06-20-2019, 12:05 AM
"You know, Escher, I'm getting tired of you borrowing Aquila assets for your projects."
"I'm sure you are."
ADSV Fort Resolution lurked silently in the mist near Mactan Base. An old Eyrie-class frigate, an Oasis-derived multi-purpose platform, it was not the sort of ship commonly seen near a pirate base. But it was there on business. The hangar was abuzz with engineers and technicians darting back and forth, testing and re-testing the four vaguely fighter-shaped platforms awaiting takeoff. These platforms were of the Ker series, and were in no way ready to be flown into combat. They entirely lacked armor, more than rudimentary life support, and active shielding against anything but micrometeor collisions. These Keres were the guts and skeletons of ships that had yet to be finalized, but the optronic systems, power control, shield generator hookup and modulation, and weapons control were all present. And for the current project, that was enough. Indeed, not having layers of armor plating, artistic detailing, and creature comforts in the way would likely make work easier.
There was a fifth ship, however, and this one was far more complete: a Dorado-class ferry painted black and green, Green River. As final checks were completed on the Keres, Octavarium Research Commission engineers and technicians were loading their tools and supplies into the ferry that would see them to Mactan, and would very likely be their ride home after the job was done.
Just like on the Fort's trip to Omega-54, the ship was not helmed by an Aquila Defense Systems captain. Once again, Fourth Fleet Specialist Ken Matsuda had the helm, selected for prior experience with the specific kind of work. He was to guide the vessel to its destination, offload the cargo, leave, and delete the added navigation data from Fort Resolution's systems.
"So where do you think we'll be sent next time, Ken?" a quiet Libertonian man asked from one of the navigation consoles.
"I hear Omicron Rho is nice this time of the year," Ken replied, not entirely sure how much of a joke the suggestion was. Reaching down to the intercom, Ken typed the code to call the hangar directly and asked, "Hangar, Bridge. What's your status?"
"We're ready for launch now," came the reply.
The hangar was finally cleared of personnel, and the Keres moved to the side in one smooth, coordinated motion. "Green River, enter the airlock," the flight controller ordered. The ferry lifted up into the air on maneuvering thrusters and slowly drifted into the airlock, careful to control its momentum. "Closing airlock inner door." Behind the ferry, alert lights flashed and klaxons blared as the titanic alloy doors slowly, steadily shut. The lights and alarms stopped, and flight control spoke again, "Opening airlock outer door." Below Green River, the hangar doors opened gracefully and the ferry's maneuvering thrusters gently guided her away from the frigate above.
"Hangar, Green River. We're clear," the ferry pilot announced over comms as she engaged cruise engines. "Mactan Base, this is Octavarian ferry Green River, carrying equipment for joint project."
"Green River, Mactan reads you. You are cleared for docking. Are the fighters with you?"
"Yes. We will help guide them in after docking."
"Understood, Green River. Proceed to dock 1."
As Green River set down in the docking bay as instructed, four skeletal fighters deployed from Fort Resolution, each remotely controlled from a seperate console in the hangar. Slowly and very carefully they made their way to Mactan, under guidance from Green River. Though operating with extreme caution, there was a certainty to their movements that indicated extensive experience with their operation. While two agents remained in the ferry's cockpit to assist in guiding the Keres, the rest moved to assist the Lane Hacker dock crew in unloading the rest of the equipment that would be needed, including a batch of experimental guns. As the final crates of equipment were removed, the fourth Ker set down in the hangar, and a white-haired young man walked toward the experimental vessels.
"Are these the ships?" one of the Hackers asked skeptically.
"They will be. Aquila's still working on the armor and other components, but this chassis is very likely to be final as-is," the white-haired man replied. "There's a remote control system on this batch, not intended for the final product, the life support's been left off to keep mass down on the engineering prototypes. I'm just going to disable that now that they're here," he explained, reaching in under the cockpit of one of the Keres. "Really simple to disable, just gotta take off the receiver here. Like I said, really not meant for a long-term solution."
The Commission technician and the Hacker quickly removed the signal receiver from the other three Keres, and then got to work moving the four craft to their new home while the rest of the Commission crew got themselves oriented aboard the parts of Mactan they were cleared to access. They would be here a while, and there were no other friendly ports in reach. They were somewhat surprised at the diversity of traffic, having been under the impression that Mactan was a more closed-off base. Another detail for the report to Weaver.
"I'm sure you are."
ADSV Fort Resolution lurked silently in the mist near Mactan Base. An old Eyrie-class frigate, an Oasis-derived multi-purpose platform, it was not the sort of ship commonly seen near a pirate base. But it was there on business. The hangar was abuzz with engineers and technicians darting back and forth, testing and re-testing the four vaguely fighter-shaped platforms awaiting takeoff. These platforms were of the Ker series, and were in no way ready to be flown into combat. They entirely lacked armor, more than rudimentary life support, and active shielding against anything but micrometeor collisions. These Keres were the guts and skeletons of ships that had yet to be finalized, but the optronic systems, power control, shield generator hookup and modulation, and weapons control were all present. And for the current project, that was enough. Indeed, not having layers of armor plating, artistic detailing, and creature comforts in the way would likely make work easier.
There was a fifth ship, however, and this one was far more complete: a Dorado-class ferry painted black and green, Green River. As final checks were completed on the Keres, Octavarium Research Commission engineers and technicians were loading their tools and supplies into the ferry that would see them to Mactan, and would very likely be their ride home after the job was done.
Just like on the Fort's trip to Omega-54, the ship was not helmed by an Aquila Defense Systems captain. Once again, Fourth Fleet Specialist Ken Matsuda had the helm, selected for prior experience with the specific kind of work. He was to guide the vessel to its destination, offload the cargo, leave, and delete the added navigation data from Fort Resolution's systems.
"So where do you think we'll be sent next time, Ken?" a quiet Libertonian man asked from one of the navigation consoles.
"I hear Omicron Rho is nice this time of the year," Ken replied, not entirely sure how much of a joke the suggestion was. Reaching down to the intercom, Ken typed the code to call the hangar directly and asked, "Hangar, Bridge. What's your status?"
"We're ready for launch now," came the reply.
The hangar was finally cleared of personnel, and the Keres moved to the side in one smooth, coordinated motion. "Green River, enter the airlock," the flight controller ordered. The ferry lifted up into the air on maneuvering thrusters and slowly drifted into the airlock, careful to control its momentum. "Closing airlock inner door." Behind the ferry, alert lights flashed and klaxons blared as the titanic alloy doors slowly, steadily shut. The lights and alarms stopped, and flight control spoke again, "Opening airlock outer door." Below Green River, the hangar doors opened gracefully and the ferry's maneuvering thrusters gently guided her away from the frigate above.
"Hangar, Green River. We're clear," the ferry pilot announced over comms as she engaged cruise engines. "Mactan Base, this is Octavarian ferry Green River, carrying equipment for joint project."
"Green River, Mactan reads you. You are cleared for docking. Are the fighters with you?"
"Yes. We will help guide them in after docking."
"Understood, Green River. Proceed to dock 1."
As Green River set down in the docking bay as instructed, four skeletal fighters deployed from Fort Resolution, each remotely controlled from a seperate console in the hangar. Slowly and very carefully they made their way to Mactan, under guidance from Green River. Though operating with extreme caution, there was a certainty to their movements that indicated extensive experience with their operation. While two agents remained in the ferry's cockpit to assist in guiding the Keres, the rest moved to assist the Lane Hacker dock crew in unloading the rest of the equipment that would be needed, including a batch of experimental guns. As the final crates of equipment were removed, the fourth Ker set down in the hangar, and a white-haired young man walked toward the experimental vessels.
"Are these the ships?" one of the Hackers asked skeptically.
"They will be. Aquila's still working on the armor and other components, but this chassis is very likely to be final as-is," the white-haired man replied. "There's a remote control system on this batch, not intended for the final product, the life support's been left off to keep mass down on the engineering prototypes. I'm just going to disable that now that they're here," he explained, reaching in under the cockpit of one of the Keres. "Really simple to disable, just gotta take off the receiver here. Like I said, really not meant for a long-term solution."
The Commission technician and the Hacker quickly removed the signal receiver from the other three Keres, and then got to work moving the four craft to their new home while the rest of the Commission crew got themselves oriented aboard the parts of Mactan they were cleared to access. They would be here a while, and there were no other friendly ports in reach. They were somewhat surprised at the diversity of traffic, having been under the impression that Mactan was a more closed-off base. Another detail for the report to Weaver.