401 Thinking in the Thinking Spot

Avalon Island.

{Three... two... one... liftoff.}

A massive rocket took flight from the center of the island and rose through the clear sky. The cloud cover had finally dissipated and revealed the island in all its majesty to the few remaining eyes in the sky, as there was no longer any reason to continue maintaining the obscuration.

The rocket breached the atmosphere and entered orbit, where it was immediately met by the blanket of shrapnel covering the planet. The rocket’s payload and the second stage maneuvering body had been plated in a thick layer of an alloy of hadfield steel and chromium, which was more than durable enough to shrug off the impact of the tiny pieces of shrapnel. Beneath that was a layer of shock absorbent 99% aerogel, and below that was a carbon nanotube shock mesh, ensuring that any force exerted on the rocket would cause no damage to the delicate machinery in the warhead and the rocket body’s maneuvering jets.