Pigeon

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.

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. The advent of HPG communication technology made Pigeons essentially redundant, and the concept faded into obscurity after the twenty-sixth century.

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.