Chapter 8.2 - Englene Station

2 days later...
Docking bay 12 was eerily quiet, the echoes of distant activity from the station barely reaching the crew. Erin stood with her new team, the weight of their decision pressing heavily on her shoulders. Behind her, Mercer, Hank, Douklan, Corbin, Maya and even RB followed with the same resolve that had led them to resign from Valeria’s crew.

At the far end of the bay, Alaya Chen waited with another figure. She was dressed in fresh Stellar Express corporate attire, the sharpness of her uniform at odds with the exhaustion still etched into her features. Beside her stood a tall man in a plain, unmarked jumpsuit, his posture stiff and his expression devoid of warmth.

"Glad you could make it," Alaya greeted, her voice brisk as they approached. Her gaze swept over the group, resting briefly on them before gesturing to the man at her side. "Before we go any further, I want to introduce you to someone. This is Damien Voss. He’s... formerly of Stellar Express Corporate Intelligence."

"Formerly?" Erin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Voss gave a tight nod, his tone sharp and clinical. "I work independently now, but let’s just say I still have a vested interest in Stellar Express and its assets."

"And the Heaven’s Wing is an asset," Alaya cut in, her voice firm. "It’s not just a ship—it’s cutting-edge, experimental tech. Losing it to separatists wasn’t just a setback. It was a disaster, one Stellar Express can’t afford to acknowledge publicly. That’s where you come in."

Alaya exchanged a glance with Voss, who stepped forward, his presence radiating authority. "To put it simply, this isn’t a rescue or a salvage mission—it’s an acquisition. The Heaven’s Wing belongs to Stellar Express, but we lack the resources and leverage to retrieve it. You, however, are unaffiliated now. You take the ship, and it’s yours—no strings attached. Stellar Express will recognize your claim, trade with you whenever you need and back off. But that’s the extent of our official support."

Voss continued, his voice cold and even. "This is an opportunity, not a contract. If you take the risk and pull it off, the ship is yours. Do what you want with it—sell it, use it, turn it into scrap. Stellar Express doesn’t care, as long as the Draco separatists don’t have it."

You all would rather the Heaven's Wing be in the hands of someone friendly, who is going to use legal channels for transport and docking.
As opposed to a group actively hostile to you. Fair.

Douklan nods, his doubt about Voss' motives somewhat allayed by Mercer's spin on it. "If you can't have the asset, you can at least make sure that your competitors/antagonists don't either." He considers. "What can you tell us about what we're likely to face? I haven't seen any specs on this ship yet, so anything you can tell us will be helpful: docking ports, armaments, experience of the people likely to be crew, anything."

Voss nodded at Douklan’s question, his sharp features relaxing slightly as he activated the holographic display embedded in his forearm. The image of the Heaven’s Wing materialized above the group—a sleek, graceful frigate rendered in shimmering platinum-white. Its hull was laced with angelic motifs that seemed almost ceremonial.

"This," Voss began, gesturing to the hologram, "is the Heaven’s Wing. Officially classified as a frigate, but in reality, it’s a prototype built with tech that Stellar Express would never admit to having—technology supposedly reverse-engineered from artifacts left by the Elders. The Heaven’s Wing features experimental FTL systems capable of a Jump-4—longer range, faster recharges, and far more precision than anything commercially available. It’s also outfitted with a specialized mounting for a frigate-sized Gravcannon. If you’ve never encountered one, It generates mutually antagonistic gravitic fields within its target, causing structures to tear themselves apart at the molecular level. ECM won’t stop it, and armor only delays the inevitable. It’s not designed to just destroy—it’s designed to obliterate. It’s rare tech, even in military fleets."

"No wonder the Draco separatists wanted it." said Erin

"Exactly," Voss replied. "We believe it’s currently in Sector 02.07, near an uninhabited red giant star. Intelligence suggests it’s being housed on a movable research and development station that’s likely operated by the separatists. Rumor has it this station is a converted lab ship, a massive ring structure designed to rotate for centrifugal gravity simulation. While it’s equipped with standard grav plates and inertial compensators, those systems can be deactivated for experiments that would be affected by them and replaced by the centrifugal forces."

He pressed a button on his arm, which shifted the hologram to depict a schematic of the rumored station. "The ring is the main habitation and lab area. Two drive pods are mounted on opposite sides of the rings—they house the station’s propulsion systems and power plant. Each pod has forward-facing hardpoints for turret-mounted weaponry. Expect defensive turrets to cover the entire arc, and possibly small craft on patrol."

Mercer leaned closer. "Any idea what kind of crew we’re looking at?"

"Likely separatists with military backgrounds," Voss replied. "The Draco rebels are known for recruiting disillusioned ex-military personnel from the planetary defense forces. Expect them to be experienced in shipboard combat, with knowledge of how to use the station’s layout to their advantage. And if the Heaven’s Wing is operational, it could have its own skeleton crew—pilots, engineers, maybe even a few scientists working with the station’s support on reverse engineering its systems."

"And the ship itself? Any vulnerabilities we should know about?" asked Erin

"Being a prototype, it’s not without flaws," Voss said. "The experimental systems, particularly the Gravcannon and FTL drives, are temperamental. If you disrupt their power supply or take out key subsystems, the ship could be rendered inoperable."

How well armed and armored do we expect them to be?

"Do we have any schematics or deck plans for either the station or the ship? Especially the ship. If there are any command codes, secret locations, inobvious quirks, anything we can take advantage of.

"Also, do you have any contacts or credentials or anything like that we can use to get into the station and/or ship?"

Mercer says:

How well armed and armored do we expect them to be?

"You can expect from unarmed scientists and civilians to former marines with powered armor in different parts of the ship and station."

Hank says:

"Do we have any schematics or deck plans for either the station or the ship? Especially the ship. If there are any command codes, secret locations, inobvious quirks, anything we can take advantage of. Also, do you have any contacts or credentials or anything like that we can use to get into the station and/or ship?"

"We have for the ship. I am transferring them to you now. We built it, after all. Of course, they may have changed or revoked the credentials or refitted some parts, but it is a starting point, at the very least. "