Mao

***The Mao*** is a ship formerly belonging to BeiTech Industries, that was later commandeered by the Kerenza IV and *Heimdall* refugee fleet.

## General Information

### Captain

Travis Falk (formerly)
Syra Boll (formerly)
Winifred McCall

## Statistics

### Crew

Fleur Russo (formerly)
Kady Grant
Ezra Mason
Ella Malikova
Nik Malikov
Isaac Grant
Ben Garver

## Plot

### Gemina

The *Mao* is used to transport the BeiTech assault squad (consisting of Travis Falk and Fleur Russo, among others) to Heimdall Jump Station. The auditors proceed to take over the station in the Terra Day attack, moving into the late Station Commander Charles Donnelly's office to use as base of operations. At the end of the book, the survivors use the now-crewless Mao to escape from the station, jump through the station's wormhole, and rendezvous with the survivors aboard the *Hypatia* on the other side.

### Obsidio

In *Obsidio*, the ship starts under the command of Captain Syra Boll, formerly captain of the *Hypatia*. In an effort to conserve enough resources for the trip back to Kerenza IV and keep Kady Grant safe, AIDAN pumps carbon monoxide onto one of the floors, killing everyone present and saving only an infant girl named Hypatia and her parents. This causes uproar, and a schism forming between those who support Boll's captainship and those who wish to overthrow her.

As a result, an insurrection led by Ben Garver hits the overcrowded ship, seeking to improve the current living conditions of the refugees and lead the ship away from Kerenza IV, where there may still be survivors of the BeiTech occupation. By doing so they also forego any hope of gathering enough resources on Kerenza to jump back to the Core Systems and spreading word of BeiTech's crimes. The rebellion is put down by Kady, Hanna, Ezra, Nik, Ella and AIDAN, and Captain Winifred McCall assumes command.

On the *Mao* the crew start to plan a surprise attack on Kerenza IV to retake the planet from BeiTech. This is when they receive a distress transmission from the planet's surface, sent by Asha Grant and the rest of the resistance forces with the help of Rhys Lindstrom. The two parties coordinate an assault on the BeiTech troops both on land and in the air. When the battle begins, some of the survivors (such as Kady and Ella) stay on the *Mao* to organize fighting and perform cyberattacks. In the meantime, Hanna, McCall, Garver and others secure the *Magellan*, while Ezra, Nik, and the other pilots fly down to the planet's surface to attack BeiTech ground forces.

After the takeover, it is assumed that the survivors use the *Mao* and other ships to move to the Ptolemy system with the captured mobile jump gate technology. That is where they stay for the next few months, gathering and organizing information in preparation of using it in a court case against BeiTech, before jumping to the Core Systems and broadcasting to the entire universe what BeiTech has done.

## Trivia

* The *Mao* is said to look "like a Griffon-class from the Vitus shipyards", similar to a common workhorse freighter, and remarkably unremarkable.
* It has a rectangular shape, with the front and back somewhat bigger. Its thrusters are around eight stories, but even those are tiny compared to the rest of the ship. It bears the marks of many micro-meteors, but considering what it goes through in the books, remains worthy of use.
* According to AIDAN, "the engines are military grade... [and] the hull is siege-class reinforced titanium". Despite its innocent looks, the ship is remarkably well-armed and ready for combat.
* Before and during the Terra Day attack, the ship is docked in Bay 17 of the *Heimdall*. Naxos "Two-Time" Antoniou and Tracy "Mantis" Lê remain on the ship for the entire invasion, and are taken hostage by the *Heimdall* survivors. The two are later poisoned with carbon monoxide by AIDAN as a test, without the knowing and against the wishes of Captain Boll.