The Ultra-Drive Engine

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, which was conveniently located near the testing site.

"Isn't she beautiful, Governor?", Grenz commented to Ova. He used the title to shine on his old man, but also as a subtle respect. Grenz was Ova's bodyguard and son-in-law, 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.

"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 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 they 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. 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 biological father. But, he sure felt pride. "Thanks", he said, smiling.

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.

"Eyeglasses on", the Head Engineer said almost on impulse. "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. From underneath the protective eyewear, there was very little of the machine that could be seen. 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 (OOCly: three hex spaces). The mineral bath was intended to cool down the engine so that it could travel as fast as possible.

The question was...could they get to three parsecs?

And would they even get to one?


"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.

"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.

But the numbers keep rising.

This train don't stop.

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.

"I-it's still going, sir! Should I shut it off?"

"Not...yet...", Grenz said slowly. He said it slowly because he didn't know what to do himself. They were so close. How could he 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 violently kicks, and then a second hum can be heard from inside of it.

"TWO POINT EIGHT PARSECS!"

Grenz was driving by a destroyed vessel on the hyperlanes: it was terrible, it shouldn't exist, but he couldn't help but watch, just to see what would happen.

They were so close.

So close.

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-colored type of bilgewater erupts from the hyperdrive. The stink of the used mineral oil is foul and atrocious, and as soon as that happens, the chamber begins getting cleared out.

The fire alarm begins blaring.

Everyone is instantaneously drenched with fire sprinkler water.

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.