Episode 135, Streamlining
20 Dec 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Fleet Carrier
Eurybia System
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After putting the Mark V through its paces, I finally settled on a more practical loadout: twin burst lasers, the plasma slug caster, and the advanced missile racks. This configuration struck the right balance for the ship’s intended role. All that remained was to have the missile racks engineered with a grade 5 high capacity modification—to double its ammunition capacity—with a multi-servo mechanism, to increase its loading and firing rate.
While most of my ships had some piracy-focused configuration—even the Beluga, of all things—I decided against giving the Cobra Mark V a pirating setup. Not because I was done with piracy. Far from it. I already had two exceptional ships purpose-engineered for that role: the Python Mark I and the Cobra Mark IV.
The Cobra Mark V, however, I wanted for something different. This ship was destined for exploration, small-scale mining, ore transport, and planetary assaults—both human and alien. Where the Diamondback Scout reigned supreme as the sneaky infiltrator, the Mark V would play the brash, loud, door-kicker. Its impressive speed and versatility made it the perfect choice to announce its presence with authority, hit its target hard, and disappear before anyone could react.
Confident that the new Cobra Mark V had earned its place in my hangar, I moved on to the next task on my ever-growing to-do list: equipping the ships still lacking a Supercruise Overcharge Drive. It wasn’t optional anymore—not if I wanted every ship to remain competitive. All told, this meant installing and engineering four Class 4 drives and one Class 5.
The Dolphin, Vulture, Cobra Mark IV, Diamondback Scout, and Python Mark I were due for upgrades. While none of them were optimized for the newest drive on the market, each could still exploit its unique advantages. The drive’s ability to achieve short bursts of acceleration away from gravitational sources would give these ships an edge over older designs, if only for the tactical breathing room they provided.
To make this happen, I needed high-grade data-mined wake scans—the kind only obtainable in famine-stricken systems. Fortunately, those were rare. Unfortunately, the nearest one was over a hundred light-years away. Efficiency was key, so I switched to my Mandalay, its long-range capabilities making it the perfect choice for the trip. While not as fast as the Cobra, it could cover significant distances in a single jump.
Reaching the system was straightforward. The real challenge was scanning high wakes at the distribution point. I’d be racing from ship to ship, logging data as they departed, and the yield was unpredictable. Some trips took an hour; others stretched into a full standard day.
To save time, I preemptively sourced the SCO drives from an orbital station in a nearby system. Once I had the data the engineer required, I planned to message Captain Akio to jump the carrier close to the engineer’s location. Meanwhile, I’d retrieve the drives and have them delivered, ensuring all of us moved efficiently toward the same destination.
You wouldn’t see most pirates engaging in these activities, nor bounty hunters. Each were focused on their profit margins.
The whole adventure was a fast paced round-robin expedition but a necessary one.
***
While everyone’s attention was fixed on the Sol system and the last Thargoid Titan camping there, my mind was on the week after—and the one after that. The Titan wouldn’t last long under the relentless onslaught of humanity’s combined fleets. Without a miracle, it would be reduced to debris. After that? The feeding frenzy would begin. It always did. And while I was no different from the rest, I preferred to stay ahead of the curve.
Seated in my bridge-wing office, I stared at the security feeds from the carrier’s hangar. Thirteen ships in total, each streamlined for multi-purpose roles and engineered to the hilt at no small expense. A solid lineup. There was little out there that at least one of these ships couldn’t handle.
The Coteries were already taking advantage of the situation—as I knew they would. To their credit, they’d kept up with most of their engineering upgrades on their own. But a little extra never hurt. I helped out where I could, here and there. Pirates wouldn’t lift a finger to help a contractee—they’re getting paid for a reason—but I was past being just a pirate. I still had some of those ways left in me, sure, but this was a business now. And business decisions didn’t get much cheaper or more effective than keeping talent happy and onboard.
We’d all had our fill of farting around with the aliens. Don’t get me wrong—there’d been good profit in clearing the outer systems of their presence, but nobody cared about the mothership or the Federation’s political scheming over the Alpha Quadrant. That wasn’t our game. Our fortunes lay elsewhere.
Leaning back in my chair, I yawned and switched the display from the hangar security cameras to the galactic map.
Tara, seated with her hands resting lightly on her crossed legs, let a mischievous smile creep across her face. “Look at my little pirate—plump and happy with his latest and greatest. I can practically hear those wheels turning, but let me tell you, those hamsters up there? They’re dead. You’ve worked them hard enough. Let them rest for a while.”
“Debating whether to rattle Beau’s cage a bit more or say to hell with it and see what we can dig up out in the black,” I replied, stifling another yawn.
“Not much of a debate,” she shot back with a smirk. “You already had your fun spanking that raider settlement. I vote we go where the profit is.”
I stretched, my fingers tapping idly against the edge of the desk as I moved the map around, scanning for systems within a few carrier jumps of the bubble.
Tara rose gracefully, circling the desk to stand beside me. She placed a cool, steadying hand on mine, her tone soft but insistent. “Listen. Why don’t I pick a place for us to jump? When you wake up, it’ll be a surprise. Right now, you need rest.”
She winked as she tugged gently on my arm, pulling me up from the chair.