As the engines powered on and he felt the massive ship rise, he let out the breath from his lungs, trying not to feel so worried. True, he would have only one chance with this. If he failed, the planet would be destroyed and there would be no more humans. True, even if he did succeed, he may never get back home to see his family, but they would remember him. I can be alive in their memories. He consoled himself, trying not to feel so downhearted.

After all, he had not wanted to go on this mission.

But I, Max Artemis, am the only one qualified for this mission. He had designed the vehicle and been the head supervisor to its construction. And he had space experience, having been a retired astronaut and once lived on the space station. Max would know what to do in a serious situation. He could handle solitude and was good at problem solving in tough environments. And the project would have a completely different name if some other person had opted for the job.

That’s what really knotted his stomach. This was a volunteer mission. True, the world was hanging on the success of this one visit to space but no one was going to order someone to go. The chances of coming back are so small. And who wants to die with the knowledge that they failed in saving their family and species? Max had waited and when he saw that no one was going to rally for the position, he stepped in.

If things don’t work out according to plan no one will really know it’s my fault. The project name is Magnova, not Max or Artemis. My family and I am potentially blame free.
When the end of the world is near or possible, society falls apart and no one cares about media anymore. Hardly anyone knew he was the pilot.

Passing through the stratosphere, he guided the ship starboard, trying to come out of the atmosphere close to the intruding vessel. He had plenty of power and his ship was much more advanced than those ancient rocket ships that needed tons of fuel just to lift off. No, this ship was huge, one hundred and forty meters long. And none of that was to be ejected after he reached a certain atmosphere level. It didn’t need to be that big for one guy and it wasn’t built so he could have space. No, the lower half of the ship housed the immense power grid for the ship’s impetus array. A large, highly experimental science experiment that has the hypothesized capability to move a whole planet.

“Okay, mission control, I’m through the atmosphere.” Max relayed back to Earth.
“Are you scanning the area, Commander Artemis? We kind of want to know why Earth lost its orbit.”