Ivan Kal - Sanctuary

The ship was covered in weapons. Double barreled turrets lined both the top and the bottom of the middle part of the ship. They were a hybrid railgun turrets (DBRG). Close-medium range weapons firing metal slugs by using a combination of high pressure gas and magnetic fields. There were two types of ammo that the ship would carry and that the turrets could fire. Kinetic shell ammo, used at medium range, a simple metal slug, its destructive power coming from its speed. And explosive ammo, explosive shells that exploded when they hit. These were close range, and were fired at lower speed than the simpler kinetic shells. The ship had 28 of these turrets, 8 on the bottom and 20 on the top of the ship. The shells they fired were massive 70 cm in diameter. It also had 36 smaller railgun turrets, that fired 15 cm shells, these turrets were spread out over the ship hull. The ship’s surface was also filled with smaller turrets that were to be used for point defense (PDT), they could be retracted inside the hull. The axe head part of the ship, housed powerful laser turrets (LT), able to fire at long range. They were the strongest ones they have ever made, with lenses of 60 cm in diameter. A three second beam from one of these turrets would slice Athena in half. The 12 turrets could be retracted inside the hull, there were 6 on the top and 6 on the bottom side of the ships axe head. The citadel housed another 20 DBRGs, with PDL turrets and 10 LTs, half on the top and half on the bottom. The sides of the ship housed missile tubes. The new missiles were stronger, faster, and had greater range. They were smart missiles, and didn’t need to be turned towards their target. The Citadel also had ten ‘torpedo’ tubes. These were newly developed weapons for space. These larger missiles were much faster and stronger than the regular ones, but at a cost of maneuverability. They needed to be pointed in the general direction of their target. The two wings extending from the Citadel held the backward hangers and landing bays, with the front of the ship housing the forward smaller ones.

The dreadnought class ships were meant to rain destruction on the enemy, while also being able to take any punishment the enemy dished out. The alien database had little information on weapons that the Union used, save for the laser technology. And judging by the hull of the alien ship they found, laser weapons were common. The hull of the alien ship, had a “skin” material layer that was reflective, and would dissipate most of laser fire, as well as prevent scans. The research department had tested it extensively, a direct beam from one of the dreadnought class lasers would only transfer 45% of its destructive power. That was still enough to damage any ship coated with it, but it was still a huge defensive tool. The research department had also spent the years since recovering the alien ship trying to develop new alloys for the use in Olympus ships. The new warship hulls are all made of new metal alloys, and coated in a layer of skin, developed from studying the alien ship. The alien ship itself used completely synthetic ceramic-like materials. But the way they were used, gave human scientists an idea. They still kept to the metals. It was the material humanity was most proficient and knowledgeable with. And in the end they managed to create alloys that were more durable and stronger than those on the alien ship, if somewhat heavier. But by the human temperament, there was no such thing as too much mass. The data on the new classes of ships was extensive, but for now Adrian focused on things that he needed to know. Like the number of crew, needed to operate the ship. Which was 800, not counting the security forces. With them that number grew to 880 people. But the ship had enough room to carry thousands. It was imagined as a fortress, able to take materials from space, store them and fabricate anything it needed. It had 4 big fabricators, and a score of smaller ones.

Adrian turned to the other window opened on his desk, the list of available personnel. Those that were on the waiting list for a ship, and worked on the planet until a place opened up, or a new ship was built. Most of them had never been on a ship, save in a simulation. But at least that was something. Adrian kept scrolling down the list, looking for viable candidates and scheduling interviews with them, he of course didn’t need to choose all, only those that would be in various command positions on the ship. But that still amounted to more than 80 interviews. Adrian sighed and rubbed his eyes, he looked at the clock in the left corner of his vision, put there by his implants HUD. He had already spent more than 16 hours at the desk. He yawned and got to his feet, the rest could wait until tomorrow. He asked Iris to go through all the personnel files and see if he missed someone that could be a good fit for his new command. Then, he went to sleep.

December 2169 – OES Traveler

Ship Master Kisaragi Hana stood in the Traveler’s shuttle bay, waiting for the Nel shuttle to arrive. The Traveler met up with the two ships sent from the planet. The Nel, the alien race that inhabited this system, requested that a team of their diplomats meets with the humans onboard the Traveler, prior to their arrival to the planet. To Hana it seemed like there was more to it, but she chose to allow it. They were sending just a small shuttle, and she didn’t believe that they could take over her ship with only a few people. But just in case she had security personnel armed and ready. The Traveler did receive word from the Fleet about the fate of Voyager, along with all the data from the incident. Comparing the data with the sensor readings from this system showed that the ships that attacked Voyager were not Nel, but Fleet cautioned them to proceed with care, the system where Voyager met its end was only 8 light years away from this one. Neither race had seen the other yet. Prior to the arrival of the ship, the Humans asked if they breathed the same air, or if there was anything that is harmful to the Nel. At the end it was established that they breathed the same air, and that it was unlikely for anything that wasn’t harmful to humans, to harm a Nel. There was a question of alien germs, but the Travelers chief medical officer assured Ship Master Kisaragi that the nanites in the human’s bloodstream would protect them, and Nel had their own protections. As off two years ago every human on Sanctuary had nanites in their bloodstream. They had been used long before then, but those versions needed to be controlled by a special kind of implant, but the new ones could be programed by the medical staff. The new versions were simpler, and couldn’t do everything the old ones could, but these were specifically made to boost human immune system.

A minute later, Hana saw a shuttle landing in the outer part of the bay. The shuttle bay was divided in two areas, one that could be opened to space, and the other closed off. Hana looked at the alien shuttle, it was sleek, light gray in color and smaller than human shuttles by half. After it landed the bay outer doors closed, and air was pumped back into the area. A minute later green light flashed above, and Hana and their welcoming committee entered and took positions in front of the shuttle. Their group was made up of five people, including Hana. The other members of their group were her High Prime Rolland Ricks, her Security Chief Manu Akins, Chief Diplomat Park Chung-Ah and her aide Giles Nast. Niri was of course monitoring everything. Each of them wore a device equipped with a speaker on their shoulders and an earpiece. The earpiece was a misdirection, and served no purpose, it was supposed to insinuate that the humans got a translation of the Nel language through it, while they really got it directly through their implants. Every person on the ship had the translating software uploaded to their implants. The speakers on their shoulders on the other hand would translate human speech.