Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Upgrades
Once the progress bar for the Weapon Systems Upgrade and Armor Upgrade were beginning to fill up, he started shopping for a Shield Generator.
He selected the proper tab, and watched as two Shield Generators were highlighted in light blue.
**
[Type 43 Corsair Shield Generator]
- Price: 200,000 Galactic Credits
- Effective against Kinetic and Energy Damage
- Concentrated fire of Either Damage Type will overload the Shield Generator.
[Variable Contact Shield Generator]
- Price: 100,000 Galactic Credits
- Effective against Missile Damage
- Concentrated fire on a specific area of the Shield will overload the Shield Generator.
**
Daniel had noticed earlier that the System was dumbing down the actual description of the modules for him, but now that he looked at the actual description and compared it to the System's, he preferred the Systems.
The TradeNet description was filled with flowery language and vague perforce reports, whereas the System's was short, concise, and accurate.
He sighed mentally when he realized that by purchasing these two Shield Generators for their Components was going to deplete his newfound fortune immediately.
He perused for a moment longer, waiting for the Upgrades to be completed, when he remembered one of the reasons he's come here.
"System, did the Tilan dock here after leaving the Darsend System?"
[Yes, Commander]
"Did they file a destination?"
[Commander, the Tilan was registered for transit to the Grine System.]
Daniel cursed. That was in Imperial Space.
He brought up the Venator's Galactic Map and mapped the shortest route to the Markes System, the closest System to the Grine System.
There were four jumps between the Narle System and the Markes System, and the Tilan had to go though the Markes System to transit to the Grine System.
The Markes System was one of nine Border Systems the Federation shared with the Illion Empire.
Each one had a Defense Fleet stationed there, and ships transiting between the two star nations had to pass through one of them. The Markes System was the closest one.
[Ding]
[Weapon System Upgrade Complete] (Select to Expand)
[Armor Upgrade Complete](Select to Expand)
[Shield Generator Upgrade Complete](Select to Expand)
Daniel grinned wide as he forgot about tracking the Tilan and focused on his new upgrades.
He went down the line of notifications, selecting the Weapon System first.
**
[Weapon System: Online (Level 1)]
- Activation Energy: 10 Energy Units
- Weapon Hard-point A: Select One
- Point Defense Cannon: 1
Upgrade Condition: 0/20 Weapon System Components
Ammunition: Select One
**
Daniel looked at the review in surprise, he hadn't expected to be selecting a Weapon System.
He quickly clicked on [Weapon Hard-point A].
**
[Weapon Hard-point A]
- Mk l Ullr Rail Gun Turret
- Damage: 50 Hit-points per hit
- Fire Rate: 1 Shot/10 seconds
- Range: 10 km
- Mk l Holler Missile Launcher
- Damage: 250 Hit-Points per hit
- Fire Rate: 1 Shot/30 seconds
- Range: 50 km
- Mk l Tyr Laser Turret
- Damage: 10 Hit-points per hit
- Fire Rate : 1 Shot/ 1 Second
- Range: 1000 m
**
Daniel looked over his options.
He had to be strategic with his decision, because with only one Weapon Hard-point, he would be restricting himself to one range of combat for the foreseeable future.
If he went with the "Ullr", the Venator would be a mid-range engagement Corvette, using constant movement and precision targeting to destroy his opponents.
If he equipped the "Holler", then he would have to circle the Target at extreme range, maintaining distance and relying on massive damage to compensate for rate of fire.
If he selected the "Tyr", then he would have to rely on quick maneuvering and run-and-gun tactics to take advantage of the rate of fire.
Daniel immediately ruled out the Laser Turret.
Close-combat required split-second decisions and excellent tactics, something Daniel wasn't adept at.
He also ruled out the "Holler", since even though the range and damage would be beneficial, the rate of fire would allow a faster ship than his too close the distance in between missile launches.
That left the Mk l Ullr Rail Gun. Even though it seemed like a compromise, circling a target and taking potshots was both safer than the Laser Turret, and faster paced than the Missile Launcher, all while not sacrificing a significant damage output.
Daniel selected his choice and selected Hardened Arkan Ammunition.
He also took note of the [Point Defense Cannon], an effective defense against missiles.
He felt good about his choices, since he couldn't specialize without knowing what sort of Offensive or Defensive Systems the Tilan had equipped.
He went back to the notification list and selected the [Armor System].
**
[Armor: 100/100 (Level 2)]
- Module Always Online
- Hit-Points: 100/100
Upgrade Condition: 0/20 Armor Components
**
Daniel wasn't really surprised at the information displayed.
It looked like the Armor would multiply the Hit-points by 10 every upgrade.
He wasn't sure yet how good 100 Hit-points was yet, but he suspected that since the Mk l "Ullr" Rail Gun could do 50 Hit-points per hit, that it wasn't much.
Although, since the "Ullr" didn't exist in the current galaxy, he wasn't sure if it was better or worse than other Rail Guns.
He hadn't bothered looking at the description of other Rail Guns since they didn't describe damage in Hit-points, rather in kg/cm^2.
He was sure a more competent Commander could infer the damage based on that, but Daniel was willing to leave it to the System.
Finally, He selected the [Shield Generator Upgrade Complete] notification.
**
[Shield Generator: 100/100 (Level 1)]
- Activation Energy: 10 Energy Units
Upgrade Condition: 0/10 Shield Generator Components
Notice: Shield Generator hit-points matches the Armor hit-points.
**
Again, no new information presented itself, other than the self-explanatory Hit-points.
He backed out of the [Review] window that had appeared when he'd selected the Modules.
He was greeted with the 3rd Person View of the Venator.
The size hadn't changed at all, but he could now see two turrets in inactive mode, and a new sphere that had appeared in the back-middle of the ship.
The Ullr Rail Gun didn't look like it came from another galaxy. It was a small turret tucked against the ship, with two rails balanced on top.
Daniel did note they were a fair bit bigger than the standard Federation Mk Vll "Faregos" Rail Guns that were common on Federation Corvettes and Destroyers, so maybe they were more powerful, but he didn't want to count on it.
The Sphere was obviously the Shield Generator. It was about twice the size of the Rail Guns, and Daniel doubted it could fit into the Drone Bay, and it was covered in hexagonal shapes.
The Armor was obviously not apparent, but he did notice that the hull looked a bit thicker than before.
Daniel did a mental Review.
He now had every Module installed on the Venator, and had a destination.
All that was left was to begin the hunt.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone