Quoted By:
A week later Jack came back to present the new models to the rest of the team… wow, you actually had a team now. It was the first time you felt like you were in charge of an actual company as opposed to… whatever it was you were doing before.
“So first up we have the Janus. With my guidance Chad built a core vessel with heavy duty omnidirectional engines. We can build modules that attach to this core for a variety of different functions. A full two module vessel will handle like a pile of bricks but that’s acceptable for an industrial model.”
He started cycling the AR display showing off the different modules.
“So we’ve got a cargo module and a hangar module but the real game changer is our factory module. Glasner was close to cracking better fabrication tech before he was dismissed so it was a simple matter to finish what he started.”
>Gained Advanced Fabrication Tech
“So the module is capable of processing raw materials into components <span class="mu-i">and</span> assembling them into finished products; you could set out to mine an asteroid field and come back with a squadron of strike craft ready made. Here’s the kicker: It’s got its own internal XS reactor. So it can be detached from the core and left behind as an ad-hoc static platform.”
You nod in approval.
“There’d definitely be interested parties within the Empire,” said Shin-Claih.
“Unfortunately we can’t build this thing yet. It’s taking a while to scrape together enough work crews to begin capital production again. Say Mayumi are there any more favours you can-”
“NO!” You snap with unlady-like intensity.
“Ooookay, moving on then.”
The AR display switched to an image of a rather sharp looking frigate.
“So this is the Heron, it’s designed for police action. To that end it has a light railgun turret that can disable frigate subsystems and two rotary kinetics for strikecraft suppression. To keep maintenance costs down we couldn’t use Glasner’s funky drive config or the XS reactors; its speed comes from being plain old under-gunned and under armoured.”
Jack seemed really disappointed as he uttered that last sentence.
“I thought the design wasn’t really living up to its potential so I had Chad design a ‘military variant’: Spinal mounted heavy railgun, and dual missile launchers instead of the standard loadout. Inclusion of the resonance drive and XS reactor allows it to keep the same level of manoeuvrability despite heavier armour and armament. Of course this means overall costs will be higher but I think this would be a great thing to upsell potential clients on.”
Shin-Claih nodded. “This design will definitely be more appealing than that ridiculous Thunderbird, more in line with what the average customer is looking for.”
“But I like the Thunderbird.”
You roll your eyes. “Of course you do, you silly man, but we need more practical designs if we’re going to sell anything.”
>cont
