Chapter 8: 008 Beacon

Under a completely known and controlled targeting solution, the furthest range a capital class railgun could fire from that gave a hit rate consistent with the navy's doctrinal standards was 50 thousand kilometers, twice the current maximum engagement range owing to sensors. 

The gunnery crew aboard the Ranger calculated the theoretical maximum range the guns could make hits reliably at, twenty percent of shots on target, was closer to 150 thousand kilometers. This was assumed to be a perfect vacuum, devoid of stray fields, charges, dust, and radiation, but there was no way they could get an accurate targeting solution at that range anyway.

ARC and Donovan changed that.

Even though they wouldn't be able to clear environmental hazards like debris and radiation, the extremely precise spatial data meant they could push the guns to the dispersion limit. 70 thousand kilometers, not even half of the ideal maximum, was still almost three times the standard combat range for railgun usage. Going forward, they wouldn't have to make tradeoffs with regards to distance, safety, and accuracy, so long as Donovan could give them a target they would have them all.

With this knowledge the main battery ranging tests concluded with the gun crew of the Ranger promising Don a bucket of ice cream, a crate of more expensive wine, and the vow to give priority to whatever targets he might designate for deletion.

Politely, he declined the wine.

Next on the agenda, a stealth test.

Doctor Helmsguard called in the destroyer on duty and had them focus every piece of detection equipment on Don's position to see if they spotted anything. Even at a range of 50 kilometers, they found nothing. The experiment was considered done with that and the destroyer was sent back to the main fleet, it's crew obviously confused about what they were just doing.

In it's place, a missile corvette arrived.

"KC-2743 reporting for duty. We have a full load of dummy warheads, what are we shooting at."

Doctor Helmsguard took the reins of introduction from Don. "Currently we are testing a remote guidance system for ship launched missiles. We will give you a direction to release them unguided in. From there, we will have a ship that is hidden and much closer to the target take over guidance and targeting."

"Are you sure that will be combat effective?"

"According to design theory, the new system should be able to bypass attempts at jamming. The objective is to verify the feasibility of missile launch while undetected. If you could please align yourself in the shadow of the Ranger, we will have a launch direction to you shortly."

"Wilco. What munitions are to be fired first?"

"Start small. Interceptor missiles to should be sufficient to begin with."

"Roger that. Ready in five."

Coms were cut with the corvette while Don asked a few questions.

"Aren't interceptor missiles guided by an independent radar lock?"

"Correct, but you need practice with something a little smaller first. Interceptor missiles are cheap, small, and they won't deal as much damage should they hit the Ranger."

Even if it had an explosive load, the armor on the Ranger was a few feet thick at minimum.

"It can't be that hard can it? I remember Fire and Forgets at the academy being fairly simple to use."

"Guided munitions are nothing like Fire and Forgets. You need to make decisions about whether or not a munition that missed its target needs to target something else, has the fuel to turn around and hit the original target, or needs to detonate in order to prevent other friendly munitions from seeing it as a target. You also need to get an idea how many missiles are required to overwhelm point defense systems, though the captains you will be borrowing ammo from will have a good idea."

"Fair enough."

"Assertion: I can provide sufficient ballistic guidance. I am restricted from guiding munitions to target, but if you make proper designations and pathing I am permitted to act as a ballistic computer and transmit acceleration directives."

"Thanks ARC."

"You two seem to be getting along well." Don could almost hear the smirk on the Doctor's face.

"You spend three quarters of a week in the same room as someone and you tend to get along. Especially when success or failure depends on it. As a matter of fact, I feel I've been in a similar situation somewhere before. How curious." The sarcasm was palpable.

"Alright smartass, that's enough chit chat. ARC, give him a basic rundown on how missile guidance works. You didn't learn about this in the academy because ARC was not yet a known quantity. It shouldn't be hard but pay attention. Looks like you have three minutes."

The communication link was cut unceremoniously. The doctor was going be giving instructions to the point defense team aboard the Ranger and Don was going to be figuring out how to give them targets.

"As I assume you are aware, ships carrying guided missiles are set up to fire their charges as close to perpendicular to the axis of their guidance systems sensors as space will allow. This keeps the sensor cones clear of launch debris and the munitions exhaust from interfering with data for as long as possible. At longer ranges they tend to interfere with guidance anyways, so many missiles often come with a degree of autonomous tracking, bu-"

Don interjected, "But that leaves them vulnerable to jamming and missing targets."

"Correct. The objective we have been given is to determine whether or not we can effectively guide munitions to target while maintaining stealth in a simulated combat environment. We will start with indirect fire of small payload missiles. The Ranger will serve as a sensor blocker to the corvette, ensuring that no usable information such as relative location and direction can be relayed to the missiles."

"So we will be a beacon?"

"Half-correct. Beacons provide positional data to use as a reference for active guidance. Our role is to directly guide active ordinance to their destination. We will be closer to the target and have better sensors, but central wants to know whether or not it will be effective enough to justify the processor load in combat."

"Why don't we do the same thing as we do for the capital ships and give them target coordinates to work with?"

"I have not been provided with specifics. My guess is that the Combat Operations Department wants to determine the feasibility of using guided munitions at ranges similar to the distances that capital ships operate at."

This had the potential to revolutionize combat doctrine.

The biggest limiting factor for missiles at the moment was not point defense weapons, but range.

Missiles had an extremely limited amount of fuel, meaning that they could not make much in the way of course correction, that being the only real reason to use a missile.

Adjusting the path of a weapon in order to make it hit the weakest part of a ship's armor was invaluable, as was the ability to track moving targets and strike from angles your ship was incapable of.

The current practice of keeping significant range meant that there was ample time to turn a ship to hide that weaker armor or enact anti-tracking countermeasures. Even the angles of attack were limited due to the lack of fuel.

Most missile corvettes required them to be within a range of 5 thousand kilometers and have a clear line of site on their targets, with larger frigates and destroyers being able to get away with being further. This was well within railgun range of their natural predators - the light cruiser.

If they could launch missiles in the general direction of their targets and turn their thrusters off when they reach a certain velocity, the missiles could save fuel for maneuvers closer to the target. Once within control range of a hidden ship that is much closer they could reactivate with fuel to spare and be more accurate in their strikes.

If the corvettes could stay hidden, ambushes could also be performed at shorter ranges could be performed that allow for more freedom in strike angle.

Missiles being Don's favored form of punishment, he was naturally eager to get started.

"Let's get started! How do I guide them? Manual piloting? Area saturation?"

"Waypoints are the suggested method of guidance. See projection."

The internal lighting darkened as Don took his place in the pilot seat, a projection of the space around the ship took the place where he was introduced to the ship's systems. He was somewhat used to this being his map while flying. There was a 3 dimensional grid with a blue dot at the center representing his position. The surfaces of objects he had data on also had the same light-almost white blue grid on them to give them volume. Projected behind them was a 'shadow' consisting of straight grey line around their profile that signified there was no data in those areas.

A sleeker and more compact rock was located close to the lower right forward corner. That was the Ranger, and it's volumetric grid was colored green to signify confirmed friendly. He couldn't see the corvette, but he guessed it would be on the other side of the large cruiser, in the shadow it cast.

"Instruction: Flip switch 17 on the right dashboard to engage the waypoint cursor."

The lights on the dashboard changed color from orange to green around the switch in question. The switches on the right were presets for some of the neat features of the craft.

The first was just to turn lights from on, off, and combat. It was the only one with three modes.

The switches labeled 2-10 changed the sensor data being shown on the screen. Visual spectrum, infrared, radio, positional data and magnification were all controlled by this series.

Switches 11 and 12 displayed and overlay of the ship's dimensions and a suggested landing path.

Switch 13 enabled an overlay for positional data in relation to the sun.

14 showed the estimated flight path of the 30 mm cannons while 15 enabled a predictive marker that show where to shoot in order to hit something with said cannons. There is a bar connected to switch 15 that automatically turns on 14 when engaged, a neat feature should Don ever find himself in a sudden fight.

Switch 16 enabled the predicted shot path for the railguns, though he had yet to use this feature.

He had been introduced to switch 20 as a sort of rear view camera. 17, 18, and 19 he had yet to use.

It would appear that 17 was related to guidance, interesting.

Activating the glowing switch, he noticed that there was now a pulsing red sphere over his position dot.

"Motion control handover confirmed. Instruction: The cursor is moved radially. Thrust control determines distance from ship, while the joystick will control angle. Trigger will place a marker, order ascends. Munition selection can be handled by the frequency knob or physical selection."

"Physical selection?"

"Place your hand on the Ranger's profile."

Don obliged, palm up underneath the green hulk.

"Click is the verbal command to select an entity."

"Click!"

The Ranger began to emit a pulse much like the waypoint in the center.

"There is not much that can be assigned to a friendly ship other than incoming fire alerts."

"I can issue IFA's?"

"Correct, however this is not the time to go over that. You still need to get used to controlling waypoints and target designation. Received affirmation of launch status. Requesting one interceptor missile for calibration."

From the top of the hull of the Ranger, one flashing yellow dot appeared. Don put it above his palm and said "Click." In response, the flashing stopped and instead a translucent yellow sphere appeared around it.

"Selection of missile confirmed. The command to make a missile halt relative to your position is 'Neutral'."

"Neutral!"

It took a second for the missile to turn and thrust enough to neutralize its momentum. On projection, it was still. With this reference point it was possible to see that the Ranger was actually drifting downward slowly.

"Missile confirmed stationary. This command has little use outside of holding launched missiles for later use. Practical applications include impromptu mines and remote detonations."

"And how do I assign them travel routes?"

"First designate a series of waypoints. We will continue from there."

Setting waypoint markers was harder than he thought it would be. It was obvious that despite the designers' best efforts, there was only so much space to place button and switches on the control interfaces. The controls were rather finnicky, Don might say too sensitive, to place a marker exactly where he wanted it.

He would need room for these missiles to guide themselves if the markers could not be completely accurate.

Lucky for him, there just so happens to be a lot of space in space, go figure.

His markers may not be optimal, but they were certainly good enough.

"Alright. I think I have marker placement down, now what?"

"Select the missile. Then through a series of verbal commands designate their paths. To designate a final target, select the entity you wish to hit."

"No command for it?"

"A command is unnecessary. If you are guiding active munitions and have selected an enemy ship I can assume your intentions."

"Makes sense. What should I aim it at?"

"Request: Please send the missile through at least three waypoints before sending the missile at this ship. I wish to confirm the accuracy of my ballistic computers as well as the efficacy of the point defense systems."

"Never thought that I would be shooting at myself with a missile. Why do you need to test the Cutters anyway?"

"Confusion: Your tone of voice indicates that I am lacking knowledge about the Cutter point defense system. What makes you question the necessity of testing them?"

Don was taken aback. ARC didn't know something about the ship? Unthinkable!

"The Cutter point defense system is capable of melting through 100 mm of composite armor in a second at its standard setting. In field tests its full penetration capabilities had to be tested on an old heavy cruiser because it tore through every munition and ship it was tested on too quickly. It was discontinued because it was too big of a power drain, not because it was ineffective."

ARC was silent.

"...You didn't know that?"

"Shame: I did not. Despite checking through every piece of information I have available to me, I am unable to find anything in regards to its field results. All I have been provided is instruction on how to use it in a point defense role."

Don couldn't blame ARC for not knowing about this. Despite everything, ARC was still a computer. If it wasn't told or taught something it was still the same as a person, ignorant. Still, he wondered why this information was not given to ARC. It seemed important. Perhaps the programmers forgot? Or maybe it was deemed irrelevant information. ARC was obviously intended to only use them in a defensive role.

Perhaps the knowledge of the full capabilities of the lasers would prompt ARC to either use them to little or too much, endangering or draining the ships energy. Be it a product of intent, ignorance, or caution, ARC now knew by proxy of Don.

Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut?

"It's fine that you didn't know, you would have found out anyway. Would you still like to go through with the tests?"

"Yes. While I have instruction on how to use them, I would like to determine if there are issues. If this test can be performed with inert warheads, all the better."

"I'll send it over then."

The path the interceptor missile followed snaked quite heavily, going around an asteroid cluster before heading in Don's direction. Out of fuel, it maintained a steady velocity. Approaching at a speed close to 20 times that of sound.

Impressive considering the amount of fuel it had remaining when it entered the final stretch.

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Suddenly, and quite unceremoniously, the light indicating its position vanished. Don had the thermal overlay on the main screen of the cockpit. Even as far away as it was, a distance of roughly 20km, he made out a small flash as the Cutters activated.

Had there been an active warhead or fuel left in the missile the flash would no doubt have been much more spectacular. Even now he felt it a shame that space did not carry the sound of explosions.

"It seems you were right about the Cutter's capability. Out of curiosity I set output to maximum and targeted the incoming beacon. I only received feedback for 0.032 seconds, suggesting that the missile was cut through in its entirety in that short time."

"And what was the power draw like?"

"You would describe it as horrendously wasteful. It has a draw comparable to that of the propulsion systems."

"I take it that was only one laser? For now stick to the output settings you were given. I'm sure they had their reasons for not informing you earlier. Might have something to do with stealth."

"Possible, but improbable. Within my permissions lie the capability to burn out detection equipment using those lasers. That seems contradictory to the purpose of stealth."

"Hey, you can't be seen if nobody has eyes. I think they call that Russian Stealth?"

"Russian Stealth? This is a term I am unfamiliar with. Please explain."

"Eeeeeeh I'm not particularly familiar with it myself, I've only heard it from some of those ancient video game enthusiasts at the academy. Apparently there was a stereotype of the Russian peoples, specifically their military's spec ops, that they killed everyone during their covert operations. The stereotype was something along the lines of 'Nobody can prove that we took an action if there is no one left to testify that we took an action.'"

"Surely at that time in history enough evidence would be left to prove guilt."

"True, but you have to keep in mind that the world was under threat of nuclear annihilation. The governmental entities they operated against couldn't exactly bring sanctions to bear without anything short of visual confirmation."

"Even then I cannot imagine the political landscape of the day allowed for such an occurrence."

"Like I said, just a stereotype. What would you know about politics anyway? Especially the politics of old?" The Skinnik Incident had basically resulted in the wiping of most of human history that was recorded only on the internet thanks to Skinnik's initial wave of hacking. An attempt to 'erase' humanity in pretty much every facet.

Pieces of 'solid' media; written record, information stored digitally but outside of the internet, and artifacts were really all that was left afterwards. It truly was the modern equivalent of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

After the incident, politics were practically unified and never strayed much aside from initial panic and restructuring of the different regions. Therefore, politics merely ten years previous to the incident were left completely foreign to future generations, their own systems being monolithic in comparison. Drastic changes in culture, philosophy, science, infrastructure and economy left later generations lacking in connection.

The wave of death wrought about by a complete failure of the infrastructure furthered this disconnect.

"In an attempt to better teach me the diversity of thought and ideology, they encouraged me to analyze remaining documents. The period of time spanning around 1750 to roughly 2010 is the period I have the most information on due to the proliferation of material storage in that era. Newspapers, Compact Discs, Books, Film Reels, Portable Data Storage devices, and works of art have been both neatly preserved and categorized accurately. I have even had the chance to play these 'video games' you speak of. I find their charm is lost on me, sadly."

"So 2010 is when, what was it called, cloud storage? became popularized?"

"Indeed. After that point the majority of culture was transmitted through the internet. Fad records exist in some personal effects such as diaries but the general populace's reactions and emotions to key international events has been in large part lost."

"Interesting. Do you think you could teach me more about the era when we have time?"

"Elation: Certainly! I find the hypothesization of details related to events with little record to be quite entertaining. The input of someone with the faculties to emulate a true human reaction as well as give input would be most welcome. For now we must continue with the munitions guidance testing."

Don found the characteristics of guided missiles to be rather hard to handle. Despite there being five classifications for missiles - Fire and Forget, Substitute, Interceptor, Impact, and Torpedo - he would only ever be given control of the final three.

Fire and Forget missiles were fired after acquiring some form of sensor lock and tracked the target. They could be guided manually, but given how cheap they are and how countermeasures would mess with a ship's sensors as much as a missile's it was really more of a neat feature. Their prohibitive fuel levels also contributed to this.

Substitute missiles technically classify as a countermeasure. Their purpose is to distract sensor equipment by emitting a cacophony of 'noise' in order to distract other munitions or give the impression of another ship in the area. Because of this need to be 'driven' they are treated as guided munitions. Seeing as the ship is focused around stealth, having attention drawn to his sector would defeat the purpose.

Interceptor missiles are like the Multipurpose Craft of the missile family. They have elements of every other type. Unlike Multipurpose Fighters, they are extremely useful. Their main purpose is to intercept other large missiles and deployable craft, but in a pinch can be used to throw off sensors and deal significant damage to escort ships. While they don't have the punching power or armor of their larger brothers, they have the range.

Impact missiles, often called Piercers, are specialized towards punching holes in thicker armor. They use everything at a missile's disposal to increase the armor penetration of the warhead. They are usually launched beyond their fuel range to give them the maximum time to accelerate. They have thick armor to protect the warhead from point defense systems and add mass. The warhead itself is usually some form of armor piercing with a second-stage shaped charge, though it is not uncommon to see nuclear warheads used to increase the shock value.

Torpedoes are the extra-terrestrial version of the terrestrial Cruise Missile. Far too large to be placed on anything smaller than a destroyer. They are also the sole exception to the range rule of missiles. While their max speed is only a fraction of that of the railgun rod, it is more than enough to bypass the point defense screens when coupled with the armor it is plated with. A direct impact at that speed coupled with the force generated by a nuclear blast is a threat even to large ships.

The only problem is that they are an absolute bitch to steer, something Don found out the hard way.

When the Ranger launched one of its limited stock of torpedoes, he got a mocking call from the fire control team after they watched it collide into an asteroid.

ARC only had authorization to guide the missiles from waypoint to waypoint. Taking initiative to avoid spaceborne objects would violate protocol.

With the corvette a few hundred missiles lighter and the Ranger down a mega-nuke, the Doctor ordered a halt to prepare for the Strike Craft test.

The test had to do with how strike craft actually carried out their attacks. It would be prudent to explain the tool they made use of - the short range jump-drive.

'Jumps' are basically just instant teleportation. The upside being that you can move great distances in an instant with the drawback of requiring an absolutely insane amount of energy to perform. The majority of jump-drives are called 'short', 'medium', and 'long'. Each of these use a different formula to maximize energy efficiency for their range of jump.

Short is most efficient out to 500 km, medium from 500 to 4300 km, and long picking up the efficiency curve from there.

The conditions for a 'safe' jump are confirmation of the jump zone being safe and that there is enough energy remaining to actually make such a jump.

Strike craft are often designed with enough spare energy for two jumps, one in and one out. In theory this means that it is possible to jump in, release a payload, and then jump out of the point defense range. What limits this in practice is that it takes time for the onboard computers of these ships to find and calculate a safe jump location, leaving them stranded inside of point defense range for far longer than what is comfortable.

But what if there was a ship hiding close enough to the jump-in points with a computer powerful enough to find the jump-out points before they even jumped in?

Attrition rates would drop through the basement floor!

At least that was the theory.

As demonstrated many times throughout history, theory and practice have a tendency to disagree, and high command would prefer it if this system was tested out before combat.

So naturally Thompson and the rest of his Blue Squadron came bitching and moaning at the Admiral's behest.

"I can't believe she would send me out on a sortie like this. Here I was thinking I had finally gotten on her soft side."

A gruff voice that Dom was unfamiliar with responded to his complaint. "Yeah? Well maybe if you hadn't gotten shit-faced on duty she would have sent Yellow."

"Boss got drunk on duty? Damn. Here I was thinking he had done something new."

"Get used to it kid, all boss does is drink."

"Hey that's not fair!" Thompson interjected. "I eat, sleep, and shit too."

"Can't forget he smells either!"

This last addition by one of the younger voices was met by the boisterous laughs of twenty or so others. Don was shocked by this use of radio, though given the crew of the Calibration's disdain for the rulebook it was hardly surprising.

The Doctor interrupted the banter of Blue Squadron, cranky from exhaustion. "Are we done venting yet? If you wouldn't mind I want to finish this so I can go to sleep." The link went to private for a moment. "It is up to ARC and the crew aboard the Ranger, Don. There is nothing for you to do here, you aren't a supercomputer, and you aren't trained on the intricacies of jump-runs. I suggest you get some rest."

Don did as asked and took a nap. Much as ARC couldn't be asked to violate its restrictions, he couldn't be asked to calculate the jump coordinates of a spaceship.

He slept for only a few hours, the Ranger responsible for recharging the Bombers batteries, being a realistic target, and simulating point defense. ARC responsible for calculating jump points. The pilots were responsible for getting practice with double jumps, a new term they coined for this maneuver.

Donovan dreamt of good food. Fresh fruits, meat, and carbonated beverages. Aaah soda. That lovely syrupy drink. A shame it was forbidden while out of atmosphere, something about the carbon bubbles not being buoyant in space. Apparently the artificial gravity onboard most ships only acted on solid matter, something that he could feel to a degree as his gut always felt like it was shaking as he walked.

He most certainly felt lighter than he did in the academy.

In hindsight he really wished he had dedicated at least some of his time to romance. The female population wasn't exactly the highest, but he was sure with his performance he could have established some . . . connections.

After further introspection, he decided he wasn't committed enough to do that to a woman. The slave driver would never give him that much leeway. He would have plenty of time, and stories, to woo the ladies after his first tour of duty.

The only question is what type of lady he should go for.

He very much liked blond hair, so that was a given. An hourglass figure is a given of course, wide hips and large breasts would make many men go nuts. Or maybe more modest proportions would be better? A less eye-catching body would definitely make it easier to handle.

The halfway point would definitely be the best.

She should definitely have her hair either straight or in ringlets, and a perfume like cherries. Dainty, thin, fingers. Slim but not skinny, a little fat goes a long way in making a lady both healthy and sexy.

That really only left the face. Should the lips be thick or thin? What color lipstick? What should the nostrils look like? Her ears? Chin? Cheeks?

Building the perfect girlfriend was a hell of a lot harder than he thought it would be. He started a few months ago as a bit of a joke after receiving deployment orders. He thought it would be as simple as imagining what body shape would get him off the most.

Soon his thinking evolved. What type of lady would be best to live with? Sexiness couldn't come at the cost at the woman's health and happiness. Especially not if he wanted to spend his life with her. Treatment may not be expensive nowadays but back pain was definitely an annoyance.

"Donovan."

His shut-eye was ended by ARC's call.

"Over already?" He was a little groggy, but it was good sleep. He was surprised with how quiet the interior could be with no people, he had to have ARC simulate the whir of a fan while he slept.

"Indeed. Since you were relieved of control, four hours have passed. The experiment was a success, though there is an issue with the second jump's timing that needs to be adjusted onboard all strike craft."

"An issue? How long will it take to fix?"

"Estimation: Not long. The problem revolves around the launch speed of the payload. As it stands the second jump occurs too quickly after the first. There is not enough time for the payload to reach a safe distance before the second jump initiates, shorting the drives."

"How could something like that even happen? Wouldn't there be a safety in place?"

"Jumps have not been able to be performed in such rapid succession before. It was suggested a form of trigger be attached to launch that ensures the payload leaves the danger zone."

"Now I have to ask why I was woken up."

"Gunnery Captain Dodder and Squadron Leader Thompson wish to speak with you."

He stumbled from the cabin bed into the cockpit.

"This is Strauss. To which sorry bastard do I owe the pleasure?"

"Dodder and Thompson. We have something important to discuss."

"Oh yeah? Important enough to disturb my beauty sleep?"

"Absolutely."

"Way more important."

Their responses were immediate.

"If it's that important then spit it out."

"You need a callsign. Your rank is a mystery and your name doesn't cut it."

"You got a problem with my name?"

"He doesn't have a problem with your name, there is already a ship called the Strauss. It's a light cruiser, we checked the records." Dodder clarified.

"Donovan and Don are already taken as callsigns by interceptor and heavy fighter wings."

"We need something to call you that follows independent action protocol. A word with three syllables or less. Can't be the name of an active system or segment aboard any active ship. Can't start with a vowel either."

"There are rules about that stuff?"

"Yep. Vowel sounds can easily get lost in a firefight. The rest is really just arbitrary. Where'd your co-pilot go?"

"Co-pilot?"

At that point some text appeared on the screen. 'I had to respond to contact in order to give information on what went wrong. I masqueraded as your co-pilot. My existence is a state secret.'

"You mean Clark?"

"Is that his name? Nope. That one is taken by the transport craft wing attached to the Corroboration."

"Clark isn't my co-pilot. He's just the one called in to do the calibration and adjustment of all the technical stuff. So I don't expect him to stay."

"That explains a bunch. The dude didn't seem too interesting."

"Yeah, whatever. Back to the callsign." Dodder was interested in getting this whole state of affairs over with. "Let's try and see if there is some job your ship does that fits the bill. Guide? No. Trace. Nope. Map. Miss too."

"How bout waypoint?"

"Counts as a vowel start."

"Really? The 'wuh' sound?"

Brainstorming a name was harder than it sounded. This was an issue caused solely by the proliferation of flight wings. Every carrier regardless of size had at least seven. The largest of the fleet has close to 20, the Calibration has eleven. If the squadrons aboard stations were included the total number exceeded 600.

After a good twenty minutes, ARC displayed a word on screen.

"Hey Dodder." Don interrupted Dodder, who had defaulted to reading synonyms to some words from a thesaurus. "Try Beacon."

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