Strolling down the bustling corridor, the Molly captain was sure he was doing the right thing. Why else would he be doing it? The Molly cause was what he lived and breathed for, he wouldn't let it stumble so close to it's goal.
Walking around a broken down forklift, the captain mused to himself about the various ongoings around him.
Just a corridor like any other, yet busier than any you'd find on a Bretonian station. Tis surely a good sign.
Walking onwards, he was once again caught in the currents of the crowd. Whilst a normal corridor on the station, any corridor on Foyle was busy. The more recent changes to the Londonderry system had pushed the inhabitants to try harder and their work ethic seemed to merely get greater, even with the dire news about the system's gold resources. The recall of some veteran pilots had no doubt helped too.
They had been re-called to help provide more advanced training for the relatively new pilots on the station. An armistice with Bretonia had come into effect and Molly forces were less stretched, allowing for a short reprieve for many pilots before they were deployed elsewhere. While Dublin and Bretonia were safer places for the Mollys, they still had to contend with the fearsome Corsairs and the onslaught of Kusari's vast navy. While it was true that the Tau war had ground to a standstill, it was not without the help and sacrifice of many Molly's. The Kusari Navy were dangerous enemies, well equipped to deal with the Molly's hit-and-run tactics after dealing with years of Blood Dragon attacks.
Turning off the corridor, the captain went through one of the many identical doors that lined the corridor and constantly streaming with people going to and fro. The corridor he entered was much like the previous, save for being a little less busy, if as crowded due to it's smaller size.
Walking over to a dirty mechanic standing to the side, the captain's smile spread as he recognised the character.
"Sean! It's been too long, how's it going'?"
Sean beamed as he too recognised the captain.
"Captain Mc Cormack, it has been too long alright. Everythin' is grand though, little bit busier is all lately."
"Good to hear, shall we head on to the hanger?"
Mc Cormack motioned towards a door nearby, indicating for the mechanic to go ahead.
"Aye, best get her up and running swiftish like"
Setting off at a brisk pace, Sean led the two through multiple different winding corridors, crossing some of the busier intersections in the process.
"This should be it here now lad"
Turning around yet another corner, they stepped out into a small concave expanse, set into the side of the asteroid base. Various large tunnels led off from parts of the roof, large enough to fit some of the biggest fighters the Molly's had. The entire floor of the space was covered in tubing and wires of sorts. Copious amounts of it could be seen coming from all of the walls, criss-crossing the room like some kind of plant. Sitting in the middle of this mess was an odd ship. Built originally as a CSV, the vessel had seemingly had various parts welded onto it, eventually turning it into something that resembled a multiple-limbed creature of past ages.
"Well I see you haven't got rid of her Sean." Mc Cormack chuckled, he had seen the vessel years before during one of his first encounters with the mechanic.
Walking around the ship, stepping over the various tubing and wires, Sean gave it a sound slap on the main hull.
"Can't find anything better lad, she outdoes everything I've found so far"
"No argument with that Sean, she's looking as good as ever too."
Sean simply winked back, smiling.
"I can thank you lads for keeping the tools fresh anyway"
Mc Cormack simply laughed, "Well this should give you a nice use for them anyway"
The mechanic's face took on a quizzical expression.
"Aye lad, what's this all about anyway?"
Mc Cormack reached into his uniform jacket pocket and took out what seemed to be an old photo. Handing it over to Sean, the mechanic's face looked shocked.
Weeks passed by, progress was slow. The extent of the damage to the ship was higher than Mc Cormack had anticipated, yet worth it in his eyes. The vessel that had the callsign of Proton was one with age.
A D5-2A "Ranseur" Outcast Dreadnought, it was the largest vessel Molly's ever flew.
It was also a gigantic waste of resources for a group that was struggling in their fight against the Corsairs.
Utterly useless in the asteroid fields of the Omega systems, the ship often was a simple meat shield for the snubcraft escorting it to use as cover and for the enemy to concentrate fire on.
This and the various other Outcast ships the Molly's used were thanks to the Union of Gold, the previous ruling Molly government. They were all de-commissioned with the fall of the Union and the birth of the Molly Republic.
It was deemed that the vessels simply were not worth the resources it took to maintain them.
The Proton was one of the last vessels to be salvaged, with the other destroyers, battleships and dreadnoughts already nearly finished being torn apart.
As a result, the ship's overall shape has not changed, with the outside hull only starting to be taken apart when Mc Cormack found out about it.
Circling the vast wreck, Sean took Mc Cormack on a 'grand ol tour of the junk' as he called it. It didn't look good in Mc Cormack's eyes.
"Well Sean, that looks dire"
The Mechanic craned his neck to talk to the captain, the ship engines' roar making it hard to hear him.
"Aye it may look like that lad but she's in better shape than the other ones"
The Proton sat off to the right of Sean's vessel. The outer hull had been torn open at several parts but nowhere critical.
"Will it ever fly?"
"Well lad, that's up to them Unioner 'uns. Just make sure they don't install any of that fancy rheinland junk, it's hard to get pieces fer it over here."
"I'll make a note about that."
Turning away from the cockpit viewport, Mc Cormack flicked a switch on his uniform's comm system.
"Gaelic, get in position"
The system buzzed back some static before an answer came.
"Yessir, we're takin' her in now. O'Brian out."
Flicking the switch back, the captain turned back to Sean and said with a grimace
"Well we'll find out how strong that hull is in a moment anyway."
Looking out of the viewport, a Scylla Destroyer could be seen slowly moving towards the wrecks hulking form.
