~~~ World reaction 2
Once it was over what seemed like half the world jumped on the website. Others were ignoring what he'd said and were trying to call anyone who could give them further information. Some were calling the networks to complain about the piss poor programming and joke. The balance was calling to demand the military protect them from the Aliens since everyone knew they were going to come, take over, do experiments, and other unmentionable things.
Jace was focusing on the world threads. He could tell Danal was also and both were grinning at the reactions from the others. He glanced at her, "This is going to be interesting. Don't think it's going to be going up in flames but it's going to be interesting."
Danal snorted, "Earthlings funny. Many are going to assume this is a joke, others are going to do the confidential theory." She frowned, "No, not confidential, conspiracy theory. Yes, conspiracy theories. I can already feel them breaking out the tin foil suites. What are they supposed to do if aliens came to earth?" She was looking really confused.
Sanji felt his lips starting to twitch even as Danal was giving Jace a curious look, "Oh Goddess that was way to funny. In theory the tin foil will block the ability for aliens to monitor their brainwaves or locate where they are. Hence the reference to a tinfoil hat or suit."
Danal stared at him before starting to glare at the others as they were laughing their asses off at her, "Might end up changing genders. Holcomb how'd you like be girl for a month or through next heat?" When Mila laughed, "And you boy. Then Holcomb wear pants and you get skirt."
Everyone glared at her. Kyrill and Nacy spoke almost as one, "Do it and you might end up missing a tail. That and in Jace's MLP kilt. I'm sure he'd be happy to ensure you couldn't take off if we asked nicely."
Jace glared at Holcomb and suddenly the box was sitting on his lap, "You haven't opened it yet, might you want to? Open it and I'll consider not letting my mate change your genders." He hissed at the others even as they were teasing the two.
Holcomb hissed at Jace, "No way in hell am I going to open this. I know my mother and what she sent you was bad enough. What ever the hell she sent me is going to be far worse." He crossed his arms and glared at their friend.
Mila sniggered at him even as she snatched the box from him and ran a claw across the taped section on the top. She opened the flaps before having to close them as she started laughing. After opening it again, she kept laughing as hard as possible. The damn thing was so bad it wasn't funny.
Everyone was staring at her as she was laughing, "So what is it? What's the joke with the boxes and MLP kilt? What's that about?" Sanji hadn't heard about the whole skirt or apron thing.
Jace hissed at him, "Holcomb's mother has an evil sense of humor. While in the Academy she sent us some packages. I opened mine and found a purple sparkly My Little Pony Kilt. Holcomb wasn't brave enough to open his." He grumbled at his friend.
Sanji traded looks with Carol and it was all they could do to keep their reactions to the minimum, "Um, oh man... That's horrible. Neither man nor cat should be given such a horrible fate." Carol was looking horrified by what they were saying.
Holcomb glared at Mila when she started snickering at what was in his box, "Hate you woman. Cold wet out doors for you! I mean you get to sleep on the quarterdeck for your laughing at me." He gave her a rather irritated hiss.
She opened the box again and pulled out a bright yellow apron which had 'Holcomb's Bun's' on it. What was even worse was it showed a very nice set of man buns on it. Everyone looked at it horror before almost the entire officer's lounge died laughing.
Holcomb stood and stomped out of the lounge and to the room. Being he was feeling rather spiteful he locked the door behind him and after stripping the uniform off he flopped in bed and hissed at his mate and mother. He wasn't pleased with either of them and he was going to bite Jace soon. He didn't give a shit what Jace or Danal might do, he was going to bite them.
~~~ The engineering door
There were enough scientists being pulled into to working on the tech brought back. One set was a number of metallurgists who were looking at the door from the engineering compartment. The scientists assigned to working on it were in seventh heaven. The metal on the outside was harder than anything they'd seen before. They'd started working on it almost as soon as the ship had returned to Earth.
One thing they'd found was the elements were fairly common but had been compressed somehow. The metal would normally be several inches thick instead of barely an inch thick. They'd named it collapsium since the metal appeared to have been compacted to a third or less of what would be normal. It was something they were looking into and it was going to take time. The best they could guess was they, the aliens, had used some sort of heavy gravity to compress the metal matrix.
They had artificial gravity but not of the sort which would be needed to compress the metal matrix they were looking at. It was, not beyond their tech, but not something they'd looked at before. To make this sort of collapsed metal compound they'd need to configure some grav plates to at least 100 G's and chances were far more.
That had gone to the Grav Engineers who were almost having fist fights on how best to do it. There had been a number of times the security service had to break up the arguments. By the time the crew were all back on the ship or working on the stations departments they had a tentative idea of what was going to be needed. It was going to have to be off station in case something happens. It was helping having an Elf working with them.
She was one of the Fae engineers and was skilled with designing armor for the supernatural. Lady Elvira was tall yet looked delicate though most knew otherwise. She was a Magus Major and her abilities were all aimed at designing armor and combining it with tech. She was keeping an eye on what was going on since even with their magic this was something which demanded tech to work with the metal.
She finally spoke, "I think with the combination of magic and gravity we can do this. I'll spell the metal matrix while you apply gravity to it. With me doing the magic it won't require nearly as much gravity I think. Time will tell but I've checked with some of my counterparts and it should work. Best idea is we do a test and go from there. If nothing else, we might be able to do small parts for the supernatural and Marine armor."
The other scientists and engineers leaned back in their seats and considered what she was saying, "It'll take a few days to set up but that sounds like a deal. I'll set up the grav generator at a remote location. If something happens it won't impact on much. A ship will be dispatched with what's needed. Do you need to go with?" He asked the beautiful woman. He hadn't dealt with Elves much but damn she was attractive.
She could sense the attraction he was feeling, and it didn't bother her. She was used to the reaction of humans to their looks, "I'll go with. The spell will need to be placed before the gravity generator is activated. I could do it from here but better if I'm there."
He gave her a nod, "Then I'll ensure you have a good room on the ship. It's small but fast but we'll give you as much room as possible." He made a few notes before they continued talking.
~~~ Language
By the end of the first two months part of the language had been deciphered, or so they hoped. Much of it was related to the engineering programming. They'd been able to identify a number of hardware items in the system and were doing their best to figure out what word or section of the language which pertained to it.
The match had been reasonably easy to figure out since one always equaled one. More complex functions had taken time but even X2 – y3 * z9 was much the same. It was taking time to organize the math, but it was going much faster than the actual language. Using the math, they were able to identify some of the possible words but it was like figuring out a language without a Rosetta stone.
What was making it somewhat easier was they did have what looked like three different languages being used for the programming and reports. It was a sort of Rosetta stone though not quite. This symbol or series of symbols might mean that series from one of the others. At a guess the races had been working together for years when the station had been abandoned.
How long it would take they didn't know but everyone was working hard on trying to figure out the language.
~~~ Fusion engines
The fusion engines were far easier to figure out than the language or other tech. The science behind them was well known. It was simply the tech was smaller. By the time they'd gotten the crew back on board the ship they had the engine working. They were using human tech to control the engine, but it was working. The section the reactors were on was heavily shielded in case something happened.
The power output was greater than what the human engines had but not by a massive amount. The breakthrough was due to the size of the engines. Considering they were a third of the size of the current generation but had the same output or slightly more was very impressive. Once they had them in production they could add additional engines to their ships. It would increase the power available for drives and weapons. As an example, for the Enterprise it would give them half more power than they currently had. They had two main reactors and the mule reactor. They could fit four reactors on the ship instead of the two and have plenty of room left.
They'd torn the engines apart and learned a great deal from them. The room temp superconductors were well known but they'd shrunk them down massively and used some chemicals and material they hadn't considered. The magnetic coils were similar, but they were still common molecules and elements. The controllers were easily replaced by human systems and worked well. It had been somewhat difficult fabricating the connections needed but with the tech from the other systems they'd brought back they were able to.
~~~ The fighters
By two months the fighters had been torn apart and carefully examined. Even though they hadn't figured out a great deal of the language the tech was something they could deal with. Engines worked one way, flight controllers another, and even the fuel was something they could deal with. The armor was similar to what was on the Engineering door which was taking time.
Based on what they were looking at the engines of the fighters and other small ships was different from what they used. The Terran fighters were using a small fission plant to activate the propellent. These had some sort of EM drive which didn't need the fissionable materials. What it might mean in speed and durations they didn't know but it was something they were looking into.
As they were carefully taking the fighter apart they discovered the armor was similar to the door to Engineering. Not the same since it had a different value for the metal's but similar. It was thinner but of a similar density. Based on some testing they made the armor on the Earth armor look thin. They were learning a great deal.
The engines appeared to be some sort of gravity engines which was going to have a much faster acceleration than the Earth type. It also gave them a deeper inertial sink than what Nacy and the others were used to. If they could figure it out it would be a massive jump in fighter tech. They might also be able to use it with the smaller inter-system ships. What it might do with larger ships they weren't sure.
It was going to take more time to figure out the systems in the fighters. It included the weapons. They were energy weapons which were different than what they had. Their fighters had a mix of both energy and EMP weapons. Tossing out a metal projectile at thousands of MPH was hard to avoid. The energy weapons were lasers or similar weapons. The weapons on the alien fighters appeared be some sort of pulse weapons, maybe using dark matter. If so the damage was going to be vastly different. How the dark matter would be expressed was going to be interesting.
~~~ Several months later
Over the next few months much of the crew had been working with the scientists and techs as the pieces brought back had been taken apart. The Fae had torn the metal apart and had a great deal of fun figuring out what had made it. Between the magic and metallurgists, they'd managed to approximate what had been brought back. Due to the damage Holcomb had been getting, his new armor had the new combat steel covering it.
For the fighters they'd ended up a combined version of the existing tech and the new tech they'd worked up. Nacy loved the darn things since she'd been able to use them to their max ability possible. Her cat loved the damn things and when her wing had done a test against several wings of the existing fighters they'd cleaned up. They'd lost one fighter to most of the other wings. They were faster, more flexible, and harder hitting. She wasn't aiming to be spiteful, simply doing her best to show what the new fighters could do.
When five fighters took on twenty and cleaned the course it showed just how good the new fighters were. The debriefing was hard since she hated that part, but it was expected of them. At that point she was standing in front of a vast room of pilots of all ranks. It included her former flight wing commander from the Academy station.
"I want to say the new fighters are wonderful. Having said that they do need some work. The additional power does need some work since it can hamper maneuverability. With the armor they do tend to be somewhat harder to maneuver for a non-were. Having said that the fighters are still very maneuverable and well balanced. They do feel almost under armed but compared to what we currently have but they can take out a number of fighters before we are taken out. The fact is if enough of our fighters focus on one of the new ones it will go down. Any questions?"
As she'd expected her former flight commander lifted a hand, "How do you feel the flight parameters of our currently patters might be used for or against? Should we consider ganging up on one or should we use tactics to send several fighters against the new type for the best results?"
Yup, she officially hated him, "Sir, that is a hard question to answer. In some cases, ganging up on a strong fighter pilot would be best. Take them out and then go for weaker pilots would be the right way to deal with the issue. It really depends on the quality of the pilot in question Sir. One on one would be a bad idea even with the best pilot in one of our current ships. They simply don't have the ability to keep up. Two on one is the minimum I'd recommend. I'm currently working with some of the other pilots to come up with tactics which should work. I'm sure once new fighters are produced things will change but it's going to take time."
Another officer asked a question and the conversation continued. Once the briefing was over Nacy walked to the officer's lounge on the ship and collapsed in a chair, "God that was horrible. Just frigging horrible. I'm just a J.g. for goodness sake. Telling senior officers my wing was better was horrible."
Several of the other junior officers looked at her in horror before giving her sympathy. Most of them hadn't had to do anything like that and the idea was horrible. When Kyrill walked in he settled down and smiled when she laid down and rested her head in his lap, "Feel you love. I could feel your tension. I talked to the kitchen and your meet is going to be barely cooked. Brown on the outside and bloody red on the inside." He started purring as she was laying there.
Jace and Danal wandered in, "Did good job Nacy. Made others think and start considering ways to deal with new fighters. Did good." Danal settled down and pulled her legs on her lap and gave them a good squeeze.
Jace flopped down in a different chair, "Man, I'm tired. They've been working our tails off. I have a feeling we're going to be heading back soon and delivering some scientists and civilians to the station soon. At least we'll be just dropping them off assuming all is good. I think even Danal is tired. She hasn't pulled my tail for several days."
Since it was now afterhours Mila and Holcomb walked in, "Raw leg of someone would be good. I'm tired and need the meat. Mila as well. Cmdr. Wilcox has been working our butts off not to mention Mila's boss. I'm going to apply for leave just to sleep and recover."
Mila flopped in his lap and rested her head on his chest, "And a good hunt. Definitely a good hunt and find some heated rocks." It was mid-winter back home and they had heated rocks scattered around the house.
Sanji grumbled, "Darn straight, find several good sun spots to curl up in. Nice, warm, be with mate and snooze. Been a long time since we came back but need some time off." He yawned and held Carol close as he was relaxing.
Carol snuggled close to him, "Visit my family and let them know our parents are going to be grandparents. Pregnant with our pups. Can't wait to see them." She blushed since she'd been in heat barely two weeks ago, but they knew.
The enlisted supernatural came over with a tray of some goodies, "Congratulations to both of you. Here are some things for all of you to enjoy." He gave the young wolf a good hug and peck before he headed back to the kitchen.
Holcomb grinned, "We'll give you a good yowl when we get back to the pride. Once done with visiting your family if you want to come over do so. Even if we aren't there Raven and Leo will understand." The cats lifted their heads in pleased howls.
Mila was a bit jealous but wasn't going to make a big deal of it. She would be pregnant eventually and provide new kits for the pride, "Darn straight, come to the pride and we'll give you more affection than you can imagine. Kits, pups, it doesn't matter, they are all valued." She started purring in pleasure for the two.
"Thanks to both of you." Both had to blush since knowing they were welcome to a pride by the future leaders meant a great deal. If they'd been in their mid-forms their ears would be lowered in pleasure.
~~~ Post leave
They'd all had a week of leave and everyone had enjoyed it. They'd swapped packs, families, and every one'd had fun. Carol wasn't showing but all the supernatural could smell her pregnancy. She'd be showing soon and would deliver before anything was going to happen.
Even with the advances in tech they were working on they'd need time to incorporate it. Holcomb wasn't pleased with the delay in his armor being delivered. The Fae had told him they were working on incorporating the new plating into it and it was taking time. His only satisfaction was all the other supernatural armor was removed and being worked on as well.
Even if someone wasn't front line if they were supernatural they had armor which was designed to change with them. Working with the standard armor was a pain since many of them had issues remembering not to change in the armor. Being who they were they could use the armor better than the normal humans due to their strength and speed they had.
Over the months the ship had been in dock they'd received advanced training and it included drops on the various planets and moons in the system. It was due to having the ship undergoing upgrades. Armor, weapons, and even the reactors. The drives weren't getting many changes, but it was almost a complete refit.
When the new armor arrived, it wasn't just for the were's but for the entire marine detachment. That had caused a number of groans and grumbles since the armor was completely new. Even with the settings from the former armor they still had to customize the armor. It was more powerful, faster, and harder hitting than what they'd had. Even the weapons were more powerful. They couldn't use the range on the ship to practice due to the new weapons.
The were's were used to adjusting the armor but they were having to get used to what would be heavy armor going even heavier. The plating wasn't thick, but it added mass to it. Heaven help any pirates who got in their way. It would be messy for them and easy for the Marines. They'd go through the current armor like a knife through butter.
Holcomb slammed into a wall, "Damn it! Need to get used to this new suit. Sorry for the dent Cmdr. Didn't intend it but I didn't feel the impact which was nice. I do like the new armor but need to keep getting used to it." He stood back up even as one of the other enlisted Marines' slammed into the ceiling.
"Fuck, this shit is great. Need to keep working on it Ma'am." He rubbed his helmet out of instinct and gave his armor a good shake. He had to love the changes since they were a huge jump forward from what they had before.
Wilcox didn't bother sighing or grumbling, "I like the new armor myself. Be a bit more careful and we are going to drop on several planets and moons to get used to them. First drop is on Earth since there is a massive snow storm in North Alaska and we are doing a search and recovery mission. We are going down in teams of three and helping all we can. You have thirty minutes to get ready." She headed toward her shuttle.
~~~ Humanitarian mission
Holcomb had a flash back to the last time they'd been in a blizzard and knew it was going to be hard. Even with the armor it was going to be a mess. The supplies they could carry was impressive but how many could they help? He stood, "We will be ready for a humanitarian mission Ma'am." He turned to his troops, "Get what is needed to help civilians to survive. Heating blankets, heated food packs, and you know what is needed. Drop in 30 minutes. Be ready."
Every on scattered to get what they felt needed. The troops barely made it under 30 minutes. Holcomb had been keeping track of what they were looking for and was pleased. Most of it was for cold weather rescue. He took his pack from his senior enlisted and did a quick check. Once he was sure it had what he wanted he attached it to his armor. Since they were in orbit around earth it wasn't going to take long to reach where they were needed.
"Get aboard your shuttles and medical will be ready as needed." He clomped towards the shuttle he was assigned and settled on his shuttle. He felt the kick as it was launched, and his system quickly showed the others being launched. The trip down was hell but he was used to it by now. Almost before he knew it the bottom dropped out and they were launched towards earth. He took the head down position until his radar showed they were approaching the ground. Holcomb twisted so he was foot first and the grav drive kicked in and he landed gently. His sensors showed several close who might need help. He did a small jump and landed next to several people, "J.g. Whitewater to help if needed. How can I help you?"
The woman almost screamed when the armored people showed, "Get my children, didn't expect the storm and were doing some getting some food. Take care of them first please." They were some of the off grid people who were still around.
"Not a problem Ma'am, my troops will tack care of them. Where is your cabin?" The wind wasn't bothering him or the others at all. They found the children and using their powered suits were quickly at the cabin. Holcomb stepped out if his suit, "Go and check for others. I'll take care of them for the moment."
He helped everyone in the house and encouraged the fire to heat up before he checked on the woman and her kits, "Come, sit in front of the wood stove and I'll get something for you to eat." It was obvious he was in the military since he was in the underamor for the combat suit.
"I can help officer." She tried to stand before he forced her to sit down, "No, relax, mom would do something horrible if I didn't help." He checked the fridge and started working on some basic food. They would be warm and full before he tucked them in. He kept an eye on them as their mother helped them out of their winter clothing and closer to the wood stove.
"I'm a member of the Whitewater Pride in Oregon and in the military. My mate is in a shuttle above us and keeping track of what's going on. I've let her know what I'm helping with. Soon I'll be tasked to help someone else, so I will have to leave. Not before you are fed." He paused as others started reporting in. In some cases, they'd found bodies which had him upset but he didn't show it. The bodies would be delivered to a shuttle and from there to the nearest city or town.
"Is everything okay Sir?" The woman was ensuring her children were getting warm and had changed to dry clothing.
"Just getting updates from my troops." He quickly finished cooking breakfast and carried the plates over to where they were getting warm, "If you find you have any medical issues contact the shuttle at the frequency and we'll get a team down to take a look. I need to leave ma'am. Take care." He gave everyone a good hug before he left the house and backed into his armor and buttoned it up.
He was directed to check another cabin several miles away and again he stepped out of his suit. His sensors were showing people inside the log cabin. He beat on the door several times before it was answered, "J.g. Whitewater checking to ensure everything is okay." It was a bellow and he could sense these were some sort of were.
The man waved him in and closed the outer door before opening the inner door, "No reason to stand there, freeze, and holler at each other. We have a fresh pot of coffee if'n you'd like a cup." The man came across as older, "Were-cat? Welcome and we's be fine. Keep a close eye on the snow and were in well before the storm hit."
Holcomb smiled, "I am a member of the Whitewater Pride and a Liger. My mate is also in the military and is in a shuttle keeping track of everyone. Some hot coffee would be wonderful and thanks." The under armor was designed to maintain their body temp, but it didn't mean they liked the blowing snow, "Last blizzard we were in was in training in Russia. That stank big time. I'm guessing you and your mate are were-cougars?" He could smell her in the house as well.
She came out of the kitchen with some cups, "We are and pleased to meet you. Assistant Pride Leader I think? I think we read about that blizzard. You and your mate saved a number of people." Once she put the cups down she gave him a good hug before settling down next to her mate.
"It wasn't just us, there were several other were's and the other trainee's who helped save as many as we could. It was hard because we weren't able to save all the kittens." He picked the coffee up and sipped on it, "Darn good and thanks. I can only stay for a short time since we are checking as many people as we can. If you have any concerns let me know and I'll ensure they're checked. I helped Ms. Algon and her children. They are fine or should be. The two troops with me are checking on some of your other neighbors."
"Good, I was worried about her since her husband passed away. He was killed in a fall and we do what we can for them. They's good folks and she visits as she can." He was pleased hearing they were safe.
He finished the coffee, "I need to get since Mila, my mate, just sent me a new tasking. Thanks for the coffee and if you need anything contact this number. We are going to be around for a while. I think they want to see if they can stall our new armor." He grinned as he put the cup down and left the house. After getting back into his armor he checked on the status of his troops and how they were doing. Holcomb reviewed what they'd been doing and frowned slightly. It looked like one of the troops was working to do a temporary patch on a house, "Corporal Haskin, status."
"Sir, partial collapse of a house. They had a temporary patch which couldn't handle the snow. Trying to reinforce what's left but not sure how it's going to work." Thankfully the armor was powerful enough he could damn near lift the entire roof off.
"Give me a moment." He stepped out of the armor and headed back into the house, "The Nixon's roof had a partial collapse. If we bring them here can you take them in?" He knew many of the people who lived this life were very helpful.
"Hell yes, bring them here and once the storm has blown over we'll get some help and fix the roof. Get them and we'll have some warm soup, drinks, and sandwiches." They headed towards the kitchen as Holcomb headed back out.
It didn't take long to get them to the house including their dogs. The blizzard didn't last to long and they were picked up and flown back to the station, "Man, I wish we had the armor last time Mila. It would have been so much easier."
She had to agree, "Definitely. Between the power and other abilities with the new armor it would have made things much easier." Both were still in the armor as they were heading back to the ship since they had to walk the armor to the morgue and to the storage units.
Once they were done they were given a day off, other than those on duty, and were told they would be leaving in several days for a drop on the moon followed by Mars, and several of Jupiter's moons. Since the ship was undergoing refit they would be taking one of the drop ships. It would require moving a fair amount of equipment over, but they'd handle it.