Out with the Old

The Empire of Gaelio, Dominant nation on the world of Jasheed had finally had the technological breakthrough they had been waiting for; They had discovered Fusion Drive Technology. The Stars were about to unfold before them, access to the galaxies beyond and hopefully freedom from an unwanted deity.

Jens Mackenzee was responsible for overseeing the Ark Project, The great settler ship designed to carry the population of the Empire out into the dark. The Fusion drive was his life work, Final part of the grand puzzle to space travel and salvation of his people. His team, Liam Ozwald and Sean Chaeffer were preparing for the final inspection by the Empress and her council before the Fusion Drive would be installed, and they could begin the decolonisation of Jasheed. Jens moved out in front of the team and turned to face them, Pride shining from his eyes.

"The Ark is Complete, Thanks to all of your hard work over the decades to bring this great vision to life. You should all be proud. We have saved our world from oppression and freed our people to the great expanse of space."

Cheering erupted through the audience, Glasses were raised, and celebratory compliments exchanged. Then the Empress arrived and moved into the room, Delight on her face as her flowing dress dragged behind her. Jens moved to meet her and pleasantries were exchanged as he leads her and her maids out onto the balcony overlooking the massive starship. She marvelled over its size and sleek hull, exclaiming how proud she is to be leading her people into a better age. One of her maids stepped forward to the edge, looking the ship up and down before exclaiming a rather direct question.

"So, It has a Fusion Drive? Capable of Interstellar Travel?"

The Empress was about to snap at the disobedient handmaiden until Jens stepped in front, Proud and Happy to answer the questions he had spent his life developing.

"Yes, and Yes, This ship will carry our whole population for as long as needed to find a new world."

The girl sighed audibly and turned around to face Jens and the Empress. Her blonde hair was cascading out from under her hood as she offered a sympathetic shake of her head. She then excused herself and began walking for the exit; over her shoulder, she left her parting statement hanging.

"You have just made someone very, very happy."

Charlotte pulled on Sarah's being, bringing her doll-sized maid into her hand setting her down onto her desk into a pile of 3mm tributes she was forcing to dance for her as she idly flicked through her roster of planets. The tiny people scattered and Sarah nimbly swiped them together with her feet into a neat pile between her legs. She knew this is how the Goddess preferred to see them. Then needing no further prompting she gazed up to her Goddess and kneeled into the pile of tributes, crushing them beneath her superior form, now using her hands to keep them all below her deftly. She delivered her report.

"It's True; They have reached the Interstellar marker."

The Goddess looked down to her maid and grinned; Her day just got a whole lot more interesting. Interstellar was an arbitrary condition she came up with for the end of a planet's cycle in her domain. Being able to move through space did not protect them from her, chasing tiny starships was tiresome however, so she preferred to nip them in the bud before they left. Charlotte took her maid in hand and threw her out on the floor returning her to the more useful size of just shorter than her. It had been years since she had last allowed a planet to get this close to her deadlines; she always got bored of waiting and acted early.

"According to this, the planet is about 10,000 miles top to bottom; I think I will go in and have my fun at about 6000 miles tall, then I won't have to worry about my nails breaking on the crust."

Content with her brief analysis she stood and went to her wardrobe to change out of her 'Moons and Stars' pyjamas and into something a bit more divine, something dark and sexy. Flicking over the dresses, she couldn't find anything that spoke to her, and her excitement was building inside her, after 15 minutes of digging through her dresses the decision was made.

"This is too much for them, Pyjamas are fine, Sarah put these dresses back in chromatic order, If I find a red dress in the blues again, I will stitch you into one for the rest of eternity."

Striding from her bedroom, barefoot with bed hair and loose pyjamas, Charlotte made her way to her staircase down to the mortal worlds.

Jens looked out of the bridge of his new ship, new crew and a new era for the Empire. Loading had been taken place all night, and they were at 4% completion. Ahead of schedule as the Empress had turned out all available manpower to speed the process, Tribute was next week, and she wanted to be gone before then. As day broke, the shadows fell, His bridge went dark as the natural light vanished and the artificial lights came on to take over. Sensors, Alarms and Yelling everywhere. He called for a status update, then tried to parse the response as everyone told him different things at the same time. "The Sun is gone", "Alien Spaceship in orbit", "Alien lifeform in Orbit", "Planetary gravity has been disrupted". All serious claims but nothing coherent, Gazing out over the darkened surface of Jasheed he saw all he needed to see. A huge pale unmistakable finger descended from the stars and impacted the capital city; the impact spread chunks of the planet up into low orbit obscuring all visuals and sensor data. He turned to his bridge and began yelling orders.

"Get us the hell off this planet, Full speed to atmospheric thrust, Spin up the fusion drive, Magnetic deflectors all front to deflect that debris."

The crew went to work, and the massive ship roared into life, Surging into the atmosphere at Mach 3, previously unheard of speeds for the Empire. Their new ship was the pinnacle of technology and Jasheean Engineering. As they broke the atmosphere collision warnings lit up across the screen, a huge pale yellow cartoon moon filled there visualizer."

"Full Stop, Reverse Thrust, Angle onto the Horizon and fire the Fu…"

Charlotte was busy writing her name into the side of the planet with a fingernail when the small ship crashed into her thigh, unnoticed by her. Happy with her new signed world she began toying with her large beach ball that was twice her size but so pliable and fragile beneath her touch. Her play moved the planet out of orbit and around the same she grew tired of sucking up the oceans and scrunching her toes into the mantle of the planet, It's orbit was pushed too close the systems sun and the surface scorched into a boring, lifeless wasteland. She watched as the planet drifted away, feeling content. She ascended home and cast the maid out of her room who was still organising dresses.

"Sarah, I'm going back to bed to think over what just happened...and watch the last half-hour of their news, Do not disturb."