Homebound - Ch 3 pt 3 (11/10/04)

[Mercenary]

Previous Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2


Part 3 now added under ======

Chapter 3
-

Gyles Scellar checked Tors medical records again, the cellular degradation from the first test run of the Defiance had almost completely gone with the exception being in Tors' liver and heart muscles where the reverse was true. Degradation was on the increase but without any apparent cause.

Blood tests had revealed nothing unexpected, he smirked at the readout, nothing unusual that is for Tor.

He knew the changes in Tors genetics could hold the key to a significant number of medical breakthroughs in the treatment of illnesses, then he shook his head at the idea that Tor was a walking experiment. Inside he was aware that there were certain ethical codes of conduct in terms of genetic manipulation, which he was certain had been breeched, but was not tempted to complain about it as the resulting treatment had saved a life.

Stopping his mind from wandering he studied the results of the tests and asked himself why he had not mentioned anything to Tor, and considered that he needed to wait a while longer to conclusively prove that this was not a temporary aberration.

"Computer extrapolate the rate of degradation and show me the result."

The result had been based on a linear extrapolation and indicated several jazuras of continued good health. Another test in a few tazuras time would show if the assumption was correct. Gyles knew from past experience that illnesses affecting the heart were never linear, as the tissue degradation increased the load on the good muscle fibre increased in a gradual but nevertheless exponential curve, the end would be pre-empted by growing chest pains and then sudden arrest.

*

The tazuras slipped by with unusual haste and Tor was ready to depart for the rendezvous with the datapod. He reflected at the unprecedented move by Sheero to, euphemistically, loan the Destroyer TaGohlen a jumpdrive, but made sure it could only be fuelled with energy cells. Tor had no doubt that given time the Mohrabas engineers would be able to reconfigure the power source and tap enough from the Destroyers engines.

ThaManya stepped in to the ship, "Ready to go?"

Tor looked around, "Just as soon as you're seated. Corricel, close the airlock doors."

ThaManya took her seat and buckled in before her fingers tapped lightly over the console controls. "Systems on line and fully operational."

Lianns voice came over the comm, "Acknowledged Defiance, you are cleared to depart."

The docking clamps released and as the ship moved away from the station Tor felt the lure of open space calling to him. The infinite sense of freedom crept over him with its intoxicating touch, to be then restrained with the down to earth thought about the infinite ability to get lost. Mentally he shook his mind clear and gazed towards the bulk of the Destroyer.

ThaManya closed a private comms channel, "The TaGohlen grants us docking permission."

Tor nodded and steered the ship towards it.

Within a three mizuras the Defiance was locked down in the hold and whilst Tor and ThaManya remained on board the jump countdown was initiated.

Corricel reported, "The jump has been successfully completed."

They waited patiently until a comm channel opened, "Departure granted."

The restraining arms moved the ship towards the airlock and soon after they found themselves in the deep void of space and the planets of Hetki's Ocean.

"Corricel, put the datapod location on HUD." Tor turned the ship lazily about the TaGohlen as the display was updated.

He homed on to it and opened the cargo bay doors and Corricel reported, "Datapod now on-board and retrieving data."

The comm opened with an image of ThiGan, "Return to the TaGohlen so that we can review the data and plot a course through the system."

Tor was tempted to disregard the request and fly the sector in the Defiance, but then he considered the life of the engines fuel cells and decided that it was better to preserve the fuel by hitching a lift. If there was anything of interest on the journey then he was sure the Destroyer would stop and allow him to launch and investigate further, after all what would be of interest to him would be of interest to the Mohrabas.

He glanced over, "Acknowledged, coming on board."

The Defiance moved in to position and then slipped gracefully through the docking bay entrance to meet the arms of the docking clamps.

Tor released the restraint harness and rose from his seat, "Can you get us permission to go up to the bridge?"

ThaManya was just finishing off releasing the cargo bay door and looked around, she gave a tentative nod and then opened a channel to ThiGan. The conversation was brief and she turned towards Tor as she moved from her seat. With a smile she purred, "Permission has been granted."

Standing back, Tor allowed her to lead the way through the Destroyer and they crossed the landing bay to the lifts. A short ride later and the bridge door opened, Tor could see that the ship was already underway and the speck of the former Khaak station was rapidly getting larger.

ThiGan glanced round and with barely a sign of acknowledgement returned his attention to the view screen.

Tor was not certain if the response to his presence was due to his being there or a result of the already tense atmosphere on the ship. As much as he was eager to see how well the Destroyer would perform against the Khaak, he felt that their first encounter would be a cautious one.

He stepped up to the rail in front of him and stood patiently watching the screen, not wishing to draw attention to himself. ThaManya casually strolled up to an unmanned terminal and sat down.

For several mizuras the Destroyer hurtled through the void until the navigation officer growled. ThiGan responded and the ship began to decelerate.

He turned his chair and looked at Tor, "Return to your ship."

Tor gave a nod and walked back towards the lift, ThaManya gracefully moved to his side.

As the airlock doors to the Defiance closed Tor commented, "I don't think ThiGan likes me."

ThaManya gave a low laugh, "No, he doesn't trust you. There is a difference."

Tor dropped heavily on to his seat, "I'll take your word for it."

For the second time the Defiance exited the side of the TaGolen, this time to view the torn and twisted wreckage of the Khaak station. The torn and twisted linkage tubes between the vast bulbs was different to the hive like structures they had witnessed in their previous encounter.

Tor guided the ship over the wreckage, "Corricel, analysis of the structure and comparison to our archive."

There was a brief silence, "Although the overall shape is different, the materials used and nature of construction is identical."

He moved the control stick and brought the ship slowly around, "What's the possibility of getting inside?"

"I detect no life signs or power readings, but I would not recommend attempting to board."

ThaManya glanced around at Tor, her eyes bright, "If the stations computers are intact we could gain massive amounts of information on their technology."

Tor nodded, "Any chance we can locate any?" He slowed the Defiance and looped one of the four bulbs that remained, its structure heavily scarred from weapons fire with blackened rents in the side which, he assumed, all the atmosphere had gushed out from during its last moments.

"There is extensive internal damage, and initial scans indicate that the stations data channels may have fed into a central core. That section no longer exists for me to verify this notion."

ThaManya leant towards Tor, "Shall we take a look anyway?"

Tor glanced over, "Let's take the ship in closer first." With a gentle nudge on the controls the Defiance moved towards the largest of the holes in the station, its forward lights appearing less diffused by the distance with each passing sezura.

ThaManyas' eyes scanned the gap in the hull, seeing long shards of alloys and blackened tubes drifting in the open space. She sat back now looking uncertain, "Maybe we should launch a small probe."

The nose of the Defiance stopped a few metres from the ruined station.

Tor was thoughtful as he too surveyed the debris floating around, "Corricel, do we have any short range probes on board?"

"Three are available."

"Prepare to drop one and guide it in to the station."

A flashing indicator on the console showed the probe had been released. The small silvery sphere jetted its way through the dark gap and images flickered up on the terminal. Not pure camera images but enhanced visualisations to compensate for the pitch black of the interior.

Although much had been destroyed, the tubes and circular passageways had a distinctly organic look. Tor and ThaManya said nothing, each in their own way looking pensive.

Tor leant forward slightly, "Well if there's a computer console or anything like one, then I can't make it out."

The desiccated and frozen carcass of a Khaak came into view, trapped by wreckage, its body torn and shredded by the sudden vacuum and the rapid de-pressurisation of its environment.

ThaManya sat back and looked critically at the images, "We should take more scans of the creature."

Feeling this was slightly macabre, Tor, for the moment, was not sure why they were studying the remains. For several mizuras they sat patiently as the probe circled slowly around the object, its limbs locked in the final death throws revealing long talons and short stubby wings.

For Tor, the visage brought back vivid memories of the animal hammering on the cockpit of the Defiance in the attack on the Khaak Destroyer. With it came the uneasy feeling that the nightmares would start again. Sensing the dryness of his mouth he quietly retreated to the rear of the cabin and recovered a drink.

ThaManya turned towards him, "You don't like the images?"

Tor glanced towards her, "Last time I saw one was close up and it wanted to get personal."

"How did you escape?"

Tor gave a wry smile, "Fortunately it was on the other side of the screen, so we just reversed out."

ThaManya looked confused so Tor added, "I'll explain another time."

*****
The probe eventually moved away from the creature and deeper into the station. It passed by several more carcasses and ThaManya set the probe to examine each one.

Tor looked at her, "Why the morbid fascination?"

ThaManya smiled, "So far, I would say we have only seen the fighters of the species. It would be nice to find one of the others, the thinkers and builders."

"Why couldn't it be one of these?"

ThaManya appeared surprised by the question, "Long talons don't lend themselves to building structures."

A long time later they still had not found anything that resembled a computer interface or Khaak corpse that was significantly different to those that ThaManya regarded as soldiers. She sat back and looked perplexed, "We should leave."

Tor was relieved to hear her suggest this as he was beginning to wonder if they would ever leave, "Sure you don't want to find another body to examine?"

ThaManya fixed him with a thoughtful look, "We'll leave the probe behind and return to the TaGohlen."

The Defiance reverse thrusters kicked in and the ship backed gently away until Tor felt they had reached a comfortable distance, when he turned the ship and applied the main thrusters.

Back on board the Destroyer, Tor and ThaManya joined ThiGan and several others in the main briefing room. The discussion was how much further they should explore, to Tors' surprise ThiGan was all for ploughing on into the next sector.

The scientists however wanted to spend more time examining the remains and investigating the planet. Whilst the security chief was advocating establishing a base of operation and securing the area around the jumpgate with static defences.

Though the conversations were in the native Mohrabas language ThaManya gave Tor a very rough translation.

ThiGan turned to Tor, "What would you do?"

Tor thought for a while, "My future lies beyond the other gates, so if I were here alone the choice would be simple. Your future return to the stars starts here, so my recommendation is that you secure the gates with static defences and you establish a base."

A tentative silence filled the room as ThiGan considered Tors' response, "Very well we will return home and bring new equipment with us."

Mizuras later and the TaGohlen was back in orbit around the Mohrabas homeworld. Shuttle craft and transports were ferrying materials and supplies to the ship. One transport had been sent to acquire more energy cells.

Tor sat in the observation lounge and quietly watched as he sipped a fruit drink. The nose of a second destroyer appeared over the edge of the domed screen. Rising from his seat he went to look as the second ship appeared to be recklessly close.

There was a faint tremor through the ship and Tor shook his head muttering, "Oops, someone's going to get a beating for that one."

The second Destroyer did not move away. He looked around to see if he could see a familiar face but did not recognise anyone. One of the crew, out of curiosity for what Tor was looking at approached and not knowing whether the Mohrabas would understand him, Tor commented, "Looks a bit close."

The crewman glanced across and then up, "It has docked. We will fly as one."

As he returned to his seat Tor wondered how the jumpdrive would cope with both Destroyers stacked. He also thought about those on the Silicon Mine and quietly yearned to see familiar faces again. ThiGan had insisted he stayed on-board as they would be returning within, their equivalent of, a Stazura.

Tor now understood why the Captain had been cautious about letting him leave. The Defiance would act as a safety net should something go wrong with the jump. He considered it unlikely as there were very few recorded incidents of malfunctioning drives, but had been in no position to refuse.

Eventually he wandered down to the Defiance and cast a casual eye over the five freighters and two shuttles that resided within the hanger. He stepped on board and threw himself down on a one of the three passenger seats.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Just thought I'd pop by and reacquaint myself with an old friend."

"That is very considerate of you."

"So how are you?"

Corricel had not expected a direct question as from previous experience Tor usually wanted updates on other things. "I am as well as can be expected. All my primary systems are operating within standard limits and there is no combat damage to any of the sub-systems."

"Perhaps that's because we haven't been in a fight for sometime?"

"I think you refer to this time as being dull."

"Do you miss the fighting?"

"No, I have a tendency to get damaged when you fly me into battle."

"Yeah, but we always come out of it alright."

"Perhaps you are mistaking me for some other ship?"

Tor smiled, "Well I will point out that I had nothing to do with the last time you got beaten up."

Corricel was quiet for a moment, "But I was trying to protect you even if you were not on board."

"I know." Tor was thoughtful for a while, "What do you think about our chances of getting home."

"That depends on a number of factors. The remains of the Khaak station we encountered is different to those we found in the other sectors. This may be as a result of natural evolution or that the Khaak themselves consist of a number of sub groups."

"Give it to me in plain English."

"There may be more than one species of Khaak. Each slightly different to the other, this would include technologically. The weapon systems of the next group we meet may be more powerful and more advanced than the first ones we met."

"Thanks for cheering up my day. How's the gate repairs coming along?"

Corricel sent an image to the holo-projector on the table before him, "The construction robots are in place and have begun to move the sections together. Two Mohrabas Destroyers and four Corvette class warships are patrolling the area."

Tor looked at it for a long time, "I'm going to try and catch some sleep. Let me know if anything happens."

The bunk rotated flat, slid away from the side and Tor threw himself on it.

"Sleep well Tor."


Half a Stazura later Corricel announced, "Tor, the jump has been successfully completed."

Stirring from sleep Tor rubbed his eyes, "What was that?"

"We have successful jumped to sector Hetki's Ocean."

"Both Destroyers?"

"Yes."

Tor pushed himself upright and swung his legs off the bunk. "Open the door, I'll go see what's happening."

The airlock doors hissed open and Tor walked quickly to the lifts requesting the bridge as he stepped in. The door opened moments later and Tor could see on the main viewer that they were on the move and heading for a distant gate.

ThiGan glanced over to him, "Mr. Grall, good of you to join us."

"Sir." He spotted ThaManya sat at a console and moved towards her.

She glanced over as Tor asked quietly, "So what have I missed?"

"We have separated from the JiThellack which is deploying static defence units around the first gate. We are on route for the second gate and will do likewise."

"So the piggyback manoeuvre worked? Nice going."

"There will be more jumps to bring three more Destroyers to hold this sector."

Tor looked at the monitor and contemplated what he should do next. He felt surplus to requirement, simply a casual observer getting a free trip. "I wonder if ThiGan will allow me to take the Defiance out of sector?"

ThaManya looked at him, "Wasn't it you who suggested not being hasty in exploring other sectors until we secured this one?"

"Not in so many words."

"The sentiment was there." She smiled.

ThiGan turned his chair, "I respect silence on my bridge unless you have something important to say."

Tor gave a slight bow, "I apologise Captain, but I was suggesting taking the Defiance through the gate into the next sector."

ThiGan looked at him but his expression was unreadable, "Granted, but don't attract unwanted interest."

With a sense of relief Tor gave another slight bow, "Thank you captain." He glanced at ThaManya, "Coming?"

With a smile and a nod she accepted the invitation. They remained on the bridge until the TaGohlen reached the jumpgate, when the captain issued orders for the freighters to begin deployment.

ThaManya and Tor returned to the lift and descended to the docking bay. Two of the freighters had already been deployed and the third was being moved out on the mechanical restraining arms.

The airlock door of the Defiance was already open to receive them and Tor quickly dropped into the pilots seat. ThaManya settled into the co-pilots seat and requested departure clearance. Several mizuras passed before anything happened and then the ship shifted gently sideways then out of the docking bay door.

"Incoming message."

"Put it on screen."

The image of ThiGan appeared, "Mr. Grall, please wait until the freighters have completed deployment before departing sector. The gate defences need to establish identity and be tested."

"Understood and standing by." The comm closed and Tor glanced at ThaManya wondering if he should enquire what testing might involve but kept quiet.

The five freighters finished deploying twenty defence units, ten either side of the gate in concentric circles. The ships then moved back to the Destroyer and began to dock.

ThaManya tapped on the console, "Defence units activating and the TaGohlen is uploading data."

Tor saw the beam weapons discharge in turn as ThaManya announced, "Test firing."

"Incoming message."

"On screen."

ThiGan appeared once again, "You are cleared to depart."

Tor smiled, "Thank you Captain."

========
The Defiance engines roared, pushing them towards the activation zone, and Tor was filled with a sense of trepidation as the jumpgate swirled into life.

As the ship emerged from the receiving gate, Tor touched the thrusters control unit and scanned the HUD for possible contacts. The screen showed nothing, except a grey yellow dustbowl of a planet orbiting a large yellow sun.

"Anything on the long range scanners?"

ThaManya tapped the console, "Nothing, except one gate on the far side of the sun."

Tor reduced speed, and the Defiance coasted casually away from the gate, as he took in more of the sector through the filtered screen. After a while he glanced across to her, "So did your people once live here?"

"Yes, the system was once known as Barren Edge."

Tor looked at the planet, "Sounds appropriate."

"You look disappointed that there's nothing more here?"

"Without the debris of wreckage from a major battle, I'd say someone had time to clean up the sector. In which case, why didn't the Khaak set up base here?"

Corricel answered, "Radiation levels in this sector are higher than previously encountered in other solar systems. The Khaak may not have been able to survive from long term exposure."

ThaManya looked over to the datapad, "The archive indicates that might be the case, long term exposure to my peoples former station here did see premature systems failures."

"Sounds like a good reason not to hang around. Corri how's the shielding bearing up?"

"Radiation shielding shows no signs of degradation at this time."

Tor shuffled in his seat and prepared to engage the main thrusters, "Let's move on."

ThaManya tapped away on the console, "Let me send a message probe back to ThiGan."

As he waited for the probe to be launched, a thought struck Tor, "Corri, can you scan the gate for any of those devices we found in the Khaak sectors?"

"Scanning. There are no unusual attachments to the gates, and message probe has been launched."

Tor glanced over to ThaManya, "Ready to go now?"

She nodded, and Tor pressed the thruster control unit to maximum, the inertia damper energized to compensate. "Estimated time to the next jump gate?"

Corricel answered, "Half a stazura."

Tor would have preferred to fly manually, as he had in the home sectors, but with a flight path that swung him around to the far side of the sun he opted not to, "Corri, take flight control and let me know when we're close, or if anything happens on route."

Extracting himself from the pilot seat, he moved past ThaManya and into the rear cabin.

She finished examining the terminal and sat back. "Tell me about your homeworld?"

Tor sat down and reflected back on his memories before answering, "I guess I don't really have a homeworld, my parents were orbital station workers which is where I was born and raised. Though I sort of discovered that I was probably conceived on Argon Prime, when they went for a romantic wozura away from the station. Well, that's what my uncle told me anyway."

"Were there many others in your litter?"

Tor laughed, "We humans tend to only have one child at a time. Though it's not uncommon for twins to be born. So, no, I was an only child."

"Did you ever go to Argorime?"

"Argon Prime. Yeah, I studied there for a while, but the less said about that the better." He paused for a long while, "It's a beautiful planet. Trees so tall and green, filled with the sound of songbirds, grass the colour of emeralds, with the sweet scent of flowers vibrant on the air. It's oceans so blue and full of life." Tor paused again.

"You miss it?"

"Every damn tazura. But what about you? Any brothers and sisters?"

ThaManya moved from her seat and sat in one next to Tor, "I have four age same kin, and nine younger," she remembered the term Tor used, "Brothers and sisters."

Tor looked surprised, "That's a big family, I'm surprised your world isn't overcrowded."

ThaManya looked perplexed, "It is a problem, not all females are allowed to breed."

Tor suddenly felt lost for words, eventually he managed, "Not ever?"

ThaManya gestured in the negative, "But with the opening of new systems then there will be a need for more cubs."

Tar gave a reassuring smile, "There's a bright side to this exploration for you after all."

ThaManya smiled, "And it will be thanks to you."

A brief mental picture of thousands of Mohrabas females thanking him disturbed his thoughts and steered the conversation back to the original topic, "So what's your world really like?"

ThaManya looked curiously at him, "You've been there."

"Yeah, I went to the crystal city but not outside it."

"Outside? Why would you want to go outside?"

Tor once again looked surprised, "Don't you people go outside the city?"

"There is jungle there, hunting ground if you have the skill, but very few venture out. We are born, live, work and die within the confines of the city, most of which is buried deep beneath the ground."

"Let me get this straight, here you are flying through space, in a sector your people haven't seen for over five hundred of your jazuras, yet you never stepped out beyond the city walls into the jungle that surrounded your city?"

ThaManya reflected on this, "Outside the city was the jungle, up here is the unknown."

Tor looked long and hard at his companion, "Well that's a reasonably simple summary."

"You are an explorer or why else would you be here?"

The question was not one Tor expected, "An explorer, me? No, I'm stuck here out of circumstance. Believe me if my government hadn't decided to give me two station contracts I'd be safe at home."

Corricel chipped in, "And there would have been no survivors after the Khaak attack. We would never have discovered the Mohrabas, and they would still be locked into the one solar system. The females wanting to know if they were ever likely to be chosen to be allowed to breed."

Tor tried to sink back further into his chair, "There's no certainty about that."

Corricel said, "Tor you have defied the odds at every juncture. Once again my calculations as to our success here cannot determine the Tor factor. This means that I have abandoned any number of probable scenarios as the Tor constant, variable cannot be predicted."

Feeling that this might be a possible compliment Tor smiled. ThaManya purred, "You must have done something very great for your government to give you two stations."

Tor shook his head and then frowned, "They were only contracts not real stations, I had to pay for the construction kits myself."

ThaManya looked confused, "Then what was the gift for?"

"You want my life history or just the interesting last two jazuras?"

Corricel commented, "Stay with the last two jazuras. I have the records for the previous jazuras and, although entertaining at times, it was mainly dull."

Tor looked towards the technical datapad in its retainer, "Corri, just fly the ship." With a quick glance at ThaManya he turned towards a cabinet close by and opened it, "Drink?"

She gave a single nod, and looked at him expectantly whilst he pulled out two flasks. Handing one to her, he opened his and took a brief swig. Starting from the moment he was arrested in Cloudbase South-West, he retold his story, occasionally assisted with sound effects supplied by Corricel.

As he neared the end of his tale, Corricel announced, "Approaching gate, would you like me to hold position here so you can finish or would you like to make the jump?"

Tor had a dawning realisation how long he had been talking for and looked over to his companion, "Save the rest until later I think, otherwise there'll be nothing to talk about on the way back."

He moved from his chair before ThaManya had a chance to voice her thoughts. She followed him and each sat in their respective seats. Tor drained the last of his drink as his mouth now felt parched.

"Corri, scan the gate for anything suspicious."

"Gate scanned, nothing to report."

Tor flew around the massive structure just in case. The computer said, "Did you find the scan was accurate?"

"Just had to check." Tor lined the ship up for the jump and brought it to a halt. "ThaManya give me some idea what we might expect on the other side of this gate."

The co-pilot tapped on the terminal, "The sector was known as ThiGidroth's Fire. A smaller sun than this one, a habitable red planet with purple oceans and two moons, also six other planetary bodies."

Tor took a deep breath, "Let's hope it's still there, but no one else is." He engaged the main drive.

[KiwiNZ]

Excellent read! Good tension and very well-written passage at the end. The un-easy feeling of Tor's comes across very well.

Looking forward to the next installment!


"that Tor was walking experiment" - is there an 'a' missing?
"the end would pre-empted by" - a 'be' missing?
"and the ship moved gracefully away and as the ship moved away from the station"

[Mercenary]

Excellent read! Good tension and very well-written passage at the end. The un-easy feeling of Tor's comes across very well.

Looking forward to the next installment!


"that Tor was walking experiment" - is there an 'a' missing?
"the end would pre-empted by" - a 'be' missing?
"and the ship moved gracefully away and as the ship moved away from the station"

Cheers Kiwi,

And corrected.

How's life in London by the way?

[KiwiNZ]

Oh, that is good fun. Didn't take too long to get a job and also a flat, still fighting to get a bank account

Check your PM

[General Morphit]

Good read interesting development with Tors heart condition sounds pretty bad.
Looking forward to the next bit.

[Adamskini]

good stuff Merc

[Al]

Nice one Merc. Keep it coming.

Al

[Quetz]

Good stuff merc, not that i expect anything less these days

Keep it up

Quetz

[Epiphany]

Nice read, where's the rest?

[Medic279]

Nice flow to this one I thought. Tor's in trouble with that heart I guess - damn heart muscle fibres doesn't regen itself like liver does - or perhaps you have the cure of the future...?

[silentWitness]

Utter class as usual... Keep it up...

[Tyepo]

lookin good merc!

[Mercenary]

Cheers all,

Part 2 added under the ******

[KiwiNZ]

Excellent read! Looks like we are going to see some action soon, right?

Connecting two destroyers to make them one is an interesting idea. What improvements does that bring in general?

Looking forward to the next installment.



" within the hanger" - hangar?

PS: edit the header to display PT.2

[Gandalf The White]

Hi Merc,

glad to see more. keep it coming.

[Tyepo]

<Sniff> I wanna be able to dock my destroyers together now...... Patch anyone? I hope there laser towers are a bit more effective then mine in the game. Good read as always merc!

[General Morphit]

Connecting two destroyers to make them one is an interesting idea. What improvements does that bring in general?

I think the ships just docked together, I suppose the Mohabras lack transporter devices (as they were derived from the j/d itself), so docking would be handy for some mass transit. As Tor + Sheero have allowed only one jumpdrive to be used by the Mohabras, docking two destroyers is a neat way to piggyback the one without a jumpdrive.
In X2, and I spose the X-universe generally, there is no practical use for docking destroyers together.

Nice part merc, your getting less frequent but the parts are consistently up to your great standard

[Mercenary]

Yep, you have it right General Morphit.

Piggy backing large ships has several advatages, recovering damaged ships that have had drive failure, and as in this case locking two vessels together allows the one jump drive to move two ships.


part 3 now added, and it may seem strange to develop a well known character so late in the story but the situation allowed for it.

enjoy.

[THESPEEKER]

As always Merc nice read

Are we going to see some action when Tor goes through the gate?

[Quetz]

Hehehe, the Tor Constant

Tor sat down and reflected back on his memories before answering, "I guess I don't really have a homeworld, my parents were orbital station workers which is where I was born and raised.

I think
Good part anyway

Quetz