Valhalla Rising

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Chapter 2- Day to Day Business

John Bertrand moved silently and quickly down the halls of the research building. He had personally requested to be briefed on some new tactical systems, and surprisingly, the Admiral agreed. His enthusiasm was quite evident, he was like a child in a candy store, behind each door was something spectacular and exciting, he wished he could open every door, even the closet, because at a top secret facility like this, even the broom closet must be amazing.

He slowed his pace down as he approached room 21B, where he was to be briefed by one of Valhalla's top scientists.

"Good day, you must be Lieutenant Bertrand, I am Doctor McGraw"
"Hello, I hear you have some toys to show me" replied John with a smile, as the scientist led him across the room.
"That we have, first things first, the new cloaking technology. We've nearly perfected it; it can cloak a ship the size of a dreadnought and minimize its signature, without draining the reactor of power." McGraw said as he passed a strange spherical object on a pedestal.
With curiosity, John asked "So, will the ship using this system need to be covered in hull panels similar to the Osiris?"
"No, that’s the genius part about it. The Osiris cloaking system needed the hull to be made of certain specialty panels, which ultimately reduced the armour the ship could use. This is one of the reasons our Osiris project was cancelled after the prototype was stolen. This new system however, does not need special hull plating, meaning a ship can be armoured normally."
"This technology is amazing, has it been tested yet?" John inquired.
"No, the LNX Superior will be the first Liberty ship to have such a cloaking device, from there if it works, we can begin mass producing it."....

Code:

*OPEN LOG*
*ID VERIFIED* Commander Jessica Porter
*LOG START

I'm growing tired of Navy ships who do not have up to date paperwork, another cruiser stopped us demanding we leave Zone 21 because we don't have clearance...    I sure hope the Navy gets their act together soon, before I need to start reporting ships who aren't taking care of the proper paperwork..   I also grow tired of hauling scientists and politicians around...   the crew is ready for much more than this, and the ship is running without problems.   Luckily I've just been ordered to bring the Yellowstone into Juneau shipyards for a minor refit.   Something about new weapons based on nomad turrets that were salvaged from the first nomad war.   I don't know if it is wise to mess with such things, but they claim it is safe.  

I'm sure John will be pleased, new toys to play with.   He's already been bugging the scientists about all the new systems we'll be receiving.   I'll just have to make sure he doesn't get us all into trouble.

The Captain will be finally coming on board the Yellowstone for the initial testing.  

On another note, the LNX Lake Superior, as she is called right now...    (You never know when those politicians will change their minds...) is nearing the 10% completion mark, there’s still a lot of work to do but every day, she transforms more and more into her true form.

Better go make sure the off loading of supplies is going well...

*LOG ENDED*

Captain Decker and Commander Porter entered the cluttered office of the director of Valhalla. The director, an Admiral in the Navy was a short man, but none the less his mere presence demanded attention. "Ah, Captain, Commander, I've been expecting you, please sit, I hear you have made great progress with the new weapon systems"

"Aye sir we have" replied Decker. "In fact, the new Nomad weaponry worked much better then we could have anticipated, Commander, why don't you fill the Admiral in on the recent testing?"

Jessica moved to the computer panel on the screen and punched in a few access codes, bringing up the specifications on the new weaponry. "This is the new Nomad-Human hybrid turret. We've modified captured nomad turrets with our own technology, allowing us to install and use on our own ships. As you know Nomad weaponry in itself is alive, and can be dangerous those operating it. To combat this, the ship is modified to produce a low level radiation field on a specific frequency; this in a way puts the turret in a dormant state. Now we can still fire the weapon, but we don't have to worry about it growing, or infecting any crew members. The human technology surrounding the weapon also hides the organic nature from any other ships."

"And how did the weapons testing go?"

With that Jessica punched in a few more keys bringing up footage showing the weapon being fired on a floating target. She paused the footage towards the end, and turned to face the Admiral and Captain "This target was constructed of armour plating, similar to what we use on our Dreadnoughts...."



"Amazing, I can only imagine what can be done when the weapons are fully tweaked to perfection, is there anything else?"

Captain Decker stood up "Yes actually, we have a problem. Seems the weaponry has attracted some attention within the Navy, the Captains of a couple of Battle cruisers to be exact. They claimed that the testing was illegal and we must remove the weapon. When asked to identify themselves they wouldn't give a name, the lead ship was named "Gafwmn" does it ring a bell?"

"No, I have no ships here named that under my command... he must be acting independently, and the fact that he refused to give a name is worrisome..."

"He demanded we sell the turret? which makes no sense, I suspect he meant unmount, and threatened to deny Valhalla access to Alaska if we didn't comply"

"I'll speak with high command, there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere, without us there would be NO Alaska"

"Thank you Admiral, and what shall we do with the weapon?"

"Begin phase 2 testing, we won't have a confused Captain delaying the program anymore, not after it finally got going again"

"Yes Sir!" Captain Decker turned and motioned for Jessica to follow as he left the office.


On board Norfolk shipyards, off hours

Jessica Porter walked down the corridor to the mess hall, it was late and just about time for the weekly poker games. Sort of a tradition for the crew, she had seen no reason to stop playing, even though they technically didn't have a ship yet. Even some of the officers at Norfolk joined in, and were interested in getting the tradition going there as well.

As she walked she noticed Captain Decker walking in the opposite direction. "Good evening Captain"
"Good evening Commander, where are you heading?"
"To the mess hall, some of the crew are holding a poker game, you are welcome to join us if you like"
"No thank you Commander, I've never really liked card games, besides, I have plenty of work to do"
"Fair enough, I'll see you tommorow in the briefing room"

With that they split paths, and she entered the mess taking her seat at the end of the table...

*2 hours pass, Jessica and John each have the largest chip piles, Sharon is down to only a few and everyone else is out of the game*

"I'll raise you 500" John said confidently
"Too rich for me, I'm out" Sharon backed down..
"Hmm, I'll see your 500 and raise you another 1000" said Jessica
"You're bluffing, I'll call" replied John without a beat. "What have you got" as he uncovered his full house, kings and 8s.
"Well, not that..." She uncovered another full house, Aces and 9s.
"What?! No way...." John was surprised...
"Well sometimes you win ‘em, sometimes you lose ‘em, tough luck John" As Jessica pulled the pile of chips her way. "Another game? Perhaps you can win your money back"
"Another time perhaps, we all have early duty shifts tomorrow" Sharon said as she pointed to the clock.
"Alright, goodnight guys" Jessica said with a yawn as they moved towards the crew quarters.