TA32

==Chapter 32 - The Armada==
KCGS Tranh Truk Ngo III
Landmark Class Destroyer
2 AU from Foster Star System
3069?
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[KCGS Tranh Truk Ngo... in the rainshadow...]
The 'rainshadow' turned out to be the wrong name-or the right one.  An Io sized moon provided a second shadow as the nova-wave hit.  A number of interesting and unique events proceeded to take place.
The sulphurous 'atmosphere' of the Io-clone moon was also partially shredded-but this was by having the brown dwarf gas giant ignite under the concentrated (yet still dispersed) energies hitting the solar system.
Foster, for its part lost its delightfully earthlike conditions, but that was more than 2 AU away.
Mike watched from the roof of the Alpha turret installation, anchored with magnetic boots, only his suit between his body and the rest of the universe.
It's all math, in this case, geometry and calculus.  Either the combined mass of the Gas Giant and the moon's position would protect him, or it wouldn't.
The light show was spectacular, especially as the blast of superheated particles and hypervelocity gas washed through the solar system.
Seeing a super-Jupiter convert into a star was pretty amazing too-amazing enough that afterward, he needed help finding his way to the airlock.
Death for one solar system has given birth to another, right in front of his now blinded eyes.
"Captain, we're inside."
"Do we still have the uplink on our BBA, Arto?" Mike asked, as he felt his way to the command seat.
"Aye sir."
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Transmission to HQ:
"Ladies and gentlemen at home, this is Captain Michael Nguyen, of the Kowloon Coast Guard heavy cutter Tranh Truk Ngo III. I am broadcasting to you from the former site of the Foster system.  We have survived the blast wave, and I have seen something amazing. The formation of a nebula, the birth of a sun.  Now for the technical report, Chief Engineer Rowen?"
"We've managed to identify and collect several hundred kilograms of exotic matter in the event. Our collector modification sent to us by the Nagelring Science department and the modifications proposed by NAIS have proven effective in capturing and, for the moment, containing without destruction these exotic particles.  Best estimate is something on the order of six kilograms, which is four more than the spec-sheets sent to us by CERN suggested for the Alcubierre prototype drive.  We're still working on assembling the necessary components, but we should be able to initiate a test flight in thirty seven days.  if it works, we're coming home, if it doesn't? well, if it doesn't, everyone will know it doesn't."
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