Jarilan Princess Concept Art (Patreon)

A new class of ship requires a new class of pilot. The Princess caste are bred to perform navigational and computational tasks aboard [REDACTED].

Wild Betelgeusian Queens serve as living flight computers while aboard their hive ships, tapping into the vessel's organic nervous system to see through its sensors and guide its path between the stars. They are computational marvels, able to calculate trajectories and plot superlight jumps using nothing more than their minds, seeming to possess an innate, intuitive understanding of the arcane mathematics involved.

While still subordinate to Queens, Princesses nevertheless make use of the same wetware that gives them their incredible computational abilities, foregoing any superfluous brain matter that deals with hive management or genetic engineering. They serve as the central computers for [REDACTED]-class ships, connecting to their systems via organic and electronic means that make the vessel an extension of their own mind and body. Aided by a bridge crew, they can react to threats and relay information far more quickly than any automated system, and they are able to make split-second decisions guided by intelligence rather than mere algorithms.

Unlike a simple flight computer, a Princess can also interact directly with the crew to apprise them of important details, appearing anywhere on the ship in holographic form from her throne inside the CIC, deep in the most well-protected decks of the vessel.

As Coalition technologies become more and more closely integrated, these hybrid solutions are required to maximize their potential.

This lovely piece comes courtesy of Malvear.