22 Two Years’ Worth of Effort Part 2

Zaleha tried to reduce her anxiety by taking a deep breath before touching the body of the first prototype spaceship fitted with the FTL-engine. She had gone through 2 years of crazy training regime to hone her ability to the fullest just for this moment. Having His Highness Ancestor King Roland standing by her side observing, aggravated her nervousness. This was the final step before deployment which was scheduled for tomorrow. A number of researchers and workers were waiting a hundred meters away from her location, waiting for her to complete her job.

A few centimeters before the touch, she stopped abruptly and turned to the Ancestor King, "Your Highness, can you please stay a bit further away? 500 meters away will be better." Zaleha was a little anxious. If only the calm Sis Melati was here, she could vacate the Ancestor King as soon as possible if something went wrong. After all, the mighty immortal king was not impervious to injury. She heard that he was as weak as a chicken. However, she can't say it outright. The immortal king will certainly be offended.

"Why? Are you not confident with your own abilities?" She could see the Immortal King smiled calmly at her.

"I do. Just in case." Zaleha lied smoothly with a slight discomfort in her heart while blinking her large doe eyes. Sweat can be seen glistening on her milk coffee colored skin. Truthfully, this will be the first time she magnetized her super strength-super speed combo to an item with this kind of mass. She was successful after thousands of tries with different masses. However, prior to this moment, she was lacking in control for the longest time. Once she touched something with her powers, it immediately sped on without reserve until its power was drained. The imbued super strength characteristic automatically bestowed on items magnetized had incurred countless damage. She was probably the most unpopular witch in Neverwinter.

Two years of hard training managed to control her powers well. The immortal king had also created a device to funnel and control the 'speed' imbued by her. It could be use with a switch at times of need by the flight operator and connected with a magic stone reservoir. This will in turn assisted the FTL engine to burst into a higher speed value as compared to the theoretical 3.8 SOL. This was a classic example of a merging between technology and magic.

"We will proceed. I believe in you. Your hard work will not fail you." The immortal king was more confident than the witch herself.

Zaleha took a moment to concentrate before proceeding to touch the body of the spaceship. She funneled in her energy in waves, a little at a time. Shimmering bluish light was emitted from her touch, as it spread on the body of the dreadnought, just like the movement of an everlasting ripple from a drop of water, covering every inch of it.

The immortal king waited patiently at her side for a good half hour.

Zaleha opened her eyes with confidence.

"It's done, Your Highness." She said as she can see the smile on King Roland face.

[Thank god I have not failed my sisters and His Highness.]

...

Khora walked towards the flying vessel accompanied by twenty researchers. They were the last group to board before the spaceship will embark on its first journey. Their first mission will be to orbit their planet and go to the moon using the primary engine and FTL-engine for data collection. Their second mission is to test the efficiency of the FTL-engine boosted with Zaleha's ability by making a jump to the nearest planet and return. Theoretically, their test-run will take three months if everything turns out fine.

Her own presence was needed in the flight test to observe the stability and integrity of the artificial domain she created. In her hands, she brought along more than thirty samples with differing parameters in them. The white circular plates were stacked individually in two vertical metallic holders. Beside her, Vayu observed the majestic spaceship with an awed expression.

"The final design of this spaceship is way different from the ones in the ocean." She turned to her best friend beside her.

"Of course it will be different, Vayu. The ones you used to see was for sea operations. This one is for space. I heard from other sisters, this spaceship is supposed to be the first flying aircraft inside our atmosphere but was modified to cater to outer space. Sis Anya is a genius!" Khora updated her bestie with the latest gossip.

"I wonder if we will be alright." Vayu was slightly worried.

"Hush, stop worrying Vayu. We will be back before we realize" Khora was also very nervous in her heart but tried her best not to think too much. She knew this test run was highly dangerous. If her hands were not full right now, she would've pinched Vayu's cheeks savagely. That girl really need to stop spouting sensitive sentences.

Khora's most important job in the test flight was to find any problems that might occur especially during the usage of warp drive.She had tested her samples in vacuum as well as in unstable environments. Fortunately, the circular plates were robust enough to withstand the harsh elements. However, she had no chance to test the independent spaces during warping moments since the first spaceship prototype was just finished. When space-time distortion occurred, will the life form present inside affected? Most importantly, will the artificial space collapse altogether or survived? She had no answer for that. Only time would tell.

Everyone was very concerned with this matter. Loosing this witch meant loosing resources at an unprecedented level. They couldn't survive without her. Her artificial space ability was very important for the underground bunker project. They were not afraid of lacking food resources and assets due to her. Every citizen could also be protected inside the bunkers without compromising on basic comfort while waiting for planetary migration.

However, this time, everyone knew that the trial run for the FTL-engine was crucial. If the artificial independent space couldn't withstand the wrap effect, it wasn't possible for them to evacuate everyone from their home planet. They didn't have that kind of resources and time to build spaceships after spaceships to accommodate every single life-form from their dying planet.

In front of the hatch, Anya greeted her sisters-in-arms with a smile. "Welcome sisters. Please come in."

Khora and Vayu could only smile back to her while trying their best to not show their negative emotions. A military officer helped took over the metallic holder containing the experimental plates from Khora's two hands.

"So, would you like a tour inside this spaceship?" Anya smiled at the two worried-looking ladies.

"Of course! I'd like to see the famed FTL-engine room. I heard the Antimatter Core you developed was a must-see sight!" Khora tried her best to lift the moods of everyone.

"Excuse me, I would like to deliver something to a Miss Anya, Miss Zaleha, Miss Khora, and Miss Vayu." A beautiful lady with a serious demeanor in a tight-skin suit stopped them. She opened up a flat metallic box facing the three witches. Inside, there was four sets of square crystal white earrings the size of a thumb each. It was simple yet delicate. "From His Highness Roland. He asks that you wear them at all times. It is a safety measure, which will act automatically during times of need."

Before the sisters could ask more out of the mysterious lady, she had already gone away after they took a pair of earrings each. Vayu took the extra one and planned to give it to Zaleha later inside the command room. The ladies were baffled with the Immortal King's gift. To squeeze such things inside this tiny thing was unbelievable. Was it even possible?

"Don't think too much. Wear them now before you forgot." Anya immediately clasped the earrings on her own ears. The other two witches removed their present earrings and replaced with the new ones. She held both of their hands each and pulled them into the spaceship.

...

At 0800, 18 February 4814, the first spaceship under the dreadnought-category, fitted with the FTL-engine had been launched to space from Neverwinter Military Spaceport. A total of one hundred military personnel and fifty research personnel of varying fields were onboard. The crew captain was Major Anya Stratosky. All the workers and research team members cried as they watched the launch from the main screen in their workspace or their personal Cerebral Connectors. They knew that all their hope in their heart rested together with the spaceship.

"Please be successful." Newton watched the launch from afar.

After the spaceship was gone, he turned around and walked back into the research facility with renewed gait. He still got a lot to do as he knew that this is only the beginning.

...