Deciding that an all-rounder design would work best, you settle on the Dominion configuration for the Terra Incarnadine’s broadside weapons mounts. Eyeing your fifth cup of tea and the small hill of appendices detailing all of the possible additional components. You dig in, aiming to at least have some idea of what you need to know.

Half an hour later, your fifth cup of tea long gone, you decide to not try and 'blind pick' the last few components of the Terra Incarnadine. Instead You set up a conference with Jace the following morning and head to bed.

Your morning meeting goes well, and Jace helps you to understand the rudiments of starship design. You know he is simplifying things down by several levels, and presenting you with options and descriptions of components and systems as units instead of the tens of thousand of intricate details that are normally involved.

Together, the two of you hash out a final list of components to be included, managing to squeeze in an Auxiliary Plasma Bank for some extra power, Auxiliary Retro-Thrusters for a more responsive helm, an Arboretum for both beauty and a much larger source of fresh food aboard ship, a Compartmentalized Cargo Hold for the transport of bulk goods, a Melodium to fill the halls of the ship with uplifting music (along with the provision to have the officer's quarters on independent sound systems), and a set of Pilot Quarters, to minimize the inevitable disagreements between the hotshot fighter-jocks and the rest of the crew. To speed up some of the construction process, Jace asks your permission to go ahead and strip the Damocles prototype out of the Aegis so that he can re-use the components.

"Why? It worked fine against Gibli."

"Yes and no. Yes, it functioned properly. No, it will not continue to do so. The prototype aboard the Aegis uses up much of her cargo holds, and requires every scrap of spare power, and a few that aren't exactly spare, to fire even one shot. On top of that, the mounting is so awkward that the Aegis will suffer structural damage from repeated firings, and the prototype itself needs to be loaded from the muzzle, from outside the ship. Stripping it out will give the Aegis her cargo holds back, and allow me to complete the Damocles Mark 2 aboard the Terra Incarnadine inside of a year."

Stolen story; please report.

"Alright, that works for me. The next question is where we get all of these components. I know the Terra Incarnadine has a Microforge, but I don't expect it can make all of the needed parts."

"It could, eventually. Time to completion would be several hundred years, assuming an uninterrupted supply of material and laborers, and no outside interference. "

"In other words, not exactly practical. Aside from the Damocles, what would be complete inside of a year? Would the Terra Incarnadine be warp-ready enough to transit to a shipyard or another work site to salvage the needed components?"

"Inside a year? The Damocles, the basic weapons fittings, the Jovian Launch Bays, and the supplementary components we discussed this morning. The resulting hull would be Warp-ready, though all but unarmed. The Aegis would be required as an escort."

"Alright. In a year, give or take, the Terra Incarnadine will be warp-ready. The question at that point will be where to get the Sunsear Broadsides and the Hecutor Plasma Broadsides. Not exactly things you can just buy at the local forgeworld without selling the ship they were to be mounted on. I learned that getting the Aegis outfitted. Any other ideas?"

"Two actually. One, we could salvage the needed parts, either from the edge of the Kainia Maw or from a transitory space hulk. Two, we could strike a deal with the Tau for the use of their shipyard in Nil'kvee system again."

You scratch your chin, "Or Three, we could see of Inquisitor Olaf could divert some help our way. We'd probably end up owing him a few favors, to be repaid via services to be rendered. Any preferences?"

"All three sound workable."