Rear Admiral William Locke
Office of the Admiral
William rubbed his brow with one hand, holding it closed on the bridge of his nose for a moment before turning back to the files before him. "You know, none of this makes sense-" He indicated to the plethora of files. "-I can understand the reasoning behind Armani modifications." He turned to look at his executive officer, XO, Joanne Carter. Who just so
happened to have some of those modifications herself. Like most pilots mainly to do with a smart-hub and implants to try and make the most of her reaction time. "I really do, they make sense. They're all done very carefully, you retain your humanity though these projects-" He highlighted two files in particular. Projects
Daedalus and
Rebirth. "-They're just insane."
He brought Daedalus to the forefront. "A project to enhance a human being through the use of technology, to be a fighting force against enemy invasion. You could almost claim that these modifications stripped their humanity from them. Not to mention, let's be honest. Even with seeing our super soldier down in the brig, we've seen no evidence of foot soldiers within the
Devastators ranks they tend to just blow stuff up. What good are super soldiers against an armada?"
"It does seem to be a significant flaw in the plan, though a well placed strike team could easily take out a ship. We drilled it all the time in the fleet." William nodded.
"Granted, it's a manuever Martians practice too. Though, we struggle enough with taking them out with conventional weaponry. In a full out fleet engagement waiting for a strike team to disable a vessel isn't exactly ideal, and Nagasaki stealth tech isn't really to par with sneaking a strike team into the middle of a fleet undetected. I'm not even sure Martian tech would be able to sneak past Devastator ships and Nagasaki units are nowhere near that calibre."
"Perhaps they were further on that you know?"
William shook his head. "No, when the Genesis Project began all member nations, and the Armani fleets that signed the accords, agreed full disclosure on their technology. Martian Stealth Tech was by far the best, which is why the
Reaper class is a largely Martian Design. We were never so good at the big ships but the little ones, we're good at."
"It makes sense considering your population."
"Exactly, so really this
Project Daedalus seems like someones way of playing God or trying to make their own private army. Though, let's put a pin in this discussion-" Joanne nodded as Locke raised another file up. "-Rebirth is the one that really gets me. It's insane! Armani, some ran. Some decided to fight and some hid. The Federals locked themselves in cryo-sleep, and the Martians decided to go down swinging to preserve their humanity. The Nagasaki? They try to remove what little humanity they have left. Put themselves into computers and then robot bodies." He shook his head. "It makes no god damn sense."
"Then why are you trying to make sense of it, sir?"
William sighed. "I need to understand it, because I need to understand our cyborg in the brig." He brought up a live action play of the cell that held the captive. He hadn't had a moment to stop yet today, though that was what he signed up for. It felt good to be working at an active command again, while technically he had been in command of the Ark for years it was a whole different ballgame once it launched, he felt thirty years younger. "She wants me to forgive her, for sneaking aboard my ship during a time of war and for causing an alert. If she had come forward I would have looked at her file and looked into getting her brought aboard. This was not the right way to do it, and she needs to know that."
"Yes sir."
"She's not going into security."
"I didn't think you would put her there, sir."
"At least-" He raised his hand. "-not yet. I don't doubt that she can be a useful asset. I mean from the files I've read and Noahs scans alone she can go toe to toe with any droid we have out there, and the bonus of training and having an actual brain rather than relying on programming. This makes her valuable, but not excuseable." He paused, and Joanne took that as her opportunity to speak up.
"If I may..." William nodded. "I see there as being four options. You can either throw her in a cryo-pod, which will likely not be easy. Then there wouldn't be a problem. You can keep her in the brig indefinitely, though again that wouldn't be an easy job, use Theta or alternatively start her small and get her to work her way up. "William perked up at the mention of
Theta. He hated the program with a passion, and it still annoyed him that it was on
his Ark.
"Nobody ever opens Theta, is that understood?" She nodded. "Also we'll just have to wait and see how she turns out, it's early days yet." He took a sip from his now, cold, coffee. "Though moving on, what's the status of the away team."
Joanne moved the paper files away, while also closing the computer files that were open overing above the table. Replacing them with data that was being streamed live from the planet. "So far everything seems to be going smoothly, we're still trying to decypher the scans of the area that seems to be emitting some form of EM. Noah is working on it now. Oxygen levels are low, but the temperature is warm so it shouldn't be too difficult for the away team while wearing their suits. Maybe a little uncomfortable, though everything looks like it's going to run smoothly." William nodded.
"Excellent, we're the first that we know off to explroe a planet. Let's just hope that it all goes well and that any aliens we meet, sentient or otherwise are friendly. I'm not really looking to make humanity a new enemy mere hours after entering a far off star system." Joanne gave a light nervous chuckle. "However, Commander. I still have a pile of logistical work to do until I have my shift on the bridge. Dismissed."
"Yes sir."
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