August 14th, 002 SDE:

Countryman stepped out of his office. Having just finished making his log and reviewing todays updates. The X-1208 Sparrow prototypes were still sitting in the bay waiting for testing, but he had recently been informed of a promising target. Long-range sensors have found a debris field not far off their current course, deep space location from the looks of it. Several active energy signatures, all weak. No distress signals have been detected, so it seemed likely the field is recent enough that the salvagers haven’t hit it but old enough that any survivors were either rescued or killed. It wasn’t an uncommon sighting in these parts, with so many warring parties and heavy piracy. Many a poor merchant convoy would get hit, there were several trade routes in this area. Key worlds shipping vital resources from one world to another. Making them lucrative targets, even if they were grouped. It did help, but the pirates simply started working in groups themselves. 

It was a real mess here, but thankfully it wasn’t his problem to fix. If anything the debris fields were often quite useful.For a number of different applications from salvage to weapons testing. They were also prime ambush locations, but thankfully pirates often left the beacons in place and active. So this one was likely free of pirates, but he planned to be safe anyway. Probe first, followed by fighter recon and then they would move into the field. It was the same plan they had used with previous ones, so he figured Greyman would already be organizing the pilots and getting probes ready. They were only a couple hours out from the debris field, so now was the time to get things ready. With that in mind, he stepped onto the bridge.

The woman walked up to the forward consoles her eyes on the screen. They had recently arrived in this system as they were tracing the path of the Voskar cruiser that struck their outpost just a few short weeks ago. She turned, “Sensors? Confirm readings.”

There was a pause, “Confirmed, the planet Anasi Prime has been destroyed. Recently from the looks of it.”

“How?” she uttered. Knowing the planet was of interest to the clan since it was near their space and minerally wealthy. She had been privy to a plan to secure it for the clan and use it to fund the expansion of their fleet.”

“Unknown. I am however picking up some fading weapon signatures in the area, Valorian, Voskar and... Refuge.”

“Voskar? Is it possible they violated the treaty and used it as a test site for a hypernova torpedo development?”

“Negative, these readings are not consistent with the use of hypernova torpedos and I’m seeing none of the usual subspace markers. In fact there are no subspace markers at all. Whoever did this, did it with more conventional weaponry.”

“Impossible! It would take...”

“I know, and then there is the question of who would bother to destroy an uninhabited world.”

“Keep scanning, look for any hints on who may have done this.”

“Will do,” the woman on the sensors replied.

An older man approached, her first officer. He glanced at the readings, “Hmm, perhaps the Refuge is responsible? We know they were in the area and their technology is full of unknowns.”

“Perhaps, but their ships don’t strike me as that advanced. They have no shields and their particle weapons while intriguing aren’t much more powerful than most conventional weapons.”

“True, but they are certainly ahead of us in some areas, notably their unusual sublight drives, beam weapons, and shield-penetrating torpedoes. The clan is also interested in their armor, although that one may simply be a deviation not a sign of being ahead.”

The sensor officer interjected, “I think the first officer is correct, ma’am. I’m reading significant particle saturation on all of the major debris chunks. The signatures are a 96.2% match with known Refuge weapon signatures, although I am picking up some unusual resonance traces. I have the computer analyzing them now.”

“Resonance traces?”

The officer shrugged, “Yeah I’m not sure either, but at least now have a suspect.”

“Unfortunately that still leaves us with the question of why,” turning to the comms, she said, “Regardless we should inform the clan of our findings.

Countryman leaned over the console. He and a few of his officers were gathered around the Master Stategic display in the center of the lower bridge. Currently they were discussing their prospects while the fighter crews conducted a final sweep of the field. A few promising ships had been found. Nothing worth reactivating for own use however. Many of the ships were heavily damaged in the fight, but some could be patched enough to get some defense systems up and running. Making them worth using as a test target.

Greyman tapped on one the images, “I think this one is our best bet, outside of the drive section damage is fairly minimal. The defense grid is virtually untouched, only reason it failed was due to damage to the power distrubution manifolds. I believe Richards and her team can easily patch the primaries as the damage looks minimal.”

Richards nodded, “Maybe, I was looking at that one, too. I think we can restore it for own use. Its a reasonably sized cruiser plenty of space for people onboard, we will have to completely rebuild the engines and finding the right materials for a new warp drive might take some doing. I also noticed that their life support systems are shot, we will have to replace those too, but the primary power grid and defense system are intact. Hull damage is minimal, outside the drive section so it wouldn’t be hard to convert it for human habitation.”

“And how long would all of that take?”

“Um, three to six months,” she replied.”

“With a time frame like that, we might as well build a new ship, it would take the same amount of time.”

She sighed, “Yes it would but a conversion would cost us less. Although I guess it could be argued that anything we build would be more trustworthy than an alien conversion.”

“That’s what I was thinking. So back to the subject, if we go for this hull, how long before its ready for use as a test target?”

Richards scratched her chin, “A day maybe two. I’d need a closer look at the damage, but from what we can see the primaries don’t look that badly damaged. The job should be rather straightforward.”

“Perfect, we can use that one. Any other promising candidates?

Greyman nodded, “Yes, I’ll also like the look of this one over here.”

Countryman noted the one he tapped. This one looked to be a merchant vessel, her cargo holds were shattered and she had several ruined shuttles attached to her hull. Sensors indicated signs of shipwide fires before the ship had been vented. Her drive section was effectively gutted and their were numerous breaches along the portside. The massive frieghter now lay adrift near the shattered hulks of several smaller escorts, but she notably still had intact shield generators. Along with several intact gun ports, but she had lost all power. Eri the helmsman nodded, “Yeah she looks good, main power is gone and she took a lot of damage. Her secondary systems look to be intact and she still has her shield generators.”

Richards interjected, “From what I saw that one could take a few days to get ready, but I agree she does show some promise. It depends on the extent of the fire damage.”

Countryman knew what she meant. Modern sensors could penetrate the hull and reveal quite a bit about another ship. Even detail damage, to a degree. Such sensors were used where applicable in the ship’s internal net as well. A fact that aided with damage control, but they were not infallible. They could be fooled or miss things. It was why manual inspections were still required. Although a diagnostic and sensor sweep could narrow down where an issue is located if one is found. 

“Well that is the question. Still might be worth putting on the list.”

They would end up spending the next few hours discussing things before the first parties were sent to inspect the chosen ships.

Sali stepped into the hanger as she pushed a large cart in front of her. It was part of an order that the hanger bay had made. Something she had ended up selected to deliver. She paused as she spotted a ship sitting on the deck. It was a fighter, but not a design she had seen before. Clearly related to the ships she had fought all those months ago at Delta four, but distinctly different. It was shorter with a heavier looking frame but that also made it look a little stubby.

A tech noticed her gaze as she approached, “I see you have noticed the new fighters.”

She nodded, “Um what is it?”

“An X-1208, they were designed alongside the 1204. The labs have been working to finish them, updating them with newer weapons. Its a Starbomber outfitted with heavy cannon, torpedoes and bombs. Not well suited to a dogfight, but meant to engage capital ships.”

Sali glanced at her delivery. She had seen them loaded, “I guess these warheads are for those bombers than.”

“They are, and thank you for getting them here so quickly. We would have had to delay the test flights.”

“Test flights?”

“Yep its why we are in this debris field, they make great sites for weapon testing. Of course, we are going to be putting these fighters through their paces. There is only so much you can test without actually flying them.”

“I understand that,” she replied as her gaze turned back to the bomber. A part of her wanted to be out there in that fighter and getting a feel for it. She just knew it wasn’t to be, but maybe one day she would fly again. She sighed, “I would love to try flying it.”

The tech smiled, “I’m sure you would, but I am afraid I can’t allow that.”

She deflated a little, “I know.”

“Anyway we should get this unloaded,” said the tech. Sali nodded and got to work. As other techs arrived to assist. Before long the work was done and she gave the ship on the deck one last glance before she left the bay.