Z
Zack
The Queen's Slave, 188604 Starport>
Uso was laying back in one of the chairs in the main room of the Queen's slave, while Vier was doing something with a datapad on the other side of the table. Both women waiting on Jack to fufill his invitation and show up.
Jack walked aboard the Queen's Slave dressed in nice shoes, black jeans, and a nice vest over a dress shirt as he was trying to get away from military garbs, but still felt awkward as he entered the room where the two woman were waiting.
"Sorry, had a couple last minute things back at the office I needed to finish." Jack said taking a nearby chair.
Uso seemed to be as Uso as ever, dressed in the usual bodysuit, a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes as she remained nearly motionless, balanced on two legs in the chair. Vier, however, was a bit more formal, wearing a black fitted T and pants made out of some clearly high-end material that glistened slightly even in the dim lighting.
"Jack. We were hoping to debrief you regarding the last operation, and Uso wanted to do this in person..."
Vier would look across the table,
"Uso....."
"USO!"
"YEAH WHAT?!" Uso snapped, leaning forward quickly enough to make the chair slam down. "I'm not asleep!"
"Jack is here."
"Right...." Uso wouldn't look at him just yet, "You good to talk now Jack? We got a lot of work to push after the trip to Vice."
"Alright, both Section 6 and Saber are ready to go. Give us a job and we'll get it done." Jack said with a raised eyebrow at Uso's usual antics.
"Cool your jets Jack... This is a debriefing first. We need to cover what happened on Vice, and what we can do better next time.
I'm getting fucking lazy.... which means I need to either tighten this up or hand it off to someone else. A tank and some street-level goons shouldn't be a match for us and instead we ended up all fucked up."
"A better interpritation may be that we need to start developing our ability to operate in high density urban enviroments, and start considering the types of weapons needed for COIN style operations there." Vier added, "I understand you are already developing your own armor systems."
"Yes, we are developing a new power armor kit, that is more mobile than impulse armor and includes new systems. Medical functions, a new stealth system, and a couple still in development. A new rifle is also in the works, which will be highly resistant to the effects of EMP's which were a major pain in the ass for this operation." Jack answered haoping to show they were taking steps to prevent such a cluster fuck again.
"We're also running into a problem of carrying too much crap... we can't carry gear for every situation without massive back-packs for everyone. How do you feel about?... I don't know... like signal flares or... some other low tech I need help thing?" Uso asked, spitballing ideas and not sounding at all too confident in her own offering.
"We should attach some drones to each unit. U3AFV's should be remaining over the operations area to keep watch. We should also be accelerating development of logistical items, since it would be easier to drop the needed gear to our units when it is needed, rather than having them carry everything all the time." Vier offered. "... Organizationally, you could have brought more of a support element with you on the trip to Vice, rather than just taking a handful of human-soldiers. Much of this could be automated." Though she was diplomatic about it, it wasn't hard to tell what Vier was getting at. The way she ran her own operations left little in the way for human input. Between her own construction, development, space, and ground ops she tended to be a one-person show.
"I have passed around the idea for new autonomous forces, we have some designs, but everything is still being worked out. As for deployment of equipment, we finally finalized the specs and design for the new super carrier with Alex's assistance before he left. When finished, we could just drop pod equipment in where and when needed. For now we can still do similar, with tactical deployment packages on site from whatever ship we are using as transport. Several transport design concepts have passed my desk recently, for both ground and flight capable. Also a new mech unit is currently being designed, as the need for more mobile fire power than be readily deployed and assist us in hotzones has been well noted lately." Jack gave as he ran through all the data he had been sifting through from the night before as he had been doing the past three nights before that as well.
"We can't just walk a carrier onto a planet though. We need a more... street-level option.
Really... I just need like... 3-4 dudes who can work together well. Creature is a fucking wreck... and the way the team split up last time wasn't great either... you guys aren't quite my speed when it comes to this kinda stuff." Uso thought loudly, letting Vier try and bring the point home.
"It sounds like we should task Jack and maybe one or two others to start conducting more frequent operations with you. As well as prepare a shuttle or two with everything you would need for an immediate small-scale operation like last one." Vier offered.
"I really wish I had my old team, because together we got shit done. Enemy posts, camps, small villages, you name it and we eliminated it. And they didn't backtalk me or disobey orders. I can command, but I need someone to help keep them in line. Then we need to run mock situations in urban environments, continue developing equipment, hell maybe boost numbers. I'm not going to lie, that op was a clusterfuck, and things need to improve in more than one field." Jack said pinching the bridge of his nose as he vented his irritation.
"Yeah, yeah, we can't all have our A-team all the time," Uso said, crossing her arms, "And it ain't about eleminating everything... I mean, blowing shit up is fine-"
"Low intensity conflicts mean we will not be calling on you to kill every time you are deployed," Vier said, stepping in on Uso's wording. "Unit Cohesion will work better with a smaller number of people working more closely together,"
Uso nodded, "Which means we need a new A-Team, and more time working together. We also know the footprint of the type of group we want to run..."
"Which means I can put together an equipment list that we can have ready to go on a U7 transport. Enough equipment for a few soldiers, and enough support equipment to run any operation from street-clothes to power armor combat."
"Yeah I get that, but I still think more people for those bigger operations that come later should still be a concern. We can still deploy small groups for separate missions, but there will be those times when direct brute force won't cut it, and a more tactic, or stealth approach is needed to clear the way. I turn this rag tag group around even if it kills me, but it's gonna take a lot of work. Though again trust me I get the no need to kill everything part, those days are over and dead. Just as they should be........., I've had enough of those kind of missions." Jack responded his expression darkening at the last bit.
"The bigger operations are easy, there are drones and ships for direct action... but this kinda 3-4 man stuff is what we need to excel at: being able to operate in dense urban areas where we have to have a lightweight footprint. Planets like Vice and Nepleslia. Don't concern yourself with some kinda imaginary fleet on fleet engagement...."
Vier would cut in again,
"Which segways right into our next point. We have a few military groups here. Ragnarok is positioning itself as a PMC and local security force. The Skyguard is handling... well... local space. We should give consideration to what Section 6's role is... at least in terms of what you will be responsible for when not directly reporting to Uso."
"You got something in mind?" Uso asked Jack.
"Yes Uso I do, and that's what I'm trying to get across. The fleet engagement doesn't matter if the enemy has shielded orbital weaponry in system that you ships and drones can't get near to blow to hell. That's why you need lighter units to get around them and neutralize it with clean tactical and surgically executed operations. Where the drones and ships fail, is where Saber slinks in under the radar, gets past the shields, and detonate well placed explosives in the power sources. You lower casualties, repairs, the amount of lost equipment, and all with a well equipped, well armed, and coordinated force of just enough size to get the job done. I'm tired of seeing kids in like the skyguard die even if they get STed later, when it could have been avoided." Jack spoke quickly with irritation.
"Jack, Honey... baby...." Uso said, shaking her head,
"Landing soldiers on a planet that is well defended is going to be impossible without first establishing control of the space around it. One way trips to the surface are far easier for missiles, bombs, and lasers than they are for people." Vier explained, "However, that is not quite what we mean. You are welcome to develop whatever capabilities you feel are useful. Uso seems to have structured things so that everyone is running their own small empire... Though in order to justify the resources we put towards your group, we need to have a core mission that is well defined."
"A reason for keeping you around." Uso said, "You know, besides just being my personal attendents...."
Vier would bring up a display showing a space station, a rather large transport ship, and one of the planets in the outer part of the star system.
"To avoid stepping on the toes of Ragnarok and the Skyguard, I do have a few ideas for your section. You could take responsibility for providing security for trade missions to other star systems. Or for developing off-world resourcing operations. While Diplomacy is being handled here and there... you could also be responsible for developing embassy's and diplomatic security operations.
If you just want to be a specialized hammer... then there is little reason to keep you around if a better hammer comes along, or if we no longer have that specialized requirement." Vier said.
"Woo! Welcome to procurement and inter-organizational bugetary concenrs!" Uso laughed.
"Yeah I guess we can do that, though "off-world resourcing", what do you mean? Like mining, trade deals, procurement through economic connections, what?" Jack said clearly defeated on the subject.
"Sorry... I do not mean to dampen your enthusiasm." Vier started, "But war is boring. For your section to grow and develop it needs clearly defined goals and metrics that can be measured. In this case we will be using these goals to keep your operational tempo up as well as develop your abilities."
Uso just nodded,
"Off would resourcing can include trade deals if you like, and we can include defense or development of trade deals to be part of your mandate. I suppose that would translate to an anti-pirate kind of duty... Though we had also discus--"
Uso couldn't hold it in anymore, "WE WANNA BLOW UP A PLANET!"
Vier winced a little bit, "It is more like--
"BLOW UP A PLANET!" Uso shouted. Vier would try and speak again, but each time Vier attempted to form a word Uso would shout her down.
"BLOW!"
"UP!"
"A"
"......"
Vier paused for a moment, not wanting to get talked over again.... the pause lasting for a few moments before she tried to speak, only for Uso to shout her down again,
"PLANET!"
"FINE!" Vier snapped, "We have plans to blow up a planet."
Uso nodded sagely,
"There is a smaller, rocky, planet a bit further inside of this system, as well as a few reasonable targets for worlds that are in other star systems." Vier would bring up a list of their canidates, mostly planitoids in the .2-.3 g range. "In order to get a massive amount of raw materials quickly, we would destroy these planets using anti-starship weaponry. The end goal being to impart enough angular momentum to spin these planets up and start raising their mass out of their own gravity well where it can be scooped up. We would be able to target the most resource rich parts of their cores and quickly convert the already high-grade metals inside into starship-grade materials."
"The fuck? It sounds like a great idea in theory, but not one I've ever heard of. Are you planning on building a fleet with these materials, or did you have something else in mind? I also think this would be a good idea to mention the fact that some of my personnel have passd the idea around of building a planet." Jack said the feelings of utter confusion apparent on his face. This was not so much however what he had been just told, but Uso's behavior.
Uso's eyes lit up as she looked over at Vier, suddenly moving to lean forward in her chair... rather than laying back,
"CAN we build a planet?"
Vier looked at them both, one at a time, "... I suppose we could also include that in the mandate. You would need a planet's worth of resources in order to build a new planet. It could certainly be a lucrative project... What did you have in mind for it Jack?"
"Well it might take that much if you wanted it filled in, but what the guys had in mind was a hollow world. A shell with a artificial gravity and solar sourec on the inside. They had several layout ideas. Residential on the outside, economic and military assets on the inside. Residential on the inside and factories, shipyards, and bases on the outside. Though another one is basically a mix of all on the outside with placed natural features to look legit at a glance then have the inside be high end residential, education centers, data archives, and labs. The better of them in my opinion, as you have your life blood on the side with the most circumfrance, and your luxury coated inside of almost equal circumfrance. The gravity source on the inside at the center would also be an artificial sun of sorts. It's a crazy idea if I'm honest, but such a place could be invaluable due to it's strategic, economic, goverment, and diplomatic possibilities." Jack said pulling out his datapad and sending the rough concepts and plans to Vier.
"We do not want for space here." Vier said, giving it some thought, "... Though this would involve developing an entirely new colony, as well as attracing people to this location. Did you have an idea of scale? A smaller sized world may be more resonable, and could even serve as a mobile starbase."
Uso nodded, "I like the idea of blowing up a planet and building another planet out of it..."
"Agreed, a smaller size of scale should be done just to test this, but it would be easier to make something of. The layout and terrain completely by design, it won't be a world, it will be your world. Instead of having to work with harsh desert, you have a blank canvas. It would definetely be more attractive than trying to draw people here. As said before, high end residential, and the other luxury style things inside with the backbone outside was most likely the best layout idea. A school system would be nice, among the other things listed. This will be something never done before. Why conquer, colonize, or look for a habitable planet, when you custom tailor your own." Jack said thinking of a better place to raise a family.
"Lets set a scope for this, and task your section with building it. We could aim for producing the largest possible starbase first and then try building a full planet," Vier offered.
"Again, I agree, but how do you feel about this Uso? Your unnusually quiet over there." Jack asked with a raised eyebrow as he expected more childish behavior from his boss, but only noted her strange silence.
"Eh, sounds like its going to take a while to finish." Uso said, dismissively, "I kinda prefer that immediate gratification."
"A man's life is only once instance in time, but the mark he leaves is eternal. Uso you would have something that no one else has everthought of and it would be something that if perfected would make the USO almost legendary. Creating worlds as we see fit, would be the closest any mortal person could ever come close to be a god. This has the potential to change much. How many times has a culture had to leave their home to seek a new one, countless wars leaving a planet uninhabitable, or even just a growing civilization looking for growing room. Were you not the one who said that we needed to be useful in order to survive, the underdog out in undeveloped space. With the ability to make planets, we would be invaluable." Jack said miffed beyond belief that some could not see the golden oppurtunity the idea represented. Not even Yamatai had ever thought of this idea, and here they had the chance to do something that not even they had done before with all their advanced technology.
"HA, they thought of it... the whole thing got blew'd up during the uh... NMX blew it up I think," Uso said, suddenly struggling to remember.
"Hand built worlds are ambitious projects." Vier added, "And it would lock you into gearing up for a larger scale operation rather than developing the smaller scale units."
Uso would nod along, "Basically, do this because YOU want to do this, not because of... you know... whatever."
"I will need some time to put together what options we have for best positioning such a facility. Though in the mean time we can start gearing Jack's unit up for protecting a large scale mining operation.
"Playin' D!" Uso shouted, "... totally not my thing... but you guys go for it..."
"Jack, how familiar are you with combat outside of a planetary gravity well?" Vier asked.
"I received ample training in zero G environments, and in EVA, and vehiclular activity. That includes shuttles, mechs, and basic fighter operation, though not as skilled in the mech department as Alex. So I would say proficient." Jack said scratching his chin.
"Sorry, to clarify I meant in terms of ship to ship combat? Orbital mechanics, tactical FTL use, heat management, positioning, and body blocking." Vier clarified.
"Maaan, I haven't had a zero G fist fight in.... forever. We should do that too." Uso added.
"Ah, I have training in ship tactics and strategic maneuvers, and I have been trained somewhat in helmsmanship and navigation." Jack said a little surprised, as he had received training in such, but never thought he would ever get the chance to use it.
"We will need to have a school session, and start developing your talents there. We'll need to develop a defensive area around this space station, as well as develop a way to monitize it early-on. Even on a small scale, or with minimal construction effort, we should be able to start producing useful facilities.
We should also consider where to position the facility for best results." Vier offered.
"will I be the only one in this "class"? Maybe placing it in a position relative to our existing station to work in tandem might be a good idea, but that I will defer to you on Vier." Jack said interested in where the conversation had turned now.
"We could break this up into large scale lectures, however I would like to include one on one development for your station's defenses." Vier said,
"I just want to punch something in space..." Uso replied.
"The... hand to hand portion seems less important. You could take one of the Ragnarok squads for practice..."
"Are you trying to manage me?" Uso asked,
"You need management," Vier replied,
Uso just stuck out her tounge in response.
"Ok, I'm definetly up for this, always looking to improve. Though where are we getting the ships, cuz taking away from the small fleet we have does not seem wise. I would like to mention that S6 has some new ship designs that could be used for this. We have a strike cruiser and an assault frigate, and a fighter is in development. I know we have the skyguard, but wouldn't they be better here on and near 188604? As for defences I have a couple ideas of my own. I am also going to see about talking to my tech guys about maybe a shield matrix of some sort for the station." Jack said again stoking his goatee in thought. "I've sort have been doing some studying, and a little experimentation of my own recently with the data S6 has available. I put together a motorcycle recently in fact, designed for the local terrain, and capable of reaching impressive speeds." Jack also added a little proud of himself for finishing that personal project.
"Like we got our own mini-heram-j-wazu," Uso said with a smile,
"Lets talk about how to structure a defensive deployment for your station first," Vier said as diplomatically as possible. There were certainly a lot of ship designs out there, and while she was perfectly capable of helping Jack, she wanted him to be in a position to accept that help, "Then we can talk about development of your ships. I think you should be developing your own fleet. We can produce the ships you need here, at least until you have your own production capability up and running.
Would you be free tomorrow for that discussion?" Vier asked.
"Certainly, this is something that needs to be planned right, but I can honestly say I'm excited for this. Which is weird, because I have never been excited for anything, so a new experience for me there." Jack said with a slight grin.
"Tomorrow then..." Vier offered.
Uso was laying back in one of the chairs in the main room of the Queen's slave, while Vier was doing something with a datapad on the other side of the table. Both women waiting on Jack to fufill his invitation and show up.
Jack walked aboard the Queen's Slave dressed in nice shoes, black jeans, and a nice vest over a dress shirt as he was trying to get away from military garbs, but still felt awkward as he entered the room where the two woman were waiting.
"Sorry, had a couple last minute things back at the office I needed to finish." Jack said taking a nearby chair.
Uso seemed to be as Uso as ever, dressed in the usual bodysuit, a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes as she remained nearly motionless, balanced on two legs in the chair. Vier, however, was a bit more formal, wearing a black fitted T and pants made out of some clearly high-end material that glistened slightly even in the dim lighting.
"Jack. We were hoping to debrief you regarding the last operation, and Uso wanted to do this in person..."
Vier would look across the table,
"Uso....."
"USO!"
"YEAH WHAT?!" Uso snapped, leaning forward quickly enough to make the chair slam down. "I'm not asleep!"
"Jack is here."
"Right...." Uso wouldn't look at him just yet, "You good to talk now Jack? We got a lot of work to push after the trip to Vice."
"Alright, both Section 6 and Saber are ready to go. Give us a job and we'll get it done." Jack said with a raised eyebrow at Uso's usual antics.
"Cool your jets Jack... This is a debriefing first. We need to cover what happened on Vice, and what we can do better next time.
I'm getting fucking lazy.... which means I need to either tighten this up or hand it off to someone else. A tank and some street-level goons shouldn't be a match for us and instead we ended up all fucked up."
"A better interpritation may be that we need to start developing our ability to operate in high density urban enviroments, and start considering the types of weapons needed for COIN style operations there." Vier added, "I understand you are already developing your own armor systems."
"Yes, we are developing a new power armor kit, that is more mobile than impulse armor and includes new systems. Medical functions, a new stealth system, and a couple still in development. A new rifle is also in the works, which will be highly resistant to the effects of EMP's which were a major pain in the ass for this operation." Jack answered haoping to show they were taking steps to prevent such a cluster fuck again.
"We're also running into a problem of carrying too much crap... we can't carry gear for every situation without massive back-packs for everyone. How do you feel about?... I don't know... like signal flares or... some other low tech I need help thing?" Uso asked, spitballing ideas and not sounding at all too confident in her own offering.
"We should attach some drones to each unit. U3AFV's should be remaining over the operations area to keep watch. We should also be accelerating development of logistical items, since it would be easier to drop the needed gear to our units when it is needed, rather than having them carry everything all the time." Vier offered. "... Organizationally, you could have brought more of a support element with you on the trip to Vice, rather than just taking a handful of human-soldiers. Much of this could be automated." Though she was diplomatic about it, it wasn't hard to tell what Vier was getting at. The way she ran her own operations left little in the way for human input. Between her own construction, development, space, and ground ops she tended to be a one-person show.
"I have passed around the idea for new autonomous forces, we have some designs, but everything is still being worked out. As for deployment of equipment, we finally finalized the specs and design for the new super carrier with Alex's assistance before he left. When finished, we could just drop pod equipment in where and when needed. For now we can still do similar, with tactical deployment packages on site from whatever ship we are using as transport. Several transport design concepts have passed my desk recently, for both ground and flight capable. Also a new mech unit is currently being designed, as the need for more mobile fire power than be readily deployed and assist us in hotzones has been well noted lately." Jack gave as he ran through all the data he had been sifting through from the night before as he had been doing the past three nights before that as well.
"We can't just walk a carrier onto a planet though. We need a more... street-level option.
Really... I just need like... 3-4 dudes who can work together well. Creature is a fucking wreck... and the way the team split up last time wasn't great either... you guys aren't quite my speed when it comes to this kinda stuff." Uso thought loudly, letting Vier try and bring the point home.
"It sounds like we should task Jack and maybe one or two others to start conducting more frequent operations with you. As well as prepare a shuttle or two with everything you would need for an immediate small-scale operation like last one." Vier offered.
"I really wish I had my old team, because together we got shit done. Enemy posts, camps, small villages, you name it and we eliminated it. And they didn't backtalk me or disobey orders. I can command, but I need someone to help keep them in line. Then we need to run mock situations in urban environments, continue developing equipment, hell maybe boost numbers. I'm not going to lie, that op was a clusterfuck, and things need to improve in more than one field." Jack said pinching the bridge of his nose as he vented his irritation.
"Yeah, yeah, we can't all have our A-team all the time," Uso said, crossing her arms, "And it ain't about eleminating everything... I mean, blowing shit up is fine-"
"Low intensity conflicts mean we will not be calling on you to kill every time you are deployed," Vier said, stepping in on Uso's wording. "Unit Cohesion will work better with a smaller number of people working more closely together,"
Uso nodded, "Which means we need a new A-Team, and more time working together. We also know the footprint of the type of group we want to run..."
"Which means I can put together an equipment list that we can have ready to go on a U7 transport. Enough equipment for a few soldiers, and enough support equipment to run any operation from street-clothes to power armor combat."
"Yeah I get that, but I still think more people for those bigger operations that come later should still be a concern. We can still deploy small groups for separate missions, but there will be those times when direct brute force won't cut it, and a more tactic, or stealth approach is needed to clear the way. I turn this rag tag group around even if it kills me, but it's gonna take a lot of work. Though again trust me I get the no need to kill everything part, those days are over and dead. Just as they should be........., I've had enough of those kind of missions." Jack responded his expression darkening at the last bit.
"The bigger operations are easy, there are drones and ships for direct action... but this kinda 3-4 man stuff is what we need to excel at: being able to operate in dense urban areas where we have to have a lightweight footprint. Planets like Vice and Nepleslia. Don't concern yourself with some kinda imaginary fleet on fleet engagement...."
Vier would cut in again,
"Which segways right into our next point. We have a few military groups here. Ragnarok is positioning itself as a PMC and local security force. The Skyguard is handling... well... local space. We should give consideration to what Section 6's role is... at least in terms of what you will be responsible for when not directly reporting to Uso."
"You got something in mind?" Uso asked Jack.
"Yes Uso I do, and that's what I'm trying to get across. The fleet engagement doesn't matter if the enemy has shielded orbital weaponry in system that you ships and drones can't get near to blow to hell. That's why you need lighter units to get around them and neutralize it with clean tactical and surgically executed operations. Where the drones and ships fail, is where Saber slinks in under the radar, gets past the shields, and detonate well placed explosives in the power sources. You lower casualties, repairs, the amount of lost equipment, and all with a well equipped, well armed, and coordinated force of just enough size to get the job done. I'm tired of seeing kids in like the skyguard die even if they get STed later, when it could have been avoided." Jack spoke quickly with irritation.
"Jack, Honey... baby...." Uso said, shaking her head,
"Landing soldiers on a planet that is well defended is going to be impossible without first establishing control of the space around it. One way trips to the surface are far easier for missiles, bombs, and lasers than they are for people." Vier explained, "However, that is not quite what we mean. You are welcome to develop whatever capabilities you feel are useful. Uso seems to have structured things so that everyone is running their own small empire... Though in order to justify the resources we put towards your group, we need to have a core mission that is well defined."
"A reason for keeping you around." Uso said, "You know, besides just being my personal attendents...."
Vier would bring up a display showing a space station, a rather large transport ship, and one of the planets in the outer part of the star system.
"To avoid stepping on the toes of Ragnarok and the Skyguard, I do have a few ideas for your section. You could take responsibility for providing security for trade missions to other star systems. Or for developing off-world resourcing operations. While Diplomacy is being handled here and there... you could also be responsible for developing embassy's and diplomatic security operations.
If you just want to be a specialized hammer... then there is little reason to keep you around if a better hammer comes along, or if we no longer have that specialized requirement." Vier said.
"Woo! Welcome to procurement and inter-organizational bugetary concenrs!" Uso laughed.
"Yeah I guess we can do that, though "off-world resourcing", what do you mean? Like mining, trade deals, procurement through economic connections, what?" Jack said clearly defeated on the subject.
"Sorry... I do not mean to dampen your enthusiasm." Vier started, "But war is boring. For your section to grow and develop it needs clearly defined goals and metrics that can be measured. In this case we will be using these goals to keep your operational tempo up as well as develop your abilities."
Uso just nodded,
"Off would resourcing can include trade deals if you like, and we can include defense or development of trade deals to be part of your mandate. I suppose that would translate to an anti-pirate kind of duty... Though we had also discus--"
Uso couldn't hold it in anymore, "WE WANNA BLOW UP A PLANET!"
Vier winced a little bit, "It is more like--
"BLOW UP A PLANET!" Uso shouted. Vier would try and speak again, but each time Vier attempted to form a word Uso would shout her down.
"BLOW!"
"UP!"
"A"
"......"
Vier paused for a moment, not wanting to get talked over again.... the pause lasting for a few moments before she tried to speak, only for Uso to shout her down again,
"PLANET!"
"FINE!" Vier snapped, "We have plans to blow up a planet."
Uso nodded sagely,
"There is a smaller, rocky, planet a bit further inside of this system, as well as a few reasonable targets for worlds that are in other star systems." Vier would bring up a list of their canidates, mostly planitoids in the .2-.3 g range. "In order to get a massive amount of raw materials quickly, we would destroy these planets using anti-starship weaponry. The end goal being to impart enough angular momentum to spin these planets up and start raising their mass out of their own gravity well where it can be scooped up. We would be able to target the most resource rich parts of their cores and quickly convert the already high-grade metals inside into starship-grade materials."
"The fuck? It sounds like a great idea in theory, but not one I've ever heard of. Are you planning on building a fleet with these materials, or did you have something else in mind? I also think this would be a good idea to mention the fact that some of my personnel have passd the idea around of building a planet." Jack said the feelings of utter confusion apparent on his face. This was not so much however what he had been just told, but Uso's behavior.
Uso's eyes lit up as she looked over at Vier, suddenly moving to lean forward in her chair... rather than laying back,
"CAN we build a planet?"
Vier looked at them both, one at a time, "... I suppose we could also include that in the mandate. You would need a planet's worth of resources in order to build a new planet. It could certainly be a lucrative project... What did you have in mind for it Jack?"
"Well it might take that much if you wanted it filled in, but what the guys had in mind was a hollow world. A shell with a artificial gravity and solar sourec on the inside. They had several layout ideas. Residential on the outside, economic and military assets on the inside. Residential on the inside and factories, shipyards, and bases on the outside. Though another one is basically a mix of all on the outside with placed natural features to look legit at a glance then have the inside be high end residential, education centers, data archives, and labs. The better of them in my opinion, as you have your life blood on the side with the most circumfrance, and your luxury coated inside of almost equal circumfrance. The gravity source on the inside at the center would also be an artificial sun of sorts. It's a crazy idea if I'm honest, but such a place could be invaluable due to it's strategic, economic, goverment, and diplomatic possibilities." Jack said pulling out his datapad and sending the rough concepts and plans to Vier.
"We do not want for space here." Vier said, giving it some thought, "... Though this would involve developing an entirely new colony, as well as attracing people to this location. Did you have an idea of scale? A smaller sized world may be more resonable, and could even serve as a mobile starbase."
Uso nodded, "I like the idea of blowing up a planet and building another planet out of it..."
"Agreed, a smaller size of scale should be done just to test this, but it would be easier to make something of. The layout and terrain completely by design, it won't be a world, it will be your world. Instead of having to work with harsh desert, you have a blank canvas. It would definetely be more attractive than trying to draw people here. As said before, high end residential, and the other luxury style things inside with the backbone outside was most likely the best layout idea. A school system would be nice, among the other things listed. This will be something never done before. Why conquer, colonize, or look for a habitable planet, when you custom tailor your own." Jack said thinking of a better place to raise a family.
"Lets set a scope for this, and task your section with building it. We could aim for producing the largest possible starbase first and then try building a full planet," Vier offered.
"Again, I agree, but how do you feel about this Uso? Your unnusually quiet over there." Jack asked with a raised eyebrow as he expected more childish behavior from his boss, but only noted her strange silence.
"Eh, sounds like its going to take a while to finish." Uso said, dismissively, "I kinda prefer that immediate gratification."
"A man's life is only once instance in time, but the mark he leaves is eternal. Uso you would have something that no one else has everthought of and it would be something that if perfected would make the USO almost legendary. Creating worlds as we see fit, would be the closest any mortal person could ever come close to be a god. This has the potential to change much. How many times has a culture had to leave their home to seek a new one, countless wars leaving a planet uninhabitable, or even just a growing civilization looking for growing room. Were you not the one who said that we needed to be useful in order to survive, the underdog out in undeveloped space. With the ability to make planets, we would be invaluable." Jack said miffed beyond belief that some could not see the golden oppurtunity the idea represented. Not even Yamatai had ever thought of this idea, and here they had the chance to do something that not even they had done before with all their advanced technology.
"HA, they thought of it... the whole thing got blew'd up during the uh... NMX blew it up I think," Uso said, suddenly struggling to remember.
"Hand built worlds are ambitious projects." Vier added, "And it would lock you into gearing up for a larger scale operation rather than developing the smaller scale units."
Uso would nod along, "Basically, do this because YOU want to do this, not because of... you know... whatever."
"I will need some time to put together what options we have for best positioning such a facility. Though in the mean time we can start gearing Jack's unit up for protecting a large scale mining operation.
"Playin' D!" Uso shouted, "... totally not my thing... but you guys go for it..."
"Jack, how familiar are you with combat outside of a planetary gravity well?" Vier asked.
"I received ample training in zero G environments, and in EVA, and vehiclular activity. That includes shuttles, mechs, and basic fighter operation, though not as skilled in the mech department as Alex. So I would say proficient." Jack said scratching his chin.
"Sorry, to clarify I meant in terms of ship to ship combat? Orbital mechanics, tactical FTL use, heat management, positioning, and body blocking." Vier clarified.
"Maaan, I haven't had a zero G fist fight in.... forever. We should do that too." Uso added.
"Ah, I have training in ship tactics and strategic maneuvers, and I have been trained somewhat in helmsmanship and navigation." Jack said a little surprised, as he had received training in such, but never thought he would ever get the chance to use it.
"We will need to have a school session, and start developing your talents there. We'll need to develop a defensive area around this space station, as well as develop a way to monitize it early-on. Even on a small scale, or with minimal construction effort, we should be able to start producing useful facilities.
We should also consider where to position the facility for best results." Vier offered.
"will I be the only one in this "class"? Maybe placing it in a position relative to our existing station to work in tandem might be a good idea, but that I will defer to you on Vier." Jack said interested in where the conversation had turned now.
"We could break this up into large scale lectures, however I would like to include one on one development for your station's defenses." Vier said,
"I just want to punch something in space..." Uso replied.
"The... hand to hand portion seems less important. You could take one of the Ragnarok squads for practice..."
"Are you trying to manage me?" Uso asked,
"You need management," Vier replied,
Uso just stuck out her tounge in response.
"Ok, I'm definetly up for this, always looking to improve. Though where are we getting the ships, cuz taking away from the small fleet we have does not seem wise. I would like to mention that S6 has some new ship designs that could be used for this. We have a strike cruiser and an assault frigate, and a fighter is in development. I know we have the skyguard, but wouldn't they be better here on and near 188604? As for defences I have a couple ideas of my own. I am also going to see about talking to my tech guys about maybe a shield matrix of some sort for the station." Jack said again stoking his goatee in thought. "I've sort have been doing some studying, and a little experimentation of my own recently with the data S6 has available. I put together a motorcycle recently in fact, designed for the local terrain, and capable of reaching impressive speeds." Jack also added a little proud of himself for finishing that personal project.
"Like we got our own mini-heram-j-wazu," Uso said with a smile,
"Lets talk about how to structure a defensive deployment for your station first," Vier said as diplomatically as possible. There were certainly a lot of ship designs out there, and while she was perfectly capable of helping Jack, she wanted him to be in a position to accept that help, "Then we can talk about development of your ships. I think you should be developing your own fleet. We can produce the ships you need here, at least until you have your own production capability up and running.
Would you be free tomorrow for that discussion?" Vier asked.
"Certainly, this is something that needs to be planned right, but I can honestly say I'm excited for this. Which is weird, because I have never been excited for anything, so a new experience for me there." Jack said with a slight grin.
"Tomorrow then..." Vier offered.
