Officers Meeting
The first flight of her newly repaired ship had gone swimmingly, and Astarte couldn’t have been more pleased to feel the Astaroth beneath her feet. The Astaroth had been due for some yard time for a long while, there were patches of armor that had been damaged and hastily repaired that had to be replaced, electronics that had blown and needed the fully stripped out, and coolant pipes that were reaching the end of their life span. There were also glaring problems with the original design, like having the Med-bay and medical quarters so far apart. Or how Engineering didn’t have their own dedicated storage, or an easy way to directly restock when they pulled into port.
Not to mention the catastrophic weakness of having all their sensory equipment exposed on a conning tower just because that’s how the original Missouri did things. Or other major flaws on the Astaroth’s upper deck. They weren’t a navy ship, they were a spaceship. Which meant they didn’t need to keep the upper deck clear for people to traverse. The previously open bridge wings that allowed people to walk from bow to stern had been rarely used since the crew of the Astaroth had little reason to be above deck. The new design took apart the walk way and filled that now empty space with more sophisticated anti-missile counter measures.
The old anti-missile system was just rapid fire twin railgun mounts, resembling the old CIWS guns. But they had proven to be less than effective at neutralizing missiles with advanced anti-tracking measures, which was how some Draxori missiles had made it through the Astaroth’s countermeasures. The added Chaff and flare systems were old tracking countermeasures adapted for space combat, they worked by launching canisters filled with radar reflective metals that would burst a set distance away from the ship to confuse enemy tracking. The old railguns also received a secondary targeting computer that would activate after enemy projectiles entered a certain range, this secondary targeting system was equipped with visual tracking AI that would adjust the guns aim just like a human marksman. It was more CPU intense and less effective than traditional tracking, but it should be able to cover enemy counter measures.
They had also completely replaced the old reactors, this time they had ordered a new power plant from an up and coming company Astarte had invested in. Their previous contractor had been using standard Union parts to build their products, and had the unfortunate flaw of melting down like a nuclear bomb. Which was apparently abnormal for fusion reactors. The new company, Helion Power, had taken a different approach to building fusion reactors meant for spaceships. Instead of scaling down reactors meant for entire cities they took inspiration from old nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines and built upon that technology for a compact system perfect for high performance spaceships like the Astaroth.
The difference was like going from huge diesel based generators to powerful high octane formula-1 engines. They were far better suited for the kind of output the Astaroth needed out of them. Their cruising speed was now a little slower than before, but their mid-combat power production was on a whole different level. They had already tested these engines on some of the newer Fiend class destroyers and had fantastic results, now they were installing them on the Astaroth as a test bed for the other Archdevil class cruisers before making the fleet wide shift.
Astarte had considered using the old reactors on the Obama since it had more space for cooling pipes and heat syncs. But the Igrathoth had recently finished its long journey to Pandemonium and it offered a rare opportunity. The Hellworlders had captured the Igrathoth from the Aunviry pirate Kazlum during the Battle for the Confederacy, and they had been planning to retrofit it into the Hellworlders first battleship. Unfortunately over the course of the Igrathoth’s return to Pandemonium the Hellworlders had discovered that converting the ship would be far more difficult than expected. The ships exterior was very much like a battleship, unfortunately the interior didn’t reflect that.
It was more like a mobile palace, and flew like a brick with some oversized cannons strapped onto it. The armor was equal to what they used on Union battleships, but the original frame had been for a super freighter and its internal ribbing wasn’t able to handle the extra mass. The return crew had to be extremely careful about how they maneuvered it because one wrong turn could snap the ship under its own inertia. In a combat sense that made it useless, less than useless actually, because it was a huge liability that would need over 4000 trained crewman to man it. If the Astarte ever tried to crew a ship like that then she would be condemning 4000 men and women to a pointless death.
She wasn’t sure why Kazlum had sunk so much time and credits into something like that. Kazlum was a monster, but he wasn’t an idiot. He would have known that in a straight up battle his prized ship wouldn’t be able to stand up to a Union Cruiser, let alone a main sequence battleship. Maybe he knew that and was banking on the prestige such a ship gave him, he was nothing if not prideful, even to the end.
The Igrathoth did have one asset that Aster couldn’t wait the use. Its Anti-matter reactor core, and hundred-year supply of the extremely expensive fuel source. Anti-matter was the kind of stuff used to power entire core worlds and superstations. even if Astarte had the money to afford some, she still couldn’t buy any because of how tightly controlled it was. And Pandemonium was still two hundred years away from having the industrial capacity to make a single gram.
It felt like a bit of a waste to use that kind of substance on the Obama, but Astarte didn’t have anything else that handle something that potent.
Astarte had just finished signing the order to strip down the Igrathoth when the first person arrived for the meeting. Karega had been outside in bright morning sun greeting the crew as they entered and had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. But if he minded the heat his face didn’t show it. He was grinning ear to ear, just as Aster had been before another headache came up. they had just finished a week long space trial for the Astaroth, and both of them couldn’t contain the pride they felt for their ship. She outperformed every metric they had come up with, and even exceeded her previous FTL record by hitting 8.01 kilo-lights. Meaning in one year of straight travel they could reach 8000 lightyears. It wasn’t much compared to the Milky ways 100.000 lightyears, but was still an incredible feat. Sure there were faster ships out there, but none of them were the size of the Astaroth.
“Everyone’s been handed their assignments” Karega said cheerily.
Aster glanced to the clock and saw that it was only 1320. She nodded to herself and began to look over the rest of her reports before the meeting started. Heizer was convinced that with some time to dial in the new reactors he could maximize their energy output by an additional twelve percent. The new Helmsman, Li Fan from the Dagon, reported that there was slight tendency to pull a little starboard. Aster guessed that one of the small port engines was putting out more power than the starboard ones. EM thrusters and gyroscopic correction kept the Astaroth from spinning out, but were limited in their ability to correct unequal thrust. The Fiend class destroyers had a slightly different thruster layout and correction systems, so Fan wouldn’t have been familiar with this particular quirk of the Archdevils.
Astarte still felt a little uncertain about promoting their previous Helmsman Kathrine ‘Wildcat’ Fager. Kat had been a highly experienced and daring Helmsman, and had been at the Astaroth’s Helm since Astarte promoted Jackson Daniels to his own ship. They would have died many times over if Kat hadn’t been there to fly them out of danger, her daring maneuvers and level head had been an amazing asset to the Astaroth. However it was those exact qualities that made her the perfect candidate to captain the latest batch of destroyers.
Fan was okay, and had plenty of potential, but those things couldn’t compare to real experience. It was a choice Aster had to live with and something to work on in the future.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The rest of the reports were pretty boring, and in the blink of an eye 1400 rolled around and the various division heads began to arrive. Highland, her trusty Bosun and self-appointed uncle figure, was the first to arrive as always. One would guess from his hulking figure and brutish persona that Highland would be a very irresponsible person, but they would be wrong. Most people only saw the garish tartan patterned robes, his wild unkept orange beard, and the god-awful heavy Scottish accent and assumed he was just a walking stereotype. They never noticed that all those things were a fastidiously kept disguise he wore for all the world to see, that all those exaggerated features were meant to put a pre-established fear and respect into people. Underneath all that Highland was a very organized man, with a soft spot for young women trying to make their way in a cruel world.
He had been the first person to help Astarte’s adoptive mother, Saint Mary the Maiden, in her quest to bring her abusers to justice and create a safer New-Mombasa. He had also been the person who taught Astarte how to throw a punch, and more importantly how to create a reputation that would win more fights than bare knuckles ever could. He let Aster peer behind his mask to see just how much his stereotypical Scottish brute act won fights before anyone threw a punch. And more recently he had taken a liking to Alwen Djani, and had secretly helped her grow into her full potential. Not by teaching her how to fight, but by subtly lending her a bit of his authority to help her grow the confidence she would need to thrive amongst the Hellworlders.
Next was Samuel ‘Data’ Seamus, a soft spoken man who ran the digital warfare side of things. He didn’t make his presence known very often, and generally went unnoticed on a day to day basis. But he was exceptionally competent in his job, and commanded his reclusive and anti-social division well.
Captains Gato Negrito and Alice Fidelis were next, arriving exactly five minutes early. They hadn’t been apart of the trail run since they were the CO’s of the Astaroth’s attached Marine contingents. Many of their old members had been transferred out like the rest and they had been working to train up their new recruits for months. Alice and Gato had a contentious history, and had once been Aster’s biggest concern. The two had once been a couple until Alice’s twin sister had been murdered in a cowardly sneak attack. After that, they had nearly divided the crew in the aftermath of their breakup, Astarte had managed to mitigate the worst possible solution to the problem but hadn’t been able to mend the rift. But since Alwen and Gato began dating things have changed between the two Felinoid Marines, they got along better, and were more cohesive as professionals.
Heizer came through the door a couple minutes before 1400 without looking up from his data pad. Probably finding ways to maximize their engines potential. He sat in the open chair next to Highland and blindly reached for a glass of water just as Highland set one down for the distracted Snipe. The pair were a classic odd couple, though with the traditional roles reversed. Highland was a loud, strong, blue-collar man through and through, but he was fastidiously clean, and very well organized in his day to day. While Heizer was a wiry, often distracted man, with several PHD’s in advanced fields of engineering and physics, and had a bad habit of leaving things wherever they landed, and often lost himself in his work. Their divisions had a playful rivalry, and the two of them did nothing to stop it, in fact they often threw fuel onto the fire.
Next was Li Fan to represent the command division, though Astarte and Karega were directly in charge of that. Then Adela/Butch their head cook and rumor monger, her role would be limited in this meeting, and she was just glad to be invited. Mister Famine of the ships legal division stalked through the doors, casting the room in a gloomy shadow before he took his seat. After the previous Mister Death had been murdered by Ah’ared in his sneak attack on Femeri, Famine had taken Death’s place as the leader of the ships four lawyers, nicknamed after the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. A new associate had been hired to take the place of Death, this time a women of Haitian decent who taken the death motif to the extreme with bone and platinum jewelry and a macabre outfit.
The last to arrive at 1400 on the dot was their newest officer Doctor Alwen ‘Bones’ Djani. The young Torweni girl had changed much since her first day aboard the Astaroth. Before she had been painfully thin and skittish, now she was a lean muscled women who approached life with an unassumed expression. She had worn her swords to the meeting and quickly unslung her belt to hang from a hook by the door. The long Katana, Makaze, had once belonged to a Marine named Wraith, who had inherited it from Alice’s sister Wendy. The shorter Wakizashi had been given to her when she finally took the mark of Astaroth and fully joined the Hellworlder fleet.
Alwen glanced around the room and scowled “Am I the last one here?”
Aster chuckled “You’ll learn this sooner or later, but early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” There was round of chuckles around the table, and Alwen shot a glare at Gato. He had been guiding her in the responsibility of an officer and had probably let this one slip.
Alwen walked around the table to the empty seat at the Bosuns right and frowned “Interesting choice of décor.” She said wryly as she took in the black marble table with a gold inlay of the Seal of Astaroth.
It looked more like a sacrificial alter than a meeting table, and it had once been something Aster was very embarrassed about. A miscommunication with the shipwrights of MDY had left them with a lot of strange quirks that Astarte had grown fond of. Aster grinned “Yup, and its stain resistant too. We could sacrifice a goat without it leaving a mark.”
The a set of pale white eyebrows rose as Alwen gave Aster a concerned glance, the doctor shook off her concern and sat down without any follow up questions.
Aster felt a little disappointed that Alwen had let the matter drop, she had an excellent quip about only sacrificing goats when they needed to divine the stock market. Oh well, she’d have to save it for later.
Kar cleared his throat “Now that we’re all in attendance lets get things started. The Astaroth’s first week of trails went better than expected, there’s always room for improvement of course. But for the time being we’re in a good position to get back out there and do what we do best. However; while we’ve been in port under repairs things have changed. Our operations are no longer dependent on an Archdevil’s assistance, and the smaller ships are far better suited for doing the dirty work.”
Aster nodded “That’s right, we were already starting to run into this problem before the ambush, but we don’t need the Astaroth to hit cargo freighters or drug runners. In fact doing
so would actually cost us more in the long run. So we’re switching to more diplomatic missions.”
There was a round of nods around the table, with only one confused face. Alwen put her hand up and Aster gave her a nod, “Pardon me, but how do you define diplomacy?”
Highland turned to face the young doctor “Remember our trip to dea canfederacy?”
Alwen blinked “the one where we showed up, became the catalyst for a coup, killed the most powerful pirate in the galaxy, fought off a huge fleet of Draxori, and inadvertently got the old king killed while also making Domnall Clancy the king of the pirates?” she asked, her voice dripping with snark.
“Ya, dats diplomacy.” Highland answered with a wide grin.
“I feared as much” Alwen muttered as she turned back to face the table.
The brief detour turned back to Astarte. “Jokes aside the Bosuns not to far off the mark. After the Battle of the Confederacy we were finally able to achieve one of our long-term goals of purchasing some insanely expensive terraforming equipment to begin restoring Earth’s climate. We let the Revivalists handle the fine details since they were planning to use the terraforming equipment to help their party’s popularity and maybe win a majority of seats in the Martian Parliament. About a month and a half ago the Company that built and shipped the equipment, Equara, reported that it had been stolen by pirates. We found that to be an unlikely possibility.”
“Damn right” Heizer scoffed “Equipment like this is highly specialized, not much point in stealing it since its worthless to anyone but us.”
Astarte nodded, “Exactly, the Revivalists thought the same thing and had an insurance claims company look into the disappearance. Two weeks into their investigation an unknown force swept through their office building and wiped out everyone, a complete slaughter. We were trying to keep the fleet away from the affairs of the Revivalists, but now we have no choice but to ready a beachhead operation.”
A round of grim nods, with one confused face. Aster once again nodded for Alwen to ask the question she plainly wanted to ask. “What’s a beachhead operation? It wasn’t mentioned in my officers training.”
Alice perked up and turned to Alwen “I told you about it once, back on your first day aboard. You probably don’t remember it. We’re going to act as an armed escort for our legal divisions, the Astaroth will be the one to lead the charge with other ships soon to follow.”
“Right” Astarte said with a nod. “The enemy has already proven that they’re ready to eliminate anyone who gets in their way. We’re hoping an armed warship full of well-trained Marines will act as a deterrent so that our lawyers can do their jobs. We’ll also begin our own independent investigation, this one will contact some of our underworld connections to see what they can uncover”
Alwen pursed her lips and looked directly at Astarte. “Should I prepare my division for a fight?”
Astarte drummed her fingers along the black marble table. “We don’t plan on it. But prepare for the worst, hope for better. Ideally we solve this entirely within a courtroom, but the enemy has already proven how far they’re willing to go to bury this.”
Mister Famine cleared his throat and spoke for the first time “This is not some backwater sector capital like Femeri. Nor is this a barely literate confederacy of pirates and slavers. This is Unity, heart of the Union. We’ll be bumping shoulders with trillionaires and councilmen if we make noise there. Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?”
“Wise? No. But it is the only option we have available, the moment we pull into port they’ll know there’s more to us than meets the eye. But it’s a risk we have to take, I can’t understate how important this equipment is. Its importance is equal to Pandemonium.”
Famine nodded, “As long as we’re certain.”
“Besides” Astarte said with a wolfish grin “Trillionaires and Councilman die just as easily as anyone else. Their money and influence wont stop a bullet.”
That got a round of dark chuckles out of the assembled officers, including Alwen.