Fred said:
The Gate Logistics file was a detailed timeline of the progress done building the gate itself.
It started early on the project with the retrofitting of a Kyoto-class vessel in order to have it serve both as a massive cargo vessel and a tug at the same time. Troop transport areas were turned into massive holds, and the engines faster-than-light capabilities uprated to transfer more mass and volume.
Capturing a series of NovaCorp automated shipyards and gateways in the Lor star system provided the Gate project with increased manufacturing capabilities - the NovaCorp gateway providing with some of the specialized equipment needed for Amaya's Gate, and the automated shipyards providing assets to manufacture more of those components along with retrofitting existing ships.
Raw building materials seemed to be earned via multiple transactions from pirates, privateers and black markets from places going from Nepleslian backwater moon outposts to Halna. In fact, Yukari found mention that once enough material had been collected that the colony there was to be terminated. The incident a couple of years past involving Taisa Hanako and her NH-18 being present on Halna came back to mind with chilling clarity; had it all been planned like this?
Yukari winced at the notes.
More and more the Daughters of Eve proved to be several steps ahead in a race Yamatai didn't know it was a part of. Automated shipyards, black market materials and parts, eliminating evidence ... Black Spiral's
modus operandi was across all of it.
And it was all being uncovered too late.
It was the transplanting efforts of key facilities past the South Gate that finally tipped Yukari off about the probable location of Amaya's Gate. Zesuaium-production facilities and anti-matter plants where moved out of the way from the growing influence of the Fourth Expeditionary Fleet in order to be repositioned on the east-end of the Blue Rift Expanse, far North-North-West of the Claw Nebula. The zesuaium was meant to reinforce the structure of the gate against dimensional shearing, while the anti-matter was to fuel a non-aetheric power source for the Gate as well.
While the Blue Rift Expanse was in a region of space Yamatai's Scientific Studies Service identified as unstable and hazardous, it was justified in the logistics that the dimensional quirks of region on the east end of the Blue Rift Expanse made it an ideal focal point for Amaya's Gate to open an opening to the frozen space-time pocket where the Second Draconian Fleet was imprisoned.
The Blue Rift was so far away, Yukari thought as she gazed on a map she'd brought up. After their arrival at Nepleslia, it would be a nearly 100-light-year journey to reach the abnormality.
No reinforcements would reach them in time, if they were required. That was assuming they could sneak by the NMX while the caught their breath around Yamatai.
She narrowed her eyes.
Focus!
Similar treatment had been meant for the Bowhordia outpost. The materials of the outpost were meant to be combined with the other transferred to complete a modular space station model from which the Daughters of Eve could use as a headquarters to direct the operations of the Second Draconian Fleet. The nekomachina could be used for mass-labor and the Akuma power armor - assumed to be perfected by then - would start undergoing mass-production.
The above indicated that the Gate Project, as it had advanced and showed more promise, had become key to the operations of the Daughters of Eve. They had invested far too much resources in it to only be a tangent project headed by Amaya. Whatever Amaya was accomplishing, it was clear that Eve not only endorsed but now heavily relied on it.
Yukari grasped onto that point; it was one of the few positives the report contained. The damage done at Bowhordia had been a great victory after all; the Daughters now lacked a fully functional command center, outside of whatever vessels they had.
Production material to create more Akuma armors and Nekomachina could also have been affected, Yukari thought. She kept that in mind, too.
The final points of interest in the logistics logs covered modifications done to certain vessels to function beyond the Gate.
Dominion had been the first vessel to be outfitted with the experimental wide-effect psionic amplifiers reverse-engineered from the devices on Melisson's flagship. The pylons that extended out of the vessel's main body to support the cruiser's combined field systems had been substancially thickened with the hardware needed for the amplifiers. Additional fusion reactors had been installed in the ship's holds limiting the space it had left for extra ammunitions, repair supplies and power armor storage.
There were some plans to have the Obakemono uprated in a similar fashion, though the destruction of the vessel would likely bring those plans to an abrupt end.
A sigh of relief. At least there was only one psionically advanced vessel to tangle with.
Yukari "highlighted" the reliance on additional fusion reactors. The ship had to carry an incredible amount of nuclear fuel to power them all, and it was likely a sizable part of the crew was dedicated to their operation. The crew was likely Nekomachina; perhaps they were sprites.
Without extra ammunition or significant repair capabilities, the
Dominion was a very limited combat vessel from the start, but Yukari had no information on the
Vale-class, so perhaps it did not need extra ammunition or repair ability. Still, it meant that in a long fight,
Miharu might outlast her. The fusion reactors would have to be brought up in the officers meeting; there had to be a way to directly exploit them or their support structure.
The work on the Takumi was registered as ongoing. The refit on the Takumi-class command cruiser were much more extensive: the torpedo launchers and science labs were entirely removed in favor of a large and powerful array of psionic amplifiers and augmentation gear in order to counter PSC defenses. The weapon pods had been reconfigured to reinforce the vessel's CFS bubble to insure it would be stable and secure while in the space-time pocket. The vessel's power armor bay had been entirely remade to pack massively redundant power reserve capacitors in addition to a series of palladium cold fusion reactors - due to the extensive retooling of the ship's power generation profile, the fold drive had been removed to link the extra power supplies to the vessel's main power grid and from there the nacelle-installed CFS drives (that also meant the Takumi would be devoid of interdiction, Anti-FTL countermeasures and hyperspace capabilities).
The
Takumi was still an incredibly powerful vessel despite the loss of its primary ship-killing weapons. Yukari confirmed that with a simple glance at a
Takumi schematic — Striker arrays, particle cannons and a heavy positron gun could all eliminate
Miharu without much trouble. The "Raker" beam arrays made her wince; dodging them might be easy, but it only took a nick from them to destroy
Miharu. She angled her head as she thought about how limited the range was on the vessel, as if it was meant to be a throwaway ship ... or perhaps towed to FTL speeds.
More potential targets in a target-rich field. Yukari imagined her Yamataian body arriving at a headache at this point.
The command vessel is being refitted and has limited combat capability in that state. Its crew could be limited, too; it might utilize Nekomachina. Yukari stopped herself.
Think as Kotori would. Imagine the worst scenario.
Without a second ship,
Miharu would have to focus on the most valuable target in the field — the Gate. Destroying it would cripple everything the Daughters had worked for and force them to set a new timeline for the pursuit of the lost fleet.
However,
Miharu could not let the stolen cruiser come online; it was too powerful. Causing substantial damage to its refit was also a primary goal. Its complete destruction was secondary.
Yukari regarded the
Dominion as the least important target, even if Amaya or Eve were on-board. Arresting them would have to wait for another time;
Miharu's resources were stretched thin as it was.
Miyoko's arrival stirred the Shosa from her staring, she looked back and smiled at the Heisho, and took a cup of the tea from the tray. "I examined the logistics of the Gate plan." She pushed the window over for Miyoko to go over herself.
"
Miharu, please access the
Dominion's manifest."