Better that I fire them (Remiet #3)
05 Mar 2023Jack Remiet
Considering where they were going, Unrest was aptly named, Jack thought. While most of her hull had long since been replaced over the 25 years he'd flown her, a piece of the original still hung in his quarters. This was always home. Bug and O had practically been raised on her. He almost couldn't believe how long it had been since the three of them flew her together. What was it? Seven years? No, almost eight. Orion was just touching the bottom edge of puberty, he recalled--and Bug was finishing up. Now she was a grown woman, and Orion...well, almost (but not quite) a man.With Hamilton and Mona along, their crew numbered five. Bug headed straight to her customary post in Engineering immediately upon boarding. Orion set to work preparing the galley and working through the environmental checklist. Jack began the pre-flight routine as Hamilton settled into the Gunner's chair and Mona took her spot at comms and began final diagnostics on her instruments. Jack watched her smile giddily at the ship's new Advanced Xeno Scanner, obviously eager to finally have the opportunity to use it.
"I don't see the Gauss," Hamilton said, looking puzzled at his main display.
"You can't have them. They're fixed front. Better that I fire them," Jack replied. Hamilton shrugged. He had three advanced AX multis on turrets--two above, one below--to manage. Plus countermeasures. That was plenty. Guardian Guass Cannons were tricky to fire anyway.
As he ticked through each of his checks, Jack couldn't help but marvel at what Unrest had become over the past few months. She'd already been in service thirty years as a mining ship when he bought her. For a few years he used her as a dirty hauler before saving enough to gut her and turn her into First Class (and very discreet) passenger vessel. He'd mothballed her during the Brewer Corp. campaign, but with the Thargoid threat now beginning to peak, he was glad he'd remembered her potential and versatility.
So for the past half a year, Unrest's hull was reconstructed piece-by-piece by Selene Jean's team, her fine cabins stripped out to make room for the heavy-duty hull reinforcements they'd installed. Then Bug worked side-by-side with Chloe Sidesi and her team to completely re-engineer the ship's thrusters and drives. Jack sold off the prismatic shield and he and Hamilton replaced it with a fast-charging bi-weave. Unrest was fast, tough, and dangerous. And she still ran cold as ice.
Her mission was simple. Get to stations under attack by the Xenos and get as many people off them as possible and to safety. That meant having to fight their way in and out--not just to the station, but also into the system itself. The big Interceptors were pulling Commanders out of Witch Space with increasing precision and frequency. Those weren't fights Unrest could win. For all the fancy weapons, scanners, and extra shielding he'd had applied to her, Jack still made sure she was built primarily to run. They'd fight if they had to, but best to avoid it altogether.
The ship's computer chimed upon Jack's last pre-flight check showing green. Hamilton and Mona had long since finished theirs and were chatting amongst themselves over private comms. He pinged Engineering.
"I know, I know," Bug's exasperated voice cut in. "You're waiting on me. Twenty minutes."
"I'm done," Orion cut in. He'd sit in Engineering anyway--for the most part--during flight, so Jack wasn't surprised to hear him there.
"Give your sister a hand," Jack advised.
"He is already," Bug spat, almost interrupting him, and killed the feed. Jack smiled to himself.
"Mona, signal tower and let them know we'll be ready in thirty and to put us in launch queue."
"Copy that, Jack," Mona clipped back. Jack closed his eyes and leaned back. He started to think about futility again, but stopped himself. Later, he thought. There will be time for that later. They were all together again, after all. Return safely, or die. They would be together.
And something in the simplicity of that gave Jack a weird and unexpected comfort.