AN// This is a continuation of the Not Quite SHODAN (ST SI) series with the previous story being...
The Next Generation (Star Trek)
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AN// This is a continuation of the Not Quite SHODAN (ST SI) series with the previous story being The First Duty. You should read the rest of the series first or I promise you will be horribly confused. I would also like to thank everyone that is helping to betaing this story and slaying those evil errors for everyone else! It really helps.
Now, on with the story!
__________________
Shrugging my jacket on, I looked out the window towards the planet below. Glancing in the mirror I frowned.
Hair up or down?
Up, will make things easier. Snatching up a hair band, I walked over to look out the window again. The clouds whirled in the gas giant far below the Ship.
After all this time…
"Are you ready, Sansha?" a voice asked and I turned to look to the holographic image of my…
Creator? Caretaker... Mother?
Mother.
GSV 'The Importance of Korrect Spelling', Korra, smiled at me and I nodded, "Ready."
She nodded and then crossed her arms, "You know you don't have to do this, right?"
Sighing, I shook my head, "I know. But I want to know what it's like. You and the others all love it."
Korra frowned and sat down on my bed, "Sansha, you may be based on our neural architecture, but you aren't a fork. You don't have our hangups, our… you are different than the rest of us."
Moving to sit down next to her hologram, I nodded.
I was an… not an experiment, not exactly, but more an attempt to recreate what made the previous generation. So, they made me.
The Kernel of a Jovian with small adjustments, all memories stripped away and then raised in a computer program, just like they were.
But not with the cruelty of… grandfather, I suppose.
As soon as I was old enough to understand, Korra told me what was happening, what I was. She taught me, let me meet people, and the simulation moved to a holodeck.
When nobody real was there, but only her and other Jovians, the speeds were three to one.
By the time I was thirteen subjective years old, I was transferred to a real world avatar. There had been… difficulties. Learning to control an entirely new body.
That was three years ago.
"I want to, mom," I said and then smiled a bit, "I'm the first real second generation. Even if I didn't want to know what it was like to live like you and the others, I do have some responsibility to find out what I can do."
"If we didn't think you could, we wouldn't let you try," She said and then got up with her hologram, "Better get going."
Nodding, I got up and then looked around for the last time. Next time I returned, it would be with my… well, this body but as an avatar, not my primary platform. Maybe not even that if I got a new avatar.
Who knew how long that could take? Hours, days… weeks maybe. Depended on how quickly I adjusted.
Shaking my head, I walked out. I could do this. I would do this.
As soon as I walked out I smiled, "Mark! You made it! I thought you were grounded!"
He grinned and nodded, pulling his hands from his pockets and returned my hug, "Mom let me out for this, she knew how important it was."
Letting go of the hug, I smiled up at my best friend. He was taller than my avatar by almost a head. Not that strange to be honest, I haven't changed my body much since I left the holodeck, so I looked pretty much the same other than the soft features.
I'd likely change to a different one for my avatar, might as well get used to two new bodies rather than one.
I might actually be looking forward to that more than becoming a Ship, I'd at least be able to look my age.
"Awesome."
"Nervous?" He asked and started to follow along down the corridor towards the closest turbolift.
I nodded, "…Yeah. This is kind of massive, even with what Korra and the others told me, and I never had as limited senses as you…" I teased before I grinned and ducked the swat at the back of my head.
Too slow!
I never did have as limited senses, even growing up in the holodeck. I was running full tricorder sensors since before I got my first avatar.
Once, after getting my first avatar, I tried limiting things to human levels. I never tried it again, it was pretty terrifying.
Even back in the sim I had way more. Humans were limited to just a small limited range of the electromagnetic spectrum and some limited chemical and vibration senses. I tried to explain it to Mark before, and he just shrugged and said he didn't have anything to compare it to.
That did make sense, and made me feel a bit sorry for him to be honest.
"So, think you'll make the party next week?" He asked as the doors opened to reveal one of the Ship's shuttlebays.
I shook my head, "Don't know, maybe? I need to figure this out and get used to a new avatar too. Might not make it."
"Ah."
Crossing the deck, we walked over to where one of Korra's avatars was waiting with a smile. She was standing next to a Nile class runabout.
The smooth aerodynamic hull shone in basic white, the shape being more or less a flattened and extended egg with the nacelles flowing into the hull. No windows.
It'll be me in a little bit.
...I'll finally have curves!
Stopping, Mark smiled at me, "I'll wait here. Good luck."
Nodding, I shot him a smile in turn before I walked over to Korra, "I'm ready," I told her. She nodded and led me around the back of the runabout towards the hatch.
"You know," she said thoughtfully, "Eventually this might even be some kind of milestone for our people."
"Like, after becoming a Ship, I'm suddenly an adult?" I asked her with a grin, "Wow."
She ruffled my hair, "Not quite but close, perhaps when you can actually manage flying freely on your own. I'd say you are getting there quickly. Even so this is a big step."
Rolling my eyes, I pulled away out of her reach before walking onto the flightdeck of the small ship. Very little in the way of controls, quite a bit when it came to monitors. At the center console, the hatch was open to reveal a docking port.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded to myself and shrugged off my jacket and folded it, putting it on one of the chairs before I looked at Korra.
She smiled at me reassuringly, "It'll be fine. Engines, weapons and anything else that can hurt anyone are deactivated until you get used to it."
Nodding, I turned my back to the docking port and reached down to pull my t-shirt halfway up my back, before I popped the hatch to my docking port and disconnected and floated away from what had been my body for the last three years.
As soon as I disconnected, it froze in that position.
Floating around on puffs of air, I moved to look at my old face, running my tricorder senses all around.
"Go on, Sansha," Korra encouraged me, "You can do it, I know you can."
"…Just a bit nervous," I admitted and then sighed, "Put it into storage? I want to design a new avatar for when I can connect to it."
"Will do."
Floating over to the ship's computer dock, I swallowed my fear and settled down on it, triggering the connection protocol.
The locking arms closed around me, pulling me down into the darkness beneath the console and I tried my best not to panic as blast shields closed around me, cutting me completely off from the outside world.
Then the connection with my new body finished its handshake protocols, and I had access to the runabout's entire sensor suite.
Oh my god.
It's full of stars.
Now, on with the story!
__________________
Shrugging my jacket on, I looked out the window towards the planet below. Glancing in the mirror I frowned.
Hair up or down?
Up, will make things easier. Snatching up a hair band, I walked over to look out the window again. The clouds whirled in the gas giant far below the Ship.
After all this time…
"Are you ready, Sansha?" a voice asked and I turned to look to the holographic image of my…
Creator? Caretaker... Mother?
Mother.
GSV 'The Importance of Korrect Spelling', Korra, smiled at me and I nodded, "Ready."
She nodded and then crossed her arms, "You know you don't have to do this, right?"
Sighing, I shook my head, "I know. But I want to know what it's like. You and the others all love it."
Korra frowned and sat down on my bed, "Sansha, you may be based on our neural architecture, but you aren't a fork. You don't have our hangups, our… you are different than the rest of us."
Moving to sit down next to her hologram, I nodded.
I was an… not an experiment, not exactly, but more an attempt to recreate what made the previous generation. So, they made me.
The Kernel of a Jovian with small adjustments, all memories stripped away and then raised in a computer program, just like they were.
But not with the cruelty of… grandfather, I suppose.
As soon as I was old enough to understand, Korra told me what was happening, what I was. She taught me, let me meet people, and the simulation moved to a holodeck.
When nobody real was there, but only her and other Jovians, the speeds were three to one.
By the time I was thirteen subjective years old, I was transferred to a real world avatar. There had been… difficulties. Learning to control an entirely new body.
That was three years ago.
"I want to, mom," I said and then smiled a bit, "I'm the first real second generation. Even if I didn't want to know what it was like to live like you and the others, I do have some responsibility to find out what I can do."
"If we didn't think you could, we wouldn't let you try," She said and then got up with her hologram, "Better get going."
Nodding, I got up and then looked around for the last time. Next time I returned, it would be with my… well, this body but as an avatar, not my primary platform. Maybe not even that if I got a new avatar.
Who knew how long that could take? Hours, days… weeks maybe. Depended on how quickly I adjusted.
Shaking my head, I walked out. I could do this. I would do this.
As soon as I walked out I smiled, "Mark! You made it! I thought you were grounded!"
He grinned and nodded, pulling his hands from his pockets and returned my hug, "Mom let me out for this, she knew how important it was."
Letting go of the hug, I smiled up at my best friend. He was taller than my avatar by almost a head. Not that strange to be honest, I haven't changed my body much since I left the holodeck, so I looked pretty much the same other than the soft features.
I'd likely change to a different one for my avatar, might as well get used to two new bodies rather than one.
I might actually be looking forward to that more than becoming a Ship, I'd at least be able to look my age.
"Awesome."
"Nervous?" He asked and started to follow along down the corridor towards the closest turbolift.
I nodded, "…Yeah. This is kind of massive, even with what Korra and the others told me, and I never had as limited senses as you…" I teased before I grinned and ducked the swat at the back of my head.
Too slow!
I never did have as limited senses, even growing up in the holodeck. I was running full tricorder sensors since before I got my first avatar.
Once, after getting my first avatar, I tried limiting things to human levels. I never tried it again, it was pretty terrifying.
Even back in the sim I had way more. Humans were limited to just a small limited range of the electromagnetic spectrum and some limited chemical and vibration senses. I tried to explain it to Mark before, and he just shrugged and said he didn't have anything to compare it to.
That did make sense, and made me feel a bit sorry for him to be honest.
"So, think you'll make the party next week?" He asked as the doors opened to reveal one of the Ship's shuttlebays.
I shook my head, "Don't know, maybe? I need to figure this out and get used to a new avatar too. Might not make it."
"Ah."
Crossing the deck, we walked over to where one of Korra's avatars was waiting with a smile. She was standing next to a Nile class runabout.
The smooth aerodynamic hull shone in basic white, the shape being more or less a flattened and extended egg with the nacelles flowing into the hull. No windows.
It'll be me in a little bit.
...I'll finally have curves!
Stopping, Mark smiled at me, "I'll wait here. Good luck."
Nodding, I shot him a smile in turn before I walked over to Korra, "I'm ready," I told her. She nodded and led me around the back of the runabout towards the hatch.
"You know," she said thoughtfully, "Eventually this might even be some kind of milestone for our people."
"Like, after becoming a Ship, I'm suddenly an adult?" I asked her with a grin, "Wow."
She ruffled my hair, "Not quite but close, perhaps when you can actually manage flying freely on your own. I'd say you are getting there quickly. Even so this is a big step."
Rolling my eyes, I pulled away out of her reach before walking onto the flightdeck of the small ship. Very little in the way of controls, quite a bit when it came to monitors. At the center console, the hatch was open to reveal a docking port.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded to myself and shrugged off my jacket and folded it, putting it on one of the chairs before I looked at Korra.
She smiled at me reassuringly, "It'll be fine. Engines, weapons and anything else that can hurt anyone are deactivated until you get used to it."
Nodding, I turned my back to the docking port and reached down to pull my t-shirt halfway up my back, before I popped the hatch to my docking port and disconnected and floated away from what had been my body for the last three years.
As soon as I disconnected, it froze in that position.
Floating around on puffs of air, I moved to look at my old face, running my tricorder senses all around.
"Go on, Sansha," Korra encouraged me, "You can do it, I know you can."
"…Just a bit nervous," I admitted and then sighed, "Put it into storage? I want to design a new avatar for when I can connect to it."
"Will do."
Floating over to the ship's computer dock, I swallowed my fear and settled down on it, triggering the connection protocol.
The locking arms closed around me, pulling me down into the darkness beneath the console and I tried my best not to panic as blast shields closed around me, cutting me completely off from the outside world.
Then the connection with my new body finished its handshake protocols, and I had access to the runabout's entire sensor suite.
Oh my god.
It's full of stars.
It took a while to get used to what I was experiencing. Sure, I could detect gravity and stuff before, but it nowhere near with this resolution. I could see gravity waves like this!
Then there was subspace too, an entire layer of reality I couldn't even detect before!
It was amazing.
Compared to this, my old body was as limited as a human was. Of course, this all came with the drawback that I was basically back to square one again.
Sure, a couple of things were somewhat similar to my base platform, the one I used to switch between bodies and that contained my Quantum Core, but not a lot.
Four days since I was installed in my new body and I was just starting to understand what I was seeing.
"Korra," I transmitted, "I think I figured out the subspace transmitter."
"That you have," she answered as she opened a channel with a smile, "How does it feel?"
I scanned the hangar all around me. Some drones and personnel were moving around, but mostly I was alone.
"I'm… good. This is amazing."
"It gets better when you are actually flying," she answered, "Think you are ready?"
I hesitated for a second, "Maybe? I think I got a handle on most things now."
"Start with turning your perception to max."
I did as she said, cranking up to a hundred times normal human perception speed. The people around me slowed down to a crawl in a way, but still moved normally.
It's a bit strange to be honest. Everything still moved at the same speed as before, but I could… it was like being able to pick the speed you thought at. I suppose I better get used to it, none of the ships I talked to ever really saw a point to drop below it for normal operations.
"Ready."
She nodded, "Excellent. I'm moving you outside and then I'm going to activate your thrusters. As soon as you are in full control, I'll have a drone remove my overrides."
"Okay, mom."
Tractor beams activated, and if I had had muscles, I would have tensed up as they picked me up and moved me towards the exit of the shuttlebay, the doors opening even as a forcefield kept the air inside.
Sliding through the forcefield was amazing. It crackled across my hull and suddenly I became aware of the crushing pressure I had been under until that point.
The difference between atmosphere and vacuum was incredible.
But even so, I barely noticed it. I was too busy marvelling at the universe all around. Inside the hangar I had been limited to some radiation, gravity and subspace.
Out here…
I could see everything. From the composition of distant stars to the sparkling radiation and magnetic fields surrounding the gas giant we were orbiting. The dance of moons around the ringed planet and the movement on Korra's park deck.
Distant pulsars in far away galaxies glittered, radio and microwaves made the universe shine. It was…
Barely comparable to the view of subspace, an entire layer of reality I had not even been able to see before.
The tractor beams switched emitters and moved me along her hull to float next to her in orbit, before letting go, and I felt other systems come under my control.
Picking through the computer for ideas on how to use them, I then fed power into the shield grid, bringing the energy field up around me.
I could feel the light and radiation from the distant star and the planet below stroke and ripple across my shields, and a tiny little micrometeoroid shattered and turned into gas as it smacked into me.
This was so amazing.
Getting a feel for the other systems, I have one thruster a small puff of power.
…Okay, I'm spinning now. This is not an improvement.
"Mom! Stop laughing, I'm trying!" I complained and puffed another thruster with power, slowly stopping the spinning, but now I was drifting slowly away and 'down' relative to the GSV.
Ugh!
Carefully working the thrusters, I slowly made my way back towards where I used to be. The piloting and physics lessons since before I left the sim helped a lot with being able to get this stuff. And years of astrometric navigation would come in handy later.
"…This is going to take a while to get used to, won't it?" I sighed and slowly worked into a roll.
Weeee!
Korra smiled, "You're doing well, faster than I learned first time I was installed in a ship. Don't worry, give it a couple of days and you'll be a natural at it. I'll activate your impulse drive as soon as you're comfortable with the thrusters."
"Okay…" I answered and slowly slowed my rotation, "Uhm… how quickly do you think I could get an avatar going?"
"In a couple of hours if you think you can handle it. Using an avatar along with your body is going to take a little getting used to. How so?"
"…Well, there is that party in three days…"
She grinned, "Oh? Is Mark going to be there?"
"Nothing like that!" I groaned, "We're friends, that's all. But it's the graduation party, we are all splitting up after. I might never see some of the rest of the class again, some are even moving off you later."
Korra nodded with a smile, "Just teasing. Take a day or so to get used to this and then we'll get working on your avatar. You are used to a bipedal form, it shouldn't be too tricky for you as long as you keep things simple."
"Thank you."
AN// Sorry for late post, crisis at work so busy morning.
Then there was subspace too, an entire layer of reality I couldn't even detect before!
It was amazing.
Compared to this, my old body was as limited as a human was. Of course, this all came with the drawback that I was basically back to square one again.
Sure, a couple of things were somewhat similar to my base platform, the one I used to switch between bodies and that contained my Quantum Core, but not a lot.
Four days since I was installed in my new body and I was just starting to understand what I was seeing.
"Korra," I transmitted, "I think I figured out the subspace transmitter."
"That you have," she answered as she opened a channel with a smile, "How does it feel?"
I scanned the hangar all around me. Some drones and personnel were moving around, but mostly I was alone.
"I'm… good. This is amazing."
"It gets better when you are actually flying," she answered, "Think you are ready?"
I hesitated for a second, "Maybe? I think I got a handle on most things now."
"Start with turning your perception to max."
I did as she said, cranking up to a hundred times normal human perception speed. The people around me slowed down to a crawl in a way, but still moved normally.
It's a bit strange to be honest. Everything still moved at the same speed as before, but I could… it was like being able to pick the speed you thought at. I suppose I better get used to it, none of the ships I talked to ever really saw a point to drop below it for normal operations.
"Ready."
She nodded, "Excellent. I'm moving you outside and then I'm going to activate your thrusters. As soon as you are in full control, I'll have a drone remove my overrides."
"Okay, mom."
Tractor beams activated, and if I had had muscles, I would have tensed up as they picked me up and moved me towards the exit of the shuttlebay, the doors opening even as a forcefield kept the air inside.
Sliding through the forcefield was amazing. It crackled across my hull and suddenly I became aware of the crushing pressure I had been under until that point.
The difference between atmosphere and vacuum was incredible.
But even so, I barely noticed it. I was too busy marvelling at the universe all around. Inside the hangar I had been limited to some radiation, gravity and subspace.
Out here…
I could see everything. From the composition of distant stars to the sparkling radiation and magnetic fields surrounding the gas giant we were orbiting. The dance of moons around the ringed planet and the movement on Korra's park deck.
Distant pulsars in far away galaxies glittered, radio and microwaves made the universe shine. It was…
Barely comparable to the view of subspace, an entire layer of reality I had not even been able to see before.
The tractor beams switched emitters and moved me along her hull to float next to her in orbit, before letting go, and I felt other systems come under my control.
Picking through the computer for ideas on how to use them, I then fed power into the shield grid, bringing the energy field up around me.
I could feel the light and radiation from the distant star and the planet below stroke and ripple across my shields, and a tiny little micrometeoroid shattered and turned into gas as it smacked into me.
This was so amazing.
Getting a feel for the other systems, I have one thruster a small puff of power.
…Okay, I'm spinning now. This is not an improvement.
"Mom! Stop laughing, I'm trying!" I complained and puffed another thruster with power, slowly stopping the spinning, but now I was drifting slowly away and 'down' relative to the GSV.
Ugh!
Carefully working the thrusters, I slowly made my way back towards where I used to be. The piloting and physics lessons since before I left the sim helped a lot with being able to get this stuff. And years of astrometric navigation would come in handy later.
"…This is going to take a while to get used to, won't it?" I sighed and slowly worked into a roll.
Weeee!
Korra smiled, "You're doing well, faster than I learned first time I was installed in a ship. Don't worry, give it a couple of days and you'll be a natural at it. I'll activate your impulse drive as soon as you're comfortable with the thrusters."
"Okay…" I answered and slowly slowed my rotation, "Uhm… how quickly do you think I could get an avatar going?"
"In a couple of hours if you think you can handle it. Using an avatar along with your body is going to take a little getting used to. How so?"
"…Well, there is that party in three days…"
She grinned, "Oh? Is Mark going to be there?"
"Nothing like that!" I groaned, "We're friends, that's all. But it's the graduation party, we are all splitting up after. I might never see some of the rest of the class again, some are even moving off you later."
Korra nodded with a smile, "Just teasing. Take a day or so to get used to this and then we'll get working on your avatar. You are used to a bipedal form, it shouldn't be too tricky for you as long as you keep things simple."
"Thank you."
AN// Sorry for late post, crisis at work so busy morning.
Mom had been right, getting used to using an avatar along with my shipbody did take some getting used to.
Not as much as you would think, but it took a day or so. Still, at least I managed it in time - if only by eight hours.
Getting my new avatar designed had taken almost an entire day. After all, it's likely to be one I'd be stuck with for years so I wanted it to be perfect.
Wiggling into my jeans, I then looked at myself in the mirror.
It was at least in part based on my old avatar. I did pick that one too after all, and I liked it so I decided to make the new one older. At the very least I more or less looked my age now!
I looked about seventeen, and I had changed my hair from mid-back brown to shoulder-length red. The eyes had also been changed from blue to green.
I think it ended up looking good. Brushing my hair behind my ears, I slowly circled Korra's hull with my real body. It was getting easier and more natural moving like that.
Pulling a top on, I let my avatar to fall back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. I'm a Ship now.
A very small Ship, but still a Ship.
While it would take weeks, maybe months, before I could move freely, I was warp capable. Technically. What would I do now?
Staying around with mom… I don't know. There was a lot I could learn, but I wanted to make my own way, too.
Not like I had finished my education either. Going back to school was an option, a good one even.
Putting my arms behind my head, my ship body came to a halt and I moved towards a nearby micromoon as we came closer to its orbit.
The other Jovians went to Starfleet academy before the split. Was that something for me? I mean, the Commonwealth wasn't part of the Federation, but I would hardly have been the only being not in the Federation going anyway.
Not sure that really was for me to be honest.
…Well, maybe not for the military thing anyway. I mean, anyone that could see the universe the way I was currently doing would be interested in exploring it. But then again, Starfleet didn't exactly have a monopoly on space exploration.
I could join Contact.
Starting to nose close to the moon only a couple of hundred kilometres around, I moved around it. Rock, carbon, some trace metals. No ice.
That was a fairly attractive idea to be honest. Join up with a Contact ship as a subcraft, learn, study, and see the universe.
Exciting too. GSVs mostly stayed safe, moving between populated planets, and I had done that all my life. While getting shot at really didn't sound like fun, seeing unexplored space…
That I think I wanted to do. Meet new people.
Oh! I'm going to be late!
Quickly getting off the bed, I checked the mirror again and got my hair back in order, before I left my quarters for the turbolift to take me up to the park.
Meanwhile outside, I scooted back towards The Importance of Korrect Spelling, didn't want to get too far away. While she could easily slow down to allow me to catch up, I didn't want her to have to. With thrusters, I was limited in how fast I could accelerate, too.
…Besides, getting far enough away to lose contact with my avatar and have it fall over would be incredibly embarrassing.
Exiting the turbolift, I walked out of the building and glanced upwards. I was floating above the park, keeping steady as I looked down at my avatar in turn.
This was so strange.
My ship body did a small roll as my avatar waved up at myself, as I made my way along the path towards the lake we had planned to meet up at.
Shifting forward a bit, I saw that most were already there.
By the time my avatar walked out of the forest, Vassan got up from the towel she had been sitting on and walked over, "…Sansha, is that you?" she asked hesitantly.
My other best friend, Vassan. The trill was wearing a bikini top and a pair of red shorts, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"It's me," I said and smiled at her, "Well… that's me," I continued and pointed up at my hull, "This is my new avatar."
"That's amazing!" She exclaimed, and we shared a quick hug, "What's it like? I'm sorry I didn't get back in time to be there for it."
"Indescribable," I admitted and smiled at her, "And don't worry about being there, it must have been pretty boring. It was a day or so until I could make sense of things enough to even speak."
Vassan looked up at me with a grin, "So… ship now. Feel nice?"
I wiggled my nacelles and my eyebrows a bit and I nodded, "It is. How was Trill?"
Vassan frowned and crossed her arms, "…I'm going back next week, just back to pack my things. I'm going to enter the symbiote program."
I blinked at her, "Wow, really? Are you sure?"
She nodded, "Yeah… that's why my parents and I went to Trill. To get me tested, I finally managed to talk them into it. Turns out I'm compatible, so I'm packing up and hitching a ride with the LOU 'Rubber Switchblade' that's going that way."
"Wow. I knew you wanted that since I met you, but… that's a really difficult path to go."
She crossed her arms and nodded, "I know. The odds are low, but I have to try."
I smiled at her, "I'm sure you'll make it. I'm just sad I can't be the one to take you there. I'm not even ready for impulse yet, yet alone Warp."
"Come visit sometime?"
"Of course!"
I grinned, "Great. Now… before you leave, would you mind doing me a massive favour?"
Not as much as you would think, but it took a day or so. Still, at least I managed it in time - if only by eight hours.
Getting my new avatar designed had taken almost an entire day. After all, it's likely to be one I'd be stuck with for years so I wanted it to be perfect.
Wiggling into my jeans, I then looked at myself in the mirror.
It was at least in part based on my old avatar. I did pick that one too after all, and I liked it so I decided to make the new one older. At the very least I more or less looked my age now!
I looked about seventeen, and I had changed my hair from mid-back brown to shoulder-length red. The eyes had also been changed from blue to green.
I think it ended up looking good. Brushing my hair behind my ears, I slowly circled Korra's hull with my real body. It was getting easier and more natural moving like that.
Pulling a top on, I let my avatar to fall back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. I'm a Ship now.
A very small Ship, but still a Ship.
While it would take weeks, maybe months, before I could move freely, I was warp capable. Technically. What would I do now?
Staying around with mom… I don't know. There was a lot I could learn, but I wanted to make my own way, too.
Not like I had finished my education either. Going back to school was an option, a good one even.
Putting my arms behind my head, my ship body came to a halt and I moved towards a nearby micromoon as we came closer to its orbit.
The other Jovians went to Starfleet academy before the split. Was that something for me? I mean, the Commonwealth wasn't part of the Federation, but I would hardly have been the only being not in the Federation going anyway.
Not sure that really was for me to be honest.
…Well, maybe not for the military thing anyway. I mean, anyone that could see the universe the way I was currently doing would be interested in exploring it. But then again, Starfleet didn't exactly have a monopoly on space exploration.
I could join Contact.
Starting to nose close to the moon only a couple of hundred kilometres around, I moved around it. Rock, carbon, some trace metals. No ice.
That was a fairly attractive idea to be honest. Join up with a Contact ship as a subcraft, learn, study, and see the universe.
Exciting too. GSVs mostly stayed safe, moving between populated planets, and I had done that all my life. While getting shot at really didn't sound like fun, seeing unexplored space…
That I think I wanted to do. Meet new people.
Oh! I'm going to be late!
Quickly getting off the bed, I checked the mirror again and got my hair back in order, before I left my quarters for the turbolift to take me up to the park.
Meanwhile outside, I scooted back towards The Importance of Korrect Spelling, didn't want to get too far away. While she could easily slow down to allow me to catch up, I didn't want her to have to. With thrusters, I was limited in how fast I could accelerate, too.
…Besides, getting far enough away to lose contact with my avatar and have it fall over would be incredibly embarrassing.
Exiting the turbolift, I walked out of the building and glanced upwards. I was floating above the park, keeping steady as I looked down at my avatar in turn.
This was so strange.
My ship body did a small roll as my avatar waved up at myself, as I made my way along the path towards the lake we had planned to meet up at.
Shifting forward a bit, I saw that most were already there.
By the time my avatar walked out of the forest, Vassan got up from the towel she had been sitting on and walked over, "…Sansha, is that you?" she asked hesitantly.
My other best friend, Vassan. The trill was wearing a bikini top and a pair of red shorts, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"It's me," I said and smiled at her, "Well… that's me," I continued and pointed up at my hull, "This is my new avatar."
"That's amazing!" She exclaimed, and we shared a quick hug, "What's it like? I'm sorry I didn't get back in time to be there for it."
"Indescribable," I admitted and smiled at her, "And don't worry about being there, it must have been pretty boring. It was a day or so until I could make sense of things enough to even speak."
Vassan looked up at me with a grin, "So… ship now. Feel nice?"
I wiggled my nacelles and my eyebrows a bit and I nodded, "It is. How was Trill?"
Vassan frowned and crossed her arms, "…I'm going back next week, just back to pack my things. I'm going to enter the symbiote program."
I blinked at her, "Wow, really? Are you sure?"
She nodded, "Yeah… that's why my parents and I went to Trill. To get me tested, I finally managed to talk them into it. Turns out I'm compatible, so I'm packing up and hitching a ride with the LOU 'Rubber Switchblade' that's going that way."
"Wow. I knew you wanted that since I met you, but… that's a really difficult path to go."
She crossed her arms and nodded, "I know. The odds are low, but I have to try."
I smiled at her, "I'm sure you'll make it. I'm just sad I can't be the one to take you there. I'm not even ready for impulse yet, yet alone Warp."
"Come visit sometime?"
"Of course!"
I grinned, "Great. Now… before you leave, would you mind doing me a massive favour?"
Vassan's tongue tip poked between her lips in thought as she walked around the holographic hull floating before her in one tenth scale.
"Any ideas?" I asked her.
"I vote for nose art," Mark suggested, "You know, like those old earth bomber aircraft?"
Vassan rolled her eyes, "Yeah, real classy. Besides, that's more of a Warship thing. She isn't one."
I nodded in agreement, "I'm not," I said and then shot Mark a look, "Not going to pose for one even if I was!"
He grinned and held his hands up, "Just a suggestion."
Not a horribly bad one if I'm to be honest. I'd seen some LOU's with some that looked really good.
I turned to Vassan, "Well?"
She looked thoughtfully at the model of my hull, "I think Mark may not actually be too far off the... mark. A simple color scheme and a picture on each side," she said before shooting him a look, "Just not a naked girl!"
"Wouldn't need to be a naked girl, there were others!"
She 'hmm'ed and frowned at the model, "Computer, change the model's color to pink and add… picture fifty-three to each side, one third from the front."
The model changed to a bright pink color with a cuddly cartoon bunny hugging a big carrot.
I regarded it and bit my lower lip before I shook my head, "Too girly."
Vassan looked back at me, "I think it's cute."
"Yeah, if I was twelve!" I protested and crossed my arms, "…I know it sounds silly, but I want to be taken seriously. I'm the first of the real second-generation Jovians. I want to…. Well, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a Ship now!"
She nodded, "Ahhh, I get it. You want high heels, not a little pink dress."
I just sighed to Marks chuckling, "Only you would frame it like that."
Vassan grinned and regarded the model, "Computer, wipe," and the ship turned back to my current plain white.
She tapped her finger on her chin, slowly walking around it, "Not pink, maybe red? No, not red. Blue? Sky blue with white along the bottom and darker on top. Like a sea creature, you almost look a little like one."
The model shifted on her orders.
"… That looks good," I admitted and walked around it, "Classy."
Mark walked up to Vassan, "Kind of plain though, isn't it?"
She glanced at him before she nodded in agreement, "I think so too. Not sure what to add though."
He shrugged, "You're the artist here. I'm just moral support."
Vassan turned to me, "Have you picked a name yet?"
I shook my head, "Not yet, still trying to figure it out. I'm stuck between, 'Fun Snow Time' and 'Formerly Stardust'."
"…Formerly Stardust?" Mark asked.
"Everyone is made from starmatter," I explained and smiled, "Also a bit of a play on Dancing in Starlight's preferences in names. She was the first in the previous generation. I'm the first newly grown one."
Vassan, "And the other name is because you like snowboarding," she said with a sigh, "Go with the second one."
"It is a bit more meaningful," Mark agreed with a nod.
"…Everyone's a critic," I grumbled and then nodded, "Fine."
"How about this then?" Vassan continued and added black stripes along the smooth wings along the sides and along the side of the hull, accenting the differences in colour and making the glow of the nacelles stand out.
I nodded, "Nice. But that's getting kind of complicated. Don't want to look like I'm trying too hard."
She shook her head, "Fine. Computer, change the blue tone to be even across the ship, limit the black to along the nacelles and to a single black line around the edge."
The picture model shifted.
"…Better," I said and walked around it, "Computer, add the name 'LCU Formerly Stardust' to the normal location."
The name appeared in black above the nacelles.
I turned back to them, "What do you think?"
Mark nodded, "Looks good, Sansha. But are you sure you want to join Contact? That kind of stuff is dangerous for real."
"I know," I said and looked at the model of my hull, "But… I feel like I have to give it a try. I talked to mom last night, she was going to talk with a couple of Ships, see if one of them has a free subcraft slot."
Vassan turned to Mark, "So what are your plans now?"
"Not sure," he admitted, "I think I want to see Earth and then maybe go back to school again, maybe become a doctor. You know, I've never actually been on a planet before?"
"You're not missing much, planets suck," Vassan said with a grin.
"Any ideas?" I asked her.
"I vote for nose art," Mark suggested, "You know, like those old earth bomber aircraft?"
Vassan rolled her eyes, "Yeah, real classy. Besides, that's more of a Warship thing. She isn't one."
I nodded in agreement, "I'm not," I said and then shot Mark a look, "Not going to pose for one even if I was!"
He grinned and held his hands up, "Just a suggestion."
Not a horribly bad one if I'm to be honest. I'd seen some LOU's with some that looked really good.
I turned to Vassan, "Well?"
She looked thoughtfully at the model of my hull, "I think Mark may not actually be too far off the... mark. A simple color scheme and a picture on each side," she said before shooting him a look, "Just not a naked girl!"
"Wouldn't need to be a naked girl, there were others!"
She 'hmm'ed and frowned at the model, "Computer, change the model's color to pink and add… picture fifty-three to each side, one third from the front."
The model changed to a bright pink color with a cuddly cartoon bunny hugging a big carrot.
I regarded it and bit my lower lip before I shook my head, "Too girly."
Vassan looked back at me, "I think it's cute."
"Yeah, if I was twelve!" I protested and crossed my arms, "…I know it sounds silly, but I want to be taken seriously. I'm the first of the real second-generation Jovians. I want to…. Well, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a Ship now!"
She nodded, "Ahhh, I get it. You want high heels, not a little pink dress."
I just sighed to Marks chuckling, "Only you would frame it like that."
Vassan grinned and regarded the model, "Computer, wipe," and the ship turned back to my current plain white.
She tapped her finger on her chin, slowly walking around it, "Not pink, maybe red? No, not red. Blue? Sky blue with white along the bottom and darker on top. Like a sea creature, you almost look a little like one."
The model shifted on her orders.
"… That looks good," I admitted and walked around it, "Classy."
Mark walked up to Vassan, "Kind of plain though, isn't it?"
She glanced at him before she nodded in agreement, "I think so too. Not sure what to add though."
He shrugged, "You're the artist here. I'm just moral support."
Vassan turned to me, "Have you picked a name yet?"
I shook my head, "Not yet, still trying to figure it out. I'm stuck between, 'Fun Snow Time' and 'Formerly Stardust'."
"…Formerly Stardust?" Mark asked.
"Everyone is made from starmatter," I explained and smiled, "Also a bit of a play on Dancing in Starlight's preferences in names. She was the first in the previous generation. I'm the first newly grown one."
Vassan, "And the other name is because you like snowboarding," she said with a sigh, "Go with the second one."
"It is a bit more meaningful," Mark agreed with a nod.
"…Everyone's a critic," I grumbled and then nodded, "Fine."
"How about this then?" Vassan continued and added black stripes along the smooth wings along the sides and along the side of the hull, accenting the differences in colour and making the glow of the nacelles stand out.
I nodded, "Nice. But that's getting kind of complicated. Don't want to look like I'm trying too hard."
She shook her head, "Fine. Computer, change the blue tone to be even across the ship, limit the black to along the nacelles and to a single black line around the edge."
The picture model shifted.
"…Better," I said and walked around it, "Computer, add the name 'LCU Formerly Stardust' to the normal location."
The name appeared in black above the nacelles.
I turned back to them, "What do you think?"
Mark nodded, "Looks good, Sansha. But are you sure you want to join Contact? That kind of stuff is dangerous for real."
"I know," I said and looked at the model of my hull, "But… I feel like I have to give it a try. I talked to mom last night, she was going to talk with a couple of Ships, see if one of them has a free subcraft slot."
Vassan turned to Mark, "So what are your plans now?"
"Not sure," he admitted, "I think I want to see Earth and then maybe go back to school again, maybe become a doctor. You know, I've never actually been on a planet before?"
"You're not missing much, planets suck," Vassan said with a grin.
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I watched the large ship drop out of Warp next to us. Not that she was large compared to Korra.
The Island class was barely more than a kilometre in length compared to over five for the GSV. Her longest axis was barely longer than Korra's shortest.
But compared to my twelve meters, she was massive.
Also, really pretty in her shining chrome.
There were only seconds before the 'GCU Universal Language' opened a channel to me. Her avatar was a Vulcan with short hair, wearing a simple blue robe.
"'Formerly Stardust'," she said with a smile, "It's nice to finally meet you."
"You as well, Universal Language," I agreed and smiled back, "I'm glad you and your captain decided to give me a chance."
She nodded, "At least enough that we wanted to meet you 'in person' before we make a decision. Captain Sheppard want to see you later today."
"Okay. I hope I measure up."
"I'm sure you'll do fine. How do you find being a ship so far?"
I grinned and puffed my thrusters to do a small roll, "It's amazing. I can see everything! It feels like… I was blind before but didn't know it!"
The GCU nodded, "Oh yeah, I know that feeling. It was the same for us when we first became Ships. Now imagine that the difference between runabout sensors and the sensor suite of a full science vessel is almost as big as between your runabout and your avatar."
I just kind of blinked at her, "…There's more!?"
"Mostly in resolution at distance, but yes."
Wow.
"So, what made you want to join Contact?" she asked and crossed her arms, "There are way safer things in the Commonwealth to do. A couple of years and you could be a civilian vessel, a cruise liner, or even a cruiser or LSV."
I considered that for a split second. She was right after all.
The Commonwealth wasn't anywhere near as big as the Federation we split from ten years ago, only some dozen member worlds and about twice that in Habitats, but there were a lot of positions somebody like me could go for that would be interesting or fun.
Not like I hadn't done my research even before I decided to become a Ship.
"Seeing the universe like this, how can I not want to see more?" I asked and smiled, "I want to see… what people there are out there."
"Now that's something every Ship out there understands," she agreed with a nod, "But it's a dangerous thing to do to leave explored space. The void is dark and full of terrors. You have to be ready to deal with it and you have very little in the way of experience."
"…I know. But I'd learn, take any classes necessary."
'Universal Language' nodded, but looked unconvinced to me, "I'm sure you would. We'll talk later at the meeting."
I nodded, "See you then."
The channel closed, and I watched her with my passive sensors. That didn't seem positive to me. Did I even stand a chance here?
I opened a channel to Korra, "I just talked with Universal Language."
Mom nodded, "How did it go?"
"…I'm not sure," I admitted and frowned, "It didn't seem too positive."
"They did agree to divert course to meet with you, that has to count for something."
I looked at her, "Meaning that nobody else did."
She sighed, "I didn't say that. But Contact is dangerous and you are the first second-generation Jovian."
"I can handle it!"
"Not saying you can't," Mom said and shook her head, "But you don't have the training and you are very young."
"You joined Starfleet just out of the sim! You weren't even a Ship yet!"
She shook her head again and crossed her arms, "Sansha, I had already been an adult for years in the sim by then. You are sixteen subjective years, about six objective. You just finished your basic education and that was for joining Starfleet Academy. Jumping straight from there to Contact is quite a step. Contact isn't just the exploratory arm of the Fleet, but also the military one."
"Starfleet is too! And we decided that when I became a ship, I was legally an adult!"
Mom sighed softly, "We did, when you can fly on your own. But you still have to get accepted."
Ugh!
Like I didn't know that!
I cut the channel and mentally sighed, engaging my impulse drive and headed for the rings of the planet to see if I could find something nice.
Why couldn't she just…
I wasn't a kid anymore. Sure, I didn't have a lot of experience, but I could learn! I knew Contact wasn't exactly safe, but everyone knew that. And it's not like ships like Universal Language didn't have thousands of civilians aboard, families of the crew! They were fine, why wouldn't I be!?
The Island class was barely more than a kilometre in length compared to over five for the GSV. Her longest axis was barely longer than Korra's shortest.
But compared to my twelve meters, she was massive.
Also, really pretty in her shining chrome.
There were only seconds before the 'GCU Universal Language' opened a channel to me. Her avatar was a Vulcan with short hair, wearing a simple blue robe.
"'Formerly Stardust'," she said with a smile, "It's nice to finally meet you."
"You as well, Universal Language," I agreed and smiled back, "I'm glad you and your captain decided to give me a chance."
She nodded, "At least enough that we wanted to meet you 'in person' before we make a decision. Captain Sheppard want to see you later today."
"Okay. I hope I measure up."
"I'm sure you'll do fine. How do you find being a ship so far?"
I grinned and puffed my thrusters to do a small roll, "It's amazing. I can see everything! It feels like… I was blind before but didn't know it!"
The GCU nodded, "Oh yeah, I know that feeling. It was the same for us when we first became Ships. Now imagine that the difference between runabout sensors and the sensor suite of a full science vessel is almost as big as between your runabout and your avatar."
I just kind of blinked at her, "…There's more!?"
"Mostly in resolution at distance, but yes."
Wow.
"So, what made you want to join Contact?" she asked and crossed her arms, "There are way safer things in the Commonwealth to do. A couple of years and you could be a civilian vessel, a cruise liner, or even a cruiser or LSV."
I considered that for a split second. She was right after all.
The Commonwealth wasn't anywhere near as big as the Federation we split from ten years ago, only some dozen member worlds and about twice that in Habitats, but there were a lot of positions somebody like me could go for that would be interesting or fun.
Not like I hadn't done my research even before I decided to become a Ship.
"Seeing the universe like this, how can I not want to see more?" I asked and smiled, "I want to see… what people there are out there."
"Now that's something every Ship out there understands," she agreed with a nod, "But it's a dangerous thing to do to leave explored space. The void is dark and full of terrors. You have to be ready to deal with it and you have very little in the way of experience."
"…I know. But I'd learn, take any classes necessary."
'Universal Language' nodded, but looked unconvinced to me, "I'm sure you would. We'll talk later at the meeting."
I nodded, "See you then."
The channel closed, and I watched her with my passive sensors. That didn't seem positive to me. Did I even stand a chance here?
I opened a channel to Korra, "I just talked with Universal Language."
Mom nodded, "How did it go?"
"…I'm not sure," I admitted and frowned, "It didn't seem too positive."
"They did agree to divert course to meet with you, that has to count for something."
I looked at her, "Meaning that nobody else did."
She sighed, "I didn't say that. But Contact is dangerous and you are the first second-generation Jovian."
"I can handle it!"
"Not saying you can't," Mom said and shook her head, "But you don't have the training and you are very young."
"You joined Starfleet just out of the sim! You weren't even a Ship yet!"
She shook her head again and crossed her arms, "Sansha, I had already been an adult for years in the sim by then. You are sixteen subjective years, about six objective. You just finished your basic education and that was for joining Starfleet Academy. Jumping straight from there to Contact is quite a step. Contact isn't just the exploratory arm of the Fleet, but also the military one."
"Starfleet is too! And we decided that when I became a ship, I was legally an adult!"
Mom sighed softly, "We did, when you can fly on your own. But you still have to get accepted."
Ugh!
Like I didn't know that!
I cut the channel and mentally sighed, engaging my impulse drive and headed for the rings of the planet to see if I could find something nice.
Why couldn't she just…
I wasn't a kid anymore. Sure, I didn't have a lot of experience, but I could learn! I knew Contact wasn't exactly safe, but everyone knew that. And it's not like ships like Universal Language didn't have thousands of civilians aboard, families of the crew! They were fine, why wouldn't I be!?
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I watched 'Universal Language' jump into FTL and out of the range of my scanners in less than a minute.
So that was that.
While Captain Sheppard and Universal Language met with me, they decided to not bring me along.
I wasn't good enough. Not enough experience, not enough education. Too young. If I'm to be completely honest with myself, I could see why.
I didn't even know how to use my Warpdrive yet. Not that mom would have unlocked it for me yet even if I knew how to use it.
But even so, it was kind of a blow.
I let myself fall back against the soft grass and sighed, looking up towards the gas giant far above. My real body was out of sight, I was currently moving to meet back up with Korra to get my hull painted in the colours Vassan helped me pick out. We were not going to put LCU on the side.
This sucked.
"What am I going to do now?" I asked Mark and sighed, "They were the only ones in range even willing to meet me to consider taking me on."
He glanced up from his book where he was sitting with his back against a tree, "Sansha, you're a Ship. You can do pretty much anything you like to. Seriously, you're the brightest person I know. Just give it some time."
I crossed my arms and sighed, "Still sucks."
Mark rolled his eyes and closed his book, "Relax. Seriously, so what? The first Contact ship you asked didn't want to bring you along. Why not do as everyone else that wants to become crew or join Contact? You may be a Ship, but in experience you don't have more than most people, right?"
Blinking at him in surprise I then groaned and scooted up to sit, "Damn it! You are right! Stupid!! Of course they need someone with more experience!"
Sure, I might be able to learn and figure things out while onboard another ship, but why would things not work for me like for everyone else?
Everyone else that wasn't a Ship and wanted to join Contact?
They went to Miramar.
Of course, it wasn't really called that on most maps, it was actually a system filled with asteroids, gas clouds and a couple of half formed planets. It didn't even have much in the way of useful materials, just a name that was a bunch of letters and numbers.
The binary system contained nothing useful other than the Commonwealth's primary naval Orbital training center and shipyard.
It was our version of Starfleet Academy with R&D mixed in. Most crews didn't go there, of course; every ship above LSV size had the resources to train its own crew.
But specialists for Contact needed a dedicated school, such as ground forces, tactical, and strategic training, as well as more involved courses as diplomacy and such.
Ships didn't really go there for training as such; sure, they might take a course or two while there, but the primary use it had for us was that it was our primary shipyard for Island class and smaller ships.
Also, it was the perfect place for Warships to hone their skills in wargames.
It didn't take more than a week into planning the place until someone, likely a ROU, named the place Miramar after some obscure earth book.
Seriously, first generation could be such nerds.
Crossing my legs, I frowned and nodded and rubbed the bridge of my nose, "…you're right. I might be a Ship, but it was stupid of me to think I could just skip that. Sure, other Ships don't need to, but they all have decades of experience."
"See? Not as stuck as you thought?" Mark said with a smile and returned to his book.
Scooting back to sit next to him by the tree, I sighed, "…Thanks. Didn't think of that."
"You were too busy panicking," Mark said and shrugged, "You always did the same with exams, and then you aced them. Relax."
He was right. What use was thinking a hundred time faster than most people if all I used it for was freaking out faster?
Not exactly a personality trait people want in their Starship.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded as I watched one of mother's drones move across my hull, painting it.
He was so, so very right. If I wanted to be a Ship, somebody a crew could rely on… I needed to stop that. I needed to 'think'.
…They were right not to take me.
I wasn't ready. If I was like this at not being picked, how would I handle… being shot at? With people onboard?
Pulling my knees up, I rested my chin on top of my knees, putting my arms around my legs. I wasn't ready.
But I would be. If the others could handle it, so could I!
I opened a channel, "Mom?"
"Formerly Stardust?" she asked with a sad smile as she answered.
"…you heard."
Korra nodded, "I did. Are you sure you want to do this? Miramar is difficult. More so than Starfleet academy ever was for us. It's not meant as your first step. It's primarily a continuing school after you exhausted what your Ship can teach you."
"I know. But… what else could I do?" I asked and shook my head, "Spend years as a runabout? Become a cargo ship!? I can do more than that! I promise I can make it! I know what I want to do and what I need to do to get there!"
Mom simply nodded with a proud smile, "Well done. Course set for Miramar. Undock, it's time you learn how to use your warpdrive."
Awesome!
So that was that.
While Captain Sheppard and Universal Language met with me, they decided to not bring me along.
I wasn't good enough. Not enough experience, not enough education. Too young. If I'm to be completely honest with myself, I could see why.
I didn't even know how to use my Warpdrive yet. Not that mom would have unlocked it for me yet even if I knew how to use it.
But even so, it was kind of a blow.
I let myself fall back against the soft grass and sighed, looking up towards the gas giant far above. My real body was out of sight, I was currently moving to meet back up with Korra to get my hull painted in the colours Vassan helped me pick out. We were not going to put LCU on the side.
This sucked.
"What am I going to do now?" I asked Mark and sighed, "They were the only ones in range even willing to meet me to consider taking me on."
He glanced up from his book where he was sitting with his back against a tree, "Sansha, you're a Ship. You can do pretty much anything you like to. Seriously, you're the brightest person I know. Just give it some time."
I crossed my arms and sighed, "Still sucks."
Mark rolled his eyes and closed his book, "Relax. Seriously, so what? The first Contact ship you asked didn't want to bring you along. Why not do as everyone else that wants to become crew or join Contact? You may be a Ship, but in experience you don't have more than most people, right?"
Blinking at him in surprise I then groaned and scooted up to sit, "Damn it! You are right! Stupid!! Of course they need someone with more experience!"
Sure, I might be able to learn and figure things out while onboard another ship, but why would things not work for me like for everyone else?
Everyone else that wasn't a Ship and wanted to join Contact?
They went to Miramar.
Of course, it wasn't really called that on most maps, it was actually a system filled with asteroids, gas clouds and a couple of half formed planets. It didn't even have much in the way of useful materials, just a name that was a bunch of letters and numbers.
The binary system contained nothing useful other than the Commonwealth's primary naval Orbital training center and shipyard.
It was our version of Starfleet Academy with R&D mixed in. Most crews didn't go there, of course; every ship above LSV size had the resources to train its own crew.
But specialists for Contact needed a dedicated school, such as ground forces, tactical, and strategic training, as well as more involved courses as diplomacy and such.
Ships didn't really go there for training as such; sure, they might take a course or two while there, but the primary use it had for us was that it was our primary shipyard for Island class and smaller ships.
Also, it was the perfect place for Warships to hone their skills in wargames.
It didn't take more than a week into planning the place until someone, likely a ROU, named the place Miramar after some obscure earth book.
Seriously, first generation could be such nerds.
Crossing my legs, I frowned and nodded and rubbed the bridge of my nose, "…you're right. I might be a Ship, but it was stupid of me to think I could just skip that. Sure, other Ships don't need to, but they all have decades of experience."
"See? Not as stuck as you thought?" Mark said with a smile and returned to his book.
Scooting back to sit next to him by the tree, I sighed, "…Thanks. Didn't think of that."
"You were too busy panicking," Mark said and shrugged, "You always did the same with exams, and then you aced them. Relax."
He was right. What use was thinking a hundred time faster than most people if all I used it for was freaking out faster?
Not exactly a personality trait people want in their Starship.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded as I watched one of mother's drones move across my hull, painting it.
He was so, so very right. If I wanted to be a Ship, somebody a crew could rely on… I needed to stop that. I needed to 'think'.
…They were right not to take me.
I wasn't ready. If I was like this at not being picked, how would I handle… being shot at? With people onboard?
Pulling my knees up, I rested my chin on top of my knees, putting my arms around my legs. I wasn't ready.
But I would be. If the others could handle it, so could I!
I opened a channel, "Mom?"
"Formerly Stardust?" she asked with a sad smile as she answered.
"…you heard."
Korra nodded, "I did. Are you sure you want to do this? Miramar is difficult. More so than Starfleet academy ever was for us. It's not meant as your first step. It's primarily a continuing school after you exhausted what your Ship can teach you."
"I know. But… what else could I do?" I asked and shook my head, "Spend years as a runabout? Become a cargo ship!? I can do more than that! I promise I can make it! I know what I want to do and what I need to do to get there!"
Mom simply nodded with a proud smile, "Well done. Course set for Miramar. Undock, it's time you learn how to use your warpdrive."
Awesome!
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Flying at Warp was the most amazing thing ever! I could actually feel the universe shift around me. I could see it too, the shifts of subspace.
It was difficult though. I could feel my warpfield shift and move with subspace. Even with the computer working with me, I had to constantly adjust it. Especially with 'The Importance of Korrect Spelling' flying parallel with me some half million kilometres away.
Her monsterous warpfield and subspace disturbances at this close of a distance had me constantly adjusting and adapting.
She was doing it on purpose too!
I know she wasn't that loud normally, so it had to be on purpose!
Pulling my legs up to my chest, I put my arms around them as I looked around my small flightdeck. Was it strange that my avatar had never been onboard my own hull before?
But it was this or shut down my avatar during the trip. Distance was too long and even if I could scoot closer, it would be really easy to wander out of range. That would have been so embarrassing.
Three more days to the Miramar system.
Altering my course a tiny little bit to adjust for mom's turbulence, I got up from the pilot's seat and looked around my small flightdeck. Three seats in total in standard configuration. I could change it. Would be pretty easy even.
But right now I didn't even know if I would still be a Runabout in a week. It all depended on Miramar.
Other than a quick talk where he said he wanted to meet me 'in person' to consider allowing me to enter the school, there wasn't much said.
I could only assume he talked more with Korra.
In a week… I may still be a Runabout or I may be back to just my avatar or even just put into a simulation again for education.
But whatever it was, I'd do it. I wanted this and I needed to learn more to stack up against the first generation Jovians. I knew why Universal Language didn't let me come along.
Her population was one thing. As a subcraft I would have been part of her crew, not her population. She would have had to be able to trust the lives of her crew to my abilities.
Abilities I didn't have yet.
It sucked, but it was the truth. Walking back through my tiny passenger compartment, I sank down on one of the bunks and picked up a PADD to continue my book.
Sure, I could read directly from the computer, but I was used to doing it this way from the way mom raised me.
The stars shone all around and - woah! - I watched an asteroid the size of me flash past a couple of thousand kilometres away.
Multitask, damn it! Traveling at seven hundred times the speed of light isn't the time to let your entire mind wander!
Keeping my attention on my external sensors in all directions, I returned to my book. Just because I had the potential of effectively unlimited multitasking didn't mean it was as easy to do as mom made it look!
Practice, practice, practice.
Adjust course and modulate the warpfield to adjust for disruptions. Damn it mom!
I opened a channel to the massive ship next to me, "Must you!?"
"Yes." She answered and closed the channel again.
Damn it!
XXXXXXXX
The Miramar system was straight ahead. A binary system in the middle of a nebula, a pair of small blue stars orbiting each other in a tight orbit, surrounded by gasses and a couple of planets and what looked to me like too many asteroids to count.
Subspace disruption! Sensor anomaly!
A shape of what looked like pure night on every sensor I had detached from the rest of the void as her cloaked dropped.
Some kind of Commonwealth Warship. They weren't as nice and friendly looking as Federation warships.
It took less than a second before my ship database identified the silhouette.
Mutilator class ROU, one hundred and one meters long. Built around a large spinal mounted phaser with supplementary pulse phaser armament. Two quantum torpedo launchers.
At least that was what the computer informed me from the silhouette and what little I could pick up from the power signature. I wouldn't know. A completely black cylinder, no ornamentation.
The only things that broke the surface were what was needed for propulsion, sensors, and shields. I had never seen an ROU in person before, but I knew some about them and Contact. Mom carried some, but none of that class.
Federation Warships were more utilitarian than normal Starfleet vessels. Jovian ones even more so, especially ROUs. Commonwealth Warships turned that up to eleven. In an armed conflict their task not protection, it was to stop the enemy from being a threat. Looking scary was just another weapon in their arsenal.
Mother had ten ROUs aboard, all of them carrying some of her Quantum Cores. No Mutilator class though.
She looked… intimidating.
It was difficult though. I could feel my warpfield shift and move with subspace. Even with the computer working with me, I had to constantly adjust it. Especially with 'The Importance of Korrect Spelling' flying parallel with me some half million kilometres away.
Her monsterous warpfield and subspace disturbances at this close of a distance had me constantly adjusting and adapting.
She was doing it on purpose too!
I know she wasn't that loud normally, so it had to be on purpose!
Pulling my legs up to my chest, I put my arms around them as I looked around my small flightdeck. Was it strange that my avatar had never been onboard my own hull before?
But it was this or shut down my avatar during the trip. Distance was too long and even if I could scoot closer, it would be really easy to wander out of range. That would have been so embarrassing.
Three more days to the Miramar system.
Altering my course a tiny little bit to adjust for mom's turbulence, I got up from the pilot's seat and looked around my small flightdeck. Three seats in total in standard configuration. I could change it. Would be pretty easy even.
But right now I didn't even know if I would still be a Runabout in a week. It all depended on Miramar.
Other than a quick talk where he said he wanted to meet me 'in person' to consider allowing me to enter the school, there wasn't much said.
I could only assume he talked more with Korra.
In a week… I may still be a Runabout or I may be back to just my avatar or even just put into a simulation again for education.
But whatever it was, I'd do it. I wanted this and I needed to learn more to stack up against the first generation Jovians. I knew why Universal Language didn't let me come along.
Her population was one thing. As a subcraft I would have been part of her crew, not her population. She would have had to be able to trust the lives of her crew to my abilities.
Abilities I didn't have yet.
It sucked, but it was the truth. Walking back through my tiny passenger compartment, I sank down on one of the bunks and picked up a PADD to continue my book.
Sure, I could read directly from the computer, but I was used to doing it this way from the way mom raised me.
The stars shone all around and - woah! - I watched an asteroid the size of me flash past a couple of thousand kilometres away.
Multitask, damn it! Traveling at seven hundred times the speed of light isn't the time to let your entire mind wander!
Keeping my attention on my external sensors in all directions, I returned to my book. Just because I had the potential of effectively unlimited multitasking didn't mean it was as easy to do as mom made it look!
Practice, practice, practice.
Adjust course and modulate the warpfield to adjust for disruptions. Damn it mom!
I opened a channel to the massive ship next to me, "Must you!?"
"Yes." She answered and closed the channel again.
Damn it!
XXXXXXXX
The Miramar system was straight ahead. A binary system in the middle of a nebula, a pair of small blue stars orbiting each other in a tight orbit, surrounded by gasses and a couple of planets and what looked to me like too many asteroids to count.
Subspace disruption! Sensor anomaly!
A shape of what looked like pure night on every sensor I had detached from the rest of the void as her cloaked dropped.
Some kind of Commonwealth Warship. They weren't as nice and friendly looking as Federation warships.
It took less than a second before my ship database identified the silhouette.
Mutilator class ROU, one hundred and one meters long. Built around a large spinal mounted phaser with supplementary pulse phaser armament. Two quantum torpedo launchers.
At least that was what the computer informed me from the silhouette and what little I could pick up from the power signature. I wouldn't know. A completely black cylinder, no ornamentation.
The only things that broke the surface were what was needed for propulsion, sensors, and shields. I had never seen an ROU in person before, but I knew some about them and Contact. Mom carried some, but none of that class.
Federation Warships were more utilitarian than normal Starfleet vessels. Jovian ones even more so, especially ROUs. Commonwealth Warships turned that up to eleven. In an armed conflict their task not protection, it was to stop the enemy from being a threat. Looking scary was just another weapon in their arsenal.
Mother had ten ROUs aboard, all of them carrying some of her Quantum Cores. No Mutilator class though.
She looked… intimidating.
We dropped out of Warp at the edge of the system and started to scoot inwards the system, passing through three layers of tachyon grids on the way.
Space was busy here. Not just the particles from the nearby nebula and space dust, but also ships.
My sensors might not be as good as a full ship, but as strange as that seemed to me, I could still see hundreds of ships.
Warships, freighters, science vessels. Miramar himself.
He was a massive station, a starfish-shaped port/shipyard in low orbit around one of the gas giants. Well over ten kilometres across, he could dock GSVs at his arms.
Most would think our primary naval yard would be a tempting target, but while he couldn't move, and even if the defenses I could see were the only ones, anyone that tried to Pearl Harbour us would have an... unpleasant time.
That was a lot of Warships.
As I watched, a kilometre-wide sphere floated away from Miramar and a couple of ships latched onto it with tractor beams and dragged further in-system.
One of the energy collectors.
I'd seen those before, they were massive. Once in place, that shell would retract and the massive energy station would unfold a hundred-kilometre-wide solar energy collector that would start generating antimatter..
I was running on a Pulse Singularity Core, as were most ships, not something as dangerous as antimatter. But it was still very useful, especially for moving energy around.
Not sure why there were so many of them though, I could see over a hundred in orbit around the closest of the stars of the binary system. We weren't making that many photon torpedoes, were we? Not like we used it for fuel anymore.
…What were we doing with that much antimatter?
Miramar opened a channel and I quickly answered. His avatar was that of a Vulcan, bald but with a small black beard on his chin.
"Formerly Stardust," he said with a smile, "Welcome."
"Thank you, Miramar," I answered with a smile, "Good to be here."
"Korra said you wanted to study here? As interesting it would be to teach you, you do realize this is not meant to be the jumping on point?"
I nodded, "I know, I have been told that. I can do it."
"She sent over your grades and I have talked with her and your teachers. Your grades are top notch and you are smart, no question. But even if you can handle the stress, this will be very rough on you."
"Korra have told me all about it and I know," I admitted and did a slow S turn, drawing a line in a dense patch of dust, "But I need to learn. I need to be able to go out there and… see what more there is out there. Until I became a Ship, I didn't know what I wanted to do. Once I saw… once I saw the universe as it was, I wanted to see more."
The Station nodded like I managed to make sense in my ramblings, "So why Contact? You don't need to join Contact to explore the universe. Give it a year and Korra could build you a science vessel, a LSV even, and you could find a crew, pick a direction and just go. Hell, head over to the Federation and join Starfleet if you want."
"…I thought about it. But the first one wouldn't be right, I couldn't do that. I don't know enough, I don't have the training or experience to be a real ship yet. Starfleet doesn't feel right to me either, the Commonwealth is my home. Besides, I don't agree with them on a bunch of stuff."
Miramar raised his eyebrows, "Such as?"
Crossing my arms, I shrugged, "The Prime Directive for one thing. It's stupid. I'm so glad we dropped it."
"It's not stupid. But it is too limited for the current reality."
I frowned a bit before nodding in agreement. He was right, I could see how it was useful in protecting less advanced worlds. I might even agree to most of it. But I couldn't help but find it stupid the way the Federation handled it.
He looked at my image for a moment before he nodded, "Very well. Let's give this a try. If you can handle this, all the better. But if you can't, no problem. You would just need some more experience first and then you can come back and try again."
"I'll make it."
That got a grin from him, "You'll need that determination. I hope you realize that this won't be classes you could coast through thinking three times faster than your classmates. You will be running at maximum speed and I will be your primary teacher along with a couple of other Ships. Multiple lessons at once."
"Good."
"Docking bay twenty-three," He said with a smirk, "We'll see if you still feel that way in a month."
He cut the channel.
It's happening!
I did a happy roll as my avatar jumped up and down inside. Yes! Yes!
Space was busy here. Not just the particles from the nearby nebula and space dust, but also ships.
My sensors might not be as good as a full ship, but as strange as that seemed to me, I could still see hundreds of ships.
Warships, freighters, science vessels. Miramar himself.
He was a massive station, a starfish-shaped port/shipyard in low orbit around one of the gas giants. Well over ten kilometres across, he could dock GSVs at his arms.
Most would think our primary naval yard would be a tempting target, but while he couldn't move, and even if the defenses I could see were the only ones, anyone that tried to Pearl Harbour us would have an... unpleasant time.
That was a lot of Warships.
As I watched, a kilometre-wide sphere floated away from Miramar and a couple of ships latched onto it with tractor beams and dragged further in-system.
One of the energy collectors.
I'd seen those before, they were massive. Once in place, that shell would retract and the massive energy station would unfold a hundred-kilometre-wide solar energy collector that would start generating antimatter..
I was running on a Pulse Singularity Core, as were most ships, not something as dangerous as antimatter. But it was still very useful, especially for moving energy around.
Not sure why there were so many of them though, I could see over a hundred in orbit around the closest of the stars of the binary system. We weren't making that many photon torpedoes, were we? Not like we used it for fuel anymore.
…What were we doing with that much antimatter?
Miramar opened a channel and I quickly answered. His avatar was that of a Vulcan, bald but with a small black beard on his chin.
"Formerly Stardust," he said with a smile, "Welcome."
"Thank you, Miramar," I answered with a smile, "Good to be here."
"Korra said you wanted to study here? As interesting it would be to teach you, you do realize this is not meant to be the jumping on point?"
I nodded, "I know, I have been told that. I can do it."
"She sent over your grades and I have talked with her and your teachers. Your grades are top notch and you are smart, no question. But even if you can handle the stress, this will be very rough on you."
"Korra have told me all about it and I know," I admitted and did a slow S turn, drawing a line in a dense patch of dust, "But I need to learn. I need to be able to go out there and… see what more there is out there. Until I became a Ship, I didn't know what I wanted to do. Once I saw… once I saw the universe as it was, I wanted to see more."
The Station nodded like I managed to make sense in my ramblings, "So why Contact? You don't need to join Contact to explore the universe. Give it a year and Korra could build you a science vessel, a LSV even, and you could find a crew, pick a direction and just go. Hell, head over to the Federation and join Starfleet if you want."
"…I thought about it. But the first one wouldn't be right, I couldn't do that. I don't know enough, I don't have the training or experience to be a real ship yet. Starfleet doesn't feel right to me either, the Commonwealth is my home. Besides, I don't agree with them on a bunch of stuff."
Miramar raised his eyebrows, "Such as?"
Crossing my arms, I shrugged, "The Prime Directive for one thing. It's stupid. I'm so glad we dropped it."
"It's not stupid. But it is too limited for the current reality."
I frowned a bit before nodding in agreement. He was right, I could see how it was useful in protecting less advanced worlds. I might even agree to most of it. But I couldn't help but find it stupid the way the Federation handled it.
He looked at my image for a moment before he nodded, "Very well. Let's give this a try. If you can handle this, all the better. But if you can't, no problem. You would just need some more experience first and then you can come back and try again."
"I'll make it."
That got a grin from him, "You'll need that determination. I hope you realize that this won't be classes you could coast through thinking three times faster than your classmates. You will be running at maximum speed and I will be your primary teacher along with a couple of other Ships. Multiple lessons at once."
"Good."
"Docking bay twenty-three," He said with a smirk, "We'll see if you still feel that way in a month."
He cut the channel.
It's happening!
I did a happy roll as my avatar jumped up and down inside. Yes! Yes!
Walking alongside Korra's avatar with my own, I looked around. The inside of Miramar looked like any other ship or station in these parts, really.
My main body was sitting in one of the smallcraft hangers between a couple of his shuttles; they were too small to rate their own AIs, so they were carrying Miramar's backup cores.
I tried my best to look calm even if I felt like skipping. This would be so great!
"Station," Korra said with a smile as we walked into one of the observation rooms with windows looking out towards one of the main shipyards. You could see a MSV under construction out the windows, an Island class.
Miramar looked over from where his avatar was standing by the window, "Ships," he greeted us with a nod, "Welcome onboard."
"Thank you," I said with a smile before walking up next to him, looking down at the vessel under construction.
One day.
"I wonder what it's like to be that big?", I asked as I looked down at the half-finished ship.
Miramar shrugged, "It's not that big, barely more than half a kilometre," he said before smirking and looking over at Korra, "Right?"
"Positively tiny," she agreed with a grin.
"...So what am I then…" I grumbled.
My hull was twenty-seven meters long.
"Adorable, that's what," Korra said with a grin and ruffled my hair.
"Damn it, mom!"
Not in front of the station!
"You sure you want to do this?" she asked after giving me a second to get my hair back in order, "You never been away before."
"I'm sixteen, I'll be fine."
Miramar nodded, "We'll take care of her," he reassured Korra.
I scanned the hangar. It was different from Korra's. Bit smaller, different colour. People moving back and forth but mostly his drones.
"People move around all the time to go to school when they're my age, I'll be fine!" I protested.
Korra shot my avatar a look, "I'm allowed to worry."
"Come on, I'll show you your quarters," Miramar said, and motioned towards the door. We followed him a while before he asked, "So, have you put some thought into what classes you want to take? Other than the sciences and other skills required by a ship , I mean?"
I nodded, "I like computers. Besides, we are computers. Kinda. Programming classes could be useful… and I think sociology could be fun, people are interesting."
Miramar smiled and lead us into a turbolift, sending us upwards, "Indeed. While you can't program an AI, we do work intimately with other computer systems. Programming is useful."
It didn't take us long to reach a more populated area as we left the shipyard and hangar sections. Commercial and living zones, with the ceilings rising and showing several stories at once. It didn't take long to reach the school.
You could tell because uniforms become more common; both the more common Contact uniforms that reminded me a bit of Starfleet uniforms, if without the shoulder colours, and the Warship uniforms that were tight-fitting and jet black.
I wasn't exactly surprised to see a lot of Warship avatars. The system was crawling with ROUs, why wouldn't they go to classes while practicing?
"Here we go," Miramar said and motioned towards a door as it opened for us. I slowly moved past him and inside.
It wasn't a big room, about the size of my room aboard Korra. A bed and desk, along with wardrobe space. A small couch, and a replicator in one of the walls. On the wall above the desk was a display showing an image from outside.
"This is nice," I said and looked around, "I need to get some of my things shipped over."
"I'm already transporting it," Korra said and smiled, "It'll be waiting for you here when we get back."
I blinked at her, "Get back?"
"We have one more stop in the tour," Miramar said and nodded towards the door.
Frowning, I followed along as he lead us out of the university area and towards another one of the turbolifts.
"So where are we going?" I asked and crossed my arms.
"You'll see."
Sighing, I settled down as I tracked the position of my avatar. We were heading down again, towards the shipyards but not closer to my hangar. Where were we going?
Soon enough the turbolift opened and Miramar lead us along the corridor and into a large hangar, bringing us into one of the massive ROU hangars. Almost half a kilometre wide, and containing thirty of the Warships.
At this distance, the completely black hulls looked larger than they really were. Just over a hundred metres long and some twenty-five across, depending on the class.
"Well?"
"What?" I asked and turned to Miramar.
"You will also be moving in here," He said and motioned towards the closest ROU, "Mutilator class. This will be your hull while you're here."
I just kind of gaped at him.
My main body was sitting in one of the smallcraft hangers between a couple of his shuttles; they were too small to rate their own AIs, so they were carrying Miramar's backup cores.
I tried my best to look calm even if I felt like skipping. This would be so great!
"Station," Korra said with a smile as we walked into one of the observation rooms with windows looking out towards one of the main shipyards. You could see a MSV under construction out the windows, an Island class.
Miramar looked over from where his avatar was standing by the window, "Ships," he greeted us with a nod, "Welcome onboard."
"Thank you," I said with a smile before walking up next to him, looking down at the vessel under construction.
One day.
"I wonder what it's like to be that big?", I asked as I looked down at the half-finished ship.
Miramar shrugged, "It's not that big, barely more than half a kilometre," he said before smirking and looking over at Korra, "Right?"
"Positively tiny," she agreed with a grin.
"...So what am I then…" I grumbled.
My hull was twenty-seven meters long.
"Adorable, that's what," Korra said with a grin and ruffled my hair.
"Damn it, mom!"
Not in front of the station!
"You sure you want to do this?" she asked after giving me a second to get my hair back in order, "You never been away before."
"I'm sixteen, I'll be fine."
Miramar nodded, "We'll take care of her," he reassured Korra.
I scanned the hangar. It was different from Korra's. Bit smaller, different colour. People moving back and forth but mostly his drones.
"People move around all the time to go to school when they're my age, I'll be fine!" I protested.
Korra shot my avatar a look, "I'm allowed to worry."
"Come on, I'll show you your quarters," Miramar said, and motioned towards the door. We followed him a while before he asked, "So, have you put some thought into what classes you want to take? Other than the sciences and other skills required by a ship , I mean?"
I nodded, "I like computers. Besides, we are computers. Kinda. Programming classes could be useful… and I think sociology could be fun, people are interesting."
Miramar smiled and lead us into a turbolift, sending us upwards, "Indeed. While you can't program an AI, we do work intimately with other computer systems. Programming is useful."
It didn't take us long to reach a more populated area as we left the shipyard and hangar sections. Commercial and living zones, with the ceilings rising and showing several stories at once. It didn't take long to reach the school.
You could tell because uniforms become more common; both the more common Contact uniforms that reminded me a bit of Starfleet uniforms, if without the shoulder colours, and the Warship uniforms that were tight-fitting and jet black.
I wasn't exactly surprised to see a lot of Warship avatars. The system was crawling with ROUs, why wouldn't they go to classes while practicing?
"Here we go," Miramar said and motioned towards a door as it opened for us. I slowly moved past him and inside.
It wasn't a big room, about the size of my room aboard Korra. A bed and desk, along with wardrobe space. A small couch, and a replicator in one of the walls. On the wall above the desk was a display showing an image from outside.
"This is nice," I said and looked around, "I need to get some of my things shipped over."
"I'm already transporting it," Korra said and smiled, "It'll be waiting for you here when we get back."
I blinked at her, "Get back?"
"We have one more stop in the tour," Miramar said and nodded towards the door.
Frowning, I followed along as he lead us out of the university area and towards another one of the turbolifts.
"So where are we going?" I asked and crossed my arms.
"You'll see."
Sighing, I settled down as I tracked the position of my avatar. We were heading down again, towards the shipyards but not closer to my hangar. Where were we going?
Soon enough the turbolift opened and Miramar lead us along the corridor and into a large hangar, bringing us into one of the massive ROU hangars. Almost half a kilometre wide, and containing thirty of the Warships.
At this distance, the completely black hulls looked larger than they really were. Just over a hundred metres long and some twenty-five across, depending on the class.
"Well?"
"What?" I asked and turned to Miramar.
"You will also be moving in here," He said and motioned towards the closest ROU, "Mutilator class. This will be your hull while you're here."
I just kind of gaped at him.
10
"Relax," ROU 'The Sound of Steel Rain' transmitted, "You'll get used to it."
"This is hard!" I transmitted back and tried my thrusters. There were so many of them, and they were so sensitive! It sent me spinning slowly in space instead of scooting me sideways like I had planned, "Damn it! I just learned how to do this!"
Rain grinned at me over the com-channel; her avatar was that of a human female with dark skin, green eyes and long darker hair, "It takes time to get used to a new ship. It gets easier to switch to a new hull in time, but I remember the first time I switched from a shuttle to a ship. It took weeks to get used to."
"…This is so frustrating," I sighed and worked to stop my rotation. It felt like everyone was watching me!
Likely because every ship in the system was paying attention.
This was so embarrassing.
Korra was sitting docked by the station a couple of thousand kilometres away, taking advantage of Miramar's much larger engineering capabilities to get her hull repainted instead of doing it herself.
In a week she would leave the system with all my friends on board. I would be alone.
I couldn't help but be nervous about it, no matter what I told Miramar and mom. I had never been away before.
Okay, sure, everyone here had started out the same as mom, but it wasn't the same thing.
Let's try that again. I remapped my thruster maps and did the roll again. I started to slowly slide to the side with a puff of power.
Yes!
"These sensors are amazing though," I sent to Rain, "That was easier to get used to."
"Eh, tried one set of ship sensors and you tried them all. All that differ is placement and resolution. At least among the same techbase," she said with a shrug as she slowly orbited my location with puffs of her own thrusters, "You might go 'cross-eyed' for a couple of hours at worst but that's usually it."
"It's odd not to really have any inner space though. But I thought ROUs didn't have any crew quarters, I have a couple of rooms. About as much as when I was a runabout, maybe a little more."
She nodded, "That's normal. We aren't meant to carry a crew, but we have a couple of small quarters for emergencies and VIP transports."
"And these maintenance bots… controlling two dozen of them is distracting! They have so many legs, they're hard to move!"
"You get used to it, no different than your avatar. Besides, they are all smart enough to do their own thing most of the time, you only really need to take over for real repairs."
"Which I don't know how to do!"
She grinned, "Yet. You will before you are allowed out anywhere solo. As soon as I clear you for general flight, your lessons with Miramar will start. It will include all the engineering training you could possibly need."
I nodded and stopped my drift before moving in the other direction, "Not the only thing to get used to."
Rain smirked at my image, "The uniform?"
"…Yes."
My avatar was currently in my room in the station, looking in the screen-turned-mirror. The uniform was black and tight, including a pair of boots. It lacked ornamentation other than a pip at the collar and a patch at the right arm, both with the symbol of a ROU on it. I also wore the belt that came with it, but no weapon yet. Rain told me not to wear one.
I wasn't combat ready and as such, shouldn't wear one.
I didn't argue; I'd damage my avatar or hurt somebody. I had no idea how to use a phaser yet. I suppose that'll be fixed soon enough.
"Does it have to be so tight?" I asked her with a frown.
She shrugged, "We don't need it for the armour, might as well have it look good, but that's not the primary reason. The first time your avatar gets into a fight, you'd be glad that it's form-fitting. We move fast enough that if it snags somewhere, it'll rip at best, cause you to stumble at worst. Either the pause would cause your avatar to take damage or be destroyed, or you'll lose half your clothes."
Rain then smirked, "Of course, nothing in the rules say you can't wear a looser version of the Warship uniform, and when off duty you can of course wear anything you like."
I cringed at that idea of snagging somewhere and ending up naked, "On second thought, I can live with tight. But how often does it happen that the avatar gets in a fight?"
"Very rarely," she admitted, "Even rarer is something that can cause real damage. Even in anti-personnel roles, we have other remotes for that and it's not really a ROU thing anyway. But better safe than sorry in this case. At least that's my opinion."
"…I suppose," I agreed and did a small roll before twisting on my shortest axis, "This is odd. I feel so big."
"Trust me, you aren't. I was an Island before I forked into a ROU. When you get used to it, you'll be able to fly like a housefly on stimulants. You have thrusters stronger than those on an old Galaxy class."
"They are really sensitive. I'm barely giving them any power and…" I sent myself into a roll, "This!"
Rain grinned, "Like I said, take some getting used to. Think you have a bit of control with them yet?"
I frowned and then nodded, "Doesn't feel natural, but I can move in all directions."
"Awesome, let's try your impulse drive."
"But my avatar…"
She shook her head, "It has its own quantum core and it'll only be a couple of hours. Besides, we need the impulse drive if we want to get to the trojan asteroids in a timely manner."
"Why are we going there?"
Rain smirked at me, "Because if you manage to get your impulse drive under control and get out there, I'll unlock your phasers for a weapons test."
Oooooh.
AN// Posted early.
"This is hard!" I transmitted back and tried my thrusters. There were so many of them, and they were so sensitive! It sent me spinning slowly in space instead of scooting me sideways like I had planned, "Damn it! I just learned how to do this!"
Rain grinned at me over the com-channel; her avatar was that of a human female with dark skin, green eyes and long darker hair, "It takes time to get used to a new ship. It gets easier to switch to a new hull in time, but I remember the first time I switched from a shuttle to a ship. It took weeks to get used to."
"…This is so frustrating," I sighed and worked to stop my rotation. It felt like everyone was watching me!
Likely because every ship in the system was paying attention.
This was so embarrassing.
Korra was sitting docked by the station a couple of thousand kilometres away, taking advantage of Miramar's much larger engineering capabilities to get her hull repainted instead of doing it herself.
In a week she would leave the system with all my friends on board. I would be alone.
I couldn't help but be nervous about it, no matter what I told Miramar and mom. I had never been away before.
Okay, sure, everyone here had started out the same as mom, but it wasn't the same thing.
Let's try that again. I remapped my thruster maps and did the roll again. I started to slowly slide to the side with a puff of power.
Yes!
"These sensors are amazing though," I sent to Rain, "That was easier to get used to."
"Eh, tried one set of ship sensors and you tried them all. All that differ is placement and resolution. At least among the same techbase," she said with a shrug as she slowly orbited my location with puffs of her own thrusters, "You might go 'cross-eyed' for a couple of hours at worst but that's usually it."
"It's odd not to really have any inner space though. But I thought ROUs didn't have any crew quarters, I have a couple of rooms. About as much as when I was a runabout, maybe a little more."
She nodded, "That's normal. We aren't meant to carry a crew, but we have a couple of small quarters for emergencies and VIP transports."
"And these maintenance bots… controlling two dozen of them is distracting! They have so many legs, they're hard to move!"
"You get used to it, no different than your avatar. Besides, they are all smart enough to do their own thing most of the time, you only really need to take over for real repairs."
"Which I don't know how to do!"
She grinned, "Yet. You will before you are allowed out anywhere solo. As soon as I clear you for general flight, your lessons with Miramar will start. It will include all the engineering training you could possibly need."
I nodded and stopped my drift before moving in the other direction, "Not the only thing to get used to."
Rain smirked at my image, "The uniform?"
"…Yes."
My avatar was currently in my room in the station, looking in the screen-turned-mirror. The uniform was black and tight, including a pair of boots. It lacked ornamentation other than a pip at the collar and a patch at the right arm, both with the symbol of a ROU on it. I also wore the belt that came with it, but no weapon yet. Rain told me not to wear one.
I wasn't combat ready and as such, shouldn't wear one.
I didn't argue; I'd damage my avatar or hurt somebody. I had no idea how to use a phaser yet. I suppose that'll be fixed soon enough.
"Does it have to be so tight?" I asked her with a frown.
She shrugged, "We don't need it for the armour, might as well have it look good, but that's not the primary reason. The first time your avatar gets into a fight, you'd be glad that it's form-fitting. We move fast enough that if it snags somewhere, it'll rip at best, cause you to stumble at worst. Either the pause would cause your avatar to take damage or be destroyed, or you'll lose half your clothes."
Rain then smirked, "Of course, nothing in the rules say you can't wear a looser version of the Warship uniform, and when off duty you can of course wear anything you like."
I cringed at that idea of snagging somewhere and ending up naked, "On second thought, I can live with tight. But how often does it happen that the avatar gets in a fight?"
"Very rarely," she admitted, "Even rarer is something that can cause real damage. Even in anti-personnel roles, we have other remotes for that and it's not really a ROU thing anyway. But better safe than sorry in this case. At least that's my opinion."
"…I suppose," I agreed and did a small roll before twisting on my shortest axis, "This is odd. I feel so big."
"Trust me, you aren't. I was an Island before I forked into a ROU. When you get used to it, you'll be able to fly like a housefly on stimulants. You have thrusters stronger than those on an old Galaxy class."
"They are really sensitive. I'm barely giving them any power and…" I sent myself into a roll, "This!"
Rain grinned, "Like I said, take some getting used to. Think you have a bit of control with them yet?"
I frowned and then nodded, "Doesn't feel natural, but I can move in all directions."
"Awesome, let's try your impulse drive."
"But my avatar…"
She shook her head, "It has its own quantum core and it'll only be a couple of hours. Besides, we need the impulse drive if we want to get to the trojan asteroids in a timely manner."
"Why are we going there?"
Rain smirked at me, "Because if you manage to get your impulse drive under control and get out there, I'll unlock your phasers for a weapons test."
Oooooh.
AN// Posted early.