Tanya had been inspired by her design sessions and couldn't wait to get started on fabrication. The Aegis-class represented everything she'd learned about dimensional physics and her own evolving capabilities as a shipwright. But more than that, it represented a return to what she loved most, the pure act of creation, the transformation of raw materials into something that had never existed before.
"Amara, Cameron, Janet," she announced during their morning briefing, "you're in charge of the battleship operation. I trust your judgment on how to proceed."
They had already decided to part out the ship and sell it through Kozlov's grey market network. Anything valuable but untraceable would be added to their resource stockpile, anything identifiable would be broken down into component materials. It was practical, profitable work that would fund their operations for months to come.
But Tanya didn't care about the minutiae of salvage operations anymore. She'd done her share of inventory management and economic planning. Right now, she needed to build something extraordinary.
"I'm taking all the resources I need for the Aegis prototype," she continued, pulling up material allocation lists and having Sage transport them to the workshop.
"How long do you think this will take?" Amara asked, already running calculations about resource usage and project timelines.
"However long it takes to get it right," Tanya replied firmly. "I'm not coming out of that workshop until I've fabricated the best Aegis-class hammerhead I can possibly build."
She'd been getting distracted from her true purpose as a shipwright, caught up in salvage operations, business negotiations, and strategic planning. Important work, but not the work that made her feel alive. Building ships, she meant really building them, with her own hands and enhanced capabilities, that was where she belonged.
Drew looked up from his tablet, where he'd been analysing the battleship's fighter components. "Do you want us to wait on breaking down the neural interface systems until you're finished? Some of those components might be useful for the Aegis."
"No, stay on schedule," Tanya said. "I can finish this with resources we already have. It's more important to get that fighter squadron ready."
//This project will provide significant opportunities for Knowledge Point acquisition,// Sage observed as they prepared to enter the workshop. //Complex fabrication using advanced techniques typically generates substantial educational value.//
"Good. I want to unlock more of the workshop's capabilities," Tanya said, already feeling the familiar excitement that came before major construction projects. "And I want to understand more about quantum enhancement and mass production techniques."
She sealed the workshop door behind her with a sense of ritual. This would be a period of pure creation, uninterrupted by external concerns or compromise. Just her, Sage, Mera, and the challenge of turning theoretical concepts into functional reality.
She entered the level 2 workshop and took up her normal mediation pose, a return to normal. Once she was ready, she got to work. Advanced recyclers lined one wall, their atomic manipulation chambers capable of breaking down materials to their component elements and reassembling them with perfect purity. Precision atomic welders warmed up ready for use . 3D printers that could manufacture components with molecular-level precision waited in standby mode, their fabrication chambers sterile and ready.
"Now this is a proper workshop," Tanya breathed, running her hands over control surfaces that felt warm and responsive to her touch.
Sage moved Mera into her preferred corner of the expanded space. The alien organism's bioluminescent patterns shifted to excited spirals of gold and silver as she sensed the creative energy building in the workshop.
"Ready to help me build something amazing?" Tanya asked, activating her quantum enhancement glasses.
The enhanced lenses revealed layers of reality that normal vision couldn't perceive with probability clouds shifting around raw materials, dimensional resonances waiting to be aligned. But more than just seeing, she could feel the potential in everything around her.
The sculpture she'd created for Kozlov had been beautiful, but it was art. This would be engineering at its purest, a functional beauty that served a purpose beyond aesthetics, technology that could change how conflicts played out across the galaxy. Tanya had to calm herself down; she was getting ahead of herself.
As she saw it, the Aegis-class had five key components that would determine its success or failure: the hammer assembly, the gravitation and mass manipulation array, life support systems, power distribution, and overall aesthetic design. This was going to be the cornerstone of her peacekeeping fleet. So, it needed to look the part.
She had wanted to add dimensional shielding, but the gravitation array consumed nearly the entire power budget. Adding more power generation didn't solve the problem because it added more weight, which changed the ship's balance and mass distribution characteristics. Everything came at a cost in engineering, and the Aegis demanded difficult choices.
"Time to find out what we can really do," she said, pulling up the first fabrication protocols.
The hammer assembly was the most critical component. A massive structure that would house both the dimensional anchoring systems and the variable mass controls. It had to be quantum-enhanced for maximum durability, but she also wanted to work out a way to mass-produce similar components for future vessels.
She started with the structural framework, pulling raw materials from the workshop's storage systems. The alloys were standard industrial-grade metals, but through quantum enhancement, they would become something unprecedented in human engineering.
"Here we go," she murmured, placing her hands on the first beam.
The quantum enhancement process was unlike anything she'd experienced during her earlier work. Through the specialised glasses, she could see the material's atomic structure in three-dimensional detail. But more importantly, she could feel the connection between her intentions and the materials themselves. Energy flowed from her hands into the metal, not heat or electricity, but something more fundamental. Probability manipulation that convinced atoms to align in configurations that conventional physics said were impossible.
She watched her hands as she worked, seeing streams of quantum energy flowing from her fingers into the beam's molecular structure. The process was exhausting but exhilarating. She was literally willing the material to become something beyond its original nature.
"Sage, am I the energy source for this process?" she asked, feeling the drain on her concentration.
//You are the focusing element. The energy comes from dimensional variance, but requires conscious intention to direct it effectively.//
"But could I teach someone else to do this? Or develop machines that could replicate the effect?"
//Continue working. The answer will become apparent as your technique develops.//
The first beam took three hours to complete. When she finished, the metal had become something that couldn't be classified by conventional materials science. It was still recognisably an alloy, but its quantum structure had been reorganised to create strength characteristics that exceeded theoretical maximums. Just as she had planned.
More importantly, she was beginning to understand the patterns involved. The quantum enhancement wasn't random. It followed specific pathways that could potentially be mapped and replicated. The energy she was imparting had direction, purpose, reproducible effects that suggested the process could eventually be mechanised or at least taught to others.
"I can see how to mass-produce this," she said with growing excitement. "Not easily, and not cheaply, but it's possible."
She moved on to the internal components of the hammer assembly. The deadblow masses that would absorb kinetic energy during impact operations. Each mass had to be perfectly balanced, their quantum enhancement synchronised to create the desired energy absorption characteristics and durability.
The work became meditative. Place component, enhance structure, integrate with assembly, test alignment, and adjust parameters. Her hands found a rhythm that made the process flow smoothly, guided by Mera's bioluminescent patterns that seemed to respond to the quantum fields she was generating.
The alien organism was more than just an observer; she was providing feedback that helped Tanya maintain focus and work at full capacity. When the quantum alignment began to drift, Mera's colours shifted to warn of the deviation. When the enhancement was proceeding correctly, her patterns pulsed with encouraging harmony.
"You're part of this process, aren't you?" Tanya asked during a brief break. "Not just watching, but actually helping."
Mera's response was a complex dance of silver and blue that the xenolinguistic AI translated as agreement combined with something that might have been affection.
The hammer assembly took two full days to complete. When she finished, it was a masterpiece of engineering that looked deceptively simple. A massive structure that could shift its mass between dimensional layers while maintaining perfect structural integrity. The quantum-enhanced materials made it possible to achieve effects that would have required exotic matter with conventional technology.
The gravitational array came together more easily than she'd expected. Her knowledge of third space manipulation translated directly into engineering principles, allowing her to create systems that could generate controlled gravitational fields. It appeared that controlling gravity was far easier than dealing with time.
The key was understanding that gravity wasn't generated butwas borrowed from the dimension itself. The array's crystalline matrices acted as focusing elements that could redirect existing gravitational fields rather than creating new ones from scratch.
Each crystal had to be fine-tuned to get the exact effect she needed. She had to find the correct tone to assist with that. She was enjoying the challenge and that seemed to be feeding back into the components.
But her technique was improving with practice. She could feel the optimal levels now and sense when the quantum alignment was perfect. The crystals responded to her touch like living things, their internal structure reorganising itself according to her will.
The power distribution network required similar precision. The Aegis needed enormous amounts of energy for its dimensional manipulation systems, but the power had to be carefully balanced to maintain the ship's centre of mass during variable mass operations. She had to consider redundancies
She solved it by creating modular power cells that could be shifted between dimensional layers along with the hammer assembly. When the ship was in reduced-mass mode, the power systems would shift to third space as well, maintaining perfect energy distribution regardless of the ship's dimensional configuration. That was the plan, and Sage's simulations showed it should work that way, but she wouldn't believe it until she saw it work herself.
The life support systems were more conventional but no less critical. Multiple redundant atmospheric processors, water recycling systems, food synthesis capabilities, waste management, all the unglamorous but essential systems that kept organic crews alive in the vacuum of space. She followed Carlos' plan to the letter.
But even these standard components benefited from quantum enhancement. The molecular filters in the air recyclers became more efficient, the catalysts in the water purifiers more effective, and the protein synthesisers in the food systems more capable of creating nutritious meals from basic elements.
"Every system is better when it's quantum-enhanced," she observed, working on the atmospheric processing equipment. "Not just stronger or more durable—actually more effective at its intended function."
//Quantum enhancement optimises performance by aligning molecular structure with the intended purpose. The process doesn't change what a system does, but it allows the system to do it more efficiently.//
The medical facilities Carlos had recommended were integrated into the ship's core, protected by layers of armour that would make them nearly impossible to destroy. Automated surgical suites, trauma stabilisation equipment, and pharmaceutical synthesis capabilities. It had everything needed to keep the crew alive and functional even during extended combat operations.
But it was the emergency escape pods that showed her true priorities. Each pod was actually a small spacecraft capable of independent operation for weeks, with its own life support, navigation, and communication systems. If the Aegis were destroyed, her crew would have every possible chance of survival.
When she finished the functional components, the ship looked capable but uninspiring. The external design was purely utilitarian. It was just another vessel with unusual proportions. It didn't sing, didn't communicate the hope and protection it was meant to represent.
"This is supposed to be a peacekeeping vessel," she said, studying the external configuration with dissatisfaction. "It needs to look like something people want to be rescued by, not something they want to run away from."
She spent another full day working on the hull configuration, adjusting curves and proportions until the ship's appearance matched its mission. The challenge was maintaining the brutal functionality of the hammerhead configuration while adding flowing lines that suggested protection rather than aggression.
The breakthrough came when she stopped thinking like a military engineer and started thinking like an artist. The same principles that had guided her sculpture for Kozlov applied here—form following function, but with emotional resonance that communicated purpose to anyone who saw it.
The final design maintained the massive hammerhead prow that was essential to the ship's function, but the connecting hull flowed backward in graceful curves that suggested strength without menace. The engine assemblies were integrated smoothly into the overall design rather than bolted on as obvious additions.
The hull colouring she chose was a deep blue-grey that would stand out against the black of space without appearing threatening. Accent stripes in silver and white added visual interest while serving as navigation aids and identification markers.
When she finally stepped back to examine her work, the Aegis prototype looked exactly right. Powerful but not menacing, functional but not ugly, advanced but not alien. It was a ship that announced its purpose to anyone who saw it. This was a vessel that protected people.