Editing Quest:The Long Night:Volume One:Life in the Storm (section)

=Going on=

Tranth continues with the ships. This time, he chooses the most intact of the Command Battleships.

Alas, it seems that the data storage part had been deliberately destroyed. Not that there are no other findings. Tranth finds [[Grenades_%26_Explosives#Stasis_Bomb|Stasis Grenades]], the original form of the [[Neutron Laser]], some vehicles. Also, there are a few dozen [[lightsaber]]s (which your bodyguards end up using dual-wielding, [[StarCraft|Protoss]] style). And, there is some really advanced (that is, advanced even by Dark Age standards) [[Exitus Rifle]] variant. Regular, Shield-Breaker and Hellfire rounds are found.

As for the ship itself, Tranth can make neither heads nor tails of it. It's thirteen kilometres long, but the only guns are a few Macrocannons. Almost the entire ship is taken up by what seems to be an enormous gravity-based superweapon (plus an overpowered reactor feeding it). It looks easy to repair, but Tranth has no idea what it's for.

Next, Tranth checks the biggest ship. A twenty-four kilometre long Supercarrier. Some spacecraft onboard (what little couldn't be launched in its last battle), vehicles, repair facilities, a lot of the same weapons... no designs though.

To put it short, it isn't until the fifth ship, the ''Sword of Surtur'', that you find what you were looking for. Tranth may be a male, but you're pretty sure he now knows the meaning of “multiple orgasms”.

Tanks capable of burrowing underground. Tanks bigger than the [[Capitol Imperialis]] and capable of surviving a Battleship's Lance. Titan-sized Conversion Beamers. Tanks projecting shield umbrellas over their neighbours. It's all there. That is, except the more advanced things like Vortex Weapons and those Super-Exitus Rifles. And, of course, you still don't have the industry to build enough for everyone (some improvements to that and medicine were found, but you'll need a lot more). Still, you've got all the standard gear (and then some) for Dark Age armies and fleets. Plus Implantation Chair programs for things like piloting and maintenance.

One minor issue is; the datacore included the blueprints for both Men of Iron and [[Men of Stone]] (in this quest, regular, non-robotic AIs). After a bit of debate, it's decided that the former can never be trusted, since they did revolt, so that blueprint is destroyed. The Men of Stone, on the other hand, didn't revolt, but still aren't trustworthy, so that blueprint is locked away to only be used if there is no other choice.

On a minor sidenote, Nilfheim is back. It's been twenty-five more years for them than for us, and they haven't been idle. Both the industry and the population had a major boost.

Meanwhile, your daughter has started a career as a military officer. A captain already. Now she's on Navy practice. What's next?