Aurora, Wayward Pt. 06

That was why they were a part of your group. This type of testing was the first thing they did when they formed space-based marine fighter pilots from my time. They foresaw stealth, but we did not have it yet in my former timeline.

They suspected it was coming, some might have seen the Caldar ship or ships and planned ahead, but that would be guessing. I have no hard facts on that. Instead, they wanted an infiltration unit of marines in space in my time.

They took from separate branches and tested them on everything. Snipers and fighter pilots scored the highest overall in those initial trials. I did not see a need to rework all of that testing. I knew where to draw the resources from already.

The Governors; at that meeting months ago. The first one I went to. They asked right off, 'There is something strange or off about your background we have not been able to identify what it is.' They knew there was more to me.

That was when I showed them the unredacted file header and gave them the idea behind this carrier in the weeks that followed. Take some time to think about this. I am offering you something most do not get. A second chance.

You reapply here for the next class and I will ensure you get into it. Another shot to become a squadron leader. If you are not there, then I know you were not serious about this cross-service unit. You can go back to flying in your defense unit with your former squadron. The choice is yours."

She sighed out, "Will Marine of Vengeance be flying?"

He nodded, "She will but it will be known. She won't participate in the graduation squadrons that you had. There will be hybrids there and they will be known in the next class upfront. Some will be Home Guard non-hybrids or Sentinel pilots. All will be known for who they are.

At that point, there will be a two-stage graduation. Both will be live fire. My fighter wing vs the best of the combined wing. She will be a part of my training unit flying against you.

Then another stealth run against the two top combined squadrons and my next surprise. I told your governor I would be willing to recycle you through this training once you knew what was actually required upfront. She seemed to think it was a good idea.

You got two weeks to decide. You finished in 12th place even though you were the number 1 fighter pilot overall. At least with the students under evaluation. I still have 20 years of fighter experience on you and you have not seen 1% of what I have and could pull in the future.

You abandoning your wingman and your squad got you bumped out of the initial squadrons completely. It was the stuff you did not do; the failure to listen and adapt, and that chip on your shoulder about snipers being here that hurt your scores. You better find a home for that chip as it has no place on my ship. Anything else you wish to say?"

She shook her head, "I will think about it."

She got up and walked out, He thought out, * She would be a hot-headed red blade likely to go rogue. Same for the military. *

Both ladies and Aurora heard his comment but did not respond to it.

---

Two hours later Rocan was on his battleship, deck 6 as Aurora had summoned him, "I found something. She played the file and he looked it over. "That shell compressed they moved on to the alloy for the stronger shells."

She nodded, "But this is a superconductor, an all metallic-hydrogen shell. As such it does not lose energy as quickly. With your type of shells, you want it to deform and compress because you're pushing an explosive plasma core. They went for pure penetration power. We are looking at a weapon that could be tagged to go through the second shield as their shells do.

Arrive on target and traveling faster. It won't get as much penetration. Maybe a third or half the ship. But the hole you will leave with the plasma would be substantially larger. A shot into an engine room is almost a guaranteed kill shot; the plasma that does not hit a core will eat through a floor or wall.

It will decompress more areas with the chance to cause the target to explode. We should have a working mockup in 2 days at the latest and the production version ready to test inside of 2 weeks. We would have to drop the scale and add a lot of precaution to fire a small one in this environment."

He shook his head, "Model the numbers and send them to me through the interface. I might make a suggestion or two. First, no firing it in the lab. We get one to fit on a fighter first. My fighter."

She sighed and nodded, "Understood but I will only put 1 on to start with instead of 2."

He nodded, "That will be fine. How many rounds of ammo?" She looked over, "50 rounds per wing, 100 rounds for the 2-gun setup. I will work on getting us a couple of targeting ships."

He looked over, "One battleship, no shields. No extra systems. A shell with the alloy and coating. I know it is a waste of material but we should be able to recycle what is left. If you will handle that, a fully functional engine room.

Go ahead and put 2 on it. Actually 2 on both stealth fighters to begin with as soon as possible. The second is now assigned to Vivian and she can fly it down for the ceremony, she has earned the right to that fighter.

This works we can show the governors the weapon system we are working on that will compete with the Terran Railgun. Nose shot and we will see what the damage is like. This assumes we have beaten down the shields around the ship. Send it to me first, I may want some changes."

He went to his office and pulled up what she sent him. He made several changes to the design. He modeled it and then sent it back to Aurora who came flying into his office, "You completely redesigned the gun and the shells in an hour?!

You made them 50% longer with 30% more plasma. Then this new internal structure. You put thin layers inside the shell to segregate the plasma into layers. 8 separate plasma core layers and the addition of the black powder coating. I looked at your numbers and they worked. How did you do that?!"

He shrugged, "We will not have their penetration. They are designed to shoot off to the side at different stages of the shell's collapse. That is why I put more support columns in it to slow the back of the shell from getting to the front. To slow the collapse.

Also, more 'superconductor supports' to keep it hot longer. That is why I coated the shells in the black material, to work as an insulator from the cold of space and make it that much harder to see them.

The first to go will be the chamber next to the warhead it is designed that way as the further back the thicker the column but it will still collapse and put out all of the super-heated plasma. Even hotter now because of the expanded and thicker casing with the insulation. As the shells will have more of the superconductor to transfer heat into the heat exchanger."

She pulled out a pad, "Take the test again."

He sighed and went through it in 10 minutes and handed it back to her. She shook her head, "You shot up to 288! They said Jack had close to 300. You are closing that gap!"

Her necklace lit up and she turned it on, * Seeker of Justice, please block out all of your mates on your interface, including Aurora. *

He spoke over, "It is done."

Justice Incarnate sighed, * We are monitoring progress and we expected it to go to 285 based upon your entry numbers. We tested your mind and know where it started at number wise. You were halfway between 219 and 220 for the testing you use. That part is not to be shared. Aurora, randomize the test again and have him retake the test. *

She did so and handed him the pad. He went through it and handed it back to her. He always refused to look at the number. She hit it, "It says 285."

Justice Incarnate spoke, * The extra 3 you are getting is from the 2 humans or Penans that you are connected to and Aurora because she holds a part of their mental images. This helps us in evaluating this technology and what it is doing within your inner circle.

You may share with them and the others your number and the variable being changed because you are connected to Aurora with 2 others. Nothing of our evaluation process on new hybrids is to be shared. If you test Marine of Vengeance, she should be at 231 now or 234 with the interface. Benevolent Justice would show at 276 connected with the interface.

You plateaued for a while until you started getting into the engineering aspects again and then hit your potential. With the interface, she has got you to your 130%. 300 was not a very healthy number and Jack Travus's numbers had spiraled upward.

When they did his 7 years of testing, they fixed it so it would not increase further and drive him insane. He did rely heavily on his wives for support and understanding. You effectively have 2 wives in your mind as soon as you turn that back on. Three if you count Aurora in the mix as she is providing to be a part of that. *

Rocan nodded, * Understood and will comply. I do not typically use the term wives because of our laws on marriage. If that were the case it would be Benevolent Justice, Aurora, and Marine of Vengeance as to the order. Aurora got me back into having sex and having a love life but I had secretly loved Benevolent Justice since she was 16.

It was not that I did not see her as a sexual being. It was more that I saw she was a beautiful girl who would be a beautiful woman in a couple of years. While I was the freak of a monster with the mechanical limbs. I was just a wreck and she was not old enough.

I needed time to come around to it. I still refer to them as my mates or lovers. I cannot set up separate rules on marriage for hybrids. That law resides with our race. We are recognized as Penans and for us, that is the law. *

He heard back, * Someday that may change with what you are doing. You have Aurora monitoring all of the mothers and when they give birth, the names. She can exclude them from being mate potentials.

She knows part of the genetic defects were caused by inbreeding; in most cases unknown to the partners because of the way mothers name their children. Most do not give the children the last name Spartan.

Afraid of any backlash in the community on the children. You have over 5,000 children already with almost twice as many on the way. Drakor blood can correct most of those defects when and if they occur but only if they get blood from a hybrid or become a hybrid. As to wives, we understand your logic on that matter. *

Rocan turned it back on and thought out, * Vivian and Freia come to my office. *

They arrived a few minutes later. He picked up a pad and looked at Aurora, "Test the both of them. The two of you need to shut off your interfaces."

Freia finished first, "Mine is 3 points higher at 273." He nodded.

Vivian looked over, "This says 231! You said I would go over 200 but I was skeptical."

He looked over, "They ran different tests?"

Aurora nodded, "Turn your interfaces on and have them retake the test from the other pads."

They did and Freia looked over, "Mine went up to 276?!"

Vivian shook her head, "Mine says it went up 3 points as well."

He looked over, "When we took the test we were interconnected. You and I were connected. Add 1 point. You were not capped out yet. When Aurora started backing up your minds if you will. Add 1 point. Then Vivian added 1 point. Mine changed to 285.

All of the engineering stuff I have had Aurora pushing at me to better understand her and the working of this technology. I also had her pushing that at you Vivian, because of what was coming with the fighter training.

Understanding an engine room being able to identify a power core vs a conduit for targeting. The first would get you killed. Freia yours went to 273 as it capped out. It depends on what subject matter you took an interest in that caused it to cap out.

Medical, and ship command functions being a big piece of that for you Freia. I don't know it all but Engineering was an area of passion if you will that we skimped upon for a while with me.

With everything she was throwing at me of colony and disaster preparedness with everything with the colonies, it was on the back burner if you will. 288 with the 3 of your minds connected.

They told me I have capped my potential. As have both you ladies. They also said Jack's 300 was dangerously high; On the cusp of insanity. He leaned on his wives heavily. I think that was part of what sent him over the edge."

He heard from Brena, * Our sensor net just picked up a stealth intruder. Coming into the system. The opposite side of our mining which is good because it is under defended at the moment. *

He sighed and thought out to all of the Hybrid council, * You got The Teacher at the moment, Hawk of Vengenace, I am on The Spartan. Captain Woodrow has command of the newly named Joint Unity Marine Port Academy, which is JUMP Academy and our carrier.

Aurora, get those guns fabricated on both stealth fighters. Marshal the ships to my location Admiral. Wira if you have court you will need to head to the planet. *

He heard back, * In court. We can stay with a friend if needed. I have two Marines with the shuttle. They did not like the automated guns active at the courthouse. *

His necklace went off and he had the governors, He activated all 5 of them, and Rocan Thought to them, * We are picking up an intruder. We want to take the carrier with us to intercept. I need authorization from the 5 of you and myself to use it. We are marshaling the ships to the carrier at the moment and monitoring. *

The Pena Governor brought up their channel with him connected, "What do we do if they get past you?"

He sighed, "Get all of your fleets assembled. We contact you to interdict then you can bring them in with your new destroyers leading. I doubt it will come to that. We only show one contact. I need a vote on the carrier."

He got a yes from all of them. He nodded and used the telepathic comms as he moved inside his ship away from the bridge to change clothes, * I still have command of your fighters here. I deploy all fighters and they will get some combat experience in the new fighters. *

He heard back from the Pena Governor, * Understood. We are in our private channel that Aurora set up for the governors to talk still. I have all nodding heads. Your presentation will be delayed, we understand. Find out about our 'guests' intentions. *

He got back to the bridge but was in his flight suit and armed, "All ships battle station. Form up on the carrier as we have the authorization to use it. The Teacher, I want you on the right side. We will take the left side, 50 km spacing. PHGDS-1, right-side, PHGDS-2 left-side, same distances.

Go to section 6 of our planning for attack patterns. The carrier does not have these and they will have to wing it. They were not supposed to be going into a potential battle but here we are. We have an inbound stealth bogey and this is not a drill."

He brought up the personal communicators for squadron leaders plus one. He looked over, "Screamer, you are cleared to fly. Shadow, you are the wing commander for all the graduating students and your squadron leader for your squadron.

Secure channel Charlie. Commander Palmer, you are the wing commander for the Sentinel training pilots, Charlie wave. The other ships have their designation. Shadow, your fighters are the Delta wave. We call in Delta wave engage or circle, that is your training class minus my hybrid pilots and instructors."

He contacted Brena, "All of our fighter squadrons are the Alpha wave from my ship. Bravo wave from yours. I will call to launch fighters when ready. I want you to launch them verbally. Shields first though."

He brought up all flight leaders, "When you are ordered to launch, I want you formed up behind the main battlegroup. We are going 5x speed because of the battleship The Teacher and the JUMP Academy carrier's material being metallic hydrogen with the black coating. I will be in the air as will Marine of Vengeance doing special operations. Aurora, give me a size on this ship."

She sighed, "About twice the size of one of our battleships."

He sighed, "Status on our Colossus?"

She sighed, "It is ready but it does not have the new guns we were working on. I was hoping to upgrade them, that will have to wait. Launching Colossus, I know you want it."

He called out, "Aurora, give us an intercept point for the colossus that will be before the other ships get into the inner rim of planets."

She sighed, "I will have it traveling as 6x FTL as it has no humans on board and has the alloy frame. It will be outside of Drisen by 50,000 km."

He called out, "All ships setting rendezvous location, Drisen."

---

As they approached Drisen the number of bogeys increased to 5. Aurora looked over, "We have 2 destroy class shaped bogeys, two cruisers, and a battleship sized bogey. All in stealth. They detached from the main ship."

He nodded, "I want our colossus above the carrier. I want Hawk of Vengeance to dock her battleship on it. You will be doing the docking maneuver this time Aurora as it is new to us. Freia you are on Fire control of all of those guns for both battleships and Colossus to coordinate fire. The Admiral will coordinate the battlefield tactics."

She nodded, "Understood."

He looked over, "How goes the upgrades?"

Aurora sighed, "They had to take part of the wing off, which meant getting hybrids to take down the shell over those sections. I have them working both 1 & 2. The guns are in place; it is your new ammo feeder that is causing the issue. They will be finished on time."

He nodded, "Carrier fighters on the destroyers. Colossus fighters on the big battleship. Battleship fighters on the cruisers.

All fighters use the Charlie channel but monitor Delta channel. That is the command channel. Admiral Rivar will call out reassignments when needed. That is my channel for our two stealth fighters. Admiral Rivar, Hawk of Vengeance. You are my mouthpiece. I will be connected to your mind. Work to establish a dialog and handle coordination.

Aurora all Cyber ops stations manned; get us their languages and then intel. Try not to get detected. Comms isolation on all ships with a princess AI running on them. I want the carrier to slide back into the formation when Colossus gets here. I prefer to keep our Academy in one piece and it doesn't have as many weapons as the other ships, Captain Woodrow."

Captain Woodrow was a male Sentinel, "Acknowledged Command Admiral."

Rocan finished with the assignments and Admiral Rivar gave her own orders inside of his for which patterns she wanted each group to fly. He liked her style for mixing them up the way she did. She was a talented Admiral.

He called out, "Delta channel is the command channel. Again, all should be monitoring that channel but use Charlie for Squadron coordination efforts. I call out Arrows nail them. Then I want to pierce their hulls and back out if needed Marine of Vengeance.

Decompress them. Shields first. That is up to Aurora and Admiral Rivar to accomplish as Aurora works on translating the language out. Admiral Rivar will give us a go signal if they cannot get through to the targets. We get into range, come to a stop, and jam all long-range communications. We need to test those out anyway."

Aurora nodded, "They are on the Colossus Base. I will get you information on the shield strength, weapon strength, and occupancy information. Straight to your combat displays when we have it. While in stealth they have no shields as the energy signature would be detectable."