Weather Gang

Created in 2657 CE, the Weather Gang was an experimental hyperdrive propulsion. It was the first ship-sized prototype of the Weather Drive technology, fitted into a ship called "Rider". The scientists lacked the resources to build a massive hyperdrive. Instead, they linked all their prototypes together, to sync up and propulse the ship. This gang of hyperdrives thus was called the Weather Gang.
Initial experiments indicated that the drives could indeed work together, even providing more flexibility that would allow for additional Relativity. This was a unique aspect of the Weather Drive, as other hyperdrives clash with each other instead. Thus there were high hopes for the Rider's results. However, the ship vanished, leaving disrupted traces behind that suggested a catastrophic failure.

Type

Hyperdrive

Creation Date

2657 CE

Relativity

Theorised to be up to 4.3

The Rider

Design

The ship was designed to house a full set of fourteen Weather Drives. The ship also contained energy storages, allowing the ship to deal with any required power fluctuations by storing any excess. It also contained an entire battery of cryogenic tubes, used to store spare fuel rods. These tubes could double as a way of storing samples obtained during its travels.
Capable of supporting a crew of 106, the Rider also had storage areas, sleeping quarters, research computers, as well as multiple sensor arrays. It used three bridges, to share the load and add redundancy. In addition, it had space for four Hopper class transports while still having multiple empty holds. Lastly, it had an arsenal and weapons for fending off pirates.

Disappearance

A total crew of 48 boarded the ship during its maiden voyage, including four Stormriders. Said Stormriders had arranged some of the project's sponsoring. This was because they approved of how the Weather Drive did not force itself into the Hypersea but went with the flow.
While the initial tests went well, observers lost contact with the Rider shortly after it began performing a serious test using six of its drives. Further investigation led to the conclusion that the ship was lost. With all scientists and prototypes on board of the Rider, the research project was considered a failure and the technology a dead end. There is no remaining documentation of the project, only hearsay.