"Alex Tarryn. Yeah, I knew him. Not particularly well, I only met him once, but I was the last person to see him alive."

Lieutenant Jan Marshall always found it amazing that the quarters of Commander Seryx, the Chief Flight Officer of the carrier, Essence, were no different to his own. He always wondered if all the ship's senior officers shared similar accomodation or if it was a deliberate slight against the man in overall command of the ship's fighters.
"Lieutenant Marshall, reporting as ordered, sir." Jan saluted, standing at full attention as the Commander looked up from a report on his desk.
"At ease, Lieutenant." saluting lazily, Seryx stood and walked towards a pair of chairs, motioning Jan towards one as he sat in another.

"One thing I always liked about the Commander. He never bothered to play to your ego. You always knew what he thought of you and your abilities as a pilot. For instance, the Commander and I were never friends, we could barely stand being in the same room, but I knew he respected me as a pilot and he knew he could rely on me."

"I just want to be clear, lieutenant, I am not offering this to you as a personal favour." Commander Seryx offered a briefing folder to Jan, who took it and began to read. "Whoever undertakes this mission will potentially become quite famous. Even if you decide to continue as a pilot, once your term of service is over, you would almost be guaranteed any posting in the fleet." Jan looked up from the briefing folder, unsure of the Commander's meaning.
"You see, the mission itself is extremely dangerous, so my first priority is giving it to a pilot I'm confident can make it back. You're it." Lieutenant Marshall nodded, choosing to take the back handed compliment at face value.
"Sir, let me make sure I have this right. You want me to stay behind, while everyone is evacuated, with a shuttle and a photographer. The purpose of this is to take a photograph of the approaching asteroid as late as possible, possibly even as it's breaching the atmosphere." Jan scanned the folder again. "Is that about right, sir?"
"That's right, Lieutenant. The mission is entirely voluntary, but I will require an answer within twenty-four hours. Unless you have any more questions, you are dismissed."
As the hatch closed on his quarters, Commander Seryx settled back into the chair and smiled. Despite all his objections, Lieutenant Marshall had still taken the folder.

"The mission seemed idiotic. I mean, why a photographer? A scientist, I could've understood, but a camera boy? It just didn't make any sense to me. I was going to refuse, simply out of principle!"

The swords clashed twice and the two figures broke apart, blades extended and circling cautiously. Flight Officer Samuel Johns lunged again, testing his flight leader's defences. Lieutenant Marshall parried deftly, turning the lunge aside and swinging for his opponent's sword arm. Sam dropped and turned, avoiding the strike and making an attack against Jan's ankles, but the more experienced officer was already several steps away, well out of range.
"So, Jan, what's the problem with the mission?" Sam asked, flexing his joints as he warmed up, relishing the heat and adrenaline of the practice duel.
"It's foolish."
"Well, yes, but you have to admit that a photo of the asteroid breaking the atmosphere would be impressive." Johns lunged again, feinting left before reversing expertly and attacking right. Jan deflected his friend again, seeing through his ruse easily.
"I can agree with that, but I don't see the point in risking two men's lives and a multi-million pound spacecraft so they can get a pretty picture."
"Well, look at it from a public relations point of view. You know why the Essence is staying on here after the armada leaves, right?"
"Yes, Sam, I was at that briefing too. The Governor's wedding is to be one final state function to send off the planet. Let Earth's final day be one of hope and life, that's why they're broadcasting it to the colonies."
"Right. Have you seen much recent photography? Particularly the artists on Earth? They're concentrating on the evacuation."
"I have seen a bit of it. It's very dark, haunting even. I found the shot of Trafalgar Square particularly moving."
"True, that was a good one. The point is that it's all about contrast. Cinema and mass media have all been concentrating on the hope and rebirth of our culture, but visual arts like photography and paintings have been concentrating on the evacuation and the death of Earth. Imagine a shot of the asteroid falling as the crowning glory of this period."
"But who's to guarantee it'll work? I mean, we may as well leave a camera to record it and transmit to orbit. Less risk."
"There's too many variables in photography. Anyway, from what I hear, they don't even know when or where it'll fall." Lunging suddenly, Sam caught his leader off guard and pushed him several desperate steps back before Jan gathered his composure and parried, launching a ferocious counter attack. They reached the centre of the duelling ring again and broke off, panting heavily.
"One thing I don't get is that I can see why this Alex kid volunteered. He's young, looking to make a name for himself, desperate for his chance. But I'm not. Why should I put my ass on the line for this?"
"You'e not desperate for a chance now, no, but imagine in a few years when you apply for a promotion or transfer. If you turn this down, it'll go down on your record and will speak particularly bad for you if it fails. But, on the other hand, imagine if you do it and it works. You'll be a well known man, all over the colonies, respected as a pilot and as someone willing to put his life on the line for something glorious and noble."
The younger man left the statement hanging.

Commander Seryx awoke to a persistent knocking on his cabin door. Checking the shipboard clock, he swore quietly. Whoever had woken him at two in the morning wanted to have a damn good reason for it. Not bothering to get dressed, he opened his hatch, finding Lieutenant Marshall, dressed in duelling clothes and drenched in sweat standing outside, panting with exhaustion. As the hatch opened, Jan straightened and saluted.
"Yes, Lieutenant? What is it?" Seryx asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose sleepily.
"Sir, I'll take the mission."
"Very good. Thank you, Lieutenant." Closing the hatch again, the commander returned to his bunk.

"The scientists had come up with a whole series of mission simulations for this. I trained for three days for this mission, but even then, I knew that when it came down to it I'd be flying by the seat of my pants. Every time I asked about something; Weather patterns, gravity trends, debris and how the planet would break up, they all gave me the same answer. 'I don't know.' I was scared and excited at the same time, but mostly scared."

The shuttle dipped, fighting a losing battle against the wind currents. Jan Marshall gripped the control yoke desperately, struggling to maintain control with his sweat drenched hands. Pushing the yoke forward, he dipped the shuttle down a little further into calmer air, scanning the thermal currents above for any signs of a calm patch large enough for him to punch through the churning blackening clouds. Seeing an opportunity, Jan pushed the shuttle's throttle forward, swearing as he realised it was already as far as it would go and it would never e fast enough. Wishing he was at the controls of his fighter, Jan directed the shuttle towards the calm spot, fighting against the unbelievably strong wind currents pulling the shuttle to and fro.
There was a loud crash and lightning danced over the forward hull of the shuttle for a moment. Jan's pulse quickened, panic rising like a tide within him. The shuttle was rocked by the winds, but could survive them. However, he knew it would never take the violence of an electrical storm, especially one generated by a planet's death. Jan pulled back on the control yoke, hoping the winds would be calm enough for the shuttle's engines to push through. For a second it seemed like he would make it, the tiny craft's engines struggling against all the odds and succeeding.
The lightning struck on the aft of the ship, it's thunder crying out like an angry and vengeful god as the shuttle shook violently both from the impact and the loss of one engine. All across the status board, Jan watched as one system after another failed, green faded to red in front of his eyes as the shuttle slowly began to descend, turning to face it's inevitable destination as it nose dived to certain death. Lieutenant Marshall sighed heavily and sat back in his seat, releasing the controls, watching as the ground rushed towards him in an all too familiar sight.
The craft's viewports cut to a blank screen and the shuttle's cockpit hatch opened behind the pilot. Slipping into the co-pilot seat, Commander Seryx offered the tired pilot a bottle of water, whih he took. After a long drink of the cold liquid, Jan handed it back.
"Well, Lieutenant. Report?"
"Complete hash, sir. The shuttle's too slow. I don't have the power to punch through the cloud cover unless it calms in a big enough area and, even then, I don't have the speed to reach the area fast enough. If I'm to make it out at all, I've got to hope that an area directly above me calms to almost nothing for around five minutes. Otherwise, I've little chance."
"Well, as the scientists said, Jan, this is all theoretical. They don't know how a gigantic asteroid plowing through the atmosphere will affect the weather conditions. It could be fine, calm air and blue skies, for all we know."
"Or it could be much worse." The pilot put his hands over his face, breathing deep and calming himself. 'What's the score now?"
"Thirty seven failures, two successes. Do you want to even it off? Run it once more?"
"Yeah, may as well."

"My first impression of Alex wasn't a good one. He struck me as a brash, arrogant young idiot with one thing on his mind. Fame. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but his attitude just rubbed me the wrong way almost immediately."

"So, you're my stick jockey?" The voice asked. Jan straightened slowly, turning towards the source of the quesiton. Behind him stood a young man, barely out of school, dressed in worn hiking clothes, ccarrying a camera in it's protective case.
"Excuse me?" The boy held the hard, unfriendly gaze of the older, taller and heavier pilot for a few seconds before frowning in confusion and pulling a peice of paper out of his pocket and consulting it.
"Lieutenant Marhsall, right? You're the pilot who volunteered to stay behind with me, right?"
"Yeah. That's me. It's Alex, isn't it?" The boy smiled hugely, extending his hand.
"Yes, sir. I'm not sure about you, but I'm ready to make some history. Fame and glory or death, right?" Jan smiled and raised his eyebrows.
"Willing to die for the shot, are you?"
"Oh yeah, definately." Jan's demeanor changed instantly, he lunged forward and grabbed the boy's shirt, swinging him around and slamming him against the side of the shuttle. Leaning in, the Lieutenant's voice became a hoarse, menacing whisper.
"You listen to me, boy. My job is to get us in place for the photo, to wait until the conditions deteiorate too far and to get us both out of there, alive and intact. I'm not in this for glory, art or the better ment of mankind. I'm a fleet officer with a job to do and nothing you say or do is to place that in jeapordy, is that understood?" The boy nodded quickly, white with fear and without his previous cheeriness. Jan let him drop back to the deck and stood back.
"Get your kit onboard, we leave in twelve hours."

"The scientists gave us some ideas of where the asteroid would hit. The estimates all said it'd break atmosphere over Japan, so that's where we headed. We scouted out a mountain in the vicinity of Mount Fuji and waited for it to happen."

The reds of the sunset faded from the scattered cloud cover and darkness descended on the land like a blanket. Jan and Alex sat, huddled around a campfire near the shuttle, their breath frosting in the air before them. Lieutenant Marshall sat quietly, relishing the peace and quiet of the abandoned world. The photographer shivered and swore. Unthinking, he had not taken the weather into account and wore only his street clothes, leaving him unprotected from the bitter cold. He sat with the ship's survival blanket wrapped around him, not particularly warm, but keeping the wind off of him.
A low rumbling began to shake through the ground, causing rocks to shift and the shuttle's landing gear to rattle. The two men looked at each other, uncertain, as the sound grew to a roar. Realisation dawning, Jan stood up in a rush, looking at the sky and turning wildly. Alex watched as the pilot turned, muttering to himself, before suddenly pointing and calling out.
"There! It's beginning." Alex watched where Jan was pointing for a time, confused, before he saw it. Blue flashes, faint but distinct, were showing through the clouds.
"Already?" Alex checked his watch "It's three hours early." The wind was picking up noisily, making it hard for the men to easily communicate. Jan leaned over, pointing towards the flashes.
"It's further west than they thought, travelling south. We're gonna have to move if you want your shot." He yelled. Alex didn't really understand, but followed when the pilot motioned him back to the shuttle.

The shuttle settled uneasily on the hill, now directly in the path of the approaching asteroid. Jan stopped before opening the hatch and letting in the howling wind.
"Listen, Alex, the wind's getting too severe. Once I lift off again, we can't put back down. You understand?" The pilot held the younger man's gaze, seeing a mix of optimism and disappointment in his eyes. FInally the photographer reached into his bag and retrieved a small device, fitting it to the side of his camera.
"This is a surface to orbit transmitter," he began, speaking slowly and quietly. "Once it's too rough for us to stay, I'll set the camera up with this and leave it behind. We can capture the rest of the asteroid's approach safely from orbit." Jan nodded and opened the exterior hatch, bracing against the gust of air the rushed in.

"I remember those fifteen minutes pretty well. He stood there, camera in hand, bracing against the wind. We both just watched the thing descend. It was so big, bigger than you could ever imagine. You expected it to hit you in the face at any moment, but it just kept growing in the sky. I was amazed when it started to turn red and yellow, wreathing fire surrounding it, because that was the thing hitting the outer atmosphere. Up until then, I had thought it was just coming in to land. It's size was incredible. Eventually, however, I had to call it off. The wind was almost impossible to stand in and dangerous clouds were gathering."

The two men struggled into the shuttle's passenger hold, exhausted from the effort needed to cover the last fifteen feet from where they had set up the camera. Looking back at it as he closed the hatch, Jan saw it start to tilt, despite it's tripod being staked into solid rock.
Closing the hatch restored calm to the shuttle, an almost deafening silence after the roar of the winds. Jan rushed to the cockpit, feeling the shuttle rock in the storm winds. Leaving the cockpit hatch open, he began the brief pre-flight sequence and started the engines. As all the status lights flashed green, he pulled back on the control yoke and the shuttle left the ground, drifting suddenly to the right in the crosswind.
Fighting for control, Jan swore, bringing the ship to a hover while he adjusted the manouvering jets. A sudden cry from the rear of the craft startled the pilot.
"What?" He called out to Alex.
"The camera's fallen. It's neve going to record anything on the ground." The photographer sounded like he was a bout to cry, Jan could sympathise, but could not bring the craft in to land again.
"We've got to go, Alex, I'm sorry. The wind's too strong." The pilot turned back to the controls.
"How high up are we?"
"What?" Confused, Jan checked his altitude "Around seven meters, why?"
A sudden change in air pressure caused the shuttle to lurch dramatically to the left, resisting Jan's attempts to control the craft. The sudden roar from the rear of the craft threw the pilot into a panic, thinking an engine had exploded. He checked the status board and clamed himself, seeing that apart from the passenger hatch being open, the ship was fine.
Realisation dawned on Jan suddenly and, swinging the nose of the craft around, he hoped he was assuming wrong. There, on the ground below him, was Alex. The boy had landed badly from his fall from the shuttle, possibly thrown by the sudden lurching of the craft. His legs looked badly broken, they were bleeding badly and even from that altitude, Jan could see protruding bone. As he watched, Alex began to crawl towards the fallen camera. Looking over his shoulder, Alex saw the shuttle and stopped. He rolled, waving Jan away. He pointed to the camera then to Jan, which Jan understood meant the transmitter.
Sealing the passenger hatch again automatically, Jan saluted the young man on the ground and increased the engine power, bringing the ship's nose up towards the rapidly worsening sky.

"I've been criticised many times for leaving Alex behind, even faced a court martial for it. But I stand by what I did. Both of us made our choices. If I'd have gone back, neither of us would've made it out and the photos would have been lost forever. I suppose it's really up to people to decide for themselves."

Fire, water and dust spread slowly across the planet. Debris, possibly the size of cities, lifted from the surface and drifted into open space. The asteroid crashed into Earth with unbelieveable force. Without sound, it was almost surreal, a strange spatial ballet, culminating in utter destruction.
Sitting in the cockpit, Jan watched Earth's death through tears. All the adrenaline and fear of the last fifteen minutes poured out of him at once, along with the knowledge that he had just abandoned a man to die when he should have gone back.
Eventually, the tears stopped and the pilot gathered himself, making the peparations to rondezvous with the Essence in orbit around Mars. As he checked the shuttle's systems, he noticed the flickering light on the communications console. Jan stopped, staring at it. The camera had transmitted an image. He was almost afraid to open it, not wanting to know if the picture was worth the price they had paid for it. Taking a deep breath, he dowloaded the image and displayed it. The tears returned.
A gigantic ball of blue and white flame, wreathed in red and yellow, hung over an abandoned city. A sky full of swirling and angry clouds surrounded the object, but hept their distance, as though welcoming but afraid of it all the same. The buildings of the city stood tall and defiant against the intruder, as though man's determination and resistance to defeat had infused them while the trees and grassland around them cowered away from it, bending in fear and supplication to an angry god.

"One thing's for sure. Everyone knows who Alex Tarryn was now. He has his legacy. Was it worth it?”

“I think so."