[Mark, I have finished up]
Mark's eyes slowly opened, he had been floating around freely inside the wreck he called home for more than a few days by now waiting on the word of the little one
"...Got it, what do you have for me, little one?"
[First on your list of inquiries, the ship you've captured is a Valec heavy manufacturing Sparrow with the REG number of 00001281763913244091. This particular ship have been worn down by mismaintence and accumulated battle damage since it rolled off Valec's orbital factory #1876 in orbit around Woith-4, 84 standardized years ago]
"So is it too damaged to fly?"
[No, second on your list of inquires the ship is FTL worthy, however given the most recently accumulated battle as well as the presence of a sensory shielded cargo filled with what I so far assume is contraband docking on a public star station never mind performing planet fall on a occupied world is not currently advised]
"Hmm, so if we fix it up and put some new plates on it, will it be?"
[Yes, however while a basic battle damage have been repaired and a basic refit according to you instructed modifications have been finished we will require more materials to complete a full retrofit and repair job]
"Alright, what do you suggest then?"
[Besides the raw materials we require two things, a suspended gravity forge and some sort of auxiliary Ficer computing core to speed along the refitting process]
"Got it… So a computer, well maybe a server in this case? As well as a forge to manufacture plating and other bits for maintenance… Any ideas?"
[Yes, while the current section of the asteroid belt we find ourselves in is rich in ice and is spotted with naturally occurring Ficer materials, it is light in metals and silicone derivatives… However if we move closer to the gravity well of Creh-6, we should be able to source the required raw metals we need]
"Yeah, but what about a forge? I don't suppose we can find that kicking around in an asteroid belt?"
[I wouldn't be so sure about that, according to my original records on manufacturing, remote outposts for basic reprocessing are quite common, and using the Sparrow's sensors I have logged 132 possible locations where a active or mothballed processing site might be located]
"Well, then… Let's get going"
[Yes, the current route has been mapped… It is the perfect time to get some training in, don't you think, Mark?]
"Yep, let's do that"
Mark pushed off the polished metal floor and flew out of the wreck, it hadn't offered him much besides shelter from the starlight and his first meal so he believed he wouldn't miss it all that much, still as he flew out towards the Sparrow he still felt some emotions leaving it behind
"Bye…"
[Mark?]
Looking over the wreck a final time Mark spun around and faced the Sparrow, the cockpit had been retrofitted and covered by a extra layer of plating to cover Mark from the starlight, and now it was opened op like a giant maw, waiting for him to enter and take his seat
"Nothing, fire up the drive little one, let's get out of here"
At Mark's words the Sparrow roared to life and as Mark took his seat the outer plating closed in front of him, while it wasn't vacuum sealed it didn't really matter to Mark or the little one
[Come on in, Mark]
Mark closed his eyes and focused on his connection to the little one, it had been connected to the Sparrow's systems and with his connection to it he what it felt
"Alright… Easy now…"
At a thought got the Sparrow moving, the two main thrusters slowly opened up and the entire ship began accelerating
'This feels more natural than I had thought it would
Feeling the Sparrow's sensors as his own Mark maneuvered around the icy asteroids by using the auxiliary thrusters positioned all around the ship
"They are a little too weak for this kind of maneuvering…"
[I got it, I am overwriting the power distributor now…]
A few moments passed before Mark felt his mobility increase and showed a smile
"Oh… Yep, that's better"
[Do you need anything else?]
"Yeah, how many weapons are there mounted on this?"
[A pair of size 2 Autocannons deployable on either side of the frame, as well as 3 size 1 burst lasers mounted on a single deployable mount under the chassis]
"Size 2?"
[Yes, under the treaty of personal FTL capable starships it is dictated that any civilian owned ship is only allowed to mount up to size 3 weapons. The higher the number the larger the weapon, while there are other differences found in type or manufacturer the size limitation generally dictate the damage potential of a single weapon]
"Got it, what about other internal modules?"
[Most notable, besides the main drive and auxiliary drive which powers the ship, there is the shield generator, life support and FLT core]
"How good are the shields? Can they take cannon or laser fire?"
[Shield generators are generally not able to stop more than two direct weapon hits before faltering, skilled manipulations of deployments zones by an operator is able to stretch that number to 5 and 8 at most]
"So if we get in a fight, don't rely on the shields… Got it… How about physical impacts?"
[At most it can stop medium-sized debris, so don't fly into asteroids and we will be fine]
"Got it, so no ramming maneuvers either…"
Mark continued chatting with the little one about spaceships and FTL travel as he maneuvered past the asteroids for a few hours before the little one chimed in
[It looks like you have gotten the hang of basic maneuvering, should we take the difficulty up a bit?]
"...Sure, as long as fuel isn't a problem?"
[Due to the nature of spaceship drives, real-space maneuvering is infinitely more fuel efficient than FTL cruising or jumping, at current fuel depletion rate the stores of Helium fuel will reach 50% in 8 standardized years, so please be at ease]
"Alright, what do you have in mind for training?"
[Plotting adaptable obstacle course now, keep the speed as high as possible, I will take over controls if a collision is imminent]
"Got it…"
Mark sensed the route appear in his sensor view, it weaved around and in between different asteroids to get him used to flying
"Okay, here we go…"
Throttling up Mark turned around the first asteroid hugging it close as he rotated with the ship around with the auxiliary thrusters and after a few hours with the little one stepping in a few times he mostly got it
'So for forwards movement it's about maximizing the time the main thrusters is pointed directly opposite of the travel direction, sounds simple spelling it out like this but doing it in practice while flying through this complex of a space is tricky… Every single activation of the auxiliary's is crucial'
Mark gilded around an asteroid, hugging it close while he twisted the angle of the ship with the auxiliary thrusters to keep the main throttle completely open while not crashing the ship
'It feels like gliding on ice using 4 propellers, and the biggest one on the back, but in 3 dimensions instead of 2…'
With no need to rest Mark continued flying through the asteroid belt for the next few weeks, every once in a while they would get close enough to a place the little suspected there could be a mining outpost to confirm it wasn't there, and so they would head to the next site
-
"Alright, on to the next one… Wait, there's one there?"
[Scanning further now… Confirmed, it seems like it's been mothballed for some time, but there is a mining outpost present]
"Neat, which number was this one again?"
[This is possible site number 58, we have been traveling for around 28 standardized days]
"Alright, let's see if there's anything of use…"
Soon the outpost came into view, a large area clear of asteroids with a dozen or so 50 by 50 meter metal cubes floating around a large station
"How do they… Just float like that?"
[A gravity field, it holds cargo in place and pushes away asteroids to avoid damage to the outpost… It was how I was able to approximate the mining outpost location, using a high frequency sensor pulse and sorting after large voids in the belt]
"So how do we get close to it, if there's this field around it?"
[It is more of a passive effect, don't worry Mark]
"Okay… Neat"
Mark flew the Sparrow into the gravity field and into the docking bay, the large bay lay empty and desolate
[Please connect me to the station]
"Sure thing"
The Sparrow's cockpit opened up and Mark flew out with a cable in his hand, flying up on the docking door he found a panel
'This will do…'
Mark stuck the panel twice and dented it inwards before he grabbed the edge and tore it off the wall, finding some wiring Mark stripped the cable and jury-rigged the cable from the Sparrow into it
[I am connected, it will be a while before I have infiltrated the systems completely]
"Will there even be anything of use?"
[Most likely, given the active gravity field, the active internal security I am disarming and the nature of Ficer processors it is very unlikely this outpost have been stripped down for parts]
"The nature of Ficer processors? What do you mean?"
[While Ficer is an artificial material, the natural precursors used in its manufacturing are abundant and the manufacturing process is spread amongst most of the galactic community]
"Still, leaving it behind seems like a waste, can't you reprogram the machine to do something else?"
[While technically possible, Ficer reprocessing is almost never done as the power needs are several times more extensive than simply making new Ficer processing cores. As for reprogramming, one would need about 3 times more power than reprocessing so this is almost never done either]
"...What about shipping it out then?"
[That would be possible, however the combined Ficer mass for this mining outpost is likely half the total weight of the entire outpost]
"Alright… Well I guess it has its advantages over silicon processors"
Mark thought back to what he had heard about the manufacturing of computer chips in his previous life and distinctly remembered that the most complex chips were only made in a few places, in massive foundries that ran almost 24/7 except for when deliveries were made as the vibrations from the delivery trucks were enough to disrupt production
'Compared to that, this Ficer stuff is almost like magic, sure bulk and weight appear to be issues but having this complex a computer and not reusing it because it is cheaper to make a new one than shipping it around sure is saying something…'
[I have taken control of the facility, internal security have been disabled]
A moment after the little one spoke, Mark felt the outpost shake for a moment as it woke from its long slumber
[Brining outpost drive online… Completed, Gravity forge is warming to target temperature… Any last minute requests to the refit of the Sparrow?]
Mark spun around and looked back at the plating that opened around the cockpit and showed a smile
"Yeah… Add teeth to the frontal plating, make it look like a predator"
[Confirmed, the drone cluster is coming online, please remain on alert Mark… While I have disabled any outgoing communications, the heat signature is visible to anyone looking at the belt]
"Alright… Will you show me around the outpost?"
[Yes, please enter through the hatch to your right side]
Mark showed a smile and entered the mining outpost through the open hatch, while idle curiosity drove him inside the mining outpost, his new side made him absorb everything about his new environment and question the little one about each and every detail in excruciating detail.
Just like with the information he had found on the terminal, Mark craved to understand his prey on a basic level. He needed to know them inside and out to better fit in and camouflage himself among them