Author Topic: The American Dream - Chapter 2: To The Stars, and Beyond  (Read 2186 times)

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Offline Texashawk (OP)

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6.2.2027
BOEING/BSD JOINT TASK FORCE REPORT
PROPOSED STARSHIP DESIGN
cc: STOHL, M.; MENDIZABAL, O.; PRIDE, B.; BRIGGS, L.; HAMSHER, R.; WILLIAMS, P.

FIRST MINSTER STOHL,

WE HAVE COMPLETED THE DESIGN AND BLUEPRINTS FOR HUMANITY'S FIRST STARSHIP. BELOW ARE THE SPECIFICATIONS:

Ascension class Scout    950 tons     73 Crew     77.6 BP      TCS 19  TH 50  EM 0
2631 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 7%    IFR: 0.1%    Maint Capacity 51 MSP    Max Repair 12 MSP    Est Time: 10.35 Years

Bednarcyzk-Pride Nuclear Engine Star Drive Alpha I (2)    Power 25    Fuel Use 100%    Signature 25    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 94.7 billion km   (416 days at full power)


WITH A FUEL CAPACITY OF 50,000 LITERS, WE WILL EASILY BE ABLE TO TRAVEL TO PLUTO AND BACK, AS SPECIFIED. WITH TWO NUCLEAR ENGINES ON BOARD, WE WILL BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE JOURNEY IN APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A VERY BASIC SHIP. IT HAS NO WEAPON OR SENSOR CAPABILITIES, AND ONLY THE MOST BASIC ARMOR. SHOULD IT RUN INTO ANYTHING HOSTILE, IT WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT SURVIVE. ON THE PLUS SIDE, IT HAS A VERY SMALL THERMAL SIGNATURE AND NO EM SIGNATURE, SO IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING HOSTILE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, IT SHOULD REMAIN UNDETECTED.

WITH YOUR APPROVAL, THE ARMSTRONG-WHITWORTH SHIPYARD IS READY TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF THE USE STOHL.

LONG LIVE HUMANITY. AD ASTRA, PER ASPERA.

END REPORT
///...
« Last Edit: January 27, 2011, 02:03:17 AM by Texashawk »
 

Offline Texashawk (OP)

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Re: The American Dream - Chapter 2: To The Stars, and Beyond
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2010, 02:09:12 AM »
10/2/2027 - ARMSTRONG-WHITWORTH SHIPYARDS, USE

"And in the name of the United States of Earth, I hereby christen the USE Stohl on her maiden voyage to the stars!" With those words, the First Minister tossed the customary champagne bottle at the large grey-white vessel bearing the USE flag and the insignia USE-01X STOHL on the top and sides. The champagne hardly made a dent in the gleaming ivory side, instead making a satisfying shatter that echoed throughout the yards.

It seemed that this was a party for the whole of humanity, or what was left of it; news groups from all over the planet had made the somewhat perilous journey through ash and radiation to see a glimpse of the great ship that would perhaps mean salvation for all mankind. Thousands of flashbulbs popped throughout the dim drizzle to illuminate the ship still further.

And off to the side, Star Captain Asa Reams, first captain of the first ship of the USE Star Corps, beamed with pride. She was being interviewed by about thirty people together, their questions blurring into shouts of joy and hope and excitement the likes of which certainly Reams had never felt before in her life, not even upon her promotion to Star Captain and her leadership of the Alpha geological team that was tasked with finding minerals that would keep humanity wih building material for a short while longer.

"All right, all right, that's all the time I have," Reams grinned finally, jovially pushing through the euphoric journalist group. "I've got a ship to catch!" Laughter all around. As Reams moved towards the gangplank that connected the airlock to the concrete dock, she nodded briefly at the smiling, silent First Minister watching from the master of ceremonies booth two stories above her head. Stohl nodded back, an understanding of what this moment meant both to her and to the world.

Following the captain was her XO, Lieutenant Commander Josue Abbassi. His smile was brighter than any star. He was one of the original draftees into the Star Corps, when it was scarsely more than rumor and wind. He had waited seven long years and slowly worked his way through the ranks, and now at 36 his time had come.

Someone who was still waiting, watching the proceedings on the vidscreen at his dorm was Jame Saville. Despite his rank and decoration, he had not been selected to be a part of the initial voyage, a fact that greatly disturbed his sense of self-perfection. What had he done wrong? His test scores were impeccable. Had he angered a member of the senior brass? Not that he could recall. He did feel, however, that he should have gone ahead of his girlfriend Erin Hokama, still a Star Ensign but yet selected as a member of the Nav & Com staff. Perhaps she did deserve to go, but ahead of him...?

He watched the large, spherical-oblong four-story high ship being pulled into the atmosphere by helper tugs using chemical rockets to lift the Stohl into high Earth orbit, where her nuclear engines would be able to fire without causing further devastation to the wrecked planet's ionosphere. As long-range cameras watched her engines prepare to fire, he swore under his breath that he would not miss the next ship.

No matter what.

BRIDGE, USS STOHL,
NEAR EARTH ORBIT, ALTITUDE 141 MILES


"Nuclear drive systems show green. Isotopes clear and fission sequence cascading under all interlocks, Star Captain," the Engineering lead reported happily to Star Captain Reams through the intercom system. In front of the small bridge, the reinforced glass showed about a five meter by three meter viewport where the dim, scarred surface of Earth turned majestically below the Stohl.

"Excellent, Lieutenant. Nav, are we clear of Earth's atmosphere?"

"Yes, Star Captain," Star Ensign Hokama brightly replied. "Magaltimeter shows 143 miles above sea level and climbing. Readings show less than .002 ions per million in the surrounding atmosphere."

"Good," Reams replied. She touched a button on her command chair. "Crew of the USE Stohl, this is the captain. Prepare for departure for Mercury. We're taking the solar tour, ladies and gentlemen, so bring your cameras." She smiled as she cut the shipwide intercom.

"Nav, set course for Mercury... and punch it."

Thirty-six seconds later, the Stohl disappeared for Mercury in a blaze of ions.
 

Offline Texashawk (OP)

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Re: The American Dream - Chapter 2: To The Stars, and Beyond
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2010, 02:52:35 AM »
1/13/2028, SHUTTLE BAY, USE STOHL
NEAR EARTH ORBIT, ALTITUDE 162 MILES



Man, that was a quick 3 months, Star Ensign Hokama thought to herself as she prepared to board the shuttle returning to Earth. With the ship still at 80% fuel and having run into no issues, there seemed little point to bring the Stohl back down to drydock; damage to the armor was minimal and food and logistical reserves could be brought up simply by conventionally-powered freight shuttles, much like the one that was somewhat haphazerdly attached to the side of the Stohl's main deck.

She stepped in and prepared for null-gravity; on vessels with conventional drives there was no ecomony to place an expensive and delicate anti-grav unit throughout the vessel, so Hokama simply grinned and bore the ride down. There was a clank, a nervous whoop from some joker in the front of the shuttle, and then a tugging of inertia - yes, even in space, there was inertia. She could hear the metal around her pop and spit as they descended into the atmosphere; there were no windows in the shuttle but she could swear that she could see the bright edges of the atmosphere surround the small shuttle as they plowed into the air brake that was Earth's swaddle.

Thirty-six minutes later, the shuttle came to a rather abrupt stop at the Armstrong-Whitworth shuttledock. Unsteadily, she climbed out, duffel bag in hand, looking eagerly for her boyfriend, Star Lt. Jame Saville. Since there was no way to send mail to the ship, and energy on this maiden voyage was carefully reserved for communication with Star Command on Earth, there had been no communication between the two for months. Nonetheless, Hokama was certain that Saville would be waiting, brilliant smile and proud of her as always.

But she could not find him. Looking for almost half an hour, waiting well until the last crewmember had debarked the still-popping shuttle behind her, she felt her spirit droop. Try as she might, she could not stop a tear from escaping the side of her eye and plopping down her nose. Stop that, you idiot. If he's going to act this way you might as well get over it now.

Resolutely, she swung her duffel bag to her side, making a solid thump, and strode down the stairs leading from the dock slab. She had to go find some real friends to celebrate her return with.

STAR COMMAND, HOUSTON, TEXAS, USE

"So, First Minister, your trophy ship has come and gone, and come again. What now?" Star Corps Admiral James Broussard inquired of his commanding officer through the flickering vidscreen. "Shall we send some tourists up to secure some coin for the realm?"

The First Minster's grey eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. The admiral, disquieted by her silence, chose not to press the line of questioning, but dropped to the immediately practical. "We were lucky, First Minister, this time," he stated, "but to send a ship so ill-equipped to face anything it... well, with no sensors it may never have know what it would have faced, and neither would we! All we would ever know is that one day the Stohl failed to report, no reason why, all hands lost. Speaking frankly, First Minister, sending that ship was fallacy in the most regal form."

"The crew knew the risks when they boarded the vessel, Admiral," Stohl replied icily.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. To them it was a joyride. Celebrities they were, not soldiers, and certainly not professional crewmembers! To build that ship in only 4 months was madness!! I don't care if most of the superstructure was already complete. Those engines should have undergone more testing! They had never been fully fired before in the ship structure before her departure, did you know that?" the admiral raged.

"It would hardly seem proper to test a contained fission explosion near a population still reeling from a nuclear winter, wouldn't you agree?" Stohl's eyes glinted. "I note your concerns, Star Admiral. We are no longer at a point in humanity's development where we can afford to play it safe. Perhaps you would like to leave the safety of the Star Command center and speak to the starving rabble yourself? No? Well, then."

"Nonetheless," the admiral replied, "surely we have plans for greater ships than the Stohl."

Stohl's lips pursed against the disrespect of her name. She ignored it. She needed the fool for a little bit longer. "Of course, Star Admiral. Even now we are designing advanced sensors so that we may geologically map the solar system. We will be able to discover whether or not we can create small colonies elsewhere in the system. Mars, or Mercury perhaps? Yes, we are laying the superstructure for a second, larger survey ship, the Columbus class. The BSD is well into the planning stages. It will have twice the capacity, twice the speed, more armor, and a full sensor suite. It should be quite enough to ease your worried soul... Admiral."

The Star Admiral harumphed. "Well.... well. We'll see. Perhaps I'll take the command on that ship, eh, if it's so advanced?"

"So you would inpunge the work of your fine Captain Reams? Was her little 'star tour' not enough to impress you of her command ability?"

"That's... not... no. That was not my intent, First Minister," Broussard said. "She is an excellent Star Captain. I was just... thinking aloud."

"If I were you, Admiral... I'd start thinking much... quieter thoughts. Goodbye." Stohl disappeared on the vidscreen of the admiral, but her eyes seemed to linger just a fraction of a second longer.