User blog comment:Aghostintheboat/The Official Roleplay Room/@comment-13740085-20150102053347

--Open Space, 14 light years to the galactic north of the Neo-Earth system--

The Baltic League warship Sigismund drops out of warp in this empty sector of space, far from prying eyes. Twenty light-seconds (6,000,000 km) away, her companion, Wettin, exits warp as well.

Sigismunds captain ordered the shut down of the conventional propulsion, in preparation for the test. The hum that was reverberating through the ship suddenly ceased, and a quiet settled briefly over the bridge crew. Consoles continued to flash, but the men remained still.

"Bring the Impeller Drive online", the captain calmly said.

A new, distinct hum began rippling through the Sigismund as the experimental propulsion readied. Designed a little over a year ago as an alternative to warp, the drives generated two bands of stressed gravity above and below the vessel. The drive had proved to be both faster and more efficient than warp, but was also very expensive relative to the warp drives. Only a few weeks ago did scientists figure out how to reduce the cost, and it was finally granted approval for testing.

Sigismunds own impeller bands generated a few kilometer above and below, just as intended. But their use for travel wasn't on the test for today. No, they were here to test its combat capabilities. Computer simulations found a consistent side effect of the drives: the impeller bands were impenetrable to all projectile and energy weapons. But field testing was required, and Sigismund was the defender, and Wettin was the aggressor. A glance at the clock confirmed that the data should be arriving at Wettin now, which meant the first salvo would be coming any min...

"Missiles incoming from Wettin", the tactician reported calmly. The captain only nodded. The missiles accelerated towards Sigismund at over 90,000 times the force of gravity, speeds even the best inertial compensators couldn't save a human from, but which the dense alloys in the missiles dealt with ease. The Captain waited, just a little closer.

"Hard roll, 90 degrees starboard", the captain barked. Thrusters maneuvered the ship so her lower band faced the oncoming barrage. Had he waited too long, and had these been real missiles, the missiles would've plowed right into Sigismunds unprotected port side, which along with the starboard remained unshielded. But the ship was able to roll just as planned, and the missiles rammed into the impeller band detonating harmlessly. Another test yielded the same result, and another, and another, until Wettin had unleashed so many salvos her magazines were dry. Their task completed, the impeller drive was shut down, the conventionals rebooted, and the pair turned to head home, and await the next test date.