Garrick was found himself oddly reverant as the majestic frame of the Imperator passed by the window out which he was staring. The hulking battleship dwarfed every other ship in the fleet, save the Flagship of course. Garrick could hardly as anything as the ship cleared the Flagship's path.<br/><br/>"Thank you for those words of encouragement, Mister President...My Lord. I'm sure I speak for all the crew when I say what an honour it is to undertake this great voyage." Admiral Hawkins spoke into the comm panel.<br/><br/>"With your permission, we are ready to get underway."<br/><br/>"Of course, Admiral. Godspeed to you and your crew."<br/><br/>Admiral bowed slight to the comm station, more out of habit than anything else. He turned to Captain Graves and gave a curt authoratively nod.<br/>"XO, Begin jump prep, secure all stations."<br/><br/>"Aye aye, sir." Graves said, grabbing one of the handhelds and putting it up to his mouth.<br/><br/>"All hands, secure stations and prepare to jump."<br/><br/>"Ensign Fawkes, Start the jump clock."<br/><br/>"Aye aye, sir. Jump clock set. T-minus thirty seconds."<br/><br/>"Spinning up the core, sir. All systems go. Containment within tolerances."<br/><br/>The ship suddenly shuddered and groaned as the massive warship started her engines.<br/>"T-minus twenty. Main engines online. Making the run up, sir".<br/><br/>"Approaching escape velocity. T-minus fifteen...."<br/>"Initiating Rosenberg drive..."<br/>"ten...nine...eight....seven....six....five....four....three...two...one..."<br/><br/>"Jump!"<br/><br/>Suddenly as if a great yawning maw opened up before them, a pit of blackest night that strained and groaned with an exotic howl of energy. Light itself seemed to warp and slip into the rupture, silhoutting it with jagged white streaks that resembled teeth. It almost looked like a cheap scifi film's version of a giant worm's mouth.  Garrick's eyes opened in sudden fear as the ship plunged headlong into the singularity. The ship moaning with the effort of such intense gravitational forces. Violent shuddering and jarring also knocked Garrick on his ass, as he held white-knuckled onto the railing. He couldn't bear to bring himself too look up into the abyss they had just plunged.<br/><br/>Though, within a few moments, the intense  jarring subsided, and the ship seemed to smooth out.<br/><br/>Garrick pulled himself up , offering a hand to Todd, who had fallen down. Garrick pulled him up and brushed him off a little.<br/>"You alright?"<br/>"Yeah. I just...didn't really expect that." Todd said, his voice small and his eyes rather wide.<br/>Garrick chuckled. "Neither did I."<br/>Todd smiled for a second, as they both looked around, it seemed that most of the gathered crowd had been knocked down or at least thrown to their knees. Some of them were already starting to get up.<br/><br/>"Report!" Hawkins barked rather sternly as he pulled himself up, his back aching with the strain and his age.<br/><br/>"Sir." said Ensign Fawkes, pulling himself back into his chair.<br/>A few seconds passed as Fawkes fiddled with his interface.<br/>"No damage. Minor causalities. Mostly bumps and bruises. Subspace tunnel is stable. The fleet made it through the rupture. We are on course for Proxima Centauri."<br/><br/>And then suddenly, there was a collective gasp of awe from the gathered.<br/><br/>Garrick followed their gaze and looked up.<br/><br/>Where there had once been stars, now a cavalcade of deep purples, blues and reds danced like ballerinas across the "tunnel" walls. Like fingers of light, snaking joyfully around the carapace of energy that protected the Flagship, and the fleet.<br/>Before them, lay a great black tunnel much as he had seen it before, with no light but that of the streamers as they ran forward of the ship. Not unlike dolphins racing a schooner on the oceans of Earth.<br/><br/>Garrick smiled a little, looking down to the Admiral, whose wrinkled stern features looked up to the prancing lights with a a fascination.<br/><br/>"What are those, Mister Gates?"<br/>A young tanned Alliance officer looked up from his console.<br/>"Sir, sensors indicate they are photons of light energy whose wavelengths have been stretched to the breaking point. They seem to be "stuck" to our Rosenberg fields."<br/><br/>"How is that possible?"<br/>"Not sure, sir. According to the laws of physics, it shouldn't be possible."<br/><br/>Hawkins chuckled a little, as he looked to Graves, who simply shrugged.<br/><br/>"Keep an eye on that, Lieutenant, let me know if anything changes."<br/>"Aye sir."<br/><br/>"Well...we did it...congratulations everyone. We just made history."<br/><br/>Hawkins grinned as a round of applause and cheering erupted on the bridge.<br/><br/>"And I have been told to inform you, the mess hall is having a banquet this evening in honour of our success. " Hawkins said, raising his voice above the din.<br/>"I hope to see you all there. Carry on!"<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>