491. To Mars

This fic is over, you can read it in advance on -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

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1999,

The year when Magnus was supposed to head to space had come up. Adam had finished the construction of the first version of the AM engine. It took the work of 500 of the world's most intelligent scientists and gallons of lucky potions.

It was made to be safe, not fast. The ultimate AM engine was going to be much faster but to make that they needed more time. For now, they did what they could.

The current ship to Mars will not have a whole hadron collider on it to create infinite anti-Matter. Instead, it will have a limited supply of it. Nasa and FutureTek had come together to design it, but FutureTek was the only one responsible for making it.

It had been constructed on the Moon, as it would've taken too much fuel to get the ship into space first. The problem with Antimatter was that it explodes strongly, so it was not advisable to be used on Earth's surface.

While on the Moon, they can first put the aircraft in space on normal thrusters. Besides, the main body of the spaceship was in the orbit of the Moon, assembled right there piece by piece.

Magnus and Ragnar were going, there was no denying that. He had promised Ragnar that he would show him Mars. Besides them, there were 2 scientists from the US, a geologist and a biologist. Then there were two more people, both were wizards. In total, a team of ten was heading out, 4 of them were wizards, the rest were from the US, UK, Japan, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

There was a short press conference before everyone would head to the Moon. But in reality, they will go through portkey. Who would want to sit on a rocket from Earth and go through all that exhaustion?

"Is everyone feeling okay? Don't worry if you have to poop or pee, we've got enough space for that in the rotatory living quarters." He joked.

They were all wearing their spacesuits right now. They were designed for Mars especially. The average temperature on the red planet is minus 60 degrees Celsius and the atmospheric pressure was also not like Earth's. Though a being like Magnus or any other wizard who knows the right charms could live on the planet without any kind of spacesuit or helmet.

The Moon Colony was in pretty good condition, the giant Moon City in the crater was still in development. So far, 5,000 people living on the moon worked from the giant hub of moon capsules. It was like lego, they kept on adding more blocks and making the colony bigger.

A major construction site was built for the development of the Destiny One spaceship. The entire thing was already in Moon's orbit, going through the last checks.

Magnus, Ragnar and the remaining 8 astronauts sat in a small shuttle that would take them to Moon's orbit. There was no lack of fuel on Moon at this point, as they had two Fusion Reactors working at this stage. They were able to create fuel for propulsion in space from that energy.

"Crazy how much change I was able to bring just by forcing the world to focus on science and development rather than petty politics," Magnus muttered, looking out from the space shuttle's window at the men at work on Moon's surface.

"What are you so excited about?" He looked at his brother sitting beside him.

Ragnar giggled like a girl in love with her high school crush, "I am excited about going to Mars, I can only imagine the minerals, the raw materials I can find there. Then their application in potions, maybe I can develop something great, maybe your cancer drug that you're stuck on."

"Well, a cure to fix my condition would be best," Magnus muttered sadly. Over the years, he found it difficult not to use magic to his fullest. And that has gradually increased the dragonification of his body. His body was in constant pain as if something was trying to rip him apart. He just tried not to focus on it.

Ragnar, saddened, said, "I will try to. But you mad fool, stop using that magic of yours. You know what, when I return, I will make a device that will sting you so bad you will remember mum and not use the magic. Just think about Athena, brother, don't you want to see her grow?"

"I do, the thing is, I know I have a few more decades of life left, Rag. It's just that... this uncertainty that I can die at any time keeps me frustrated. But I do hope you can get me that device. Anyway, forget about all that, let's go to Mars." Magnus put all the worry out of his mind, the current mission mattered the most.

It was a long process to leave. Hundreds of safety checks, millions of things to be kept in mind. The cockpit was now like a luxurious cabin of a holiday bus. Comfortable leather seats and such were in abundance. There was enough food to last them 2 years.

Magnus and Ragnar were not going to be in charge of manoeuvring it, rather it was another wizard from FutureTek Space who was trained in doing so for years.

From the communicator, Bobby's voice came, "You guys ready to make this 3-month journey? I hope you all don't end up eating each other to death like in those space horror movies."

A round of laughs resounded in the cabin. Magnus replied, "Don't worry, I will try my best to make you feel jealous of not being among us,"

"I already do," Bobby muttered. But chirped, "Anyway, you will be connected to the broadcasting station in a minute, address the planet Earth before you head out,"

"Got it," Magnus waited a minute. Soon, the light turned green on the communicator machine. He spoke without much preparation, "Good day or good night, the Planet looks the same to me, it's very bright. This view is the only thing I would say is more beautiful than my most beautiful wife. On another note, I'm happy I won't be returning home for months, hopefully, she won't be angry by then.

"I am 39, will be celebrating my 40th birthday on Mars. But I am more interested and excited about welcoming the new century on Mars. Let it be known, that the 21st century will be the century of space and peace. May God bless us all, take care and wait for our arrival to Mars." He pressed the switch to end the transmission.

He stared out of the screen in the front, Earth was visible, shining like a beacon of life, ~I hope I can see Athena grow into a fine woman and then bring her up here. Show this view to her. What my whole life's work has been about. I hope I'm not a shitty son, brother or father.~

Ragnar noticed his eyes, "What's the teary eyes about?"

"Nothing, I'd say you're a heartless bastard if you don't get teary-eyed from this view." He said.

Ragnar chuckled, "All right, I'm a heartless bastard then. But let me tell you, I am ready to die and destroy the world for my family, and yes, that includes you,"

"I would you have kissed your cheeks if you were not wearing the helmet and had a decent looking face," Magnus tapped on Ragnar's head.

Ragnar scoffed, "Bitch, what do you mean by a decent face? Look at my beard, my jaw, my dick, it's all top-notch. Every woman I've been with keeps calling me to just sleep with me. You can not even fathom my biggus duckus powers,"

"Bwahaha... you should do stand up comedy, you'll make millions." Magnus laughed heartily. Ragnar was always the best when it came to boosting morals and mood. If there was anybody depressed, just lock them with Ragnar.

This was a change that appeared in Ragnar ever since he exacted his revenge on Rodolphus and Voldemort. He became much more free-minded and cheerful, all he cared about was himself and his family, rest can go to hell.

"One minute until the first ignition," the pilot notified them.

Everyone strapped themselves into their seats tightly. The first jump of the journey is always bumpy due to the rapid acceleration. Once they were at the maximum speed, however, they won't feel anything, as there is negligible friction in space. For breaks, there was a way to reverse thrust the engine.

"10"

"9"

.

.

.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"IGNITION!" All it took was one press of the button to let the antimatter engine make its first blast.

*WOOSH*

Inside the cabin, Magnus and the rest felt their bodies get thrust into the leather chairs. But they were made so comfortable that they didn't even feel any pain.

It took them only 5 seconds to reach maximum speed. Pilots and other engineers quickly completed the post-flight checks. Soon, they reported to Magnus as he was the mission commander, "Sir, the integrity of the ship is retained, no damage to be reported."

"Great, let's go to the gravity quarters and get some rest. We will take turns in the pilot cabin in pairs." He commanded.

It was going to be a long journey of 3 months before they reach Mars. This was a lot of time to be doing nothing, hence there were all kinds of recreational facilities in the ship, from a gaming station to a gym.

[You can see Mars Spacesuit and the Destiny One on Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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Special thanks to *DougErNuts* *Oluwatimileyin Olayemi* *BirdRant* *Franklin Walley* *Brennan Tubbs*