"How many crew can we fit on this ship, Aubrey? Without crowding or straining our systems."
"Optimal crew number would be 24, sir. That number includes the creation of work stations and departments for their professions."
Blake sat up in bed, having woken early, and had the time to ponder life's great questions.
"Do we need that many crew?"
"No, captain. I only keep you softies around for laughs, sir."
Blake snorted at that. "Softies, that's what a.i's call biological entities?"
"Yes, captain. Just be glad we find humans to be soo cute. We are approaching the ship graveyard, sir."
"So which of these dead ships are we aiming at this time, ensign Booth?"
Booth looked up from his sensor array console, the position he had quickly claimed as soon as he joined the crew officially. Dragging him away from it was a minor problem sometimes, but there was no human aboard who could read the sensor information better.
"Actually, sir, the single vessel most likely to have all the items on our list is the Dreadnought you previously visited."
"It is also more likely to have defence drones still operational. However, with Jager with you, they should not prove too problematic.
The Dreadnought will have advanced medical equipment I would like to have on board the ship, sir."
"Very well, set the best course to our destination. The same launch bay seems the best entry point"
With Aubrey at the helm, the ship wound its way through the graveyard at speeds that would only be possible for exceptional human pilots. Blake had the feeling Aubrey could have flown faster, but for the fear of his human companions.
Gliding in to land at their former location, Captain Fisher assembled the crew in the cargo bay. All were equipped with upgraded laser carbines and EVA suits, giving them excellent offensive force, though only improved defensive capability.
Jager would lead as their point man, the others following his instructions while in unsecured areas.
"I don't suppose anyone would have a map handy for this ship, would they?" Blake didn't think so. He would have heard by now if that was the case.
"Dreadnought layouts are classified information, sir. Besides that, rebuilds are constant with these things." Jager pointed out the obvious. It wouldn't do for enemies to easily find their way around.
"Booth, point us in the right direction. As best you can."
"Most of the list will be around the Engineering Bay. So that way, " he gestured towards the rear of the ship,"should be on the centre line."
Progress would have been a lot slower without the Grav Sleds to carry them, and they were on the lookout for two more. The amount of valuable salvage to be had, since they were already here, was worth the credits to grab.
At every turn they made, Jager used a marking stick to draw an arrow, pointing the way back. For the humans benefit only, his own sense of direction was faultless.
Only a few closed and powerless hatches slowed them. Almost all had been opened when the abandon ship call had gone out, sll those years ago.
"Sir, if we find any military EVA suits, if like to grab myself one. Their armour is generally better overall. With an upgrade, they'll be plenty tough enough for me." Jager made his request about 20 minutes into their trip. He didn't actually need an EVA suit to function. He did need one to communicate with the others, though. And the extra armour would help if they got in trouble.
Survival Quest Available
Hunt and Destroy Defence Drones 0/20
"OK, folks. I've just bern given a survival quest, part of my Repairman Skill. Looks like there are at least 20 drones still operational. Which area of yhe Dreadnought they are in is still unknown. The Quest suggested they may have to be hunted down."
Jager shrugged at hearing all that. "We already knew they might be around. Now we know the minimum amount still operating. I'd call that good intell."
Another 30 minutes riding through the 'oh my god this place is fucking huge' Dreadnought brought them past a medical bay. Inside was rows of beds with what looked like repair bots above each of them.
"Jackpot! Just what Aubrey was looking for. Mark it for today's return trip." Booth told them excitedly.
10 minutes later, jager halted the group. "Drones ahead, maybe three. Echos in these halls are throwing up make it hard to tell. Hold up here." Jager unslung his carbine and moved ahead in a staggered crouch because of his mag boots.
He popped his head around the corner briefly, then gestured for the others to move up to him.
"Two in the hall. Sir, stay low at this corner, hit the drone on the left. Move when i move. Ready?"
Blake had unsung his weapon and nodded.
Jager stepped back, giving Blake room to lean around the corner, then stepped out around the corner, Blake following the movement and sighted on the drone.
Laser fire from behind him burst out as he opened fire. Jager peppered his drone with a steady stream of hits, Blake, failing to match his fire rate, kept to a rate of fire that let him make hits with most shots. The drones return fire was consistently knocked off target by the crews shots. The walls of the hallway were still getting chewed up though.
Enough so, that the risk was high.
Jager drone dropped first, his fire switched to the second drone. The extra firepower quickly brought the drone down.
Jager listen for a moment, then got back on the Grav Sled and floated down the hall to the killed drones. "Any use to you, Aubrey?" He asked looking down at the wreckage.
"No Jager. They are too unpredictable, requiring constant control or the get trigger happy. Mounted internal turrets would be useful, if you're looking for my wishlist."
The crew stared at the drones.
If you took an assault rifle, slapped curved armour over it, gave it a wing spanning a metre and a short wing at the tail end, you'd have a drone. Fix antigrav lifters on the tips of the wings and tail to make it fly. Let the antigrav lifters tilt omnidirectionally, you get manoeuvring.
Jager stopped to listen again. "They either didn't call for backup, or they stick strictly to their patrol routes. Keep an eye out for heavy weapons, we could use the extra firepower.
10 minutes later, more drones showed up. Three this time.
Jager heard them coming, and set the ambush for them. He stepped into the hall with the drones and took one under fire, pounding it with laser fire then retreating back around the corner, raced 10 metres down the hall an crouched, hugging the wall.
As the drones rounded the corner in pursuit, the first was pinned with three sets of lasers from the humans. The drone was quickly slagged, the three changing to the next target, this drone switching from one possible target to the next. Their positions partly protected by the doorway alcoves they fired from, the only member of the crew that was taking hits was Jager. He didn't seem to notice as he dropped a drone, the last getting overwhelmed quickly.
After the fight, Blake checked Jager out, multiple laserburns had struck his chest. A minute of repair had him good as new. "almost got interesting there for a moment" Jager said, smiling. Blake felt like he should have a short fat cigar in his mouth. Just to complete the look.
No more drones appeared till they got to the Engineering Bay. There was 5 of them there. Too many. They fell back, right back to medical where they waited for the small repair drones to arrive. Taking directions uploaded to Aubrey from Jager, their superior locomotion had them onsight in 15 minutes. They went straight to work disassembling the med droids and two beds. Using two of the Grav Sleds, they loaded 6 med droids and two beds up and we're gone within 20 minutes.
The Grav Sleds would be sent back after unloading. All the crew could do was wait.
"We should head laterally across the ship. We can't get into Engineering with these weapons. So we look for the other items. They'll be in the science astrometrics area." This was Booth's idea, and it made sense. Blake had a fallback plan, but it would be time and valuable resource consuming.
Two more firefights over the next two hours took down 4 more drones. Jager picked up a new Armoured EVA suit that Blake upgraded for him. So they had a tank now. If they all picked up military EVA suits they'd have an even chance against the Engineering drones.
"Aubrey. Go ahead with the backup plan, please. Better safe than sorry."
"Yes, Sir. It will be approximately 5 hours to complete."
"5 hours is fine. We're not finding the science area around here. We're just gonna search compartments for 'would be nice' items. We'll load up and head back the kids' old prison for rest.
"Very well, sir,