Day 710 of the second Cylon war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdmiral’s log. Today the Mercury is going to test an FTL upgrade based on technology we took from the Cylons. Our IT people have looked over the technology to insure there are no hardware or software hacks have been built in. We should be able to increase the red line for FTL jumps by a factor of 4 or 5 times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would seem that while we were cowering in fear of technology for decades, the Cylons were working on improving the technology tools. The problem we have been having with this tech is the NAV computer was stressed by the complexity of the calculations. We were finally forced to install more computer hardware to supplement the NAV computers and give them the computational power needed to resolve more complicated jump calculations. I am simply an old viper jock, not a high tech maven. That is my take away from hours o mind numbing meetings with our technology guru, HG, honorary sign Head Geek!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHG and his technology gurus believe they have solved all of the problems and we are ready for a jump test. The Mercury is to conduct the first jump test alone. There is going to be a severe shortage of computer power if we are going to try and implement this solution in the entire fleet. Some of the older classes of ships lack the electrical power to run the additional compute equipment. The FTL systems will require those ships to fly blind and rely on the more modern Valkyries and Mercury class ships to do the calculations for multiple ships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, doing the calculations needed to keep ships from colliding at the destination strains the compute power limitations further. We need to jump and do the calculations as quickly as ever, to avoid having the Cylons jump in on us and turn it into a massacre while we calculate the jump coordinates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admiral Eva Lawson, stepped into CIC and saw her crew working hard. They here checking calculations and making sure every system was working at peak efficiency. They knew this jump was important. If this upgrade succeeded, it would make it that much easier to run away from the Cylons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive officer, call sign \u201dWhiskey\u201d walked three steps to where Lawson liked to stand. \u201cI am suspicious of this toaster tech,\u201d he spoke softly. \u201cI am wondering if they could have built in a way to track us through FTL jumps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know,\u201d Lawson answered softly. \u201cIf the Cylons are able to boost communications using FTL technology, they might have built something in that could report our location in the pre-jump steps, or a location ping right after the jump. However, we are logging all of the communications traffic and recording it for signals analysis. What more can we do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProblem there is we need a super computer to crunch all that data.\u201d The Executive officer nodded, however he still looked nervous. He had developed a tick, pulling at a mustache that he had long shaved off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will take the two backup ships an hour to do the catch up jumps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy don’t we wait an hour then?\u201d Lawson uncharacteristically showed doubts in a tactical plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToo much risk to the battlestars, remember admiral?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh yes. Are we ready to jump?\u201d Admiral Lawson inquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the XO, begin jump countdown.\u201d Normally he said prep for preparation. In this case he changed the word to countdown as most of the steps were done in advance for this test jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNAV computers are spooled up,\u201d said the officer who normally ran the hardware to calculate a safe jump. HG was hovering near the computer console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJump key is inserted and is in the jump position,\u201d another crew member reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CAG was in CIC, staffing the air boss workstation. Fred \u201cPlayboy\u201d Wilson had a viper waiting for him in the launch tube. He was not going to miss the fight if it broke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWheelchair and Kitty are going to launch on the other side with a raptor and an assault raptor. They will put up a Combat Air Patrol. The rest of the air wing is in the tubes ready for a launch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe board is green, ready to jump,\u201d the officers finger hovered over the jump button. The officer made eye contact with the Admiral and the XO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admiral Lawson nodded approval, making sure Major Jones saw her silent approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the XO, execute recon jump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mercury Jumps<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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