center of the river. He saw the next bridge and his eyes steeled with determination.

“Commander, that next bridge!” Lightning exclaimed as he hadn’t done anything yet.

“Watch it! We’re way to high for that one!” She gripped the arm rests of her seat with white knuckles.

“Suck op the gear!”

“Not yet. We lose all steering.” Shin answered calmly his eyes sharp and his breathing even. Lightning was in awe at how calm he was even with all this chaos around them but that did little to assuage her fears.

“We hit, it’s over!” She exclaimed. Shining didn’t acknowledge her as he focused forward and counted down in his head. He had to time it just right.
“And…” He said, the time almost right.

“Gear up now!” He ordered. Crank flicked the switches and the landing gear quickly folded back into the ship which crashed into the ground skidding on it belly along the river bed, The jolt was so hard Shining was sure he got whiplash from how much he was jerked around in his seat. Sparks flew from a few of the consoles a the circuits fried and short circuited.

Further down the river a group of construction workers were repairing the last bridge and one of them heard the loud bang the shuttle made when the gear was lifted. He yelled for his fellow workers to run as he pointed and clamber down from the scaffolding in fear and they were quick to join him.

“Lock your harnesses, this is out of my hands.” Shining said as he gripped his seat and Lightning and Crank following his orders. They passed under the bridge but the tip of the tail was pulverized by the hitting the bridge as well as the win tips. After passing the shuttle went into a flat spin.

The construction works were all fleeing as fast as they could go… all save one. He had on a heavy pair of earmuffs and was using a grinder on a piece of steel, so he didn’t hear his friends panicked shouts of warning nor did he see the shuttle still spinning its way toward him.

Lightning clamped her eyes shut as the Shuttle slowed down with the ceramic plates on the belly grinding and screeching loudly against the concrete as they slid closer to the last bridge. Shining feared they were still going to fast and would plow right through.

The grinding got more pronounced as they shuttle slowed down, grinding and crunching closer and close to the man still working on the scaffolding. Slowly the shuttle slid right up to the scaffolding, casting its massive shadow down on the guy as it ground to a halt.

Seeing the shadow the man jumped up in alarm, dropped his grinder, whirled around and stared at the stopped space shuttle. In side it was near dead silent. All that was heard was the heavy breathing and and relieved sighs of the crew. Lightning slowly opened her eyes, blinking them to make sure she was really seeing that they were safe and sound. Shining pulled his helmet off and dragged a hand over his face as he finally allowed himself to relax.

Far behind the shuttle L.A. police and emergency vehicles sped along the river bed, their sirens blaring as they neared ready to help the astronauts in a n way they could. They had had one hell of a trip home.

Author's Note

Here is Chapter three. Hope you all enjoy. and don't forget to let me know what you think in the comment section.