Raw power flowed through me as fuel, coursing like blood, fed my engines. My body began to warm up as internal radiators cycled excess heat away from my red-hot exhausts. At last, I had reached full power. The towering tribute to modern engineering was prepared. I bent my knees and leaned forward, adopting the advised launch position. My vast, curved body braced -- both in trepidation at what was about to achieve, and pure excitement as to what lay ahead. I opened my intakes to their fullest -- the wonderful rush of air sucked into my turbines ticking and teasing...my nasal slits did their part; a searing sharp stream of fresh air passing through my nose and adding to the fuel-air mix within my powerful core. I even let my mouth hang open for a bit, thick lips and coiling tongue welcoming the new breeze. The corners of my mouth curled in happiness, and I was seconds away from glory. I braced myself, and then... nothing. I was not in the sky. And I definitely was not any higher than ground level. I cursed and I had to run a diagnostic on myself to find out what was wrong here.
My sensors reported an unhelpful fact to me -- my added weight had constrained my ability to generate the needed lift without help. Help was unlikely to be coming anytime soon. There would be questions coming, however. No doubt. 'Why had I not reported take-off yet?' they would ask. There had to be an easy fix for this. Nothing came to my mind, though. Seeing no other choice but to call in to base control, I just sighed out loud. "Having trouble taking off, sir. Data packet en route," I radioed, a very small smattering of disappointment in my voice. "Understood. We will advise as best we can, but if you can think of something in the meantime, proceed as you wish. Over." sighed base control. "Over..." I said. I confirmed the transmission of the diagnostic report to base. After that, I went back to the task at hand. A moment of contemplation gave me the time needed to think of a solution, even amid the loud roar of the engines. Valuable fuel was being used up, so I needed to act soon. A flash of inspiration struck. I took several steps back, leaving the designated take-off area.
In my mind a series of equations were being crunched. 'C'mon now, put that billion-dollar brain of yours to work!' I said to myself. This was a demo character. The NPC that this would become if I did not continue with it was taking over. That was a relief. I would not solve anything by myself with such a strange setting. Numbers, vectors, sensor readings streamed by -- and better yet: a plan. "Okay!" I said, speaking to nobody but myself, "Let's give this a try." I had moved a short distance back (relatively speaking). I ran my hands over my front and sides, checking structural integrity again. My body was still firm. Vibrations from my turbines were slowly coming under control, so I got ready for a running start. There was no starter pistol to mark the start of the dash, but the effect was much the same. In a split-second, the enormous mass of machinery that was my body burst forward, legs carrying me at an incredible speed for one so big. Stomping craters in their runway as I sped by, I reached my original spot at the station, and swept low, muscles tensing. And then...I jumped up high.
