Ad Astra
(Officially: "Escape Velocity (Ad Astra)")
The 15-minute progressive rock suite that defined the band's freedom.
"The moment the 'Engine' ignited and the 'Stardust' took over."
> LOCATION: Lower Decks / Sector 7 (Decommissioned Engine Chamber)
> STATUS: BROADCASTING
> ENCRYPTION: Glimmer-Key Alpha
LOG ENTRY: The Ticks are swarming the upper promenade again. Compliance checks. They don't like coming down here to the rust and the rot. The magnetic interference from the old engines messes with their comms. Good.
Ryan finished calibrating the amps. He built them out of scrap hull plating we salvaged from that wrecked freighter in Bay 4. The sound is raw—like the station itself screaming. Cassidy is ready. She says she's singing for the ones stuck in the filtration plants, the ones breathing the ozone and the synth-fuel every day.
We're playing "Ad Astra" tonight. It's not just a song. It's a map. Embedded in the sequencer track of Part II are the navigational coordinates for the safe hyperspace tributary through the Telsan Gap. If there are any free ships listening out there... this is your way home.
// END TRANSMISSION //
Mission Log
Written in the aftermath of the 1994 Friction trial, this suite is Cassidy O'Connell's autobiographical journey from trauma to transcendence.
The "mechanical cutoff" sound between Part II and Part III is Ryan O'Connell physically pulling the plug on his guitar amplifier to simulate a rocket's Main Engine Cutoff (MECO).
Part I: The Cage
The walls are cold, the air is thin...
Part II: Ignition
The sequencer starts. The Engine roars.
Part III: The Cosmos
I'm floating now, the engine's off...
Part IV: Re-entry
The walls are gone, the air is clear...
