>>6398871You pinched the bridge of your nose, willing away rage. They were careless, the drives could have been damaged.
"The drives are built armored, but this will set us back months! MONTHS!"
The Bastard rested a hand on your shoulder. It was unusually heavy, almost like you were being pushed down. You arm prickled with goosebumps and broke out into a sweat before going numb. "We speak now. To matters. of great Import."
"Here? The bay is not exactly a SCIF*." (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) The force that had raided the bay was still patrolling, period shots could be heard in the distance. The Bastard just kept his helmet fixed at you. Occasionally he came across more as an "It". This was one of those times. "Alright. Fine. We debrief here." you cracked an amp capsule under your nose and inhaled deeply.
--
Apparently a large population segment of Ex-Nihilo were affiliated with "cartels". Semi formalized criminal organizations seeking to establish their own parasitic empires. Ex-Nihilo had been a bastion of growth and power for them, your own research playing no small part into their increasing independence and capability. While they didn't have the faciltiies to create what you did, they apparently had the capacity to create volatile if "Good enough" approximations of your designs by omitting numerous features and accepting a shorter service life. For their uses it made sense, but you were in consensus with the Bastard. They had to die.
You skimmed over technical data on the pirate ships and frowned. They hadn't just emulated, you spotted optimizations on certain areas of the lantern design. This was outside the means of pirates loosely following "how to" guides with tardigrades. They were getting help. For now that was tomorrow's problem. You looked at the Bastard. "Alright. You take what you kill, and you killed my production. So...Hyron's order."
"Already. dealing with. it."
"Good. That leaves me finding a new lead. Preferably a Savant. Any ideas?"
"No."
