Diary Entry

  Another day done, another cycle closer to the edge of charted space. Truth be told, it was a lazy one. Spent most of it cradled in the bio-recliner on the Phoenix, hooked into the ship's datanet. Watched simulated fleet engagements, real-life skirmishes scraped from the archives, even some civilian broadcasts of racing ships. The datanet – the universe’s collective consciousness bubbling through the wires – is a strange and wonderful thing.

  It’s fascinating, the debates that erupt beneath these recordings. You get the tactical purists arguing about optimal shield configurations, the engineering heads droning on about point-defence efficiency, and the young bloods squawking about the latest weapons tech. But what always struck me was the underlying truth, the point they all seemed to dance around without directly acknowledging: it's never about just one thing. It's about the whole.

  No ship can do everything. You need the lumbering fuel tankers and cargo haulers, the unsung heroes that keep the whole fleet alive. Then there are the salvage ships, the vultures that pick clean the bones of battle – grim, but essential. Someone’s got to focus on point-defence, swatting away the swarms of drones. The interceptors, swift and agile, they nip at engines, crippling the larger vessels before they can even bring their guns to bear. And then you have the 'knives,' as folks call them, those nimble little ships that can't quite go toe-to-toe with a cruiser, but can expertly exploit any weakness.

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  Then there are the support ships, the ones you rarely see in highlight reels. Missile cruisers, loaded to the gills with enough firepower to saturate enemy shields and leave them vulnerable for the battleships. And carriers, their flight decks teeming with fighters, a swarm of buzzing, weaponized bees circling the hive. Fighters for defence, fighters for offence, fighters to harass and distract.

  I'd never really delved too deep into the fleet composition side of things. But today, watching those simulations, something nagged at me. I felt like I was missing something, a piece of the puzzle.

  Specifically, a missile ship.

  I know, I know. It sounds simple, maybe even a little dull. But the sheer weight of fire those things can put out, the potential for coordinated volleys... it’s intoxicating. It's not just about raw firepower, it's about control. About saturation. About turning the tide of a battle with a single, perfectly timed barrage.

  The Phoenix is a beautiful ship, fast and responsive. But sometimes it feels like... not enough. Like it’s missing that extra punch, that ability to really influence the bigger picture.

  Maybe… maybe tomorrow I’ll sift through the classified schematics. See what kind of missile cruisers are out there. Not that I can really afford them.

  I think I could get lost in the configurations and specifications. Perhaps, just perhaps, I’ll find the missing piece.