Chronicles of Sol: The Fall

Ruri smiled to herself, as she double-checked the system checks on the fighters. The professionals had already reported that everything was good, but she wanted to do one last check before she gave approval for a flight. These new pulsar torpedoes were more of an energy weapon rather than a torpedo, which is why they needed special launchers.

They fired a contained pulse of charged ionic plasma not dissimilar to an electro-cannon discharge. Except instead of something like a lightning bolt, they fired a condensed plasma projectile. This projectile was contained inside a sega-based flux field which allowed it to maintain density on leaving the launcher. Range was rather short but it maintained good power. Simulations did show problems upscaling it for use on starships but it would still work as a smaller short-range mount. One of the big problems was balancing the power of the projectile with the containment field. The sega-based field had practical limitations to how strong it could be made and scaling the systems up didn’t make significant improvements to flux field strength. As a result as the torpedo systems became larger and more powerful they lost the benefits of the containment system. Resulting in even shorter ranges and less power on a hit. At the small scale they were working on, however, it worked rather well. The Sega field offered a competitive projectile range and the condensed plasma in simulations had more than enough striking power to achieve objectives. Although the power draw was a little high. These new energy torpedoes did however potentially fill a gap in their armament.

They would know for sure in a little bit when the tests were conducted. Speaking of tests, they had conducted further tests of the planet and found a mineral of crystalline structure that resembled quartz but with a very unusual internal structure that was responsible for the observed effects when they started their mining attempt. A sample was due to arrive in her lab later today and she was planning to conduct further tests on this new mineral. Figure out why it responded so dramatically to resonant pulse waves. She already had a few guesses and was wondering what uses she could put it to. Weaponry was obvious. With how it reacted to resonant pulse waves, they could build a particle laser able to destroy planets. Crystals had numerous applications however and she wondered what else she could these too. It really depending on the properties. Some crystals like the carefully manufactured Rydium crystals could be used for propulsion, but they also had other applications. So much to test, so little time. She smiled. The Enterprise was a wonderful place to be.

Satisfied with what she saw, she turned to the pilots standing nearby. “Looks good.”

Then headed off to the observation. Moments later the launch signal was given and the bay started decompressing as the pilots prepared to leave the ship. Something that was still needed as they were not yet ready to implement their bay shields. Between the catapult issue and the low stability there was a lot to work on. Even without the catapults, a properly modulated penetrator field didn’t alway work. As the stability sometimes resulted in the field collapsing anyway. At least it was working, which meant she would have it perfectly functional before long. Only a matter of time.

Ruri stayed long enough to watch the ships depart. Six fighters in a flash of blue light zipped out into the void. Their dark hulls vanished into the void moments later as they slipped out of sight. The large armored doors closed behind them with impressive speed.

Turell was waiting for the right moment now. The team was nearly ready for their bit in this op. When a report came in. Apparently one of them recorded a discussion and thought she should see it.

She opened it and began to listen. “You want what?”

“Plans to update the fleet. Starting with the Protector Heavy Cruisers. You are familiar with those Refuge ships seen at Cantra?”

“Vaguely ma’am. What about them?”

“Impressive ships really. Armor that is actually worth using, shield penetrating torpedoes, and a reactionless sublight drive system. The clan wants those technologies but to acquire them we would have to find them and they are in a dangerous region of space. We are going to need heavier ships to anchor any forces sent after and just in case the Matriarch wants our ships outfitted to fight them.”

“Fight the Refuge? I saw the hits their flagship took. They avoided the close-in weapons of the Throne, and its torpedoes. But still they took hits that would have vaporized a Champion. I don’t know what we could put onboard to fight them.”

“Yes that armor of theirs can take a surprising amount of punishment, but we managed to learn a few things from the Cathmari. Apparently, its vulnerable to high-yield weaponry. Namely torpedoes and heavy battleship cannons. With that in mind we want you to work on increasing the heavy battery of our Protector cruisers and Champions. Just focus on the Protectors first. As for their torpedoes, we considered looking into alternate shield configurations, but without knowing more it would be difficult to figure out a reliable defense. With that in mind, we believe it is cheaper to invest in old-fashioned point-defense guns. Type I pulse cannon mounts might be suitable.”

“Hmm? I think we can do that. Our new cannons aren’t quite ready for widespread implementation, but I do have a few upgrades for Heavy Pulse Cannons in mind that would work. The Protectors have more than enough power and space to mount a larger battery as well. As it is, they only have one battery of HPC, but we can increase that easily to four banks. With power plant upgrades I think we can fit an additional two. As for torpedoes, we can update the current launcher scheme with the latest in focused plasma warheads. They are almost as powerful as current-generation Cathamari designs, but they utilize a highly focused detonation profile which allows them to punch right through weaker energy shield designs. They should be quite effective against armor as well, even against Refuge armor.

“As for the point defense system? I can dig up some old computer targeting algorithms for that and the low yield pulse cannons would be more suitable. I just wouldn’t pick the type I. Sure its fast, but the range is particularly bad for a pulse cannon and the yield is rather low. Type II is better for range and power, but it does lose some fire rate compared to the type one. Neither are quite right for a point-defense gun. Not against fast-moving and small targets like torpedoes. Fine for anti-fighter work though, they are bigger and slower. I do know a variant that will work well, though.”

“You do? What version?”

“The TR-6 Light Pulse Cannon that we sell to the Reylar. Its fast-firing, has superior range to the type I and the military has been interested in it for replacing the type I for years. Only reason we haven’t is budget concerns. Although several merchant companies have purchased them and outfitted their freighters with them.”

“Oh? I forgot about that one. What were the specs?”

“It fires ten thousand plasma pulses per minute with a maximum range of two hundred thousand Metrasi...”

She paused the recording. Interesting, it seems they were doing far more than developing a new warship. They were updating the fleet. Something unusual, the council usually stood in the way of fleet updates. Most Valorian designs were cheap dated designs. Effective, but only due to Valorian energy shield tech being so potent. It was one of the few things they kept up to date on. This however sounded like a widescale overhual of the entire fleet. At least with the capital ships, but still that was going to be a concern. Her superiors were going to love this. She filed it quickly under important and then checked in with the teams. They were ready.

Turning to her crew, she gave the orders. Hopefully her plan worked. If not things were going to get interesting

Williams looked out the viewport. In the distance she could see some nameless barren rock as it broke apart under the barrage of numerous resonant particle beams. She didn’t know what to say about the Machine’s choice to destroy it. The rock was pretty worthless, but what use did they have for planet-destroying weapons? Hell as far as she was concerned this was a waste of resources.

For the life of her, she could not figure out the benefits of turning an entire planet into a debris field. Although she did have to admit it was quite the spectacle, and she kind of wished they could have done this to Cathamair instead. She let out a breath as she remembered how the Machine managed to get revenge on the Cathamari and leave their world a radioactive iceberg. Thanks to that his approval was too high to move against directly and she had been making progress to. No matter that was just as setback and she knew the cards were falling into place. Slowly, but these things can take time. She just hoped it would happen before the machine did too much damage.

Her thoughts were broken when suddenly a massive surge of fire rippled out of the disintegrating planet. It was a huge eruption event, sending lava and debris thousands of kilometers into the sky. Williams blinked, yes a planet being destroyed in this manner was very impressive indeed. Then right before her eyes a second one happened then a third as more and more debris was being sent into space. The surface roiled as it tore itself apart. With each passing moment, ever larger chunks started to separate from the whole. As right before her eyes the devasted barren world split into giant chunks. All burning hot and careening out into space in varying directions. One moment it had still been there, being rocked by ever more violent quakes and eruptions. The next it was an expanding debris field of superheated rock. She had never seen anything like it. She simply stared not sure what to make of that.

The pilot shifted in her seat as she manipulated the controls. Making sure all the sensors were properly recording, as she lined up on her target. An old cruiser they had found in this part of the debris field. A team of techs had been aboard already and they left it with the shields up. Perfect for the test.

A moment later, she fired. Two brilliant shining white-blue bolts rippled from her launchers. They shot across the distance and slammed into the shields of the old cruiser in a brillant display of light. The protective barrier rippled and flared before suddenly seeming to shatter like glass.

She double-checked her readings and then turned back. It seemed this test was quite successful. The pilot felt the brass would be very pleased with these results. She certainly was, being able to knock out shields like this would be quite useful. Very useful indeed. She wanted to play with these new torpedoes a bit more. Maybe they would let her keep them?