Mykolaiv station was busy as usual: the hum of machinery, sporadic blasts of light from laboratories around with the following good portion of swearing, and people in white robes passionately discussing “another breakthrough”. Doctor Mstislav Belov was striding past all this mess not paying much attention to the staff saluting him. His mind was occupied with obtrusive idea of developing huge Coalition man-like battle robots and deploying them somewhere.
“...if we supply them with an air tank big enough, we can deploy them on planet Kurile… But why not just use submarines, then? No, not good…”
The acrid fragrance of chemicals brought Dr. Belov back from his reflections into the real world as he was passing one of the laboratories.
“Hmm, terraforming department. They must be testing that new chemical compound for “Tselina” project. I wonder, why are all those so smelly? Nah, it doesn’t matter should they work”.
He continued strolling past bleak laboratories with same metal mag-doors and transparent armoured glass for the guards to see what was going on inside. After another minute of walking, Doctor was at the spot.
“Aha, Testing Module #4. I can hear the engines sound. They must have started since I am a bit late”.
The testing had indeed been commenced. The room was very warm and dry after testing the stellarator-based engine. Unlike many dim-lit facilities, this one was very bright and clean, indicating the importance of the ongoing project. This enhanced “Odin” of agent Krsnik was indeed something very important and something SCEC scientists were proud of. To rework Hessians' crude machine into something a Coalition pilot can fly wasn’t the easiest task to achieve and required the dedication and precision.
“Systems – check. Power relay – check. Energy grid – check. Hull integrity – check. All systems nominal, no deviations.” - A young scientist was overseeing a team of engineers over a control panel with a lit cigarette behind his ear. Doctor recognized aspirant Anton Shweik from afar, a fine and smart young lad who would not observe the safety regulations as to the smoking.
“Comrades! As I see I came just in time to see the results of the engine testing. Estimations predicted roughly 16% increase in performance, as far as I remember. What are the figures?”
“It is 16.45 with standard error of 0.07 throughout 15 runs, Doctor Belov” – replied Aspirant Shweik. – “Glad to have you on board, Doc”. It was obvious that the testing crew and the Doctor were pleased with the results. Aspirant Shweik took the cigarette from behind his ear and with relief continued smoking.
“What’s next on the agenda?”
“We were just about to discuss the changes. It is lunch time, anyway. But if you insist, Doctor Belov, we can continue testing the armour coating. This Ti3Au material is promising! We delivered standard weaponry from all houses, as well as those weird blasters from infectees’ ships and Coalition weaponry. We are ready to start at your command, Doc.” – Aspirant Shweik looked tired: it seems he had to oversee another delivery from Plesetsk for this testing.
“Good, good. We shall have a small break of 30 minutes. You can go smoke or have anything to eat. Do not drink vodka until we are finished with testing, comrades!” – shouted Dr. Belov and turned to the aspirant.
“Ok, Anton, now we have to calculate the performance and energy-consumption for the sake of safety test. Agent Krsnik will be visiting the facility today and I believe he wishes to fly it in controlled conditions with firing some practice targets before deploying it to the drill space over Odessa”.
…
The arrival of their much anticipated visitor was rather delayed, at least by one hour over the timing they were told he would arrive, but the moment he did, the very tune of the working environment changed, the bickering, chatting and constant noise seemed to hush as a freighter moored with the station. Whether this quietness was out of respect, fear or both, wasn't fully clear, but what was clear was that now the effectiveness of the freshly established S.C.E.C would be gauged by a figure of notoriety.
The guest of the hour was more than familiar with the layout of the station, walking briskly and with an audible thump to every step their boots took, people that stood by to greet him with overenthusiastic salutes were disregarded, it was almost as if the fully concealed figure paid them no mind and took no cognizance of anyone's presence, this changed upon being met with the sight of the Odin carefully locked into place within one of the workshop hangars.
While Lukas, or Krsnik, as he preferred to be called had fully expected to not be able to truly recognize what was once his mentor's Loki, he didn't believe it would appear this different, even to him, when witnessed in the flesh. It was daunting, the jagged wings felt as if they were a warning of what was to come, the aggressive red silhouette conjured up the feeling of impending violence and a complete lack of value for any concept of mercy. If what he was told about the new internal systems wasn't a lie, the craft would now even bleed when damaged, given the circulation of the arterial blood from fallen foes within, making the ship seem like a living extension of its pilot.
Stepping close to the ship and ignoring whomever might have been nearby just for a few moments, for the sake of examining the finish applied to the hull, caused even Krsnik's hair to stand on end beneath his suit, it felt like approaching death. The team had overachieved if anything. Almost as soon as he drew this conclusion, he snapped himself back to the moment at hand, looking around for the project-lead.
"Doctor Belov?" He called out, tone slightly modulated by the helmet firmly locked into place upon his head.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Finally, Krsnik arrived. Anton unnoticeably threw a cigarette off and quickly gave last orders to the engineers. The team began checking all subsystems and wires, since nothing should fail. Everybody understood, how important this work was for SCEC's future: win commissariat's favor cost a lot. A failure - even more.
Shweik looked at the pad - diagnostic equipment worked normally, all "Odin's" systems were online, fluctuations being within the limits. The team did their job well. Anton shared the data with Dr. Belov, who was standing near and looking at the important client. Krsnik ended his inspection and Shweik crossed fingers.
With a silent nod, Anton made a sign to engineers who momentarily attached power supply cords to already pre-installed guns of different origins.
"Set weapon effectiveness to 62%. The calculations show that this is the limit not to actually pierce the armor but sufficient to test its defensive qualities".
The calibrations having been completed, Aspirant Shweik leaned over a control panel, put on his light-reflecting goggles as the rest of the engineers and raised his thumb : - "Ready at your command!"
With a slight grin, Doctor Belov said calmly: "Open fire!".
In a few following minutes, the ship was shot at by different weapon types: tachyon guns of Rheinland and Coalition origin, Corsairs laser beams and Libertonian plasma. The crew even found an old version of "Maxim" chaingun with kinetic ammo and discharged the whole box of munitions at "Odin". Room filledwith smoke, Doctor finally gave the order "Cease the fire!". It was time to inspect the hull.
With childish anticipation of miracle and a smile, Doctor Belov approached the ship, agent Krsnik silently following him and his crew, towering over everyone in his power armour.
"Scratches, here - most probably from kinetic munitions. Ehm, diameter of initial collision spot is 5.47 cm with deflection trace of 11.02 cm" - Doctor was mumbling to himself, while other scientists were taking notes - "it indicates, that the bullet was successfully deflected and it "glided" over the armour. There is also no visible dents in the armour although theoretically there should be. It means that self-regenerating capabilities of the craft are indeed significant to completely negate minor damage".
Anton Shweik continued the inspection: "Signs of plasma burns over there. 13.9 cm in diameter, no visible damage to the hull integrity. Hmmm, here, over the wing, star-shaped burns. Only adapted weaponry of infectees leave traces of perfect geometrical form like that. Small scratches, outer coating slightly damaged but regenerating... Well, this is a good result against such a formidable weaponry. Too bad we can neither reverse-engineer it, nor adjust their power usage." Aspirant Shweik looked sad on uttering these words. He knew too well the effect of adapted blasters on his own ship.
The inspection continued tediously for another twenty minutes. All types of damage were more or less reflected or absorbed, armour showing no traces of significant damage received. Despite long and tiresome procedure, agent Krsnik stood motionlessly observing, some engineers looking at him over shoulder with fear incapable to register agent's emotions behind the glowing red visors of his helmet. Was he pleased? Was he bored? Was he going to execute them for poor work? Even the most ridiculous thoughts run through mind of a scared person.
"Agent Krsnik, we are finally ready to report. The Ti3Au armour and Kevlar-based underlining showed good results in withstanding the damage. In real combat, the damage would be more significant, however, taking into consideration constant maneuvreing and change of velocity and angles, the damage can be mitigated completely. Fullerene-based coating also provides opportunity to absorb some of the energy shot at the ship if deshielded and convert it to the energy for your ship use, say, firing guns. The cockpit glass is as thick as the armour with only 8.9% reduction in protection provided. Thus, you must be safe to performerm the most daunting dashes that ordinary pilots can not afford due to cockpit vulnerability." Doctor Beloved finished reporting while consulting the info-tab in his hands and now was addressing agent Krsnik looking into his red visors.
"With armour and engine tests completed, it is hightime we proceeded to the shooting range over Odessa. We intended to shoot some practice targets in-here, but since you already arrived and the ship is 100% safe to fly, why don't you jump in the cockpit and try to fly it for a bit. The practice targets were placed on Odessa orbit. We also prepared a surprise for you: some of the practice ships use auto-pilot to simulate real-combat escaping maneuvres. Some of them are even shielded, so that the practice is not boring for you. But the surprise is that on one of the 13 practice ships there is a real pilot-prisoner, who can even shoot the guns, but can not escape the orbit, although preserving the limited ability to control the ship. I believe, that one is Herr Kaufmann from Rheinland Police. The poor sod was delivering two Hessian pilots to a prison when our patrol intercepted him in Stuttgart system. His fate is in your hands, comrade Krsnik". - with a gesture, Doctor Belov ordered to isolate the ship and open the dock into space. - "Be our guest, agent. Go and try to shoot the targets. We will also debrief you on your "Nastya" AI capabilities once you are in space and have shot a few targets. Also, you can start making guesses in which ship is Herr Kaufmann, good luck with that!"
Without saying anything further, Krsnik would once more pace back to his mentor's ship in a thoughtful manner, mind recalling every single skirmish and duel he'd ever been involved in with this very ship, He lost focus during the transition from the ground into the canopy, only realizing he'd hopped in once he was actually in the seat and that the protective glass had automatically slid back into place, locking with an audible hiss as the ship adjusted itself for take-off.
He felt his gut knot in anger for himself, he knew deep down that his mentor would be ashamed and disappointed by what his former apprentice had become, and more so what he'd done to the ship. There was no point trying to be the man he was, having thrown himself well beyond the point of no-return. The engines no longer hummed during launch procedures, they screamed, a dreadful wail filling the halls as the entire frame moved forward with lethal efficiency in terms of its acceleration. Exiting the hangar was like being kicked in the gut, with the ship reaching top impulse speed along-side thrust assisted movement in a matter of milliseconds, it was a shock to the senses, even for him.
Having flown the ship for most of his teens and adulthood, Krsnik was a little bewildered not having to deal with any of its old quirks anymore, the engines no longer rattled and nearly shut-off when adjusting the output, the guns mounted on the left wing aligned with the holographic cross-hair perfectly, rather than slightly off the mark. And most importantly, all the three main engines gave exactly the same output, no longer being mostly propelled by the one fixated at the center, which at times put unnecessary and dangerous strain on the space-frame.
Thirteen red signatures appeared on his scanner notifications screen, he was approaching them rather quickly, the glow of Odessa beginning to reflect into the canopy with a rather harsh brightness, which the ship rather smartly responded to by darkening the canopy glass for its pilot. It no longer felt like a machine, it felt like a horribly twisted and mangled person that ferried him through the fray of the void.
His mind had already adjourned as to what was going to be done about the captured pilot, protests from the heart ignored and buried under the resolve of cold logic and a soldier's duty to a banner. With a sickening howl from the engines, the pilot of the Odin put it through very rapid and hard maneuvers, guns aligned with the first target as it proceeded head-on, letting the rear of the craft slide out, turning the direct charge into an angled approach, accompanied by a muffled series of tachyon discharges and the explosion of the first dummy craft.
With a feel for how the ship moved, the next five craft went down rather quickly, all in spectacular explosions, preceded only by the orange and gold tachyon bolts that bored literal holes through whatever armor-coating the test targets had. This would continue for the span of a minute, until twelve targets had been wiped off the radar, with only one remaining, the captured pilot who felt as if he were glaring at his doom, doing what he could to defend himself and firing off the weaponry he had at his disposal towards the approaching silhouette of the Odin. None of them hit, and he screamed in fear as he was nearly rammed by the bloody-crimson ship that screamed past him literally, fixating itself on the rear of his ship within a fraction of a second, almost as if its pilot had practiced this technique a million times over through multiple lifetimes.
The next three seconds were futile, complete shield failure and critical thruster damage, followed by the ghastly feeling of being spaced, the prisoner seemed to be able to calm his breathing and feel slight relief at the sight of the Odin apparently abandoning him after turning his mobile confinement into metallic shreds.
But this reprieve was short-lived, with his attacker turning on a dime and heading right for his escape-pod, jagged wings aligned with the center-mass of his body. The radio-streams were filled with a petrified scream, there was no way to escape this, no way to even move from the returning silhouette. The scream abruptly ended and the loud noise faded into nothingness, static engulfing the prisoner's broadcast as his life-signs registered a complete failure, he'd been cut in two and executed with extreme prejudice.
With this, Krsnik would level out his familiar ship and bring it to a halt, waiting for further instructions or an evaluation from Doctor Belov.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Every dash, every blast of light of the guns, every target destroy was being watched attentively by the team. Regular engineers and guardsmen were observing the training next to the hangar screen while the core research team were spectating using the control panels and tablets in their hands, simultaneously registering data of interest.
"We are registering significant improvements as to original "Odin's" design and "Insurgent", Doctor Belov" - said aspirant Shweik while looking at this table with genuine interest, his attention being focused not at the dashes but rather at the figures popping up after each target destroyed. - "With certainty of 99.7% and a standard error of 0.03 we can corroborate the increase of velocity by 8.94%, turn-rate decreased by 2.1 seconds, suppression time of engine kill is reduced by 0.7 seconds. All systems nominal."
"Good, those are promising results. What do we have on the weapons systems?" - Doctor Belov was captivated by the influx of data on his tablet that were analysed on the go and creating various plots and graphs reflecting the ongoing procedure.
"Weapon system are fully supplied with energy, no fluctuations. Based on our estimations, the model predicts that usage of more powerful and even incompatible with standard Hessian or Coalition ships weapons will be possible without significant limitations to the generator capacity." - aspirant Shweik was no less absorbed into the cascade of numbers on the screen of a control panel in front of him while two assistants were taking care of the tedious task of rendering the models.
As twelve targets were down and the thirteenth one was severely damaged the crew froze in anticipation of what comes next. "Will he spare him? This is unlike the stories I heard of him" were whispering engineers. As Krsnik's ship entered a turning curve, there was no doubt of what was about to happen. With a swift dash, the escape pod of an ex-Polizei was halved, as if someone delicately opened a bottle of wine with a sharp sword, releasing the contains to freely flow into the void over Odessa.
"Strikes like a hammer, slashes like a sickle" - mumbled Anton under his nose.
"A good metaphor, Aspirant." - added the Doctor. "Aside from reference to our People's symbol of crossed hammer and sickle, If I remember correctly, hammer is also the tool of an old Earth god from Germanic mythology, "Tor", and "Odin" was his father. Krsnik is like a son to that ship, or, given the age of the ship, a "Tor-son" to some old "Odin-mentor". At any rate, what are the data on the blade?"
"The force applied was approximately 103 Kilojoules, the acceleration and velocity considered. No damage to the blade. With that force, the ship can inflict substantial damage to deshielded vessels of up to gunboat class, smaller vessels like fighters or bombers can be cut in two with appropriate acceleration."
As all the targets were down, it was time to test the AI assistant. "Agent Krsnik, excellent demonstration of ship capabilities. The next part of testing is the AI. "Nastya" includes many useful modules, like automatic discerning of ships in conditions of limited visibility, advanced IFF signatures recognition, voice control and feedback over ship's systems, holographic projection of the battlefield with in-built model for predicting enemies' moves as well as toolkit for planning and debriefing your own tactics to allies. Apart from that, it automatically sorts your communication channels, prevents radio- and other types of comm interference, has heuristic module for prevention of hacking into the ship systems (i believe, in light of your recent dealings with Lane Hackers it might prove useful) and many minor features that are aimed at alleviating the task of controlling various functions, allowing you to focus on the key issues like battle." Doctor Belov was rather excited to list all the features. "You can try those in space or you can return to the base so that we show you the advanced interrogation module we have previously bragged about. We know you are a busy person, so in case you have no time the mandatory part of testing can be considered concluded. Your call, agent!"
There was a brief pause as Krsnik collected himself, there was a lot on his mind, regardless of how unstable it was, which only seemed to add to his long list of difficulties and rather genuinely self imposed torment. Looking down at his controls, he noticed an all too familiar sight, his hands were rather involuntarily shaking, this always happened after he killed and regardless of conditioning and even a lack of hesitation, it never seemed to go away.
Eventually he managed to clear his mind after a minute had passed, giving the Doctor an answer. "I can make the time. Returning to base to see the rest of your accomplishments Doctor, consider me.. impressed with your work."
With a very minor flick of the wrist, he angled the literally bloodied Odin towards Mykolaiv and began to speed towards it, slowing down drastically once he inevitably drew near the hangar. It felt much easier and less strenuous to position the craft for a landing, a certain smoothness existing alongside the brutal efficiency, elegance, uncharacteristic for Coalition engineering. According to Krsnik, the Insurgent that pilots of the Army commonly received simply paled in comparison with his current warhorse, he was certain of that much.
With his feet on solid ground and the craft secured once more, he could only wonder what was next, and if he'd need to prepare himself for it.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Crimson "Odin" returned back to the hangar and landed. Engines not stopped yet, but technicians ready to secure the ship. A black figure in a power suit jumped out of the cockpit, and walked up to a group of engineers in lab coats, crowded near the maintenance bay, awaiting commissar for the next briefing and his reaction.
"Well, commissar, we are ready to quickly introduce you to the improvements in auxiliary electronics of the fighter." - started Shweik. - "Firstly and most importantly, due to the rising number of reports about electronic warfare vessels, we paid more attention to screening all systems from any known types of interference. Hardware is protected from EMI, and communications are protected by heuristic threat analysis module, sensors and transmitter's hardware power output was enhanced, so His Watchful Eye should not blink due to scrambling. Of course, it is still a fighter, and can be jammed with enough power."- Shweik ended the first part of the briefing and turned on a screen with a large image of "Odin's" control panel.
"Another one is improvement of IFF system. In addition to standard comparison of ship types with neural-net database and their identification codes, on-board AI now should analyse all signals from a ship and characteristic emissions from target's equipment. This should help discovering beast's worshippers and infected."- continued aspirant.
"Also,we mounted this socket"- Anton pointed finger at the screen. - "It is made for full compatibility with powersuits, in complex it can act as a full HMDS system, so you don't need additional equipment for marking targets and weapon controls. Most of commands to onboard AI can be given by voice, so that hands always stay on controls. Of course, all flight information is still duplicated by analogous and digital indicators, and an old-good cockpit HUD."
Shweik ended his report and engineers held their breath, awaiting commissar's answer.
Why was he hesitating so much? This was clearly good work, in fact the more he pondered it, the more he felt like it was perfect. But then it hit him. All of this, all the technology, the excessive armour plating, it defied the true spirit of his mentor's ship.
"Shave the armour down, remove the automation systems and make the engine control entirely manual, I don't want those childish heat management systems in the way of the Odin pushing itself to its true potential. Technology is a great asset, but also a great weakness, it makes you dependent on it and weak on your own. Neither me nor my ship will be weak, aspirant. I want the surplus power generated by the core diverted to the engine systems, the weaponry requires precision and the ship should exhibit finesse, not brute force. I don't care how seemingly fragile this may make the ship seem, you cannot hurt what you cannot touch."
It seemed like an endless barrage of rather intensive modifications to the already finished framework, but he wasn't asking, Shweik knew any failure to comply or undue wit would be met with swift and brutal punishment.
"And kill that infernal machine. I don't want Artificial Intelligence on my ship."
His last order was almost shocking and came with a snarl, though no inferences could be made about how he looked at the moment, he was most definitely angry, but not with anyone around him, rather himself. He'd overlooked the true spirit of the ship and by extension himself. 'Move with swiftness and with no forgiveness' he recited mentally.
With nothing else to say, he'd wait for his latest orders to be carried out, wanting nothing more than to be done with this petty ordeal, the Odin was a warrior and needed to fly like one, not decorated with the rabble the feeble technocrats so desperately thought was necessary, his angered presence would also perhaps serve as ample motivation, failure and inefficiency were not options.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
"Tak tochno, comrade сommissar. Will be done in twenty four hours." - said Shweik, without even blinking. Although, Krsnik already wasn’t paying attention and went out from hangar. Once it was certain that сommissar was far enough in the labyrinth of Mykolaiv, doctor burst up in irritation.
"He..just rendered useless a huge part of our work! Does he at least understand how much work we have done?!" - Belov was furious and couldn’t hide his discontent. Anton lit a cigarette.
"And you are smoking in the hangar again, aspirant!"
"Don't you worry, doctor, nothing of what we have done is to be wasted. Now we even have recordings of the comissar's battle-patterns." - Belov pondered deeply, and Shweik started giving orders to technicians. - "Well, comrades. I think, you are all heard comrade commissar words. Let's begin, we will have a long night. Disassemble the outer hull plating, deliver all inner layer's plates to warehouse seven, and XKR-DM plates - to eighteenth one." - aspirant pressed intercom's key. - "Team five, to hangar eighteen in ten minutes."
Doctor Belov watched engineers working. Crimson panels were stripped away and accurately laid on racks.
"So, aspirant, seems like the group had another plan all along?"
"Of course, doctor. We have developed different modification templates. First variant was the balanced one, but comrade commissar prefers agility over other characteristics. So, our team now will rid some parts to reduce the weight of the fighter. We shall replace all inner kevlar-based polymer plating with CNT-fiber. It should help to preserve the thrusting speed."
"Carbon nanotubes fiber? How did you get those?" - doctor looked slightly amazed.
"We were really lucky, doctor. Captain of CPS "Anapa” exceeded the plan and delivered more than needed to Plesetsk. The extra amounts of material were delivered on Mykolaiv and processed into fiber. It is such a luck that I hadn’t used it for another project."
"Huum.. very lucky, indeed."
Disassembling of "Odin" was being carried out. Engineers dismounted the AI core. A heavy box with cooling systems was disconnected from the wires and laid on a cart. One of the workers took it away from the hangar. All the parts not needed by Krsnik were to be removed. Engineers disassembled most of electronic systems, leaving only hardware controllers necessary for stable work of reaction chambers. Plasma flow fuses will be changed to the heavier ones from "Thor". New angles for thrust vector controllers should be recalibrated due to new, overlimit thrust mode.
"Odin" became more plain and harsh, but not low-tech. As a dagger, forged from good steel, it should strike hard, without breaking.
![[Image: eW8iuvq.png]](https://i.imgur.com/eW8iuvq.png)
![[+]](/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler![[Image: fPxh782.png]](https://i.imgur.com/fPxh782.png)
![[Image: 1KdqLN0.png]](https://i.imgur.com/1KdqLN0.png)
![[Image: BJC1E.png]](http://i.yapx.ru/BJC1E.png)
![[Image: VzdM2Mq.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/VzdM2Mq.jpg)
![[Image: BLicZ.png]](http://i.yapx.ru/BLicZ.png)
![[Image: BLnrv.png]](http://i.yapx.ru/BLnrv.png)