15 N.E. Third day of the Third Month
Ridge returned to helping around the base where he was needed and also began marking spots where turrets could be built on the wall alongside Caroline. To be completely honest, given his expertise, the only thing he was really good for was leading soldiers into battle, and even the strategy aspect of that was often left to others.
Nonetheless, he wanted to do whatever was needed to learn how to be a good administrator and leader, so doing everything he could was, in his mind neccessary, this included picking spots for the defense of the base.
The engineers themselves, minus Caroline, had gathered at the mining outpost to speed up the mine's construction. This way, they could make their way over to the ship, examine any damage, and clear it for action.
To put it simply, the ship was sitting there collecting dust, and they needed to clean it up and refurbish it. A few soldiers alongside Yayha had already preemptively left to ensure everything was secure and to also inspect the stored ammunition for the ship's cannons.
"The turrets will probably have to be large to ensure complete safety. Not to mention, with so few targeting chips lying around before we can manufacture new ones, it's best to go big or go home," Caroline said while the two of them inspected spots alongside the empty trench surrounding the base.
"Maybe, though I wonder if that will be too long of a construction time as compared to smaller ones? Not to mention, smaller turrets will make it easier to create abundant ammunition for it," Ridge replied.
The two were discussing the specifics of the turrets. Ridge believed it would be best to make smaller turrets, simply because they usually followed the rule of being fast to shoot and also easier to supply with abundant ammunition. Even within the Federation, before they had been transported here, smaller guns were always favored for the simple fact that they could be rapidly constructed in great numbers.
Of course, on the other hand, Caroline's choice had its own merits: if you had a big enough gun that could one-shot the target, then the issue with supplying ammunition generally wouldn't matter since the consumption wouldn't keep up with the supply. This all, of course, only makes sense once they officially create their industrial base on the planet. Without one, they were merely making plans that wouldn't have any chance of fruition.
"That may be so, but I think you're also forgetting that the larger the weapons, the longer the range typically, meaning so long as the reloading speed of the turret is not abysmal, the large rounds, if equipped to explode, could do a lot more damage at greater range. Either way, it's only a matter of time until our industry starts to fully take shape and we won't need to worry so much about supplying ammunition. Targeting cards, on the other hand, are much rarer, and it would be best to save time building the large turrets rather than later."
Hearing her words, he slowly began to be convinced, and in fact, after thinking it over, he began to convince himself of the bigger-is-better strategy. With an established mine that had already surveyed the materials needed for ammunition, there was no reason to save up and stockpile when they could use it all for improvements and strength needed to fight. Unlike food, the mine seems to be rather large, so they wouldn't be able to exhaust it at their current rate of mining.
This was especially because of the fact that their automated mine is rather basic compared to the established mines in the federation, where a large vein of metals could be mined within just a few years.
By midday, Ridge had already finished his discussions with Caroline and had marked out the spots for the guns on the wall. He then had her return to the battleship to prepare for the others. Speaking of them, a message had popped up earlier on his wrist panel and notified him that the mining outpost had reached 100% completion. The Coro Federation, to begin with, had a heavy reliance on automated systems, so just like the water processing plant, only a few members of the crew would need to supervise it and ensure the ores were transported to the main base after being refined. The refinery itself would likely only finish once the engineers were done with their current task.
With the project now completed, the only thing left to do before the day ended was to check on the ship and ensure it was weapons ready. Generally speaking, although Ridge felt it was a good plan to use the ship for an operation such as this, he also felt that such a simple solution wouldn't be able to effectively handle the problem in its entirety. Moreover, by the time tomorrow hit, it was highly likely that the fungi had spread outside of the general area of the ship.
Of course, that was a problem he would have to face tomorrow, so for the time being he continued with the day passing peacefully.
The next day came quickly and early. With the alarm in his room beeping, Ridge quickly got up and grabbed the gear he had pre-arranged the night before. Once finished, he quickly made his way out of the base and, alongside a group of soldiers, including George, they travelled not even 10 minutes away using a rough road that was constructed quickly by one of the trailblazers once the ship had initially cleared an area for it to land.
Reaching the ship, the area surrounding it was filled with small craters and foliage that had been blown away, as well as some felled trees that hadn't been moved yet. It was merely a small distraction, and Ridge wasn't really surprised by the destruction, so alongside the others, he quickly made it to the lowered elevator and pressed a button to raise it.
Unlike before, when he was simply checking the storage numbers, the ship seemed to be much busier. A large majority of the soldiers would be coming along this time, alongside a couple of engineers. There were also going to be ten regular laborers to haul the ammunition across the ship.
With the process mostly automated, they wouldn't need an entire fully staffed crew for bombardment operations this time around. Reaching the bridge, he greeted a few of the crew members who were already there before sitting down on the mainofficer'ss chair.
Not long after he entered, Yayha and George entered the room together. Nodding at their quick salutes, Ridge continued browsing through the holographic images that spread out in front of him, displaying the status of the ship as a whole.
In terms of its hull integrity, it was at eighty-nine percent. Though not fully repaired, it would be enough for space travel if needed, so it wasn't something he was super worried about. The ship had previously sustained some damage during the ambush, bringing its integrity down to sixty-four percent, so with their makeshift repairs and limited resources at the time, it was quite an accomplishment to reach their current state.
It was at times like these that Ridge could only be forever grateful for the fact that each ship within the federation had a team of engineers and scientists. Smart people just know how to get things done more efficiently.
Yayha had taken his place at the navigation table with Berkay, browsing through the 3d map that they had created using the scanners on the ship earlier when they were landing, and George simply found a seat before closing his eyes to rest. It was a typical ritual for most soldiers on the ship.
You find a seat, close your eyes, then "meditate" to clear your mind. Of course, for the more strong-willed, it was also the time to power nap and regain some energy in case they needed to stay up for longer than usual fighting.
A few hours passed quickly, and finally, after the last checks were made, the ship was ready.
Caroline entered the bridge. "Commander, all checks have been made, and everything is in order. As a side note, the reactor previously had some problems before landing, but luckily, after some maintenance and time parked on the ground, we fixed it up nicely," she reported with a quick salute.
"Excellent news, let's get a move on then," he replied quickly while swiping his hand to clear the holograms away.
Pushing a button on his chair, the intercoms came online. "Testing, testing," his voice echoed, " all hands to battle stations and prepare for liftoff."
An alarm sounded out after he finished, and the ship began to bustle into action. The pilots of the ship began activating their screens and communicated through small communication pieces in their ears to coordinate their movements.
A loud hum and whirring sounded out until finally the ship began to float once more. Feeling the inertia of it being lifted, Ridge sat with his back fully against the chair and simply watched as the view from the window began to change.
The tall tree trunks turned into green leaves, which finally turned into the turquoise colored sky they had gotten used to seeing. Moving further up, they spotted from the bridge the vastness of the forest they were surviving in once again and the now metal surfaces sprouting from nothing, showcasing civilization at its finest. The destruction of nature for the betterment of mankind. Although in this case Ridge felt that the conservationists back home wouldn't be able to find a problem if they were trying to survive as well.
Aside from the new metal buildings, there were now compacted dirt roads with lights leading off into the distance to the mining complex, as well as the dust spewing into the air from the trailblazers.
The ship passed over the base quickly, and they were finally on their way to battle; now, because they were flying over the trees, the actual trip would take maybe half an hour at most. This was also not accounting for the fact that the ship could go faster if need be.
There wasn't much to communicate, so instead of making idle talk and disturbing the comms of the pilots, Ridge decided to take a short nap. A soldier can sleep anywhere and on anything, after all.
"Commander," a voice sounded out. Opening his eyes quickly, Ridge noticed the view was no longer tall trees, but a vast ocean or lake, with a crashed Federation ship that no longer resembled what they witnessed in the first place.
Yayha, who had woken him up, returned back to his place and watched as Ridge got up from his seat and walked towards the bridge window, now with his brows furrowed.
The metal that used to be gray colored was now completely covered in all sorts of plant-like vines that sprouted different types of fungi or whatever it was. At any rate, he could see that this ship had been claimed by their foes.
"Prepare the guns!" he shouted out while turning around to the nearest person.
The phrase quickly echoed through the halls of the ship and finally reached the soldiers and laborers who were supervising the automated gun system to ensure nothing went wrong with it. As well as stocking up the reserves to replace the spent rounds.
As if sensing the ill intent of the battleship within the sky above it, the enemy sprouted what could only be described as colorful trees that expanded their leaves to create some type of shield or barrier.
Unsure of its effects, the booming sounds from the ten heavy cannons on the right side of the battleship began to fire their rounds of explosive kinetic slugs onto the target.
Boom..Boom...Boom..
The slugs exploded in great fires of orange and red mixed together with smoke. After one volley, Ridge ordered the guns to stop and watched out the window as the smoke cleared.