...With the lull in active defense, and the unsucessful
attempt for a super battleship ( the David )...E.D.F. went in a new direction. Most of the older capital ships were decommisioned,
and the force took time to experiment with new technology. It was decided that even with galactic harmony, the time would
come when a strong defense would be needed... Earth must be ready. With this line of thought, Officials in the force approached
the United Earth Council. They looked at the accomplishments of the Star Force and it's ship, Yamato. It was decided that
a second version of this great ship was to be built. (Useing the designs ment for Musashi's resurrection.) This project was
to be kept in secret, as to avoid the arguments that came before. In the fall of 2219, The E.D.F. Board of Directors got the
go ahead to re-engineer the Yamato.
The designers started with the original blueprints...(
This was a chore in it's self as they had to look both to old E.D.F. records, and the original designs of the ship as built
in the mid 20th century!) The new design was to be over 1,000 feet, and possess a more powerful W.M. Engine. She would also
be given two auxilliary W.M. Guns, mounted along her hull below what was her water-line.
The most unusual addition was in the proposed U.D.D....Or
Ultra-Dimentional Drive. Earth scientists had known that this type of propulsion was possible, but the technology involved
was too elusive. The advantage of this type of drive would allow deeper travel into the cosmos than ever before. Instead of
riding space from point to point as with conventional warping, The U.D. engine would phase the vessel out...and instantly
phase it back again...million's of light years away. In this manner, it would be possible to reach the farthest observed parts
of the known universe in the blink of an eye.
The Failure of Ultra-dimentional Drive
The new drive was designed and engineered...the
placed on experimental vessels. First to use Ultra-dimentional drive tech was the unmaned drone battleship Trident. The test
took place in the year 2226... She was activated, and "phased out"...Ending up in sector 267.B...27 light years away from
her starting point, and right on target.
In the summer of 2227, a U.D.D. Drive was installed
in The old space-carrier Brazil. This time, the test would include a full crew, ( Testing with animals first was on the agenda...but
due to time restraints, and good results with the drone, the schedule was stepped up.) The test jump would send the ship some
75 light years away in seconds. The data looked good, and the readings were clear for the first human jump....Disaster struck.
The massive ship phased out...and back in at the point expected...but exploding...The Ultra-dimentional field inducers ripped
the ship apart..And, with-in a few seconds, the Brazil was gone.
It was concluded that the accident was caused by
a failure on the quantum level, involving the super computer that arranged matter. The addition of 357 humans, each with millions
of D.N.A. arrangements, along with all the other material aboard...over-welmed the machine and it crashed in mid-phase. A
more powerful sorce of re-stablization was required. With this wall in the technology... The U.D. Drive was abandoned all
together. The year was 2229.
With the failure of this technology, The New "Argo"
blueprints were put on the back burner. The idea was to wait for the U.D.D. to be perfected first.
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