A legacy is only at its end when no one is strong enough to pass along the torch.
"Accessing Scarlet Dawn archives on hospitable planet designate Neter... remote link established. Downloading all files... download complete. Network connection severed. We have the blueprints. How should we modify our basic designs?"
"We should armor our designs more heavily before we begin to build them. We don't have the luxury of quantity, so we must aim for quality for now."
"But what good is an armored hull against an endless stream of missiles? Agility and speed should have precedence."
"And what good is agility against a barrage of lasers precise enough to bore through a porthole without so much as grazing the frame, and potent enough to rend steel?"
Back in the Eriwick channel repair bots were busy at work patching up the hull of a wooden assault ship.
Markus: "Looks like a pretty nice boat, specially for something made of wood. Scrap or keep?"
River: "I say we keep the Kalmar as is until we reach the next port, we can decide what to do with it there."
Markus: "Alright. I'll see if I can't hot-wire the AI module from here. You should go treat that flesh wound, who knows what was on that guy's sword?"
"Was going to do that anyway-"
A loud thud echoed out of the bowels of the ship, rattling the loose articles throughout the bridge.
"Huh. No sonar reading except the sea floor and some submerged driftwood."
"ssh. Listen. Hear that scraping against the bottom of the hull? Pequods. Get us out of here, NOW!"
"What's so dangerous about a moderately big brown fish? They don't stop the salvagers."
"You don't get out much, do ya? Here's yer biology lesson for the day. Pequods can't safely digest wood, so we just use wooden boats or airships. This cruiser is steel. They hunt in packs and with enough time, they can ingest 99% pure iron and pretty much anything else too, with no immediate ill effects. They will literally eat this boat as an appetizer just before eating us. So STEP ON IT!"
"Yes ma'am."
