Tom Remy
The Flea - SHIPtember 2020 - The Story
The Flea Jump Drive technology (FJD) has been developed during the last years of the Long Independence War (2781-3013) that opposed the Terran Prosperity Sphere (TPS) to the Orion Freedom Coalition (OFC). It was basically the oldest colonies surrounding the Earth against the ones who went far into the the Milky Way’s Orion Arm.
In a desperate attempt to keep her colonies, the TPS built six lethal weapons between 3011 and 3013: giant laser cannon spaceships featuring the recently discovered FJD. Capable of striking entire continents on planets far in the galaxy, these Flea Jump Driven Laser Weapons (FJD-LW) luckily never got to be used. Their existence somehow leaked, which provoked protests and riots even on Earth, accelerating the Terran Prosperity Sphere political collapse that lead to the armistice.
Five of the massive spaceships were dismantled, but in the turmoil of the fall of the TPS, the Terran Space Force lost track of the sixth. In fact, at the announce of the armistice, a certain Terran general went crazy, decided to go on a suicide mission against the OFC and took control of the ship on his own. He jumped from Procyon space docks’ vicinity and nobody saw either of them after that…
Four years later.
Lots of ex-military pilots from both sides have founded transportation companies to connect distant planets. The Denebola Freight Co was one of them: a single small cargo ship manned by the 3 only company’s employees and directors: Marcus, Jonz and Aiki, who became friends during the War. While they were salvaging wrecks for spare parts in the Chara 2 asteroid belt, they discovered the FJD/LW#6 orbiting a small rock. To their surprise, nobody claimed the ship. Under the interstellar jurisdiction it was theirs, as long as they dismantled the weapons – and returned the body of the late general who eventually committed suicide a few hours before getting out of air, after realizing he was not able to operate the Flea Jump Drive successfully… Not anybody’s a pilot!
It took Marcus, Jonz and Aiki a good two years to remodel the spaceship. The synthetic quartz used for the laser’s tube was a marvelous (and usually madly expensive!) material that included radiation shielding and autorepair nano-canals. They built a habitat in it from scratch, removed all defence turrets, added some other features and, on 30th of September 3020, officially renamed the ship "Flea", the first private leisure ship not owned by a billionaire, and the only one in her category featuring FJD.
The Specs:
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50428748986/in/datepo...
Other shots:
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50390679668/in/datepo...
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50390677113/in/datepo...
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50424055218/in/datepo...
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50429021361/in/datepo...
The Flea - SHIPtember 2020 - The Story
The Flea Jump Drive technology (FJD) has been developed during the last years of the Long Independence War (2781-3013) that opposed the Terran Prosperity Sphere (TPS) to the Orion Freedom Coalition (OFC). It was basically the oldest colonies surrounding the Earth against the ones who went far into the the Milky Way’s Orion Arm.
In a desperate attempt to keep her colonies, the TPS built six lethal weapons between 3011 and 3013: giant laser cannon spaceships featuring the recently discovered FJD. Capable of striking entire continents on planets far in the galaxy, these Flea Jump Driven Laser Weapons (FJD-LW) luckily never got to be used. Their existence somehow leaked, which provoked protests and riots even on Earth, accelerating the Terran Prosperity Sphere political collapse that lead to the armistice.
Five of the massive spaceships were dismantled, but in the turmoil of the fall of the TPS, the Terran Space Force lost track of the sixth. In fact, at the announce of the armistice, a certain Terran general went crazy, decided to go on a suicide mission against the OFC and took control of the ship on his own. He jumped from Procyon space docks’ vicinity and nobody saw either of them after that…
Four years later.
Lots of ex-military pilots from both sides have founded transportation companies to connect distant planets. The Denebola Freight Co was one of them: a single small cargo ship manned by the 3 only company’s employees and directors: Marcus, Jonz and Aiki, who became friends during the War. While they were salvaging wrecks for spare parts in the Chara 2 asteroid belt, they discovered the FJD/LW#6 orbiting a small rock. To their surprise, nobody claimed the ship. Under the interstellar jurisdiction it was theirs, as long as they dismantled the weapons – and returned the body of the late general who eventually committed suicide a few hours before getting out of air, after realizing he was not able to operate the Flea Jump Drive successfully… Not anybody’s a pilot!
It took Marcus, Jonz and Aiki a good two years to remodel the spaceship. The synthetic quartz used for the laser’s tube was a marvelous (and usually madly expensive!) material that included radiation shielding and autorepair nano-canals. They built a habitat in it from scratch, removed all defence turrets, added some other features and, on 30th of September 3020, officially renamed the ship "Flea", the first private leisure ship not owned by a billionaire, and the only one in her category featuring FJD.
The Specs:
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50428748986/in/datepo...
Other shots:
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50390679668/in/datepo...
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50390677113/in/datepo...
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50424055218/in/datepo...
www.flickr.com/photos/137570419@N02/50429021361/in/datepo...