Countryman walked down the corridor. The tests were going very smoothly but he was feeling the need to unwind. Not only that but he had noticed that Ruri hadn’t really taken any breaks recently either. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do, maybe watch a few movies. Right now the current showings on the ship were all classics from the 20th century. There were even some big names on the listings including the original Star Wars movies and one of Star Trek’s best trilogies. The people he had in charge of selecting shows had also picked from other groups, but they kept to the theme of the shows being from the 20th century, anything from 2000 or later wasn’t on the list. The ones that were picked were generally regarded as enduring classics for one reason or another. Many of them endured due to age-old cult followings, although perhaps not for the same reasons as they were originally watched.

Something that really didn’t matter to him. Celebrating the past through film was certainly a good idea and it did seem to be a popular pick based on the numbers he saw earlier. As plenty of people were flocking down to the ship theaters and buying tickets to the various showings on the list.

Putting that from his mind, he soon reached Ruri’s lab and keyed himself in. Pleasantly he found her in a reasonable state of dress for once. Working alongside Vera as they were testing a new iteration of forcefield generator.

“Any progress?”

Ruri sighed, “Not as much as I would like.”

“In that case, I would like you to join me. Take a break and come back with fresh eyes. I was thinking of watching some 20th-century films, haven’t picked what yet.”

Vera looked up, “20th century?”

Countryman smiled, “It refers to a period a couple of centuries back. Not that it would mean much to you. For us it was a period of rapid technological progress. It started with early flight and ended with the development of early spaceflight. Nuclear power, computers and robotics were also developed in that period. Even early lasers were developed then, but the first laser weapons weren’t developed until the following century. Still it was a very impactful century and the scifi of the period is quite interesting. As it reveals how they saw the future.”

“Hmm, interesting. I think I will join you then. It might be fun and who knows maybe they were onto something?”

“Well those films did have their impacts. Star Trek is attributed to a number of technological developments, but its not the only sci-fi series to inspire.”

A moment later Ruri agreed to come along and they left the lab. Chatting along the way on which ones to see.

As it would turn out they would watch several. While leaving the theater, Vera commented, “Those were interesting, some... creative liberties seem to have been taken at a few points, though.”

“Well they didn’t understand space travel the way we do and the weaponry we would use was merely theory to them.”

“Yes well at least they seemed to figure out that energy weapons would prevail.”

“Hmm not all, of the filmmakers did.”

“Perhaps, in any case those um, Destroyer droids were interesting. Shielded, repeating pulse cannons and fast. The Confederation doesn’t have anything like that.”

“Oh? Those? They inspired a few mechanical infantry destroyer designs over the years. Nothing with shields though. Early ones were tracked mini tanks, with turreted machine guns. Later designs were armored boarding drones, featuring a tracked drive assembly, repeating laser or particle cannons and strong frontal plating.”

“Boarding drones? Hmm, I guess I can see why.”

“They are expendable, and the strong armor and weapon combo allows them to push through tight corridors with heavy defenses. Allowing a squad of marines to follow with relative safety.”

Ruri interjected, “Assuming the enemy isn’t crazy enough to be using heavy weapons inside a starship, but we also found them decidedly less useful when boarding Cathamari ships. As they build them out of paper, so most small arms just punch through multiple walls. Those things tended to vent whatever section they were sent into.”

Countryman nodded, “Yeah they did tend to do that, so we stopped using them like we used to. Most ships still carried a few, but the Enterprise doesn’t.”

“Why did you overgun them so much?” she asked.

Countryman gestured at the wall, “We didn’t. Our ships feature internal plating in all rooms and corridors which serves several functions, but in a boarding action, they serve to protect sensitive components from small arms fire and prevent a careless shot from venting a compartment. The Cathamari don’t really do anything that would count as internal plating. Thin duranium sheets don’t really hold up against anything.”

“I guess you have a point, but surely all this internal armor is expensive.”

“Well yes, our ships are expensive and while there is an argument for removing the plating in favor of saving material for another ship. In practice, we have found it better to have the plating. Its actually saved many ships that would have otherwise sunk. Ships that were then patched up and went on to serve in several more engagements. Saving us both time and resources by preserving forces we may have otherwise lost.”

“There is a logic to that. The age-old argument of quantity versus quality. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages.”

“Quite true, but in our case we lack the numbers to ever consider the former. So there is little reason for us to not invest in the best we can make.”

“Yes that does seem to be the case.” she turned to Ruri, “Still I can’t help but think about those drones. The concept certainly has potential.”

Ruri smiled, “It does and I did consider looking into a new version, perhaps several. After I complete my research that is, there is another project I am working on that currently takes precedence.”

“What project? Is it our force field?”

“Sadly no, and I don’t think you can really help. Its not really your specialty.”

“I see, but I would still like to know. Unless its classified or something,” she replied

Countryman answered, “Ruri has been working on developing a better computer.”

“Oh? That is interesting. I can think of numerous applications for that. I can even quote several theories on adaptive shielding and how advanced computing solutions can allow a shield to better absorb and adapt to incoming threats.”

“So can I, our Energy Webs could be considered a shield of sorts and they are largely run by AI algorithms designed to analyze and anticipate. This allows for the web to deploy at the right moment and concentrate its energy where needed to result in the highest number of intercepts.”

Vera nodded, “Logical.”

Countryman decided to change the subject. “So is there anything else in the movies we saw that piqued your interest?”

“The Phaser did. There are not many weapons quite like it. Sustained beam or even sustained pulse weapons aren’t that common. Not due to them being impossible, but the challenges of producing one with the power to penetrate shielding. A pulse concentrates more power in a brief surge and requires much less robust cooling.”

“Well we have our cutting beams, but nothing quite like a phaser. Although both are technically particle weapons.”

Vera frowned, “That’s a particle weapon?! I thought it was some kind of high-power laser!”

Countryman chuckled, “Yes it behaves like a laser, but it does have properties only a particle beam could have. It fires a phase coherent stream of a fictional particle. Several attempts to make such a weapon have been made but nothing that actually shows any promise. Lasers have more range and accuracy when compared to particle weapons, but a particle beam is much more potent on impact and boasts superior armor penetration as a result.”

Vera and Ruri both interjected their own thoughts as the trio began a debate on the merits of different weapon systems.

Richards looked over the data she had just been given. Mostly reports regarding fleet part use and the progress reports on those refits. The Coto and Umikaze hanger upgrades were proceeding on schedule and no unforeseen issues had been reported. Things were going so well in fact that she couldn’t help but be afraid something was going to break or go wrong. Yet she saw nothing in the reports.

Based on what she was seeing the Coto and the Umikaze would be ready to receive their squadron of fighters in two days. The new fighter racks were going in today, and tomorrow would be the final installation and testing for the catapults. Once all that was done, the work crews would be able to pack up and clear out. Opening the bay for use, and consequently allowing them to transfer fighters to the ships.

Speaking of fighters, the 1208s were performing very well in their tests and additional units were already being built to fill out the requested slots. Two squadrons to replace the 1204s being transferred to the destroyers. They already had two of the required star bombers, which meant ten ships were now being laid down for construction. Already freshly forged Titan Alloy was being melded into beams as work crews assembled the starframes, the central skeleton upon which the ship would be built. 

As Chief Engineer, she wasn’t directly involved with the construction, but she still planned to keep up to date on how things were going. Estimates predicted it would take a week to complete the ordered fighters. Much less time than it would take to build an actual starship. There was so much involved with that. As she and the council had discussed a few times it would take a few months to build a ship of sufficient size to be worth the investment. It would also be expensive in terms of material and manhours. Much material would need to be processed and refined into alloys, plating and components with which to build the ship.

Modern construction involved building a frame and then constructing the rest of the ship module by module. They could construct the modules in specialized bays on the underside of the hull, where they could conduct the work more safely without needing to spacewalk. Then they could be ejected and maneuvered into position by robotic arms and tractor beams. Sadly the facilities on the Enterprise were more intended for ship repair rather than construction, so her facilities were a bit lacking compared to a shipyard. This was one of the big bottlenecks, she had more than enough foundries and fabricators to produce the components, plating, bulkheads and what not a ship would need, but she only had a small number of bays in which to build modules. She had fifty such bays, and another hundred meant for building fighters and shuttles. The small craft bays were located adjacent to the primary hangers. 

Fifty module bays may sound like a lot, but it was going to be a huge bottleneck for proper ship construction. Something Richards had been thinking about quite a bit lately. Especially with the design projects she was involved with. Even if they didn’t start now, they would need a shipyard able to build more components and modules at once. Perhaps with even better and larger foundries than what the Enterprise had. A proper yardship perhaps, if they decided it needed to be mobile. A mobile shipyard would certainly be useful. 

An idea occured to her, but there was a question about how feasible it was. Not to mention it wouldn’t sovle the current issues they had with regards to ship construction. It was still going to take months to build ships, given their limits in parallel module construction and material processing. That was until the project she had in mind was completed. She smiled turned to her console and started typing up a proposal. Something to be added alongside projects Saber and Battlehawk. She codenamed it; Hammer.