[b]The Mithran Union Stardate: 2900 Hearthstar Orbit[/b] Today was a momentous day for Mithra-kind as the Union Scout Starship Venture Star was making it’s final pre-launch checks at the orbital station before setting out on the first extrasolar exploration mission. Captain Kendra Steele of clan Steele couldn’t help but feel pride swell up in her chest as she stood on the bridge of what was her ship, the very first of the Venture Star class vessels that would hopefully one day be the flagship of a far greater fleet to follow. After the shakedown tests and Hearthworld-to-Luna Prime trials passed with flying colors the Scout Corps were already busy planning potentially five more sister ships to her Venture Star. “Captain, spacedock reports final yard cats are off and hull inspection complete. We are ready to depart.” Reported her XO. Commander Gerta Hosten was a myrmidion of a woman, strong and muscled and wouldn’t have been out of place among Battle Fleet. Despite the contrast between the hard XO and the more charming captain, the two were good friends and a solid command team that had hand-picked the ship’s crew. “All sections, give me a go/no-go for launch.” Ordered Captain Kendra. “Ops?” “Life support and sensor pre-checks complete. Ops is a go.” Reported Lieutenant Commander Kalem.” “Tactical?” “Particle cannons on standby. Seeker missile stores secured. Tactical is a go.” Called out Lieutenant Tes Valarian of clan Falksturm. One of a new generation of military officers being raised for the new era of interstellar travel seconded from Battle Fleet, the decidedly junior organization of the Mithran space fleet. However the fact she was working aboard a Scout Fleet vessel didn’t seem to deterr her from being caught up in the moment she was a part of. “Helm?” “Navigation is a go.” Replied Lieutenant Halsey Mayber of Clan Nemaal. Though she appeared young for her rank, that was merely a product of her high upbringing and significant anti-aging treatments. Not that any of that was a mark against her ability as she scored first in her class at space navigation and astral mapping. “Intel?” “Hyperwave Relay online. We are a go.” Said lieutenant commander Strakov, a student of the infamous Randgriz Academy of Intelligence and Reconnaissance. Serving as communications and intelligence processing, Kendra didn’t doubt that the local “spook” thought only of the ship’s mission. Everything about her, from her commando certification to her well honed body was merely a means to that end and nothing else. “Engineering? [i]“Fusion reactors one and two warming up at 50% and rising. Impulse engines online. Warp core spinning up now.”[/i] Reported Aden Gellart of the Gellatrix Academy, the youthful leonic male in the engine room chiming in over comms. A rare male Mithran serving on a long-range vessel, but one of the genius minds who engineered the warp drive aboard her ship to begin with. [i]“Engineering is a go, we will have FTL ready in five minutes.”[/i] “All sections are a go then.” Kendra changed channels. “Spacedock, this is USS Venture Star, we are a good for launch. Request disengaging of docking clamps.” “Copy Venture-Star Actual. Disengaging docking clamps, you are a go for launch.” Boarding tubes and clamps detached from the saucer hull of the starship as it began to drift with maneuvering thrusters out into open space. As the viewscreen shifted to a depiction of the stars before the ship, Kendra tapped her display to make a speech to the crew. “All hands. We are about to make a historic leap on behalf of the Mithran Union. For the first time we will leave the confines of our home system, and seek out the stars. From the ashes of war and conflict, we are now here together to bring about a better future for all Mithran. We will be the first into the unknown, the first to see the universe, perhaps even the first to meet intelligent life unlike our own. While the challenges to come will be many, I have confidence in you all that we will overcome them just as our people have overcome challenge and trial before. This reminds me of the days of Kalen Morsov and the Moonshot Program. A venture out into the unknown, past the realm where any Mithran walked before. So once more, we step out into the stars, further and ever more daring than before. Today we soar on the wings of warp drive into history. All hands: prepare for FTL. Helm, are we ready?” “FTL go on your order ma’am.” “Lock Far Jump One coordinates in, Warp Three. Engage.” And so the adventure began. And a new chapter of history began. * * * * * * * Medialink Article: Excerpt from a Presentation on Interstellar Economics By Academican Korvo Talz of the Gellatrix Academy [i]....Economic activity is no small matter to judge, regulate, direct, or control. There are no less than twenty-six Academy Clans and universities that focus solely upon the task of coordinating parts of the greater economic puzzle of the Union, nations have devoted much time and resources to simply cataloging their gross domestic profit and trying to predict future economic trends and activities. While we can certainly say that we have learned how to run a global economy, I would go so far as to say that two thousand years of economic study has been little more than a preparation course for the task of attempting to run a interstellar economy spanning planets and lightyears. We are venturing into an entirely new field of economic science. We cannot gradually evolve to meet it because there is no pre-existing system we possess that can scale up to the task we now face. Interstellar travel is certainly the gateway towards immense wealth and economic activity surpassing anything we can achieve on this world, but to tap that wealth we must create an entirely new form of economic infrastructure from nothing to support it. Forget all we know, we assume, we judge to be true when it comes to economic systems, because we cannot count on whatever we find out there to fit into our nice, neat and now obsolete existing system spanning merely a single planet. To this end, I present the findings of my Academy's preliminary studies into FTL Economics and Relativistic Financial Modeling. We must account for Hyperdrive's atemporal effects on finance and supply and demand to begin to understand the resulting ripple effects on other areas of our economy, while coming with hard and fast equations on the scale of investment and capital needed to properly develop a interstellar economy. While our calculations are far from complete, more of a beginnings of getting our bearings on the scale of the issue at hand, interstellar investment and finance modeling should be much easier with the Daube Interstellar Profit Calculus and the simulation models created by Vanatech Computing. Preview versions have been made available for the press and video game developers for hands-on understanding and review. To implement these on a larger scale however will require consider computing and financial infrastructure. It is our hope that with sponsorships from Northstar, Kular-Damon, and CCC we can revise the recent orbital Trade Hub building proposals to better accommodate the infrastructure to properly capitalize upon these statistical developments.......... [/i]