Quote Originally Posted by Willie the Duck View Post
Specifically, it is reaction mass.
I thought that superfluous to note, since it's part of the second panels' text.

I'm not sure exactly where these fuel pods come from, or how they are moving at a convenient-to-grab speed and trajectory (I forget, has this all been explained?), but it makes sense for such a setup to exist. It isn't unlike modern commerce, where a semi truck picks up a trailer of goods and fuels up, then fuels up in places along the way. Obviously it makes you reliant upon said infrastructure, but it makes all the sense in the world: why bother accelerating you, your cargo and all your fuel/reaction mass if you can pick up more along the way?
It wasn't, but she did say it was 'launched' several weeks ago. So they had already placed it in orbit in anticipation for the mission (if not the specific ship).

As for the speed and trajectory - trajectory is easy enough to calculate (we do it all the time to get cargo ships to the ISS), and reference the laser for speed.