Dead Star Dockyards

"Capital Class railguns?!?!?!"

Don was appalled at this. That caliber of railgun was meant to exclusively tear apart heavy armor. They launched rods with such speed that smaller ships like pickets and destroyers would only have a hole the size of the rod blown through them with little else in the way of damage. Even smaller ships like fighters would be completely unaware that they were hit by such a thing until something stopped working. That was assuming they survived of course.

The penetration of these projectile launchers was not measured in millimeters like most other kinetic systems, but by meter and mass metrics. The armor on most capital ships was slanted for a reason, not just to put as much metal in-between the incoming slugs and any sensitive bits, but attempt to deflect the energetic lump of mass away from the core. Even with 20 meters of the highest rated armor slanted to 60 degrees from the perpendicular, spalling, splintering, and shattering were still issues that needed to be contended with thanks to the sheer amount of energy these things could put out.

These projectile launchers were such a massive energy drain on a ship's reactor core that even capital ships were often limited in their number. Even the biggest and most powerful ship in the fleet only had 128 of these guns.

His ship, something easily less than 1/10,000 of its size had a sixty-forth of its main battery firepower.

The kick he was going to feel from these things was going to be incredible.

"How does this thing have enough energy to even fire those things?"

Helmsguard chuckled at his shock. He too had experienced something similar when he first learned of the project. "It's a brand new type of reactor core. Central would have loved to build a new battleship with them, but they are incredibly expensive to make. Instead, they decided to make a 'super weapon' that works in tandem with a fleet. The reason it is so damn fast is not only to run away, but to compensate for those monsters."

"In fact, the designers were so amused by the idea of something this small with weapons that big that they actually have a name for them. 'The Big Boys'."

"So what am I supposed to do with them? It's not like I'm supposed to sit at 25 thousand kilometers with the rest of the battleships." There was no air in space to slow shells down, so range was meant to make enemy firing less accurate and hopefully trick sensors.

"Oh no, you will be much, MUCH, closer. Maybe within 1000 kilometers. Your job is to paint targets with your sensors for the main fleet to take shots, as well as position yourself perpendicular to their armor and punch holes in it. Using your stealth to stay dark, wait for the fleet to wear down their shields and draw the attention of their sensor arrays, then knock out their weapons and defense systems. If all goes well you will have a missile frigate make a run on the defenseless target and cripple it."

"The Big Boys are going to be your friends, but the fleet is still your lover. Point them at isolated targets and strip the enemy of their ability to fight, and they will do the rest of the work." The Doctor had a pensive expression as though he was a master giving advice to a disciple. Don could swear the accent he put on was from a character in one of those movies he used to watch. Was it about kung fu? Karate?

Five minutes later and Don was still in shock from the idea of having this amount of power in his hands. If what the doctor was telling him was true, then this ship is entirely capable of neutralizing a dreadnought in a one versus one confrontation. This ship was several generations ahead of the competition.

"That is about all I know about the ship, or rather all I have been allowed to know about the ship. The reason I'm here is because I was in charge of your training and I still need to teach you how to use my little contribution. Anyways, enough of the introductions. Time to get you familiar with the layout and register you with the computer."

Once again the doctor tapped something on his tablet. This time, a square chunk of the armor on the bottom opened up, dropping down a ladder.

"You have to go in alone. I'm not allowed in. So far only one other person has actually had the privilege of piloting her, but they were not combat trained. It'll be up to you to do weapon and sensor calibration. For now, just get accustomed to the cockpit and other amenities." The doctor shooed him away with his hand.

Don, used to being ordered around in this way, but he was more excited to try out the ship's systems.

The first thing he noticed was that the ladder was at a slight angle, making it easier to climb up. Considering how much he hated vertical ladders, he decided he would toast the designer the next time he had a drink.

The second thing he noticed was that the inside was very dark. Clearly the doctor was not exaggerating when he said that that coating on the outside absorbed ALL light.

This darkness did not last long though, and quickly the internal lights came on. The light blue glow illuminated what was a large room for a combat craft. Immediately, he could see a bed and bathroom, as well as a table for food. Behind him was the pilot's seat, complete with rows of buttons, switches, knobs, and the joystick.

"Entrant recognized as operator code 0-0. Welcome aboard Donovan Strauss."

A voice belonging neither to a man or a woman greeted him inside.

"Who's there?!?" Donovan could not help but be surprised. He was expecting to be alone when he got on board.

"Answer: I am the ARC System, the onboard computer for this craft. Do call me ARC in the future. Attention: I have received a communication request from operator code 2-14, Draco Helmsguard. Approve of connection?"

To be honest, Don was not expecting the onboard computer to actually talk to him. All of the computers he trained with in the past used text in order to relay important information. He could worry about that later though. "Approved. Do you accept that sort of response?" He was worried his commands would not be recognized.

"Answer: I am capable of receiving and interpreting a vast range of commands and suggestions. Establishing link to 2-14."

Doctor Helmsguard's voice started to come through on the speakers. "So Donny, what is your first impression of ARCS?"