Pigeon


Description[edit]

A Jump Pigeon (also called JumpShip Pigeon or simply Pigeon) is a detachable component of a Kearny-Fuchida Drive core, namely the field initiator or certain modular, redundant components of it, that can perform a single jump, without jumping the entire drive core or JumpShip in the process. Mounted on some JumpShip models from the Star League era, Pigeons were typically used as distress beacons.[1]

An extremely expensive technology that never performed quite satisfactory, Pigeons tended to cause (further) damage to the drive core and power system when launched; they also often failed to properly form a jump field, resulting in the Pigeon emerging from the jump as a mangled mess.[1] The advent of HPG communication technology made Pigeons essentially redundant, and the concept faded into obscurity after the twenty-sixth century.[1]

Arguably the most famous case of Pigeon use was the Chahar Profit, which sent a distress signal via Pigeon after misjumping into the Draconis Combine system of Darius in 2827. In this instance the Pigeon was launched roughly a day after the jump, indicating that a Pigeon possibly does not require a fully charged drive core. It is unknown if the Chahar Profit was equipped with a Lithium-Fusion Battery system.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Strategic Operations, p. 124, "JumpShip Pigeons"

Bibliography[edit]