Collection 56 (Patreon)

Collection

Chapter 56

-VB-

Baroness Anna deSalvatore

Victoria Fortress Station, Arlaoskas System

3005 July 17

The reveal of the Stargate Network shook the Inner Sphere, yes, but as far as Anna saw it, it was merely the largest piece of technology that Fleetmaster Edward put into practice. 

The ones that scared her more was how such a device could function in the first place. 

The innards of the machines, so to speak. 

“So you are saying that the reason our jumpships were limited by the KF Drive’s mass to jumpship mass ratio… because our computers couldn’t handle the calculations?” she asked, aghast that it was something so simple which had held the entire interstellar industries at bay. 

“Yup,” Fleetmaster Edward hummed like it was nothing while holograms floated around them while they ate lunch.

Which had become a thing for them.

“See, the computer that is supposed to calculate the effect of the KF Field, so to speak, were limited across the Inner Sphere due to their hardware capabilities. But with the microchips and nanochips I use, my computers can calculate the effect much more precisely. And I think that’s something the Star League intentionally did.”

“... What do you mean?”

“I looked over the records of each of the Great Houses and ComStar and found that while warships were indeed made within each of the realms independently, there were parts and components that definitely needed to be sourced from the Terran Hegemony. One of those was the all too critical Navigation Computers.”

She knew about those. Navigation Computers and the factories that once made them were some of the earliest critical military infrastructure that all Great Houses targeted for sabotage and destruction. 

“Of course, I got into ComStar’s archives and network and found a working model of a Compact KF Drive and compared it to a regular KF Drive. I found that the actual compact part of the KF Drive does have some technological improvements requiring specific manufacturing techniques to achieve a higher crystalline lattice between germanium and titanium metals of the drive’s core. But this isn’t enough by itself to give it the 50% mass ratio that warship’s compact KF Drives are known for. What’s even more critical is the Navigation Computer that can squeeze out every iota of efficiency from the drive.”

“And you are saying that…”

“I can start making the Navigation Computer for jumpships so that they can move more stuff.”

“... But you realize what that will do to the military landscape of the Inner Sphere, yes?” she asked him cautiously. He had to know.

“Of course, I know,” he replied as if it was the most obvious thing. Which it was. “So I’m only going to sell it on my jumpships. The Mules are heavily armored already, but it has no dropship collars nor can it be modified without access to my shipyards. This way, it will increase the number of trade ships available without increasing the threat of military action.”

“And you would not be amenable to selling the Federated Suns some of those Navigation Computers?”

He paused before looking up at her. “Now, I have nothing against you, Anna, but I don’t know your First Prince nor can I get guarantee from him that the Navigation Computer will be used well. You and I know politics too much to know that he can’t give that kind of guarantee.”

“Even if we were to put it onto paper that we would use it for our defenses only?”

He hummed. 

“You know what? I can do that.”

She blinked.

Wait, what?”

“Of course, I will enforce the contract, and the contract will state that any ship using the Navigation Computers I sell you will have to remain within the current boundaries of Crucis March, then yes.”

She stared at him, the wonderful meal he made for her temporarily forgotten. “You would leash the Federated Suns?”

He chuckled. “Would you rather I rent them out?” he asked. “No. I know what you would use them for, and I would be complicit in the deaths of millions of people if I just sold them to you. As much as I don’t care about the Inner Sphere and its people, I am not going to ignore that I can contribute to such massacres,” he replied. “So put them to use in the defense of your core worlds. Use them as training ships for all I care. Hell, use them for what they could be for peace and trade: a super freighter capable of carrying far more than what a few dropships could carry. But if you want to buy Navigation Computers and better manufactured drive cores from me, then I will enforce the contract we sign.”

Anna shivered. 

Yes. This was the Edward she’d come to know. Even when she made suggestions and offers with the weight of the Federated Suns behind her, he looked her straight in the eyes and told them “my way or high way.” 

“... And I suppose you will know exactly what we do with it in the same way you somehow acquired data from ComStar?”

“Yes,” he smiled when she got that right. “Do you think you can work with that?”

She hummed. “I’ll reach out to the First Prince.”

He smiled. Well, beamed. 

She rolled her eyes. “You just want us to fix our worlds first, don’t you?”

He shrugged. That was all the answer she needed. 

-VB-

John Wu

Victoria, Arlaoskas System

3005 July 26

Despite the fact that his house was buying a whole jumpship, there was remarkably little paperwork beyond the most basic ones: license for the pilot, application for IFF tag for the ship, and signed agreement on the interstellar laws, regulations, and rules of the Arlaoskas Union. 

Hell, it was easier to get the jumpship than it was for his house to get through Victoria’s bureaucracy! 

What made it better was that it was atmospheric capable.

“Steady…!” he hissed out to his house’s only pilot.

“I am trying my goddamn best…!” his white-haired uncle, Mori Wu, hissed out as the entire jumpship shook from atmospheric entry. 

Just because the ship was atmosphere capable didn’t mean it was going to be a smooth ride. 

The Mule-class jumpship rumbled as it burned through the atmosphere… until it didn’t. 

Everything lurched as the reentry came to an end.

“... We’re in?” 

“We’re in,” Uncle Mori replied. “Goddamnit, why did you bring me out of the retirement for this?!” he hissed out. 

“Sorry, uncle,” he replied. “You’re the only one in the family who knows how to pilot a dropship.”

Because that’s what the Mule-class jumpship was in essence. It just happened to have a KF Drive attached to it. 

Jason watched the holographic screen in front of him as the ship moved towards their destination: the Wu Estate. 

Their mission? 

They were here to pick up the goods and sell it all over the Union and beyond! 

They were going to make bank! 

Jason quickly rang up the house’s estate, and he got a call quickly. 

“We see you approaching, Captain Jason,” his cousin grumbled through the radio. “We’ll have the front of the warehouses empty for landing, over.”

“Thank you, Michael, over,” he replied with a grin.

Michael also wanted to be the captain of the house’s new jumpship, but the man had not contributed enough nor did he have enough expertise to be capable of being the ship’s captain. Having been refused the role of captaincy, the man refused to enter the ship in its entirety out of his pride. 

Dumb of him, yes, but Jason didn’t care. 

He had a jumpship (a 15% ownership, to be exact, with the rest shared with the rest of House Wu), was going to make a lot of money soon, and, well, the only thing he lacked was a girlfriend. 

He sighed. 

Maybe being a jumpship captain will help him get a girlfriend? 

… maybe he could write a book about a jumpship captain getting a girlfriend? 

The ship rumbled again as they neared landing. 

Alright.

It was time to load up on the goods and be on the way! Those stargates were going to be awesome for fuel saving.