The commander stared at the ST-48 scout tank. Scout Tanks were evolutions of the Light Tank and APC concepts of the previous eras. In fact, the ST-48 weighed just about as much as an old WWII light tank, just around twenty-one tons. They were fast, armored vehicles meant for recon and rapid deployment roles. They were also very useful for raiding, and for deploying infantry units to the rear of a line. The ST-48 was designed to transport a squad of six, which is actually a bit larger than the normal marine squad of four. On the few raids they had conducted on ground-based pirate bases, they had often dropped the extra pair of soldiers in favor of extra cargo space. It didn’t have a lot of extra space for cargo.

As for why he was considering the ST-48, well today’s wargame was going to be a tank battle. Both sides were going to have an equal number of tanks, but his opponents were going to be testing the new B4 Raptors. The B4 kept the same caliber of 155mm for its main gun, but it featured a new launcher mechanism that was supposed to increase the initial shell velocity by twenty-three percent. Changes were also made to the barrel. Supposedly the new material lining the barrel could withstand temperatures twice that of the old barrel. This would allow for more energy to be channeled through the barrel and was the chief reason they were able to raise the shell velocity. Naturally, it would also allow for a higher fire rate, but the Raptor could only carry so many shells. In practice, the gun was never fired at its full rate. It had semi-guided armor-piercing photon shells, and with the increased shot velocity, his opponent was going to have both a range and armor penetration advantage.

The other changes for the new refit included a modification to the armor scheme. The changes were supposed to take advantage of the new more powerful micro reactor they put in, to improve protection. Other minor changes were to reduce the chances of a penetrating hit and improve deflection chances. Speaking of the power upgrades, other changes to take advantage of it was to the engine, and the coaxial phase lance. The Phase Lance had replaced the original particle cannon and now fired a high yield armor-penetrating beam. Originally the coaxial was intended as an extra anti-infantry weapon, but they had found that they didn’t need it for that purpose. So they had swapped it out for an extra antitank weapon. The Phase Lance had its advantages over Photon Shells, one of the biggest advantages was that it didn’t need ammo. However shells had the advantage in power, but only because they mounted an explosive charge. Otherwise the particle weapon would win that point as well. In the field, the Photon Shells they used were great at punching through heavy armor, and fortifications. The coaxial was often the better choice for dealing with light armor, as it let you save shells for those tougher targets. As for shells, the real advantage was the ability to mount a shield penetrator on the ammo. Making them the better choice for dealing with shielded targets.

Now the ST-48 certainly had its advantages but in a tank battle, it was often relegated to a scouting role. While the heavier Raptors slug it out with the tanks. The ST-48 certainly lacked the armor of the Raptor, and her fifty-five-millimeter gun couldn’t reliably penetrate the armor on the Raptor. On the flip side, she could fire it indirectly and carried more rounds. So she could serve as an indirect fire support unit if needed. Her real advantages were speed and the fact she carried missiles. The light photon missiles on the ST-48 had a fair amount of range and packed enough punch to knock out most tanks. Most importantly they were designed specifically as an antitank weapon to supplement her rather lackluster main gun. The original A1 versions had only ten missiles, but the newer A2s that he had carried twelve at a cost of a few shells. Just not as many as it could have been thanks to general miniaturization of components. They had managed to compact the sensors and comms in the tank without greatly effecting capability, and the extra space had been enough for one and half extra missiles. They had cleared half a missile worth of shells out to fit in the second new missile.

The missiles could certainly take out a Raptor. The key was positioning. He would need to get them in place and ambush his opponent quickly. Otherwise, her better-equipped Raptors could wipe his force. Since this was in part a test, they were going to use live ammo, and the tanks would be remote-controlled. Taking all his considerations into account, he glanced at the field map and began planning his tactics.

Sali looked around her small quarters. She was lucky to have gotten a private room, but they weren’t very big. Nothing all that special, but they were hers. Unfortunately they also needed some cleaning. She hadn’t exactly kept up with her cleaning. Been a bit too busy of late, and it was starting to show. As a result, while Reia was off on a date on her day off, she was here cleaning. Most of the room wasn’t all that bad, but she often neglected her laundry. It cost credits to use the utilities, and it was more efficient to do her laundry in larger loads. Sighing, she grabbed her hamper and got started. A month’s worth of laundry was going to take a while, but she couldn’t really put it off longer. She had to carry it a few dozen meters down the corridor, as her own quarters didn’t come with a laundry room, nor did they have a bathroom. Minor things really, but those were luxuries that were only afforded to semi-private or family size quarters and not all of those came with them either.

Most family quarters were actually shared between related family groups nowadays, and while there were a few free examples, she didn’t qualify for those quarters. Not to mention, she kind of enjoyed the small amount of privacy the private quarters provided. Thankfully the corridor wasn’t too crowded today, and she reached the utility room that serviced her section. Selecting a free machine, she used her ration card to activate it and loaded her first load into it. Then she activated its neighbor and loaded a second load into it. Just then a couple of kids came in with their mother from the opposite door. She lived in the family quarter in the neighboring section that this utility room also serviced, and since they were neighbors Sali actually knew the newcomers to the room. The mother was just a few years younger than her, but had settled down already. The two girls with her were her youngest, and at the moment she didn’t have any on the way.

“Hey, Mio! I thought you were going to be shopping at this hour?” called out Sali. Mio sighed, and replied, “I was. I figured it was safer to be here. Someone figured out how to shoot fire from their fingertips, and was excitedly demonstrating the ability to the crowds. Now half the deck is trying to figure out the trick. I wouldn’t go there if I were you, either. The best comparison I have is as if mages from a fantasy book were flinging spells around down there.”

Sali giggled at the mention of that and kept an eye on the two girls that were chasing each other around the compartment. “Surely it isn’t that bad?”

Mio, reached into the hamper and pulled out three soaked outfits one of which had ice melting on it, and said, “Well someone figured out how to throw water, and some else figured out frost. I had to change our clothes after that. Anyway, security was going in when we left.”

Sali shook her head, and replied, “I guess it is. Anyway, I have taken these two machines,” she said gesturing at the two now cleaning her laundry. The hamper she had brought was big enough for two loads worth. She had two more loads of clothes back in the room, and another two in the form of her bedding. At least the local machines were efficient. They used a special bath to clean the clothes, then rinsed and dried the clothing all automatically in the form of a single machine. Average time for a load was about half an hour.

Mio came to one next to her, and said, “At least it isn’t too busy here today.”

Sali picked up her empty hamper, and said, “I often do my laundry now, because it will get busier later when everyone else has finished their shopping. Honestly, early morning during the end of the month shopping spree is the best time to get your laundry done. Do miss out a bit on the shopping though. Best items are often gone, by the time I get to the market. At least I avoid the early crowd.”

The end of the month shopping spree Sali had mentioned was actually quite normal for shipboard life. It wasn’t because they held sales at the end of the month. Nothing was ever on sale, but it was the last day that the credits you earned for that month were still valid. The next day those credits expired, and you were issued the credits you had earned over the previous month. A large number of local children had grown up with this system and considered their rationing credit system normal. At this point, it would be hard for them to shift over to a traditional currency system.

Mio nodded, and replied, “I still have things to buy. I think I’ll join you later when things have settled down a bit.”

Sali looked back with a smile, and answered, “That will be nice.” Then she left the room, she needed to put her hamper back, and grab the other so she could start cleaning that as well.

Reia stepped out of the storeroom with her date. Their little experiment had taken up most of their time for the date. It was lunchtime now, and they only had about an hour and a half before the wargame they were planning on watching started. She glanced back at Ren her date and hurried him along.

Reentering the market, they found that there were more guards around than normal. Otherwise, activity at the market was normal, even if things felt a little tense. The two chatted quietly as they passed through the market, and headed for the lift. No one paid them much attention. She did briefly pause to ask a guard what was going on and learned that the guards were here to keep things from getting out of hands. Apparently too many young girls and boys, mostly girls had been trying out dangerous tricks involving psionic fields.

It was kind of obvious to her what caused that, and so she gave Ren quite the earful about it during lunch.