Rhythm Divine

The Rhythm Divine was a  owned by the  junk-trader Septavious-pratsutagus.

Characteristics
The Rhythm Divine, like most ships of that early era, did not have a very efficient. Travel to distant systems would often take anywhere from weeks to months, even years. For extended travel, the Rhythm Divine was equipped with chambers. Later, to further his range and expedite his salvaging runs, Septavious installed a reverse-engineered hyperdrive engine scavenged from a Dalek saucer. This new engine cut the travel time considerably, however the ship was comparatively slow by some standards.

History
Built in 2122 BBY by, the Rhythm Divine was originally a merchant freighter that saw service in the Outer Rim before it was decommissioned in 2158 BBY. Bought at a bargain price in 2167 BBY by Septavious-pratsutagus, the ship needed extensive maintenance. A salvager and mechanic by trade, Septavious repaired and refurbished the ship and used it to further his business, picking up additional crewmembers along the way.

In 2180 BBY, the Rhythm Divine traveled to the Pkowik system, following a lead from the crew's Karo Farooq that an abandoned space station was hidden there. The crew's previous scavenging ventures within the Outer Rim, however, had caught the attention of the authorities. With Galactic Union agents on their tail, the crew nevertheless set a course for the Pkowik system, hoping to lose their pursuers within a particle cloud that was reportedly in the area.

Reaching their destination in 2181 BBY, the Rhythm Divine was docked at the station, hidden within the particle cloud. The crew hurriedly searched the station, planning to strip it of valuable scrap before the Galactic Union authorities found them. Finding an inactive but functioning Dalek and several thousands of credits worth of machinery and materials, the crew hurried back to the ship.

Due to the particle cloud interfering with the ship's sensors, Septavious was unaware of a poorly-sealed dimensional rift left behind by the Alliance Daleks during the height of the war between the two factions centuries earlier. The same sensor disturbance prevented the ship's from programming a proper course out of the Pkowik system. Due to the urgency of their situation, Septavious decided on a blind jump. He unknowingly piloted the Rhythm Divine into the rift and engaged the hyperdrive within the vortex. The resulting jump propelled the ship and crew 2209 years into an alternate future, exiting hyperspace within the in 28 ABY, during the height of the.

Thrust into a galaxy of the likes they had never seen, the crew of the Rhythm Divine found themselves once again the center of attention; from the antique cobbled-together look of the ship to the foreign Galactic Union currency. For a while, the currency was the least of their worries; avid collectors were pleased to pay large sums for a single Galactic Union credit.

The crew continued their scavenging, further modifying the Rhythm Divine, replacing the out-dated neutron drive with a newer more-efficient. In 30 ABY, during a routine trade, the Dalek, Crade, was stolen and sold on, erroneously labeled as a "". Karo, who had repaired and developed an emotional attachment to Crade, was determined to find him, tracking buyers between salvage meets. The theft, however, was not the crew's only problem; customers had mysteriously fallen ill with a particularly virulent infection. The Rhythm Divine had inadvertently carried the NFS plague into the New Republic, introducing it to a galaxy that was woefully unprepared to handle it. Four people died quickly and dozens others were sickened. Unlike the Galactic Union, however, the New Republic had superior medical care and the infection was quickly contained. Once the source was identified, the crew of the Rhythm Divine found themselves on the run from the authorities yet again.

Behind the scenes
The Rhythm Divine was named after an Enrique Inglesias song while the ship's design was based on steampunk-styled craft. The technology and history was the author's attempt to combine some of the events from the Dalek Empire series with ; a cross-genre process she usually avoids.