The night has fallen, the thick blackness impaled by the brilliant landing lights of Nimby's Refuge. The world is quiet at this time of the evening, everyone having settled into a much deserved rest. Moments before the roar of turbines fills the air, a signal is sent to the landing field...yet another pair of shuttles is coming in for a landing.
Copernicus's ears flick at the sound of the shuttles, and is enjoying a quiet evening of stargazing and thinking on top of the nearly finished tower housing complex.
Copernicus scritches idly at his flank with a hind foot and turns to see who's landing tonight?
One seldom sees two shuttles touch the tarmac at the same time...it is dangerous to schedule landings so close together. Thus it is with curiosity in mind that the field crews rush out to service the shuttles...one a standard felitaur vessel, the other something new..similar in design to the 'taur shuttle, but more aggressive in stance and shape.
Copernicus blinks and stretches his wings as he gets the message of an unknown shuttle. He spreads his wings and heads to the landing field, putting a low level alert warning.
WolfSinger is out in the woods nearby, laying on a huge boulder overlooking the valley. Beautiful view of the moon rising. His ears flatten a bit as the pair of shuttles zoom overhead.
Zilvar hops out of the felitaur shuttle as soon as he cycles through the power down and landing procedures. He scans the field, frowning slightly. "All right..which way to C&C..."
Copernicus lands a short distance away and purrs, "Zilvar? Kind of a late night visit."
Zilvar steps around the milling ground crew and walks over to Coper. "Oh..Sorry. I forget what time it is down here. I sorta make my own schedule up there."
WolfSinger yawns!! and gets up from his resting spot. He decides to head to the landing field to see what's going on.
Copernicus nods and points a wingtip towards the shuttle, "Trying out the facilities already?"
Zilvar looks over his shoulder and nods, "Yeah. This one was in cold storage. Took me a couple weeks to figure out how to assemble the pieces."
Zilvar grins suddenly, showing a Lot of teeth..."And it was worth it...she is fast..."
WolfSinger emerges from the forest on the far side of the landing field. He immediately sees the strange shuttle. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he heads over to investigate.
Copernicus nods as he looks it over, "It does look like it. We have some fast shuttles too. Leda Caudate loves testing them. You show her that and she'll try and charm you out of it."
Zilvar looks up and spies WolfSinger approaching.
Zilvar flicks an ear Coper's direction. "Interesting you should mention that...You won't charm anything out of me right now...but we might be able to come to an agreement.
Copernicus chuckles, "Well, I'm hardly your type Zilvar, so I rather doubt I could ever charm you, but what do you have in mind?"
Zilvar holds up a finger to Coper...a gesture that he will address that point in a moment. He points at WolfSinger. "How good a pilot are you?"
WolfSinger waves as he sees Coper and Zilvar. "you decided to come visit?"
WolfSinger's tail starts wagging. "Well, it's been a while since I've flown one, but its something you never forget."
Zilvar reaches into a pocket and pulls out a small card. It is probably a standard pass card of some sort, but it seems to be inset with some type of crystal. "This card will get you onto the base, and will let you pilot a fighter just like that one. You interested?
WolfSinger nodnods excitedly. "Of *COURSE* I am!"
Zilvar half smiles. "I'll figure out something important for you to do sometime, but 'Test Pilot' will probably be in part of the job description.
WolfSinger looks at the pass card, examining the crystal.
The crystal is almost perfectly transparent and looks to flow seamlessly into the card upon examination. There is no visible seam between the crystal and the thin material of the card. It is almost unmarked, except for some incomprehensible printed characters on the top edge.
Zilvar turns back to Coper, "Sorry. Didn't want him to run off while I was talking to you."
Copernicus nods quietly in the darkness, "Not a problem. I'm just up doing a bit of thinking tonight."
Zilvar nods, "I've been doing a little of that myself, since speaking with you the other night."
Copernicus purrs, "Want to go someplace and talk a bit?"
WolfSinger bounds over to the strange shuttle, looking at it closely.
Zilvar looks around and shrugs, "Certainly. Lead on."
Copernicus pads over to the partially conical felitaur tower and palms the door plate, and pads towards the center.
Copernicus motions for Zilvar to follow as he hops into a central shaft and floats up.
Calling the sleek ship a 'shuttle' is almost insulting. It certainly lacks apparent cargo space...most of what _could_ have been cargo space being taken up by the engines. It is obviously designed to work in atmosphere as well as space, with short, down-and-forward-swept wings to give it not only lift, but a purely aggressive look.
Zilvar follows Coper closely, chatting quietly about the layout of the base.
WolfSinger's tail is still swishing excitedly. He peeks around in the inside the cockpit looking around before heading inside the ship.
Copernicus reaches the roof and notes with satisfaction that the landscaping is coming along nicely. He motions to one spot and purrs, "It sounds like you've made quite a find Zilvar. I'm glad for you."
Zilvar nods to Coper as he surveys the area. "It is quite a find. Much, much more than I can make any real use of...alone."
A slight twitch of his large ears is all that betrays his interest as Copernicus waits for his friend to continue.
WolfSinger glances over the instrument panels. He looks like he's about ready to start drooling from the excitement.
The cockpit is designed for quick use. It seems almost incongruous to have a cockpit on a space-fighter..but as soon as the cockpit closes, WolfSinger sees why this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The entire front surface of the canopy becomes a complex HUD, and even with the foreign controls, certain functions are obvious.
Zilvar walks over to a corner and looks down on the landing field, half smiling to see that WolfSinger has already climbed into the fighter. "I want to make the 'yards work again."
Copernicus nods, "Well, we can rebuild our fleet, even make it bigger, on our own, but it would be a lot faster with facilities like yours. And we were designed to be intuitive engineers."
Zilvar nods, "I know. I'd like to have a few of your people working in the 'yards. I cannot pay them, though.
Copernicus's tail flicks a bit, "Well, we're not above barter Zilvar."
Zilvar nods. "I have got, at my disposal, what must be the most extensive shipyard I have ever seen or heard of. It has facilities for repair, rearm, and building from scratch...and more. I can offer your people 5 capitol ships, each of different designs and specifications, within six months.
WolfSinger refrains from pushing any buttons or controls. He doesn't want to accidentally blow another hole in the wall, like what happened with Kainudy. He's finally just getting the last of the plaster out of his fur from when he helped patch it up.
Copernicus blinks, "Capitol ships?"
Zilvar nods, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Absently, he wonders if WolfSinger is brave enough to press anything. "Yes. The smallest has a beam of well over 700 meters, and was designed for a heavy-G race. It should more than accommodate your people's size. As a matter of fact, all of the designs I picked are heavy-G based, for that very reason.
Copernicus hmms and nods, "Those would also be more sturdy in battle."
Zilvar nods, "Probably. I will admit that I am stretching that a little bit. The small ship is actually classed as a battle cruiser in the plans, but it is almost an order of magnitude larger than a heavy cruiser designed for the same race.
Copernicus purrs, "I don't see any problems with that, though to be fair I should warn you, we tend to integrate new technology quickly, so you may see some of it appear elsewhere in our work. In addition, we can adapt the designs with some work. What kind of help do you think you'll need?""
Zilvar shrugs, "If you like the prototypes, you're free the buy the plans with the ships. What I need is several things. I need raw material. I need workers. I need a bankroll."
WolfSinger ooos! as he looks the displays over, trying to guess what each one is. "hmmmmmm... shield control..... power distribution...." He glances up at the green HUD displayed on the cockpit glass. He jumps a little as he sees a set of cross hairs follow his eye movement. "Oooooo!! automatic targeting! Fancy!"
Copernicus purrs, "We have plenty of raw materials, even just considering the left over pieces of invader ships. Workers we can supply. And, with some work, I can get you what bankroll you need, within limits.""
Zilvar nods, turning around to face the 'taur. "To keep things as simple as possible, it would work best if my bankroll was in your currency."
Copernicus nods, "Should work without too much trouble. I think it could work well. You think you can deal with a bunch of Chirr'T'Thar around?"
WolfSinger hmmmmmms as he notices a slot near what appears to be a security access panel. He glances down at the card Zilvar gave him.
Zilvar half smiles, "I don't know. Probably. I can always space them if they get too rowdy. It won't hurt any of them, but it will make them be quiet for a little while."
Copernicus chuckles, "I'm just thankful no one figured out a way to drop the pressure around my head just to get me to shut up for an hour. I think this could be a long term agreement, would you object to an indoor arboretum and other facilities being installed?"
WolfSinger mumbles to himself. "oh, what the heck..." He checks to see if that's where the card goes.
Zilvar shakes his head, "No...I would not. There are some rooms that probably operated as personal facilities in the past, in fact."
Copernicus nods, "Sounds like a plan. The mining facilities my mates operate is doing a good job of getting us the refined metals we need. Should help you out."
Lights flash as the card slides into place, and the entire fighter seems to come alive. Every display flashes through diagnostics in a moment's time, and finally settle on what WolfSinger can only assume is a 'normal' configuration.
A small compartment slides open behind the wolf in the fighter and a fight helmet slips out, down, and covers his head.
Zilvar nods, "That's going to be big. I can save money by not getting refined metals, too. The base has a refinery. Whoever built it believed in monopolies. I figure I need about 400 workers to complete the order for you, as well as some millions in currency, as a loan, to pay them and purchase the raw materials. If you like the ships, you can purchase them pretty much at cost, thus paying off my loan and getting you some new ships in the fleet for far less than even you could build them.
Copernicus nods, "Realize that though they work for you, they'll remain loyal to Tharhome, but that shouldn't be a problem. I like the idea, I'll have to put it to the council though."
Zilvar tilts his head, "You said that your people sometimes offer technical services as barter. That will even further lower the cost of the ships, as they'll have already been partially paid for."
WolfSinger yips!! as the helmet unexpectedly plops down on his head. "okay... I'll hafta remember it does that next time."
Copernicus scritches an ear thoughtfully, "Part of the agreement to have that many Chirr'T'Thar work there and get you set up will be a promise of access to the facilities, for fair compensation of course. I can picture the council being worried about too much competition. ;)"
Zilvar holds up a finger, "You can have some access to the bays, and limited access to the storage. There are some places you will not have access to. Until I know everything that the base is capable of turning out, I'm not letting anyone have access to any of the technical files."
Copernicus nods, "That's reasonable."
Zilvar half smiles, "There is some potential for tech trade. I'll want to have access to the files you've compiled on the invader ships if you intend to cart scrap in. It's not impossible that there are already files on them...even if they are quite out of date."
WolfSinger blinks as he feels some neural links make contact. "Hey! this is just like the helmet on my old ship.... only a lot fancier." He thinks. He glances over at the other shuttle, curious as to what's inside. It seems to activate the scanners for him
Copernicus nods, "True, though there are one or two of their weapons systems that we won't even bring in to your facilities."
Screens blaze to life in several places on the landing field as WolfSinger scans the other shuttle, revealing quite a bit of detailed information on the number of bolts, screws, and amount of baling wire holding it together (amazing how detailed scans can get from < 20 feet...)
Zilvar tilts his head to the side, "Oh..now I'm curious. What did they throw at you that was that dangerous?
Copernicus purrs, "Well, they had some fun things like x-ray lasers. And a few other things I can't talk about right now. I may be on the council of elders, but I far from run it.""
Zilvar thinks and nods. "Yeah. There's a nice file on laser weaponry. I haven't read the whole thing. I can see why you'd want to restrict access to some of it."
WolfSinger thinks "cool! I gotta get me one of these!" He glances up at the tower he saw Coper and Zilvar walk into, again activating the scanner, looking for them.
Copernicus purrs, "Once we've repaired our ships, and feel secure again, we should relax a bit. We haven't been in a war in a long time. We don't deal well with having someone try and wipe us out.""
Again, screens flash to life and the operators of said screens say unkind things about the unknown fighter with the overpowered scanners. (heck...40% of the ship is power system...EVERYTHING on it is overpowered). But WolfSinger certainly has little trouble picking out the semi-metallic wolf and the 'taur next to him.
Zilvar nods. "Takes a little getting used to, doesn't it? Try it for a lifetime..then see how odd it is to suddenly not have anyone to fight..."
Copernicus growls rather forcefully, "We will NOT get used to it, if I have anything to say. We will get our defenses up, but we will not become a race that takes such things for granted. I don't want my cubs having to deal with the loss of anyone."
One of the felitaurs in the tower notes the scan and returns scan on the source.
Zilvar shrugs slowly, "I wish you luck with that. I had no choice."
Alarms scream to life on the fighter, spearing painfully through ears and brain as the onboard systems identify an unknown scan and pinpoint the source, flashing targeting information up on the HUD.
Copernicus puts a paw on Zilvar's shoulder and nods, "True enough. But you finally did have a chance to stop. And we will come out of this ok, if I have anything to say about it."
Zilvar chuckles, "It is amazing what being nearly killed can do for your attitudes.
Copernicus shakes his head, "My being nearly killed is nothing new. Having a race try and wipe us out for no apparent reason is another matter."
WolfSinger yipes! "where's the volume control on this thing?" He finally gets enough sense to yank the access card out of the slot, shutting everything down. The helmet retracts back into it's compartment. WolfSinger just sits there for a moment, holding his head.
Zilvar nods, "That's nothing new to me, either, I'm afraid. I grew up with it." He takes a long breath, "How long do you think before I can get an answer?"
Copernicus purrs, "Well, as long as I can promise them that you won't ever arm folks out to destroy us, probably three or four days. We have a council meeting tomorrow."
WolfSinger opens the cockpit and gets out, then staggers over to the tower with one hell of a headache.
Zilvar shrugs, "It is not my intention at this time to arm any ships, except what I build for myself, and what I sell to you...and only that because it makes no sense for me to sell you warships and not give you the guns to go with them."
Zilvar looks down at the departing wolf and arches an eyebrow. "Wonder which button he pushed...."
Copernicus nods, "I didn't think so, but after some of Kai's kids, I have to do a better job of justifying things to the council. I hope you haven't been offended Zilvar."
Zilvar chews on his lower lip. "Do you think it would make a difference if I appeared before the council in person? They know nothing of me except what you tell them."
WolfSinger takes the grav lift up to the floor he saw Coper and Zilvar on. He HATES these lifts, preferring something solid under his paws at all times.
Copernicus flicks an ear, "It might indeed. I don't always go there in person. A side benefit of the gate allows us to bounce communications pretty well anywhere."
Zilvar nods, "When can we go, then?"
Copernicus hrrms, "Well, the gate is already targeted to Tharhome, and the meeting is tomorrow evening Haven time."
Zilvar looks over at WolfSinger as he comes into view, "How did you like the ship?"
Zilvar nods to Coper. "Can you billet me tonight? And go ahead and tell your people to pay attention to my warn off beacons. I don't want anything thinking that it is safe to go there when I am not."
WolfSinger chimes in, still holding his head. "Pretty nice! gotta turn down the volume on that helmet, though.... anyone know where I can get an aspirin?"
Copernicus nods, "I've already informed folks about that Zilvar. As for a place, sure, you're welcome to sleep with me and my mates tonight."
Zilvar furrows his brow slightly, "Ahh...you must have been scanned. The helmet did not know who you were, so it defaulted to normal settings. Those can be changed...in fact, should be, when you first get into a fighter
WolfSinger barks, "please do! I got sensitive ears.""
Zilvar nods to Coper. "All right. That will simplify things. I don't want to waste too much time flying up and down to the surface.
Zilvar chuckles at WolfSinger. "If you are still interested after that demonstration...I will make sure to walk you through the procedure with your own fighter."
Copernicus purrs, "Well, I should probably get some sleep. So, you going to sleep with my family tonight Zilvar?"
Zilvar nods to Coper, "Sure. As long as I'm not shoving someone out of a bed."
Copernicus chuckles, "Bed? We sleep in a pile Zilvar. Oh, and Ceres snores a little."
Zilvar arches an eyebrow. "We'll see.
WolfSinger's tail starts swishing again at the mention of getting his own fighter.
Zilvar half smiles to WolfSinger, "Do not disappear on me. It may take a few days to get a second fighter working."
WolfSinger barks, "oooo!! A snuggle pile! If he won't sleep there, I will! Keeps you nice and warm at night!"
Zilvar pats Coper on the back, "All right. Lets go get some rest. I want to get this done as soon as possible."
Copernicus shrugs at WolfSinger, "Feel free to join us, but if you slurp Ceres, I won't pay for your medical bills. ;)"
WolfSinger chuckles! and sticks his tongue out at Coper.
Copernicus heads to the gravity tube and purrs, "We're one level down. And I'm not joking WolfSinger. Ceres can do a lot of damage if she's awakened that way. ;)'
WolfSinger barks, "I'm not going anywhere, Zilvar. I'll be around here unless Kai drags me off to blow up some other mountain...."
Zilvar eyes WolfSinger, "You get me dragged out of bed by an irate female and I'll hurt you, then take away your fighter..."
WolfSinger yipes!! "I'll behave!!