Robotech - Tales of the UEEF (Main)

[Sherwood]

With a wide grin of her own, the Paraxian tosses aside the staff that she was using and stands across the mat facing you. "Good to see that you humans have backbone enough to stand up for yourselves! Your requirement makes sense; no broken bones or gouged out eyes. Anything else is fair game. Before we fight, I would know your name. I am Kara." She strikes a combat stance of her own, waiting for you to react.

 

[Psychie]

"Lt. Amanda Loxley. I look forward to beating your ass into the ground, Kara." With introductions made, she moves in to make her first attack; a lightning fast foot strike. She had thought about a foot sweep, but that might be too predictable with their height difference. So, a straight kick it is.

 

[Sherwood]

As the fight runs its course, Amanda realizes that this is not going to be an easy match. Kara has the reach advantage on you, and she is quite a bit stronger; you find that out with the first punch that connects. But, that being said, Amanda is more dexterous and quick, and you are able to duck and dodge out of the way much easier than your larger opponent can.

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see a growing crowd of people gathering in the gymnasium to watch the two of you spar. Before you can get too distracted by the audience, you are nearly whacked upside the head; a good lesson in keeping your focus. Swing, punch, kick, block, with the occasional jarring impact of a blow that slips past your defenses. Finally, Kara lets out a loud yell and whops you with a powerful blow that makes you see stars. The room spins and when everything settles down once more, you are lying on your back with several people standing over you, looking down with concern. It is clear that the match is over, and sadly, it doesn't look like you've won.

Despite the agreement to not do any permanent damage, as you sit up you feel that you may have a few cracked ribs. Before you can get to your feet, Kara comes stumbling over and offers you a helping hand to get up. "You have done well, Amanda Loxley, and I am quite impressed! I had expected you to be a soft button pusher, but you have proved that you have a strong warrior spirit inside you, and you nearly defeated me in fair combat." She lifts you to your feet, and then she calls out, "Sisters! We have faced one another in righteous battle, and despite her loss, Amanda has fought with honor. Show her respect due to one of our own!"

The assembled Paraxians let out a loud cheer as one of the crew members around you slips your arm over his shoulder. "Here, Lieutenant. Put your weight on me. I'll help get you to the infirmary and get you checked out. It looks like you took a nasty blow to the head, and might have a concussion."

 

[Psychie]

Stars? Why do I see stars? Oh, yeah. She knocked me sideways. Oh, fuck that girl can punch! With a groan of pain, Amanda lies still for a long moment before trying to get up. When Kara finally comes up to her and holds out her hand, she gladly takes it. At least there is no hard feelings from her after a fight like this one. Wobbling on her feet a bit, she looks up at the victorious Kara. "Damn. I thought you'd be a lot slower than I am, and I'd be able to run circles around you. Guess I was wrong. Congratulations, Kara."

Then the crew member comes up to her and worms his way under her arm. Gratefully, she does as he instructs and puts her weight on him. "Ungh. Yeah, I think I may have a broken rib or two to go along with my aching head. Oh hey! Kara, when you have some time, I'd like to talk to you about the Invid. I want to learn about them from someone else besides our records that have come from the Zentraedi and get a different point of view. Can we do that soon?"

 

[Orikanyo]

Grumpy managed to heft the thing to a better place for examination, while saying goodbye for now to his trusty and inquisitive friend, but he had finally gotten something down pat for both the anti-grav and the force field generator. the man looked over his notes for what was likely the fifteenth time that day as he made his way to the deck, if his calculations were correct they could use this tech to better protect the fleet! hell possibly even mecha down the line.

He was more of a weapons guy, but this was pretty damn cool nonetheless, lets see those invid deal with heavy armor AND big ass shielding?

Suck it roaches.

The man made his way on up to the deck to try and report his finding, hopeing the two articles weren't already being told to them by another... last thing he needs today is to be ninjaed by another techie.

 

[Sherwood]

Kara laughs. "Yes, Amanda Loxley. You have earned that information. When you are able, come see any of us, and we'll tell you all we can."

In the meantime, you are carried up to Medical where a nurse is already waiting for you. She thanks the man that helped you here, then gets you into a wheelchair. "Lets get you undressed so I can see how bad this is." She helps you into a hospital gown, keeping her expression unreadable as she starts to see the bruising on your body. "Tch. She really did a number on you, Lieutenant. May I advise you to not do that again?"

After a run past the X-Ray machine, a doctor comes into your room. "Good news, Loxley. The ribs are just cracked, and not broken all the way, but you are suffering from a mild concussion. I am going to hold you here at least overnight to observe you, just to make sure you are going to be ok. Your commanding officer and the CAG will have to be informed that you are off of flight duty for the next week as you recover. You are not going to be able to pull high Gee turns without blacking out from the pain right now. I'll have the nurse tape up your ribs to help hold them steady with a painkiller, but for now, you need rest."


Onboard the Atlas, Grumpy makes his way to the chief engineer to show off what he's discovered. At first, the chief doesn't seem too interested, but the more you talk, the more his eyes light up. "Let me see your notes, Lieutenant." He starts to read what you have written down, checking on his own data pad for comparative views of the antigravity tech that is currently in the ships. "This . . . is quite interesting. I had expected that ship to be a total wreck, and had pretty much written it off in my mind. I see that I am going to have to take a second look at what is in there. Now, lets see what else you have."

Several minutes go by as he reads, then he stops and turns to the intercom. "Sally? Get me the department heads in here now. I don't care what they are doing, tell them to drop it and be here yesterday. They have got to see this!" He looks up at Grumpy and says, "LT, you may have just stumbled across some of the best tech I've seen since the introduction of the Reflex engine and Protoculture. I hope to be able to get that generator over here for our people to examine and to experiment on, and with our innovators working on it, perhaps we can make it a working shield for our ships! Perhaps we can even miniaturize it enough to mount on mecha! I'm going to be putting your name up for a commendation for spotting this and bringing it to me."

As he finishes his talk, various members of the engineering team on the Fabricator Ship start to come into the office. The chief takes a moment to introduce you to everyone, making sure to give you full credit for finding these discoveries.

 

[Orikanyo]

Grumpy was quite abit nervous as the chief was looking over his notes, he could practically feel the machinations going through the guy's mind. hell he was pretty certain it was legible, he only caught Enri doodling on it twice before he tore out a page for her. But when he started talking about the shield generator, OH MAN was this getting good. Guy was thinking right on the lines he was, all because he found a old rusty thing in whats basicly the crawl space of a old as sin ship.

"The thing was just barely functioning, but its still ticking last i was working with it." the guy added, until the room suddenly became filled with a bunch of faces he somewhat, and really didn't remember.

But damn he felt good, guess he should keep a good eye out for things while he can to add to this. he didn't create this tech, but by god is he getting a pat on the back for finding it, guess not everyone had the same idea of going into the old beater of a ship to find cool shit, what field would he add to his resume? Xeno-archological technology retrieval specialist? he didn't know, but whatever it was, his face was on it now.

Up there with the reflex engine and Protoculture... Guess theres two important Darwins in history now.

 

[Psychie]

Much to her great relief, Amanda is looking forward to some time to just rest and heal. That damn Paraxian sure packed a whollop. I hope that she is feeling some pain from the beating that I gave her. Probably not as bad as I am, though. <sigh> Time to rest.

 

[Sherwood]

As much as you'd like to just go to sleep for a bit, the nurse comes up to your bed and tells you that you have a visitor. Looking up, you see Capt. Romanov standing there. "Well, Lieutenant. Word of your little match has reached all corners of the ship, and I wanted to come down here and see for myself just how badly you were hurt. Doctor Cooper tells me that you have no permanent damage, so at least that's good news. Some other good news is that the Paraxians are now looking at you as some kind of wonder; a 'mere' pilot that had the nerve to get into the ring with one of their best with a no holds barred match. Despite the good PR we are getting from this with the Amazons, I have to ask, just what the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do I need Psych Services to come and talk with you?"

 

[Psychie]

Cringing a bit at the tone of the Captain's voice, Amanda does her best to suck it up and put on a brave face. "No, ma'am, I am not suicidal, and Psych Services will not be needed. I have just been doing some research into these Invid, trying to learn what I can from our records provided by our Zentraedi allies. But everything there is colored by centuries of perpetual warfare, and I was hoping to get another opinion on the Invid from some people that have actually faced them. The problem I was having is that the Paraxians I was trying to talk to were very dismissive of me, and I wanted to find some way to get past the arrogance they had over me. A sparring match seemed the perfect thing, especially with the advanced training that I'm in the middle of."

She lets out a grimace of pain as she shifts to try and find a more comfortable position in the bed. "Besides, I almost won, and even with the beating that I took, it seems to have broken the ice a bit, and Kara seems willing to talk to me. I'm sorry that I'm laid up for a bit, but I think that in the long run, I've done more good than harm. Ma'am."

 

[Sherwood]

She gives you a long look, then lets out a sigh. "Perhaps it has, Lieutenant. But do me a favor, please? Next time, if you would win the fight it would look a little bit better for your argument." She looks over her shoulder to see a pair of Paraxians waiting a respectful distance away. "It would seem you have some more visitors, but remember to try and get some rest. I'll leave you to your guests."

When she leaves, the two Paraxians come up. You recognize both from the gymnasium, but you don't know their names. One of the two sits down at the foot of your bed while the second grabs a chair and pulls it over. "Well, Amanda Loxley, you had questions for us about our foes? Ask and we shall do what we can to answer you."

 

[Epiphany]

The last day or so pass in a surreal haze of activity. Chen scarcely caught sight of her own squad! Though that was in part, at least, to the opportunity for them all to get some much needed rest.

Her dreams are filled with a beautiful Zentraedi Commander, a kiss and those searing words, "Keep thinking of me!"

Filled with pride at having the personal recognition of Captain Romanov, Chen keeps an eye out for her squad's reported activities. Darwin's focus on learning the alien technology, along with the young alien he'd befriended, were both understandable and admirable. She's only too happy to leave him to it. Meanwhile, Loxley's sparring with the Praxians (and her subsequent injuries) are concerning but also a good use of time. Chen might have done the same thing herself! She makes a point of stopping by the medical bay but seeing Captain Romanov on her way out and Praxians on their way in, she makes a point of coming back later.

Instead, Chen takes advantage of the downtime to pick up her language studies. Being bilingual already makes it easier to acquire a new language, seeing as she's already familiar with the mental effort required to crosswalk new to old and even think with words one didn't grow up hearing. She'd toyed with learning Zentraedi before anyway. Dating one is its own incentive, of course! But then there was the Rhabwar and the opportunity to make friends with Zentraedi, and learn more about these vassal races of the Robotech Masters more first hand. While presumably some of the UEEF Zentraedi might be familiar with these races, it'd probably been a long time since they'd seen this part of the galaxy after all.

And she takes the opportunity to read through daily action reports on anything new discovered about these 'Invid'. Which is how she discovers Darwin's amazing discovery. He was way too boxed in by researchers to bother at the moment but soon enough, there'd be an order for the Storm Dragons to rally and she'd catch up with them then.

With her squad so preoccupied, Chen focuses on her Zentraedi studies...and stops by Sykoros' quarters to check on the quietest member of the Storm Dragons.

Kwops

 

[Psychie]

She gives you a long look, then lets out a sigh. "Perhaps it has, Lieutenant. But do me a favor, please? Next time, if you would win the fight it would look a little bit better for your argument." She looks over her shoulder to see a pair of Paraxians waiting a respectful distance away. "It would seem you have some more visitors, but remember to try and get some rest. I'll leave you to your guests."

Amanda gives the Captain a cheeky grin. "Yes, ma'am! I'll make sure that our next match will be a win for us, don't you worry about that!" At least, the good news is that I'm not about to be cleaning the latrine for the next foreseeable future . . . so long as Chen doesn't decide to dish on some punishment. That's it, girl. Be positive.

One of the two sits down at the foot of your bed while the second grabs a chair and pulls it over. "Well, Amanda Loxley, you had questions for us about our foes? Ask and we shall do what we can to answer you."

Following the Captain's gaze, she sees the two Paraxians coming in to talk with her. She tries to sit up a bit and winces in pain at the effort. "Uh, hi there. Thank you for coming to see me. I have many questions about these Invid, but the only answers I have been able to see are from the records given to us by the Zentraedi. They have only one response to seeing them: kill on sight. Has there ever been an effort made to see just what they are fighting for? If we knew that, it could help to give us some insight as to their goals, and how to deal with them better. What can you tell me about them?" She doesn't say that her first thought is to find out if there has ever been an effort to sue for peace with them. Might not go over so well with the warrior women in front of me.

 

[Sherwood]

Following the Captain's gaze, she sees the two Paraxians coming in to talk with her. She tries to sit up a bit and winces in pain at the effort. "Uh, hi there. Thank you for coming to see me. I have many questions about these Invid, but the only answers I have been able to see are from the records given to us by the Zentraedi. They have only one response to seeing them: kill on sight. Has there ever been an effort made to see just what they are fighting for? If we knew that, it could help to give us some insight as to their goals, and how to deal with them better. What can you tell me about them?"

The Paraxian at your bedside looks sour. "I can tell you what is common knowledge to us, but there are some of our people that know more than I do about this. Once I have shared my story, I can get you in touch with some sages if you still want."

She settles back into story telling mode. "It was hundreds of years ago, when the Robotech Masters had just discovered the secrets of Protoculture and had created their Zentraedi army to be their enforcers. For some reason that I don't know, the Masters attacked the Invid in an unprovoked strike that rendered their planet unable to support life. Before this, the Invid were peaceful. After this attack, they changed. No longer the simple farmers, they were consumed with hate for the Robotech Masters. I cannot blame them for that, but their rage extends to anyone that uses the Protoculture technology and they move to either enslave or destroy all that stand before them."

The other woman says, "The Invid came to our world many years ago. We had hoped that the Zentraedi would be there to protect us, but they left us to our own battle." She looks bitter. "A battle that never happened. Our leaders were cowards, and let the invaders into our cities where our most precious resource lay: the Temples of Life and our Birthing Centers. Without the genetic materials inside the Temples, our race cannot reproduce. They use the threat of eventual extinction to keep those that would fight in line. If the rebels act out in any way without being able to secure the Temples of Life first, it will spell our doom. So, in the meantime, we are kept under their claws and used as slave labor, tending to the plants that they feed on that were scattered over our world by the Robotech Masters. The war leader of the Invid is a being calling itself the Regent. He is a force of pure hate and evil, and the sooner the universe is rid of him, the better it will be for all."

 

[Psychie]

Amanda frowns. "I have heard nothing but bad things about these Robotech Masters from every Zentraedi I have ever spoken to, so hearing that they made an unprovoked attack on a peaceful world is no real surprise to me. So, let me get this straight. Any race that has any connection to the Robotech Masters are immediately attacked by the Invid? Somehow, I don't think that they will respond kindly to us, either. Especially since we have Zentraedi in our ranks. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about this. If you don't mind, I am going to document this meeting to add what you have told me to our records. Others in our fleet need to know about the facts you have shared." The first instinct the High Command will have is to try and talk to the Invid. That might end up being disastrous to whatever unit making the attempt. This has to be shared with the higher ups.

 

[Kwops]

Nathan sits up in his bed as the door to his quarters opens, rubbing his eyes. "Hello? Who is it? I can't see much of anything right now."

 

[Sherwood]

With the start of a new day, Amanda wakes up feeling like a gigantic walking bruise, and your reflection in the mirror is quite a sight to behold. The doctor comes into your room and gives you the good news that you are being released to light duty only - no flight ops for you, and you can now head to your room and get a proper level of clean-up going on. For the next week as your ribs heal up, you will be spending your duty hours on the Command Deck under the watchful eye of the CAG.

Grumpy wakes early after a short nap before going back to work as a part of the design team examining the shield generator. It will take quite a while before it will be ready for testing, but every day you work on it brings you closer to a working test model. As the work starts on the repair work begins, you are learning more about the way the Paraxians manipulate gravity to make a deflector shield. The Chief Engineer on the Atlas has pulled a few strings and has gotten you set working on the project from your work station on the MacArthur so you don't have to commute back and forth between ships.

Chen's day is looking up. She is still floating on the high of the kiss that she got from Zyorna, and then you find a e-mail in your in box from her, asking if you'd like to accompany her over to the Atlas to oversee the repair needs of the Zentraedi's scout ship, Rhabwar. There are questions that need to be addressed by the Captain of the scout; will they join your fleet? If so, will the crew want to be micronized? Many of the mecha on board the Rhabwar are damaged or destroyed. Will they want to upgrade from their old mecha and switch to UEEF designs? All of this is going to have to be discussed, and having one of the officers that helped to save the scout ship along might help out.

With his mechanical knowledge, Nathan is tapped to join Grumpy in working on the shield generator. The level of science involved with this device is remarkable. It is almost comical that a race of warriors that go into a fight using bows and spears might have this kind of knowledge to be able to make this. Also, from what you have heard about the gravity generators from the old ship are much smaller and energy efficient than the ones in use by the UEEF, and this ship is hundreds of years old!

 

[Psychie]

As Amanda looks in the mirror at the black eye she has after her bout with Kara, she wonders if it would be worth her time to try to cover up the bruising with some make-up. After a few moments to ponder that, she decides against it; these were a badge of honor in her fight against the Paraxian, and she wouldn't want to ruin a budding friendship with the Amazons. Who knows how they might see her efforts to beautify herself.

So it is with her head held high that she walks through the ship to her first shift on the Command Deck, keenly aware of all the looks that she is getting from those that pass her by. Everyone knew the reason she was beat up, but there is no lack of smart ass comments. "What happened to you? Did you fall out of bed?" "Did you remember to use your fists in that fight, or did you plan on beating your face into her hand to make her surrender?"

Amanda laughs it off as best as she can. "You should see the other guy! When I say she was two feet taller than me, that's no fish story. And that chick can move for as big as she is, with one hell of a punch to go with it. I'm just lucky that I got out of the match as well off as I did!"

Once she gets to the Flight Operations Center, she makes sure to take a moment to try to talk to the CAG. "Sir, I know its probably above my pay grade to worry about this, but I've been learning some disturbing things about the Invid that was not in the Zentraedi records. It may be of interest to the Captain to hear this."

 

[Orikanyo]

Grumpy was, seemingly, back into the swing of being himself. Once the thrill of it all wore off, he was still looking at what is considered an antique by the Paraxian's standards, whatever those standards were. But at least the tech provided a good base for them to work with, hell they might make this thing fully their own by the time they've fully pulled all they can from this. Already they crw were planning for the decreased power consumption and space of the gravity generators.

He had only managed to get the Shield generator working again, but it was a start, in the very least it was rumbling and working when powered. getting it to create the field was another tricky thing, but with some elbow grease, a couple of wires, nearly electrocuting one's self a few(dozen) times they managed to get the beastie working somewhat. Though with the inital test the shield covered the whole damn table the target was on as opposed to just it.

But thats science for you.

One silly misstake at a time.

at least the shield works, hell he got Enri to toss a wrench at it to see if it works, though he lost the wrench from it being flinged... Somewhere... After impact the results were pretty good. he just needed something more safe to toss at the shielding. God knows it wont be ready for a small mecha yet, it was hard enoguh to get it to cover a stationary object, but a ship? Hes pretty certain he was close.

Now all he had to do was find the wrench... And figure out what that wierd noise is coming from the vent... Was that hole always there in the ceiling?

 

[Sherwood]

WlfSamurai
When the others of your squadron was out on a recon patrol, you were in the infirmary with a badly sprained arm, getting treated with drugs and a sling and brace to immobilize your arm, all thanks to the intense training given to you by the new martial arts instructors. When the word comes back to you that the others have made contact with a Zentraedi ship escorting another alien ship of unknown design, you are in your room resting up. While you are technically on sick leave for the next few days, that doesn't stop you from being nosy and heading to the hangar deck to look in on the rest of your team.

As the next few days go by, your arm is still sore, but you are cleared for light duty once again, and soon you'll be back on flight status.

 

[Sherwood]

Once she gets to the Flight Operations Center, she makes sure to take a moment to try to talk to the CAG. "Sir, I know its probably above my pay grade to worry about this, but I've been learning some disturbing things about the Invid that was not in the Zentraedi records. It may be of interest to the Captain to hear this."

Commander Holston looks up from the holotank with the display of all the allied ships in the area on it, showing the placement of the MacArthur's fighter squadrons on Combat Air Patrol along with the Veritechs from the other ships. He doesn't make any comments about your appearance, but instead nods over to his small office just off the main room, indicating for you to follow him. "Shut the door and take a seat. As I told you before, my door is always open to my pilots. If you have something you feel is critical to share, by all means, lay it out on the table and we can go from there. Just to let you know, I'm going to record this. So, what's on your mind, Lieutenant?"

Orikanyo
After performing your first Smoke Test (an old engineering term; turn it on and see if it smokes) on the shield, you now have a new list of things to look into that might have caused the slight quirky behavior from the old machine. From looking at the numbers, this generator is not going to ever be big enough to cover a ship by itself, but it will take several units to be able to protect one of the smaller ships such as a Garfish, and many more to be able to protect a ship as big as a Command Cruiser. The other option is to go with a similar system to what was used on the SDF-1 before the buggy main shield was fixed: a Pinpoint Barrier. The old ship used four operators to steer small force field bubbles about the outer hull of the ship to block incoming fire. Doing something similar will certainly free up a lot of space and power that a full shield will require, and still give your ships more protection.

On another front, one generator will probably be able to make a whole shield for a Veritech or Destroid. The only big question for the engineers is where to put it, and how much power from the Protoculture cells will it drain? One spot that could possibly be used to house the shield on a Veritech is the Cyclone storage bay, but that would cost the pilot the sense of back up of having the small cycle mecha available to them if it is ever needed. Any other location would require the removal of armor or weapons, so that might not be the most popular option. Some work still remains to be able to miniaturize it enough to be effective on a Veritech, but the bigger Destroids might be able to benefit from this shield sooner; they don't need to worry about being aerodynamic and weight is less of a concern to them. Sadly, the little Cyclones are far too small to be able to fit a shield unless they get much smaller.

 

[Kwops]

Nathan scratches his chin, slowly progressing to his neck, then turns to look at Grumpy. "This thing isn't big enough. It can't put out the kind of shield we need to cover the ship. Multiple units, maybe, but do we actually have multiple units? Not sure I could cobble together enough to extend over the ship, this is advanced tech. I more have experience with vehicles, Veritechs recently included. Shield generators are outside my areas of particular expertise."

 

[Psychie]

Amanda pulls out the small tablet that she has her notes on about the conversation she had with the Paraxians. "Sir, while the Zentraedi have a lot of history with the Invid, they are very closed minded. I was able to get some information that was not in the records, and while it needs to be confirmed, it does give a slightly different point of view. I am not saying we should go into our next encounter with the Invid with open arms and hope for peace, especially since we have a large contingent of Zentraedi that are our allies. The Invid may just go ahead and lump us into the same category as them, and leave us with no choice other than to fight them. I strongly urge that we get more info from the other races and see what they have to share with us."

 

[Orikanyo]

"Well, guess we'll have to make due with what we CAN do." the man looked over towards the machine, wondering what they could do. "If we could replicate the tech... Maybe make it bigger for ships..." the man thought about it, wondering what they could do. "Well, count our blessings it's running, we should report that and what possibly it could be used for... Maybe even try and copy it or use some diagnostic machine to get it fully looked at.

What we also could do is.. approach the paraxians on the matter, there has to be somebody who has some knowledge about these things... She has to be around... heres hoping they don't try and make us wrestle them for the information.." Grumpy sighed, fileing away the thoughts popping up in that regard. "We should bring what we have to command, but we need someone with some experience with the technology to help us in this, or at least give some sort of word in how it fully operates. We have proof it works, it's a tad lack luster, but even with the gravity generators we've been largely making good progress."

Grumpy smirked towards Nathan "Alien tech is what i've been dreaming about, may as well ask the aliens they came from eh? Can't all be warriors alone, hopefully." the man set off with his notes.

 

[Sherwood]

After a week on the restricted duty list, Ty and Amanda are both allowed back into flight status, both with a word of warning not to get into fights like you did to get hurt again. Sad as it is, that means that the team will once more be tasked to do combat patrols on occasion, tearing everyone away from the engineering work that has consumed so much of your attention lately.

With the sudden influx of aliens expressing an interest in the fleet, the Atlas is getting busy with admitting many of your new arrivals into the simulators to teach them how to operate the tech that the UEEF has brought along. It will be some time before the various new pilots will be qualified enough to join the ranks in the cockpit, but they are on the way.

Also in the news is the fact that the Atlas is beginning construction on a new Garfish class ship to begin to replace the three vessels that were lost in action against the Zentraedi destroyers in this system, and its expected to have its commissioning ceremony in three months when its complete. All of this is going on at the same time that the Zentraedi Scout ship is undergoing a major refit. While the surviving crew of the Rhabwar plan on staying full sized, with the losses they suffered, there is no lack of space to convert parts of the ship to human scale, and there are plans to shift over some Alpha and Betas to bolster the mecha complement of the ship with their REF pilots and support staff. Combining the REF teams with the firepower of the Female Powered Armor, this will be a very formidable ship.

The work on the new artificial gravity generators is moving along quickly, with the Atlas starting to turn out duplicates of the tech to start upgrading the various ships of the 3rd AED, and the designs have been transmitted across to the main flagship of the whole fleet, the SDF-3 Pioneer, for inclusion in all the ships out here.

While the addition of the new artificial gravity systems into the fleet is good news, it is not as exciting as the new Pinpoint Barrier shields that are being worked on. From the initial testing that is underway, it looks like they will be small enough to fit two on a ship as small as a Garfish, with as many as four to six on larger ships like the Command Cruisers or the Escort Carriers. Once several new shields are complete, there is plans to install them first on the Lenin, the ship that is under the command of Fleet Admiral Kutzuzov for a full scale live fire test on how well the system will work. If successful, the ships of the 3rd AED will be upgraded one by one to house the new systems.