The Apahanta is a ship with a colorful history. Technically, it was one of the older AP-605940 Mako-class vessels, or at least it was intended to be one. Back then, when the Core, or BHG|Core, started with the production of their first warships, there were multiple fluctuations with each ship. Eventually, the Apahanta was one of those that were ineffectively contructed. Mistakes were made, and in the meantime, the design got one refit after another. While the outer hull was almost completely finished, the sub-systems were an entirely different topic. This AP-605940 was classified as failed project, however the materials never made it to the scrap yard. Instead of being repurposed, the stuff was just carried away, as it could be taken care of another time. More important was to keep the Alabama Shipyards producing, thus the bays needed to be unoccupied.
Years later, a man from Curacao contacted the Core and proposed a deal. He offered the investment of billions of credits for a warship, and while the Core was already producing the AP-609, the current Mako line, they still had the one remains of the abandoned AP-605940 hidden in Omicron Rho. Killing two birds with one stone, the Core and the Curacaoan made a deal, and soon the ship was retrofitted. The result was a mix of outdated and brand new Core technology, which was, as the Curacaoan wished, called the Apahanta. (Bengali: Destroyer)
The deal not only mentioned the investment of more than two billion credits into the ship, but also the work for the Core, not directly as Core member but hired Core mercenary - with a simple job: Patroling the Omicrons, mostly Omicron Delta. That was exactly what the Curacaoan wanted, as he was on a rampage against the Nomads.
However, over time the Curacaoan grew unhappy. Avenging his personal losses from the past didn't feel satisfying. Instead, one revelation after another made him realize what the Core really was. Their propaganda in house space celebrated them as heroes of the Omicrons. People that wanted to bring the structures of a house into the Edge Worlds. But if anything, the Core was only powerhungry, craving for more and more military assets, technology and soldiers. The leaders of the Core didn't have the intention to find a final solution against the Nomads. Instead, they wanted to use them as regrowing souce of income. Nomads never die. They regrow. And their remains could be sold to Research Stations all over Sirius.
It took him a bit more than a month to pull off some moves. During some escalative nights in the bars of Durban Station and Yaren Base, the Curacaoan made some friends, especially female ones that fell for his charme. The charme of a rich, good looking, charming warship captain with a liver of iron and the body of a surfer. With the help of the Lane Hackers, Battlegroup Auxesia, the Junkers of Puerto Rico, Detroit Munitions, Kishiro Technologies, the Zoners of Livadia and his future girlfriend, the Curacaoan managed to defect with the warship and a crew of about 50 defectors with only minimal losses. Heavily damaged, the Apahanta was captured and moved to Livadia for repairs, escorted by the Auxesians. That was in the middle of 823 A.S.
In the meantime, the Apahanta's human crew got reduced massively, with just more than twenty humans living on the ship, which made the use of Kishiro Service Robots necessary, in order to both maintain the ship and actually use it. But not only the crew changed over time. Also the ship itself. The ship's internal workshop was able to recreate spare parts for the sub-systems and smaller parts of the hull, however the main hull was relying on patchworking and improvisation. Today, the Apahanta looks a bit different from what it once looked like.
To increase the range of the ship, the Curacaoan captain hired the Ingenuus Research Group and the Livadians to upgrade the ship's cloaking device. The goal was to use the powerful and only barely stable AP-605940 power core to power the cloaking device, which would disable the weapons and maybe even decrease the engine power of the ship. The IRG was able to do it without the loss of engine power by altering the power grid of the ship, a very costly process that took much time, but after more than eight months of being moored with Livadia, the Apahanta finally was able to cloak for indefinite time.
The Apahanta's bridge is pretty similar to other Mako-class warship bridges. The bridge basically consists out of two sections: The upper commanding section and the lower executive section. Two commanding seats for Captain and Commander, at the sides equipped with control panels to remote control and access every single system of the ship from the bridge. Behind the commanding seats is a row of consoles at the walls, left and right are security doors to the bridge-level corridors, left also a conference room for the bridge crew and right the captain's office. Left and right, close to the walls, are small slopes that lead to the lower executive section, where six bridge officers have their consoles. The main holo screen is surrounded by a few smaller holo monitors that show all kinds of statistics of the ship, sensor readings, important messages, grid location, star maps, etc.
Bridge Crew Rooms
The bridge crew quarters are 1.5 times the size of a regular crew room, are to be used by one person and unlike the regular rooms, have water showers instead of sonic showers. They offer a bit more comfort than the regular rooms and are on the bridge level, with the rooms of the Captain and the Commander being the closest rooms to the bridge. All crew quarters are equipped with holo windows that access the external sensors of the Apahanta and can also project videos of other environments, like Curacao for example. The Captain's and the Commander's room however can also access the internal sensors and bridge monitors, which is mostly the case in the Captain's room.
Engine Room
While the engine room of the successor, the AP-609, looked way more polished and matter of factly used more stable and researched equipment, the AP-605940 looked horribly naked from the inside. That only minimally changed with the Apahanta, as the Captain ordered to cover the more alien APM technology bits, which is mostly the AP-605940 energy core. The APM Advanced Hardware is the result of the research and specific use of both nomad technology and gammuian technology alongside with human technology. Thus, the AP-605940 power core is by far one of the most advanced power cores of all Sirius. The energy output is extremely high, generating more power than a battleship could ever effectively use - which is the big problem. The AP-605940's problem is the use of the energy and not the generation of it. It actually can only use is minor part of it, as the nomad-inspired pulsating power core's energy would burn the energy grid of the entire ship if it was not limited with special containment procedures and relais. With other words: Most of the Apahanta's sub-systems could be way more effective, if there was a way to access the energy without the energy grid and the sub-systems burning away instantly.
Partially, this changed at least for the Apahanta's cloaking device when the Ingenuus Research Group altered it and gave the Apahanta an entirely new power frame. A costly and time-consuming process, but in the end it enabled the Apahanta to use it's enormous power output to maintain the cloaking device for an indefinite amount of time, with the only disadvantage being the inability to power up the weapons during that time. An acceptable trade, the Captain thought.
Hangar Bay
Even being only a light battleship, the Apahanta comes like any other Mako-class battleship with a hangar. Theoretically, it could serve three small snubs with this hangar bay, however the Apahanta reduced the size of it's hangar bay in order to have more space for a workshop. Because of the lack of fighter pilots, however, the Captain came up with another idea. He purchased three light fighters and instructed his technical team to turn them into drones. Completeley remote-controlled, without the need, or even the ability to be piloted manually. The result were the three so called "Rovers", which are now residing in this hangar. They don't take up much space, aren't suited for fighting but for scouting and disrupting. All the Apahanta really needed.
Workshop
With a part of the hangar bay and a part of the storage bay, the Apahanta's crew created itself a big workshop area for the work on spare parts and equipment. It was this place where the engineers of the Apahanta created the first prototypes of the new HOT GEAR hoverbikes, based on blueprints the ship's AI calculated.
Hydroponics
While being supplied majorly by the logistical transports the Captain hired, investing into a Whale-class Zoner Transport to have a friend piloting it, the Apahanta had to become able to sustain itself for a while. Thus, some unused crew quarters have been altered, merged and repurposed. The result was a small hydroponics module, ranging a few rooms in length and at a certain area three decks in height. The Captain ordered his crew to cut enough holes into the ship to get an apple tree from Gran Canaria into the hydroponics module, bringing it from the hangar bay over the maintenance corridors of Deck 1 down to the hydroponics module. It was a little bit of a logistical challenge for the engineers, but it was worth it, as a tall and healthy apple tree was now blooming there. The crew loved it.
Canteen
Other than the other rooms of the Apahanta, the canteen is a rather lovely and decorated place, bright colored walls and open 24/7, maintained by Kishiro Service Robots. The food served here is mostly the rather cheap but tasty Synth Foods stuff, however every now and then either the hydroponics allow a little bit of fresh fruits and vegetables or the Captain brings a new load of foods from Curacao or Gran Canaria, if not even sweets from Liberty. The crew comes here at set times for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as midnight snacks. The Captain found it important to be close to his crew, thus he regularly eats here together with them.
Crew Quarters
The regular crew quarters are smaller than those of the bridge officers and don't have water showers but use sonic showers. They serve their purpose. Usually, a Mako-class warship is crewed with at least 400 people, sometimes up to 600. However, since the Apahanta is crewed with way less people and mostly maintained by programmed Kishiro Service Robots, there was no need to stuff multiple people into a room. So each crew member has its own quarter on the Apahanta, while other rooms have been turned into loading stations for the Kishiro Service Robots. The basic crew quarters, similar to the bridge officer quarters, use holo windows to simulate a room placement close to the outer hull. However, the Apahanta is a warship, thus there are only a very few rooms with actual windows.
Dr. Thallia Thorn's Laboratory
When Thallia Thorn of the Ingenuus Research Group was a regular member of the Apahanta before her disappearance, she asked the Captain for permission to install her own laboratory with IRG equipment on the ship. Only bridge personnel has access to it, although the room is just like any other room on the Apahanta under full surveilance by the internal sensor systems. The last experiment done there was about the research of Azurite Gas.
Observation Deck
One of the few rooms that uses real windows is the Observation Deck. Those windows are partially better armored than other parts of the ship, being equipped with an additional shielding unit. The crew comes here during their spare time, which is rather often - after all, the Apahanta is not a regular used battleship anymore.
Medical Bay
Equipped with both the best what Cryer sells on the open market and what APM provides for their elite, the Medical Bay was able to prevent people from dying in 90% of all cases thus far. There is also a small room with cryo capsules for difficult cases.
Decontamination
Close to the airlocks, the hangar bay and the medical bay, decontamination chambers have been installed to ensure both radiation and alien bacteria can be effectively dealt with. The chambers are rather dark, blue-ish glowing rooms of spartanic furnituring, simply allowing sitting on the floor or laying down during the decontamination process. The room is only surveiled via non-optical sensors, so a certain level of privacy is given, as people inside the chamber need to take off all clothing. Captain's orders.
Gym
A large room of two sections, one being open and empty for group games and the other part containing several training tools to enhance the phsyical fitness. One hour after breakfast, the Captain and the Commander usually gather the crew here to have a workout together to ensure a certain level of fitness on the ship - it might come in handy in emergency situations. It is proven to be a good way to get the people to group interactions, as they play games here as well, like tag.
Sensor Array
The Apahanta's sensor array is a top tier one, being able detect cloaked ships in mid-range, scanning ships in mid-range and detecting ships in long-range. Usually, the Apahanta is able to cloak before a potential threat can get close enough to penetrate the mighty battleship shields.
Data Center
The Apahanta's Database is one of Sirius's most intriguing databases, given it contains dozens of teraquads of data about Nomads, Wild and Anomalies, cartographed systems and planets of the Omicrons and other interesting secrets. Apart from that, it is the home of the Apahanta's ship computer, a semi-intelligent, partially interactive AI. The Captain however doesn't want it to evolve further than necessary, as he doesn't trust artificial intelligences. Thus the data center is one of the most secured and protected areas of the ship, rendering it almost impossible to access it without being the Captain.
Internal Defense
In order to both take-over the Apahanta and prevent future take-overs from third parties, the Captain invested into an array of defensive systems, the most notable being the interior defense turrets he purchased from Detroit Munitions. Automatic turrets placed in key positions all over the ship, being able to take out both humanoid and robotic/androidic invaders. This combined with shield barriers, physical barriers, controlled deactivation of life support and artificial gravity (or maximum level increase of the latter) render the Apahanta into an almost impossible to capture fortress. In cases where even those security measures are ineffective, the ship will activate the self-destruction sequences, depending on what areas need to be destroyed.
Since Thallia Thorn is only sometimes available, we need a good medical officer, just in case something bad happens and the robotic medical unit can't fix it. Luckily, Adrianna doesn't get much to do, so she usually does only regular checks on everyone and every now and then helps with other stuff in the labs, as she has a certain knowledge about biology and related topics.
Adrianna joined the crew after the defection of the Apahanta. She was however one of the people that got more or less directly affected by the Core-Zoner-Conflict in 823, as her rented room on Freeport 11 made aquaintance with a Core Mortar shot. Obviously, she wasn't there when it happened.
It's good to have her on the ship, as she plays a bit of a mother figure for the younger crewmen on the Apahanta.
Lindsay is a very dreamy girl and joined my cause not for the money but to see what the outer regions of Sirius have to offer. Of course that didn't mean she refuses my payment. Perfoming the job of a counselor, she helped me with the latest interrogations of my crew, giving me some alternative perspectives of how to look at things. She's doing her job well, but it's often hard to find out how she herself is and when she does play the counselor card.
Note: Lindsay Camillo went missing in February, 825.
Collin is our software guy, and it's good to have him enhancing the systems the Apahanta currently uses, as we really have to get away from the APM technology. That lucky guy is one of those boron miners that actually made it away from Pittsburgh without being transported to Malta or Crete.
He is creative, but not the brightest.
Note: Collin Bush died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
During the few combat situations the Apahanta had after it's defection, Vroni was usually the one girl shouting "RAM THAT SHIP!" at me, being convinced the ablative hull plating of the Apahanta wouldn't even take scratches. While that wasn't the case the one time we actually did that, although that was more of an accident by the opposing ship, she stopped yelling at me. Veronica is a maybe slightly untamed girl that has a good knowledge about the capabilities of the Mako. She actually was one of the defectors that stayed with me, as she is afraid the Core would search for her on Manhattan, as long as they are working with the LSF. So she lives now on the Apahanta.
Note: Veronica Cummings died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
Jenny left Omicron Theta to join the Core and then found out she made the same mistake like I did, so she joined the defection of the Apahanta and is now watching our APM energy core. It's good to have her, as she instructed us on how to handle the APM core, as it's partially Gammuian technology as well as nomad-adapted technology.
Jenny is a perfect example of how disturbing a few sights on Durban and Alabama can be, as she claims to still have nightmares from what she had seen during her time within the Core.
Nurse, Botanist, Biologist. Tasha is a valuable member of my crew and she is happy to be with us, as we accept her the way she is, unlike people on New London did. Since we don't need that many crew quarters, I allowed her to use some of our Kishiro Service Robots to install a ship-internal garden unit. It's not big, but every now and then Tasha gifts the crew with fresh fruits, made on Apahanta. She is a very happy person recently and joined us after the defection. And yes, she is a bit obese. Nothing too unhealthy, though.
Another defector from the Core that remained with me. He was unhappy with figthing the Order and Corsairs while the real danger is still not handled. It's very possible that he will leave the Apahanta after a while, since I'm not fighting but only studying the nomads. Right now, he is on the ships because of my decent payments, the nice crew and the lack of alternatives. Order and Corsairs won't accept him and he doesn't have the money to get his own battleship.
I need to have an eye on him, but he is an okay guy.
Note: Kyle Wheeler died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
Insa is from Rheinland and helps with all kinds of technical things as she has some experience from her former job as Daumann employee. She joined us after the defection when she was during the right time at the right place by coincidence, as she was just around when the heavily damaged Apahanta moored with Livadia. Background check was alright, and at that time we really needed as many helping hands as possible. She isn't specialized on something but helps wherever she can when it comes to technical stuff.
Note: Insa Bockmeyer died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
Jeff is known for his dad-jokes and the crew appreciates his humor. He is mainly operating and maintaining everything related to the Kishiro Service Robots we use to maintain the Apahanta, and he does a great job thus far.
Having lived on Freeport 5, he is used to the daily use of anti-radiation pills. In fact, he enjoys living on the Apahanta as it is operating in less dangerous areas than Omega-41.
For being the young girl she is, she is hard to unsettle. One of the Core defectee that stayed with us, and that's good, because she knows exactly to what point we can overtune the Apahanta's shields. Lorena is a girl that thinks first and then talks, and in the very few cases of her being in a heated argument with someone, she either refrains from using discrediting punchlines or drops the bomb. It's funny to have her on the bridge and she usually is a great addition when I have to ask my bridge officers about their opinions.
She wanted to leave the Core even before I wanted it, as she told me about her scepticism during a night. That was before I knew Maren, by the way. Just like me, she joined the Core believing it would actually do something about the nomads. She first was sceptical about me having stopped fighting the nomads, until I told her about my alternative way of dealing with them. That may have decreased her scepticism about it, but it is pretty hard to get a read on her. She assured me, however, she would stay on teh Apahanta and carry out my orders, as long as they wouldn't doom us completely. Like, she'd stay with us in a battle, but not in a war. Which is fair enough. I'm not the Core.
A gamer, nerd, metalhead but in general an okay-ish guy. He's doing a good job on the sensors and is the one who knows how to repair the battleship scanners. My only problem with him is him being a bit lazy, like he isn't working on his fitness. He isn't fat. In fact, he is rather skinny, but he's completely lacking muscles and thus he is sleepy often. More body fitness would help him having more energy.
He joined us in Omicron Theta, where he was one of five people I had interviewed for the sensor workspace slot on the bridge, and he showed promising results, having worked on the ship of his parents beginning from his puberty. He's a daydreamer.
Note: Cedric Vaughn died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
Tate is a guy that worked in the damage control team of Freeport 4 and left when the Liberty Navy took the control of the station and the GRN attacks got a bit too much. He somehow made his way to Livadia and worked there and then joined my crew, as he seems to have a peronsal interest in my cause. And in Tasha Wright.
An arrogant bastard, but I guess that's the price one has to pay for a very proficient man of his skills and knowledge. To be fair, he is working on his personality, as he had to realize people would pay him more respect if he didn't act like he was what he, in fact, was: a man of superior knowledge. I think it was Powell who yelled at him in a way that nobody had expected, as Powell is one of the guy that never get loud.
Anyway, he is doing a good job. I however insisted on him working on the bridge rather than isolated in his laboratory. First of all, I want people to keep an eye on him, including myself, and second of all, his laboratory is next to Thallia's working space and I don't want him to sneak around there. He is seeking her attention, as I think he appreciates her status as IRG scientist.
Note: George Poole died after a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
A young chicken. Reese is a gamer girl per definition and prefers engineering and games about engineering over a sexual relationship, which is funny. Poor Leon. She invited him to come visit her in her room, and he was expecting something else than playing games all night long. Not that he didn't have his fun.
I hired her on Freeport 5 along with Powell, and they get along well with each other, a bit like petulant, hyperactive daughter and dad-jokes spamming father. It's nice to watch them working on repairs. She doesn't really care if she gets into trouble working for me, as she said, it's better to be on the Apahanta than staying on Freeport 5 and take rad pills every day or flee into house space, where people are more likely to die due to pirates and wars. And she appreciates how well she get's paid.
My left hand on the Apahanta, and she is usually captaining it when I'm not around. She shares most of my opinions, no matter if it is about the Core, the Nomads or anything else. She realized the Nomads are just opposing us because we forced them to, and while she wasn't in the Core, she was captaining a Zoner Q-Ship before it got destroyed by the Core during the first Core-Zoner-Conflict. She survived unharmed by the lucky fact the bridge itself was spared by the explosion of the ship and managed to survive long enough to get rescued while being unable to reach a rescue pod. By the very me during a patrol mission right before the Apahanta's defection.
I first had to convince her of me not being a stereotypical Core captain, and brought her to Livadia. McCool already had accepted my request for shelter and repair on Livadia, so we had no troubles. She said she owed me one, and I offered her a job on the Apahanta, as I need trustworthy people, and she accepted. Now, we are good friends on a respectful basis, although there are sometimes moments where I know she may be interested in more. She, however, knows about me being with Maren.
Sherry was born on Canaria and has family there, that leads a little company on the planet, not really worth mentioning but they have a good reputation in the city they are based. I think it was a supplying service. Like Omicron Supply Industries, just planetside and on a way smaller level. Sherry sometimes tells me about it and Canaria itself, and how sad it is knowing Canaria will need to be evacuated in the far future. Our friendship is deep enough that I trust her to a point where she is permitted to act on my behalf as the Captain of the Apahanta, so she is the second in command.
Having lost his wife during a Core patrol mission, Hodges began questioning the motives of the Core, as the battle they were to partake in was absolutely nonsense to do. So he joined my side after a very long talk I had with him, as I needed to know his motivation to join the Core in first place. He and his wife did so in order to fight the enemies of the Core, the Corsairs, the Order, the Nomads and the Outcasts, yet he had to realize nothing was really as it seemed, and revelation was the Core was using their pilots more like cannon fodder when it was to a superiors benefit. They were forced to engage a force they knew they could not fend off, and Hodges was one of the few people that survived that strike.
He later learned about the true story behind the nomad attacks and while I can't say he believes in my motives, he swore he would keep anyone off my back for the brave move of me defecting from the Core with a good number of other people.
He's a damn good sparring partner and usually leads the daily fitness hour on the ship if I'm not available. He also has a good influence on the crew and ensures there is no trouble.
Note: Darrel Hodges died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
The moment his father died due to a Hessian raid on Rheinland, Boone went berserk in the RM trainings camp, shooting wildly around, and that way got himself thrown out of the RM. Now, two years later, Hodges took care of Boone. We hired Boone on Livadia, and he seems to have gotten over his mental unstable phase. Hodges is keeping an eye on him, though, while Lindsay Camillo is caring for him. From what I heard, Boone appreciates living on the Apahanta under my command, and he motivates the crew to keep their bodies in shape. I first had some concerns about him being potentially aggressive, but he's actually a gentle lamb that usually gives people mean looks. He is a good addition to the crew.
My biggest concern however is his fair grudge against the Red Hessians. I have no intention to help him in his revenge, as right now the RHA is, if they even know about the Apahanta, ignoring is. I don't mind it.
Note: Kevin Boone died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
A good friend of Leon since he joined the crew. Toru had his training on a Kishiro university on Honshu and is good at robotics and system diagnostics. So, together with Powell, he maintains our Kishiro Service Robots to ensure they don't just try to walk into a wall, like it is often the case. Toru joined us on Livadia, and he clearly said he won't cause trouble as long as the Apahanta stands for what I claim it is: Not a warship. Like everyone else, I told him that it's impossible to not get drawn into a fight, but he is okay with it as long as we don't use the Apahanta offensively. Fair enough.
Glover is an interesting person, and that may or may not be good. He only speaks when there is something to say, or when not many other people are around. On the other hand, I shared a bottle of good wine with him and he showed that even he is just a man. Very self-controlled person, very intransparent, but seriously, he knows his job. He was in the Core and defected together with me, and during the defection, he was at my side and shot the Core loyals that stayed on the ship. He is definitely not a super soldier, but without him, I probably would have taken more than only a plasma burn on my shoulder.
Lindsay Camillo said he is trustworthy, and I get the same impression, however I don't know if he can overcome his hate for the nomads for destroying Freeport 7. He and his mother were on New Tokyo when it happened while his father died on the Freeport. His mother took him to Freeport 9 when Kusari was waging war as a result of the nomad war.
Note: Rafael Glover died during a fight with VS-0074 in March, 825.
Thallia. There is much I could write here, but I better do not. I know there are good reasons to not trust her, but now that we know a few secrets about each other and a few scenarios between her and me on Curacao and on the Hoffnungsschimmer, I know how much I can trust her, and that's already more than I can trust some other people of my crew. She is also our contact person to the IRG as she is both working for me and them.
Note: Thallia Thorn left the Apahanta for an indefinite time in early 824.
Back on Curacao, I was his horrible biology and surfing teacher, and later his personal mentor and best friend. He knows my secrets and he would never dare to work against me, no matter what thing I'd do.