“What’s the status of our upgrades?” Jean asked, passing through the airlock and onto his flagship.

  “In progress. This technology wasn't designed to interface with tech from another species, so we need to retrofit the connections to make them work with Scaladorian equipment.” Rodney said, pointing to the schematics displayed on his tablet. “The bad news is that it takes a long time to pull off something like this. However, the good news is that if we need to take over a ship right now, we can shut them down quickly.”

  They’d found a significant cache of gear after Takumi opened the first vault door. Not only were there weapons to outfit their ships and fight off any attackers, but it also contained shield generators, navigation upgrades, and life support systems that were leaps ahead of the Scaladorians. After figuring out the logistics of removing the equipment and transporting it to orbit, a final sweep of the room offered their best prize yet.

  “And the fabricator?” Jean asked, “have we been able to upload the Scaladorian ship designs?”

  “Yes, but it’s going to take some time before we get a working model. I think we’d be significantly better off making adapters while continuing to take enemy ships.” He replied, “Let me show you what we have.”

  The pilot had taken well to the project manager role, adapting to issues as they rose and manipulating disadvantages into advantages. Each day they survived as free agents in this inhospitable world was a blow to the Scalador and Stygibora alike. Even if they didn’t know the humans were free, they knew of the fleet of pirate vessels and could do little to oppose them. Without Rodney, there was no way they’d survived as long as they had.

  The pair entered the primary weapons bay, and Jean smiled upon seeing the recent additions. All the Scaladorian equipment was gone, and in its place was a series of armaments that any engineer worth their salt would give their life to examine. In the center of the bay, there was a tube with a set of rails inside that stretched down the length of the ship and led into the void of space.

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  “For simplicity, I’ll just call this a rail gun. It uses gravitrum rings and rods to accelerate a dart to speeds we could never accomplish.” He explained and pointed to a pair of alleyways on either side of the room, “Those are crow’s nests for the short-range turrets, while I highly doubt we’ll be in a close enough range to use them effectively, they double as targeting platforms for the missile batteries on our starboard and port sides.”

  “What makes those missiles so impressive?” Jean asked, pulling a pipe he’d requisitioned through the fabricator out of his long coat pocket and placing it between his teeth. The system couldn’t replicate tobacco or sensation, but having the pipe in his mouth again helped him think more clearly and avoid mistakes.

  “The inside of each one is filled with a couple hundred pounds of compressed gas and a fusion trigger. When they reach their target, the canister releases the gas, and the trigger ignites, creating a miniature star right there inside the target ship.”

  “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of capture?” Jean said, pointing out the obvious flaw in this plan.

  “Yes, which is why I suggest only using it when completely necessary; it’s our kill card when the enemy has us outnumbered or outgunned.” Rodney explained.

  “Tell me we have at least one form of non-lethal capture. Raw materials aren’t exactly plentiful on our little rock.”

  “If we are just looking for material, we have the rail darts. We can accelerate a round to near relativistic speed and punch through their hull. It kills the crew and leaves the material, a win-win.”

  “Good,” Jean said, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “And when we want to capture them alive?”

  This was the part that made Rodney uneasy. True, they’d made a habit of capturing enemy soldiers and crew over the past several months, but something about this felt different on a more primal level. "Our supply of neutronium tipped missiles is limited—so we need to be careful about when we use them—but they can create a neutrally charged zone and destroy their electronics."

  “Neutronium?”

  “Until now, humans had only theorized about it, but it's a substance that can only be found in the heart of a neutron star.”

  “How fitting for us to have them, then. What about defensives?”

  “The defensive measures we found in the first vault were minimal, but we can make use of them. Sheilds, cloaks, and life support systems always have a place… so long as we have the power to sustain them.”

  Jean turned, coat flaring, as he headed toward the bridge. “Good. Make a call up to the helm. We’re going hunting.”