There was a buzz of activity in the experimental chamber at United Industrial (a proud division of UTA !). The engineers crowded around a massive machine, all clad in their jumpsuits, making tiny and incremental corrections to a hyperdrive splitter laser and a number of other components that were too complicated for anyone but space engineers to understand.
There, in the room with them, was Ova Ziss, the Governor of Dantooine, who was dressed in his traditional governor's cloak, which was colored tan to match with his clothing. Ova was wearing his usual navy blue business suit with a bright blue tie. He took off his spectacles and reached for the protective eyewear goggles, joining his step-son and bodyguard, Grenz.
The testing site was some kind of former Jedi site in the prairies that had fallen badly into disarray. Since the land was barren and had little value, it had been re-zoned into a research site.
"Isn't she beautiful, Governor?", Grenz commented to Ova, nudging him playfully. He used the title to shine on his old man, but also as a subtle sign of respect. Grenz was a computer whiz and he had led this project since the early days of UTA. It was good to know that Grenz had learned something at that academy on Coruscant: that his technical degree had paid dividends.
Ova cracked a smile at his son-in-law. "It's going to take some getting used to, being called Governor", Ova replied. "But yes, Grenz. This is a beauty. It may be the most beautiful computer engineering I've ever seen."
The brand new hyperdrive engine steamed and hissed from behind the reinforced "disposable dependable plasteel" barrier. It was proprietary, the likes of which nobody had ever seen. The engineers bolted down some sort of mineral coolant system. It consistent of a large vat of what smelled like a type of mineral oil, but the smell had a highly chemical quality to it. As the coolant activated and traveled through the transparent piping system, it glowed an iridescent green. A group of engineers struggle to bring a gargantuan vat of the mineral oil closer to the hyperdrive engine. Ova nearly winces as the engineers splash the mineral solution directly against the hyperdrive engine, into a chamber set against it. The chamber began to become filled with this mineral solution, until the hyperdrive engine was partially submerged.
"Drive submersion is successful. Preparing to charge to velocity 10."
The engineers had committed to the final test. There would be no turning back.
"I'm proud of you, son", Ova said, turning to Grenz and making sure that Grenz saw the sincerity reflected back. He gave Grenz a shoulder-hug and smiled. Grenz, who had come from a tough military background as a former Mandalorian recruit, could only shift awkwardly. He wasn't used to this sort of affection from his not-quite-biological father. But, he sure felt glad that Ova supported his ambitions. "Thanks", Grenz said while cracking a smile. He thought to himself: You got me back pretty good, old man.
Ova loved his step-son, but thought of him as a madman. Grenz was always working on the craziest products, the most insane inventions; consumer products that you didn't even know you needed. Just the other day, Grenz rolled out a racing swoop that he had put together himself in his spare time. Grenz and Ova took the rest of the day off, racing swoops in a circle from one end of the outer courtyard to the other. The fun ended when Grenz accidentally steered himself into a tree, which made the swoop power off.
Sometime after cleaning up his wounds, Ova explained that he had big plans to go into deep-deep space - which Ova called "subdeep space" - and make money while doing it. Although Grenz gave Ova plenty of reasons why that wasn't the best idea, Ova pitched the idea in such an attention-grabbing way that even the curmudgeonly Grenz got on board. It depended a great deal, however, on whether they could find a caravan of spacers who were willing to risk their lives in such an insane way. Getting people into space would require a space station, a space station would require heavy tugger spacers and manufacturing, and that would take help from a major space-government, and those governments would want credits.
The credits had to come from somewhere. Maybe selling the technology to get into deep-deep space - showing it was possible and exciting - would inspire some spacers to try it.
"Eyeglasses on", the Head Engineer said almost on impulse. "When this thing hits a high enough RPM, we're going to see some serious Chiss."
The Engineers are forced to turn off the lights, and all of the non-mandatory systems on the research vessel, to conduct the test. The test chamber is dark, and it is only faintly lit by back-up power. The only sources of light in the room are thin green light strips, the Head Engineer's instrumentation, and the pulsing mineral bath surrounding the complicated hyperdrive engine.
Grenz strapped his protective lenses on, and so did Ova. There was very little of the machine that could be seen from underneath the protective eyewear. The goggles were meant to protect a person's eyes from the intense particle acceleration and protonic overdrive that was about to happen in the room.
This particular hyperdrive was meant to be a step above the current drives: an "Ultra-Drive", if you will. That's what Grenz's patent said, at least. Grenz and Ova proposed a hyperdrive that was so powerful that it could propel a ship from deep space into a hyperdrive lane from three parsec away. The mineral bath was intended to cool down the engine as it spun and heated up.
The question was...could they get to three parsecs?
And would they even get to one?
Rolling with advantage because Ova and Grenz are working together.
I got 93!!!
I got 93!!!
"Charging hyperdrive now..."
The hyperdrive engine spun up and began rotating loudly. At first, it sounded like some terrestrial janitor with a weed trimmer. The pitch became higher and higher, the speed audibly increasing in an incremental fashion. It sounded like a mighty beast, wailing as it found its strength.
"LET HER RIP!", Grenz said enthusiastically.
The drive hums loudly and begins to shake violently.
"One thousand RPM....three thousand RPM..."
The Head Engineer was reading the tachometer, one of many measures of the hyperdrive's speed, out-loud on his monitor display. Ova watched the voltage steadily climb, too. He hoped they didn't short-out the fuse on the station. The "Ultra-Drive" spun heavier and heavier.
"Ten thousand RPM...eleven...twelve..."
It only took a few moments before the backup lights began to flicker. Maybe they were going too far, after all. This could have some dangerous effects. Ova started to move forward, but Grenz stopped him. "...Let them handle it..."
Something was happening to the engine.
There was a chemical reaction taking place inside of the mineral bath. As the hyperdrive dissipates its energy, the coolant visibly changes from a green color to blue. The blue color spreads slowly from the heart of the machine and into the mineral oil veins. Soon, the hyperdrive is flashing from green to blue, indicating a strong protonic propulsion. The hyperdrive is cooled easily by the mineral oil solution, allowing the hyperdrive engine to become much faster than usual, much like cooling a computer can also help it to run faster.
"They've got it! They've bloody-well got it!", Ova said excitedly.
"We're at one parsec of protonic energy!", the Head Engineer exclaimed.
The entire room erupted in whoops, hollers, and hugs. A female engineer plants a huge kiss on a male engineer, and he blushes. The team had achieved what was thought to be impossible in the past: hyperdrive use in deep-space, with no hyperdrive lane in sight. This would allow the UTA to travel into deep space areas near Dantooine and to recover ancient crafts that had fallen astray, such as the M97 Starhawk spotted floating in space by Dantooine's observatory. It would also allow Dantooine to participate in the hyperspace economy and to finally make the Braxant Run all the way to Ordo, Taris, and beyond.
No longer would Dantooine be a slave to the Mandalorian scum, thought Ova Ziss.
Dantooine would finally be its own planet; its own nation. Their traders and merchants of generations would finally be able to once again share their goods and services with the galaxy. Governors and Dutchesses, Barons and Princes, Princesses and Ladies would finally be able to say: Dantooine is a member of high society again.
The thought made Ova Ziss shiver, and excitement for the future of his precious planet tingled in his loins.
"Wait! It's still going!"
"Fifty thousand RPM...oh my goodness...!!"
The entire hyperdrive array starts to shake and rattle even more violently than before, if that is even possible. Bolts come off. Engineers begin to rush forward to tighten up the frame - but Ova shouts, "LEAVE IT! It's too unstable!"
Ova crosses his arms, stroking his goatee slowly, watching the tachometer and the energy expulsion meters get higher and higher. Grenz watches the Ultra-Drive through wide eyes, watching his bastard technological child coming to life and delivering beyond the results he had been promised.
There's a tense pause in the room, and then...
"TWO PARSECS!"
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!" Grenz thrusts his fist in the air. This time, it is him who gives Ova a hug around the shoulders. The room erupts in even more cautious jubilation. This result surpassed all expectations. Now, the engine wouldn't merely provide a boost back into a hyperdrive lane, but a massive dash.
The numbers keep rising.
The engine wasn't stopping, and the tachometer continued to rise. As it did, so too did the parsec output of the Ultra Drive Engine.
Two parsecs...two point one...two point two...two point three...
The machine is positively falling apart. The mineral bath veins are starting to burst at the seams. "She's gonna blow!", said one of the Engineers. He takes a small group of cautious-minded Engineers to the other side of the room, and they cower behind a plasteel barrier. Some engineers even leave the room outright.
"I-it's still going, sir! Should I shut it off?" The head engineer was positively shivering, imagining the innumerable horrible possibilities that could come from a hyperdrive failure.
"Not...yet...", Grenz said slowly. He said it slowly because he didn't know what to do himself. They were so close. But a failure of a hyperdrive engine could trap a person in the hyperdrive matrix forever. How could the UTA possibly stop now, when the results were so productive? Ova doesn't move, either. It seems the men had a lot of faith in the work that they had done.
A few moments more pass. The lights flicker. The hyperdrive seems to be dragging on the floor now, having been almost fully unbolted. The hyperdrive motivator was beginning to fail.
The hyperdrive violently kicks, and then a second hum can be heard from inside of it. Never mind. That wasn't a failure. It was...it was...was that it???
"TWO POINT EIGHT PARSECS!"
Grenz couldn't help but watch the hyperdrive engine kick into an entirely new phase of efficiency with a sort of curious trepidation.
They were so close. So close. Today could be the day.
There is a brilliant flash of blue and white light...and then the engine cuts out. Just then, a mighty black blot emerged out of the mineral bath. A great electrical pulsing and writhing began inside of the mineral chamber. It was smoke escaping from the hyperdrive engine. The battery cells - and just about every other electrical part - immediately fails, all at once. This causes anybody unlucky enough to be near it to get covered by ash. A gross, brown bilgewater erupts from the hyperdrive and overflows out of the fusion vat. The stink of the used mineral oil is foul and atrocious, and as soon as that happens, the chamber begins getting cleared out.
Everyone is instantaneously drenched with fire sprinkler water.
The fire alarm begins blaring.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. EVACUATE. CODE BROWN. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. EVACUATE. CODE BROWN.
Nobody needed to tell Ova, Grenz, or anyone else twice to leave. The Engineers decide that this is a great time to go on lunch. The recovery crew, who were donned in radioactive-protective suits, begin to close up shop. They unbolt the engine, put it in the "irreclaimable salvage" section of research storage, and agree to try later. A few brave engineers in radioactive-protective suits come forward with a fire extinguisher and sweep it quickly over what remained of the electrical fire.
As for Ova and Grenz, they leave the research chamber with only one new resolution than the ones they already had...
...they're gonna need a bigger engine.
