Like the hand of Ra, the Coronal Mass Ejection, a seething bubble of hot plasma and solar radiation raced towards the Earth. Captain Lehvi watched in awe from the Atlas-1, parked somewhere in Neptune's orbit. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, yet it spelt doom for everything and everyone she knew.
A deadly streak of light that would illuminate Mother Earth and bathe the planet in deadly cosmic radiation, burning the atmosphere away, and scorching the surface with its touch.
An experiment gone awry had destabilized the Sun's gravitational field and orbit. In retaliation, the star spat a wave of righteous radiance to burn the wicked humans who would temper with its integrity. Moving at 3.1 million kilometers per hour, the CME would reach Earth in just under 12 hours. More than enough time for people to say their goodbyes or descend into mass hysteria.
Orbiting the North and South Poles were Aegis 1 and 2. A pair of anti-matter-powered magnetic field generators. Solely built to reinforce Earth's weakened magnetic field and protect it from UV and a myriad of cosmic radiation. A regular whiff of solar wind or a minor solar flare, Aegis could handle. This was no solar flare. This was a class 4 CME from a raging star.
The sun had shed a part of itself and sent it hurtling towards the Earth. There was no defense against that. Not when it was arriving in half a day. All the smartest minds in the solar system could not figure out a solution fast enough.
The masses swarmed the spaceports, hoping to hitch a ride to the Mars Colony or perhaps Jupiter station. In droves ships ferrying dignitaries and the rich left atmo, racing to get out of the CME's range. Most ships were not equipped with hyperdrive technology. They were fast, just not faster than light. If they wanted to survive, they had to get out of dodge sooner than the CME could hit. Initial solar flares had already wreaked havoc on satellites making comms limited to high-powered long-distance space buoys.
Thanks to Neptune’s higher position on the orbital plane. Atlas-1 had an elevated view of the solar system and could see the CME race towards the Earth. 12 hours and everyone she knew would be gone. They could not defend against the radiance of the sun.
The United Nations Space Exploration had a military wing. The logic was quite simple, If man was to venture into deep space he better have a stick to protect himself. Thus the United Nations Space Navy was born. Captain Lehvi was a cargo shuttle pilot. She was enlisted into the Navy thanks to the 20,000 flight hours she clocked on regular trips on the Mars to Saturn route.
The biggest, baddest warship ever built, the Atlas-1 was stationed far out in Neptune's orbit. If any unwanted visitors came knocking, Atlas would greet them gracefully with its anti-proton bombs.
"That’s it! Anti-proton bombs"
Captain Lehvi had, had an epiphany. If she could unleash all of Atlas-1's payload on the CME, it was theoretically possible to negate or deflect it by altering the CME's magnetic field.
The idea was rather simple, the anti-proton detonation would generate a large number of high-energy particles that would collide with the particles in the CME, producing a shockwave that would compress the magnetic field and stop the CME in its tracks. EUREKA!
Stationed in Neptune's orbit, Atlas-1 had the task to intercept any threats falling toward the blue marble close to the sun. If a threat appeared on the far side of the Solar system, Atlas-1 had to be able to respond before said threat could reach the planet. Spooling the hyperdrive engines, Captain Lehvi fell towards the Earth.
Comms were on the fritz, Captain Lehvi could not inform the UNSX of her plan, and everyone on the planet was in a panic. She soon arrived, parking the Atlas-1 on the L4 Earth-Moon Lagrange point, 60 degrees shy of the Earth. This was the perfect spot. Not too close to the planet to have the plasma bubble from the CME spill over and touch the atmosphere. Not too far away for the plasma bubble to re-converge and hit the planet in its wake
With the CME inching closer, systems ship-wide started to short out. This was a digital ship built for maximum combat efficiency. It wasn’t designed for close encounters with concentrated cosmic radiation. The anti-proton missiles were armed but could not fire, their guidance and targeting systems were all digital. In essence, Captain Lehvi had a shipload of duds.
"Hmm, the missiles armed? The arming mechanism was analog. It could handle the radiation," she thought. Her mission wasn't a failure after all. She could detonate the anti-proton bombs manually. So much for returning home after the mission huh?
Captain Lehvi ordered the crew to abandon the ship, but then again the lifeboats were nowhere near FTL. They would just be caught in the anti-proton blast. The crew would rather die facing the storm head-on manning their stations.
If this was her last hurrah, Captain Lehvi wasn’t going to have it strapped to a seat in a cockpit. The radiation levels outside Atlas-1 were extreme. She would be dead in minutes, cooked from the inside out by wave upon wave of radiation. A few hundred seconds later, the plasma wave would arrive and burn her to dust and spread her across the cosmos.
If she was going to die, Captain Lehvi would rather meet death head-on, look it in the eye as it peeled off her spacesuit and caress her skin, feel its warmth embrace her. Close her eyes one last time as a fiery death kissed her lips. She would love it and kiss death back with the push of a button. Her anti-proton lips touch those of the CME and gently push it back from whence it came.
In that moment she would forever be KISSED BY THE SUN.
