- A red object is the phlebotinum that drives the plot. It's in some way ridiculous: hilariously ridiculous, ridiculously powerful, ridiculously unobtainable, or something else.
The floor of the grand hall of the king's palace was a heavily decorated mural detailing the Empire's galactic triumphs over the past five centuries. The walls wore exotic paintings hand crafted by all of the most influential painters across the galaxy. But none of this art compared to the beauty of the imperial throne that stood proudly in the metal. Made entirely of precious metals and gems the Throne was as valuable as its legacy. Now the current owner of the throne "King Feldarish" of the Celdrin Empire was about to add to that rich legacy. He sat there staring at the doors to the hall along with hundreds of wealthy merchants and officials of the royal court. All waiting for the return of "Prince Delovin" who just recently put out a message of his return from his expeditions into the Dark sectors of space.
When the doors flung open the court slave's began playing the traditional anthem that signals the return of a royal heir. For theses expendable workers, their lives actually depended on their performance, not one would dare give a sub par performance. In came walking the young heir all dressed sharp enough to kill in his admiral uniform, wearing numerous medals that represented his accomplishments in space exploration. the nobles of the court watched the prince approach the throne starstruck at the man's looks. Hard to believe he's been living out in uncharted sectors of space for so long and walk in as if he just walked out of the saloon.
At the base of the steps leading to the throne the Prince kneels down and bows his head in respect. King Feldarish then stands up and beckons for his son to arise "There's no need for formalities my boy!' the king says with a smile as he descends from the throne. The Prince stands up with a smile and approaches his father who greets him with open arms "It's good to have you back among us.". The two embrace one another for a minute, savoring the heart felt moment a bit longer before finally letting go. The king then asks as he steps back and gets a good look of his son's face "What news do you bring of your journey?"
The prince's face was beaming, clearly he had something he couldn't await to reveal "We found the final piece of the puzzle, father.". the King raises a eyebrow at Delovin, waiting for further context "Delving into the Dark sectors we came across a derelict warp fortress of the Unknown!". The royal court begins murmuring among themselves as they hear the prince claim his expedition came across such a thing. The King remains eye contact with his son as he raises his hand towards the crowds, silencing them in a instant. The Unknown were just that, a Unknown race far more advanced than the human empires that spread across the galaxy. All that remains of them are derelict ships and stations hiding in the shadows of the Dark sectors, stripped clean of any technology. Can't even find any trash or wast to figure out what they ate. The "warp fortress" were to be theses formidable and mobile outposts that the unknown could "jump" across star systems in a instant.
The Prince continued "We took the risk of delving into it in hopes that this would have something. We were right! A jump pylon was "ignored" by whatever looted all theses structures! We found the heart of it.." The prince then turns around and gestures back over to the doors where two imperial soldiers enter carrying a chest. The court watches in anticipation to see what this "heart" of a Unknown warp pylon looks like. The two soldiers drop off the chest in front of the two, the prince dismisses them both as he approaches to unlock the chest with a keycard he pulls out from his jacket. Steam shoots out of the cracks of the lid as the locks disengage and open for the key holder. inside is a red orb that is inside a transparent container. Inside the chest is a keypad which the prince inputs a code on and opens the second container, exposing the strange orb. The King with a baffled look observes as his son casually pulls out this unknown object and raises it for the entire court to see. The thing calmly jiggles like jell in his hands as he proudly says "This my people! Is the key to winning the war against the Commonwealth!". The Court erupts in applause and cheering, along with the king who looks up to it, captivated by its mystery.
As the applause dies down from another raises hand by the king, he asks "Can you tell us all how this is the key to our efforts?". The prince looks back to him with a grin "The brilliant minds you loaned me have determined that this is how the Unknown managed to "jump" entire stations across stars. This the source the Jump pylons feed off of." The prince lowers the red orb and offers it to his father who looks at it once more baffled by it. "I imagined the source would be something you can't hold like a apple.." The king says as he rolls the jel orb around in his hands, examining it's odd beauty. the prince continues "The researches say that we could combine this with one of the warp engines on our battleships but the thing is..." The prince stumbles to find a fitting word " .."self-aware", every attempt we've made to unlock its secrets resulted in failure as it's a weave of complex layers that reorganizes itself. But the signature it produces is practically similar to warp signatures.
The king looks back up to his son "So you aren't sure this even is the key to Jump drive technology?". The prince's expression fades as he looks down at his feet for a moment. Before answering he makes sure to re assume eye contact "There's no other explanation to give for this device's purpose. We analyzed everything we found there and determined that this is what powers their jump drive technology...They said it would take centuries to study every layer of this thing." The King holds the red orb up to eye level and examines it once more "So, we either wait or..try it out?". The price nods "Yes, father..That would be our two options moving forward."
the king looks over to the crowd "Commodore Gelvrish!" he calls out. A much older man in a equally impressive uniform as the Prince approaches and bows before the two "My lord?" he asks. "Have a battleship's warp core fitted with this Orb and have it ready for testing immediately." The prince now looks alarmed at that order "We are trying it now?!". "Why yes," the king responds "Either we do it now or wait until your great grandson takes the throne!" He says with a grin as he places his hand firmly on Delovin's shoulder "Besides, the feast doesn't start until this evening! We've plenty of time to test this out.." he then holds the orb out in front of the two.
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In a private booth the King and Prince sit down in lavish chairs as they look out the window of a Imperial drydock in orbit of their capital world "Celdria". Currently docked in the bay in view of them is a juggernaut of a ship, the pride and joy of any imperial armada. Currently they were waiting for the final touches to be made before the ship is ready for testing. The prince impatiently sips his wine as he checks the time on his watch. "..the party is in 40 minutes father, i think we've picked a bad time to test this..". The king meanwhile has been keenly waiting to see this test, focused on the docked battleship like a hawk.
"They said they only need but a few more minutes, patience my boy." Feldarish says as he looks across to his son. Delovin sighs and seeps back into his chair as he rests his head on his fist. At first the room was filled with the two talking about the things the Prince saw in his journey and the pirates he vanquished when trekking though outlaw sectors. He practically told such a long story that a book could be made out of the tale. But now everything was said and the two were left in silence as they waited for the fitting to be completed. Before Delovin reached his point of giving up a announcement over the room's intercom goes out "My lord, preparation are complete and we are ready to begin the test flight." The king looks back over to Delovin with a smirk "Told you, just a few more minutes.." He then stands up and approaches the window as the Battleship undocks. 'Yeah, guess you were telling the truth this time.." Delovin says as he also stands up to join his father by the window.
The hulking mass of metal drifts away from the drydock into deadspace before beginning its warp phase. Feldarish wraps his arm around his son and pulls him in closer "If this works how we predict, this test will only take seconds to complete! Won't have to warp to individual stars to reach it destination, just one large jump in the blink of a eye...Imagine a world were the Lethanic resort is a minute long trip away!" The idea certainly sounded pleasant to Delovin as a smile creeped on his face "Yeah, but i'd still be a minute away from you.", the king lets out a chuckle at his son's playful joke before returning his attention to the test flight.
In the blink of a eye the ship vanishes into the void. The two's eyes widen at this disappearing act but the amazement is soon turned into horror as the ship exists 5 feet away from its intial point as a fireball that escalates into a explosion of the entire vessel. The alarms of the drydock go off, signalling for teams to get out there to extinguish the flames and pull out any survivors if there are any. The Prince steps back from the window and collapses in his chair as his father stares at the twisted scrap of a once glorious battleship of the Celdrin empire. He looks back to see his son in a state of shock at what he just witnessed. As he approaches his son looks up and stumbles to give a explanation "Father i didn't kn-" the king stops him as he sits on the arm rest. "I know...Nobody knew this would happen." He places his hand on his shoulder and continues "Nobody needs to know about this..."
The prince responds with a irritated response filled with sorrow that is slowly overtaking him "is that what we tell the families of the 6000 imperial soldiers that my discovery killed?". The king is quick to answer that concern "Terrorist sabotage. I know its not a honest answer but we can't let this get out, now look at me.". The prince looks up to his father with tears starting to seep from his eyes. "The sorrow you feel is how every King should feel when a tragedy happens. We will break news of this at the feast tonight and will ensure that the victims of this will be forever remembered with a monument in honor of them., understood?" The prince nods and wipes his eyes. after getting a hold of himself he gets up from the chair and exits the booth. The king remains and looks back out the window towards the wreck.
A small red glow catches his eye.
