May 27th. The sky over Hourai Island was overcast.
At 9:00 a.m., Jin and Elsa stood at the spaceport behind the laboratory.
"The interior isn't finished yet, but all the functions necessary for flight have been installed," Laojun reported.
Essentially, the recreational areas, plant factories, and food stores had not been implemented yet. As such, the crew consisted entirely of golems. Two hundred spacefaring golems, dubbed the Cosmos series by Jin, boarded the vessel.
The Cosmos series shared a similar build with the Sky and Land models, but they were forged from 64 light silver and shone with a brilliant golden hue. Equipped with force generators, they were—theoretically—able to move freely through the vacuum of space. Tasked with maintenance and repairs, they were capable of using Craft Magic on a level comparable to the Smiths.
Cosmos 1 served as captain, while the ship's systems were overseen by the magi-brain Taisei.
"My Lord, please bestow a name upon this spaceship," Taisei requested.
"All right." Without a moment's hesitation, Jin gave his answer. "My flagship shall be named the Adriana."
Hearing the name, Reiko, standing just behind Jin’s shoulder, offered a gentle smile. The name ADRIANA appeared on the ship's flank, etched in gleaming gold letters.
"Preparations for departure are complete. We are ready to launch at your command."
"Good. Launch!"
Had this been a rocket launch, the exhaust would have made the immediate area incredibly hazardous; however, because the vessel utilized force generators, there was virtually no impact on the surroundings. The Adriana began to rise, its ascent initially so slow it stirred nothing more than a light breeze.
If an object three hundred meters in diameter were to accelerate instantly, it would create a localized hurricane. It started at a walking pace, gradually picking up speed as it climbed to minimize the atmospheric disturbance. Once it cleared two hundred meters, its speed hit one hundred kilometers per hour.
The Adriana pierced the cloud layer above Hourai Island, punching a clean hole through the vapor to reveal the brilliant blue sky above.
"All right, we'll track the rest of the flight from the laboratory."
"Mm."
Jin, Elsa, and Reiko hurried to the command room inside the laboratory to follow the Adriana’s progress on the massive monitors.
"The ship has currently exceeded ten thousand meters," Laojun reported. The video feed was being relayed from a Watcher satellite. "It will clear the stratosphere in roughly one minute."
Its velocity had climbed to nearly one kilometer per second. The flagship shrank rapidly on the screen.
"Propulsion performance is within expected parameters," a voice announced. It was Taisei’s voice this time, rather than Laojun’s. "I will now display the feed from the Adriana itself."
One of the many magi-screens flickered, showing a breathtaking view of deep space from the ship's perspective.
"First, we shall enter orbit around Ars."
The Adriana settled into a circular orbit with a thirty-thousand-kilometer radius, its speed hitting two hundred kilometers per second.
"A full revolution around Ars will take 15.7 minutes."
Thanks to its force generators, it could maintain a perfect circular orbit independent of the planet's gravitational pull. The view from the Adriana shifted rapidly. When the ship crossed into the night side, it became clear how different this world was from Earth; there were almost no artificial lights visible on the continents below.
Fifteen minutes later, the Adriana returned to the space high above Hourai Island.
"All systems operational. We are now breaking orbit," Taisei reported. "Destination: the Moon."
A lunar orbit had always been a key objective for this maiden voyage. The Adriana accelerated once more.
"Velocity at three hundred kilometers per second. This is approximately the current limit."
"Laojun acknowledged. Reduce to cruising speed."
"Taisei acknowledged. Reducing to two hundred kilometers per second."
The distance to the Moon was estimated at 380,000 kilometers, meaning the journey would take roughly thirty-two minutes at their current pace. Laojun and Taisei planned to use that interval for several experiments.
"First, we will test the range of the manacam."
Data transmission was a vital concern. Laojun throttled the manacam’s output to half of its usual power and sent a signal to the Adriana.
"Adriana here. Signal is clear."
At a distance of fifty thousand kilometers, the signal remained perfect. They tested it again after a few minutes.
"Adriana here. Signal is still clear."
The response was identical at one hundred thousand kilometers.
"My Lord, the manacam's range appears to be quite impressive," Laojun remarked. Since they weren't even using focused communication yet, the range was indeed significant.
Then, at two hundred thousand kilometers:
"Adriana here. Signal strength remains sufficient."
"Oh, that's excellent."
"Jin-nii, is that because there's nothing out there to block it?" Elsa finally spoke up, having been seemingly lost in awe at the scale of the cosmos and the Adriana’s success.
"Yeah, that’s likely a factor. There's probably quite a bit of interference on the surface."
Jin hypothesized that the vacuum of space, containing only pure free ether, was far clearer than the planet's surface, which was cluttered with natural mana sources like magi-crystals.
"Approaching three hundred thousand kilometers. While the signal is likely still fine, I am returning the output to normal power."
"Taisei acknowledged. Signal is perfect. The Moon is looming large ahead of us."
In retrospect, the power levels they used on the surface seemed like massive overkill. These experimental data would be fed back into daily operations for further optimization.
"Arrival at lunar orbit confirmed. Establishing circular orbit."
Even at 380,000 kilometers, communication remained flawless. Of course, that distance was a pittance compared to the 150 million kilometers between the sun, Celane, and Ars. At the Adriana's top speed, it would take nearly twelve days to reach a planet like Hale on the far side of the sun.
"Well, let's start with a lunar survey," Jin said, grounding his thoughts.
Looking at the feed, the surface was strikingly different from Earth's Moon—there wasn't a crater in sight.
"Is there... no atmosphere?"
He wouldn't know for certain without a closer look. For the moment, however, testing the ship's systems remained the priority.
"I will also take this opportunity to test the range of the Warp Gate," Laojun announced.
Knowing if the gates could serve as emergency exits in deep space was crucial.
"This is Taisei. In ten seconds, I will transmit a sample magi-crystal to Shinkai. Beginning countdown... 8... 7... 6..."
"Laojun acknowledged."
"3... 2... 1... 0!"
"Shinkai reporting. We have successfully received the magi-crystal from the Adriana."
"It worked!" Jin exclaimed.
Being able to transport matter over nearly 400,000 kilometers was massive news. Then, another report arrived.
"This is Taisei. Mana consumption for the transmission is not proportional to the distance traveled."
Compared to a standard surface transfer, the cost had barely doubled.
"Hmm. If a Warp Gate links two points through something like a subspace tunnel, then distance might be irrelevant once you're inside that tunnel..." Jin mused.
"Laojun to Taisei. I am returning the magi-crystal to you via transporter. Prepare for reception."
"Taisei acknowledged."
Preparation simply involved having the Cosmos golems stand by to receive the item. Laojun placed the crystal back into the transporter.
"Initiating transfer. 3... 2... 1... 0!"
A report came in instantly.
"Taisei here. The magi-crystal has appeared in the command room."
The transporter test was a resounding success. They had confirmed that transporters, Warp Gates, and communications all functioned perfectly between Ars and its moon.
"Now that I think about it, there isn't any lag, either. What exactly are ether waves...?"
Light should have taken over a second to traverse that distance, yet the communications felt instantaneous. Jin realized he lacked the data to draw any firm conclusions, but the lack of latency was a more than welcome discovery.
Finally, the Adriana began its approach toward the far side of the Moon.