Chapter 1: An Old Man, A Young Man, A Mission

"You ready Ox?" Jay had his hand extended to me with a fist, waiting for the 'You bet' and then the fist bump. I just sat looking out the giant glass window.
"It's his first time Jay, of course he'll be a little nervous." Quincy looked over at me, and gave me that reassuring look. "So Jay, you think you're going to last 1 year without any play?"
"Haha very funny," said Jay. Did those two always love to joke around or not. Quincy, married for 40 years, had 2 children, a 16-year-old boy named Jake, short for Jacob, and a 10-year-old girl named Leila. And then there was Jay, the college boy, or "just-out" of a college boy. He was your typical 23-year-old guy who hops around picking up girls at the bars. The two of them seemed so close despite the age gap. And me, i'm Ocean, they call me Ox for short. Why? In the 2nd grade, my teacher told us to draw a horse. I bet you can guess what I drew. My teacher laughed and smiled and my "poorly drawn horse". She said it was an ox, and the name stuck. I don't find it offenseive, just weird on how it came to be. I was the same age as Jay, 23.
From the far right side I could hear Quincy jokingly say, "I hope I don't have to be your father when we're up there. Jay gave him a light punch it the shoulder as if to say 'haha' again. I looked at Quincy again. He had out a picture of his two kids. I thought to myself, maybe I could start a family like Quincy. He had a passion for his job and his family. It was his 4th trip now, my 1st, as well as Jay. I took out my lone picture, my older brother Sail.
"You'll see him again, I promise you that." Quincy said, his sincere attitude always gave me reassurance. Sail and I were both raised in foster care our whole lives. I was 2, Sail 5, when the guy came in one night, and murdered our parents. He took everything that belonged to them. Their jewelry, pictures, everything. I guess Sail and I were both lucky that the man didn't know our parents had kids. We were lucky a foster family was willing to take my brother and myself in. As soon as I was able to comprehend things on my own, they told me the truth, that I was adopted. They did the same for Sail. They were surprised on how both of us never really cared to know about are real parents, even though they had no idea, proof, or any other clue on who our real parents were. I guess we both had a knack for being able to accept things. It's not that neither Sail nor myself didn't care, it's just that we are able to accept things as they are and not question them. Everything happens for a reason.
"OCEAN! OCEAN TAYLOR!" the shout came from my earpiece.
"Stay focused Ox, come on." Jay gave me a little nudge.
"OCEAN TAYLOR, ALL SYSTEMS STABALIZED?"
I quickly fastened up my suit, and prepared for the worst.
"YES SIR!" I replied back. Through my earpiece, there was a bunch of mumbling. I managed to catch an 'all systems go'. Before I knew it, it was here.
"10..." I closed my eyes, trying to stay calm, and focus on the mission at hand.......
"9..." Earth is what mattered most right now. Quincy, Jay, and myself would be heroes.......
"8..." Getting a little nervous. I felt a sickness toward my stomach, the kind you get when you get nervous........
"7..." My sister. I didn't want to leave her behind. As old as she was, I still needed to protect her, she was my sister......
"6..." I told myself, I would be back.......
"5..." I clenched my wrists. I could feel the sweat.......
"4..." No turning back now, this was it......
"3..." The sick feeling went away. I was ready. I was focused. I was determined.
"2..." It got really hot, really quickly.......
"1..." Blastoff......

Chapter 2: A King's Welcome

2 years ago...

I strolled down the aisle, happy as can be. Graduation was finally upon me. i had my degree in my back pocket and was ready to take on the world. I hope the world would be ready for me, i laughed inside.
"Ocean Taylor". I reached out to take my diploma. I didn't want to drop it, so i didn't.
Later that night.......
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr. King had started, raising his glass, "To my son Kevin, and Ox Taylor." Everyone accepted te toast. The King's knew me well. I met Kevin in one of my classes during my 2nd year at college. We became friends quickly, and before i knew it, i moved in with him and his family, who lived 15min from campus. i had to pay some sort of rent of course, but it was better than living in one of those dorms. Kevin introduced me to his dad, Ray. Ray was a professional weightlifter, but blew his back out trying out for the olympics. That is why he WAS a professional weightlifter. now he is an agent for professional athletes. He still was a strong, indimidating man, but he was a very cool person nonetheless.
The King's new my story. They knew about my past and being adopted, about my brother Sail, they welcomed me into their family full-time, as well as Sail, who I brought over one day, when our step-parents suffered instant death in a car crash with a drunk driver. They were very compassionate to us and they "adopted" us and Sail and myself couldn't be happier. Like my step parents, the Kings were also confused on why i was able to cope with a horrible death so easily. I guess it's just me.
...I drank my wine. Kevin and I were on our way, Sail doing his own science, going to some other school, despite his problems.
"Kevin, anything you'd like to say?" Mr. King looked at his son.
"I am just happy to be where I am now. I am happy I met Ox over here. Things couldn't be better now."
"And you Ox?"
I waited a couple seconds, "Thank you to Mr. King and his family for welcoming my sister and myself into their family. College is over, and I am looking forward to conquering any obstacle that the world puts in front of me."
Everyone clapped. We all continued eating... Sail, who was seated to my left, turned to me, "I'm so proud of you!"

Chapter 3: A Disaster

present time...

We've been up now 2 months. only 2 months? it seems like we've been up here forever. we should reach destination in another 3 months.....it's times like these where i like to sit back and reflect. I was already planning out what i was going to do when i got back. after the fame had subsided for a little, i would try and get a family started, like Quincy. I dont how right now, but i'll get it done.

Jay was telling me about his childhood. he was the 3rd of 5 children, the other 4 being girls. I laughed and told him, "so your sisters havn't taught you anything about treating a woman right and loving one?" he laughed and nudged me. I already knew jay would take whatever play he could get. if only his sisters taught him better.......i laughed inside

Up 4 months now. we.........
"Ox! Jay! Get over here stat!" Quincy shouted from the control room. Jay and myself ran over to Quincy, who filled us in. "It's bad. While we were sleeping, our spaceshuttle has flown out of the orbit of Earth. We no longer our being pulled in by gravity. We have lost contact with the station and the meteor is approaching quickly. Not to mention that we are completly off course away from the meteor."
"Well what are we going to do? Will we be able to do something?" Jay questioned.
"I don't know right now. Who knows how long it will take to find the meteor and destroy it. Let alone get gain contact with Earth, or find Earth."
"But we need to destroy it. We're civilization's last hope."
"And there is no way we can contact anyone to let them know our situation. We need to do this on our own. You want to be famous? Then lets do something about it!" That was Quincy's one fault. He was a selfish man. He was a nice guy and an awesome family man no doubt, but he was selfish in a way, and fame would be important to him.
"We're going to find the meteor, destroy it, and save the day" I chimed in, seeing the two of them with worried looks on their faces, "our mission is to destroy this meteor, and were going to do it at all costs, it's why were up here!" I looked at Quincy with a stern look. He nodded. I turned to Jay, who waited for a few seconds with a concerned look on his face, then nodded.

We were all trying to get contact again with earth. no luck. the power computer line broke. now there was absolutey no chance for contact....this would be bad if we couldnt do anything. Earth is riding on us.

What did i get everyone into. we had no way of finding the meteor now, let alone Earth. inside, i was concerned. All we could do now is search, and hope....the race against time was on..... "The Auron Vincible" vs. Time......

Chapter 4: A Burning Feeling

1 year ago...
My step-dad once said, "the oppurtunities are out there for you. you just got to reach up to the sky and grab it."
I guess I took his advice literally, and thats why i'm here, registering for a chance to go on a mission of great danger, but of great importance. I was able to register, even at such a young age, because i had a great knowledge of earth and it's atmosphere. the people at NASA said i had a knowldege of things unheard of before. because i didnt "show off my knowledge", i quickly gained the respect of everyone there...

...i was selected for the mission. then, i met my crew
"I'm Ocean," i said, "Ocean Taylor."
"Ocean?" What kind of name is that?" the young remarked. I could tell he was joking around.
"But you can call me Ox."
"Well nice to meet you Ox," said Quincy and we shook hands.
"I'm Jay," we shook hands as well, "I'm kind of interested Ox, how did you wind up with the name Ocean?"
"I don't know..." tilted my head down, "my parents were killed when i was young. i was in a foster home my whole life with my sister."
Quincy grabbed my shoulder, "I'm sorry to hear that Ox, we're here for ya. Aint that right Jay?"
"You can count on that one"
We ralked some more and learned more about each other. I learned that Quincy fought in the persian gulf war, and jay won his school spelling bee at age 9. We all got along easily, but we still needed to focus on our mission soon to be.

We had to go through a lot of tests and simulations. Jay almost puked when he got off the Shuttle Mission Simulator. the 3 of us had to be ready for anything.

Before we even were talked to in-depth about the main mission, we were briefed on basics, which included breaking the atmosphere.
"As smart as the 3 of you may be, you have to be prepared when going through the atmosphere." the commander said, "if you're not careful you can get severly hurt, or even worse, die"
After the presentation, the commader came up to me, "you look a little tense" he said.
"Doesn't surprise me," i replied, " i just threw-up inside"

Chapter 5: Gone

15 days before expected impact....
"Quincy! Quincy!" i ran to him and woke him up, "Quincy, I see Earth and the meteor, we may have a chance!" he popped up and we all got right to work.....
"Jay, is there anyway you can alter the engine to make us go faster?"
"I'll see what I can do." That is why Jay was here. He was the mechanic on board. Not to say he had no other buisness there, but he was the designated mechanic. Like myself, he was also very bright and handy. he knew so much at such a young age. Jay went to work on the engine......
eventually he got it to work faster and we were able to go 1.25X faster than before.....

15 hours before expected impacted....
"I don't think we can stop and blow up the meteor in time" Jay was worried.
"We do all we can, you here me Jay? We can do this!" Quincy was determined, "there will be no slacking off until we do this. i trust you guys. now lets get this done.
We prepared all we could with the explosives....

5 hours before expected impact....
Jay was still worried, "By the time we get there, we'll be in the atmosphere, there's no chance we can get this done!"
Quincy wrote down a couple of formulas, "you're right Jay....."
...after minutes of talking and arguing and finally realizing there was nothing we can do, i stepped in, "I'll go out there. ill put the explosives on the meteor. We will save everyone"
Quincy looked astounished, "Ox?! you're crazy you'll die out there. there's got too be another way!"
"There's got too be another way? There IS no other way!"
"Let him do it Quincy" Jay was somber, "let him..."
Quincy stood there with his head down, then picked it up, "Well what are we waiting for boys? lets do this"
We made all the preparations we could before reaching the metoer.
The world was in my hands....

15 minutes before expected impact....
We reached the meteor. we opened the side door and I climbed onto it. I turned to my side, and earth was right there. i was moving in on it quickly, i had to hurry. I set charage after charge after charge, and before i knew it, time was up.
Quincy shouted over the headset, "OX! GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE! WE GOT TO BLOW THE THING!"
"I can't make it Quincy! you're going to have to detonate it with now with whatever charges I was able to set up."
I got no return through the headset, no last pleas, nothing. We had entered the atmosphere, ship, meteor, and all. i let go of the meteor. all around me i saw reds and oranges and everything, i was burning up, but why wasn't i dead yet? there's no way i can withstand the atmosphere for this long. I saw the meteor ahead of me, and saw an explosion, all the pieces that came off deteriorated very quickly, there was a small portion of the meteor left.
Before i knew it, i saw the meteor slowly fade away. piece by piece, the meteor deteriorated, or as i liked to call it, disambiguated. after that, i saw the spaceship, "The Auron Vincible". the impending explosion had almost completely destroyed it. Piece by piece, it slowly deteriorated. quincy and jay were gone. i saw all this while i was speeding down to earth at god knows how fast, feet first, and under my feet, you could see a flame, and that flame shot up along my sides. I myself was meteor. eventually nature came to me, i saw my feet burn up. it looked like little squares just flew off my body, and each one carrying a little piece of me.
My knees just broke off and disambiguated on their own.
My waist was eaten by the atmosphere....
As were my arms and torso.....
I closed my eyes as nature finished its job, "I had saved the world"

...i dreamed of Sail that night. i hope he would be ok....
that would be the last thing I ever remember.......or so I thought