Filling a hole

[Trogdor]

There was a hole.

Both figuratively and literally.

Figuratively, it was a matter of duty. There was a hole, a void, in what duties Captain Trogdor was able to perform. The Burninator was a mighty ship, but this did not always work in its favor. As much as its impressive size granted it formidable hull strength, two dozen turret mounts, and a nearly bottomless powercore with which to feed them, the ship was not subtle, nor quick.

The Captain always considered himself a member of the Zoner guard, even these days when the term's meaning is all but lost. Where other Zoners were happy to allow the faction to splinter into tribes among regions, such an arrangement could not last. Communication was inefficient. There were dozens of new comm channels opened every day just so someone could get in touch with any individual or collection of Zoners. Information a Zoner might need was quickly buried in the clutter of noise. Eventually, something important would be missed, and there would be consequences that would shake the society out of its current inter-regional apathy.

Until then, the guard was rudderless. No one was giving orders. No one was coordinating how many guards to send where. It was left to the individual guardsman to find out for himself what was going on in the various corners of Sirius and decide where they were needed the most. A frustrating daily hunt for information. It was only a matter of time, the Captain reasoned, before someone took advantage of the Zoners' amoeba of a defense force and made a move against a poorly defended station. Their lack of coordination wasn't exactly a secret, and someone was bound to see it as weakness to be exploited.

What could the Captain do to sway things back towards the old ways, when the Council of Zoners directed such matters? The council was often slow to reach a decision, but at least it made decisions. It was a stable place Zoners knew to look for guidance and information. But re-forming it would be challenging. The Zoners always followed the path of the majority within its own society, and he was only one voice among millions. The failure of the Council and subsequent Zoner Alliance bore a stigma against a unified government. It would take time, and the path was not clear.

In the meantime, however, the Captain was not about to sit in one corner of space and watch the opposite corner burn. He knew that while he could not bring about rapid change in the world of Zoner politics, he could quickly change his own world. He would need the ability to swiftly respond to tomorrow's emergencies, no matter where in Sirius they occurred.

Fortunately, there was a hole.

Literally. But what to fill it with? The old Juggernauts were just battleships when the Aquilon was developed, and the ship's role is the same now, despite the addition of this quaint little docking bay. But now, the answer was obvious. Instead of filling it with a small complement of defensive fighters, just stuff in the biggest, most powerful ship that will fit inside. This away-team ship would allow the Captain and a small complement of crew to relocate quickly; to arrive in time to nip small disturbances in the bud, or to provide support and stall the conflict until the Burninator, trailing behind, finally arrives to restore the peace.

But what ship? A gunboat was the obvious choice, and the Zoners had one available. However, the Conference is a lightweight. Good for escorting Zoner Convoys, not so good for the Captain's needs. Aside from that, there were few choices. All other known heavy gunboats were either too big, the wrong shape, completely incompatible with Zoner technology or beyond what the Captain was capable of getting his hands on. The best prospect was the Hathor, an Order ship that shares origin with the Conference. Designed by the Zoners, one could easily be maintained by the Burninator's facilities. Even better, the Captain had a bargaining chip the Order would be interested in. An active alien artifact, a trophy from the original Burninator's shakedown run deep in the Omegas years ago.

At the time, the Zoners and the Corsairs were at each other's throats. Captain Trogdor could not risk the artifact falling into anyone's hands but the Order's. And so a secret message, encrypted and encoded, was sent to Order high command, offering the object in exchange for a Hathor. It was a good trade. The Order stood to gain something vastly more valuable than a gunboat, and the object was becoming more and more of a liability over time, from accusations of Nomad infestation to actual attempts by the squids to reclaim it.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. For reasons the Captain still doesn't understand, Order High command refused the deal. Toledo was indeed a significant loss, but there was no report that their shipyards had been destroyed as well. Who knows what the Order could have learned from studying an active artifact? Sadly, they refused to budge on the matter, so the Captain was forced to get... creative.

And as luck would have it, the boys at Corinth proved much more accomodating. A deal was struck. In exchange for the artifact, a single Conference gunboat would be stripped at Livadia and fitted with custom parts until it closely resembled a Hathor. From there, the preparations were simple. The captain contacted the DSE representatives on Pittsburgh, who were happy to part with a Hercules heavy lifter in exchange for a few million credits. Hercules lifters are cheap to build and simple enough to be flown by autopilot out to the Omega systems, where it was scooped up by the Burninator and loaded with the artifact.

On the way to Omicron 74, the ship's databanks were wiped completely and loaded only with enough data to allow it to navigate the minefield surrounding Corinth, dock with the station, and return to the minefield's entrance when commanded. And so it was that the little lifter, The Beefy Arm, hauled its precious cargo into the hands of the eggheads.

Thus was built a nice little replica of a Hathor. Bearing the same appearance, armor, armament, and handling characteristics, the only drawback was that the powercore was insufficient to handle the additional tech. It didn't matter. For the Captain's needs, it was still far superior to the ship he would've had to use otherwise. The Consummate V was born.

And the hole was filled.

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