Juno looked down at her jump engineer who was hunched over her console. The jump drive room was relatively secluded from the rest of the ship. With the system being not only vital but extremely volatile access was kept to only necessary personnel. At the moment it was just the two of them in the spacious chambers, the drive itself cast a slight blue glow on the two of them as they deliberated. The engineer, a well muscled blonde woman in her thirties, tapped test after test into the main terminal of the drive, each one returning a positive response.

Juno leaned in just a bit “Yulis~” her voice betrayed a hint of both smugness and glee “What does it say?”

Yulis buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I still don’t know how it's doing it, but all the tests are coming up how we’d want them to. At the scale we’re dealing with jumps could be pinpoint up to a few meters. We could shoot a MAC round into hyperspace.”

Juno couldn't help herself, she cheered and jumped just enough to send her floating off in between the ceiling and floor. There was no way the affini could expect this from them, she thought. She might even be able to use this more than once if it can cause true damage.

“Hold on” Yulis called out, grabbing her commanding officer by her leg to stop her slow drift. “There’s a few sticking points though.”

That caught her attention, she looked down to Yulis. “What are they?”

Yulis sighed and pulled Juno back down. “Well first of all, the MAC shells are tungsten and we don’t have the raw material to prep it for surviving hyperspace. It is a solid hunk of metal and not a ship however, so I’d give it 50 50 on coming out the other end in little pieces”

Juno smirked. “If anything a high speed shrapnel bomb would be even more useful”

“And…” Yulis interrupted. “Obviously it's going to take exotic matter and everything involved in a normal jump each time we fire this, cutting off our ability to jump ourselves until it cools down.”

“As expected” Juno replied “Don't worry, we’ll only be using it when we can get away with it.”

“I know, I trust you. Using the drive in ways it was never built for has me nervous is all”

Juno patted her on the shoulder. “That's why I have you, to stop me if I get dumb and reckless. Am I being dumb and reckless?”

Yulis shifted on her feet and hummed, thinking. “...No, a bit crazy. But not dumb or reckless”

Juno smiled wide and pulled her into a hug. “And so my ethics board approves” She pulled herself away in time to see Yulis roll her eyes at the remark.

Juno gently pushed herself towards the door. “Unfortunately I’ve got a date with the wicked witch to keep.”

“Then I can’t say I envy you, stay safe though? She is a fucking spook afterall”

Juno made a face of profound smugness. “Am I not always careful?”

Juno walked into what used to be the auxiliary canteen. In the short time the OCNI had been aboard; they had transformed the ship's only rotating ring into their mobile headquarters. On each of the tables were computers and listening tech, the precious affini computers they had sacrificed good men for sat in their organic towers at the far end. At least one of them was torn open, its parts organized on a tarp. Director Thorne watched her from the doorway of her makeshift office. As soon as the two made eye contact she moved back into her room, expecting the captain to follow. Juno quietly huffed and followed her in. The Directors office was tidy and sparsely decorated. Looking more like a corporate office you’d find on Terra than the lived in spaces of fleet officers she was used to.

Thorne began as Juno took her seat “The situation is still the same. Printing anything useful on the compilers is locked behind a biorhythm request. Our attempts at spoofing one haven't gone anywhere. We’re at the limit of what we can reach with our current resources. While we both know you’re not qualified for your position, the crew is loyal enough that it would be a hassle to replace you. So tell me Captain, how would you get me a biorhythm sample?”

Juno pursed her lips in a thin smile. She didn't want to disparage the skill of the techs here, but she was certain it would come to this. The affini would never make it that easy. A plan had already begun forming in her mind, but she needed a few more pieces on the board.

“With what you’ve gathered would your ECM officers be able to jam communications?”

“With some modifications to the ship's systems that's within our grasp. It certainly will be obvious that communications are being jammed to anyone in range however.” Thorne replied blankly. Juno imagined she got some sort of pleasure from her needing to ask for ONI’s help.

“There's a system a few months away by sub-light. If we jump in they’re sure to notice us but if we adjust to in system speeds ahead of the system itself and fly dark the rest of the way we should be able to sneak up on one small enough for us to take. Whenever they engage us they always bring their system that shunts our MAC shells into hyperspace, but from what we’ve seen from the combat logs of other less well armed ships the smaller ones don't have that system.”

The Director looks away in contemplation for a few moments. Not bothering to look Juno in the eyes when she begins speaking again. “Get us there then, I hope you understand how much is riding on you.”

“Without a doubt.” Feeling the conversation over, Juno got out of her chair. The Director didnt stop her as she left the office. Months, she had months to plan this operation, her riskiest yet with all the factors outside of her control that she was counting on. She was already so far in her own head she barely noticed Sergeant Khole arriving as she left. She had far more pressing matters on her mind. This had to be executed perfectly.