《Aegis》Chapter 73: Starforged
Advertisement
You fill out the requisite paperwork authorizing Zheeves to recruit from the Davin 22nd to fill out the armsmen core of the Terra Incarnadine, figuring that the frontiersmen will know how to deal with the Dagdan clan-crew without too much bloodshed.
You duplicate the paperwork, amended as needed of course, for the Boros Prime 349th and the Aegis. You expect a fair amount of inevitable conflict between the 'voidbrains', the largely ex-navy crew, and the 'gropos', the ex-guard armsmen, but it's nothing that Zheeves hasn't dealt with before.
With the Terra Incarnadine shaping up to be the Flagship of your fleet, outfitted and crewed to push back the darkness of the unknown areas beyond the Imperium's borders, the Aegis needs a new role and Shipmaster.
You think over it for a while. For the immediate future, the Aegis will have to stay close to the Terra Incarnadine, acting as an escort, until the Terra Incarnadine is armed. After that, you intend to use her as a roving escort and troubleshooter, dealing with the endless little things that crop up when dealing with a multi-system trade network.
Accordingly, you will need a shipmaster that can act independently, look after themselves, and has enough authority within House Von Sebastion to move the levers of power as needed. He would also need to be absolutely trustworthy, which goes without saying when you consider all of the unsupervised access and command authority that would accompany the position.
Both Zheeves and Mu'randa fit the bill, but you trust Zheeves to look after himself and not trip over the many levels of social and political interactions inherent in Imperial Society just that tiny bit more. So your third batch of forms, and your fifth and sixth hours at your desk, are spent giving him the command, and the authorities that go with it. The formal dinner, and all of its pomp and ceremony, can come later.
Advertisement
You file all of that paperwork, and pull out the next set: purposed weapons configurations for the Terra Incarnadine. Recognizing Jace's meticulous formatting and dry prose, you decide to make a pot of high-caffeine tea before continuing.
You finish your third cup of tea, and contemplate hitting the bathroom, again, as you work to mentally digest the bulk of Jace's purposed designs. You decide to split it down by the kind of mountings for convenience; dorsal turret, prow spinal mount, and broadsides.
The prow spinal mount is going to be a version of the Damocles system the Aegis mounts, just purely from an economic and ammunition standpoint. A Nova Cannon shell takes the majority of a Forge World's yearly explosives output to make. The Terra Incarnadine could make such a shell, but it would take the better part of three years to make one such round. The Damocles rounds are comparatively simple fin-stabilized discarding-sabot dense lumps of pointed metal, and the Terra Incarnadine can crank one out in an afternoon. And that doesn't even take into consideration the simplification in ammunition storage. You don't even want to contemplate how deadly an internal chain-detonation of twenty Nova Cannon shells would be to the Terra Incarnadine. Fifty inert Damocles slugs are fairly hazard free by comparison.
The dorsal turret is going to be an energy mount. The only question is between a two-barreled Godsbane Lance Battery or a three-barreled Stygies Bombardment Cannon. The Stygies would be comparatively short-ranged, only reaching out to 4 VUs effective range, with a maximum of 8 VUs, and would hit like the Emperor's own fury. The Godsbane, on the other hand, would have an effective range of 12VUs, and a maximum range of 24 VUs, greater than the Aegis' heavily upgraded Sunsears can reach now. They wouldn't hit quite as hard and would draw more power, but they could start hitting much sooner.
Advertisement
You decide to use the restroom and then decide on a dorsal mount, as its power requirements may rule out some of the broadside mount configurations.
Advertisement
- In Serial301 Chapters
Tales From the Terran Republic
We tried, you know… We really did. We tried so hard to be… better… We actually were better once. No, seriously. We were enlightened, generous, peaceful… Stop laughing! We were! We were peaceful, dammit! No, I’m not “tugging your winglets.” It’s true! Look, if you’re going to be like that, I’ll just push the launch button right now. See ya, don’t wanna be… Oh, you ARE interested after all? Ok. Hey, I just got word that your captain will be ok. We were able to get him into a med pod quick enough… Of course, we tried to save him. Just what sort of people do you think we are?... Now that was harsh… completely accurate, mind you… but harsh. Anyway, like I was saying, we were a prosperous, peaceful people, and war had been nothing but a distant memory for over five hundred years before it happened... Before Yellowstone happened! You don’t mean to tell me that you didn’t know about that… massive supervolcano? Blew the Hell out of our planet? Two years where nothing grew?… Anyway, that’s what started it, the Sol Wars… Oh, you have heard about those, huh? Well, needless to say, all that enlightened, generous, and peaceful didn’t exactly make it through the two years of complete famine and the wars that followed… Maybe it’s more accurate to say the enlightened, generous, and peaceful among us didn’t survive… (laughs)… You’re right. It does explain a lot, doesn’t it? Probably for the best, though. “Enlightened” and “peaceful” aren’t really all that useful out here in the galaxy at large, are they? That reminds me; thanks for the ship. You guys did a great job with this one. Oh, don’t be like that. At least it was us what got you and not one of the really messed groups like the Harlequin or the Black Angels. We’re just going to take your shit. It could be worse… trust me... Well, anyway, we loaded the life pods down with some good food, and you guys can drink alcohol, right? We put in a couple of fifths in there, too. It’s about forty percent ethanol, so be warned. Most species will want to dilute that. We’ll drop your wounded off somewhere safe once they are stable. Your fleet patrols this area fairly regularly, and we’ll drop the distress beacon right before we jump… Well, It’s been fun and no hard feelings, right?… Oh, you want to know some more? Sure. I got time to kill… Let me tell you about this one pirate and her crew. They’re Terran scum, but they are still… Why do we hate the Terrans? Hoo Boy… How much time you got? *** It’s the thirty-second century, and humanity is now part of a galactic civilization comprised of hundreds of worlds. Humanity has been savaged by natural disaster and war and has been fractured into several separate populations, all of which loathe each other (some things never change). This is a gritty drama-driven rambling tale that swings between action, drama, horror, and plenty of very, very dark comedy. Warning: contains adult situations, absolutely horrible language, bathroom humor, implied ultra-violence, actual ultra-violence, drugs, alcohol, pirates, mercs, xeno prostitutes, moral ambiguity, deranged AI's with identity issues, giant commie space slugs, and a poor little frog girl who just wants to sell coffee. Updates twice weekly on Tuesday and Friday. *** Note: This story can get rough. Those warning tags? They aren't for show. I recently received a review and as a result I want to make one thing clear. Portraying something is NOT endorsing it! Many "heavy" topics are touched upon and just because a character says or does something does not imply that the author feels the same way. I selected the "Anti-Hero Lead" and "Villainous Lead" tags for a reason. Rule number one of this story is "no good guys". A good description of the story is, "bad people doing bad things to worse people". There are a few good characters, here and there, but they are the exception to the rule. If you want a hard-hitting, exciting, gritty sci-fi story that doesn't pull any punches, or shies away from "difficult" concepts, welcome! If you are set on a pure and noble knight that runs around and slays conveniently evil monsters and rescues totally innocent princesses... or your sensibilities are easily offended... You're not going to be happy with this one.
8 694 - In Serial58 Chapters
New God
Who said being a God was easy. If you started omniscient; omnipotent and omnipresent then it might be. However, without those powers it would be a different story entirely. This is that story. Adam is thrown into a new world with no choice and no instructions. At least he is a God, whatever that means... Lovely Royal Road readers: Imagine a tutorial with no instructions and no idea what the game was meant to be and what you are trying to achieve. All you know is that you are a God (whatever that means). So this is quite slow to start; mainly world building for me; a bit of base building by the MC and some good old minion development. I'm developing/practicing my writing and love the format of RR to get it out of my head. So hopefully it gets better with time as I get better. All feedback welcome - but please critique and tell me why you don't like it (if you don't) I'd rather a 1-star review than a 2-star(plus) rating!
8 212 - In Serial100 Chapters
Eater
A world much like our own, where women are gifted with power beyond any man. A land stained by war, where the servants of the great darkness pillage without restraint, stopped only by strong walls and sharp steel. A prison, meant to hold the horrors of the universe in place, watched over by the men from the great beyond. The Eaters. Eat well. Be well.
8 291 - In Serial15 Chapters
Cautious Of The Intruder
I sat on my porch as the world changed around me. Until an old acquaintance forced me into the open. Now I have no choice but to take part in my fate. For the first time in a long time, I find myself enjoying life. cover art by gej302
8 81 - In Serial6 Chapters
The World Of Demons I Was Summoned To
Reo Riku is a shut-in Otaku who only goes outside to buy food, drink, DVD's or books. One day, he is walking back to his house after buying some food. He sees an old man walking down the road, with a truck driving the other way, on a collision course. However, the truck driver can't see the old man, and as Reo pushes the old man out the way, a pentacle appears beneath him, and he dissappears.
8 188 - In Serial23 Chapters
Cadillac Haven [Tom Hiddleston]
A Tom Hiddleston fanfic-Eva finds herself falling for her English professor, Tom. His charm and whit leave her in puddles, yearning for his sweet touch . Tom who is so hard to read only makes Eva want more of him. The two hold secrets that they aren't willing to tell tell but until one of them opens up will they really be able to see each other for who they are.
8 110

