ALJ Chpt 40

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 40 - A Long Journey==
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28 February 2786
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
Warrant Officer Bart Cooks cursed for the umpteenth time as work was being done on the ancient Aquilla Transport being converted to a "pocket warship". His calculations showed that the ships reactor would not provide the power needed for even the three Light Naval Gauss being fitted to the nose arc. Nor could it even feed the amount of power needed for the smallest Naval Laser. So he ordered the ships reactor removed and replaced with a reactor pulled from a Mako Corvette. Once they finished, he would have to re-calibrate the ships systems to account for the increased power and then run more tests charging the drive so they didn't blow out the core or power converters. He kept detailed notes in case they had to work on the other Aquilla Transports, which he figured was an almost certainty. 
The main problem was they did not have anymore spare reactors to sub in for the weak Aquilla Transport. This was going to be a problem and a huge one if he had to modify the others. About the only thing the existing Aquilla reactors could handle would be a max of four White Shark launchers and a few anti fighter weapons. Another problem that had reared it's head quickly was fire control systems, which the Aquilla did not even have a primitive one. In addition the ships sensors were not worth a crap in his opinion, but he did not have time to mess with that problem. It was going to be all he could do to even make this upgrade work.
Now, if he could get his hands on those Trackers, they would be a completely different beast to modify into proper warships since they already sort of were. He was making notes as he thought out what he wanted to do with the Tracker ships. He figured he could add a reactor meant for a Merchant Jumpship and have that power the additional weapons he might add. He would have to get his hands on one and basically pull it apart to work out the kinks to his mind planning. Once he had one, he could pull the damage control and internal structure information to help guide his thinking more. It was a new task that excited him and he knew the others in the Tiger Team would enjoy figuring this stuff out too. He might not have been trained years ago as a designer, but he had spent almost twenty years putting ships together and pulling them apart. He would just have to convince everyone above him to allow him to tear one apart and play with it as a test ship. He also might not be military but he had been around a long time and wrote down what he wanted to try and create.
-Tracker Corvette (12 Fighters)
-Tracker Baby Carrier (18 Fighters)
-Tracker Carrier (36 Fighters)
He figured the Corvette could handle 3-4 Naval Laser 55 plus a good assortment of anti fighter weapons easily off the Merchant's reactor since that was all it was going to be powering. He had seen what concentrated Aerospace fighter attacks could do to SLDF warships so planned to add in a good array of weapons to try and counter them. He also wanted to make sure the Corvette had it's own fighter cover for that reason. The really nice thing about the idea that made him smile was a future reaction on someone's face when they expect a Merchant Jumpship only to for themselves facing an actual warship.
On the surface, Major Jameson and his new command were boarding Dropships for the trip back to Morgan's Holdfast. He had smiled as he watched the techs and astechs literally pack the Dropships with spare parts and ammunition. His new command even had enough technicians and support troops to support everything. Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell had promised a monthly visit by a ship to check on them until such time as they could figure out the communication situation. 
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On the continent of Minami's Hole, the single vent had increased to over 100 small vents emitting Sulphur covering an area of 73 miles by 86 miles. The surface of that area had risen by 7 inches in just a few months.
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