The construction of the colony fleet bound for Novus not only stood as a milestone for human advancement, but also the beginning of a new era for the company that started it all. With the two children of Irene and Erik now at the helm, a fresh sense of passion and wonder was infused into the lifeblood of Hesk Industries. No expense would be spared in the design and making of this new generation of spacecraft. Mankind had colonized other worlds before, but never one so far away. This expedition would require the best hardware and tech to see the settlers safely to their destination, and then have them prosper without hindrance.
This new colony would host the largest number of settlers of any colony in the first wave; a hundred thousand. Normally they would start small so as to minimize the consequences of potential failure, but something was different about this particular endeavor. An overwhelming sense of confidence circulated through all those involved in the management of this new colonization effort. Not one word of genuine caution was spoken, there was only absolute certainty that they were destined to succeed. Years of success had blinded them to the fact that mistakes can still be made. However, there was one precaution that was taken. Once the fleet made the first half of the journey, they would establish a transmission station; so as to increase the speed in which the new colony could communicate with the Sol system. There were many who thought this to be an unnecessary use of their resources. It was said that if the new colony succumbed to any manner of disaster, it would be pointless to send help. The time it would take to travel to Novus would mean any help sent would only arrive too late. If anything were to be consistent with the development of modern space flight, it would be the obsession to ensure everything is done with safety. Objections towards efforts to potentially save lives have never been so popular in this field of study before. The argument that won the day was that the construction of this station will provide comfort to the colonists, a false sense of security if you will. It was then fully understood that this station would certainly help fight against the psychological threats that some colonists would face as they traveled into deep space.
Up until this point in time, the UNSA Irene was the largest and fastest spacecraft mankind ever developed. The Hesk children made it their goal to design a new spacecraft that would improve upon the Irene’s design in every way. The name of this next generation warp station would be, the Harbinger. Like the Irene, it was capable of generating a warp field large enough to bring with it nearly a thousand spacecraft at speeds to be feared. The Harbinger’s design included something completely new, something the Irene couldn’t do entirely (To learn more about the Irene see Entry 2 in Miracles and the Scientific Method: The Invention of Faster Than Light Travel.) If it was necessary, the Harbinger could disconnect from the two massive warp rings that were located on its bow and stern; transforming into the first of a new class of warships, a God of War. Piracy was still very much in its infancy, but in the case of this criminal activity ever developing in the Mira system, this ship will be there to respond with extreme prejudice.
The fleet was comprised of a total of seven hundred fifty-eight ships. The Novus Colonization Fleet was finished in 2155. They would begin their interstellar expedition in 2156. The journey would take nearly ten years.
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