Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Nico looked at the data with a frown. "Well, I can say for certain why this method of travel did not become a mainstream technology anywhere in the known universe. Look at the power output requirements as the speed increases.

The draw for every Warp Factor increases by an exponential factor of a hundred thousand. Even making it to Warp Two was impressive, and it would take a Destroyer-sized drive module to generate enough power to make Warp Three.

But we have proven that it works and that it works in the other layer. Should we begin testing it in this layer to do a flyby of the other planets in this solar system? It would let us know if there was anything hiding out of our direct line of sight, and we could see if it was actually possible to travel beyond warp speed here."

That was one of the concerns that they had when the Warp Bubbles wouldn't stabilize for the Hunters when they first arrived. If the damage to the other layers was causing too much interference for the Warp Bubbles, it might also be causing enough interference to destroy any other vessel that tried to move at high speed here.

Orbital speed didn't seem to be an issue for either the shuttle or the Drone Bombers, but that was a tiny fraction of what they would be subjected to as they reached light speed.

"Yes, if we can get to the other planets, then at least we won't be trapped here if things go wrong. Being able to attack from orbit will give us a much larger advantage against the Myceloids in the future, as well as allow us to get proper satellite data for our troops.

Holding the Anomaly is the first priority, but if we can at least get them off this continent, it would let everyone rest a lot more easily." Lilith agreed.

Max nodded in agreement. Even though they had more pressing concerns right now, like establishing a proper foothold in the region around the Anomaly, it was essential that they start planning for more than just a grinding defensive fight.

Plus, the development of the Traction Drive might actually have other uses that they hadn't considered yet, or there might be some breakthrough in the efficiency while the Innu studied it that would make it an actual, viable method of transport.

"Bringing the Shuttle back to this layer," Nico announced, then frowned.

"Bringing the shuttle back in five minutes, after the onboard Android fixes the blown-out capacitors that we overloaded trying to get the ship to Warp Two with the Traction Drive. It looks like the power system was overloaded and overheated in the attempt."

Nico sent orders with a frown on her face, but Max could see in the diagnostic data that the problem had been an unexpected one. The capacitors had been holding, but as they cooled down after use, an issue with the composition of their design had caused them to crack, rendering them useless.

They didn't have anything else in their database with that sort of size-to-capacity ratio either, so they couldn't be swapped for another design at the moment. It would require some redesign of the whole system before the problem would be solved.

But, on the bright side, they now knew about the issue, and when they activated it again, they would know if it was a problem that could be replicated or if it was a one-off occurrence.

"I will slow the cooling rate when the load is removed. Perhaps a slower cooldown period will be enough to keep the system intact after the next trial." Nico announced just before the shuttle appeared in the regular sensors again.

There were a few tense moments while the shuttle did a diagnostic check to see if the new Capacitors were damaged with the effort of returning the shuttle to this layer, and then Nico was back to her usual narration, going through the diagnostic checks and preparations for the ship to engage its engines.

It wasn't strictly necessary. Everyone in the room knew the preflight routine, but narrating it out loud made sure that there was a proper recording and that there were others who could catch a missed step as it happened if it happened.

The shuttle powered up, and as it reached what the Alliance usually called cruising speed, the standard rate for movement within a solar system, the sensors began to creep up toward dangerous levels of interference and instability.

There were massive energy fluctuations somewhere, or perhaps gravitational fluctuations, but there was no clear cause for them in either of the layers of space that they had managed to access.

"Slowing down to half of cruising speed. Fluctuation levels are no longer dangerous to the shuttle. It looks like we won't get a chance to test the traction drive here. It is simply unsafe to attempt to travel that fast in this region.

However, we can send out a probe past the edge of the solar system and see if it is a localized phenomenon. There is a good chance that this interference might be very limited in scope and that leaving the immediate area will allow normal travel again." Nico suggested.

Khan nodded. "We will get a team on it. Our probes are more advanced than the ones you are using, so we should be able to get them out of the solar system at half Cruising Speed without them blowing apart. But now that we know that we can't just immediately leave, it begs the question of what the Myceloids are doing here.

Did they just get trapped, and their primary drive wouldn't get them out of the area fast enough? That could be possible if it were all Warp Field based. But if they picked this region, there could be multiple reasons, ranging from the presence of the Anomaly to the simple fact that it wasn't inhabited.

We will start our analysis of the other stars in the region as soon as we get a probe free of the interference. But we have made great progress today. If you don't object, we would like to have a copy of those engine designs for our records, just in case we come across something similar again."

Max nodded. "I will send it right over. It's not patented yet, so kindly don't show it to the Alliance. You know how they get."

The Huntresses all laughed at the acknowledgement that there would be a huge fuss over unpatented technology if it were spread around, even more so than the first few designs that Terminus Trading Company put out because these were directly space travel related.