The room was dimly lit, its empty chairs arranged in silence, awaiting the arrival of the heads of two revolutionary factions. This chamber would host figures whose decisions bent fronts and shattered orders: Markus Brass, former Lord Commander of the Tartarus Legion now sworn to the Red Front; the Hessian Colonel and his delegation; and the Coalition High Command. Here, the fate of a risky—yet promising—project would be decided. One designed not for open war, but to sow chaos deep within enemy ranks. Markus arrived first.
Armed not with escorts, but with preparation and steel resolve, he stood alone in the chamber. A soft blue glow spilled across the table where his projection orb hovered, displaying the rotating hologram of a cruiser—silent, precise, and full of intent. He moved to the window, gazing outward, lost in thought. Every angle, every consequence, every fracture this design could introduce had already been calculated. Behind him, the door on the far side of the room opened, the meeting was about to begin.
Officials from the Coalition and the Rot Front took their seats around the table, datapads arranged neatly before them. Each display scrolled through live schematics, production milestones, and projected deployment figures tied to the project. At the center of the chamber, the holographic table activated, its emitters synchronizing with Markus’s orb in a brief cascade of light. The projection expanded, resolving into a full-scale hologram of the ship they had been shaping together. As the vessel rotated slowly, layered technical callouts flickered into place: reactor output curves, mass-to-thrust ratios, weapons hardpoint distributions, and armor density overlays. Sections of the hull pulsed in muted tones as power-routing paths, maintenance access points, and production modularity markers were highlighted in sequence. The image settled, hovering above the table, no longer an abstract concept, but a machine with defined limits, capabilities, and consequences. The room’s attention narrowed. This was no longer a discussion of theory, but of implementation.
The Agitator is a cruiser born of the black market, designed not for prolonged engagements or clean logistics, but for disruption, provocation, and controlled chaos. Commonly fielded by pirate factions and unlawful groups, it excels in skirmish warfare, favoring hit-and-run attacks over decisive battles.
Its design philosophy is openly inefficient by conventional standards. Power systems are overextended, internal layouts are irregular, and redundancies are sparse. Components are chosen for availability rather than longevity, making each hull slightly different from the last. This lack of standardization is not a flaw, it is a signature. The Agitator is easy to build, difficult to track, and disposable by intent.
In combat, the Agitator strikes fast and retreats faster. It relies on sudden pressure: concentrated forward fire, short engagement windows, and aggressive maneuvering to overwhelm escorts or disrupt convoys before withdrawing beyond pursuit range. Sustained combat exposes its weaknesses, heat build-up, stressed reactors, and fragile internal systems, but that is never the goal. The Agitator is not meant to hold ground. It is meant to deny stability.
Pirate captains value the Agitator precisely because of its shortcomings. Its crude efficiency makes it ideal for unlawful operations where loss is acceptable and fear is the objective. Every appearance of an Agitator signals unrest; every withdrawal leaves questions behind.
“Gentlemen, as you are all aware, warfare across multiple fronts is inherently volatile and rarely predictable. I have convened this session to address the situation within House space specifically. We cannot afford to allow the Houses the time or stability required to fully organize their fleets, nor can we risk overextending our own forces in a contest of attrition. At present, common pirates and outlaw groups harass House territory, but they remain fragmented and routinely outgunned. The question before us is a simple one: what if they were not? What if these actors had access to something larger, something capable of applying pressure without drawing our banners into the open?I trust you have all reviewed the data circulated prior to this meeting. With that in mind, let us move beyond theory and begin the discussion.”
Frei remained seated, his eyes set on the rotating hologram of the ship and although visibly not in agreement with what was presented, he did not interrupt it. Once the final projection markers dimmed, the room was left with the usual quietness that follows such presentations.
The sudden silence was immediately broke by the Colonel tapping his fingers against the datapad in front of him.
“The Houses, well Rheinland for that matter is the prime candidate for this plan of yours, there's no shortage of men who go rogue. Their disruption is preferable to our attrition, afterall we will not win this if it comes to trading ships in open space.”
His eyes shifted up to Brass.
“But this disruption is going to be without our ownership.”
The hologram slightly glitched as the cruiser completed another slow rotation.
“You propose we arm those pirates with a vessel capable of applying cruiser-level pressure without any sort of allegiance.” I can see the benefits, distributed pressure, a bigger strain the the Military."
He leaned back slightly in his chair.
“But do you take heed of the cost? Pirates do not fight with doctrine. They fight with appetite. The same hull that harasses House convoys today may contest our supply lines tomorrow.”
His gaze moved briefly toward the Coalition delegation.
“We are already engaged in resource contest with the Corsairs in the Omegas. The last thing we need is more contenders to our own raiding parties.”
The Colonel folded his hands.
“Introducing additional cruiser-grade pirate actors into the game might cause more harm than good.”
A pause.
“Bottom line is, we do not need additional parties complicating our own operations.”
He turned back to Brass.
“So let me ask this plainly. What mechanisms ensure that the Agitator remains a tool of destabilization and does not become an independent predator?”
Silence returned to the chamber.
“I am not rejecting your plan outright, but before we let loose this chaos, I want to know how we intend to leash it.”
Brass did not answer immediately. He let the silence sit long enough for the hologram to complete another rotation, before stepping closer to the table. “You’re right,” he said evenly. “Pirates do not fight with doctrine. They fight with appetite. That truth is the foundation of this proposal, not its flaw.” He gestured toward the hovering cruiser. “The Agitator is not designed to create loyalists. It is designed to create dependence, every hull built is deliberately with inefficient reactors tuned close to tolerance, subsystems overstressed, maintenance cycles shortened. It performs best only so long as it is fed.”
Brass’s gaze shifted briefly to the Coalition delegation, making sure the point landed. “Feed comes from us. Parts, expertise, ammunition compatibility, that's not available easily in our region if you're enemies with the Hessians. Without that pipeline, the Agitator degrades rapidly from threat to liability. A pirate captain can turn the ship against a House convoy today, but without continued access, that same hull becomes unserviceable within months.” He paused, then continued. “This is not arming predators and letting them roam free. This is leasing pressure, pressure that expires.”
Brass folded his hands behind his back. “As for blowback, any group reckless enough to turn an Agitator against our supply lines exposes itself immediately. These ships are loud, distinctive, and poorly suited for sustained engagements. They cannot hide for long. They are skirmish tools, not territorial assets.” A slight nod toward Frei. “And if a captain grows ambitious, we already know every weakness built into the frame, because we put them there.” He let that settle. “The Agitator doesn’t create a new player in the game, Colonel. It accelerates the ones already bleeding the Houses. We don’t own the chaos but we time it, starve it, and end it when required.” Brass straightened. “That is the leash.”
Despite the atmosphere in the room, Astrid felt overly anxious. The hologram, as intimidating as it was, promised a new toy for the Coalition to throw into the grinder. But this sounds simpler than it would be in reality.
Questions roamed her mind. First of all, how to fit the aging MD-95 modules into the thing without the fuel lines protruding outside the envelope? The auxiliary reactors' exhaust must not be located too close to the primary engine to avoid uncontrolled detonation of emissions that possibly contain toxic or radioactive substances.
She should have requested a full blueprint database and then consulted her colleagues at Aralsk Engineering Corps before this. Aralsk surely is able to handle whatever is brought upon them. Someone deemed repairs of the Alvin Katz impossible, but there they are.
Astrid glances at the speakers.
"Comrades, excuse me for not being political, but I'm here to speak about technical details. The shipping route for possible part manufacturing is stretched enough already. What are your propositions for building such a... technological marvel, so to say? Is the Wolfsburg team capable of building reactor housings aside from those on Asgard-line ships?"
Astrid shifts in her seat before continuing. She nervously throws a glance at the man in the black uniform, who sits to her right. He nods and starts typing something silently with a completely blank face.
"Because if we are to share the workload in building a prototype, Aralsk may be able to focus on energy systems, reactor internals, and electronics. The main reactor exhaust would also act as a signal jammer of sorts, masking the vessel's signature before a possible hostile may see what it actually is."
She took a swig of water.
"As for the possible logistics disruption, if I'm allowed to elaborate, she drops an armor-penetrating glance at Frei, the Army is currently holding the ground in the Omegas. The Tangier cruiser group regularly patrols the routes between New Moscow, Dresden, and Dublin. Whomever you plan to arm with Agitators, they aren't going to get any service for them from the Coalition if it's neither for the Hessian nor our own cause.
The only thing that worries me is the possibility of such a vessel getting into the Unioners' hands."
Brass listened without interrupting, allowing Astrid to finish before answering. When he spoke, his tone was even, matter-of-fact rather than persuasive. “You’re right to pull this out of the abstract,” he said. “The Agitator only works if it can be built, serviced, and constrained without stretching existing lines past failure.” He gestured toward the hologram, calling up a new layer of internal schematics. A second hologram phased into existence beside the Agitator, larger, geometric, unmistakably infrastructural. The outline of a drydock resolved into view, layers peeling back to reveal internal gantries and modular arms. “We still retain the original drydock schematics from Fort Leniex,” Brass continued. “They were never elegant, but they were robust, designed for deep space manufacture and long duration service without reliance on planetary support.” He adjusted the projection.
Sections of the dock highlighted in sequence. “With modification, these designs can be integrated directly into Diamant’s superstructure. Enclosed construction bays, independent power loops, fabrication lines capable of handling light and medium hulls entirely off grid.” The dock rotated slowly. “This allows us to build, refit, and service Agitator-class hulls without routing them through Wolfsburg, Aralsk, or any Coalition facility. No external dependency, no visible footprint.” A pause. “And more importantly it gives us control that every hull that leaves the dock leaves on our terms, with our tolerances and our constraints.” The hologram stabilized, the drydock and the cruiser hanging side by side. “Diamant will become the point of origin and the point of failure, by design while Wolfsburg remains focused on heavy hulls and standardized cores. Aralsk, if willing, would handle what it does best: reactor internals, energy systems, and electronic architecture.”
“As for logistics: no Coalition or Hessian facility will service these vessels once they leave the dock, should they pass into the hands of independent crews or external organizations.” He paused, letting the implication settle. “Every Agitator departs the line with deliberately non-standardized interfaces: power couplings, firmware locks, component tolerances that we alone manufacture. These systems cannot be replicated or substituted easily without access to our supply chain.” Brass folded his hands. "To ensure limited operational longevity, we will release select components to the black market in controlled quantities and at irregular intervals. Enough to keep the hulls functional but never enough to free them from dependence. That is the control mechanism, without our parts, these ships do not age gracefully, they degrade, lose efficiency and eventually become liabilities rather than assets.” Finally, he addressed her last concern directly.
“The Unioners and all misfits are noted. Distribution will be filtered through intermediaries and the hulls themselves are already poorly optimized for long term territorial use. However, if one slips through regardless…” a pause, deliberate, “…it will be short-lived.” Brass folded his hands. “This ship is not a technological marvel, it’s a managed defect, built at scale.” He looked back to the table. “And that’s precisely why it works.”
Astrid's eyes were seemingly glued to the hologram. She grabbed her AR visor and powered it up only to find out it was malfunctioning again. Two accurate punches to the device's case did the trick, and she started to examine the data more thoroughly. The man in the black uniform mumbled something about "having two left hands" before resuming his typing. However, Astrid hadn't noticed it.
"Diamant's position is convenient for logistics, yes. But if you want the Coalition in all of this, you must inform the Supreme Council, and I doubt they would be happy to let the People's best technical specialists go far from home, where they can get kidnapped or outright killed. Several workers of the Aralsk Corps, including myself, are able to stay on Diamant and provide technical support and working hands. If you want something else, it has to be done on Aralsk. These are not my demands, it's our nominal security measure."
She continues observing the blueprints.
"Regarding that, are you planning to arm anarchists of all sorts to destabilize the region, or will we deploy several Agitators of our own as well?"
Astrid shifts her gaze to another point.
"In that case, we may have trouble with that kind of sensor grid arrangement. And the gravity well gondolas could be repurposed to house sensitive equipment."
“Safety.” He paused deliberately, letting the word settle over the table. “That is something we can ensure, provided our understanding remains mutual.” His gaze shifted between the Coalition delegates. “I would have no objection should you choose to manufacture the ship’s critical equipment within your home system and route it to Diamant for final integration.” A flick of his wrist brought the navmap to life. He began plotting discreet waypoints, bends in space where allied patrol groups maintained regular presence. “These corridors are within reach of friendly response times,” he continued calmly. “Convoys would never be exposed for long.” He leaned back slightly. “I suppose you could look into it and decide if that works for you.” Markus closed the navmap with a subtle gesture, the illuminated routes dissolving into thin strands of light before vanishing entirely. The chamber dimmed slightly as he restored the two separate holograms, the Agitator and the Diamant drydock, suspended once more above the table in silent rotation. For a moment, he said nothing. The cruiser and the station hung side by side: one a tool of disruption, the other the forge that would shape it.
"As for who are we planning to arm, I see no reason to withhold access to it in our secondary and less organized ranks, but there are already battle-proven and worthy ships in both fleets." Markus paused and folded his arms across his chest. “I have been considering a structure like this since my days in Tartarus. What you see here is not an impulsive proposition. I have worked through it from foundation to conclusion, design, logistics, distribution, and containment, I only had to adjust the steps it would take after we joined the Hessians.” His eyes moved deliberately from one delegate to the next. “I am here to answer all of your questions: technical, operational, or political.” A brief silence followed, measured rather than tense.
“And if there are none, we can formalize the first phase and move forward to the next.” The holograms continued their slow rotation above the table.
Frei listened in silence as both parties reiterated their arguments, his mind already settled on the matter of the ship from the very beginning. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms across his chest, watching the rotating projection without particular interest.
“While I would certainly enjoy hearing more about the technical details, I’m afraid my mind has already been made up.”
He lifted his gaze and looked Brass directly in the eyes.
“You can guarantee that if we ever face these ships as enemies, we will retain the upper hand, not only in battle, but in their proliferation as well, gut.”
His attention shifted briefly toward the Coalition delegation.
“Our dear friends here can handle the assembly of the components where our own expertise is… limited. Wunderbar.”
He leaned further back, one arm resting behind the chair while the other made a slow circular gesture toward the holographic cruiser.
“As long as it contains nothing from the Asgard line, I have no objections. These ships will be built and quietly introduced across the Sirius underworld, from Kusari to Bretonia and beyond. There are many who would gladly pay to add such a vessel to their arsenal.”
His gaze moved to Astrid.
“If the Coalition wishes to make use of these ships themselves, you are free to do so. The Front’s interest lies only in the chaos they will create, and certainly in the proceeds from selling them.”
Frei then returned his attention to Brass.
“You have my approval. Just ensure the distribution remains focused outside the Omegas. Those midwits from Ithaca will only become an unnecessary complication otherwise. As for the Unioners, no concern. They prefer ships of their own manufacture. In that regard, we may be more alike than I would care to admit.”
Frei pushed himself up from his chair.
“Now, if you will excuse me, gentlemen, this matter is settled as far as I am concerned. Brass, you will keep me informed on the progress of the project. I leave the remaining technicalities to you.”
With that, Frei departed the chamber alongside his two armed bodyguards. The door sealed quietly behind them, leaving the room once again in silence.
Markus gave a brief nod toward Colonel Frei as the man gathered his datapad and stepped away from the table. Only once the door sealed behind him did Markus shift his attention back to the Coalition delegation. “The Hessians have given their approval,” he said calmly. “Which means the responsibility now rests with us to make this project more than a theory.” He walked around the table and took a seat opposite the Coalition representatives, resting his forearms on the polished surface as the hologram of the Agitator continued its steady rotation between them.
“The Hessians can provide the infrastructure and fabrication facilities. Diamant will soon possess the drydock capacity necessary to assemble the hull itself.” The projection briefly highlighted several internal systems. “But the internal architecture, power routing, reactor regulators, signal masking, these are areas where Coalition engineers have historically excelled.” He looked directly toward Astrid and the other delegate. “If the Coalition is willing, your engineering corps could oversee the development of the core systems. Reactor control, electronic warfare suites, and the maintenance protocols that will ultimately enforce the… dependencies we spoke of earlier.”
The cruiser rotated silently above the table. “A joint prototype,” Markus continued. “Hessian construction, Coalition engineering.” A faint smile crossed his face, leaning back slightly in his chair. “So?” His eyes moved across the Coalition delegation.
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