To: Order Overwatch | From: Elysium's Shield

[Leo]

Elysium's Shield
Incoming Transmission...

To - Overwatch
From - Nephilim Class ZSS-Defiance
Subject - RE: Assistance Required

Salutations Grand Admiral Golanski,

I've heard of other Zoner ship types but I've never actually seen them. Perhaps I should brush up on some of the older Zoner types. Perhaps another trip to Freeport 1 is required for me to review the Zoner Heritage stuff that's setup there...but I really don't want to get close to Omega-7 again. I've had enough of that system for a lifetime...I'll explain that towards the end of this message to answer your question at the end of yours.

Concerning your points from what I've read, the following materials will be required by us to bring in. Please feel free to let me know the amount per unit (ton):

1. Spine: Super Alloys and Iridium. We know that Freeport 11 sells the Iridium. We can source the Super Alloys from another location and bring to you.
   
2. Bulkheads: Basic Alloys and Super Alloys for the bulkheads. Not a problem to source these either.
   
3. Hull: I will assume you mean the "inner hull" on this statement as you have armor on a section further down. Basic Alloy and Iridium with Beryllium to further improve upon the strength.
   
4. Ship Decks: Luckily, we only lost one deck in the accident. Although, depending on a through inspection of the remaining decks, this number could increase. Basic Alloy can be sourced as well as Super Alloys along with the bulkheads.
   
5. Blueprints: Without sounding like we don't trust you (because we do), the blueprints for Zoner tech are highly guarded. While I don't have the authority to transfer those to you, some of our ship engineers can join your team during the retrofit to ensure that things go well. I anticipate the ship design to be different towards the end of this project anyway, so I'm not sure how much it matters if you have them, but I would rather Zoner blueprints not be passed around.
   
6. External Hull/Armor: We can pick up some Ablative Armor Plating and Iridium to reinforce. Shouldn't be difficult to obtain.
   
7. Optronics: We have a...contact that is good with these kinds of things. They're a bit squirrely about their privacy, but we may be able to reach out to them in order to get some advice on this. Stripping any propriety hardware is fine. We understand the need for secrecy. Whatever is installed is fine, we can modify these as needed by our contact.
   
8. Secondary Reactors: Redundancy is always important. Just let us know the materials we would need to source to bring them in. We can reach out to contacts closer to Sirius space that can bring them to us.
   
9. Nanobot and liquid metal injectors: This sounds like something that will significantly increase the lifespan of the Defiance. Let us know what we'd need to source materials wise and we can bring them in.
   
10. Movement of CIC and Bridge: You all have more experience in this. As Zoners, we're usually neutral and don't go into combat. Us in Elysium's Shield are a bit of a different breed wading into war against the alien threat. We will differ to your experience in these matters.
    
11. Order Weaponry: We generally use Zoner weaponry but the option is nice to have to opt. for others if needed.
    
12. Power: Let us know what materials we would need to supply to make this possible. More power is always needed. We can never get enough in combat scenarios.
    
13. Wireless: During the initial modernization of the Defiance back when apart of the ZDF, we removed most (but not all) wireless systems onboard the vessel. All of your recommendations hit home and it makes more sense with the amount of hostile AI vessels we've been dealing with and the lurking Auxo ships in the area. We support everything you've said here. Let us know what we would need to provide in order to do this.
    
14. Fire Control: Agreed. These Nomad vessels can be quicker than their mass belays. We would need some upgraded targeting sensors to make combat in the Omicrons viable. Let us know the materials we would need to provide.

In summary:

1. Spine: Super Alloys and Iridium.
   
2. Bulkheads: Basic Alloys and Super Alloys.
   
3. Hull: Basic Alloy, Iridium, and Beryllium.
   
4. Ship Decks: Basic Alloy and Super Alloys.
   
5. Blueprints: See above.
   
6. External Hull/Armor: Ablative Armor Plating and Iridium.
   
7. Optronics: Standard Optronics. Our contact can modify if required.
   
8. Secondary Reactors: Materials list needed.
   
9. Nanobot and liquid metal injectors: Materials list needed.
   
10. Movement of CIC and Bridge: See above.
    
11. Order Weaponry: See above.
    
12. Power: Materials list needed. Might we recommend PlasFoam Conduits as one item?
    
13. Wireless: See above.
    
14. Fire Control: Materials list needed.

As for the Electronic Warfare Suite, Primary Reactor/Power Plant, Life-support, Shield Projectors, Environmental control, Jump hole Translation Drive, Scanners, Passive and Active Sensors, Radar, Thrusters, Gravity Generators, Software, and other items--we have a plan for these. The initial repairs and retrofit we reached out to you for we believed that Overwatch could give us a highly versatile foundation of a ship capable of taking on the Nomads and their pawns with ease...and you are right, we are approaching a Theseus Ship Paradox with everything that needs doing. However, even though the ship will be practically new, the idea that it is the same vessel will still exist. This ship was once flown by my father, and I have no intention of giving up on her. There is one item on here that we believe we may be able to assist with.

Through our combat with the Nomads and their pawns, we've recovered a significant amount of their remains. These we've discarded either through jettisoning them into space, or giving them over to Order representatives for study or destruction. We don't want those items around our people and risk infection. However, we have had an almost equal amount of combat against malfunctioning AI units and have recovered a lot of scrap from those ships. We've had some of our brightest minds looking over them and analyzing them. We may have come up with a way to adapt their drive technology to our own but all we have are theories and inconclusive tests. If possible, we would like to work with your team to see if it is possible to adapt this technology to the new Defiance. If not, then we can bring the ship to the next location and apply standard drives when the time comes.

As to your question: We were defending a Zoner Whale carrying Terraforming Gasses to the Hudson system and the Houses didn't much like that. We were doing our duty as the Zoner Defense Fleet protecting our own. We were destroyed for our troubles in Omega-7. Since then, we've moved as far away from the House systems as one could get and discovered the true menace threatening Sirius space: The Nomads. Thus we have begun our not-so-silent vigil of combat against them in the Omicrons. We've paid a heavy price so far, but we have no intentions of giving up.

Hopefully that explains just a little bit of combat the ship has gone through since it's return. It's a good ship and a wonder that it can still be flown with the amount of damage it's taken over the years. A testament to Zoner engineering...but even that has it's limits and we've reached them. Let us know what materials we need to bring and the amounts. We will get started on a plan to provide those as long as you are still willing to aid us.

--Zylar Vespertine
Captain of the Carrier Eventide & ZSS-Defiance

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