Sprodzj-0:30 military time- The Sprodzj Atomic Research Center, in the Molvanjan Alps, is quiet. All of the personnell are assembled at the rocket launch facility, a few kilometers away. This is an historic moment for Molvanja and the Balkans. The day of reckoning. In the Launch Control Bunker (LCB), the scientists hold their breaths. Months of hard work and research boil down to this. It is try or die.

The searchlights illuminate the rocket BalkOne as it sits on the launch-pad, the nose cone visible against the night sky. In the LCB, the technicians finish their jobs of prepping the rocket for launch. Months of secretive planning and going around the UN codes of space safety. Outside, the utility workers finish fueling the machine for travel. The trucks remove the gantries, leaving the monolith freestanding on three massive guidance wings. A loudspeaker blares in Molvanjan "Please Evacuate to bunkers. Repeat, all personnell, evacuate to bunkers to observe launch." In the LCB, the technicians wait. A green light flashes once. Two men twist knobs on their control boards. The light flashes twice. More men do the same. Outside, smoke is cascading out of the massive exhaust port of the craft. The light flashes three times. More knobs are turned. A countdown begins. At the end, a red light blinks. The Head Tech, Echtobri Suvora, punches the one button on his control board. With a roar, the massive machine lifts off the pad. Spewing fire and smoke, the rocket pushes itself into the atmosphere. As it reaches the silent vacuum of space, the rocket falls away, revealing a large pod with a strange engine. In the LCB, everyone anxiously looks on as the Head Tech engages the Hyperspace Engine. With a flash, the ship is gone.

"Video Feed established." On the screen, only static is shown. Nervous and high-strung scientists drinking coffee remark "Where is it?" and "What's goin' on?" Suddenly, the screen registers. Outside the cockpit windows, the blackness of space is interrupted by a massive purple cloud. In the cloud, a planet is just barely visible. "Activate the locator." orders the HT. The locator registers. The craft is on the fringes of the Clouds of Magellan. The ship was in the Sirius sector. The bunker was silent for a few moments, and then all hell broke loose. The Molvanjan National Anthem and Elektronic Supersonik were playing on all of the PA systems as the scientists opened bottles of wine, champagne, and zeerstum brandy and drank themselves silly. The system worked. The speed of light had been breached. A few barriers had been jumped over and man could now explore the far reaches of known space. The project was a complete success.

"They've done it."

"WE'VE done it."

"Of course with the funding of tens of billions from several countries and our leading physisists as well."

"True, but they had the idea, they developed the technology itself without outside assistance."

"Oddly enough no mention of other nations pouring in all the funding required to make it happen."

"As long as the official statements before the press doesn't involve taking all the credit for it, we shouldn't have a problem."

"Hopfully...it would save us a lot of trouble in "appropriating" copies of the technology for our own space program."

"I've already planned for that contigency and while the Molvanjans were busy drinking themselves into a drunken stupor, a couple of our scientists was able to copy all the necessary data to create this engine on our own and personally hand it to me. It is in a safe place now."

"What I want to know is how they received instantaneous feed from several light years away, it would be interesting to see how they managed FTL communication, we don't even have an unrealistic theory into how this could happen, much less seeing it for our own eyes."

"I hope you realize the risk you took in pulling that off. You had better hope the Molvanjans never find out, luckily for you we have our scapegoats and can use deniability to good effect. You'll at the very least quite a substancial pay cut if this happens...and you don't want to know the very most."

"We initially invested 1 billion denarii and a third of all the equipment needed along with a further 2.3 billion denarii while the project was ongoing. It's kind of difficult for them to prevent it in any circumstance or not allow us the technology."

"You always take too many unecessary risks, and I don't like it-"

"At any rate, having seen this actually happen, we now know it was not a waste of funds to put the hundreds of billions we have into our space program. We must now look into trillions for this, even if it means cutting off budgets in several other areas. I've always said we never needed an army outside of our Legions...."

"We should increase funding by a large factor, however, due to the sudden boost of our economy I do not see that as necessary. At any rate, within the decade one way or another we will be using this technology to search the cosmos and fully upgrading from I-mass engines."

The top secret discussion between the Emperor, Prime Minister, chiefs of the military, head of the space program, and top SB physists and astronomers continued for quite a few hours.

Hey, all the other nations on the project gets credit for their part. And the tech? It was a pan-Balkan project, as long as you don't sell it outside of Balkan borders, you are free to plagiarize. It belongs, after all, to the region, not just the Molvanjans.

Muhammed, the president of Kreigor corporation, sits in his desk looking over his fiscal quarter reports when he recieves a telephone call on his desk phone. "Hello?" sounding a bit suprised.

"They've done it sir..."

"Who has?"

"Molvanja, they've done it, they've broken the lightspeed barrier, sir."

*spits his coffee all over the place out of his mouth*

"WHAT! come again!"

"Molvanja broke the lightspeed barrier, they are somewhere over the clouds of magellan now."

"Oh my lord...really?! so soon?"

"Yes, it seems the funding has payed off sir"

"So it has..."

"And get this, your not going to believe it."

"Well ive just heard that they broke the lightspeed barrier, so I guess i can believe anything right about now..."

"They are allowing all Balkan nations to use and copy this technology for themselves, so long as they dont sell outside Balkan borders"

*Spits out more coffee, by now his desk is quite very well soaked*

"WHAT!? your kidding?!"

"Nope, since we helped fund the billions needed, we get to copy it, and apply it to our industries"

"Amazing, this will further galvanize our society, I mean look, we got one of our machines into office as prime minister, and everythings been streamlined wtih technology, why not lightspeed access, this is prime, the world will never be the same."

"Exactly, congratulations sir."

"Heh, dont congratulate me son, we have just beent he benefactors, they did the work, well we did send some scientists to help, but I meanhey, it was quiet largely a Molvanjan effort. By the way, patch me into their aeronatics department, Kreigor corporation would be interested in obtaining such technologies soon."

"Alright, right away..."

LUTNBLAAG, MV: An operator's phone rings. "Allo? Yes, sir, I will patch you through." The operator punches a few keys. "Commander Kassov, you have a call on line one."
In his office at the Ministry of Aeronautics, Giurgi Kassov lifts the phone. "Yah. Speak"
"Hello? This is Bartolemew Krantz, at KreigorCorp in Edessia. I called to speak with you about the possibility of the Sprodj Release?"
"Of course, Krantz, Kreigor may have it. It is completely free. In fact, come on out and have a tour of our facilities. They are not to be missed."
"Indeed. I will look into it. Umm...so, yeah. Just let us have the tech."
"Sure, sure. By the way, Kreigor makes EXCELLENT appliances. I have K-Fridge, and I refuse to use anything else. I will talk to my higher-ups about the release. We'll talk later." Kassov hangs up, turns his chair to look out over Lutnblaag, tents his fingers, and sighs. "So many calls. Well, best call Sprodj and confirm everything." With another sigh, he turns to his desk and picks up the phone.