Fast and Hidden

[Taeli Raaf]

Scillal System
Aurora Industries shipyard

It had taken awhile, but Aurora Industries had finally taken control of the Scillal shipyards. The result was a further cementing of their hold in the Centrality for manufacturing control, but it also gave them a nearby large shipyard to their company headquarters. Jaxson had designated part of the facilities to develop the ship for Project Galvani and other future projects that would be both secure and fast transport.

The stygium seized in the raid by Aurora and Directorate forces in the Kelsier system had arrived in the system and was earmarked for the ship, codenamed Project Hollow. The team had been handpicked by Jaxson himself, especially after the bungling that Ujoi on Hosrel had caused, and they knew their task.

Their only directives were to make it fast, give it the ability to cloak, and have plenty of cargo space.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

The team began brainstorming ideas for the new freighter, the directives set by Taeli and Jaxson in mind. The stygium cloak was easy enough to figure out as they had plenty of crystals to use in the cloak itself. Other stealth measures would also be put in place, as many on the current build team had once worked on the Phasma Infiltrators the Sith Assassins used.

A gravitic modulator and thermal dissipator would be added, allowing the ship to get past thermal scans and scans for mass. They also had a decent supply of TibannaX being provided by Mara TibX, so they would need to modify the engines to accept that and make sure efflux trails would not be an issue for the ship. All of that, on top of the stygium cloak, would make Project Hollow quite the undetectable ship.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Speed was necessary, and so the engines would also be modified and streamlined to get the best possible speed they could get. Taeli wanted it on par with a starfighter's speed, or at least as fast as something like the legendary Millennium Falcon. With that in mind, they started to cut down on the armoring for the ship as it was determined that stealth and speed were going to be the main line of defense.

Also in line with speed and stealth as the defense, it was decided they would be putting a top of the line hyperdrive into the system. Something wouldn't be out of place on a starfighter or interceptor. They also decided that adding an A-XX 200 to the ship was probably a good idea for two reasons. It would allow easy access to shipments to Otherspace and also give the ship an easy escape route if attacked by an enemy, well easy escape to a dangerous place. Still, better to have it than not.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Weapon systems weren't really considered important, so the team made the tough decision to only place one quad laser cannon on the ship. It was placed right above the cockpit, so it wasn't even in the best position for defense. However, it was able to be controlled directly from the cockpit and could swivel in a complete circle so it was providing some limited defense.

With all that in mind, they started tackling the idea of space and it was decided that most of the free space of the ship would be devoted to the cargo hold. Based off their calculations, their current model could hold roughly 400 metric tons as they wanted to keep the ship on the smaller side to create a smaller profile for enemy attacks.

Everything was all planned out, so the team began the more difficult task of constructing the ship itself.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Building off a wide frame, work began on putting together the prototype design the team had come up with. Taeli and Jaxson had been briefed on their ideas and everything had been approved by them, with the stipulation that they wanted tests done throughout to make sure it performed as promised. They weren't taking any chances with Project Galvani.

Using two modified 221 sublight engines acquired from the Nubia Star Drives acquisition, the team made sure to run tests on both the TibannaX modifications and the increased speed they were going to be coaxing from the system. Plenty of power would be provided to the engines, hyperdrive, and stealth systems by using a scaled down version of Aurora's anti-matter reactor. Very thin pieces of hull plating were being bolted on, and the team had lined up some black paint for the ship to make it even harder to see in the vastness of space.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

As the ship was being finished up, the stealth systems being the last to be added in along with the modified T-14 Hyperdrive, the team had moved into the testing phase of the operation. Every inch of the ship was being checked, the engines being test fired, and so on. They were going to be completely thorough before Project Hollow, now dubbed the Samhein-class Stealth freighter, was sent out to be tested in space.

Simulations showed the design team everything they wanted out of it, but they also needed to test what it would be like with a full cargo hold. It would be a little slower because of the extra weight, but they were still hoping it would be fast enough to do the job.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

With simulations complete, the Samhein was slated for testing in the open space around the yards at Scillal. The engineers and design team had set up different sensors and scanners to try and detect the Samhein while it was in flight, along with sensors dedicated to recording its speed. They would do two runs, one without cargo, and one with.

"Begin test run one," the lead of the team said. He was slightly nervous, as while their simulations said everything should be good, the idea of failing both Jaxson and Miss Raaf were weighing on him. Project Galvani was important to the company after all, and this was to be the secure method of transport for it and every other sensitive Aurora experiment or equipment shipment.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

The ship began passing through the different scanning zones they had established in space, looping through speed hoops and clocking in an impressive time. As they moved into pushing the limits of the stealth systems, including the stygium cloak, the lead designer could say he was pleased by the readings, or lack there of, they were getting from the Samhein.

All of this was being done without a full cargo hold, and while the stygium cloak was engaged, it was a tad slower than he had been expecting from their simulation. The onboard team would be working to rectify that to make sure it could maintain its speed, unencumbered, at all times. Continuing the tests, he ordered the flight crew to dock at the end point.

They would reset the testing areas, the data being processed, and the team would have the ship loaded with weights that would equal the full carrying capacity of the Samhein.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

It was just as he worried, the lead designer thought. At a full cargo hold, the weight of the cargo slowed the ship down just enough that it was one point slower on the established speed scale. He only hoped that was acceptable to Mr. Jaxson and Miss Raaf because there was no way they were going to be getting around that particular problem.

He also had to start wondering if they were going to put this ship on market, because if so, he didn't think it was ready. For private company use, sure it would work, but for sale to other companies and factions, he knew that it would need upgrades. The stealth technology was at least working just as it had in the first practical test.

"Contact Miss Raaf and Mister Jaxson," he said. "We have our results. Let's hope they are good enough for what they want."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Going off this data, I can say you our expectations," Jaxson said. They were in a holo-conference with the design team, reviewing the results of the test. "Pity you couldn't figure out a way to keep the speed at the same levels when the vessel is at capacity, but it isn't unexpected on our end. Taeli?"

"I believe it is sufficient for our needs only," Taeli stated. "Your team is allowed to begin limited production that is only for the company to use. We won't be selling this product to anyone else, or giving it to people in a contract. I also want the schematics sent to the Erilnar servers, just in case your facility at Scillal gets hacked. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am, we will get started on production immediately," the lead designer stated. "I'm glad we met your expectations though."

"I think we will keep Scillal for our more quiet production projects for the company," Taeli continued. "More of a private company use shipyard than a place for mass consumption. I'm giving you free reign to also develop prototype vessels for other projects and such that might be used for either the company or the mass market."

"Thank you, Miss Raaf," the lead designer said, bowing his head as the call ended. With a sent command, the team would be cleared to begin work on more of the Samhein-class freighters.