To:Communications Hub Sender:Aktivist Sarah McFarlen Origin:Frankfurt Relay #2
Report #002: The Grand Tour (Sort Of.)
Me again. So, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Strebepfeiler's flying. The bad news is that she's just not flying terribly far. There's also a slight chance that I may have to replace the reactor, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Kicked off the test at a respectable hour this morning, unlike that six in the morning touchdown I had a couple of days ago. Really, someone tell me why we need to work at unholy hours in space. We don't even have a day/night cycle.
Sorry. Jetlag.
Anyway, I started out by running out to a few of the jump points around Frankfurt, and just about everything (shield readout excluded. I think the warning's still calibrated to the hardware. I'll check up on that and let you know.) came back green across the board. That's the good news. The jump to Sigma-13 threw things off a bit, though. Fuel consumption during the jump was way, way higher than normal. As in, likely to limit range to a few systems, higher. I'm not quite sure what's triggering it yet. I'm thinking something's not wired up correctly in the tail end, perhaps the jump reactors aren't converting properly. It'd explain why we're burning through H-Fuel like nobody's business. That's the first guess. I'll likely have to peel the plating off and have a look. Again.
That aside, everything else seems to be working. Oberst Klugmann (Sir.) was kind enough to give me a brief tour of Frankfurt and Munich before Strebepfelier dragged us back to Luneburg with engine woes. Nothing too far out of the ordinary to report in terms of the flight itself. A whole lot of rocks, and another Bunds- How on Earth do you people live your lives pronouncing these things? A regular revolutionary pilot, Schattensucher (Seeker, for those of us who aren't vocal contortionists) pulled us aside on the way back in to discuss something he's come across. I'm not going to pretend I was up-to-date on most of it, I was too busy trying to sort out what was being said. I'm sure the Oberst'll have some details for you on that.
So, in summary. I'll be taking another look at Strebepfelier, and it looks like the operations board'll be busy soon. I've also been having a look through our databases, and I've got a bit of an idea, but I'll get back to you on that one once I'm sure it'll work.
Also, no pictures. Yeah, I know. Turns out the guncams were wired in with that shield as well. No, I haven't got the faintest idea why either. If I didn't know better, I'd think someone didn't want us playing with their toys.
End Message
"This is really sort of a personal project of mine."
- James Arland, on single-handedly engaging an enemy regiment.
