The manned trip to Europa launched from Earth’s high orbit. As the FTL engine powered up with unimaginable flow of energy and the drive engaged, a bone-chilling awe gripped the crew. When the sensation faded they realized they had just passed the orbit of Mars. A journey that previously took over two years now spanned a mere six minutes, as the ship sliced through hyperspace to enter Europa’s orbit with uncanny precision. Oddly, the lander’s undocking from the FTL transport and its descent to the moon’s surface took far longer than the interplanetary transit itself. After three days of leisurely exploration across Europa’s frozen terrain, the crew packed their equipment, bid farewell to the alien landscape, and returned to Earth a scant two hours later. Emboldened by this historic triumph, humanity’s reach into deep space expanded with relentless ambition. It also produced an unexpected side-effect: all major hostilities among nations simply evaporated, as leaders suddenly shifted their focus to a new frontier of boundless possibility. --------------------- (PSP, AI assist, manual pre-and-postwork)