M.T. Decker

217-Valkyrie’s View: A Year Among the Stars

August 4th, 2552 – How things work – 101
Pilot/Witness and sometimes Target Kat “S-Kat” James Reporting

One of the problems with modular design is the fact that it’s designed so that if you have a problem, you pull the unit, put a new one in, and then you can break down the module and effect repairs with little to no ship downtime.

That’s great for fleet-based operations, but when you’re on your own, unless, of course, you’re towing a trailer full of replacement modules it does you no good. But even if you did, there is no safe environment where you can break down the module- you’re pretty much SOL on repairs-

That leaves knowing what you can work on and knowing which modules you can survive without and what modules can be used for other things. For example – you can take the power module from the weapon’s systems and get 12 hours of life support;

You can limp along with one engine and half your maneuvering thrusters in space, but if you have to land on a planet with an atmosphere? You’re going to need the damaged engine in place— and you’re going to want as many maneuvering thrusters working as you can get.

There are some things I’m not sure I want to include in the class, just because the brass is already nervous about me being allowed to fly, I don’t think they want to know some of the things I’ve learned in the past 7 months, especially since I’m not allowed to own a weapon or have an armed ship.

Thing is, I know enough about my ship that, if I don’t have weapons and I need to defend myself? Let’s just say that certain modules make decent limpet mines when properly primed.

It’s amazing what you can do with a little bit of imagination, a lot of desperation, and a strong will to survive. Knowing how things work and how you can make them work for you, that’s one of the first steps to making the world work for you.