>>6333774>>6333836>>6333897You weighed your options, made your considerations. A short walk to the Knight's room revealed a somber gathering dominated by expensive holographic displays memorializing fallen friends. More dead than living. Bags were already packed and the one exiled nobles prepared for a second retreat elsewhere, their dignity in tatters.
"A civilian transport is ready to get you off station, but you should probably stay." You received a lot of dissent, and obvious but emotional statements. With some patience you heard them talk about lost friends, lost honor. It didn't matter at a strategic level, and after a few minutes you cut them off. "The war will eventually come to you no matter where you run. So stay. Stay and fight. I'll allocate resources for the knight frame's restoration. Sound good?" That was the hook. You had them now. Desperation and hope, good motivators. You knew how to lead men, and it meant into death, but that was the job now, wasn't it? You were all expendable at some point, just as long as it was cost effective.
The communication between you and the admirals was the same as it ever was. Encrypted text, brief to the point of austerity. The prisoner and convoy materials had been recovered, for study, or fuck, maybe to use. Didn't matter, it was out of your hands now. As a gesture of good will, your station was now garrisoned by a security detail that reported to you. New surveillance was installed, patrols established, and a small remote offices were placed into supply closets. Your station grew a little, the proper garrison HQ and brig were attached like barnacles to the outside, hellaciously obsolete corvette hulks that had been chemically fused to the station's hull with entryways and enviroseals crudely cut in. It fit.
From an armored viewport you observed tugs hauling a Glory to your staiton, it was too big to fit into any dock, so any work was going to be in space. It really was a piece of shit. The ship was a burned out hulk, gaping holes exposing deck layers. The technical readout listed what it had, which was essentially nothing. No weapons, no sensors, no comms, no life support. What it did have was engines (salvaged from another wreck), a reactor, a drive (several additional warning notes), and maneuver capability (Compromised). Well. There it was, your "Carrier".
You sipped on an "express", it was a murky brown substance, bitter, spiked with chemical stimulants. Kept men working for days. Working fast. You'd need it.
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The remaining knights used the recovered wreckage of their squad mates to upgrade their ship. With a balanced twin core design it wouldn't hurt for power, and had range, but was less than nimble; per your engineers technical assessment.
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Gained "Carrier"- Upgradable, and allows for longer range missions.
Gained "Security Garrison" - Avoided potential infiltration by empire forces.
Gained "Errant" interceptor. - May support a mission, or continue the quest for frame parts.
