To Hell and Back (Hellworlder pirates)

Ch11 After Action

After action

The officers all assembled around the table, round like king Arthur's, and marked with the seal of Astaroth. When Astarte had requested a table fit for sacrificing goats and worshipping the dark lord, the Martian shipwrights obviously didn't realize that it was a joke and produced an actual satanic sacrificial alter, black granite with gold inlays and coated with something that made it impossible for liquids to stain the surface. Karega had laughed at the dumb look on Aster's face when she saw it.

"What were they supposed to think Aster, with all the other 'strange' requests we made they probably assumed we're an actual satanic cult. Spreading goats blood and the name of Satan across the stars."

"Why the hell would any sane and logical being assume that! It was a joke! They should have known from my stupid smile"

"In their defense your smile is akin to a tortures sadistic grin. And besides aren't you a Toolist, to Martians most of the 'new saints' all seem pretty devilish."

"There is nothing evil about the new saints. For fucks sake this whole ship is travesty, the halls, the doors, and now this. Remind me to never deal with MDY again!"

She been very upset with all the 'quirks' her new ship had, but after several years aboard she had come to think of them as the ship's personality. And despite being a bunch of humorless idiots they had built a solid ship. Besides where else would she go for a new ship, MDY were the only Terran shipwrights in the galaxy. On the plus side since they made the table to resist fluids like goats blood they didn't need to bother with coasters for their coffee. Small blessings.

The after-action meeting was one of the ships oldest traditions, started before the ship had any formal officers. Learning how to be pirates and run their own ship had come with a steep learning curve and meetings like this helped her figure out how the ship could run more efficiently.

"We ran her to hard Sir. My crew are currently pulling out parts that melted from friction or a burst coolant seal. I know she was made to work at extreme temperatures and pressures but she's not a new ship anymore. We run her like that again and we'll need that refit sooner than we thought." Heizer concluded after an extensive report on the condition of the ship's engines and reactors.

"Astaroth is only seven years old, and her engines and reactors are built for so much more than what we're getting. Is there any way to improve performance? Because like it or not we need the edge that 7.6 provides." Karega interrogated. It was an old discussion, one they touched on every chance they could.

"I've said it before, the engines and reactor could put out a lot more. But without proper cooling they would both turn to slag under their own power. In capabilities we're equivalent to a heavy cruiser, despite being a third their tonnage. To have better cooling we need more space, more space means more mass, more mass means whatever boost we get from more cooling systems we lose because it will take more energy to move the ship. We're as good as it gets right now. The refit will only replace the parts that are completely worn down and give us fewer cooling failures." Heizer said, reiterating the same point he always made.

"We have to except that right now this is Astaroth's peak performance unless some new technology becomes available" Aster interrupted. Karega looked like he had more to say but it wasn't something they haven't heard before. during these meeting the captain acted as a focus for the discourse and tried to keep everyone from getting stuck in the mud. "Ghost, tell me what went wrong on the ground.

Alice 'Ghost' Fidelus was one of her Marine captains. She and her sister had been brought to Aster by Bell back when she was reorganizing the ship. She had discussed with her friend the creation of boarding teams specifically trained for the job, rather than storming the ship herself like she used to. In turn Bell had learned about an isolated compound of former US Marines in the northern Rockies. A bunch of veterans who had joined together and established their own community and kept the old traditions alive.