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_ Chapter 4 – Demonstrations _

_ <Unnamed UEDF Capital Class ship> _

_ {Deck 1/2: On route to Medical} _

[August 21, 2088]

:So let me get straight Aura. You want me to go down and meet up with Snow about a new device, then hit the hanger for a test, followed by yet ANOTHER test, this time of the new drive you have been testing. I get that right?: Canith said this as he walked down the hall, tail tip twitching in agitation. He had been interrupted from his musing by Aura reminding him he had a ship to run, as well as an announcement he had been procrastinating on.

:Yes, that about does it. And as you are aiming to be a couple, you should also spend time in public with Bethany as well.: Canith groaned at this- not because the idea was bad, but because it seemed that Aura took a perverse pleasure in ensuring that the match was good.

:Yes mother, I shall treat my significant other with all the respect they could want.: He stopped his back and forth, however, as he had made it to the medical deck and, specifically, Snow's office. Knocking, he was quickly let in.

Canith's eyes were immediately drawn to an intricate array hovering in an antigrav tank. “So what is this?" He asked aloud, looking at the arrangement of delicate looking crystals and chains. As Aura had mentioned, them and Snow had been working on something to help him with his energy crafting, but at first glance he couldn't figure it out.

“Well," Snow began, drawing the statement out, “The way me and Aura figure it, your issues these days with your energy crafting is not so much control, like in the old days after your change, but instead you are only using the lowest possible amount of your power, regardless of the circumstances. Recall that bow you made- sure, the shielding could hold out on it, but from what Aura was able to tell me, the exercise actually ended in a partial failure. If you took your strength these days . . ." he ended the statement with a low whistle and gestured his hands outward, mimicking an explosion. Afterward, he just sat there, letting the concept sink in for a minute.

“But," he finally continued, “if you could cut that power back a bit, even stockpile it, you could likely take out not just one cruiser, but an entire fleet single handed. That kind of firepower would keep the Earth based military on the back foot, and me and Aura both like that kind of deterrent. Therefore, we came up with this- the Artemis Array." He gestured to the array floating before them. “It has several key features. First off, energy storage. The general concept was an upper limit blast that could pierce ship shields, so that was the spec each shot was designed for, and the array can store several “shots" instead of it coming straight from your reserves. This is done, by the way, with a small drain on you that is barely noticeable, and if you don't feel it, it's full and the drain has been reduced to a trickle charge."

“It should be noted," Aura spoke up, using the ship's intercom so Snow could hear them as well, “that you can force charge the array if you find yourself with excess energy. Between the two methods, you should be able to charge up to twenty shots before you need to tap into your reserves. But that is at the standard power setting we set. This too is adjustable, and can be adjusted on the fly. You can attenuate the energy strength, making it more powerful, and using more energy, or instead make it more precise, at the expense of power. Speed is also adjustable, and focusing sub-arrays will help with that."

“We definitely outperformed ourselves on this one." Snow continued. “For a project that had never even been conceived of, we made remarkable strides, mainly thanks to your insight into the K-crystals and their ability not just to be imprinted upon, but their ability to store and learn combat habits and styles. We are still working on duplicating that feat with individuals that are focused but not as strongly gifted as you are, and it could be a game changer."

“Finally, the other major feature of this device." Aura said, while bringing up ship schematics. Various lines and conduits lit up creating a web within the ship. “As a final feature, and one I hope you never have a reason to use, you can use the pilot array to sync the array up with the ship systems, super-charging the ship's weapons and unleashing a blast that could take out our own shields with how strong it is. Of course, that is relatively speaking, as the blast is focused outwards. There are only two modes to this though- Area and frontal blast. It will completely drain the array to do this, and the array may not survive the surge and subsequent backlash. But you will be insulated from the majority of it."

Canith had like the sound of it until the last part, at which point he simply stood there and blinked. He felt that, while the original bow idea had been good, it had proven too unstable to be practical, even if the power output was over what he had planned for. Still, he trusted Snow and Aura, so there was only one thing to do. “Alright then. I guess we should test it then. How do I put this contraption on?"

Snow gave a small laugh at this, and quickly walked him through how to attach the various chains and crystals to his arm. It linked into his K-crystal bracelet, and once in place fit snugly without cutting of circulation. He held his arm up when it was secured, and just looked at it. If he didn't know better, it looked like an elaborate piece of jewelry, and that was fine with him. After a brief discussion, they unanimously decided that the hanger would be the best place to test it, and headed for a lift down.

On the way, Snow pulled out one of the new data pads and began tapping out messages like crazy. Canith also sensed that Aura was also hard at work, but couldn't figure out what on. Therefore, the trip down on the lift was rather silent, except the soft 'swoosh' of air passing in between the walls of the tube and the lift itself. A couple times they stopped, however, and several individuals climbed on. Most did not give Snow a second look, but instead looked at Canith with curiosity in their posture and forefront in their minds, but nothing more.

All too soon they made it down to the hanger, then ALL the people in the lift got out. Snow gestured for a bay at the midway point of the ship, and they all moved in that direction. Finally, Canith reached out to Aura silently. :Spill it. Why are there more and more people coming along for a technical test?:

Aura took a brief moment to respond. :It's simple, and it was mostly Snow's idea. There has been a lot of speculation on the Captain, and a few tall tales about his battle prowess. You even heard some of them, if off-handed. We figured that it would be a good idea for a large crowd to witness this test. Also, there will be energy crafters in the crowd to shield against any backlash. And finally, and this one is my idea, you still haven't announced the ship's name, and this will be the best opportunity to do so.: Calm, cool, and collected, Aura hit every point without missing a beat.

They got to the bay, and Snow simply gestured to either side, were multiple anthros were already standing by. The mixed crowd of humans and anthros quickly filed in and stood behind the original anthros, leaving a very wide swath of space both between him and the crowd, and him and the shielded bay doors. Snow had told him to force charge enough for at least three shots on the way down, and he focused on finishing that while Snow spoke to the crowd.

“Greetings everyone. I know it was last minute, but most of you were aware that this test would be happening at some point, just not when. For those who were roped in without that warning, let me elaborate a bit about what's going on." Snow began pacing back and forth a bit as he spoke, and it was clear that he was enjoying the suspense. “Since the ship came online and we started staffing it, it was common knowledge that the captain of it was not me. It was Canith, who not only had a large hand in the design, but was integral in slipping it out of military command's hands." Plenty of heads were nodding at this. “While that was made clear, several stories started circulating shortly after. While most of these at their core are true, some have been embellished and others have context missing. So let's put all that to rest today." He stopped pacing, almost perfectly center of everyone.

“Canith here is abnormally gifted in multiple fields. He had technical knowledge of systems the likes of which I personally have never seen. He is quick to action where action is called for, be it a simple task or live combat. This has been demonstrated not just once, but several times since he joined us. He is skilled with a blade, but even more so with telekinesis and what anthros refer to as Energy Crafting. So much so, in fact, that he had turned on it's head science we thought was pretty well investigated. Today is a demonstration of that. “

He gestured to Canith. “It is not a well known fact, but not every experiment he did turned out well." There were several chucks at this, “And one of them almost destroyed the Tiamat, if Aura, his AI, did not see the impending disaster and narrowly managed to avoid it." This, unlike before, caused the crowd to go silent. “It was not negligence to caused this, and he was not blamed for it. He was still feeling out what he could do, and there was no lasting harm. However, an idea was sparked from this, and today we fully realize this spark." Snow stepped to the edge of the crowd, and with a telepathic signal, the crowd based energy crafters brought up a layered shield between him and the crowd.

Canith saw the signal for what it was, and closed his eyes. He calmed his breathing as best he could, and tuned everything else out but his breathing. Slowly, methodically, he brought his hands above his head. In the light of the hanger, the jewels on the array flashed as if they contained flames. Still focused, he recalled the bow from before, but stronger and reinforced, made to channel the blast, instead of becoming the blast. The crowd, at least those not familiar with K-blades, (and even some who were) gasped when the shimmering, realistic bow came into focus. Slowly his right hand came down, and tension was applied to the string.

In a smooth, slow motion, the brought the bow down parallel with his body, while bringing the string back with the same motion. As he did, the jewels flared to life even brighter, and the arrow began to materialize. Unlike the bow, it was not solid. Instead, it was as if flames had decided that they were shaped like an arrow. But these flames did not burn their creator. He did not see this, however. Still internally focused, his eyes still closed to this moment, he reached out with his mind, to make sure the path ahead was clear.

As Snow had been talking, Aura had been opening the outer doors, but left the atmosphere shielding in place. Energy blasts could pass through it, but air would stay. Canith stood there, a lone bowman, holding an arrow of flame, for a few more moments, before opening his eyes. Those closest could see the power raging on the arrow reflected in his eyes, that unlike their normal green had lost all color and instead seemed to be made of silver. With one final motion, his right hand released the string, and the arrow fired.

The first thing Canith noticed when he released the string was that the bow functioned properly this time. Either because of his clearer vision or the Artemis Array, the bow didn't shatter like before. The next thing he noticed was the shot itself. The arrow arced through the space in a flash, searing the very air behind it and leaving the smell of ozone in it's wake. It hit the shield, and passed through it leaving large ripples in the shield, which should normally not have happened. Once outside the shield, it traced an arc away from the ship, like a shooting star. Briefly, he saw a drone from the ship dive into the path of the arrow, and with a blast like nothing he expected the drone exploded.

This elected a gasp from the crowd. Snow, however, seemed to be ready for this. “Never fear, that was just a drone. Aura was adamant that there was a target in place. Otherwise, it would just be a pretty light show, and not a demonstration of the destructive capabilities of that shot. As you can see, that shot was quite destructive on it's own. And that was on a low power setting, as he has not had time to actually charge the array like he would normally." This had several individuals take a step back, clearly unnerved by this raw display of destructive potential.

“All in all, for a technical test, pretty good." Canith said to Snow, while glancing around. Also aloud, he spoke to Aura, knowing that Aura would pick up on the subtle signal he was giving. “Also, Aura, what was with the atmosphere shielding? The shot cause a ripple, which should only have occurred if the emitters had a surge."

Aura answered on the intercom, while a bit of muttering started. “That was due to the energy flux the shot cause upon passing through the barrier. Normal functions are not stress tested to that high of an energy level. That shot could not have passed normally through there coming in, as that would have damaged the shields to a significant degree." This took a second to process through the crowd, but eventually everyone settled down with eyes on Canith once more.

“Good to know." He turned first to one side, the the other before speaking. “As you just saw, I do have high destructive capabilities. But this is only one of many gifts I've been given." With a quick nod from Snow, who caught on to what Canith was planning, Canith took a step between the two sides, and in an instant his form blurred, and he Shifted up to his full feral height.

This caused more than a few gasps, as he had not held back his size at all. He opened his maw, and continued to speak, now much louder and deeper. “ In combat, I am not strictly limited to blade and energy crafting. I will protect this ship and it's crew with bloody fang and claw if need be. I have done it before, and am willing to do it again." He lifted a large paw and waved it around. “This includes all of you here today, and the rest of the crew . . . of the Aurora."

The applause started small, the first few getting what he had said almost immediately. Others quickly caught on, until the entire crowd was clapping and cheering at this naming of the ship.

Snow tapped his leg, and motioned for him to follow. As he did, he shifted back down, so that Snow didn't have to shout up at him. “Aurora huh? The whole ship seems to love that."

This caused Canith to stop. “What do you mean 'the whole ship'"?

Snow snickered a bit, then held up his paws. “Aura's idea, not mine- well, not that I didn't approve of it. The whole thing was broadcast to the whole ship, and Aura monitored the response.

If any could have seen through the fur on his face, they would have seen a vast majority of the blood flee from his face. To a small crowd, he could give a speech or teach a lesson. But the entire ship was beyond the scope of his skills.

“Relax." Snow said, noticing that Canith had tensed up significantly. “You did fine. Most would have had this long speech planned out, or had freaked out and had a bout of stage fright. Aura figured the crowd was small enough that you would do fine for the live audience, and by not telling you of the broadcast, we minimized how many you though you were speaking to."

Canith decided that since they were down there, and the first test was a success, he would try another. He stopped, and a moment later Snow also stopped. With a mental queue to Aura, he had a different bay door opened. “Snow, I might need you to step back for this one. I might have an idea on how to amp the power up without the drain, but it could get a bit . . . dangerous to those around me."

Snow paled beneath his fur coat at this. “You sure? You just gave a good show, wouldn't want to overtax yourself or counter that good example."

Canith grinned and cocked his head a bit. “And not experiment when an idea strikes? That just wouldn't be me!" Turning from Snow, he once more drew out the bow, but simply held it, letting the arrow slowly form. This time, he did not have his eyes closed.

“Aura, level 3 amplification array, level 1 shielding array around the travel path. Attenuate the strength of the shot to minimum initial. Help with the multitask?" He said these softly, and multiple onlookers had begun to notice. They didn't draw closer, however, as Snow was quick to ward them off, joining them and explaining the situation. Aura spoke straight to him, helping him assemble the energy crafted matrices in Canith's requested configurations. All the while the arrow burned low and steady, showing no signs of changing.

Finally, with the matrices in place, Canith gave a minute nod to Snow, and focused forward. Feeding the craftings, they flared to life in colors of crimson and azure. There was a few mutters of questions as to what this was, and one or two return whispers explaining what was being seen. Quickly, he sighted down the arrow, lined up the shot, and fired.

No dramatics this time on the shot, no roaring energy in his eyes. The shot was very low powered and likely would have splashed harmlessly off of a personal shield, let alone a ship shield.

At least, until it passed through the array.

Everyone present felt it when the arrow became amplified by the array. What could have passed for an arrow that was simply on fire was quickly transmuted into a beam of pure destructive energy, traveling down the barrel created by a circular shield. The output caused the power on the atmospheric shield to completely flicker out along the firing line, leaving a circular area void of any air.

No one needed a stray drone to know how powerful this shot was. Even after the discharge of the rampant energy dissipated, stray crackles of electricity played along the shield, which was flickering wildly, and the ground below it. The very small crowd was completely silent, likely in shock, when Canith spoke aloud.

“Well then, that went rather well. Aura, status report."

Around him multiple hardlight monitors flickered into being, and started scrolling diagnostics from the shot, while Aura summarized over the intercom. “Power level in excess of 35 times previous shot, while consuming roughly 5% of what the first one did. Shots of that level will need a shielded corridor created through the barriers, as the atmospheric shields cannot remotely withstand that magnitude of power flooding though them. Estimates put that shot able to easily take out a battleship level shield, as well as gut the insides of the ship, and exit out the other side of the shield if it was still there to severely damage yet another battleship. Second recommendation would be to attenuate only to level 2, and modulate the speed for 2.5x what that shot boasted. “

Those who knew enough about weapons or shields was able to follow along, and several either had eyes grow very wide at this, or they grew very pale. Others took there queues from this and looked back and forth between those who knew and Canith.

“Thank you Aura, dismiss the screens. Looks like I need to soothe some ruffled feathers." He turned, and the screens all winked out of existance.

“As Snow mentioned before, I have a habit of experimenting. As he also mentioned, I have a rather large destructive potential. And while he alluded to the fact I try to be careful, sometimes you can only limit the damage. So today you got to see two different sides of me." He placed his right hand out, palm up. In it appeared a small flame. “The side of me that has capabilities that are large, but not insurmountable." Next, his left palm. He quickly created a miniature of the amplification array, set to minimum setting. “And the side that loves to tinker, experiment, and never leave well enough alone." He passed the small flame through the amp circle, causing it to jump to nearly twice it's size. He let that burn for a few moments, then with a clenched fist dismissed it.

“Not everything is about raw strength. Brains are just as important. Humans and Anthros would have never gotten to space on pure might alone. It takes knowledge to do that, and I know this crew is smart enough to not let their captain scare the literal shit out of them." He then tossed them a smile, and turned to walk away. He only got one step away, before a sound caught in his ears and caused him to stop. It was a clap. Then another. Quickly, the whole crowd was applauding him. And all he could think of was that he was not going to let them down.