T minus Zero

The supply logistics team in the ship hangar moved payload after payload to the main ammunition hold deep in the belly of the Caldari Navy battleship, staying clear of the ultra heavy duty and overly engineered shield emitters that graced its hull.

Torpedo after torpedo capable of releasing devastation in a wide variety flavours were loaded up while the systems technicians crawled over the hull prior to its maiden voyage. The pilot didn’t particularly care for the paint scheme, but the sheer effectiveness of the seven massive launch tubes more than made up for it.

It didn’t pretend to be anything more than what it was, a brutal haymaker of a ship, which if it’s punch landed, tended to obliterate whatever it had launched its torpedoes at. An out and out brawler of a ship, with enhanced sensory systems enabling it to better ward off the Gurista pirates jamming systems.

This thing was a blunderbuss, no doubt about it, and the pilot was very keen to take it on its maiden voyage. That anticipation was dented somewhat due to the concern about the sheer level of debt this was going to leave him in. His benefactor was Achura like himself, though he had never met her as all communications to date had gone via a third party. He has been required to register a new company totally unassociated with anyone or anything else.

His course of study had been set and he’d followed the highly rigorous training program with the diligence and application that the Achura often disply. The immense task actually became manageable when all of the cybernetic implants were installed at the same time as his pilot interface. The time learning was spent in the space lanes moving commodities from station to station.

This was going to be something quite special. No one else he had ever heard of had been gifted such a powerful ship. He’d piloted  shuttles and cargo barges. Nothing at all even remotely like this . The first tasks he’d been given had been quite fascinating: arranging the cargo loads of minerals from the hangar bay to the local manufacturing station.

He’d spent some time watching the nanofactories fabricate the bones and armor plating of the hull. Then the  technicians installing and testing system after system and giving the OK. It happened with surprising quickness, though in hindsight not so much,  after all this was the Caldari State machine running at maximum efficiency.

Shortly after final stress testing, he began escort duties and overwatch on the installation of military grade hardware to bring the ship up to full battle worthiness. A warship in name and function. God only knew how she was connected, but a full on colonel personally delivered the mil spec launchers, control and shield compensation systems.  Even that paled by comparison with the delivery of one particular unit. Rumour was you could only find such things by tangling with people you shouldn’t in deep, lawless space.

If his calculations were correct, both the firepower and shielding on this ship were several thousand times stronger than anything he had flown before. Several THOUSAND, if not more…

The hours counted down to zero, all the while the numbers of technicians declined at about the same rate. With 45 minutes to go, he stripped and showered, and walked, still damp to his pod. The interface was smooth and clean, his body accepting the oxygenated gel unusually easily.

He felt the pod being swung into position and protocols to accept control lock into place. Not bad for a boy from the back blocks of Saisio. He supposed he should really name the ship and was considering alternatives when control alerts flared across the board and all systems came online.

His sensory systems flooded with data, seeing electronic footprints across a huge spectrum and distance. Seven torpedoes launchers cycled loading payloads of death and destruction. And, oh god, the shielding systems…

Wow.

OH. WOW.

H

P.S If anyone has a good name for it, let me know.