EXOCOETIDAE — VERSION II: “HEARTBLADE” REFIT FILE
Love Pirates Flagship — Frozen Drydocks Registry (Bay 4)
Filed Under: Hybrid Submersible / Glide-Cutter / Dual-Heart Keel Vessel / Pearl-Laced Lith-Timber
Status: ACTIVE — refit complete / post-launch sightings confirmed
Builder: Captain Julius Applebottom
Primary Refit Hands: Orren Vale (Pearlwright), Dr. Mako “Redhand” (field surgeon)
Surgical Materials Source: Star Cavern Leviathan — heart valves harvested in the Light Mile
“She doesn’t just run the deep now. She beats through it.”
—Bay 4 rigger, after hearing the keel chamber cycle for the first time
Name: Exocoetidae
Class: Skipping-Shadow Submersible (caravel-plus displacement; slim beam; deep keel)
Primary Roles: infiltration, pursuit, extraction, ambush delivery, pressure-run retrieval
Notable Distinction: The prow bears the Axis-III Skiff as a living figurehead—no longer a “memory idol,” now a responsive Yoto Focus.
Exocoetidae V2 flies no mast-flag in the deep. Instead it deploys a tail-stream pennant—a long, narrow banner that trails behind the sub like a wake that refuses to break.
Design: a heart held up by a blade (the “Heartblade”).
The blade points upward, clean and bright—not stabbing, but lifting.
The heart is bold and unmistakable—love, defended, carried, and owed.
Banner Function:
Spools from a sealed stern-reel mounted above the aft planes.
Threaded with micro-pearls to keep it stiff at speed and visible in dark water.
Can “ghost” (dim and blur) when the Yoto Web is active, turning the pennant into a false trailing signature—a decoy that can be cut loose to mislead pursuit.
Dockside meaning:
“If the Heartblade is out, they want you to know they’re coming.”
Exocoetidae returned from the Light Mile heat-scarred and humming wrong—micro-whine in seam resonance, phantom-wake buildup in the Yoto Web, and stress hairlines at the wing roots.
At the same time, Julius delivered the impossible:
Star Cavern Leviathan heart valves — immaculate.
Mako called it “surgical perfection achieved at Mach speed.”
Orren called it “enough to give a ship a second heart.”
The Drydocks called it “someone else’s problem.”
The Giant Yoto Pearl (Siddhi of Love) is seated within the Axis-III Skiff figurehead. Post-integration reports are consistent:
The prow responds to intent before it responds to pressure.
The Yoto Web bends silhouette faster with less wake-tear.
Crew describe “mood” shifts: protective, awake, and hungry for motion.
Registry rule remains absolute:
Do not let strangers touch the figurehead.
It no longer reacts like timber. It reacts like temperament.
Orren Vale executed “scale-surgery” and reinforcement without bulking the ship:
Compromised froststeel scales removed where shear introduced hairlines.
Molten-Shell chitin underlays installed in heat-spike zones and wing roots.
Leviathan resin re-oiling performed until the hull stopped “whining” and resumed a low “sing.”
Outcome: full operational integrity restored while preserving the slim, predatory profile.
Designation: Keel-Heart Chamber (“Anchor Organ”)
Location: deep spine below Deck 0; between ballast channels and wing-root tunnels.
Core Parts:
Capacitor Cavity (lead-lined heartwood shell)
Valve Gating Assembly (Star Cavern heart valves mounted as pulse regulators)
Silver Filament Lattice (conductive “veins” linking keel to wings and dump-banks)
Function (achieved):
Absorbs Great-Pearl overload that would tear a normal hull.
Regulates inversion transitions like living tissue regulates surge.
Allows dual Great-Pearl housing in theory and in structure—the ship can now accept a second Great Pearl without becoming a screaming wreck.
Mako’s red-ink warning (final):
“If the Keel-Heart goes septic (unstable resonance), cut power immediately.
A ship can drown in hallucinations before it drowns in water.”
System Name: Resonance Dump-Banks
Mounting: base of wing-fins / glider roots
What they do:
Store compressed “waste strain” generated by high-output pearlwork.
Vent it as controlled thrust: burst speed, snap turns, emergency breach-flight behavior.
Performance truth:
Exocoetidae is no longer fast because it is light.
It is fast because it turns strain into motion.
Doctrine warning:
The dump-banks punish fear. A panic pilot turns boost into impact.
Drydock-certified mounts:
8 deck cannons (4 port / 4 starboard)
2 bow chasers
1 stern chaser
V2 doctrine: cannons fire in short breach windows—moments of maximum confusion—then the ship disappears again, leaving only a false wake and a trailing banner that might not be attached anymore.
Deck 0 — Heart & Spine
Keel-Heart access hatch (sealed; keyed to Julius + Orren)
Dump-bank pressure valves
Banner reel housing + quick-cut release
“Black-Quiet” compartment expanded (submersion stabilization + resonance calm pass)
Deck 1 — Command
Helm doctrine updated: watch intent cues and keel pulse, not just gauges
Emergency “ghost-trail” control: decoy wake + decoy banner drop
Deck 2 — Workshop/Stores
Pearl tuning wall now includes valve-cycle listening and filament continuity checks
Medical/workbench hybrid space: the ship is treated like a patient now—because it is.
Daily:
Keel pulse check (steady beat = healthy; stutter = warning)
Dump-bank purge (small vent; never “full cough” in dock)
Figurehead calm pass to prevent phantom build-up
Weekly:
Valve gating inspection (tissue integrity + resonance response)
Wing root stress listen
Banner micro-pearl thread check (fray = false signature risk)
Bay 4 rule repeated:
Touch the prow without permission and the ship may decide you are an intruder.
Version I was a rumor.
Version II is a category problem.
Likely actors:
Privateers (capture attempt once they confirm dual-heart stability)
Collegium rivals (study attempt; theft attempt; dissection attempt)
Shogunate elements (seizure or erasure once the Heartblade becomes a symbol)
Conclusion:
Exocoetidae V2 is a vessel that steals more than coin—
it steals certainty, direction, and confidence.
“If you see the Heartblade trailing behind her, you’re being judged.
If you don’t see it… you’re already too late.”