Daniel looked over his new Sensor first.
The description SAI provided was concise and clear. His bet had paid off, and he was now able to see the cargo of a given ship. He briefly wondered why he was only receiving such obvious portions of a complete Sensor, but when he asked SAI, she'd said that she only had the blueprint for the complete Sensor, not the know-how of how to build it.
Only through obtaining significantly advanced Components could she reliably extrapolate the knowledge she needed to upgrade a given Module.
Daniel decided to let it go, banking on a more clear explanation when he became a Battle Cruiser.
He moved on to the new Weapon Systems.
Daniel assumed that following the trend of his last upgrade, he would obtain Mk lll weapons, as well as an additional paired Weapon Hard-point.
He selected the notification, reading the panel carefully.
**
[Weapon System: Online (Level 3)]
- Activation Energy: 10 Energy Units
- Weapon Hard-point A: Mk all Artemis Rail Gun
- Weapon Hard-point B: Mk all Perses Missile Launcher
- Weapon Hard-point C: Select one
- Point Defense Cannon: 3
Upgrade Condition: 0/40 Weapon System Components
**
Daniel nodded to himself. He'd expected the name change, so he focused on his options for a new weapon. He selected [Weapon Hard-point C].
**
[Weapon Hard-point C]
- Mk lll Artemis Rail Gun Turret
- Damage: 200 Hit-points per hit
- Fire Rate: 1 Shot/5 seconds
- Range: 75 km
- Mk Ill Perses Missile Launcher
- Damage: 750 Hit-Points per hit
- Fire Rate: 1 Shot/25 seconds
- Range: 150 km
- Mk Ill Antaeus Laser Turret
- Damage: 30 Hit-points per hit
- Fire Rate: 1 Shot/ 1 Second
- Range: 5 km
**
Daniel breathed as he saw the options. Each upgrade increases each attribute by 50% - 100%.
He still didn't see the point of the Laser Turret, so he disregarded the Antaeus and focuses on the Perses and the Artemis.
He was beginning to suspect that these names were referring to gods that shared an attribute with their namesake weapon.
Daniel considered the pros and cons of each Weapon System once more, simultaneously considering how he was going to raid the commerce of the Illion Empire.
Commerce in the Empire was usually conducted in the form of convoys. Daniel had heard that each convoy consisted of 2-5 merchants, and 1-3 Imperial Destroyers as an escort.
In his mind, Daniel played out several scenarios.
At the moment he had a balance of mid-range and long-range capabilities, and choosing a new system would force him to become focused on one form or another.
Also, he reminded himself that the Destroyers providing escort would have their Shields and Weapons online at all times. They would probably not be at battle stations the entire time, but it would be phenomenally stupid to disregard the preparedness of Imperial Warships.
Daniel needed to simultaneously disable or destroy the escorting ships while preventing the Merchants from fleeing whichever system he caught them in.
A thought occurred to him, and he brought up his Drone Command module.
**
[Drone Command: Online (Level 2)]
- Activation Energy: 20 Energy Units
- Drone Storage: 5/5
- Drone Selection: (Select to Expand)
Upgrade Condition: 0/20 Drone Components
**
Daniel expanded the Drone Selection.
**
[Drone Selection]
- Equipped: 2x Mk ll Min Harvest Drone, 2x Mk ll Montu Assault Drone, 1x Mk ll Heka Repair Drone
**
Daniel revised the scenarios he'd created in his mind, adding the Montus and the Hekas to the simulation.
He considered using the Montus to wrangle the Merchants, corralling them into a controllable area while he fought with the Destroyers. Theoretically, although the Venator was also relatively the same size as other Destroyers, her weapons, armor, shields, and sensor would allow her to outclass any ship her size, and perhaps one larger.
He was confident, not arrogant, that he would be able to destroy or disable the escorts, then be able to send his Marines onto each cargo ship and retrieve any Viable Components.
Daniel leaned back into his imaginary chair, staring at the situation in his mind.
With his Drones, mid-range weaponry would become a useless expenditure. It was safer and also much more strategic to use the unmanned drones to annoy his opponents from close range, while he peppered their ships from extreme range.
He selected the new Mk all Perses Missile Launcher and watched as his ship fabricated the components before the drone transported each piece to be assembled at the third Hard-point pair.
Once that was finished, he instructed SAI to begin the transition to the nearest Imperial System that lacked a garrison.
Technically, even though each faction controlled roughly 1/4 of the Sengore Galaxy, the actual systems and planets they cared about were diminishingly small. The Empire "controlled" about 500 systems, give or take 50, but they only protected and officially interacted with about 70% of them. The rest acted as relay stations, early warning systems, and just empty systems.
However, with the limitations of a military Hovarth Drive, a ship could only jump between systems that are neighbors on a galactic scale. Daniel didn't understand all of the physics involved in a Hovarth Drive's operation and use, but he did know that something about traveling the free space between the gravity wells of stars was inherently dangerous, and any distance beyond jumping between neighboring stars would and did result in the destruction of a ship.
He was supremely grateful that SAI had the plans for a better Hovarth Drive, although he was beginning to suspect that he was only calling his that for simplicity's sake. He had seen the Albrecht field of normal ships underway before, and the one made by the Venator, while similar, was just a little bit different.
He sent along a neuro-comm to Lt. Lincoln, informing him of their destination.
A moment later, the Venator headed for the limit of the system, then jumped away.