Nihonkoku Shoukan: Beyond

Chapter 62: Coffee & Bratwurst

Japan Cosmos Navy Battleship Royal Sovereign, Otaheit Bay, Mu, 14th April 1640

*BOOOM!!!*

With a resounding boom, JCS Royal Sovereign and her escorts emerge back into real space. As the Picard Drive trial on the Picard-class exploration heavy cruiser has concluded, the technology development department of the Navy has finalized the design and mass-produced them. All vessels of the Cosmos Navy are on a waitlist to be retrofitted with these slower but more efficient warp systems. Stepping out of the short repair and refit cycle after the exercise in Northern Japan, the Royal Sovereign and her sisters were refitted with the new Picard drive. As they were in the drydock, the navy opted to divert parts that had been earmarked for some other active Andromeda-class battleships of the 5th Fleet to them instead of pulling those ships out of service.

The problem with the explosion caused by the sudden air displacement where the ship re-emerges has been resolved after so much pain, suffering, and coffee consumed by the hardworking engineers. Now they can use it safely near population centers. However, as a precaution, warp out close to any settlement or city is limited to emergencies only. So the escorts and Royal Sovereign have to warp out 25 nautical miles away from Otaheit.

In a sense, this could be seen as counterintuitive. Compared to the Wave Motion Engine, these Alcubierre-principled warp systems are indeed slower than the M-theory-based. However, they offer the tactical benefit of not being interdicted and tracked by systems similar to Garmillas Subject Wall. As this system is only connected with the WME to get power, it does not require extensive space-time calculation and get up to speed before time-dilation is achieved. Therefore, it can be safely used for long durations over multiple jumps in short succession and has a short cool-down. These benefits would help the vessels equipped with Picard Drive to perform extremely short warp distances in the atmosphere.

"Hmm... So that's what warp is. This is amazing, but it should come as no surprise that you belong to an interstellar civilization; you must have systems like these to connect to all parts of your space. I wonder if I can sit in the same seat as you in the future." – Albert

Both the First Princess and Second Prince of Mu are travelling aboard the majestic Royal Sovereign, as the JCS has never attempted to tow any vessel under warp before. Transporting an archaic vessel with no inertia and hull integrity preserving system through energy towing beam systems is very energy-intensive and demanding on the computers. There is no saying what would happen if they warp while towing the La Kasami. And no one is willing to test it. As well as that, the Muan battleships still have to transport the Muan ambassador to Parpaldia back to his post.

"I don't doubt it, Your Highness. Well, as you go through the academy and train in our system, perhaps one day you'll pilot a battleship like this yourself. Last I heard, the I.A.S.A has requested a Dreadnought from the Navy to use as a mobile academy and research lab. Some of our ships will also be joining the new academy vessel." – Sub-lieutenant Mark Hall, Royal Sovereign's helmsman

"Is that so...? Which ships are joining us?" – Albert

"That'd be the Seydlitz from the 3rd Battlecruiser Wing of the 7th Fleet, Your Highness." – Arthur

"Captain Aberbach's vessel...?" – Albert

"Yes, Your Highness." – Arthur

It was at this point that Princess Elizabeth, breaking away from her contemplation, looked back at Arthur and asked what was on her mind.

"So... Arthur, how many worlds does Japan... no... Earth possesses back in your old world?" – Elizabeth

"We have about... 8 colonies in the Milky Way Galaxy and 2 layover stations in the Large Magellanic Cloud, given to us by the Garmillians after the war, not counting Mars and the outer planets of the Solar system. Four are completely habitable, another two are partially terraformed, and the rest are for resource mining. Though... because of our population after the war, we just built one or two permanent settlements." – Arthur