Albert McKenzie, Starfliers To: Administration, Ionic Incorporated Subject: Staff Checkup
Hello, Ionic Incorporated. My name is Albert McKenzie, head of the Starfliers.
It has been some time since select staff of mine were sent to Shikoku. How are they doing at your Laboratories? I am sure Kusari space is treating them better than the Independent Worlds.
Target: Albert McKenzie
Sender: Emily Furukawa
Subject: Staffing
Mr McKenzie,
Good to hear from you again. You should be able to ask your staff members what they thought of the first semester yourself, I imagine most of them will have returned for the New Years holidays if they haven't taken up permanent residence in Shikoku. But I'm happy to give you a quick rundown.
I'll be honest, with the station still undergoing major construction and this having been the first full length academic semester, things were a little more chaotic than they will be in regular operations, but that was to be expected. Hyperspace Tunneling and Exploration proved to be one of our more popular courses. The novelty of the field gives it something of an improvisatory character, but despite or maybe because of that, the students are by all accounts very pleased with its presentation.
As are our backers, we've secured enough in grants that we should be able to organize more excursions next semester to expand the hands-on aspect of the course.
Now that we have a little more experience and feedback, and the infrastructure and services of our facilities are becoming more established, I expect the upcoming semester will run better yet. We are finishing up work on a new library and study hall which will be open when we resume courses on the 10th.
If there's anything we can do to make our campus more amenable, do let us know.
Albert McKenzie, Starfliers To: Emily Furukawa, Ionic Incorporated Subject: Plans for the next Semester
Hello, Emily Furukawa.
A couple have returned to the Sol to be with their families across the holidays. The rest have returned to their homes elsewhere, perhaps. I will not bother them with questions regarding their time with your own teams, I feel It is more appropriate to hear this from you. I am pleased to hear you have had a great benefit with the Starfliers team on board Ionic.
Whilst everyone is on break and my work remains never-ending, this may be a great opportunity to pitch the next project before the new semester starts. If you are planning on preparing a more hands-on project, I would strongly recommend we tailor this to the Exploration side of your course.
If you would like more detail, please do ask. What I have in mind will surely benefit Ionic, and likely Kishiro as a whole.
Target: Albert McKenzie
Sender: Emily Furukawa
Subject: Plans for the next Semester
Mr McKenzie,
You have something in mind then? That's ominous, and I like it.
I may also have something in mind. Something about a ground-up proper exploration vessel. We're very much in the pre-alpha phase at the moment.
But, please do tell me more.
Albert McKenzie, Starfliers To: Emily Furukawa, Ionic Incorporated Subject: Improving the Jintsuriki Suite
Hello, Emily Furukawa.
We have made use of Kishiro's Jintsuriki Scanner on our exploratory vessels for a handful of years now. As a subsidiary of them, I believe Ionic is in a unique position to take my proposal and turn it into a tangible part of your next semester's content.
My idea is test your teams in building an improved variant of this same scanner. One that can pull topographical and electronic data from stellar bodies at a further distance. The current scanner's range is measured to be 10 clicks. The goal here is to measure their technical ability to research and develope the hardware, and later field test it as part of their final assessment.
I am happy to sign off on bringing any materials and supplies needed by your teams so their work is not interrupted. If any of the scanners are successful, we would like to purchase them for our own use. The funds will go directly to the teams involved, a show of validation and congratulations directly from the Starfliers.
I am certain Ionic can accomplish this. It is no small request, but an ambitious one if you want your teams to really get a lead on the exploration component of your course.
Target: Albert McKenzie
Sender: Emily Furukawa
Subject: Improving the Jintsuriki Suite
Mr McKenzie,
We're always working on refining the Jintsuriki system, I'm sure we can work something out. They're generally set up for ultra high sensitivity to spectroscopy variance, which might not exactly be what you have in mind for your purposes, but we can tune accordingly. We'll need to determine exactly what parameters you're looking for here - I'm not a physicist myself, so you're going to want to discuss that on-site at the Laboratories.
What I can say is that this sounds like it will align nicely with our own project. We're looking into constructing a ground-up next generation exploration vessel, and the scanning array will obviously be a key component. The system we're developing for it, optimized for collecting a broad array of environmental data rather than inter-ship detection and communications functions, might well be exactly what you're looking for.
I expect this project can go both ways, since this endeavor falls very much into your area of expertise, and we could likely use your assistance with figuring out the detailed specs.
Albert McKenzie, Starfliers To: Emily Furukawa, Ionic Incorporated Subject: Digital Package
The superficial details you have provided appear to match the idea we have on our end. Once I collate all the information together, I will forward this package to the Starflier staff on board your labs. This way they can discuss directly with you the specifics and what the next steps are.
At the moment, we are working on gathering more cartography reports to further push the current Jintsuriki system. Once we establish it's operational limitations and boundaries against every stellar body type, then we will have a reference to work with on this new scanner system.
You will be waiting on us to gather enough information before we proceed.
Albert McKenzie, Starfliers To: Emily Furukawa, Ionic Incorporated Subject: Adventure
Excuse my absence. The team thought it best to vote against my never-ending working habits. Was forced against my will to take a hiatus from all operations.
You may find I am a little behind my usual speed to reply, so if I may ask, please enlighten me on what adventure awaits us.
Target: Albert McKenzie
Sender: Emily Furukawa
Subject: Practical Application
Mr McKenzie,
It's the culmination of our previous efforts, the prototype vessel, the advanced Jintsuriki suite.
That is to say, a one-of-a-kind exploration craft is spaceworthy, crewed, licensed, and awaiting departure at our drydocks, ready to collate some of those cartography reports you wish to test the system for - the Infinity.
We have chosen the southern Omegas as our itinerary because of relatively vague reports of newly stabilized jump holes leading to anomalous systems, something you probably know more about than us. It's an area very far from our usual reach and intel, so we have been in contact with the Independent Miners Guild, who are far more familiar with the region, and are willing to support us in the endeavor.
The 66th Joint Expeditionary Division, which Infinity is the lead ship of, has been given preliminary authorization by the Uchugun to engage in shall we say "civilian" exploration under our command, barring national emergency. So, we are by all our calculations ready to go.
Which brings me to my actual point. I'd like to cordially invite yourself, or any of your personnel working at Ionic, to join the expedition on board the Infinity. Both as a token of our longstanding partnership, but also of course because we appreciate your expertise in the field of exploration.
Now I know you might have some reservations about being involved in a task force that ultimately answers to Kusari Ministry of Defense, but Infinity flies Kishiro colors, and this is a civilian expedition under our overall command.
Either way, you can look forward to some hopefully very interesting mapping data, which we will be happy to share and analyze with you.
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