"Everyone, take your positions. One minute until launch countdown!" Zou Yunshui's voice came over the broadcast.
A heavy pressure hung over the hall, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Xie Yuanxun's scalp prickled as he kept taking deep breaths.
The white-robed engineers bustled about, making the final launch confirmations.
That brief one minute dragged on like an hour. Aside from the occasional simple command, the hall was so silent it was hard to breathe.
"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"
"Launch!"
The big screen showed an upward view from the bottom of the Electromagnetic Launch Well. The pristine experimental rocket accelerated violently from five hundred meters underground and shot upward with a roar!
Xie Yuanxun rose excitedly. It looked much faster than the previous attempts!
In the blink of an eye, the rocket reached a height of two hundred meters underground. Then something suddenly changed. Its acceleration slowed, and its lag was visible to the naked eye!
Xie Yuanxun's expression changed drastically. In the next instant, the rocket shot out of the Launch Well and streaked toward the blue sky.
He whipped around to look out the window. A white rocket launched from the distant mountaintop, ignited after rising, and sent a fierce rumble rolling over. Dragging a long trail of smoke, it soared into the clouds.
"Speed is forty percent below the expected value. Test-firing failed! The Rocket Engine has been shut down. The projected impact point is the A2 crash site!" Zou Yunshui announced over the broadcast, her eyes dim.
The hall erupted in an uproar. Sighs rose from all around, and the atmosphere became unbearably oppressive.
Xie Yuanxun slumped back into his seat, feeling utterly helpless. If the Rocket Engine had malfunctioned, he could still have contributed something. But this was a failure in the Electric Propulsion stage.