June 29th, 8254

You lean back in your cabin, more then happy that your quarters are normal-sized for once instead of tiny, and stretch luxuriously. The Ahywa Sophia is performing as well as you could hope for prior to the Warp Jump tests. You aren't worried about them in the slightest, at least not from a technical standpoint. With a standard Korolev Warp Jump drive and set of Alfven Warp Jump Screens, moreover ones that have been tested and proven by another crew, the shakedown Warp Jumps are more to prove out your Navigation department then to find faults in your ships hardware the 'fun' way. Given that your Department heads and Executive Officer have things well in hand you decide to grab a tech manual and review the change that defines the Cassiopeia sub-class of clippers from the rest of their Draco sisters: the Viper Mk2A1 Plasma Drive.

You mentally review what you know about Star Empire plasma drive tech as you thumb through the technical annuals in search of the summary pages written in Star Empire Common instead of Engineer. Plasma drives, as far as you can understand them, are evolutions of the old fusion power plants. They eat hydrogen and drink electrical power to feed the electromagnetic and gravity-based containment fields. The result is effectively a micro-star fusing hydrogen into helium trapped inside a dyson swarm. The vast bulk of the resultant power is fed right back into the containment systems but enough surplus is produced to power the rest of the ship.

The start up costs from a 'cold' state are insane, hence why it occurs while fed from a Sky City's power grid over umbilical. Shipboard resources, even counting every scrap of power available in the stored power reserves, is only enough to start the plasma drive back up from a 'warm' state with the remnants of a micro-star still present in the containment fields.

As for actually propelling the ship all Star Empire plasma drives use something akin to the venerable VASIMR interplanetary drives. Fed the helium 'waste' from the main drive core as a propellant and using electromagnetic forces to further ionize and eject it out of the main thruster array they are capable of providing a surprising turn of speed. An unavoidable side effect of this are the 'back blast' zones that get washed with high energy plasma any time a ship accelerates. This plasma wake is also hard to hide from external observers and is the chief means of tracking ships across a system.

You find the summary you were looking for and start skimming it over. The Draco class clippers borrowed the 'Viper' pattern drive from the Timber Snake destroyers that they were tasked with supplying and upgraded to the second mark of the design right alongside them as well. Twenty percent larger then the matching grade of Saturn pattern 'civilian' plasma drive, largely due to military style backups and built in redundancies, they generate twelve percent less available electrical power but a massive three hundred and thirty percent more thrust. This trade off is not commercially viable for anything besides an intrasystemic sprint trader or courier, but military ships are not designed to make money.

The Cassiopeia sub-class took this military style drive and fully adapted it to the volume and mass available aboard a ship that didn't have to cram in (relatively) heavy weapon batteries or massive spinal anti-capital ship torpedo launchers. Although sixteen percent larger still, the Viper Mk2A1 drive puts out a further ten percent thrust and keeps the otherwise blocky 'cargo hauler' hull within seven percent of the maneuverability of a Timber Snake. The massive installation takes up a full thirty five percent of the total volume of the Ahywa Sophia, a ratio not commonly seen outside of warships. This makes it the single largest installed system aboard by a massive margin.

Satisfied that you have a better grasp of your ship's main power plant and drive, at least as much as you need to know as a commander and not a technical expert, you close up the manual and head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.

June 30th, 8254

You sit in the command chair on the bridge and listen to the murmurs of the bridge crew. A crew's first Warp Jump is always telling but your crew is already pulling together in the manner of veteran voidsmen. Mark two automatons automatons operate in inhumanly smooth synchronicity, already adapted to their 'team leads' and their various quirks. Lieutenant Fish and her attached automatons in particular operate almost as a single unit. Thinking of her causes your eyes top drift over the the navigation station. LT Fish is standing back and letting her single organic subordinate, a long-eared cobalt skinned astoriel immigrant, work the console.

You don't recall seeing an astoriel name on the ship's crew list, nor seeing one in the flesh during the hand-over ceremony. Intrigued you tap out a text message on a spare display and send it over to LT Fish.

“New crew? I don't recall an astoriel reporting aboard.”

you watch LT Fish twitch her head but are not surprised when the message comes back with her pulling out a tablet.

“Ensign Vernon Taaffe-Wren reported aboard six days back Sir. He cane aboard when we docked to take on that fresh pallet of supplies from Warehouse Victor Nine Charlie and checked in with the XO.”

“Star Empire standard name?”

“Second generation citizen Sir. His grandparents came in the immigration wave of '36 and naturalized in '52. He still has the touch though. We'll make Sonwatch in three days.”

“Only three? That's a five day trip!”

“Trust me Sir. Between the techs getting the Warp Jump drives all tuned up, Taaffe-Wren's skill, and my own calculations and refinements the Ahywa Sofia is a hell of a ship to catch in a Warp Jump. We'll be pushing the transit records more often then not.”

“Just so long as you don't push it to far. We've a nice new ship, let's not break her.”

Lt Fish comes to attention and turns to face you.

“Navigation has convergence Sir. Vectors locked and ready.”

You look down at your repeater displays and nod in satisfaction at the course.

“Understood Navigation. Log it with Celesmore Orbital Control and put us in the outbound lane for Sonwatch.”

LT Fish salutes, far more formally then absolutely needed, but you get the feeling that she is playing for the recordings.

“Aye aye Sir.”

You watch the progress of the Ahywa Sofia's progress down that outbound queue. At the appropriate time you press the all hands announcement button.

“All hands to Warp Jump stations. I say again, all hands to Warp Jump stations. Warp Jump in T minus sixty minutes.”

July 3rd, 8254

Two and a half days later the Ahywa Sofia Thunders back into reality on the outskirts of the Sonwatch system. It's a transit record by an hour and fifty four minutes. And one of the smoothest Warp Jumps you have ever been on. Sonwatch Orbital Control is a bit slow off the mark to acknowledge your presence but you brush it off. You did arrive far far sooner then expected and the surprised watch stander probably spent the moment to verify your ship's identity and transit time. The trip back promises to be just as smooth.

You can't help but grin at what comes after you return to Celesmore and pick up the rest of your crew: you first real mission in a year and a half awaits.