ALL NOVEL Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three
Two months pass with little of note, then Quaani departs with Thorfinn with much fanfare, speeches, tears and smiles. The new Stellar Fleet Pathfinder Task Group departs with one Lathe-Class light cruiser, four Adder-Class escorts, and two Moth Class-support vessels: Distant Sun, Erudition’s Howl, Red Wasp, Delta Sting, Sol Faithful, Voracious Light, and Hazy Meditations.
Thanks to the Tau Gravity Hooks, all the refitted vessels can connect together like a cross. During the sublight voyage they’ll be able to share thrust. In the Warp, so long as they don’t dive too deep, where they might get pulled apart or squeezed together, they should get by with just one navigator. I doubt Quaani will enjoy the experience though. Having to stay awake for weeks at a time, all alone, is unpleasant.
Quaani will be at the target system in one year. His map didn’t have a name for the target system beyond a long string of numbers and letters so we’ve taken to calling it Acheron.
It’s two weeks since Quaani’s departure and today I have an important meeting with Fleet Command: Brigid, Eire, Maeve, Owen, Róisín, and Thorfinn’s new replacement, Lonceta Ridel. It’s not particularly confidential, so we’re holding it at the same restaurant and balcony set amid the luxury gardens of Iron Crane’s combined promenade and voidsmen quarters where I asked Brigid out.
Róisín and her two aides, Laisren Toolin and Emyr Driskel, are already present. All three stand when I enter the room and greet me. They’ve all had their Black Skeleton installed and all three Tech-Priests are two metres tall with red hair and pale skin, with fine traces of warding electoos etched beneath. Their eyes are bionic, though it is extremely subtle and not obvious at a glance.
Laisren and Emyr have four mechadendrites, each with a different purpose, while Roisin has six. Their red, brass, and dark green tartan trousers and waistcoats are well ironed; rust coloured, herringbone tweed-imitation shirts tucked in beneath them.
Three dark green, almost black greatcoats, with brown, or brass, double sided buttons, hang off the back of the chairs with pairs of black gloves poking out of the pockets. A grey, hyperweave undersuit and its metal collar is visible around their hands and neck. The cog and skull of the Mechanicus is embroidered on the Tech-Priest’s waistcoats over where a heart would normally be.
The greatcoats have been altered slightly from Brigid’s original design and now have a Mars red lining. They’re also reversible and all identifying markers have been moved to the red side. Officially, the dark green side is for combat and the red is for everyday or ceremonies. In practice, the dark green side is also used for any kind of messy labour as it hides oil and dirt better than the red side, even if both are technically hydrophobic and somewhat self-cleaning.
Stellar Fleet, in silver lettering, is embroidered on the back of the greatcoats, across the shoulders on the red side. My own symbol lies below, a crowsbeak power hammer in silver thread, surrounded by a brass cog. Further embroidery on the arms declares the rank of the wearer.
I’m also wearing my uniform today, rather than my armour or comfy martial robes, as it is an official setting. As I rarely have to perform greasy labour, my greatcoat is currently red. I also like the brass buttons on this side more than the brown ones. My eight mechadendrites poke out through covered holes along the shoulders and waist of my coat.
The whole outfit makes me feel like some cyberpunk redcoat displaced into Victorian Britain. I can think of no better uniform that declares: ‘We’re here to colonise you.’ Appropriate for someone who’s aiming for that sweet Writ of Trade like I am and I really like the sneaky nod to my origins.
“Good morning, Róisín, Laisren, and Emyr. Are you ready for your presentation?”
“We are, Magos. I’ve been practising my words for days!” says Róisín.
“Good job, I’m glad you’re taking all aspects of your work seriously.”
Róisín chuckles weakly, “I just hope it all pays off. Laisren and Emyr have really helped me keep my enthusiasm concise.”
“Something we all struggle with, I think,” says Laisren. “We’re really pleased to have finished off our big project.”
“I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.”
Laisren’s Grapplehawk swoops in and lands on the balcony in total silence. Its wings have a distinct ruby hue.
“Laisren, is your creation as stealthy as the original Ruby Owls?”
“It is! Shrinking everything down was a real challenge. The wetware was a little easier, but it’s heavier than a normal Grapplehawk so I had to install some anti-grav in there, which played havoc with the bird’s natural flight instincts. In the end, I had to manually program it so that Conundrum could get about without crashing.”
“Any thoughts on how we could apply your Grapplehawk on a wider scale?”
Laisren shakes his head, “They’re not a good fit for law enforcement on a void ship, which is what they’re usually used for, and the model I’ve created is far too expensive to risk in combat. It would make a good stealth drone, but there are cheaper and easier ways to get the same effect. Perhaps on a feudal world it might see some use as it looks like a normal bird when it’s flying far away enough, but even then, you’d get a better disguise with a Servitor bird. It’s only purpose is to keep me company, really, or maybe stretch and practise my skills.”
“As good a reason as any. Your Conundrum is aesthetically pleasing in both form and function. It is gratifying to see you put all my lessons into practice.”
“Thank you, Magos.”
“How about you, Emyr? Do you have anything or anyone close to your heart?”
“Magos, I’m hoping to start a family this year. With so many years of minimal combat, I hope, my wife and I thought now would be the best time.”
My mind flashes through the personnel database,“The Stellar Fleet will always need people as talented as you and your wife, Elspeth. I have confidence you will raise someone even more brilliant than yourselves.”
Emyr grins “I appreciate your assurance, Magos. Even so, I might just save my bytes for a few implants to assist my sleep cycles.”
I think back to my own time as a parent and nod, “Don’t hesitate.”
“Magos,” says Emyr, “Please excuse me, I have a few more preparations to make.”
“Go ahead.” I take a seat and wait for the meeting to begin. Within ten minutes, everyone is here and seated. We exchange our greetings and the meeting begins.
“Thank you for coming, everyone,” says Róisín. “Today we’re going to go through our current, completed, and possible technological acquisition and adaptation projects. Laisren will cover our current projects, Emyr our possible ones, and I will take you through our completed projects. Laisren?”
“We have four ongoing projects,” says Laisren, “neutrino vox, a longer running antimatter thruster boost, the Icarus support vessel, and a spider tank version of the Praetorian Servitors.
“We’ve managed to replicate everything in the neutrino vox apart from the neutrino absorbing sensor as we just can’t identify the material or how it is made. Neither have we succeeded in successfully transmitting data through a void shield, a fatal flaw of the original. We are using one of the three boons from the Eldar to solve these issues and are on target to have a working prototype within the next ten years.”
Maeve raises her hand.
“Yes Herald Primarus Muire?” says Laisren.
“What is being done to mitigate the risks of the Eldar having access to our most advanced vox technology?”
“The Bonesingers we are working with demonstrated a system-ranged communication technology that we could not block or intercept or understand how it worked. Not that they let us try taking it apart. They can even contact others in the webway with it, though apparently there are distance limitations. Given that what the Eldar have available can be fitted into an ear plug, rather than a bulky box, it was deemed we lose nothing in the exchange. As for them intercepting or blocking our signals, they can do that anyway.
“While they can likely block the new vox technology as well, the one thing they can’t do easily is crack our encryption. There’s been a bit of a scuffle in their section of the noosphere where we compete against each other. We haven’t won yet, but neither have they, and all behaviours noted so far suggest they are too proud to fake it. As it is, we can’t use the neutrino vox at all. With all these factors in mind, asking them to help us on this project is an acceptable risk. Any further questions?”
“No, your explanation was adequate,” says Maeve. “I am content with your team's choices.”
“Then I will move onto our antimatter thruster boost,” says Laisren. “This project has stalled as we lack the requisite cooling technology and require a better method of power generation, or more efficient antimatter generation method. Gathering and storing antimatter as fuel is not considered a viable method due to safety concerns.
“One thing I will note is that our study of the STC for the thrusters and genetorium designs for the Origami-Class shows that it is far better than the custom Jovian Pattern Class 4.5 Drive in Distant Sun, or the standard 8.1 version found in Erudition’s Howl. As far as we can tell, they are the complete version of the original STC for the Jovian Pattern, containing the superior energy generation and reduced size of the custom version as well as the redundancies of the partial reconstruction of the STC achieved by Mars.
“It also bears many similarities with the Saturnine Pattern Drives often found on Imperial Battlecruisers and Battleships, but these more powerful drives are not available on smaller vessels. As such, our alteration project has changed to fitting these more powerful Origami Pattern drives down to something we can install on light cruisers and escorts without losing their redundancy, power, or size advantage. Should we acquire a better means of heat dissipation, or any of the other vital links we are missing, the project will return to its original goals of improving burst speeds.
“As a closing note on the drives, there were a few interesting data points within the STC that imply the Origami Pattern Drive is a civilian design, with a focus on minimising volume and cost, and maximising fuel efficiency, rather than performance, ruggedness, and power, remarkable though it may seem. The STC mentioned that venting heat via the thrusters is considered an emergency measure in military vessels, rather than the norm, as it illuminates the vessel to enemy sensors. This implies they had another way of dealing with heat, but we have no idea what it is. The Origami’s own heat dissipation systems don’t even hint at it. The proposed Eldar solutions were deemed impractical. Questions?”
No one raises their hand.
“Thank you for your report, Laisren,” I say. “Perhaps one day the Machine God will bless our Quest for Knowledge with the designs we require. I am pleased with the work you have achieved so far.”
“Much appreciated, Magos. None of us were pleased at having to redirect our focus, but not going for the quickest return would be foolish. I was hoping we won’t have to rebuild our void ships too many times, but it looks like we will not be that lucky.”
I smile, “You get the Origami Pattern Drive ready for all vessel sizes. The yard master can worry about the void ships.”
“Aye Magos,” says Laisren. “That segues nicely into the Icarus-Class support vessel you tasked us with designing. This project is on hold until more resources are available and, preferably, additional hull designs are available, especially the Goliath.
“We want to evaluate if the Goliath or the Origami would be a better hull. We suspect the Goliath may have specific systems in place to safeguard gigantic volumes of volatile cargo, something the Origami lacks. A hybrid design is expected as the expanding nature and faster construction time of an Origami is too good to pass up on. For now though, this is pure speculation. We will also need decades of yard time to prototype.
“That isn’t feasible right now with the planned Macro-Ferry expected to consume half our manufacturing once the new escorts are done, and all of it once the new light cruiser is completed as well, hampering our efforts to build a third light cruiser strike group as we’d originally hoped. With no prototype forthcoming, the Icarus teams have been moved to the Origami-Class Drive project instead.”
Owen raises his hand.
“Go ahead, Confessor Broin.”
“What is the intended purpose of the Icarus-Class?”
“Ah, sorry about that. It is Magos Issengrund’s name for an upsized Moth-Class support vessel. Moth-Class can typically only gather and synthesise a limited range of fuel or elements. They are a downsized Lathe-Class, and similar in size to a Viper-Class Sloop, the smallest and fastest Imperial vessel. The Moth-Class’ size gives it similar properties, though it is much more expensive and volatile, consuming a cruiser’s worth of rare elements to produce its synthesising machinery.
“The Icarus is intended to perform both material and fuel synthesis, as well as store enough resources so it can actually fill multiple vessels after a single resource gathering operation. It will also be much more robust than the Moth-Class and be closer to a Q-ship than a canary. Putting so many valuable resources in a vessel that can only run away, like the Moth-Class, is deemed impractical when the Fleet must travel as fast as the slowest void ship.”
“I understand, thank you for filling me in.”
“Not a problem, Confessor. That’s what these meetings are for. Now, on to my last topic before I pass you on to Cybersmith Paorach: the Praetorian Servitors. During the battle against the Monoliths in the North Tomb, Magos Issengrund noted that the standard Praetorian Servitor design had a vulnerable torso. Cybersmith Paorach headed this project and has created a design where only the brain of the Servitor is required, much like the Janus Simulacra style Servitors we use for labour.
“The Praetorian Servitor design is awaiting prototyping and trials. The proposed prototype has the same eight mechadendrite type legs as before, no torso, and is made of two hexagonal connecting segments that can detach and operate independently. Armament is any crew served weapon equivalent.
“Conversion shields or field bracing can also be fitted. It’s the first time we’ve managed to get field bracing so small. If field-bracing is used, it requires six segments to link up as the molecular reinforcement technology still consumes an impractical quantity of power. You can’t cheap out like you can on the non field-bracing version as it’s segments alternating between reactors and power packs, rather than having a reactor in each segment. Each Praetorian Servitor is far larger than before with each segment being half the size of a Chimera.
“That’s it for our ongoing projects. If there are no questions, I will pass you on to Cybersmith Paorach to cover our completed project. Fair warning, she’s been ranting about the dratted tanks for years. She both loves and loathes the things.”
“Oi!” says Róisín.
A round of friendly laughter echoes around the table.
“Good work, Laisren,” I say “We’ll read your more detailed reports and get back to you if anything else is needed. Before we settle into a journey through Róisín’s illuminating mind, I’m going to call a quick break.”