The The Space Program Supervisor was exited. The third shuttle was only minutes away from its first takeoff. The two first shuttles had functioned perfectly and he was waiting same kind of functioning from this one.

"3...2...1...0 takeoff" echoed in the Mission Control. The monitors showed the shuttle as it headed to the sky without problem. However only second after the takeoff something seemed to hit the shuttles motors. The motors exploded and the shuttle came down in a gently sloping arch. Then it crashed to the mountain side near the eastern border.

The supervisor watched in disbelief when all this happened. After the crash he snapped out of the trance and hurried everyone in the hall to find out what had happened and why.

The answer came quikly. An AA missile had been shot at the shuttle just after the takeoff. The soldiers that were in the base left some guards and started searching around the area that the missiles were fired. They found abandoned Anti-Ikaros LSW which was standard equipment of the regular Byzantine army. Nothing more. No signs of the crew of the vehicle.

(OOC: This plot will continue in the Knives in the Night thread)