What a week.
21 Oct 2021Cayce Luther
The Luther's Folly clunks down on the landing pad of a Fortune-class fleet carrier, the DPHS - Dragoness , landing on the pad next to a Federal Corvette belonging to his XO. Cayce just slumped back in his chair and groaned, rubbing his forehead as he processed the last few days. What had started as a rescue mission in Paresa for him and the Dead Pirate's Society due to NMLA bombing Dyson City devolved into an emergency run to Takshana to engage with an invading faction, looking to dethrone Nova Imperium.He reached up with his foot and kicked the console in frustration. It blinks and flickers before going dark and finally rebooting, the Folly clearly not happy with the treatment. Cayce sat up and queued up an order for a rearm and quick repair, the ship having taken minimal damage in the Conflict Zones, but if you're back at the staging area, you may as well repair all minor damage before heading back out. He then sat up and glanced to his left, where Morgana's Might sat, also taking on ammunition and repairs and he opened comms. "What...the fuck.., I'm all for chaos but this is just insanity..."
"The way it goes sometimes." His second, Phoenix Sonne commented plainly as her own ship bustled with supply and repair crews.
"Yeah I know but fucking hell...NMLA show their faces again...and somehow manage to take another shot at Hadrian again...and now we're dealing with this. It's getting ridiculous."
"Little bit, but we gotta keep pushing for now."
"Resources are stretched too thin though."
"We'll make do, we always have."
"Right.." Cayce looked out down the massive open flight deck of the Dragoness as a Type-9 set down to deliver supplies to the carrier.
The squadron operated off the Fortune-class vessel. Sure. They called Ember their 'home,' but they held no formal territory within it. They used Van Houten as a hub at first, and then shifted all major operations to the Dragoness when Phoenix finally acquired it. It was a great idea when DPHS was formed: 'We use a fleet carrier, and then all we need is a home port, no territory to protect, no BGS to maintain, just a carrier and its costs to maintain.' And it worked, in theory.
In reality, having the entire squadron operating off a single carrier paid hell in logistics when the squadron had to split its resources. And this situation showed that glaring weakness. Because when the Dragoness had to move, it took a good amount of the squadron's equipment with it. And while the relatively small squadron is given ample time in advance to move their gear if they plan to stay behind, it left them without a staging area, relying on other carriers and stations within that system, with members needing to transport it all back home once operations ended. One staging area, even among the Dead Pirates Society's particularly modest numbers, just wasn't enough.
Cayce sighed and rubbed his forehead. "One fleet carrier just isn't cutting it. We are going to need to up our game."
"You're not wrong, but carriers just don't grow on trees. Nor do the credits to buy one."
"Yeah...I know-.." There was a ping on the comms window that caught Cayce's attention. He clicked through the controls on his flight stick to open the message and read through it. His eyes stopped on a few words that gave him pause. It was an email about the CG that he had helped with in Alcor the previous week. The last days were closing in on a discount for-
The silence of the bridge broke by a sudden announcement from Nova Navy official channels. Cayce snapped out of it and opened his comms to hear it. The voice was from Commander mMONTAGEe of Nova's higher ups, and the diplomat to DPHS for the faction. "All allied forces halt operations for the time being. We're attempting to enter negotiations with the opposing force, and will notify you of the results. Until then all ships are to stand down."
Cayce glanced across the way to the Might, which was prepping to depart, now resting once more as crews returned to swarm the ship. "Huh...how about that..." Cayce clicked a few controls, dropping the Folly down into the carrier's hangar bay, and he immediately departed the ship, running for one of the smaller pads as he called up his diamond back explorer 'Artagan,' or as it was known officially; The Traveler. It took a few minutes to get across the megaship before he reached the green exploration ship, but once he reached it he climbed right in, going right for the cockpit and sitting down into the familiar command chair. He clicked a few switches to bring the ship online and started raising it up out of the hangar to the flight deck, the ship exposed to the stars above as the lift brought it to the surface. All the while Cayce's hands flew over the controls to get the ship ready for liftoff. Comms pinged, and Cayce answered. "Yo?"
"Going somewhere? You're in an awful big hurry." Phoenix called from the bridge of the Might.
"Yeah, with the cease-fire on, I'm going to make an errand run. Hold down the fort for me, would ya?"
"Sure thing. What you planning?"
"You'll see. I'll be back in a day or so, maybe a few hours. We'll see." He clicked the launch button and The Traveler leapt from the landing pad, Cayce arcing the ship around as he hit the boost and started flying away from the carrier.
"Right. Just don't get in over your head. And use your fuel scoop!"
"One time...it was one time!"
"You barely made it home that time! Don't forget!"
"Got it, got it. I'll see you in a bit."
"Not even going to tell me where you're going?"
"Not yet, no promises it'll amount to anything. You'll see when I get back."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Heh. Peace." Cayce cut communications and hit the 'jump' button, spooling the FSD as his course locked into the nav computer. The ship soon after disappeared into hyperspace, the destination on the nav screen: Alcor.
