Mining Ship Test

[Onrai]

For the first time, a prototype mining ship was being tested within the Roche system. An asteroid, unclaimed by anyone, had been determined through metal samples to have a significant amount of Phrik in it. It was for this reason that the mining vessel was being used - if it could successfully work with an asteroid, it would be suitable for full scale production.

The vessel, with Vitor Imperieuse on board, soon ground to a halt several hundred meters from the rock. It was decently sized, but its mass did not in any way affect the local gravitational field of the asteroids. Nav buoys were placed around it, designating it as Emeritus property while the vessel began to engage the surface of the rock with focused bursts of composite beam fire, gouging out chunks of rock from the asteroid's surface. Soon it would be time to test the ore's purity.

 

[Onrai]

The vessel slowly traveled towards the asteroid in question, moving ever closer to its target. More chunks were sent into the internal furnaces of the vessel, intentionally designed to extract the maximum amount of usable minerals from the ore. The remains - what was unusable - was formed into particulate, mixed with and incinerated into the composite beams, these were specially designed beams, capable of easily carving through even the most difficult-to-work rock and rubble.

"Sir, our Phrik is proving to be refined to a high purity. Testing of samples in situ indicate that the resulting metal is within three nines of purity."

"Excellent. Continue until our cargo bays are full of the metal. Once they are, we'll leave. I have a shipment to make."

 

[Onrai]

The crumbled fragments of rock soon found themselves superheated within an arc furnace, powered by the potent energy of a matter-antimatter reactor. As the material was smelted down, molecular bonds began to break apart, separating the phrik from the other materials. The minerals commonly used for durasteel were also located within the mixture, but not to the same degree as the phrik. It was exceptionally pure, all things considered.

Soon the molten metal began to flow into the storage crates.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Another ship watched from a short distance away. Kay stood by one of the viewports and studied the new mining vessel with interest. As she did so, she hailed it, reaching [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] and his crew.

-"Greetings. This is Senator Kay. I hope you don't mind me watching. But if this works, then I'll be able to inform some of the ore shipping companies on Commenor to let them know that there'll be more ores coming their way so that they can prepare for larger capacities."-

Kay wasn't sure how she'd be received. Either she'd be told to leave or to stay.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Lady Kay"]

"I appreciate your arrival, Senator Kay." He smiled at the holographic image. "These vessels, however, have interior furnaces that are more than capable of smelting down the phrikite ore into the metal itself. The self-contained unit is capable of refining the material to sufficient purity for forging, though I must admit that it doesn't have a forge on board to craft items from it."

That was the main detriment, though he doubted the client would disagree.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay bowed her head at the image of [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] , glad to not be shunned away. A look of surprise followed as she heard about the vessel's smelting capabilities.

-"That is quite impressive. What about other ores? Can it be configured in the same way? And as for the forging itself, I can understand that. It takes a different environment to house the right kind of heat and cooling sources to better strengthen the metal."-

 

[Onrai]

"It can be configured to handle a myriad of ores. The furnace inside is hot enough to melt ultrachrome." He smiled, proud that his creation was proving useful. "I most like the composite beam lasers. These things are more than capable of turning rock into bite-sized pieces. The particulate embedded within is the waste product from the process itself."

The system was complex, but if she asked, he would explain.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay tilted her head to the side a bit as she pondered. Such vessels would be a hot seller to many customers that deal with raw materials.

-"Only bite sized pieces? How about smaller? Some ores are so fragmented that they are hardly bigger than a grain of sand. Can the composite beam lasers adjust accordingly?"-

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"What matters is that the ore-bearing rock is broken up. The 'mouth' of the machine has tractor beams that act as a sort of lamprey-like sucker, bringing anything within the machine for smelting and refining. The waste products that are generally useless get sent into the beam as particulate. It's an innovative design, one we'll likely end up patenting soon to keep it proprietary. That said, the power draw is ludicrous. This thing has to turn off all nonessential systems, including shields and engines, just to maintain power on the beams."

This was a downside that couldn't really be fixed - but any company large enough to afford one of these ships could certainly afford some defending fighters along with it.

"We're almost done here. I have to deliver this Phrik as a favor to someone."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded as she heard the explanation. Though the mention of it needing so much power did cause her to raise an eyebrow.

-"Oh? That is a bit of a flaw. Have you considered a separate energy source for shielding and engine power? And what if it was struck by lightning? How would it be able to handle the sudden surge in power?"-

Maybe in some stormy worlds, the vessel's engines and shields could be powered by harnessed power from lightning strikes that would hit rods above it.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"Of course we have - but we can't work that in with the frame of this vessel without suffering serious side effects. As is, I doubt lightning will strike in asteroid fields." He chuckled a bit, smiling as he did so. "I have eight cargo containers worth of solid phrik. Should be more than enough for my friend. Thank you for overseeing this - I never got a chance to give you my name, I'm so sorry... Vitor Imperieuse. Nice to meet a senator."

It always was, certainly. Now he had a delivery to make.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

There were some gas cloud areas that were known for electrical activity. And some metals become charged when rubbed together. All the same, she was just throwing ideas and concerns out there. It wasn't as though she was an expert in that field.

She bowed her head as he offered her his name.

-"Pleasure, [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] . I shall leave you to your work. Thank you for the opportunity to get a sneak peek at what is to come in that industry."-

If he had no other remarks or statements, Kay would turn off the channel and then go to one of the rooms on board the ship to prepare some tea and make some notes.

 

[Onrai]

Several seconds after the comm systems ended the conversation, Vitor would motion to the man on the bridge. The ship would soon enter hyperspace, traveling to the designated meetup point. It was there that the cargo containers detached, leaving themselves with a beacon that had been preset for recovery use by the individual who had sold the droid and artifacts to him.

Hit part was done. Soon, it would grow more intriguing.

[FIN]