WotH Chpt 11

==War on the Horizon - Chapter 11 ==
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===Eager Engineers===
November 4, 3008/7947 CRC, Beloria system, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories
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How's everything coming, Mac?" I asked McAllister as I entered the massive garage. 
 
"Fookin great!" The giant of Irish descent scooped me up into a hug. "Blue er's a Godsend, and a right wiz with the numbers!" 
 
"You're one of the new hires," I said to the Twi'lek as soon as I was released from the bear hug. "Colonel Hull," I stuck out my hand to shake.
 
"Sanal Adra," the Twi'lek replied as she responded with a firm grip. "It's a pleasure to work with people who love this kind of thing as much as I do."
 
"McAllister is one of my most valuable resources," I smiled. "And he's damned good at his job. I'm really only here to pick his brain about some stuff."
 
"Well, we've been doing some tests on those walkers of yours," Sanal said as Mac went back to his work. "They're terrific machines, but the modifications that he wants to make just aren't ready yet. Could be a few years before we're able to mount the Repulsors and Deflector shields like he wants."
 
"I'm not here about that," I smiled a bit. "I'm about to head back over to Sullust to collect the Whirlwind, and I was going to see who he had assigned to take over the Dropship program."
 
"Actually, you're talking to her," Sanal smiled. "Your tech was simple enough to pick up, and its longevity is something to be admired, so I spent a lot of the past year learning everything I could about it. And when you combine that with my degree and background in ships and engineering."
 
"Got it," I smiled. "I know that we managed to piece together a refit for both of our Stings fairly early on, but I was curious to see what your thoughts were on the Spheroids that we've got."
 
"Turn them into Command and control centers," Sanal said bluntly. "Add in some of those machine shops that you've got and turn 'em into logistics hubs. They're going to be decently fast when I'm done with them, but you're going to lose out on some of the capacity for the walkers and tanks that you've got," she shrugged. "Stick with the Aerodynes for rapid delivery of your combat systems, once we get the repulsors mounted on the combat vehicles and properly tested you should be able to drop the tanks from any height short of low orbit and they'll be fine."
 
"Any other thoughts?" I asked. 
 
"Your Starfighters are awesome," her eyes lit up. "And they'll really turn the tide in space if you can get some proton torpedoes or something else to supplement them with."
 
"Some of our spheroids are already specced out for carrying ASF," I pointed to the Union CV that was parked in the distance. "And I wanted to retain the ability to use the Jumpship collars to carry some of our ships."
 
"Let me talk some stuff over with the other techs and engineers," Sanal said as she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it before stuffing it into her jumpsuit's pockets. "I'll have Mac send you a memo when I've got more detailed plans for the upgrades." 
 
"I'll do that," I chuckled as I let her get back to her work, the sense of urgency in her voice and actions told me that our conversation was over. 
 
"Gotta love the engineers," I walked towards where the Archon's Favor was waiting to take me to Sullust. "Always busy doing something or another."
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===Dealing frustration of Politics===
A few days later…
"Now, it took an extra two months for the refits to be finished," I told the owner of the yard. "So I expect some really good work."
 
"It took us a bit longer because we had to wait on some parts, but I think you'll love what we've done to her," the man smiled as he showed off the Whirlwind in her rebuilt glory. 
 
"Now, working around that fancy drive of yours was a bit of a pain at first, but then we looked at your requirements and my people went a little crazy at the power levels that we were able to crank out of the thing. This ship is probably the fastest ship in the whole galaxy right now," he pointed at the Lucrehulk engines that looked shiny and new. "We tuned the engines to provide the sorta thrust that you normally get out of a starfighter, and with the addition of the artificial gravity generators and the extra power from the generators we were able to put some serious deflectors on this thing."
 
"So we've got speed and defenses," I said as the tubular design of the Jumpship was shown on a holographic table. "What else are we working with?"
"Well, given the modular nature of the ship, we were able to build a framework around it," a layer of the hologram peeled away to reveal the original ship. "Essentially giving you a double hull, and then we worked out from there. You've got eight Quad Turbolaser batteries with overlapping lanes of fire, and two proton torpedo tubes. Now, I wasn't allowed to add anything else to that due to the current laws in place, but we did add over a dozen modular hardpoints so you can add or remove weapons as you desire. Then, we took the hyperdrive and sold it to a collector, that thing was worth more than the refits that you wanted to be done. We then greased a few wheels and bought a class 2 hyperdrive and installed it," the man grinned. "With a backup class one hyperdrive if you need a bit of speed."
 
"Why not just install the class one as the main drive?" I asked. 
 
"A class 2 hyperdrive is the fastest I'm legally allowed to put in a ship as the main drive unless you've got authorization as a planetary defense force," The man shrugged. "But there's nothing in the books about what class your backup hyperdrive is required to be."
 
"Alright," I said after a moment to take everything in. "What do I owe you?"
 
"Nothing," the man said with a grin. "In fact, I owe you a bit of money, that collector paid a lot more credits than this refit cost, so I'm willing to do another one of these if you've got one."
 
"Unfortunately, I don't have another hyperdrive that old," I chuckled. "I've got another ship that's virtually identical to this one if the extra credits are enough to refit it as well."
 
"We'll start on it when you bring it in," the owner said with a grin. "I'll run some numbers and get back to you with a price."
 
"Pleasure doing business with you," I shook the hand of the shipyard owner. 
 
"Likewise."
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===Reactions===
"Hey boss," Hober said as we began attaching to the Whirlwind's collars. "I gotta ask. What's the odds of me being able to transfer?"
 
 "Feeling small?" I chuckled. 
 
 "More like outgunned," the man replied as the Whirlwind began moving away from the shipyard. "I think we might need to do some modifications to the rest of our stuff if they turn out that good."
 
 "I think a large part of it is that there just aren't shipyards like that in the Inner Sphere anymore," I said as the strange glow of hyperspace filled the cockpit. "And now that there are yards available it almost seems…" I trailed off. 
 "Unreal," Hober agreed. "Our DroST refits were the first new design or refits to come out in centuries back home."
 
 "And a fine job that you and that team did," I patted the man on the back. "We'll get your ship up to speed soon enough," I leaned my chair back. "Besides, I doubt anything in any universe would like to take your Sting on in the atmosphere."
 
 "Damn straight," Hober chuckled. "This is my flying blender of a dropship, and don't you forget it."
 
 "I'm gonna go get some rest," I allowed my head to hit the comfortable back and neck rest of the chair. "Wake me up if anything interesting happens."
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==Chapter Notes==
*;Author's Note: The Force Composition page has been updated with some of the ships that have been modified. Some things have been left out simply because I haven't written the changes into the story yet. Also, I can't give the actual details of the mods in an informational as I used to in Blood on the Horizon. Mostly because Megameklab doesn't exactly have quad turbolasers or hyperdrives.
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Chapter 11