How I Got Here: "Moving The Pieces"
11 Aug 2022Columbuss
Commander Justin Estok. Stardate 10-AUG-3308."It doesn't feel right does it?"
The advent of the Frame Shift Drive changed the face of space travel. Before frame shift, but after chemical propulsion, ships used lightspeed engines to get where they were going. The concept of light speed seems fast but in the context of space travel, it's really not. Even from planet to planet without leaving the system, it can take hours or even days to traverse that distance. Not to mention having to deal with orbital mechanics and having to plan your course so you end up where the planet WILL be and not where it is at the moment you set out. Frame shift changed everything. It made jumping great distances almost instantaneous. If you've read this far, you know I'm not an engineer so I wont go into how the engine works because I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. But what I can tell you is that the FSD creates voids in space around your ship, creates distortions in that space and rides the fabric of space like a surfer on a wave. By that rationale, you could say, it's not about speed because it's not the ship that's actually moving.
Needless to say, the FSD also changed the way we destroy each other. It changed the logistics and planning of warfare. Long ago, ships could embark for a war that would be over by the time they arrived. At the very least, the enemy had ample time to prepare for any fight that was coming. Now, with FSD and FTL travel, battles can commence almost immediately at any point. It takes longer for larger ships to spin their FSD drives to jump so fleets need to coordinate their jumps to arrive at the same time, or leave at the same time depending on your perspective, and that makes luring your enemy into a fight they should probably avoid much easier.
"This is fucked," I say to Ragina in the seat next to me. "There should have been more here. They barely put up a fight. Something's wrong."
Ragina nods back as she triggers the canopy night vision and works the sensors to highlight various pieces of debris. I pilot The Chelsie through the debris field over Al Mina A3 in the wake of John's ambitious attack on the regrouping Dynasty fleet, trying to avoid large chunks of hull and various small ships. It's noisy in the cockpit as thousands of pieces of steel and burned hull clink against the exterior of the ship, like flying through a hail storm. After a few passes, it stops shocking you when a body smacks against the cockpit glass.
"John," I say with my finger on the comm button, "I don't understand, there should have been more here."
His voice comes back through slightly muffled static as his Cobra's headlamps come into view illuminating what looks like a split in half cockpit of an Alliance Challenger.
"It doesn't feel right does it?" he says.
I look over to Ragina who nods her head no. Just then, the comm link lights up with a signal from the command ship, a cruiser class ship donated to John from one of the Revolution Parties more wealthy councilman in the wake of John's call to arms following the last fight.
"Attention all ships. Attention all ships. Return to fleet. Return to fleet. Dynasty forces engaged over Al Mina B3. Return to fleet for immediate jump. Repeat. Return to fleet for immediate jump."