Only minutes after Europa ventured deeper into the station, dozens of hardhat-clad creatures began swarming around my towering form. Most were ponies of varying description, but I could pick out a couple griffons, changelings, and a couple of pony-form androids.
A light blue pony with a snow white mane approached me. Written on their hard hat was the word "supervisor" in big blue block letters. I couldn't accurately discern any apparent gender identity from them after a few attempts. so i just labeled them as 'androgynous' on my internal ID log.
" Nice to see Lady Taan's finally taking some initiative on our piracy problem, This convoy group was the last of Taan's fleet to get a dedicated defense ship." They paused for a moment to open up a hologram from a little hoof bracer and flick through it. "Going off your logbooks, the last crew to work on you did pretty much the bare minimum to get you debatably space-worthy... so our two day deadline is gonna limit us to just the urgent repairs, creature comforts and cosmetics are gonna have to wait until you're back home after your first cargo run." They paused briefly. "Oh and uh... given your... shall we say 'odd' configuration, I hope you're not too picky about spare parts and hacks."
"Don't sweat it, I'm like Forty percent hackjob, a little more couldn't hurt!" I chuckled.
The ship parked in the berth to my right addressed me just as the maintenance supervisor wandered off.
"Apologies if I come off as a bit rude, but, Yeesh... How did you even make it here in such rough shape?" She spoke aloud.
I gave her a quick scan and figured out that her name was Sky Strider, and she was a Nebula-HC heavy freighter. Even laying down she was much larger than I was, and maybe even a tiny bit bigger than even the type 9 opposite...If my rough capacity estimates were correct, her cargo hold was almost big enough to fit me inside... and I thought I was a big ship.
While I could see the allure of more cargo capacity, the amount of stuff the nebula's design sacrificed toward that end was a bit much in my opinion. She looked like she could barely even fly, much less defend herself with only a single hardpoint on her back.
I logged onto Galnet and did a quick search on the nebula class and their specs. Only a quick glance told me all I needed to know. Nebula series ships were entirely specialized for cargo convoys, Every variant had only the bare minimum amount of thrust and FSD power to take off, jump to a new location with a convoy, and then land and offload cargo. I was actually sorta shocked to find out that the three largest variants; The L, LH, and HC, weren't able to land on planets with gravity higher than one sixth of Equus Standard, which further explained the use of a low gravity moon as a base of operations.
I found it slightly odd that she chose to speak aloud rather than over comms, but I decided to return the sentiment out of courtesy.
"I chalk that up to having lots of redundant systems, failsafe modes, and maybe a few rolls of duct tape." I replied with a slight chuckle.
"Well if you can make an eight hour flight looking like that, I don't doubt that you'll be able to tango with the convoy raids that have been harassing us... Luna knows we need the help... Sun Dancer hasn't been the same since the last one... lost her commander..."
I shuddered a little.
"That's awful... I hope their AI can recover... I... I'm not even sure how to really comprehend what they must be going through"
"It hasn't been easy, but she's getting there... Poor thing isn't in any shape to run freight at the moment... techs are guessing that she'll be ready for a new commander in another week or so... she's already been gone for a month at an AI rehab facility a few systems away." Sky said with a solemn sigh.
Like any good Plone AI, the thought of someplone's commander getting killed was terrifying... even military ships had trouble coping with crew killed in action, and we were usually equipped with fail-safe modes to assist coping or to just wipe the memory to prevent catastrophic failure, I couldn't even imagine the damage a civilian ship's AI and friendship drive would suffer from something so tragic. I wouldn't be surprised if Sundancer's whole FSD had to be rebuilt because of it.
"Yeah..... So uh.... any word on missions? I haven't been given access to the station's server yet." I said, trying to change the subject.
Sky Strider's aqua eye projections flicked around for a split second before she answered my question.
"Looks like the next assignment is tentatively set for two days from now. it's a cargo run from Arcflash Port in the kerras system to Rainbow Dash Memorial Starport in the Starswirld system. About a thirty two hour round trip including rest stops, refueling, small trade, and whatever else... so maybe sixteen to eighteen hours actual flight time at a modest cruising speed. There's also a note saying that you're going to be fully armed but unladen for the first leg since it's the longest and has the highest chance of interdiction." Sky explained, sending me a copy of the file as she did so.
"Alright... seems pretty reasonable... I'm guessing they'll have me take on some cargo at our first stop then?" I confirmed.
"Depends on what's for sale and the trade value of the stuff we find at each stop... so you might get fully loaded, or you might not, just depends on what HQ deems worthwhile."
"Alright, Good to know."
I had an immense feeling of deja vu as the workers picked their way through the repairs that needed to be done. At least this time I was in a nice, relatively clean hangar, rather than a dingy boneyard. One thing that didn't change was the occasional swearing of the maintenance ponies as they struggled with bolts or accessing components.
Unfortunately for them, my overcomplicated drive systems didn't quite comply with the standard equipment grid system most ships adhered to. This meant that maintenance wasn't always smooth. Swapping in new modules, or even just pulling them out for easier access wasn't always straightforward. I kinda felt sorry for them, but there wasn't really much I could do to help them.
Being immobilized by all of the repairs was boring, but thankfully the ships on the pads neighboring mine were more than happy to fill the time.
"... So you're telling me... you were built to bite other ships... as in open your mouth, put it against another ship's hull... and rip chunks off?" Pulsar, a Constellation freighter, shuddered in disbelief.
"I'm pretty sure it was more of an experiment than anything actually serious, but i think the pointy chompers compliment my multicannons..." I joked, grinning as a few of the ships offered a chuckle at the remark.
At first, talking to other plones physically, rather than over comms felt strange, but after awhile I began to appreciate how easy it was to add emphasis or nuance to what I was saying.
Our idle chattering was abruptly interrupted by a loud, angry sounding voice.
"So we've gone from almost totally undefended to having some machine guns strapped to a rabid undead attack dog we know almost nothing about... Tell me again how this is a good idea?" someplone interjected.
The voice came from somewhere a few pads down. I turned to find another one of the Type 9's plodding toward me as quickly as her sort of stumpy legs could carry her rotund body. A quick passive scan showed that her name was Felushia. The angry scowl she aimed squarely at me was plenty to inform me that she wasn't happy, and that the source of her bad mood was me.
"Yeesh Who put Coolant in your fuel tank this morning..." Pulsar jabbed before i could respond.
"The little gun rodent that just crash landed here, isn't it obvious?" Felushia shot back, "We go through all the effort to get Taan to give in and get us a fighter escort, but Nooo! we get some random guns strapped to a shipwreck with an accountant at the helm!" Felushia ranted at me.
For once I was glad that my commander wasn't with me... I wasn't sure how she would take the insult.
Her angry march concluded directly in front of me, Her huge frame utterly dwarfed mine as she leaned down to scowl at my face directly. She was so close I could see the dust on her cockpit glass without even zooming in.
"Ive got my eye on you... one wrong move and I'll get you sent straight back to the dump where you belong."
My Vstaa was giving a lot of mixed signals as I weighed my options on how to respond. On the one hoof, I really wanted to make a witty quip about how I couldn't move at the moment, on the other, I really didn't want to figure out how real her threats were. Thankfully someplone else interjected before things got too awkward.
" Felushia, Don't even start... I don't care that she's not a fighter squadron, at least we're better off than we were with just our EEP's and a couple pulse lasers, Just accept it or go sulk on your own pad." Sky's tone was firm and calm, like a commander reprimanding subordinates.
"Oh, You're telling me not to start!? You're the one with attachment issues! Don't defend the little scrapheap just because you're feeling lonely while your little pet's out for therapy! You gonna put a leash on her and make her call you mommy now!?" She yelled, not even turning to face Sky.
through one of my auxiliary cams I could see Sky's face turning red with embarrassment. While that did make me a little curious, It wasn't exactly the best time to press the matter further.
"Felushia Quit it! You're not fixing anything! Back off before I call station security on you." Pulsar interjected.
"Oh you too!? Is everyone just gonna defend this pirate reject now?" She turned to yell at Pulsar. "Well don't come crying to me when we get raided and her guns end up pointed at you!"
With a huff, she turned and stomped off to the opposite side of the hangar.
A brief silence fell over us before pulsar broke the silence
"Don't let her get to you... She wasn't always such a faulty Ass ramp, she still hasn't really recovered from the previous raids. Maybe consider keeping your distance for now." she said calmly.
"You won't have to tell me twice..." I replied, looking over to Felushia laying back down on her pad.
The awkward silence returned.
Thankfully a comms ping was nice enough to interrupt. I answered the hail and Europa's voice broke the silence in my head.
"Hey Duna, You think you could send your avatar down to Workshop C? I just got told by the chief of operations that they want to do some repairs and updates to her hardware. I can't be there right now so I'll send you a list of work they want done, just find a pony called Flash Lamp and tell them ops ordered the list of work to be done on you." She asked kindly.
"I'll head over there as soon as I have the list" I replied, glad for the distraction.
"Thank you, Europa out"
The voice channel cut off, but the connection remained active for another few tenths of a second as the file was sent to me.
I booted up my avatar in the background while I took a split second to read the work order.
"Standard maintenance, New transceiver, AI core upgrade, upgrade matter ingestion and fuel processing equipment, power cell replacement. repair and re-activate defensive hardware..." I read to myself.
I re-established the connection to my avatar and wandered out from my mouth and into the bustling hangar. Unfortunately for me, I still hadn't been approved for access to the station's server, so I couldn't download a map of the base yet. That meant I had to find my way to 'Workshop C' in the traditional meat-bag way; using signs.
I cantered over to the door I saw Europa leave the hangar through. As soon as I stepped past the threshold the noise of the hangar disappeared, leaving me with nothing but the quiet whisper of the climate control vents to keep me company.
Posted on the wall beside the door were several signs. One pointed at the door to the hangar and proclaimed that it was 'HANGAR 2B'. Below that was a sign that pointed down the hall labelled 'DIRECTORY'.
I shrugged to myself and wandered down the long hallway, passing various offices, lounges, and elevators.
At the end of the hall was a directory. It took the form of a large interactive kiosk that depicted a holo-map of the entire base, and had a quaint little trackball selector to navigate the interface on the large screen.There was also a conveniently placed MIDI port on the front for me to interface with it directly.
I sat down on my haunches and tapped a small panel on my chest. It popped open with a click, revealing a female midi port and a male connector attached to a retractable cable. I unwound a couple meters of cable, grabbed the end in my mouth and plugged it into the port. While I could have used my Telekenisis module, I decided against it to avoid putting strain on already weathered equipment
The interface was basic, and there was no easy way to get access to the main server, but at least I could navigate the base easier now.
I queried the kiosk for a full map of the base as well as directions to Workshop C. Instantly I was rewarded with the files in question.
I disconnected from the kiosk and reeled in my cable while I looked over the directions.
The base was much larger than I originally expected, There was an entire tram system to get between a central main base and the outlying structures which contained things like storage warehouses or hangars. The central hub looked almost more like a small city than just some random surface outpost.
To get to Workshop C, I'd have to take the tram to the central part of the base and then go up a few floors and out to a room adjacent to a small surface vehicle garage.
overlaid the directions onto my vision and was presented with a virtual green line on the floor to follow toward my destination.
The tram platform was straight ahead through a large door. The door opened almost silently as I got near it and closed behind me as soon as I was through.
The tram platform was mostly empty aside from three other creatures milling around waiting for the train to arrive. One was a pegasus, and the other two were changelings dressed in what i assumed was typical casual business wear.
Above the platforms were a few large hologram projections displaying a countdown timer that showed when the next train would arrive. According to the sign, the next one was due in thirty seconds.
I meandered over to the edge of the platform and stared at the large airlock door at the end of the spacious room.
Right on schedule, an amber warning flasher illuminated above the airlock door as it slid open allowing the vaguely loaf-shaped monorail car to enter and come to a halt with a low electric whine.
The doors popped out of the side of the tram slightly with the hiss of pressure equalizing. They slid open, allowing maybe a half dozen ponies of varying description to disembark.
Myself and the other three waiting on the platform boarded the train. After almost exactly two minutes the doors slid closed and re-sealed as the tram reversed back into the airlock. The train remained stationary for a couple of minutes while the chamber was depressurized.
I picked one of the many empty seats and sat down.
When the outer airlock door opened, the train immediately began accelerating, The train traveled up a slight incline and exited the tunnel out onto the surface of the moon. the craggy grey surface features began to rush past the windows faster and faster as the train accelerated up to a respectable 250 meters per second. On the horizon i could just about make out the low bunker-like structures that made up the surface levels of the base's central hub. a few structures stretched high above the low bunkers, likely serving as comms towers or docking pylons for larger ships.
The description of the place on Galnet definitely didn't do this place justice. Though maybe keeping this place's true scale quiet was the whole point.
After the short 10 minute train ride it was only an elevator ride and a short walk to get to my destination.
The door to the workshop slid open with a mechanical sigh revealing a cluttered workspace full of toolboxes, spaceplone components, and various other things, In the corner I could see what looked to be a very old and partially disassembled personal shuttle half covered by a faded tarp.
Hunched over a workbench nearby was the form of a pegasus mare, hard at work on some sort of control unit.
A quick scan of the room revealed a bell with a pull chain labelled 'Please ring for service' mounted beside the door.
I sparked up my Telekenesis module and gave the chain as firm of a tug as I could muster. It uttered a sharp DING.
The cream and yellow pegasus' head perked up and she turned around in her chair. Immediately my gaze was drawn to the cybernetic forelegs. Instead of hooves, the ends of the appendages were equipped with a pair of 4 fingered grippers vaguely similar in design to a griffon's claws or a diamond dog's paws.
In a time where modern medicine made reconstructing damaged or amputated body parts rather easy, augments were a rare sight. Nowadays the tech was relegated to hobbyists and fanatics who wanted more functionality out of their bodies.
"Well hiya, what brings a specimen like yourself here?" She asked in a chipper tone.
"I was told to come here to have some work done on my avatar, I've got a list of stuff the CO want's done to me" I replied politely.
" Alrighty then, Send it to me and I'll see what I can do,"
I checked my network interface and found an available connection labelled "Flash Lamp". I connected and sent over the work order.
Flash lamp held up a foreleg, a holoprojector lit up and the work order appeared before her, projected in a brilliant shade of green.
"Okie dokie, looks straightforward enough, Just some routine maintenance and some minor upgrades to get you closer to fleet-wide standard. Go ahead and step into the diagnostic scanner over there so I can figure out what I'm working with." She gestured over to a strange looking box-shaped frame covered in cables and scanner nodes that sat against the right side wall of the room.
I walked over to the machine and stepped through its open side. Flash Lamp sat down at a nearby terminal.
The dozens of round sensor nodes lit up green for a few seconds before shutting back off. A holoprojector from the ceiling immediately projected an image of myself just beside the machine. Flash lamp rolled back in her chair and looked over the diagram, with a claw she waved away layers of the virtual model so she could see all of my inner workings. It felt strangely unsettling seeing myself virtually peeled open like that.
"Hmm... Haven't seen an avatar as old as yours in awhile... though it shouldn't be too much trouble to get that stuff fitted, lets get you opened up then shall we?"
Flash lamp sat me down on top of a workbench in the middle of the room and immediately got to work. She was nice enough to hook my avatar into an external power supply so we could still talk while she removed my power cell.
"I can understand why they want my power cell and generator replaced, Those were both pretty old and needed replacing anyway... but why make all the internal cavities like my belly and throat larger and stretchier? seems a bit weird considering the new generator and power cell are more efficient"
"Pretty sure it's just to bring you into spec with the rest of the fleet's avatars. maybe something to do with avatar fuel reserves or something... heck if i know."
"Buearaucrats...." I rolled my eye projections.
"Tell me about it... Friggin desk jockeys wouldn't know a thruster assembly from a toaster oven if it hit em square in the face... and yet they still try and tell me how to do my job" Flash Lamp muttered as she fiddled with something in my torso cavity.
"Ain't that the truth." I chuckled a little.
I felt something get plugged in somewhere inside me.
"Well, I gotta hoof it to FD, They know how to put plones together right... probably the most painless part install on an avatar ive done in a while."
"Why's that? If anything I'd assume i'd be more of a pain to work with on account of my age and weird configuration." I asked.
"Since you don't really have any extra bells and whistles in your torso theres plenty of room to work, and all the mounting points are pretty much the same standard as they are nowadays. Tinkering on stuff like Neighkons and especially the passenger and luxury ships like Maud Krugers or Gutamareyas can get really tight. Sometimes they get a little carried away with the extra widgets."
"You know rich ponies and their love of extra features"
"No kidding... Lady Taan's personal fleet's pretty crazy... Even her little Krait, Ad Astra, is decked out with some pretty top of the line stuff from super exclusive brands, and she's just Taan's commuter ship... her pleasure yacht's an Imperial Cutter called Immortal Empress. Lemme tell ya, You haven't seen expensive until you've seen that ship... She's practically a castle's treasure vault with an FSD."
"Wow... Sounds like I'm practically pocket change to that mare then" I said in disbelief.
"Yeah, pretty much... Though I'd think that the bits to buy you were gotten from your fleet's sub-account, Taan doesn't seem to be in the habit of throwing her personal funds around willy nilly like that."
"Well if she's as loaded as you're suggesting, I can kinda see why... not exactly a great idea to flaunt that kind of wealth wherever you go."
"Yeah, Out here that kind of money gets you some unsavory attention, Probably why Taan usually sticks around the core when she's not out here managing her little empire. Her profile isn't really helped by the fact that she's really the only major long haul freight company that operates out here, you want cargo moved from here to Horace Beta or beyond, you go through her. As you can imagine, that means every creature out here knows her name."
"I bet..."
The upgrades didn't take too long to finish, I would have been out of there in under two hours if Flash Lamp and I hadn't gotten so deep in conversation.
"... Yeah, I remember when I saw a newbie on the station operate the toilets wrong... poor thing was scrubbing for ages afterward, though I will admit the startled scream and toilet noises coming from inside the restroom was pretty funny... until I had to go in and fix it."
"I chuckled at her remark and looked at the dingy clock on the wall, forgetting for a brief that I had an internal clock... one which even displayed in the corner of my heads up display.
"Nice chat, but I think it's about time I go and check in with my commander, it's getting a bit late."
"Yeah, I suppose so, But it was nice talking to ya, If you ever need someone to talk your ears off, you know where to find me!" she joked. "Oh and Just so you know, the AI core upgrade was installed but i don't know if it's working... it wouldn't connect properly, so maybe keep an eye on that." She added as I left the room.
"I will!" I yelled back from down the hall.
I opened up a comms channel to Europa.
"Commander, are you free?" I asked.
two seconds later I got a response.
"Yep, What's up?" She retorted in a very casual tone.
"My avatar's tune up is done, is there anything else that needs to be done? or should I just return me to myself"
she paused, seemingly to think things over for a moment
"Why don't you come meet up with me so we can explore the station a bit more, I could use a bit of a distraction after being in a stuffy office hearing somepony talk about combat maneuvers all day."
"I'll be right there, see you in a few minutes"
I pulled up the station map again and used my sensors ship-side to get an accurate read on where Europa's holo-brace was.
In a couple seconds I found her deeper into the central part of the station, maybe only a fifteen minute walk from my current location using the optimal route. I turned and cantered off along the glowing line.
As I walked the monotonous corporate hallways and offices opened out into larger promenades and gardens full of plants. If it hadn't already been obvious, this wasn't like any resupply base I'd ever seen. clearly it was more of an arcology, complete with it's own internal economy, living space, and back alley hooligans.Looking back behind me I could see that the hallways nearest to the promenade areas looked to be at least partially composed of apartments for the various denizens of this place. I did a quick scan of all the shops, vendors, and restaurants I could see and saved it for when I met up with Europa.
I took an escalator to the floor above me and wove my way back out into the more utilitarian areas beyond the pretty commons. A few more turns and long hallways put me right near the navigation beacon I'd been following.
Europa sat leaning against the wall, poking through her holo-brace's interface. From what I could tell she was watching a video about cats playing in low gravity.
"You know you didn't have to wait, I set up a nav beacon to find you" I said questioningly.
"Yeah, but then I'd be window shopping all alone, and that's way less fun." She retorted with a smile.
I giggled a little. "Why don't we get a move on then, I caught glimpses of some neat stuff on the way up here."