Proving Ground

[Frostpfote]

Prologue:

Both the LNX-Akhetaten as well as the LNS-Essex had returned back to Norfolk Shipyard after partially taking out an attacking fleet composed of both Outcasts and Liberty Rogues in the debris field next to Planet Manhattan and West Point station. Both ships had sustained merely light external damage, yet to return to full combat readiness they would both return to a proper shipyard to get the required repairs done.

It's never easy for a captain to see their ship moored in a drydock rather than on the frontlines. However, for the Essex this was nothing but a blessing in disguise. During her last time in one of the Norfolk's drydocks the Atlantis-Class Carrier had been prepared to be fitted with its own jumpdrive system in order to maximize mobility and fast response time, enabling rapid deployment across all of Libertonian occupied space. Usually it isn't worth the effort to moor a capital ship to a drydock for a largely optional upgrade, not unless the ship was to be docked there for repairs anyways. Given this lucky coincidence, the Essex was chosen to receive her upgrade during this downtime, slightly extending the maintenance period by a few days to make time for much needed calibrating and testing of the device. Despite the Mk. IV's longer chargeup time and higher operating cost, it was chosen to enable a whole battlegroup to join the Essex in its mission if need be.

Even though the Akhetaten only had minor repairs to be done, the 46th's pride and joy left Norfolk almost unusually quickly. The Essex's captain, Rachel Mikai, would only later find out about the reason behind this express departure. Several hours, soon days passed until the jumpdrive was finally properly installed by the Norfolk's maintenance crews, soon for the carrier to give life to this marvel of engineering for the first time. Everything started out properly as one of the Essex's several auxillary reactors began to supply the device with power, beginning its calibration sequence. For the first couple of hours the jumpdrive was simply fed with all sorts of technical data about the ship it was installed on, allowing for precise calculations of jumproutes and proper power distribution to ensure the ship wouldn't be dismantled mid-jump. The docking clamps disengaged once all lights showed green, entering the mandatory testing phase for the new device. A total of three consecutive jumps would take place, increasing the accuracy of the planned jump destination down to a few meters towards the end.

The first jump would take the Atlantis-Class from Norfolk Shipyard over to Fort Bush, followed quickly by a second jump to Planet Houston. Both jumps were well within the anticipated margin for error, placing a lot of confidence in the Essex' crew for the last test: A jump across two system borders with almost pinpoint accuracy. Planet Los Angeles in the California system was their target. The coordinates were logged in, and the necessary calculations were almost done when a broadcast on the emergency channel reached the Carriers' command bridge. A call for backup wasn't anything out of the ordinary, yet when the broadcast was found to originate from the Akhetaten, things quickly became a whole lot more serious.