Crucible - Dust Off

Eve Online is Offline for a few hours as the eagerly awaited Crucible expansion is applied. Years and years of player's "It would be cool if...." fixes and enhancements are being added. New Battlecruisers for all races are being made available. Graphics updates include ships and backgrounds. Supercapitals will no longer be invincible on their own and be able to take on any fleet on without back up. The online community is at fever pitch which might boil over in the next six hours....

I wonder what would be happening all over New Eden if it was real......

 

***Warning! Geeky Fan Fiction. Please move along if you don't like this sort of thing!***

 

-oOo-

Scotty looked down at the datapad and then back up at the ship hanger. It was going to be a long day. The ships he had to check were in the furthest corners of the cavernous hanger. The ones that were rarely used.

 

The mobile hover-platform finally stopped at the top corner of the hanger. Scotty dare not look down. He was at the top of the honeycomb wall where countless ships were stacked neatly in their bays. The light up here near the roof was blinding, but looking up was better than looking down at the 1000m drop to the hanger floor. He hated doing this, but they were understaffed, overworked and since the computer enhancements a month ago for Capsuleers changing ships in station, his personal workload had decreased. Capsuleers were impatient creatures and he had to ensure there was sufficient time between them leaving one ship and boarding the next. There was always a danger that ships could crash and appropriate time was always needed to get the current ship out of the way and the new one in. Thirty seconds was a good time he thought. What was 30 seconds to immortals? However they had complained and now a computerised system handled the moving of ships which was much faster than the "Scotty thirty seconds" he had decree was the minimum. Therefore with less work telling those blasted Capsuleers to hang on a few seconds he was having to help out the overworked hanger crews with other tasks.

 

He crossed from the hover platform into the storage bay. A Moa class cruiser was sat there. Scotty could see from the dust and debris surrounding it, that this ship that it hadn't been moved in years. He brought out his datapad to check his worksheet.

 

 

From: Drackarn (Station Note - Capsuleer - Flag as High Priority)

To: Hanger Bay, State Protectorate Station, Nisuwa

 

Please ensure that the following ships are thoroughly checked, updated and read to fly ASAP. These ships had been mothballed so require proper attention.

 

Bloa - Moa class cruiser - Caldari - Hanger 23, docking bay 94.

Sneagle - Eagle class heavy assault ship - Caldari - Hanger 23, docking bay 95.

 

Thanks

 

Drackarn

Director - Shadows of the Federation

Luminaire General - Gallente Militia

 

 

Scotty thought "Mothballed.... he wasn't kidding!". The ship didn't look like it had been moved in years.

 

He made his way around to the command hatch and keyed in the code. There was a hiss as the door opened. Scotty looked down the gloomy corridor. He stepped up and inside and approached a console by the door. The air was stale as the ship was in hibernation mode, all power was down except for that one console. He keyed in the correct sequence to wake the ship. Nothing happened. Scotty cursed.

 

This was the fourteenth ship like this he had found today and it was getting boring. Ships designed around hybrid weapons had been out of favour for years. Advances in projectile, laser and missile weaponry had made hybrids a poor cousin. Then last week a Gallente research center came up with a new firing algorithm plus software enhancements for the engines, computer systems and reactors of their hybrid platform ships. The Caldari had made similar "discoveries" two days later. No doubt some Caldari spy had found favour with the State on that day! Suddenly all the Capsuleers wanted their hybrid platform ships shaking down. He'd been going solid for 8 hours. Most were like this one, so neglected they wouldn't even wake on command. He took out his torch and started to walk to the bridge.

The bridge on a Capsuleer craft was generally much smaller than a normal ship. With the Capsuleer commanding most primary and secondary systems there was no need for a large command crew. He approached the primary console and removed a portable power-pack from his toolbox. He sat down and removed an access cover from the console and plugged in the power supply. The console came to life. He stood back up and entered the command codes.

 

This time the ship sprang to life. Lights flickered on, the consoles around the bridge lit up and he could see out of the viewport that the external lights were active, reflecting against the sides of the dimly lit docking bay. A low hum throughout the ship indicated the reactor was starting up. Scotty established the communication links. A message flashed up on the console.

 

"There is an update available for this ship. You will not be able to use this ship unless you update. Would you like to update now?"

Scotty hit the affirmative button wondering what idiot put a "No" button in there.

 

Establishing link to CONCORD....... 

Link established..... 

3 critical updates found...... 

1. Hybrid weapons update... 

2. Primary systems update.... 

3. Secondary Systems update...... 

Estimated time of completion..... 

14:00 Eve Standard Time...

Updating....... Updating....... Updating.........

 

Scotty shook his head. "14:00? Yeah if you say so" he muttered to himself. He turned to leave, heading to the next ship thankful they were all Caldari and Gallente and not Minmatar.... they would require a whole new level of updating!

-oOo-

5 hours and 50 minutes to go....