HMJ Inevitable
Flagship of the Turncoat Armada
Originally Admiral Renkash's flagship, the Inevitable was subsequently commanded by his superior, Admiral Kydell, after the loss of the ruthless katanoj at Loxira.
The SAF carrier was later captured by Shane Lawrence at the Battle for Baden, forming the beginnings of the Mordena mercenary organization.
The carrier now serves as the flagship of the Turncoat Armada, one of the major branches of the Grand Armada. Captained by Navarch Javon, the fearsome vessel strikes fear or hope into the hearts of those who witness its arrival, depending upon whether she has arrived to support or oppose the individual's militaristic goals.
Propulsion
Maneuverability
Shane rubbed his thumb over the locket in gratitude before inching forward, rotating to peer carefully into the engine maintenance workshop. The left hand wall was covered with lockers labeled with crew names and subsystems, depending upon whether they held personal belongings or specialized equipment. A Sub-Officer, denoted by the silver rank insignia on the shoulders of her brown uniform shirt, was busy bouncing a rune assembly absent mindedly in her clawed hand, her attention on someone else beyond Shane's line of sight. He could make out three distinct voices now, deep in discussion about a friendly game of chance played the night before, mainly focused on teasing guesses at how many times each had cheated to tip the dice in their favor. These were Telekinetic mages, trained for ship maintenance but still potentially lethal in a fight. Shane and his team could not afford mistakes.
Navigations
Alanis gathered the last of her remaining magic, using her capabilities as a Void Mage to borrow the rest of her spell's required energy from the primordial power of Baden's star. There was no way she'd be able to move the whole crew in her depleted state, but fortunately she wouldn't have to. She'd been Navigations AI to the Inevitable for so long it felt like a true extension of herself, meaning the ship itself required very little magic to jump.
Weapons & Armament
Alanis crossed all three pairs of legs. "The Inevitable doesn't have standard weapons anymore. They were replaced by some new experimental prototype, just last week. Amplifies whatever you send through it, but there are no presets. You have to know the spell." She let loose a sarcastic laugh. "Oh! And our battle mage couldn't even figure out how to aim it. It just... hits everyone."
Armor and defense
The Inevitable shuddered under a sudden barrage from the battle outside, and Jake reflexively extended his Shielding to encompass the entire ship. He felt his father squeeze his shoulder in approval at his quick reflexes.
Communication Tools & Systems
Short-Range Teleconn
<Hyperjump complete,> she found herself announcing to the shipboard teleconn, the on-duty Telepath projecting her message across the entire ship. <Stellar work, as usual, Navigations,> Admiral Kydell relayed back, this time on a private telepathic line. <Now conserve your magic. Defensive only.>
Long-Range Calling
Long-distance communications rely upon Soul Call for less secure communications. A long-range telepathic line to Janikk is available for emergency situations courtesy of a telepathy spell entwined with Vos Ellis' Soul Oath, specifically cast to circumvent the limited range of standard Telepathy by cutting through the Afterlife. As with most Oaths sworn by the Mordena, the spell was cast to place the Inevitable's Communications AI in the role of both caster and soulbound, allowing the AI full control over the duration and terms of the Oath.Sensors
<<Telemetry, aye.>> Feels felt the knock of a telepathic link request, their acceptance rewarded with a spacial layout of the battle with relation to the Inevitable.
Additional & auxiliary systems
Portal Transit System
He followed his father to the portal transit entrance, sharing a comfortable silence. The Void Necromancer typed a set of codes into the wall panel, causing an entire section of the wall to shimmer and twist into a standard magic portal.
Hydroponics
"As you know, Nature Magic relies on its surroundings. That's why us biologists are mostly useless in space outside the hydroponics bay, and also why the medlab is on the other side of that wall."
Life Support
Critical to the health and safety of all living crew members, the Life Support systems of the Inevitable include Anemancy-enhanced airflow with Runework carbon dioxide scrubbers to guarantee a sufficient oxygen supply. The system is maintained by a Maintenance AI, well-versed in Anemancy and Shielding Magic, and supported by an assortment of live crew members with similar magical training. In case of failure the AI is able to take over the functions of the ship's systems, while Hydroponics is authorized to stimulate rapid growth within their bay using Agrokinesis to assist. If the hull is breached the AI will reroute the airflow, their team and other crew members temporarily patching the leak with Shielding Magic until a more permanent corrected is implemented.Hangars & docked vessels
As the flagship and largest carrier in the Turncoat Armada the Inevitable contains a varied assortment of smaller craft, from the agile Sparnelli fighters and heavily reinforced bombers captured at the Battle for Baden to the more organic vessels developed by the Mordena to replace them. As the ship's original compliment of support vessels are lost through attrition more Mordena vessels are constructed to take their place, both relying upon an internal Afterlife Intelligence either in addition to or in replacement of a living pilot.
The Inevitable also contains an assortment of maintenance pods to allow access to the outer hull for repairing damaged components and recharging the Runework. These also double as escape pods in case of emergency, although all crew members also possess basic safety equipment built into their uniforms to allow for short term survival in the cold Void without specialized equipment.
Factual Tidbits
Ship Pronouns
Mordena ships are typically referred to by the pronoun of their primary Afterlife Intelligence. As the Inevitable relies upon the Hyperjump spell for long distance transit this leaves the Navigations AI, Captain Yiven Alanis, as the primary AI. The Inevitable is therefore a "she".HMJ Designation
The ship designation HMJ stands for "Hekknertoy Morjakkael ijik Jannadael," a Morjakk phrase which roughly translates as "Influential Communication from the Mordena". The Mordena, of course, enjoy pranking outsiders, and so most believe it to mean "Her Majesty Janikk" as a concession to the spirit haunting their homeworld.Want to Read More?
Shane Lawrence's rise from humble janitor to the founder of the Mordena mercenaries begins with In Spite of the Inevitable, a 75k word novel exclusive to my Patreon subscribers! (First three chapters are free!)"Dad! What's wrong?" Jake made his way to his feet, clearly worried.
"We have to go. Now. It was a diversion. SAF lured all Baden's defenses into the open." Shane was pacing, his normally impassive face a conflict of emotions. "There's a whole armada up there now. We don't have much time."
Razick's stomach sank. If the janitor's words were true, Baden had no chance at remaining independent. The shelter vault had its own defenses but these were largely nonviolent measures and eventually they, too, would be breached. If the Confederation didn't starve them out first.
Razick watched as Jake's face hardened. "I don't want to run anymore, Dad. I finally have a chance at something good here. Better classes, actual friends, no more bullies..." His eyes turned pleading. "I know you can fix this. Please don't make me start all over again."
Shane stopped pacing, looking at his son as if seeing him for the first time. "A whole armada, Jake."
"I want to stay."
To Razick's surprise, after studying his son for a moment Shane sank to the floor in thought, still seemingly oblivious to her presence. "Okay."
"We have to go. Now. It was a diversion. SAF lured all Baden's defenses into the open." Shane was pacing, his normally impassive face a conflict of emotions. "There's a whole armada up there now. We don't have much time."
Razick's stomach sank. If the janitor's words were true, Baden had no chance at remaining independent. The shelter vault had its own defenses but these were largely nonviolent measures and eventually they, too, would be breached. If the Confederation didn't starve them out first.
Razick watched as Jake's face hardened. "I don't want to run anymore, Dad. I finally have a chance at something good here. Better classes, actual friends, no more bullies..." His eyes turned pleading. "I know you can fix this. Please don't make me start all over again."
Shane stopped pacing, looking at his son as if seeing him for the first time. "A whole armada, Jake."
"I want to stay."
To Razick's surprise, after studying his son for a moment Shane sank to the floor in thought, still seemingly oblivious to her presence. "Okay."
Great article about the Inevitable. I love the quotes you've chosen to include! :D
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Thank you! It felt good to write this one up.
Necromancy is a Wholesome Science.