Chpt. 18) EPIC Space Battle!
Dropping my fleet out of hyperspace at the designated rendezvous location, GC-1852E orbiting a gas giant, I waited patiently for Monarch to arrive with her fleet. As I waited, I examined the holo-projection of the ships in my fleet, getting a feel for their capabilities. The ships were outlined in blue with great detail, and next to each ship was a list of information outlining the ship’s designation, class, rank, weapons, armor class, power distribution, speed, systems integrity, hull integrity, and overall ship integrity. I examined the Reaver to start with, already knowing its capabilities.
The only part that was hard to understand about the displayed numbers was the rank, weapons, and armor class. Sparky informed me that she made it an S-ranking system for ease of use. The lowest rank being F0, meaning the ship will have low speed, armor, and weapons. The highest rank being S9, meaning the ship will have high speed, highly durable armor, and powerful weapons. The armor class was much the same and separated between hull class and shield class, which combined for the rankings, the lowest armor class being F0, meaning none at all, and the highest being S9, meaning it’s incredibly strong. The weapons were listed the same as the armor class, making it easier to remember it all.
Designation: S.F.M.C. Reaver
Class: Dreadnaught
Rank: A5
Weapons: A3
* Main Cannons: S5
* Broadside Cannons: S5
* Turrets: C9
* Missles: C6
Armor Class: A7
* Hull Class: A6
* Shield Class: A7
Power Distribution:
* Weapons: 10%/80%
* Engines: 50%/80%
* Shields: 40%/80%
Speed: 0 Mm/Sec
Hull: 100%
Reactor Core: 100%
Comms: 100%
Shields: 100%
Engines: 100%
Sensors: 100%
Life Support: 100%
Total: 100%
I didn’t have to wait long while I explored the ship’s systems and familiarized myself with all the new buttons and functions as a notification appeared on the holo-projection of my ship. I quickly selected it, and it showed a small fleet dropping out of hyperspace with the ships outlined in white. Most of the projected ships were massive triangular ships, with multiple hangers for ships, and only five of the ships that dropped out of hyperspace were different. Four of the ships were medium-sized frigates, and the last ship was clearly a dreadnaught as it was the only one that matched the triangular ships in size. The dreadnaught had a cylindrical shape with dozens of small dedents. Another screen soon appeared, giving me a quick rundown of the white-outlined ships through the Reaver’s sensors.
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Ships: 14
Cargo Transport Frigates: 4
Starfighter Carriers: 9
Dreadnaught: 1
Weapons: Inactive
Shields: Active
Open Communications? Yes/No
I selected yes and waited a second before Monarch accepted the voice call, “So, you do have a fleet for me to use,” She said as the communication request was accepted.
“For us to use,” I corrected with a smile that I knew she couldn’t see, “This is a communist party. Only the corrupt leaders have a say in anything.”
Monarch didn’t say anything, and I could feel her rolling her eyes through the comms. “Whatever. I don’t care. I want what was promised to me.”
“And you will have it. Once we get a strategy that might work we’ll attack. Now, since you are so impatient, why don’t you come over to my ship so we can strategize?” I suggested, slightly irritated that Monarch would distrust her so much.
“HA! Like I would entrust my safety to you,” Monarch scoffed, “You will come to my ship, and we’ll discuss it here.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes at that as I sighed, “Fine. I’ll be over shortly. And while I’m over there, we’ll discuss your trust issues.”
“Trust issues!?!” Monarch yelled, “I don’t—”
I cut off the comms and shut off the bridge controls as I turned to leave for the hanger. As I stepped out of the bridge, Haru was rounding the corner to enter the bridge, “Oh, where are you going?” Haru asked as she stopped abruptly and saw me.
“I’m going to have a strategy meeting with Monarch. I was about to call to see if you wanted to come along, but you saved me the trouble. Want to come?” I asked as I kept walking.
“Hell yeah,” Haru said as she quickly followed, “I love Monarch. Despite her trust issues.”
“So it’s not just me!” I exclaimed as we reached the elevator and selected the hangar bay. “I intend to ask her about that in our meeting. Got any news for me?”
Haru thought for a moment, “Okiri’s tried to contact me a few times, apparently. He called while I was occupied with Brineck and while I was unconscious. I haven’t called him back yet. Gah, just thinking about him makes me need a shower.”
I nodded along as the elevator stopped, and we made our way to my ship, walking past Sparky and a team of mechanics working on an urgent project of ours. “I’ll call him once we’re done here. Hey! Sparky! How’s things going over there?” I called out.
Sparky’s shoulders rose and fell as she sighed heavily, “We’re not going to finish in time.”
I stopped just outside my ship as the boarding ramp extended down. Then I turned slowly and calmly asked, “What seems to be the problem?”
“Size and connectivity is the problem,” Sparky said, exasperated, “There’s thirteen of us working on this. Seven buildings and six installing them on the fighters. Within that time, I’ve built two while they’ve built and installed one. We’ll never finish in time. Especially with how many we need to make.”
“Out of curiosity, what are you making?” Haru asked, stepping closer to see the cockpit-sized device Sparky had worked on. The device had a diamond-shaped chassis with dozens of tubes and antenna sticking out of a brick of carbon fiber and circuitry.
I thought for a moment when a soft female voice spoke in my head, “The devices won’t work,” Ghost whispered in my ear, “Even if she was able to connect them to the Reaver’s bridge controls, if any of the fighters got up to speed the inertia alone will destroy the hardware. But I have a solution. Send this to her.”
A small zip file appeared in the corner of my vision, and I flicked my wrist, sending the file to Sparky. She blinked a few times as the file appeared in her vision, and she sent the file to a nearby tablet. “What is this?” Sparky asked as she opened the file.
“A solution to your problem. Hopefully, it will help,” I said as I boarded my ship and called Oni with a few twitches of my eyes.
She quickly answered, “What’s the problem?”
“I’m going to be leaving the ship for a little bit. You have command of the fleet while I’m gone. If something goes wrong, shoot it,” I commanded simply.
“Understood. And I’m getting hungry,” Oni informed me.
I began starting up my ship as I answered, “Don’t worry, you’ll get your fill soon enough,” then ended the call.
“Also,” Ghost whispered in my ear again, “I noticed several problems with Sparky’s bridge program. I’m working on fixing them right now, but one of the problems is with the ship’s firing controls. So long as nothing goes wrong within the next twenty minutes, I’ll have it back up and running by the time you need to shoot something.”
As Haru strapped herself into the co-pilot seat, she asked, “Is everything okay?”
I nodded as the engines hummed to life, and I took toward Monarch’s flagship, “Yeah, just hoping nothing happens in the next twenty minutes to the ships. I am wondering if it’s possible to change the Reaver’s designation so it doesn’t say S.F.M.C.”
***