Theogony 1: Janissaries Read Online Free

working,
but we do not have a crew for it. It is cruiser-sized, necessitating a crew of
around 400 people, not counting its indigenous air wing. If you intend to man
that, you’ll need another 100 people to operate the half skrong of Zeebats.”
    “What the hell is a half skrong of Zeebats?” inquired Ryan.
    “A skrong is the basic combat unit of fighters,” said
Steropes. “Each skrong is a double handful, or 12, fighters. A half skrong is
six. Our recommendation is to at least bring Calvin to fly one of them.
Eventually, you will need pilots for all of them if we continue to use the ship,
so it is better to start flying them sooner rather than later.”
    “COOL!” said Calvin. “I’m in! Where do I sign? Is a Zeebat a
type of fighter or just the word that means ‘fighter?’”
    “A Zeebat is a type of fighter, one of the most up-to-date
ones that we have,” said Arges. “There are other types of craft that can be
used in a variety of strategic, operational and tactical situations, but none
of them are on the ship, aside from our two shuttle craft.”
    “How up-to-date is ‘up-to-date?’” asked Calvin.
    “The schematics for them are only 3,000 of your years old,”
said Arges. “They were the most tactically-relevant fighters that existed when
we came here.”
    “Oh,” said Calvin, crushed. “So they are the tactical equivalent
of driving my grandfather’s car?”
    “The answer to your question is unknown at this time,”
replied Arges, “as it is impossible to know the extent to which the rest of the
galaxy has improved its armaments. The Zeebat had just been developed by the
Eldive at the time of the climactic battle; it is unlikely that the Drakuls got
the opportunity to disassemble and reverse engineer them. Assuming they haven’t
captured any fighters from another advanced culture, the Zeebat was a ‘next
generation’ fighter, to use your terminology, beyond anything the Drakuls had
at the time. Please remember, they are not theoretical scientists. Their
talents lie in reverse engineering other civilizations’ craft, not in inventing
armaments of their own.” He paused, considering. “Regardless, I believe that
you will still be impressed with the functioning of the Zeebat, Calvin. While
the design is 3,000 years old to us, it is still several hundred years beyond
anything you would likely have derived on your own, barring an unlikely
breakthrough in technology.”
    “Okay,” said Calvin, looking a little happier.
    “Everyone is getting a little ahead of themselves,” remarked
the president. “While there’s no doubt that we will help you, we can’t just go
flying off without working out how all of this is to take place. Certainly,
we’ll need to bring in some senior officers to determine how we want to man
this ship that no one has even seen yet .” He looked at Calvin. “You, in
particular, may be a little junior for this mission.” Calvin’s face fell at the
news.
    “Oh, no,” said Arges, “we definitely want Lieutenant Hobbs
onboard. We have been scrutinizing his performance for a while now, and he must be the leader of the military forces with us. In fact, we would like to have
the entire unit that he led during your latest conflict onboard the ship with
us. They have proven that they are able to successfully adapt to constantly
changing situations.”
    “In that case, I’m sure that Lieutenant Hobbs’ participation
can be arranged,” agreed President Jacobs. “What help and support can we expect
from you?”
    “We will provide all of the things necessary for this
mission,” said Steropes. “The ship, arms and armor for the troops, the Zeebats,
and everything else that is needed. We will also begin making our technology
available so that your country will have access to it. If you are to have any
chance against the Drakuls, your economy will need to expand beyond anything it
has ever seen previously, as will the rest of the planet. You have not yet
begun to