Starlance

FreeSpace: Expansion

EFG Curious

Meanwhile on the Faira ship, things have been doing same and yet different. With the general tour of the ship complete along with the Primarch, the new reinforcements from the 5th fleet were already made aware of where their workstations were to be as well as their quarters. Much like the pilots on the Explorer, each of them had a suit waiting inside, albeit those manufactured on the Curious were much more resembling their Faira counterparts and came loaded with all of the software they would need to perform their duties, alongside with an invitation to visit engineering if they desired any customizations.

“Well, people, I look forward to working with you. I want you all in the briefing room tomorrow at 0800 when you start working. Until then you are off - go recharge, go get to know the crew, call home - whatever you want. We’ll set up your schedules as we go along.” Astra relieved them.

“Thank you, commander. Are there any shipwide occurrences we should be aware of? Evacuation drills and the like?” Prefect Linsis inquired, wondering how the Faira on the Latanos would cope with almost daily unannounced exercises.

“This chime,” Astra said, playing the sound from her suit and causing every Faira in earshot to drop what they were doing and grab for something bolted to the superstructure, “means the ship is about to jump. You should grab something firm even if you wear the suit, especially in combat or crash jumps, as they can toss the ship about. Anything else is announced over the intercoms in your suits. Evacuation is handled by the same Faira that man the transport rooms, so just report to the closest one to you. As for the rest, all will be explained to you tomorrow during your orientation once you report to your station.”

“Duly noted.” Linsis nodded, the reaction of the Faira crewmembers letting the Narix know this was serious. Just what manner of terrible things would be happening every jump? “That would be all from us for now. If any questions come to mind, we will be sure to ask at the briefing.” Saluting, the four turned to leave.

“Looks like we are off duty for now. Going easy on us. Few final pointers: Ertanax, think twice before you speak. No need for interspecies incidents. Faustus, remember what they told us at the briefing about bringing up their home. And Nihlus, try not to tell them every last detail of everything we have.”

The next day, 0800

The briefing room was prepared when the Narix would have started filing in, a projection already set up.

Alongside, the command crew of the Faira has also entered, all taking whatever seat was free at the moment, with the Commander taking the ‘stage’ to the front.
“Alright people, the orders just came in. The Vanguard and Fifth are amassing next to the jump node, we’re going through today. With the coordinated jump between ourselves and the Narix Fleet, the Studious group has returned home for refit on the Frigate’s systems. Once they are cleared out of OpEval, you can expect us to be given some Civ’Leave as well.”

A round of happy murmurs followed.

“Before that, we are once again taking the point. The entire group will translate the node in standard formation, but this time, the NSS Latanos is accompanying us through the jump. They will be testing their ad-hoc sync drive, so expect a rough ride. Everyone who doesn’t need to be on their feet should be strapped in.”

“That said, that is not the only addition, as you have certainly noticed, and some changes. Captain Aurigae and several others have departed for the Latanos, and Lieutenant Zana will be taking her place on the other shift as commanding officer. For the duration of their stay here, Prefect Linsis will be my XO, and Adept Faustus will act in a similar role to the Lieutenant. Lieutenant Farsa will be substituted by Lieutenant Cartis, formerly the Sector Commander of the Studious group, as our Oracle. Specialist Niziz will be substituting for Specialist Xyth as our sector controller. The Specialist is fresh out of training, so give her a warm welcome. Master Engineer Omicri’s place will be filled by Specialist Alesi, Master Engineer of the ECV Wisdom form Studious group, and she will be assisted by Technical Centurion Ayrton Nihlus and Technician First Class Tarith Ertanax. Lieutenant Zana will be substituted by Specialist Arga as our new helm. Finally, Specialist Euris is to be substituted by Specialist Eridae. Please welcome the new members of our crew from the Narix fleet as you would our own. Our lives are in each other’s hands after all.”

“We jump in two hours. The floor is open if you have questions.”

As their names were mentioned for the first time, each of the Narix stood up with a bow of their head.

Two hours to get set at their new posts. Then they would see what the jump drive fuss was all about. Tarith was not at all happy the Narix were testing a new drive and she wasn’t there. She wasn’t even told and had to learn about it from a different species. That indeed stung a little.

As the crowd got up when no questions followed, the people responsible for the Narix came and approached them. “Prefect, you’re with me.” the commander said, beckoning the Narix to follow her.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day, we get to lounge for twelve more hours while the rest does the hard work, Adept.” Zana smirked at Faustus, inviting him to her quarters for a round of games.

“Right, I am used to a vessel far smaller than this, I think I can use both of your hands.” The new Master engineer nodded to the two Narix to be in her care.

The Marines were approached by the mother of all giants, a black-suited Faira who towered head taller over all of them. “Right, let’s see what you can do. Grunts, to the cargo hold, you and mine are going to run spars. Centurion, I’d like you to accompany me to inspect our defensive measures, I and the builders in the shipyards would like your input.” Virgo ordered.

“Sparring in this gravity? Why have the suits?” one of the marines murmured among the crowd as they marched in formation to where the cargo bay was located. Meanwhile, the centurion matched his pace with the biggest Faira he’s seen so far. “Can’t the Faira who work the transporters be classified as a defense measure? What’s stopping them from thinking any intruders outside of the hull, or better yet, straight into the brig?”

“They could, however they will be too busy deploying us through sealed bulkheads to where we need to be. Also, not everyone can do that all day like the Commander. Deploying squad after squad of enemy combatants outside would tire them rapidly. We have our own ways though. HEY! YOU! WITH THE QUESTIONS!” Virgo waited for the concerned Narix marine to detach from the group, before activating the anti-intruder foam on him, leaving his head sticking out of the block. “We do.” she answered his question, multiple weapons deploying from her suit to show them off. “Take a wager how long it takes him to chisel himself out?” Virgo offered to the Centurion.

“What’s interesting is his name means ‘stone’ in your language.” the centurion scratched the foam with an amused expression. “Usually, we seal the intruders in a given section, cut life support and keep making sudden gravity changes in that section until they give up or die, but this works rather well. Petrus is an engineer, he’ll figure out a way. Just make sure he gets out before he dies of dehydration or life support failure, he’s a father of four.” the centurion finished, flicking the foam off his fingers.

“Well, the option is there, and our marines use gravity manipulation to good effect, you’ll see at the spars, but if the enemy has their own life support suits, all you’re doing is slamming the door on them. We figured not being able to move was a good first step, then chisel them out one by one and safely transport them to holding under watch.” Virgo said, loosening the Engineer’s helmet so he could move his head at least. “Word of advice, unless you too have iridium teeth, biting your way out is not a good option. If you are willing to suffer some indignity, feel free to call for help.” Virgo smirked, before giving the poor engineer a salute and turning to walk off with his commander.

“As you have noticed, the internal space of our ships is very small to their size, and we mostly use the services of our sisters to get around, so we could make the corridors twisted, sort of illogical to follow unless you know the layout, and aside form the foam that also acts as fire retardant - it’s original purpose really - we can toy with gravity and life support, and there are checkpoints at strategic places.” she pointed forward to where there were turrets mounted on the walls right behind a bulkhead.

Leaving Lindus to be excavated by the rest of his team, Uristis listened to the Faira marine commander. “Then aside from needlessly illogical layout, our defensive measures are pretty much the same except crew numbers. But wouldn’t the foam be an obstacle? Say you get boarded in a fight, you seal the intruders and block the halls with the foam. What if you have to get through that hall to contain battle damage and no transport is available? How many halls do you have running parallel to each other if one or more get blocked for any reason?”

“There are two main paths running the length of the ship. Transport is usually available in some manner, as I took care to have one squaddie that can do what the transport specialists can at least once or twice before needing rest. It is not a universal requirement in the fleet or the military as a whole.” the Master of Arms noted.

Just two main paths? Sure, easier to hold, but equally as limiting. “Your checkpoints, what do they look like? An airlock with guards, maybe monitored from a security office?”

“A bulkhead rather than an airlock.” Virgo noted as they passed through the checkpoint, knocking on the internal rail of the door that would slam shut by the gravity if the mechanism failed. “The guns are a scaled down version of the PDG on the hull of the ship. Our designers are very, very fond of standardization. What of your ships?” she asked.

“Standardization, or defenses?” the Centurion asked.

“I asked for the latter, but now that you mentioned it...” Virgo shrugged.

“As I said earlier, much the same. But While we can’t mess with gravity or move our opponents by thought alone, our ships have more surveillance than our capital city. One of the biggest problems an intruder would face on a narix ship is the constant watchful gaze of security officers on duty. Another part of our defense plan are strategically placed entrances. Unless you mindjump wherever you wish, you have to go through the hangars on larger ships or storage on smaller ones. And if you manage to break out of there, anywhere you try to go, you’ll have to cope the crew as a whole, sealed bulkheads, gravity changes and most importantly, a force of marines that can be quickly directed to block your path anywhere aboard the ship. Don’t let Lindus fool you, in the first year of his service, during an uprising, he bludgeoned two hostile combatants to death with his empty rifle, and that was before power armor. Now imagine a few dozen like him at once. Unless mindspace usage is common among the various species that no doubt roam the stars and we are the exception, that would make a hole in our plans.”

“As a side note of the standardization, mostly everywhere but the Fifth Fleet.” he chuckled. “As we were expected to be away for long periods of time, ships of the Fifth were modified - better crew quarters, cooks recruited out of civilian restaurants, a fully-fledged movie theatre, a library.”

“Oh? And yet, your CO and most everyone of you looks baffled when they see our morale sectors. Imagine what the others of your military would feel like. If this merging of forces thing goes through, we’ll need many more ships for all the volunteers.” Virgo snickered as they reached a transport room, where Virgo had them jumped to the cargo hold. A small section of it was taken by various obstacles that simulated both the inside of a ship and obstacles one might find on a planet. “I apologize for the pathetic playground of a training area, but as I said, for a ship one kilometer in length, the Comet class is really cramped even by our standards. We moved your weapons to the armory, care to run a few comparison tests before the stonemasons arrive?””

All but team two started to examine the obstacles, waiting for the ‘stonemasons’ to arrive. “That name is going to stick with them for at least two months, sir. And we thought a library is weird to have on a warship, you put a part of a city here and as we understand, it’s standard issue. THAT is what we find, as you say, baffling.”

“Once, if that is, they decide to let you through to Naris, I think you should apply for a visit. We turned one of our moons into training grounds. So what now? Start with physical, move to obstacles, then marksmanship?”

Though he intended to add something, he was interrupted by the hasty arrival of the stonemasons. “Team two reporting, sir...s!”

“I see one issue that needs fixing. Centurion, for now, you will retain command of your squad. You personally will be getting your orders from me, just like the rest of my squad commanders. Later, when we see each other work, I might mix up the squadrons around, we shall see.” Virgo cleared up the chain of command.

“We’d like to see what utensils you brought.” One of the Faira squad leaders said, and Virgo nodded. “SL, bust out the equipment.” she ordered, and what looked like targets made out of layers of different materials were brought up. “Benchmarking targets.” Virgo explained. “Let’s see what kind of stuff your weapons can go through before we go to the rest.”

“Our weapons fire tungsten projectiles, are we sure no one will be harmed and nothing will be damaged by ricochets?”

“The first layer to get through is the standard issue personal shield. If those projectiles draw their energy from velocity rather than mass, they won’t do much more than splatter on the on the last layer at most. The first actual armor layer is the suit standard you and we are wearing, which is a ceramic fiber in metal matrix composite plate and 3D nanofiber metal mesh underlayer. Behind it are three layers of what we use for ship armor - reconstituted biopolymer plastic, heavy metal armor alloy and what’s upscaled version of the suit’s armor plate.” the master explained, “Although if it makes you feel any better, we’ll put up a shield around as well. You know what to expect of your stuff the most.”

“Acastus, Erixa!” Ursitis gestured at the targets. “Start with low settings. And someone make sure there are no flammable materials around the targets.”

The two named soldiers retrieved their equipment - a standard rifle and a longer marksman variant. Going first, the team’s field medic quickly disassembled her weapon to make sure everything was in order before putting it back together and taking her place at the firing line. Adjusting a knob on the side of the weapon, she disabled the safety and waited for an all-clear.

“Engineers struggled to figure out a way to make the weapons work without punching a hole through walls that weren’t meant to be penetrated, such as weak hulls. We’ll start with the lower ones and work from there.” Ursitis explained.

Given the signal, the Narix raised her weapon and fired, producing a rather massive muzzle flash from the heat generated by the friction between the sabot and the rails. Upon impact, the incendiary mix in the tip ignited, detonating the explosive filler, shattering the bullet’s steel cover and sending its splinters flying. The tungsten penetrator would then continue on through the target.

Or it would have if it didn’t detonate prematurely upon contact with the shield. Upon closer examination, a dent in the armor indicated the penetrator was going sideways when it hit.

“200 meters per second, 77 kilojoules.” The marine announced. “What do you reckon the impact force was?”

“Not enough to go through a shielded standard issue suit. Light suit worn by command staff, diplomats and citizens might have left them with a bruise, heavy suit like mine, probably I’d feel it and that’s about it, but that’s because of the shield, and not everyone chooses to equip it. Humor me and let’s do another round without it.” Virgo frowned, already having the idea of what this round was going to do and not liking it one bit.

Again assuming her stance, the marine fired once more. Without the shield there to disrupt the projectile’s intended operation, it detonated when it was meant to, the suit layer gave way, the penetrator went right through before shattering upon impact with the second, ship layer.

“So something to nullify shields.” Ursitis made a mental note for the R&D. “Shall we try with shield and a higher setting? Say 300 meters per second?”

“All of you that claimed a full body shield is unnecessary? At the end of your shift, you are going to engineering, and you are getting it, no questions asked.” Virgo ordered, making the mental note to push this up the chain of command to make it a fleet-wide order. “Feel free to go up to your comfort zone.” she nodded to the Narix, herself wondering about the result.

Nudging the medic away with an elbow, the marksman took her spot. “Why would you have access to shields like this and NOT use them?” she shook her head, setting up her rifle. “Let’s go 500. Shame we only brought this ammunition type.” Increasing the power assistance of the suit to withstand the recoil, she fired full of expectations.

Noticeably flinching backwards as the shot was fired, the suit kept the barrel pointing the same way despite the recoil strong enough to fully compress the shock absorbing stock. Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, the penetrator went through the shield, the suit and still had enough energy left to gough a notch into the second layer.

“Well, that’s much better.” the marksman commented. “Have a theory why the shield failed, sir?” she turned to Virgo, lowering her rifle.

“Engie?” Virgo asked one of her squadmates, who seemed to have been monitoring the shootings.

“Seems like on the initial test, the shield vaporized the casing and ignited the explosives. The penetrator element was deflected by the magnetosphere. In the second test, the penetrator went pretty much straight through, and the shield couldn’t heat the round up enough in the time it was in contact to ignite it or compromise its integrity. Can we do one even faster? I think the shield might actually start setting it off like when it impacts a solid target.”

“Can do.” the marksman turned the knob to an area marked in orange and waved one of her squadmates over. Unfolding the bipod, she used her squadmate to support the weapon as she took aim.

“These settings are extreme, meant to be used when the weapon is resting against a solid piece of rock or something similar. The second suit substitutes that.” the Centurion noted.

When the second soldier let the marksman know his helmet microphones were disabled, the marksman fired, the muzzle flash nearly a meter in length. At 800 meters pers second, the kinetic penetrator alone carried over 1200 kilojoules.

“Tell me you got that, because I would prefer not to repeat that.” the marksman stretched her right arm.

“I imagine that is not too usable in ship combat?” Virgo frowned, “Also, sidenote, the bang and stench are absolutely abysmal. Seems to me like the weapon might also maim the user upon the highest setting.” the master of arms shook her head.

“Confirmed,” the engineer said, “ignition at the shield threshold.” the engineer noted, “Seems like the shield has a weak spot to that particular round around 500 meters per second, and the standard suit can not handle the penetrator at and above that speed. Heavy I think would survive until you need to support the weapon.” the engineer reported.

Nodding, Virgo headed off to the target to examine it. “Seems like the penetrator would also go right through, probably pretty hot. Unless you hit something major, it would not do much to us. You, being mostly liquid form what I understand, is a different story.” Virgo said as she returned to the firing position. “Would you like to try our own, or should I demonstrate? We do have handheld versions as well.” Virgo offered.

“Correct, this is for planetary applications, when you have to disable a vehicle or hit something at 1600 meters. When used correctly, even this setting is safe, but this tests the border between what’s safe and what’s not.” the marksman turned the settings down again. “We do have air rifles in stock, but left them all at home. Those are nearly silent, but have to be pumped to keep their effectiveness.”

“We certainly won’t turn down a demonstration.” the centurion nodded, waving at his squad to clear the firing line. “If any of you feel the urge to try ours, you only need to ask. Somehow you even have the right amount of fingers.”

“Aleph squad, form up.” Virgo said, and four of the Faira lined up at the range. “I don’t know how much you have been told about our ship weapons, but it’s a lot similar on the smaller scale. First is the sidearm, which are small caliber and low speed plasma blasters.” Virgo explained, and the first Faira deployed the weapon from the forearm pod on her suit and shot with it, once at the unshielded target and once on the shielded one. The damage was completely undone by the shield, and there was a good sized scorch mark on the suit layer plate, but not much more.

“Leaves something to be desired. What’s the range and how many times can it fire before you’re out. I assume it’s at least ammo efficient?”

“Not very effective, but against a soft target in last resort situation, it can save your antennae. It is also so compact that you can very easily conceal it. As far as ammunition goes, it uses plasmatized nitrogen, so within atmosphere, the suit replenishes the clip from there. The tank is big enough not to be a bother, but the gun needs a cooldown after fifty rounds, hence why we usually have one on each arm.” Virgo explained.

“Next there is the anti-materiel laser.” the next Faira continued, bearing a handheld version of the weapon, pointed it to the targets. It took a few seconds to go through the shield, almost none to go through the suit layer before it bit into the ship armor, going halfway through before the weapon shut down and vapors from nitrogen poured on it’s heatsink.

“Good against one target, but everyone in the star system is going to know where you are. If what you kill has friends, staying in the same place would not be advisable.”

“Honestly, we do not count on deploying Marines to planets. This is for ship bound work, just in case some diminutive race or technical geniuses figured out armor vehicles that could fit in, or to defend hangars against boarding attempts.” Virgo noted, “then there is the dual-mode plasma cannon.” she nodded to the remaining two Faira

The first one deployed the cannon from shoulder mounts, firing high-velocity blobs that punched through the shield after several rounds and melted the suit layer, but gone no further. The other Faira shot it in a continuous beam mode, punching right through the shield, but it took a second or two to amass the damage on the armor.

“But, most of us prefer this.” Virgo said, mindjumping next to the target and swinging her arm forward, a red and white plasma lance forming in her hand that she rammed easily through both the shield and suit armor. It was obvious that compared with the Faira’s superior speed and mindspace mobility, it was not to be taken lightly. “Mindspike can take many forms, from lances through blades to chains.”

“That could be a problem.” someone at the back of the assembled squad murmured. The centurion kept silent, but was inclined to agree. “How long can you last in a engagement doing that?” He said, recalling a mention of only being able to execute similar feats for short periods of time. “How far can you go, and how accurately?”

“Most depends on skill really. Some of my marines can’t jump at all as they are oracles rather than psychokinetics. In general, we either have to have a Faira homing us in on the other end, or be able to sense in some way where we go - sight, echolocation, … But as it is a proprietary mindspace ability with no ammo feed, it relies on a gaseous atmosphere being present.” Virgo said as she got back. “Most marine-level psychokinetics will manage a knife-long spike at least though, enough to go through to vital organs.”

“Assuming you know where they are. If you wanted to kill me, for whatever reason one might wish remove such a blessing upon this universe, where would you strike?” the centurion inquired with a great deal of sarcasm i his voice.

“Sensory abilities and communication, so mostly your head, hypothetically. The engineers might target something important they can recognize on the suit instead. Mobility if I could not figure out anything else of the target - cut of all legs and it is a safe enough bet that it’s neutralized. Technically, you don’t need the enemy killed.” the master of arms answered, “You?”

“Joints and softer points, such as throat. With a firearm, whatever I can hit, so mostly your chest. If I was designating a target for a friendly or myself, assuming I had enough time to pick a target, I’d go for weak points in the suit - neck, joints, gaps in armor. But given what we’ve seen here, I might switch the underslung shotgun for a grenade launcher, and those things don’t care where you aim.”

“Oh, I meant with a blade or hand to hand.” Virgo said, “Guns, the largest target, so torso probably, as you said. I assume you can not produce plasma blades at will, do you have an alternative?”

“Several, but most are primarily tools.” he said, drawing his knife and handing it to Virgo. “Single-edged blade for cutting or hacking, saw on the other side. The small edge on the top side of the tip serves to cut wires. The tip is self-explanatory. There are larger variations for clearing away vegetation that can also be used to remove a limb or two. For less or non-lethal, blunt batons, be it rubber or metal. Those are very popular among civilians and civic guard, but still can break bones.”

“Not that useful here then, save for perhaps repairs to broken door panels.” Virgo said, flipping the knife in her hand a few times before launching it against the practice target. The knife passed through the shield, but bounced off of the plate. “Well that was interesting.”

“It seems like the suit’s sensors thought it too slow to be a projectile. We might want to adjust the software a little.” the engineer said.

“Oh well, now that we’re a bit familiarized with the tools, fancy seeing how our teams do against one another?”

“If you have a non-lethal way, sure. I am quite interested how that will turn out. Lindus, get the practice shells!“

FreeSpace: Expansion

ED Explorer

As the noise subsided and one could hear their own words again, the newly arrived pilots got to look around. Surrounded by a sea of red and gray, it would appear the only one who even noticed their arrival was the Admiral, if it was even her. The hangar appeared smaller than the Narix expected, although they could see several large gates that could have led to other parts. It was reminiscent of a land-based airfield, in a way. Good thing to avert boardings, halt fires and atmospheric bleed in case of a breach, but it introduced unnecessary parking maneuvers into the mix.

“Welcome aboard, pilots. I’m admiral Cygnus, commanding officer of the Explorer.” Cygnus introduced herself, looking at each of the pilots as she did. They were all towering over her, these creatures. “As part of the OEP, you will be receiving your orders directly from me for the duration of your stay. Let us start by getting you situated on the ship and fleet you will be serving at, then we’ll get to the tools of your trade. SPECIALIST! Please show the rookies to their quarters and then to engineering, the Master engineer will be taking care of them for now.” the admiral barked at the nearest deckhand. “Do you have any inquiries you wish to make before we part for the time being?”

Taking orders straight from an admiral? That was new. As were the looks the Faira was giving them. One would’ve thought she would be used to their appearance by now.
“Where are the fighters we are to use? Not sure about your species, but Narix pilots are expected to service their craft when possible, se we’d like to start learning their ins and outs as soon as possible. All we need is a place to drop our things for now.” The legate said, “Other than that, nothing more sir.”

“I’ll say it plain, pilot, our fleet has no fighters as you know them. Hence why engineering is your first stop after you get your gear stowed. You have sizeable budget allocated to you as well as engineers available to build the best craft you can come up with using our technological basis. I can not guarantee the serial production of what you come up with, but we want to see the potential of such craft. Now, off you go.” the admiral answered, “Oh, and your service times were matched with what you are used to form your ship, including your meal and down time, so hopefully your stay here will be as comfortable as we can make it. Share with the specialist where you want to receive the meals, whether your quarters or the morale sector. I or my XO are available on the intercom should you require anything not in Engineering’s power.”

“Noted, sir!” the trio saluted and, once more slinging their bags over their shoulders, followed the specialist.

“Hear that lads?” praetorian Iris nudged Lindus with his elbow, visibly excited, “Remember all the long evenings of complaining about the location of the gear lever in the Marauders? And the atrocious grounding pin connectors? That is null and void, we get to design our own ships using alien tech! How’s that for a sod who accidentally scraped the paint off his fighters belly on landing approach once?”

“Do you think the Faira would make treetop-resistant paint and primer just for you?” The three shared a laugh.

“Enlighten me, specialist, but this ‘morale sector’, what’s that?” Lindus inquired. “A recreational area, a library, a propagandist stand? A little bit of both?”

“I do not know how much you have been told about us, Praetorian, but this ship is not only our service station, but also our home. The morale sector is a small city in the middle of the ship. As you said, you can find a little bit of everything there, from environment simulators through hobby stalls to entertainment centers. It is sa place to unwind while off duty and not in recharge, so that people do not go crazy crammed into this can.” the specialist shared, “Your quarters have been built not far from it, although that is more of an issue of available hull volume.”

Turning the corner, the four of them found themselves in a room with a sole Faira in it, with a red circle marked on the floor and a set of green and red lights in the ceiling. Right now, the green was on, but as soon as they entered, the Faira that was in the room tapped a control on her suit. “Morale sector.” the Specialist announced, ushering the pilots into the circle as soon as the green light changed to red. Once they were in there, the other Faira reached out with her arms, and the group was enveloped by a mindstorm. Faster than their eyes could perceive, they were transported to a room much like the previous one, only in different part of the ship. “Not far now.” the specialist said, leading out tf the room.

Immediately following the mindspace transport ordeal, the Narix adopted a wider, lower stance, scanning their new surroundings as they pieced together the events that just transpired.
“I believe we might be looking at a way of dealing with my wifes fear of elevators.” Prefect Iris muttered dryly and returned to his normal stature. “Looks like this tour will have its downsides after all, before we get used to these oddities, that is.”

“Specialist, you mentioned hobby stalls earlier.” Lindus asked upon his recovery from the surprise, “How do your people usually spend your downtime, be it civilians or military personnel?”

“We govern ourselves by being a military stare, Praetorian. There are no civilians among us. Citizen is the entry rank in the navy, which you receive upon reaching adulthood. Everyone is expected to lend a hand in defending their ship against boarding at the very least.” the Specialist explained, “As for free time, to each her own. I imagine it is the same with your species. Some of us like to watch documentaries, some like to tinker, some just want to lie down in a well lit and warm place. I work maintaining spacecraft most of the time, so I like to engage my mind with strategy games. I wonder if someone made a modpack yet that would add your fleet into the simulators.” the tech said, the last more for herself than the Narix.

“Unlikely. A month ago, we had no idea of each others existence, so information information regarding active military hardware is closely guarded. It’s for that same reason your ships aren’t in our training simulations yet.” the praetorian offered, grateful for the sensitivity of Narix hearing.

Although the idea of mass drafts wasn’t new to the Narix, it would only be implemented if Naris was threatened, and within certain limits. “What does your formal training look like? Wonder how it compares to ours.” Even with one year of infantry training and four more depending on the individuals specialisation, some Narix thought the general population wouldn’t be of much help in such an event.

They have arrived at the quarters, and the Specialist opened each of the cabins, revealing quarters built to spec with what the Narix were used to on their own ships. There were also Faira looking suits waiting for them inside - a recent development courtesy of the scientists on the Alchemist and Faira’Hexus. “A few rules before I take you to see the Master Engineer. Wear those at all times - in an emergency or through less stable jump nodes, you can be tossed about. They also contain personal computers and IDs to let you through security checkpoints on the ship.”

After leaving the pilots to change and set their gear up, she gathered them again and marched them back to the transport room. “Training depends on the branch you are talented in, both where mindspace usage and general skills are concerned. I am skilled with my hands, so I was trained to be a service technician for strikecraft. Those bravest of us are usually made into Marines. Faira that can outsmart a hundred others are selected for naval command. If you are lucky to have been born an Oracle, you’ll be spending a few decades under another Oracle’s tutelage to learn how to recognize mindspace echoes.” she shrugged.

Someone out there, maybe a god, but more likely people from the Alchemist, were looking out for them. Vanguard standard quarters, although lacking the pilots bunkroom atmosphere, with increased gravity and orange ambient lighting, what more was there to ask for? Even the new suits looked more like a modified PMAPS than an original design, making the act of putting them on and getting them operational a matter of two minutes, despite the vastly different software and user interface. They were even compatible with Narix non-invasive neural interfaces. Ditching their bags and Narix suits onto the beds for the time being, they followed their guide to their next destination.

“My thanks to the engineers that put these together.” Lindus examined the suit as they walked. “We’ll just have to field engineer a way to attach our weapon holsters onto them later. I assume they double as flight suits?”

“I can not answer that, I wasn’t informed on your assignment here as much. The Master engineer will likely know all about them though.” the specialist mentioned. “The ME will be waiting for you on the other side. Enjoy your tour here.” The Faira saluted them off and seemed to vanish as the Narix were transported to engineering.
On the other side, the smallest Faira they have seen so far was waiting for them, barely reaching to their breast height. “Ah, Narix! Good good! I am Master Engineer Casei. Here to get acquainted with your equipment I presume?”

“Correct presumption.” Achzarit responded upon making their introductions, feeling a little odd, having to look down at the Faira. First the admiral and now this one, why did they even built their doorways so big? “If you don’t mind, we’d like to start with these suits.” he added, tapping the chestpiece. “For starters, how long will the internal air supply last? I assume they are vacuum sealed.”

“Ah, yes, come have a seat, we’ll need visual aids anyway.” Casei lead to a small break room. As they went, they could see the six massive reactor units powering the ship they were on, along with additional equipment they could only guess at. “Your suits were manufactured by the blueprints sent to us from the diplomats that were overseeing their designs. They are very basic in function, thus far providing only NBC protection and motorized motion from physical standpoint, and have a personal information system. The air supply in itself will last about three hours, but there is a CO2 scrubbing system in the suit that extends that by two hours, and is interchangeable even in contaminated space.” she answered the first inquiry.

“Very nice indeed.” Achzarit mumbled. Up to five hours of airtime. That was a significant improvement over the Narix thirty minutes. It showed though, as the suit was noticeably bulkier. Might have to design bigger cockpits. “How hard will it be to enable the suits to connect with a fighter to provide some basic functions, such as certain HUD elements and communications?”

“We would use a full virtual reality rather than HUD…” Casei said, tapping a few controls on the break rooms intercom. Suddenly, the entire room was darkened and a projection of the space around the fleet was shown, with the explorer in the center. “I have been giving it some thought, and I just can not agree to the viewports on your ships when you can have an armored capsule. And if you are projecting the space around, you can as well project gauges. As far as interconnectivity goes, it should certainly be possible, what for though? Extended life support I presume?”

“Virtual reality seems nice until I have to find an actual switch in the cockpit. And we agree on the glass canopy thing. That’s why our fighters don’t have them. The Pillager is an older design, that’s why the pilot and gunner still sit in glazed cabins. The ships we fly, the Marauder-class interceptor and the Raider-class heavy fighter, have internal cockpits, ejectable in case of emergency. Except we use external cameras and LED screens to simulate a canopy. Regarding interconnectivity, not so much life support, that’s just two air tubes, more for connecting the microphone and headset of the suit with the fighters communication system. Narix fighters also use neural control for certain things, and the man-machine interface is a part of the mask we wear under our helmets.” He removed his helmet, showing the faceless mask with wiring woven into the fabric at the sides and back of the head. “A physical connection is more reliable.”

“May I see?” Casei asked, snapping her fingers at the mask. “How does it work? Reading electrical impulses in your nervous system?” She made a guess. The Faira used a similar interface in their suits, but she could not fathom the need for switches if such an interface was available. “Maybe we are going about this form the wrong end. I want you to dream, people. I want you to tell me what you want, and unbind yourselves form what you know.” she suggested.

“Of course.” Achzarit disconnected two small connectors at the sides of his neck and handed her the mask. “And you are correct. Specific impulses are mapped to specific actions. For example, when we engage magboots and want to walk, the suit recognises that and switches the heel and toe magnets on and off to allow that. The problem there lies with your subconsciousness. Take me for example: First year of my live career, I messed up reentry. All went well until I lost lift at 8500 meters and before I levelled out, I fell 7100 meters. Now, I knew what I had to do to stabilise the fighter, but there was a figurative voice in the back of my mind telling me to forget the fighter and reach for the loud handles. If the neural interface controlled ejection, it would’ve recognised that unwilling impulse and ejected the capsule. Now imagine what that could do if it controlled weapons.”

“As for what we want? To check off the basics, internal cockpit that can be ejected if need be. You’ll have a hard time finding someone who will fly without some ejection system. We are used to a dual stick control setup, right stick for turning, left stick for translation and throttle. Primary weapon hardpoints should be able to pivot, allowing free aiming within a certain margin. Primary weapons themselves shouldn’t be fixed. The option to choose his or her setup leads to happy pilots, and happy pilots perform much better. Thrust vectoring would be welcome. What kind of engines do you use?” He outlined the basic Narix standard.

“Alright, propulsion first then. We use the plasma driver on our current drones - It is basically a subsystem we use to generate and feed plasma into our weaponry, the only difference is that we load a different characteristic into the device to produce more controllable stream rather than as large quantity as it can, and then we accelerate it through an electromagnetic field. As far as I have been briefed, single one of these units would be able to accelerate the craft you came in near the limits of what your physiology can survive. As for thrust vectoring, we find that for space combat, that is highly unnecessary. The polar moments of something like a fighter are so tiny a gyro and RCS can turn it on a dime anyhow. Would that suffice?”

“Two arms, two legs, four fingers per hand AND pretty much the same engines? I did not expect that when I signed up for the Fifth Fleet.”

“There IS another thing to consider…” Casei interrupted, “Operational range. The plasma driver requires a rather sizeable tank to sustain it for any meaningful length of time. What we use on our capital ships are ion drives, which can be made to scale for strikecraft without any decrease in efficiency. It might be worth putting this system onto the craft for long travels - escort missions, patrol duties and the like, so you do not have to call for refuel every day or so.”

“Our fighters can hold patrols several hours long. We never stray too far from our mothership, so frequent refueling isn’t an issue. Not to mention you don’t have to burn the entire way, that also saves a lot. As for thrust vectoring, it allows you to control the fighter without sufficient speed in atmosphere. One of the things that allowed me to save my ship all those years ago.”

“Ah.” Casei said, laying her head into her palm, “I see where the problem is. You are still thinking with the operation parameters of your fleet. Well, let me share with you what you might expect on this tour. We have few ships in the fleet, and only the Explorer is capable of taking on strike craft. Not staying far from the mothership will simply not be possible. Much the same, you won’t ever be deployed into atmosphere. What you can expect are long missions with little logistical support, mostly centered on being the extended arm and precision strikers for line ships, and escort for capital ships, as well as deep space patrols.” she shared.

No hangars on smaller ships? Sounds to me like a design flop. Iris thought, but chose not to share.

“That would explain the misunderstanding.” Achzarit nodded, “How would your command react with a squadron of fighters that can’t fly in atmosphere if for some reason, say search and rescue, you had to descend into one? Leave your comrades to their own devices? But back to the issue of staying close to motherships, yes, in that case, ion drives sound more sensible. When you say ‘long missions’, can you give us an example? Not sure about your species, but our performance decreases after several hours. And we have to sleep once every thirty or so hours. For extreme missions, have you given any thought to two man craft?”

Looking at the three Narix with an amused glance, Casei Mindjumped onto the seat next to her. “There, problem of crew being stuck on a planet solved. We do not have any examples of planetary warfare in our history, so I can not really answer your question about operating in such conditions. Most likely, the cruiser class would be tasked with those instead. That is something you should be asking the CO, not me, in any event.” the engineer thought out loud.

“Thus far, we have only operated with drones, but in theory, a Faira pilot would be able to easily handle a weeklong patrol. Most of which can naturally be done on autopilot, so if done in shifts, there is ample time to rest. Longest combat deployment we expect is thirty minutes, by that any battle should be either resolved or the ships withdrawn and the strategic situation assessed.” the engineer quoted their handbook. “Two man craft should not be too hard to produce, but is it necessary? In a wing of four, two can be on watch, and two can rest to be woken up for combat if necessary.”

“Right, you can do that. Some of us are bound to more primitive methods.”

“As for weeklong patrols, I can’t imagine sitting fixed in a cockpit for a day, let alone a week, not to mention the additional room for food, water and ways of dealing with waste you would need. As I understand it, you require specific light to function. We need to drink two to three liters of water and eat a small animal every day to survive.” he indicated about thirty centimeters with his hands, “Our bodies don’t process 100% of that, so the waste has to leave the body, preferably not into the suit. Without water, we die in four days and are useless at the start of day two. When it comes to food, make that seven days and start of day two. There is a reason why even our frigates have a hangar bay, albeit a small one.”

“That may be another point to bring up with the admiral then, if your deployments have any specific limits that our fleet will not at present be able to satisfy. I’m not sure we will be able to design and build a support ship in time, hm….” she said, having the room display the model of a standard Faira tactical transport. “Maybe if we added a small airlock here? Or perhaps pull the entire encapsulated cockpit on board.” she thought out loud. “It won’t be able to accompany you, but it can jump great distances quickly and should be available on request within minutes.”

Achzarits head sunk into his palms. “Damn it. One would have thought this would cross the diplomats minds. To put it plainly, ten hours we can do, fifteen if the flight isn’t too crazy.” The specialist than got an idea and started brainstorming. With such a support craft, the situation seemed to be salvageable. “That… could work. Pulling the cockpit on board is too complicated, a docking collar would do. One ventral and one dorsal to allow servicing of two fighters at once, maybe?”

“Well, we are here to learn both from and about each other. You don’t know our admiral, she might even have the information and just chose not to tell us to provoke neural activity. I would not gloom over it too much. But, yes, this would be a good enough stopgap before we develop a dedicated support ship. I wouldn’t think pulling the cockpit too hard, in fact I’d suggest making the entire design modular, so the maintenance crews both on the destroyer and that might be sent with the support ship could exchange subsystems and armor plates to increase the operational time of the craft itself.” she suggested further.

“Well, that is life support and propulsion taken care of more or less, details can be hammered out later when we have more context. What next? Defense and offense?” Casei asked.

“Very well, what’s on hand? Our go-to weapons are a rapid-firing 50 millimeter gun for strike craft and a slower 75 millimeter cannon for harder targets, plus a variety of missiles and rockets. That lets us build a loadout for any conceivable situation. What are your ships armed with? I assume something similar? As for defense, are there any specific things we need to learn to utilize the shields properly? Our fighters rely on armoring, countermeasures and maneuverability.”

“We are used to energy weapons rather than projectile weapons due to logistical issues. The same plasma driver we use for propulsion can be used to feed our heavy cannon. Then there is a variety of electromagnetic cannons. We use optical lasers on ships, but the same principle can be applied through the entire spectrum, masers, xasers, infrared…” Casei listed out, “I can’t give you an ASB equivalent unfortunately, it is just too large.”

“As for missiles, again, logistical support is an issue, not to mention that we would need to develop a new propulsion system as scaling it down that much is not possible. I’ll talk to the CO to see if the Lanatos could send some samples over.”

“We don’t have much experience with armor, it was always considered too expensive. What you need to know about the shield system is not much - It forms an ion shell and a magnetosphere around the craft, stopping all damage but the most energetic and sizeable projectiles from reaching the hull. We have the habit of splitting them into control quadrants, so you can boost power in specific direction, for example rear when you are on the run.” the engineer said, accompanying the explanation with visuals from the training manual. “The benefit compared to armor is that the shield regenerates. If you disengage from combat for two minutes, you come back as good as new.”

“There’s really no need to use missiles unless you want to engage more targets at once or over vast distances, especially if you can’t supply them. Our missiles still use chemical rockets for propulsion and a gyro for maneuvering. Not leading targets might take some getting used to.”

“Unless your reverse thrusters are woefully weak, there is no real need to turn your back to the enemy when retreating. If you run facing them, you can use your weapons to explain to them that following you is a bad idea.” Iris interjected. “But such a system will be appreciated. Just how much power does it require?”

“You can decide that yourself. The distribution system is controlled by the pilot, and all three of the key power hungry systems have their own buffers, meaning that for a limited time, you can use engine overcharge, weapons or shields with no power fed to them altogether. In a bad situation, you can reallocate all power form weapons to shield to last long enough for your wingmen to get there to help. In worst case, you can release the reactor safeties for a limited time to recharge the buffers quickly.” Casei explained. “Speaking of which, what power source do you use on your craft?”

“Depends on the craft. The Pillager uses its engines to generate power, but more modern ships use small supercritical water reactors. Making those small enough was the biggest problem the designers have faced. They managed in the end, but they only last a short time before the fuel capsules need to be swapped out. Same story for capital ships, but size wasn’t an issue there. What would happen to the reactor if the safeties were off for too long? More importantly, how long would it take to start melting or irradiate the cockpit?”

“We use fusion reactors with controlled fuel feed. Disabling the safety basically overrides the feed and raises the temperature in the reactor. Without any limit, you are basically sitting on a fusion bomb. A meltdown depends on how higher the temperature gets. Raise it by ten percent, you can probably last a minute. Raise it by fifty, you better re engage the safety as soon as your buffers are charged. Raise it by seventy and your species will cook before the reactor becomes a problem in the first place.” Casei shrugged. “We used a single piece in the drones, but since there will be lives at stake in the new craft, we might want to make the craft slightly bigger and double the reactor. It would give you redundancy, and if needed, stronger output.”

“There is another thing to consider with doubling the reactor and enlarging the craft: maintenance time and costs. Storage and manipulation could also become more difficult. How big are your drones, anyway?”

“The Proton is ten meters in length, four in width and two in height. They are mostly housed in racks in the Explorer’s hangar, which are adjustable so storage of the new classes should not be hard. If we need to make space, the drones are unmanned and can be clamped onto the outer armor. We in fact use this at times when we expect to need to deploy them quickly. In any event, should their reactors prove sufficient, enough manufacturing capacity exists to replace them quickly if necessary, but they are reliable units thus far.”

“Yes, in that case, they will need to be bigger. The Marauder was meant to be small and that’s 19 by 13 by 6 meters. Granted, lack of missile banks and everything necessary for atmospheric flight will allow us to make them smaller. How do you launch them? I don’t think I’ve seen any launch tubes anywhere, so I assume you just fly them out of the hangar door?”

“Aye, or as I mentioned, from the outer hull. Since they are automated to a large degree, they can fly out in a tightly packed formation. Twelve launches per second form a single exit, and the Meteor class has two.”

“For obvious reasons that number will decrease with manned launches, unless you plan to launch automatically and then surrender control to the pilot. Unless that’s the case, it would be best to store the manned ships near the exits. Do you disable gravity for launch, or can you make the fighter support its weight and make it VTOL? We have to go to zero G for retrieving our pilots.”

“It will decrease with the craft size as well, we won’t be able to launch that many next to each other. Yes, the hangar goes zero-g for launch, although a small shield generator can hold the atmosphere. The noise is the most uncomfortable thing ever when you forget to put on your helmet. You only make that mistake once.” she frowned. Her antennae still rang she could swear.

“How do you forget a helmet? Ear plugs I can understand, but helmet?” Such a mistake would cost a Narix their life.

“When you’re a ship’s engineer, you sometimes need to crawl into very tiny spaces. I needed to see somewhere and the helmet was too big to fit.” Casei shrugged, but shrank back in her seat a little in shame. “As I said, you only make that mistake once.”

“So, life support, propulsion, offense, defense and power generation: check. Since we’re not going into atmosphere, we don’t have to bother with wheeled landing gear, control surfaces and the like.”

“I would not say check on defense. What about the missiles? You mentioned some countermeasures?” Casei pointed out.

“I thought we would be using whatever you are. There are several types. For radar guided missiles, our fighters are equipped with chaff dispensers. Chaff are strips of aluminium foil. A cloud of these creates a false contact. Combine that with radar absorbing coating and hull shape meant to dissipate, rather than reflect radio waves and the chaff simply creates a better target than the fighter. We also use radar warning receivers that alert the pilot when a radar is looking at him. IR seeking missiles are more of a problem in space. Flares are the go-to way of dealing with those. The fighter launches several heated ceramic blocks. In theory, the missile will prefer the hotter flares over the colder fighter, but this technology started in atmospheric conditions and they lose effectivity in space. Active jammer can be employed, but much like active sensors, they let everyone know where you are.”

“We could of course use what we have, which is an EW AI. From what I’ve been told, you’re not too keen on those. Otherwise, we didn’t really bother that much, as the doctrine for the drones is to use them an-masse and they are relatively cheap to replace. With the lack of a pilot, they can also pull much sharper maneuvers and accelerate faster, so simply evading or having another drone shoot the missile down was deemed good enough. The AI would be able to use the strike craft’s avionics package to cancel out the lock of the missile easily enough, and instead of the flares, I’d vent the fusion product form the reactor behind the craft, that will create a cloud of very heated helium that could both confuse the targeting, or downright destroy the missile if it flies through.”

“Truly we are not, the most extreme argument against them is the fear of waking up one day to hear your ship say ‘no’ to you. But a simple, dumb AI would take off a lot of workload from the pilot. Canceling out the lock is what the jammer does. Every time the RWR receives a radar pulse, the jammer emits a pulse. The craft, and anything behind it in that direction, will be covered in random noise, but it lets the radar operator know something doesn’t want to be seen out there. The best we’ve been able to do is have the jammer switch frequencies to make homing in on it harder, but that makes it less effective. Venting the reactor could work, but how long will it take for the cloud to dissipate? The flares burn for up to 40 seconds.”

“That would depends on the venting nozzle and if anything else was employed, like magnetic field. I’d need to know the hull shape ideally to optimize the deployment, but it should last a while longer than the flares.” the engineer thought out loud. “Well, that is the thing, our AI are single purpose, other than EW, in this instance, it doesn’t and can not acquire knowledge to do anything else. What it does, however, is not emit random noise, but a precisely calculated burst that is phase shifted to cancel out with the offending signal, there is nothing left to home in onto.”

“Do you employ EW to target enemy craft itself?” she asked, “Shutting down life support, frying communications and the like?”

“Best way of dealing with a threat is to make a big hole in it. However, we do use the things I named earlier to blind them, not just for defense. A single Pillager with an ECM suite can blind an entire fleet. We also use radar or communication emissions to locate and engage targets. For example, the ADRM-13 missile is designed to home in on enemy radars. The moment they try to lock onto you, the missile locks onto them. Either they die, therefore removing the threat, or they shut down their radar, also removing the threat, at least for the time being.”

“Iiii’m thinking more along the lines of getting the enemy to shoot at each other while we watch.” Casei hinted, baring her teeth. Tapping into the intercom, she let the conversation play out loud. “Sector control, is the Narix transport still in the hangar?”
“Negative, engineering, they are en-route to the Latantos already.”
“Patch me through to them.” she waited until she had a line, “Glaive six, Explorer engineering. We’d like to run a small test. We’d like to let our drone’s electronic warfare suite loose on your systems. Nothing permanent, just to see how effective it would be. Would you be willing to run such exercise?”

Glaive Six

“Wait, what now?” the gunner asked. “They didn’t just ask what I think they did, did they?”
“Explorer, Glaive six, eeehhh. Not sure I am a fan of what I hear, could you elaborate?”

“We want to see how deep our suite could penetrate your systems. It will simply give us a pass or fail mark, nothing on your ship should be affected, but for safety’s sake I’d ask you to bring your ship to a stop for a minute.”

“Received, we’re holding 400 meters off the Latanos’ port side bow, give it your best.”
“You are, without a shadow of a doubt, insane.” the gunner commented in a resigned tone.

“Copy, thank you.” making a hand gesture to switch her line, she got back on the earlier, “Sector control, launch a single drone for EW exercise. Target is Glaive six, perform AI penetration test.”

“Confirmed.”

Casei switched the room’s display to the drone, watching as it approached until it was in broadcast range, five kliks form the Glaive. A readout popped up on the screen. “Glaive six, Explorer. Can you see the drone on your instruments? We are ready to begin on our end.”

“Instruments, check. Visual, check. Ugly little bastard this one.”

“Beginning exercise.” Casei said, linking to the drone’s control and engaging the suite. The combined logic and processing power of the AI started chipping away at the receivers, deconstructing the Narix defense. As it gained access to different systems, it marked them on the list, until it could get nowhere else. “We’ve got into communications and navigation through the networking systems, let’S see what else we can do.” she smirked.
Engaging the masking measures, the drone would have vanished from the Glaives radar locator, although the heat signature would have remained if they were looking for it. “Glaive six, explorer. Can your instruments see the drone?” Casei asked as she maneuvered the drone closer to the dropship.

“Gone from the radars, but they register it for a split second when we switch frequencies. Thermal signature still there of course.” The Pillager turned to face the drone, arming its weapons. “Aaand locked. That all you can do?”

“Challenge accepted.” Casei said, mrith in her tone. The drone was not made to do what she intended, but it would do well for the test of what they intended to do. Opening several menus, she had the entire control system of the drone laid out on floating screens in front of her. Disabling the reactor safeties, she fed more fuel into the reactor, and at the same time opened the emergency vent, simulating the thermal protection system discussed earlier. Spinning the drone in a series of fast maneuvers, soon it was enveloped in a cloud of plasmatised gas too big to get a reliable lock on.

To top it off, the engineer used the communications system to emit a strong EMP burst towards the guns pointed at the drone.

The drone seemed to spazz out for a moment, turning the IR camera screen orange. As the pilot was about to make a snarky remark about the general lack of use of such a maneuver, several non-critical systems died seemingly without a reason before coming back to life as hardware backups engaged where necessary and software rebooted.

“Rated G for Genius, Explorer. By forcing a hard reset of several systems, you’ve effectively undone your efforts to seize control of the ship. And that maneuver the drone executed still leaves us a nice, stationary target for dumb fire weapons, AAA and fighter suppression torpedoes. How well do you think your drone would fare against a 50 millimeter railgun at 3000 rpm?”

“Did I?” Casei asked, having maneuvered the drone towards the ship in the brief window it was blind. The pilots could feel the shudder as the magnetic clamp of the drone caught onto their ship. Casei made a few offhand notes to discuss later.

“Do you think you can tow us away? This ship can support its loaded weight in Naris gravity and reach orbit.”
”True, it needs a refuel after that, but you don’t have to know” The pilot thought.
“What the drones small size means is that we can’t turn the turret to hit you right now. Unless we have cover or one of us has time to get out the back and do something about the drone manually, we can’t get rid of you. What would the shield do if someone tried to pass through it?”

“I can not tow you through normal space right now, but I could jump you close enough to the sun for the shielded drone to get back, but you two to evaporate instantly. Not the point of the exercise though. Thank you for your assistance glaive. Send me the bill for the fried components.” Casei said, undocking the drone and directing it back to the Explorer. “The shield would just heat up something your size Glaive. Your 50 would probably go straight through as well, unless the magnetosphere could deflect it off course enough. 20mm would probably ablate enough to be harmless.”

“20 Millimeters? Pff. And have our lads shared with you the existence of a 75 millimeter HFR?” the pilot quipped as he turned to land.

Listening in on the conversations in the latanos’ CIC, primarch Ascari made a note to recommend research into blocking the Faira abilities. A cooperating specimen, or several, would be required.

ED Explorer

“All in all, your EW suite is enough to make our job harder, but manageable in groups. You may have more success in attacking capital ships, if you can get past the engineers on duty. And get close enough through the wall of fire.” Achzarit summarized his impressions from the test. “Unless we can make a mess of enemy IFF or better yet, disable their propulsion, I don’t see much use here.”

“Granted, although to attack a capship, another capship would usually be conducting the operation. In any event though, it seems like it might be worthy to investigate a weapon based on a heavy EMP. You can only have so many redundant systems.” she thought out loud. “Well, it seems like most everything for the components. I’ll requisition some of your missiles, as well as armor samples for testing. Until then, we won’t move on the construction of the craft too much. Last thing, I understand you come form differently purposed squadrons - would you tell me about how your military uses your craft?”

“Depends on who you ask. Praetorian Lindus and I are from a heavy fighter squadron. We are meant to be anything from light bombers trough escort fighters to armed recon.”

“I, on the other hand, am from an interceptor squadron.” Praetorian Iris took over, “My job is to escort friendly bombers, intercept hostile bombers and torpedoes and, if unlucky, other fighters. Usually we are told in advance what is expected of us, but sometimes the situation changes mid-flight. We might be launching loaded for photoreconnaissance and end up strafing hostile armor. Our fighters atmospheric capabilities further broaden the scope.”

“Technically, we can do just about anything if a squadron better suited for given task isn’t available.” Achzarit finished. “That a sufficient description, or do you need something more detailed?”

“Bombers?” Casei tilted her head sideways.

The Narix shared puzzled looks. “Pardon?”

“A bomber is a combat air or spacecraft designed to attack ground targets, naval targets and capital ships by dropping air-to-ground weaponry, such as bombs, firing torpedoes and deploying cruise missiles.” Lindus cited the textbook. “You mean to tell us the idea a strikecraft dedicated to attack capital ships has never crossed your minds?”

“It...wasn’t thought they could succeed in such role. We have weapons that can easily shoot down even a shielded craft. As well, our resource situation was not always this positive. Such craft is too expensive to field for us. Only the destroyers are armed with more than four torpedo tubes for exactly that reason. In our navy a torpedo strike is the last resort. We thought it as a weapon for a single destroyer to wipe out an enemy fleet, or bombard a planet.” Casei shared carefully, trying not to spook the Narix about the Explorer’s capabilities. The admiral did share a memo that the Narix seemed to be vastly underestimating their tech, trusting in their numbers. “A single MIRV torpedo fired from this ship would likely severely cripple your cruiser. It has to for the resources spent building it.”

“A single MIRV from this ship would fall short by several kilometers between area suppression munitions, CIWS and the likes of me.” Iris responded. “It’d take a lot of them to overwhelm a defensive screen.” Unless that Vanguard was alone, but if it was, there was already something wrong.

“I guess the lack of bombers could in part be due to your crafts inability to fly in the atmosphere. It is true they are not as effective in space. But it’s nice to have something with two turrets that’s capable of crippling a corvette, our corvette, that is, by itself.”

“Turrets? What nonsense is this, why not just build a full cruiser?” Casei shook her head. “Well we can try to build something like that but I don’t see it going into production. Something like that must be a huge target, but not big enough to have a ship grade shield.” snickering, she waved the thought off.

“Yes, a single one of those would be in trouble, of course so would all the fighters that intercepted it, burned and fried off by the EMP. Have you seen how many of them can the Explorer launch simultaneously? There are two batteries of twenty launch tubes with ten seconds refire rate, each of those missiles has thirty submunitions moving at roughly five hundred meters per second. You mean to tell me, honestly, that you have the ability to protect a battlegroup from that kind of onslaught?” she said, not believing them even if they said they could.

“Why? A cruiser is what? 200 meters and 40 crewmen? A bomber is 30 meters and 3 crewmen that can go into atmosphere without a crewmember possessing a specific talent. And no shields for our ships, remember?”

“Yes yes, but we’re talking on hot to apply your experience with what we have to work with. Yes, a cruiser is ten times bigger, but Nebula class can easily take down ten of the bombers and live, not the other way around. What is the heaviest ordnance you can deploy form such a craft?” she pulled up a simulation, with a single Faira cruiser in it.

“Again, loadout dependant.” Achzarit dodged the question, not intending to reveal the Corsairs full capabilities. That, and he’s never flown one, so he himself wasn’t sure. “Granted, your shields could complicate things a little.”

“Shall we say ten megatons then?” she made a guess, simulating an attack byt sixteen warheads. The shield fell and two warheads got through, given no interception took place.

“You forget standard missile banks, two turrets and two primary weapons. Those can be used to limit the cruisers defenses. Besides, this was a one-on-one engagement. What fool, besides a religious zealot, would charge a cruiser with one bomber?”

“Ship shield is fundamentally different in power output and stopping power. If this simulation is accurate enough, for a cruiser it would take 140 megaton blast to get through it. Can your strikecraft weapons put out that kind of power?” she said, looking at them funnily

“I meant turrets and escorting fighters.” Achzarit returned the expression, “Bomber pilots constantly complain about those.”

“Anyway, we got sidetracked. So, you have one class that prefers mobility and I assume rate of fire. What about the other, survivability and heavy weapons?” she inquired, making more notes.

“One class that prefers mobility and sensor power. The other class prefers heavier armor. Rate of fire is a concern of weapons, not the platform they are mounted on.”

“I beg to differ. With more barrels you can cycle through, you can virtually increase fire rate and make interception easier.” the engineer said, popping what looked like a silver M&M in her mouth. “But additional mounting points require space and thus size increase, which may be detrimental to mobility. Furthermore, the spacing of the weapons itself and ease of connection to heat sinks concerns the fire rate ather lot. You can not think of the craft as a package of components if you want top performance.”

“If you want more barrels on a single ship, why not build a cruiser?” Achzarit used Caseis own munition against her. “Do you really need the rate of fire to be that large? For projectile weapons, maybe, but with laser-based weaponry, the virtually nonexistent travel time works just as well.”

“Heh, you are correct, I would have built a cruiser instead.” the engineer smirked, “But maybe you’ll surprise me. As far as rate of fire goes, that is more so for the plasma cannons, but the laser’s optics will eventually overheat as well. Fighter is hardly a lab where you can keep everything aligned. There will be vibrations and damage. For redundancy’s sake alone it’s a good idea. It would be even better if they were in fixed mounts and you aimed by maneuvering the ship, much more reliable that way.”

“Anyway, those are the two classes you are familiar with, you already mentioned the bombers, any other subtypes I should be aware of?”

“Ah, you’re right. After all, we are here to learn something new as well. Reverting back to the old days of fixed weapons in fixed mountings. As for the wear and tear - that’s the reason most of our ships have hangars.”

“And again, you never counted on long term deployments. I’d rather we could make the most of what we design. Not that the optics on a laser can’t get misaligned even in a single combat deployment. I suppose it’s an even stronger argument for making the design as modular as possible. That way the support ship to be could potentially change your loadout during mission by swapping up an entire turret. That seems like a neat feature to have, since I imagine we all know how long a plan survives.” she frowned. They said the universe will most likely be empty. And what do we find in the second system we explore ever?

“Now, in-mission repairs and possible changes of loadout are music I like. And we did count with long-term deployments. Except what you call long-term deployment is close to execution by starvation in our circles. Also on the subject of support ships, Perhaps they could be developed in cooperation with our engineers to modify the Pillagers so a Narix ship could service these new fighters as well.” He offered.

“If you could get your commanders to liberate your current ship designs, perhaps we could see if some modifications could be done to your current craft as well to make use of this feature.” Casei agreed readily enough. “I may have something for you too. This is a kind of strike craft we toyed with the thought of.” she said, pulling up a schematic. In there was a strange looking ship, which seemed to be built around a large cylindrical device. “We’ve called the class ‘gunship’ in the blacklab. The theory was to take a line ship gun and build a strike craft around it. The weapon was to be modified to fire at extreme ranges in the span of hundreds of kilometers. It is prohibitively expensive for mass production, but it could be used for surgical strikes against capital ship systems. The biggest advantage is that with its size being what it is, we can cram an intersystem FTL drive inside. Have you ever experimented in something similar?”

“Not to my knowledge, but I am just a simple fighter pilot. Very few people know what or where the 0th Fighter Examination Squadron flies. I see the appeal, but it’d have to be a hit and run weapon, no? I can’t imagine anything could hide its location when it fires. Did this leave the blueprint stage?”

“Not really, no. Cygnus is pretty much the only admiral that wants it, and that is not enough. Of course, Cygnus is the only one in command of a dedicated offensive fleet, while the others are focusing on defense, where understandably such fragile thing is useless, but we in Vanguard believe it would be worth it to put up such large gun where the enemy doesn’t expect it.” the engineer grumbled. “And you are very much correct, it was meant to attack staging points and supply depots. Jump in, do it’s damage, jump out before the escort can close in. I mean, a cruiser could do that just as well, but it’s too big a risk to send a ship that deep behind enemy lines.”

Stretching her arms, Casei shook the tiredness out of them. “Well, we have done a lot, I’ll make a report and submit it on the next command briefing. I imagine you’ll be there. We’ll see what priorities the Admiral gives us. I imagine she would be fond of the heavy fighters. Shall we take a break? Would you like to see some of our stuff up close?”

“We would like to see some at least partially declassified facilities. It might clear the air a little. Hangar seems appropriate, but the description of the Morale sector piqued interest, unless that’s off-limits to aliens?”

FreeSpace: Expansion

“Of course, Commander. It would be nice to see more of your ship. Once the exchange personnel are aboard, you can join us as we’ll have to show them around as well. They will of course be issued schematics of the ship, but those don’t beat seeing things for yourself with a guide to answer questions.” the Primarch said and gestured for his men to follow.

“If you’re going as far as to grow your own bodies, why not simply build them. A machine is more modular than an organic shell. Can’t tack upgrades onto organic bodies as you go.” the engineer chimed in as the trio followed Astra out of the room, “Unless someone decides to detonate an EMP bomb in your vicinity, but there’s a fix to that as well, just a bit complicated. That’s the reason personnel with prosthetics aren’t allowed into combat or frontline roles. Can’t have half your crew lose a limb or two in such an occurrence.”

ED Explorer, Docking bay
“Explorer actual, Glaive six, confirmed. Cleared for landing, port hangar, manual approach.” The pilot acknowledged and begun a counter-clockwise circle around the destroyer. ”Automated landings? Who does she take me for?” he complained to his comrades over the intercom, “Do I look like I’ve never held flight sticks before in my life?” Upon reaching the destroyers ten o’clock, he tightened the approach, planting the ship right into the hangar entrance. Once inside, the ships wings and engines turned 90 degrees to point down. The wings twitched with each motion of the pilots controls, gently nudging the ship to the first free space between two ships he assumed to be Faira shuttles. Turning the ship 180 degrees to make egress easy, he extended the landing legs and, setting down the ship gently, tried to secure it magnetically with success. As the engine note died down, he opened the door leading to the troop compartment.
“You’ve reached the ED Explorer. The flight terminates, please mind the gap.”
The three pilots stood up, collected their things and lowered the boarding ramp, exiting the shuttle to meet their new commander. Saluting in union, the lead Narix spoke up.
“Admiral Cygnus, I presume? Legate Achzarit, 107th Assault Squadron Leader. These are Praetorian Lindus, a Wing Leader of my squadron, and Praetorian iris, Senior Wing Leader of the 242nd Interceptor Squadron. All formerly, that is.”

Behind them, the Pillagers boarding ramp shut. “Explorer control, Glaive six, requesting launch clearance.”

FreeSpace: Expansion

What the Commander shared about Faira capabilities was fascinating, but potentially troubling should there be a conflict with any Faira in the future. Better hope there were no active ascendants, just in case something went wrong.

“Very well, we are ready to receive your people. Likewise, the Narix exchange officers and enlisted personnel are waiting to be transferred.”
As the Primarch spoke, Prefect Fien reached up to her left temple and seemingly mumbled something to herself. At the same time in the Latanos’ hangar bay, the senior pilot clicked the mic to draw the attention of the others and gestured to follow him to a Pillager. Its pilots were just finishing up preflight checks.

“Pilots have been notified, they should be on their way in a few minutes.” The Prefect interjected. “But what are we to do with your people if one starts bleeding, for example? We have no idea where your arteries run, stopping the bleeding would- You DO have a cardiovascular system, don’t you?” she paused abruptly, recalling a note in the Starfleet Bulletin that mentioned the Faira didn’t need to breathe. Should she even be surprised by these people at this point?

The Pillager left the Latanos’ hangar and headed for the Explorer at a steady pace. Closing the distance to 800 meters, the dropship stopped in relation to the Faira destroyer.
“ED Explorer, this is Glaive 6, holding 800 meters off your starboard bow, we are carrying exchange pilots and requesting landing clearance.”

FreeSpace: Expansion

Prefect Fien’s eyes seemed to light up at the chair spectacle. “Hm. How much can you lift in terms of mass and dimensions? Do you have to see the object to move it? Could you, say, redirect a 7 by 20 millimeter steel projectile at 600 meters per second?” she deliberately understated the material and muzzle velocity of even Narix sidearms.

“Are lasers in visible spectrum even worth it, considering the energy lost as visible light?” The engineer inquired. “When it comes to technical exchange personnel, Technician First Class Ertanax was the senior engineer of the NSS Halberdier, one of the first Privateer-class frigates, for the entirety of its service. Though lacking in command qualities, her field of expertise is remarkably wide. Technical Centurion Nihlus, while also a capable engineer, possesses something Miss Ertanax unfortunately lacks: people skills.”

“As for my marines,” Prefect Fien continued, “you’ve already met some of them when you stumbled upon the Latanos. Despite what one might initially think, Centurion Ursitis and his squad are the best we have on hand. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with them. I just hope their live deployment won’t be necessary in the unknown regions.”

Primarch Ascari than took over the rest. “The command crew for what we call cruisers come from the Second Fleet. Our fleet is small and thus couldn’t spare the manpower. They are mainly trained for offensive action, so this will be an extremely valuable experience for them. As our species requires daily sleep, we have sent two instead of the requested one. I hope that isn’t a problem. The pilots are from the First Fleet, one dedicated to defense. A mix of interceptor and heavy fighter wing leaders and one squadron leader, as requested. I don’t have access to much information about personnel from other fleets, but I trust the judgement of the fleets’ commanders. All the exchange personnel are bringing their documentation with them, but given the circumstances, I could probably circumvent the information embargo between the fleets and get you all the declassified information.”

“As for our required personnel: Propulsion engineer, chief engineer, sensors and navigation officers. Most for the Latanos, so a frigate in your terms. Some for the Charlatan and Sandstorm, those you would call corvettes. Selecting the specific officers is up to you. Oh, and a medical officer for each ship. We still don’t know how your people work. We are also sending medical personnel, one team per ship, and the marine squad comes with two combat medics.”

FreeSpace: Expansion

The armored trio was greeted by a faira guard and brought to what looked like a briefing room or movie theater of sorts. Seated in one of the seats was a familiar face- well, suit.
“Greetings, Commander. Good to see you again.” Taking their seats, Carthus resumed. “Again, thank you for the invitation. These are Adept Eros Adaris, our chief engineer...” He said gesturing to the man to his right in bright orange armor with a bulkier exosuit, “...and Prefect Alestra Fien, marine company commander.” This gesturing to a smaller female, her armor laden with magazines and other pouches.

With the introduction over, the Narix turned their attention to the hologram. Their host put up quite a show. The engineer of the group took note of 22 ships coming through a single, massive jump point. Even though Narix vessels travelled through a shared intersystem corridor, each ship formed its own subspace window upon entry and exit. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of strain the ship maintaining the jump point, likely the destroyer, was being put through.

Initially, neither of the Narix was exactly sure what was so special about two ships docking, regardless of their size. Narix docked their Warlords to stations and to each other all the time to transfer supplies, personnel and many other reasons. But as the Commander revealed more and more about the way the ships were being controlled, it became as clear as filtered water. “So every time you have to dock two ships of this size, your helmsmen ought to book shore leave in advance? If so, why bother? Wouldn’t two three-axis controllers cut it just fine?” The marine asked.

“Out of the ordinary? Hah, if only.” The chief engineer thundered and leaned forward to examine the red lighting around the two destroyers. “Last I’ve seen something like this was a high-voltage transformer malfunction, except this lightning storm right ‘ere is, for some reason, deep red. Pray tell, does that have any adverse effects on the ships? Sensors? Communications? Crew? And if so, how do you counteract them?”

“Very informative, Commander, thank you.” Ascari turned from the projection to the Commander. “However, as much as I hate to be the one constantly pulling work into everything, I believe we still have something to discuss. We have selected candidates for the positions you have requested. They are waiting in the Latanos’ starboard hangar to be sent to their respective ships. Problem is, no one has bothered to tell us who is meant to go where, and sadly, this goes both ways. I trust we can sort that out while we are here?”

FreeSpace: Expansion

NSS Latanos
The Latanos’ CIC was a scene of organized chaos as preparations were being made to set out to another system, form the arriving ships, cooperate with the Faira Vanguard fleet and take on the Faira exchange officers.
“Primarch? The Charlatan, Pathfinder and Natanis have arrived, we’re complete. Well, the Narix part of the fleet.” The bridge officer added. “Also, we’ve received an invitation from the Curious to watch the docking of the two lead ships of their fleets.”
“We’ll need to dock anyway to transfer our men to the Curious, not every species has got subspace motivators crammed up their behind. Accept the invitation. Helm, standby to dock, EFg Curious, starboard, large ring.”

“Curious, Latanos, thank you for the invite. The fleet’s together, we’re coming to you.”

A minute later, fourteen jump points formed 5000 meters off the Faira jump node. The Latanos slowly approached the Curious, leaving the rest of the fleet where they were. “Curious, Latanos, we are standing by to dock and transfer the exchange personnel.”
The Narix personnel that had free hands observed the two destroyers. Two gray slabs with massive twin guns in both ventral and dorsal turrets and black, boxy engine pylons jutting out from the narrow aft hull. Odd looking boats compared to the streamlined profiles of the Warlords.

NSS Latanos, Starboard hangar bay
A part of the hangar in front of the docking port has been cleared to make room for the Officer Exchange Program participants. Engineers, pilots, command crew officers, marines and Narix medics were spread around, waiting to be told to what ship they would be going, each donning a new suit and burdened by a sizable bag. With Rear Admiral Libras help, they managed to get ranks, names, basic medical information and other inscriptions translated into the Faira language and written onto the suits. There was an excited buzz among the handpicked volunteers, as none, save the same marine squad that accompanied the Primarch to the Curious, have never even been this close to a Faira ship, let alone on it.

FreeSpace: Expansion

Seven days later

Narix National Newscast
Councilor Nyxeris Anya: A step over the horizon
“Almost two hundred and thirty years ago, we refused to stop at the horizon. For the first time since the Great Purge of six hundred and thirty eight, we banded together and reached for the stars.
Over one hundred and seventy years ago, Ramses Verrikan refused to be held back by infighting and rivalry and took action, spreading conflict in order to bring peace.
These events lead up to this day. 7 days ago, we refused to stop at the edge of our system, as elements of the 5th fleet under the leadership of Primarch Carthus Ascari, traversed the uncharted subspace corridor. Prepared to face hardships and peril, they took upon this dangerous duty, for the betterment of every man, woman and child, from the most renowned of scientists to the lowest of exiles. Bolstered by unity, they refused to stop at the horizon. Undeterred by danger, they walked the stars.”

Declassified: First contact!
“7 days ago at 3120 hours, system time, the NSS Latanos made contact with an alien warship! The cruiser-sized vessel, designated the EC Curious, was a part of a fleet consisting of it and several smaller vessels, likely frigates and corvettes. Our men located this fleet and the Latanos herself set out to investigate.
Upon meeting the lone alien cruiser, sixteen brave men and two pilots, lead by none other than Primarch Ascari himself, embarked upon a dangerous expedition to the unknown vessel, the Primarch being the first to step off the Pillager to negotiate peace with the aliens or give his men time to flee should the unknowns turn hostile.”

Peace brokered
“Despite initial difficulties, Primarch Ascari managed to broker a peaceful relationship between this new species, calling themselves the ‘Exiles of Faira’ or ‘Faira’ for short, and ours!
In light of this, the council has dispatched the NSS Alchemist, a Discovery-class science vessel, to act as a common ground for the meeting of our two species along with the Faira’Hexus, an Exile diplomatic vessel. Our ambassadors will continue meeting until a lasting peace is secured. The details of the interim peace treaty will be made available to the public shortly.
Over one hundred and seventy years ago, Ramses Verrikan united our kind to strengthen it. Today, we unite with the Exiles of Faira to strengthen both our races.

---

Present day, Opportunity System, NSS Alchemist
The Alchemist was an odd-looking boat. A fresh coat of paint indicated good maintenance, but the exposed tubing running along the narrow corridors and gravity generators placed wherever they managed to fit them betrayed its advanced age. The halls were painted light gray with two rows of green lights running along the floor and orange ambient lighting. Being a civilian vessel from a pre-artificial gravity age, the docking port was located on the ceiling of the main corridor, separated from the rest of the ship by a simple door on each side. As the Alchemist approached the Faira’Hexus to dock, Runa made her way to the airlock to greet the Faira delegates.

Faira’Hexus; Conference room
Fresh out of a tour to the Nebula, the delegation composed of Astra, Libra and admiral Cygnus. Armed with instructions decided in a sitting of the Assembly of Admirals, they were on a mission: Secure the peace and a trading pact, and with a list of things to bargain with. The Narix so far turned out to be ok people, but sharing cultural data and trading things that could potentially be used against you were different things. Hence why the rest of them were tagging along with Libra - Astra to provide and verify the worth of technologies, and Cygnus to be the bad cop to make sure the Faira were not getting screwed.

The Alchemist approached, and while the Faira ships were utilitarian in nature, even those looked less kitbashed than what was approaching the colony ship. “Is that safe?” Astra inquired. Cygnus snorted in return: “We might be revealing that we are almost extinct today, what is safe in this universe, really?” The ships kissed relatively gently, and the three Faira translated the airlocks, easily navigating the zero-g environment, speaking of their experience with it.

The Faira delegates entered the ship without any problems, providing further proof of Libra’s claims of a spacebound species. “Welcome aboard the Alchemist. No trouble along the way?” Runa greeted their guests as the gravity reengaged after a four-second warning. “If you would please follow me to the meeting room, the others are waiting for us.”

She led the group into the conference room situated in the aft section of the starboard module. The rectangular room contained a hexagonal table with six seats and a cluster of flatscreens suspended from the ceiling. The gravity in that room was lowered to match the Faira ships. “Please, take your seats.” she gestured to three empty chairs on one side of the table and stood at her place between two other Narix. “These are Primarch Ascari and minister Ertanax, representing the military and technological sides of things respectively.

Having the gravity adjusted to their standard was a considerate gesture, and Libra was once more glad for her many sittings with Runa Taranis to smooth everything over. If the delightful personalities of Cygnus and Astra won’t ruin this meeting, nothing should. And Libra took care to notify her companions that one should refrain from commenting on the level of Narix technology, and reminded the other to just glare coldly most of the time.

Already her guidance was bearing fruit, as Astra stared at the flatscreens - without so much as a beep. The trio took their seats. “Thank you, ambassador. Good to see you again in good health, primarch. Minister Ertanax, we are honored to meet you. I am rear admiral Libra, ambassador to the Exiles of Faira. On my right is admiral Cygnus, commander of the Vanguard fleet, and on my left commander Astra, here to provide technical expertise.”

As the introductions were made, the lead Faira switched into business mode. “I am certain all of us have a busy schedule, so shall we get to the root of things? The Exiles propose we draft a non-aggression pact to ensure safe passage to any of our vessels. The ambassador and I have already taken steps to ensure that between our military branches. We would however prefer to have an official document to be issued to civilian population as well.”

The meeting started as expected, that was a good sign. “Certainly.” Minister Ertanax started, “With the information kindly provided, we were able to devise a simple program to recognise your IFF. We’ve also modified one of our outdated data transfer protocols to convert transmissions from our data format to yours and vice versa to increase achievable speed and security.” A diagram of the conversion process, accompanied by its description appeared on the overhead screens, “These will be distributed to all our ships and provided to you after this document is ratified.”

“That being said, we suggest this system be treated as a neutral one with minimal military presence, save for forces guarding the jump points leading to our respective territories and transit into space that lies beyond Opportunity.” Runa continued. “Another thing to consider are mining rights and exploration. As this system does not have much to offer, we will have to share what little there is.”

“I’ll have it distributed among the fleets as soon as the protocol passes qualification tests.” Cygnus agreed readily. Libra then addressed the issue of Opportunity: “ As there appears to be no habitable body in the system for either of our species, it would seem logical to explore it together to see what it is it actually has to offer. Commander?”

Taking the cue, Astra summoned one of primarch’s favorite holoscreens, displaying a bilingual version of one table: The preliminary results of Vanguard’s scanning. “Here you can see the results of scans of the planetary bodies and asteroids in Opportunity as conducted by elements of the Vanguard fleet and the Faira’Hexus in the last week. Given our differing technological bases, we suggest for the Faira to be given mining rights to the asteroids, while the Narix could mine the planets.”

“Councilor Nyx has also suggested joint exploration, not just of Opportunity, but of other systems as well. Not only would such operations build more figurative bridges between our species, your assistance would make potential first contact go smoother due to your ability to learn alien languages so quickly.” The Primarch agreed.

Neither of the three Narix was thrilled at the idea of planetary mining at first, as it presented additional logistical problems in handling heavy things due to gravity, atmospheric pressure and worst of all, getting the materials up to the orbit. That meant more fuel, ships and heavy equipment would be required. On the other hand, the planets held an exponentially greater amount of resources and if they could get some processing plants going planetside, it would, after this initial investment, turn profitable. After a short, barely audible debate, Minister Ertanax spoke up.

“That issue is settled, then. The council has also expressed the desire to trade technologies. For now, they are most interested in your suits and how they compare to ours. Would you be willing to part with a few units, and if so, for what price?

“I’ll have peace on those terms,” Cygnus agreed, “It would be a welcome relief to have more ships on hand just for survey speed, not to talk about defense if someone out there was less understanding and civilized than our two species. We have already identified what could be a third jump node out of Opportunity. What kind of force would you be sending through?”

Astra took over to address the the proposed technology trade. “What you ask for is certainly possible, but I question the usability of our suits to you, as their systems are tailored to our physiology, most importantly the control systems. What you would be getting is a heap of armor plating and miniaturized motorics components. Instead, I would propose to you to send scientists of the required fields to the Faira’Hexus, where we could work to adapt several prototypes to your species and your technological base, which you could then more readily produce yourselves.”

“As for what we would want… Our shipbuilding capabilities in the present are somewhat limited, and we can not even use up the resources we are producing. We would like to purchase building time of your shipyards to construct ship frames for us that we would then tow home to equip.” Libra named the price.

Primarch Ascari took over the word. “That is up for debate. Our initial plan was to move the rest of the 5th Fleet to this system to secure and survey it. I would then take the first and second battlegroups onward. But if we’re joining forces, that will greatly increase the supply demands. That leads me to option number two.” He displayed a 3D model and declassified information about the NFg Privateer. “We send more smaller ships. The Privateer has a smaller crew complement, higher delta velocity and its jump drives are capable of more than five consecutive jumps without suffering any adverse effects. They are tailored for long patrols and AA defense making supplying them easier, but don’t have much to offer against capital ships. Their hangar capacity is also limited. I would be taking the Latanos for that, should it come to it.” he finished.

Minister Ertanax continued the tech talk. “We don’t intend to start using your suits. Rather, we’d like to compare your and our take on them and see where we can learn from you and where we could improve yours. Although your tech level is above ours, a second opinion never hurts.”

“As for the price, what you are asking is certainly possible, but will have to wait until your people are cleared for entry to supervise the construction. We will also have to ensure there are no health hazards, such as illnesses, involved.”

Talking briefly among themselves the three Faira resumed with Libra speaking: “Our ships require little in supply, and what they need they can get by themselves if there is a nebula or a gas giant in the system. Our plan counts on the Vanguard fleet continuing to advance while the Patrol fleet secures the systems behind and provides the logistical support. I am certain Admiral Lira can spend a couple of cruisers to quickly tow your transport ships to where they are needed. As for how to properly secure a system, the commander of you forces, whether it would be you personally, primarch, or someone else, should plan that together with admiral Cygnus at a separate meeting.”

“As for the suits, that can certainly be arranged, we were just worried you were not getting equal value out of this trade. We would like to return to the treaty for now though, until such is signed, i hope you understand, we are reluctant to share in any technology that could potentially but used against us in an armed conflict.”

“Our side would like to include mechanisms for traversing the systems owned by the other party into that s treaty, as well as a mechanism for assigning ownership to the systems we explore together.”

Runa again spoke up. “Assigning ownership of systems could be done based on the natural resources or planets in that system. If a system is rich in materials useless to us but valuable to you, we gain nothing from keeping it and would only stretch ourselves thin by maintaining security. The same could apply for celestial bodies and their habitability.”

“As for traversing systems owned by the other party, I’ll admit we have thought of this, but outside of specific locations, marked by navigation buoys to use as commercial intrasystem jump points, haven’t thought of anything. The issue is further complicated by the differences between your and our coordinate systems, hence the navigational buoys.”

“Speaking of things one party or the other wishes to add.” The Primarch interjected, “Although we are fortunately enjoying a time of lasting peace, your wars are your wars and ours are ours. We adamantly refuse to be dragged into a war we have nothing to do with, and I am sure that isn’t something you want either. Should one of our species be unfortunate enough to be attacked, I believe the other nation would provide help, but we will not support any offensive action unless it is certain beyond any shadow of a doubt the hypothetical third party is a threat.”

“Naturally, Primarch, I believe that is the definition of non-aggression treaty. We would refrain from even mutual defense at this point, sadly. We can not promise to be adequate ally in such endeavor, and we do not believe our kinds know each other enough to entrust the other with such an important task. One day, perhaps. We hope. Hopefully you and admiral Cygnus will be able to bring us closer to that.” Libra said soberly.

“That said, we came up with a similar idea of designating intrasystem highways through our systems for others to freely traverse through.” Astra noted, “We would also like to keep our home system closed off to outside traffic at this time, and are prepared to accept the same condition from you. To address your earlier remark, we are willing to leave the building part entirely to you without our supervision, as long as you use our methods which we would of course free up for your use as well. Once assembled, you could tow them to Opportunity for our receipt.” the scientist said.

Back to Libra, the Faira diplomat sighed. “I am afraid we can not agree to that sort of distribution. What if there is a planet habitable to both of us?” the rear admiral suggested, “Furthermore, the probabilities of the existence of planets habitable to your species is significantly greater than one for us. You would be inherently at an advantage. Instead we would propose ownership of individual planetary bodies, distributed in accordance to habitability for planets and moons, and based on mass for other objects.”

“You will have to send someone to instruct our shipwrights anyway, your building methods will be completely alien to them. The iridium that seems to be prevalent in your ships will also require a slightly different approach to our usual materials.” the minister replied to Astra.

Than it was Runas turn. “We will of course keep our system closed off to general traffic. If for some reason you wanted to visit Naris, you would have to travel aboard a Narix vessel after being granted clearance.”

Than she addressed the ownership issue. “I don’t see many differences between your and our suggested approach. That way, we are still going to end up with more planets, but it creates the problem of keeping order. If ownership is assigned to individual planets, how do we decide who will be tasked with keeping order in the system as a whole? Someone to make sure individuals with privately-owned ships won’t break a no-fly zone or start an illegal mining operation? I realize crime is still a new concept to your people, but sadly, it is something you will have to take into account.”

“The difference is that with ownership over the entire system the Faira would have to license mining rights.” Libra said practically, “And even if the Narix would be so charitable as to allow us to get our share now, we foresee we would have to renew the real with every new administration, or are we wrong in that assumption?”

“Only the people that will be elected to council positions dealing with industry in the future know the answer to that question.” Runa stated plainly. “But we will concede this point. That still leaves the security issues. If both of our species post forces in every system, then based on the speed at which new systems are discovered, we might not be able to secure them at all. A nations inability to maintain order has never lead to anything but unrest and, in the worst cases, collapse.”

“Then we stop growing and increase the size of our forces. It will have to be done sooner or later anyway. What if you can’t find a habitable planet in the first five systems either, will you be able to secure the route all the way to the sixth?” Cygnus asked somewhat rhetorically. “Borders can not grow without the growth of its wardens. I comprehend that you have overpopulation problems, but what measures have you taken to aid the situation in case your expansion failed to solve the issue?” the admiral asked.
“While I would not use as harsh words as the admiral, and I do not presume to tell you how to govern yourselves, the Faira have deployed birth control and other sustainable growth measures. It will not be popular but whatever course of action we decide on, the probability of you not having any other choice is still not insignificant.” Libra said. “There is one other option we could consider… to unite.” she suggested, earning surprised looks even from her side of the table.

Libras words completely stunned the Narix. Runa had to wonder whether other Narix reacted in a similar matter to Ramses Verrikans proposal all those years ago. She was the first one to snap out of the shock and think of a politically correct response. “The problem with that proposal has several layers. Firstly, there is our democratic system. I doubt our people would agree to that. Then there is the vast biological and cultural difference. Is it even possible for our people to exist under one leadership without one species or the other suffering with each new policy adopted?” she asked. “In the end, even we Narix were united by the sword. I dread to think what a war between our peoples would lead to.” She thought of the 42 cruisers of which the Faira have seen two, not to mention the twelve Warlord-class destroyers the Faira still weren’t aware of.

“True, for now it seems undoable, but we are not yet stretched that thin. And our peoples need not adapt the same policies -the unity could be as loose as we prefer - What is necessary is a unified military on the top level of command to patrol the systems, and its mandate to enforce the laws of both species. What policies each other adopts can and probably will be of marginal interest to the other species. The economical side would be slightly trickier to negotiate, but as I said, there is time. It should be at least considered.” The Faira approached the topic carefully.

“For now though, maybe we shall take it one system at a time. We decided on what to do with Opportunity. Let’s let it work for some time, and then we will see if the system can be revised and adapted to the others?”

Astra chimed in: “Yes, I imagine that we will lack sufficient shipping capacity to cover the entirety of this asteroid belt, and you I assume can use aid in transporting goods off-planet. I think it would be much easier to run both operations jointly. If we do that, plus the mutual exploration, It would give us an idea if a unity as such could work.”

Cygnus had her own idea to add. “If that was to be, the first condition is for our security forces to be able to work together. Primarch, would you be willing to engage in an officer exchange program? We found out that exchanging staff between our fleets greatly expands their tactical capabilities. Perhaps this way we could find out if our militaries can even find a mutual doctrine to work together?”

“The problem with getting materials off the planet is the fuel to capacity ratio.” Minister Ertanax finally recovered from Libra’s suggestion, “The most readily available surface to orbit craft we have is the Pillager, and its cargo capacity and maximum takeoff weight are quite limited, even taking into account different gravity and atmosphere. Where we could be helpful, is the asteroid belt operation.” he summoned another schematic onto the screens, this time a boxy freighter. “Though it’s just a box with engines and a gyroscope, we still have large numbers of these. Even if it would be the last thing these ships ever do, it is what we designed them for.”

The Primarch than addressed Cygnus’ suggestion. “While the idea has crossed my mind, I wasn’t sure whether you’d be willing to go along with the plan. As stated earlier, our species have vastly different needs. Prolonged exposure to lower gravity would cause temporal degradation of our bones, potentially even eyesight. We also need several hours of sleep every day and daily food and water supply to function. You on the other hand I assume would suffer due to a lower oxygen percentage, higher gravity and maybe more we don’t yet realize.”

“When it comes to our side, our gravity generation technology allows for precise control over gravity, so we could lower that in accommodations dedicated to Faira crewmen, that problem we could rectify. It is once more the increased and specific supply demand our crewmen would put on your logistics that worries me. Not sure if Admiral Libra has come across this in her discussions with Ambassador Taranis, but we are strictly carnivorous species. If despite all of this you’d be willing to go through with this, we’d be more than happy to take part in such a project. Perhaps a trial run on one ship of each species to test if the idea is feasible?”

“Why not use a short FTL jump to get the ship into orbit then?” Astra inquired of the minister. That was one area they somehow managed to omit from the discussion - Obviously, the Narix used the same jump nodes to travel as the Faira, yet possessed no connection to Mindspace. Perhaps learning the principles behind their drives would allow the Faira to understand their own abilities a little better?

“Higher gravity, while annoying to some degree, does not have any lasting effect on us. It does seem like it would be infinitely easier for Faira to serve aboard Narix ships, but we can just as well increase the gravity on our own. Since the two fleets would operate together for now, supplying a few Narix on board can be done easily enough from your ships with a psychokinetic specializing in personal transport. And we should be able to install the necessary facilities within a week provided you specify what is needed. And do not concern yourself with the atmosphere on our behalf - it serves merely to cool us down. Nothing more.” The scientist continued to explain.

“We haven’t been able to open a stable subspace window in atmosphere, at least not on Naris. Even if we could, none of our transport craft posses a jump drive. Despite its smaller size, such drive would still require massive amounts of power compared to what ships like the Pillager can produce, not to mention mounting the drive would further increase its mass and decrease cargo space, leading to even more fuel required to transport smaller volume of cargo.” Ertanax explained. Although the Narix had a heavier version of the Pillager in development, the one of the prototypes had burned down a few weeks before the 5th fleet set out, and even this new ship wasn’t equipped with a jump drive.

“As for the officer exchange program, what you say sounds logistically possible.” he continued, “We’ll have a list of necessary facilities delivered to you within the next 32 hours.”

“Very well.” Cygnus agreed. Astra was about to get back to the earlier issue, however Libra stopped her before she could suggest that the load itself be jumped into an orbiting ship via mindspace. No need to reveal that particular ability just yet. “Back on the matter at hand, I’ll ask you to give the idea of joining our nations in however loose a group to your legislative body to think over. It will not happen over a cycle anyway.” she said.

“But, I think we can both agree that we would be stronger and more prepared to meet whatever is out there if we could share everything we have and know, and our side conditions that with a stronger bonding between our nations. Your people, while vastly different than ours, have also turned out to be peaceful and on most things agreeable. It is not an offer we would (have?) extend to everyone. It is our hope that one day, it may come to pass.” she ended.

“We will of course let our leaders know of this proposal, but the main question is the public opinion of it. In the end, that is what will decide. The only thing we can do is sell it as best as we can.” A voice in the back of Runas mind reminded her of the many camps contact with the Faira created among the general population, from ‘let’s unite’ through ‘let’s unite by force’ to ‘let’s wipe them from existence’. The upcoming referendums and subsequent elections would be interesting.

“And what exactly do you think is out there, Admiral? Our people have been listening to the skies, so to speak, for quite a while now, and while there is no doubt there are other species out there, we haven’t detected any signs of life until the Curious and her lance several days ago. That makes me ask: Have you discovered any signs of other species before us?”

“We have. We do not know whether they are still among us, we have only found debris. And even what we found is enough to frighten us.” Libra said simply.

That was new, and something the council would have to be made aware of as soon as possible. Maybe the First Fleet wasn’t such a waste of resources, as some have called it, after all.
“And just how old were those debris? Thousands of years? Millions? Billions? And if they were, say, 500 000 years old and slightly below our level, is it even possible, assuming the species still exists, to be prepared for something like that?” The Primarch asked. “We have gone from chainmail armor to powered exosuits in under two thousand years. I cannot imagine a force available to us that would stop them should they want to harm us. And that’s assuming only one such species exists. What could help is if you hauled some of the debris here. If you want to, as you say, strengthen the bonds between our nations, why not start with joint research, in addition to joint military operations?”

“Everything we have and know, Primarch, Ambassador. Make sure your leaders understand the meaning of it.” Cygnus closed off, not about to give something that could potentially be used against them to someone they were not strongly allied to, and not about to say at all that what they found was not debris but a slumbering warship, and that it perished along with the rest of their home system. “Patrol fleet is ready to transit the node into Opportunity, I must return to my ship and prepare the fleet to go into what lies beyond. Commander, you have your ship to attend to. Rear admiral, the Faira’Capra is ready to jump as soon as there is an official ruling on the mining. Primarch, minister, ambassador, please excuse us.” the admiral said, and Astra and Cygnus got up, turned around, walked a few paces and then vanished in a storm of white and red, something only the Primarch has seen previously.

“Just me, or is this their way of slamming the door shut behind them on their way out?” the Primarch asked pointing to where the two Faira disappeared. “But sadly, Admiral Cygnus is right, there are still things that need to be done. Until we meet again, may the stars guide your way.” Carthus stood up and left the room wia more conventional means.

Runa took over the word. “So, let us recap: As far as mining is concerned, all we have to do is write down what we’ve agreed on and wait for our respective ruling bodies to sign. On the note of passing through the system, we just have to wait for the IFF and communication protocol to pass tests and make adjustments to it if necessary. This will also allow for easier cooperation between your Vanguard Fleet and our Fifth Fleet in exploring the systems beyond this one. Hammering out the details of this and the proposed officer exchange program will mainly be up to Primarch Ascari and Admiral Cygnus. As discussed earlier, you are offering processed resources plus examples of your equipment, in this case your suits, in exchange for construction time and manpower in our shipyards. I will contact you as soon as we hear back from home regarding your proposal to unite our species. Did I forget anything?”

“I think that is pretty much everything.” Libra agreed, “Is there anything you would like to add? On or off the record.” Libra offered, the fact that she was not exactly happy with the way she had to handle this assignment plain on her face. To keep what they knew about the threats of the universe… was an atrocious course of action to the rear admiral, even if she condoned on the small deception of what was truly found on their homeworld.

‘Off the record’ was a funny thought to Runa, given that she recorded everything, even their previous sittings. She thought it was obvious, but perhaps the Faira didn’t think of it? The Rear Admiral seemed to adopt a different facial expression, but Runa had no idea what that expression was. “Only that I hope Admiral Cygnus and Primarch Ascari can get along at least on a professional level.” Neither of the local military commanders seemed particularly social existences to her.

FreeSpace: Expansion

The alien didn’t seem to be too talkative, though at this point the Primarch would have preferred the equivalent of a three year olds writing over the cacophony that was the alien language. At least it seemed to have understood him, or at least guessed what he tried to convey from the gestures. He had to wonder why command didn’t think to attach someone more qualified for this. A politician, or a team linguists, perhaps?

It responded with gestures of what seemed to be an introduction of its own. Just exactly what it meant to sa was anyone’s guess. Pointing to itself and than to a different part. Its name? Its rank? Its title? The suit? Pointing to the ship, the name of the ship? The word ‘ship’? Its class? A ‘you are here’? For all of their holograms, the aliens didn’t seem to fare a lot better than they were.

But talking meant progress. It was certainly better than shooting, even if neither of them knew what the other one was saying. While the image of their two ships was there, he decided to use it. “NSS Latanos.” he said, pointing at the Narix cruiser. “Vanguard-class. We” again gesturing to himself and the two soldiers, “came to explore” pointing to his eyes, “the planets.” gesturing to the image of the planet and roughly where the other planet would be. Than he slowly pointed at his sidearm in its holster and shook his head “No hostile intent.”

FreeSpace: Expansion

The two soldiers stopped caring about the surroundings for a moment and joined their commander in staring at the floating words.
“How does it…? How did it…?”
The Primarch’s expression transitioned from cold fury to boundless befuddlement as he tried to decipher the alien’s communication attempt, but to no avail. The synapses only started to fire up after a few seconds. The alien only communicated using their language after he put the strange device on his head. As an intelligence officer, he did not like at all the alien was learning their language and not the other way around, but it would have to do.
“I see now.” he said, tapping the device with his finger, “I was worried this thing messed with my head and I guess it did, but in a different way than I feared.” he turned to his men. “I’m relinquishing command outside of this negotiation until we can be sure there’s nothing wrong with my head.” Perhaps the alien could learn more of their language, maybe even in spoken form, through the device.

Reattaching the device back to his head, he turned back to their host. “Let’s see if I’m right, even though I can’t make heads or tails of your literary creations.” he decided to try his luck, “I am Primarch carthus Ascari” he said, pointing to himself, “and I represent the Narix Republic.” this making a wide gesture towards the shuttle and his men. “And who are you, and where did you come from?”