They Answered The Call

Modes of transportation

FTL Drive: This form of faster-than-light travel is the most common emergency backup mode of transportation after null space drive. Most interstellar species have variations of this drive and rarely use them, as the energy requirements are enormous, and harvesting the rare exotic particles necessary to power the FTL drive is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor.

As such, only a small cadre of government and military vessels have these drives for emergency use. The last time an FTL drive was used by the Commonwealth was in the year 2089 A.D. when a science vessel exited null space in an uncharted anomaly that disabled the null space capacitors and stranded them unexpectedly.

Since the science vessel's sub-light engines would have taken them seven years to get out of the anomaly, the Commonwealth used a frigate outfitted with an FTL drive to launch the rescue operation and retrieve the crew. This one-time use drained two percent of the Commonwealth's exotic particle stockpile and cost over 500 million credits.

The fastest known speed achieved with an FTL drive was recorded by an experimental Republic Scout ship in 2168 A.D. that reached its maximum speed of 3,029.26 times the speed of light, making the journey from the Sol System to Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light-years away, in 12.27 hours.

This new engine design was extremely efficient, reduced the number of exotic particles required by 80%, and almost doubled the highest known speed previously achieved by the Commonwealth and other non-aligned powers.

Fold Space Generator: Only the Ma'lit Domain is known to have fold space engine-equipped ships, with the Republic and the Galactic Commonwealth suspected of having developed their own primitive versions.

This drive is fueled by antimatter reactors and opens an artificial wormhole that connects two points of space, allowing the ship to traverse the tunnel and reach its destination almost instantaneously. The fold space generator is a viable technology, but there is a random interaction with space-time that introduces a dangerous unknown variable.

This causes one of two things to happen: the tunnel will either collapse, ejecting them at some point along the journey and destroying the ship upon exit through violent gravitational shear forces, or the endpoint will disappear and they will fail to enter normal space, continuing on their never-ending course until the crew finally runs out of air or starves to death.

This unknown variable often results in a random loss rate, such as one ship making ten trips in a row and successfully reaching its destination each time, while another ship will either be destroyed or lost in the tunnel on their first attempt.

This unacceptably high attrition rate has led to the technology being abandoned as a viable mode of transportation by most species, though research continues with the hope of discovering the cause of the unknown variable and finding a way to neutralize it.

Null Drive: This is the standard mode of travel employed by the interstellar species in known space. Null space is the only confirmed extradimensional layer of space that exists outside of the known universe. A unique aspect of null space is that it mirrors normal space in all aspects except for forms of solid matter.

Instead of stars, planets, and other large masses appearing in the mirror null space, only the counterparts of their gravity wells are manifested, which to this day has still not been determined why or how. What is proven is that where a sun, a planet, and other celestial objects of sufficient mass exist in our galaxy, so does its gravity well equivalent in null space.

This allows for a ship to plot a course as if they were in normal space by using the null space gravity wells of known suns, planets, and other celestial bodies as navigational waypoints.

Some of the most preeminent astrophysicists have theorized that null space is the information echo of our universe attempting to reassemble itself after being consumed by black holes, while others believe that null space is the source of the fabled dark energy that is responsible for the continued expansion of the universe.

For reasons still not understood, matter from our universe does not cause a reaction within null space itself, though it is suspected that the unique exotic particle field that ships pass through when transitioning into null space somehow neutralizes the destructive potential.

The same is not true for null space particles that bleed into our universe, even after passing through the same exotic particle field that is created when a transition threshold is formed. It is impossible for null space particles to breach the transition threshold into our universe in the vacuum of space.

However, if a transition threshold is formed within a sufficiently large gravity well or within an atmosphere, null space particles can pass through intact, creating a catastrophic interaction between the escaping null space particles and the matter of our universe.

Like antimatter, a single null space particle in normal space will bond to a single particle of matter and annihilate it. However, a single null space particle annihilating a single particle of matter in our universe is equivalent to the destructive potential of 1.16 kilograms of antimatter, which is comparable to a fifty-megaton hydrogen bomb.

The deeper within a gravity well of a star a ship transitions out of a null space, the more dangerous it becomes to the ship. Only technologically advanced species with specialized null space engines fabricated with natural nenchite can flash out within the inner system without suffering damage or destruction.

Specialized null space engines fabricated with synthetic nenchite experience greatly increased failure rates, further limiting the widespread ability to perform inner system flashouts and giving a distinct tactical advantage to those who can.

As a result of this danger, ships will flash out at a minimum safe distance of 800 million kilometers from primaries and then use sublight engines to journey into the inner system, which can range from forty to over a hundred hours of additional travel time.

The only ships that regularly flash out within the inner system are military vessels that have the highly specialized null space engines fabricated with natural nenchite, as well as the powerful navigational computers capable of handling the incredibly complex gravitational algorithms.

Ships that flash out deeper into the system without the specialized engines or required navigational computers will typically suffer moderate to severe damage by the violent transition, with the danger of complete structural failure and ship destruction increasing exponentially the deeper into the gravity well they flash out.

The unique properties of null space allow for a ship to anchor itself in normal space-time and travel from one point to another on a parallel course at up to twenty thousand times the speed of light for the fastest and most advanced military vessels and a typical range of two to four thousand times the speed of light for civilian and cargo vessels.

Range and speed are limited by the efficiency and engineering of the null space capacitors, if they are manufactured with natural or synthetic nenchite, and by the limited exposure that organic beings can tolerate in null space.

Null space has effects on the brains of organic beings that limit the amount of time that they can travel in it. The typical effects that manifest range from elevated anxiety to increased aggression and loss of emotional control.

These symptoms gradually increase in severity to outright paranoia and severe psychosis the longer one stays in null space, and insufficient recovery times in normal space will exacerbate these symptoms even if a crew makes only short-duration trips through null space.

There are expensive medications that can somewhat mitigate the effects, and training exposure can enhance natural resistance to the effects of null space, letting highly trained naval crews stay in null space up to 40% longer than their civilian counterparts.

Some species are less affected, while others suffer from a quicker onset and severity of symptoms in a shorter period of exposure. Human civilians can stay in null space for a typical maximum duration of four hours, while experienced Republic naval crews can endure a maximum of eight hours of exposure with medication.

The typical travel method utilized for human civilian ships would be four hours of null space travel, followed by exiting null space and resting for twelve to sixteen hours before entering null space again and repeating the cycle until they reach their destination. Republic naval crews will usually travel in null space for six to eight hours, followed by a rest period of six to eight hours, depending on the mission.

The deleterious effects of null space travel are cumulative, and Republic naval crews are required to return to a port and refrain from null space travel for seven days after every forty hours of consecutive null space travel.

Humans and a few other species are capable of long-term stays in null space if placed into stasis pods made of a specialized alloy and put into medically induced comas that protect their higher brain functions from the damaging effects of null space.

Military-grade null space capacitors require large amounts of naturally occurring nenchite, a scarce mineral that is difficult to extract and very expensive to refine in sufficient quantities for most species.

Synthesized nenchite is more commonly used as a substitute, but the artificial nature of it reduces the efficiency of the null space capacitors, requiring increased maintenance and replacement of parts and greatly reducing the speed of travel through null space.

Large deposits of naturally occurring nenchite are exceedingly rare, with most solar system asteroid belts and Kuiper belts typically having only enough to construct up to a hundred military-grade null space capacitors, making it a priceless and highly coveted resource.

For reasons still yet unknown, naturally occurring nenchite deposits do not form on planets, and still to this day, there has never been any found on the over 14,000 planets catalogued by the Galactic Commonwealth Astrological Survey Initiative, which is considered the most comprehensive and complete resource available in known space.

Besides the Xenxin system, there are only eight other cataloged solar systems in known space with large deposits of natural nenchite. Two of the systems are in Commonwealth space, three are in non-aligned space, and there are large deposits in the Procyon, Tau Ceti, and Ross 154 systems within Republic space.

The Insectoid Empire is suspected of having developed their own unique methods of synthesizing nenchite, as the size of their fleets and the mass of their Hive ships would require access to naturally occurring nenchite deposits that would be over ten times the amount of all known reserves.

Most governments build massive transport carriers that are surrounded by a latticework of berths for smaller ships to connect to. These carriers will transport cargo and civilian ships along established trade routes and travel destinations in a circuitous fashion, dropping off cargo ships, civilian transports, and passengers at predetermined destinations for a fee.

Carriers range in berth capacity from small, fifty-berth capacity carriers for the shorter, less frequented routes to massive, four hundred-berth capacity carriers that ferry cargo and passengers throughout known space.

The construction of these carriers by governments serves a dual purpose: they are an important source of revenue and stimulate economic activity by fostering trade, internal population movement, and tourism.

The other benefit is that the use of these carriers allows for the preservation of the scarce natural nenchite deposits for military use and the stabilization of the synthesized nenchite market, which had been at the mercy of unscrupulous speculators and industry titans many times in the past.

Weapons systems

Particle Beam Weapons: The most common form of directed-energy weapon employed for space combat by most navies, these systems utilize a high-energy beam that directs a tunnel of coherent subatomic particles into a target at the speed of light.

Particle beams damage targets by disrupting the molecular structure in the targeted area via kinetic energy transfer and localized superheating. Once the beam has penetrated the armor and hull of an enemy ship, the beam ionizes the interior atmosphere, causing further damage via superheated molecules and secondary explosions.

These long-range offensive weapons are powerful and precise weapons, but they have drawbacks, with the particle beams of most species becoming attenuated after 30,000 kilometers and losing 10-20% of their hitting power for every 5,000-kilometer increment after that.

Another drawback is the development of armor plating that utilizes refraction and ablative technology to further reduce the hitting power of particle beams, requiring increasingly sustained strikes or frequency modulations to compensate for the never-ending armor development race.

Particle accelerators: This class of particle beam weapon is fielded only by the Ma'lit Domain and the Republic and is classified as war beams. They are typically twice as powerful as regular particle beams, and Republic versions have an optimally effective range of 10,000 kilometers before severe attenuation loss sets in, while Ma'lit versions are suspected of having ranges in excess of 80,000 kilometers.

They require antimatter reactors for power generation and are employed exclusively on the uncrewed null ships of the Republic due to the large amounts of radiation that the weapons put out. Because of the danger to biological crews, the other major powers have decided against fielding these weapons systems on their crewed warships.

Plasma torpedoes: These weapons are employed by the Commonwealth and most of the non-aligned powers. They are kinetic plasma-based weapons that have a hardened nose cone for hull penetration. Once the weapon detects that it is about to impact a hull, it will trigger the first, smaller warhead, channeling it into a jet of superheated plasma and directing it against the impact point, weakening it before penetration.

Once it has penetrated, it will trigger the primary plasma warhead, causing massive internal damage and secondary explosions. These weapons are very effective against most hull types, but they have reduced effectiveness against the dense, flexible organic hulls of insectoid ships, requiring two or more successive strikes in the same area before they are able to successfully penetrate.

The typical effective engagement range of plasma torpedoes for most species that employ them is under 7,000 kilometers, as ranges further than these greatly increase the chances of successful evasion and interception by the point defense systems of the targeted ships.

To counteract this, plasma torpedoes are stealth coated and fired from torpedo tubes at a relatively high velocity and will drift towards their targets using cold gas thrusters for course corrections until they reach under 200 kilometers distance before activating the final terminal guidance phase and zeroing in on their target at velocities of up to 40 km/s.

Triple bolts: These weapons are exclusively employed by the Republic Navy. They are plasma torpedoes that are fired in groups of three with warheads that convert into coherent plasma charges right before impact. The first bolt superheats the hull and weakens it, followed by two additional converted plasma charges that will impact . 2 microseconds between each successive strike.

This causes structural failure to the targeted area, and typically the third bolt will pass through the opening created by the first two and tunnel through the interior of the enemy ship, penetrating deeply and causing catastrophic secondary explosions. They are effective against all hull types and are especially potent against the organic hulls of insectoid ships.

Triple bolts are typically fired when combat range drops below 8,000 kilometers, and like plasma torpedoes, they are stealth coated and fired from torpedo tubes at high velocities to drift towards their targets until reaching a minimum distance of under 200 kilometers before entering their final terminal guidance phase.

The warheads will execute evasive maneuvers to avoid point defenses before self-destructing once they reach 100 kilometers and converting into powerful plasma charges that are ejected at a velocity of 120 km/s, making it nearly impossible to evade or destroy all three bolts with a transit time of less than one second.

Rotary Plasma Turrets: These short-range secondary weapons systems are utilized solely by the Republic Navy for close-quarters combat and as additional point defense against missiles and torpedoes. They can be scaled in power output to fulfill both roles, and they are extremely effective weapons systems, allowing for devastating close-range strafing attack runs against enemy vessels.

The plasma turrets, though they have tremendous destructive power, also have a severely reduced range, losing 50% cohesion beyond 1200 kilometers and dissipating entirely after 1600 kilometers. These turrets have an 8-barrel Gatling-type rotary barrel system and a firing rate of sixteen plasma bolts per second at maximum power output.

In a point-defense role, the power output is scaled down, and they can fire eighty bolts per second to intercept incoming missiles and torpedoes, supplementing the standard point-defense systems if needed. The velocity of plasma bolts ranges from 160 km/s to 320 km/s depending on power output.

The standard method of employing these weapons would be for destroyers and light cruisers to fly by targeted ships at extremely high velocities and fire broadsides in close-range strafing runs that last for mere fractions of a second. Because of the velocities involved, these strafing runs are handled entirely by battle AIs or combat computers.

Anti-Ship Missiles: These weapons offer several benefits over plasma torpedoes, such as long-range standoff attacks, variable-yield warheads, target tracking, cold coasting/loitering, and the ability to engage in evasive maneuvers to try to avoid point defense systems during the terminal guidance phase.

The engagement envelope ranges from 100,000 to 750,000 kilometers for most navies, and the warheads, controlled by powerful computers or rudimentary AIs, can operate autonomously without further input or commands once they are fired.

Depending on the tactical situation, missiles can drift undetected for tens of thousands of kilometers, making needed course corrections with cold gas thrusters or low-powered ion thrusters until they reach a predetermined range of a target before going active.

Their stealth coating and cold coasting ability make them incredibly difficult to target and destroy until they have entered their final terminal guidance phase, but once active, the chances of successful interception by point defense systems greatly increase.

To compensate for this, saturation attacks and excellent evasion algorithms are required to ensure at least some of the missiles get through the point defenses and hit the targeted warship. Typical velocities range from 30 to 50 km/s once they are in their final terminal guidance phase.

Missiles have several weaknesses, such as jamming and hacking, and targeted ships can flash out into null space before impact if the null space capacitors are sufficiently charged and they are not within the gravity well of large stellar masses.

Insectoid missiles are controlled by an onboard worker drone that guides the missile to its target and evades point defense systems, eliminating the possibility of jamming or hacking by other species, though their large sizes make them extremely susceptible to being shot down by point defense systems.

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To compensate for this, the Insectoids fire massive volleys of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of missiles at a time to saturate their targets and ensure that at least some get through and hit their targets.

Penetrator Missiles: These much smaller missiles are part of the offensive weaponry package of the Peregrine-class starfighters and Valkyrie-class bombers fielded by the Republic Navy. They serve a short- to medium-range anti-ship role, and they are carried in the interior bays of the fighters and bombers, with a load of two missiles per fighter and eight missiles per bomber.

Guided by advanced warhead AIs, these missiles have excellent tracking abilities, and their evasive maneuvering capabilities make them extremely hard to intercept and destroy when fired from extremely close ranges.

The missile's first-stage warhead will fire a concentrated jet of plasma to weaken the impact point before its extremely dense, hardened nose cone hits, allowing it to penetrate through the weakened hull. The warhead AI will then activate the powerful second-stage boosters and force the entire missile through the opening, penetrating the weaker secondary hull if there is one.

Once the warhead AI detects that it is inside the target, it will drop the penning trap field that is bottling the four-milligram antimatter charge of the main warhead, releasing the explosive energy equivalent of 172 tons of TNT within the interior of the targeted ship.

One missile properly placed will destroy all smaller classes of warships from light cruisers down to frigates and can potentially cripple or temporarily knock out heavy cruisers fielded by the other interstellar powers.

Three or more properly placed strikes against the largest battleships and dreadnoughts fielded by the other powers would so heavily damage them that they would most likely be temporarily knocked out of action and require extensive repairs in a shipyard.

These are the only non-nuclear/fusion weapons capable of causing immediate and severe damage to Hive ships relative to their size, with eight to ten properly placed penetrator missile strikes rendering them temporarily combat-ineffective or derelict.

Salted Fusion Missiles: An outlawed weapon of last resort, these deadly missiles are typically used not for their destructive power but for irradiating enemy ships, burning out systems, and cooking the crews by inundating them with a deadly cocktail of radiation, principally neutron and x-ray/gamma ray flux.

These barbaric weapons are instruments of terror, intended to break the will of an enemy fleet by irradiating the crews and making them suffer horrendous deaths. Biologicals within 1000 kilometers of a detonation will suffer unimaginable pain over a period of thirty minutes to an hour, feeling every sensation as their skin sloughs off and their bones turn to mush before finally liquifying into a puddle of flesh.

These weapons systems have been banned in combat since the Treaty of Sirius was signed by all the interstellar powers in the year 2095 A.D. at the behest of the Ma'lit Domain. The Republic of Humanity voluntarily became a signatory to the treaty in the year 2169 A.D.

Electromagnetic Railguns: The Republic is the only power that still uses railguns as offensive ship-to-ship weapons, as they were the primary offensive weapon system used by the Republic before their suspected uplifting.

The Mark-16 fires a .5kg slug that is 16cm long with a diameter of 1.4cm (6.3-inch length/.55-inch diameter) and the Mark-24 fires a 1.5kg slug that is 24cm long with a diameter of 2.03cm(9.44 inch length/.8-inch diameter) from the railgun turrets at 0.030% of light speed (90 km/s). The Mark-16 slug releases an energy equivalent to 484 tons of TNT upon impact, while the Mark-24 slug releases the energy equivalent to 1,451 tons of TNT upon impact.

There are two types of slugs: the Type-1, which is a precision, needle-like penetrator designed to punch through hull armor to destroy specifically targeted critical systems, and the Type-2, which has a blunter, ogive-shaped nose designed to impart the impact energy directly to the armored hull. The Type-2 will cause massive breaches on the larger capital ships and catastrophic damage to smaller warships, if not outright destroy them.

The slugs are composed of a highly classified tungsten-rhenium alloy outer core with an inner hollow core of structural composite filaments to distribute stress and prevent failure. Layered over the outer core is an osmium alloy outer shell coated with a thermal layer of diamond-like carbon (DLC) for thermal resistance.

These powerful weapons systems are now primarily intended for planetary bombardment and the destruction of large, slow-moving targets or orbital structures such as space stations, outposts, and shipyards, though Republic doctrine still calls for them to be used against capital ships if the opportunity arises.

Before being uplifted, the Republic used railguns as primary offensive weapons for close- to mid-range combat, as their primitive, short-ranged particle beams put them at a severe disadvantage against the far more powerful, longer-ranged particle beams of advanced species.

As a result of the disparity, Republic doctrine called for closing with the enemy to negate the range advantage and bring their railguns into play. Once in range, the railgun slugs caused far more damage than particle beams and plasma torpedoes, but ranges greater than 1,000 kilometers were an issue due to smaller ships potentially being able to evade railgun slugs with a time to target arrival greater than ten seconds.

To compensate for this, the slugs were stealth coated with a classified nano-carbon-ceramic composite to reduce the chances of detection, and Republic railgun crews were trained to "stitch" a target with assistance from a gunnery AI and fire multiple rounds to saturate the immediate area with slugs, greatly increasing chances of a hit regardless of efforts to evade.

These railgun slugs are devastating, as the Type-1's can punch clean through meters of armor and take out targeted critical systems, and the kinetic energy of the Type-2's when they hit can obliterate entire sections of vessels and cause massive hull breaches.

A Republic battleship firing a full broadside of Mark-16 and Mark-24 railgun slugs during a close-range strafing run can decimate the largest battleships and dreadnoughts of peer adversaries with ease.

Grapeshot/Buckshot turret: The Republic Navy is the only force that uses these weapons systems for point defense and close-quarters combat. There are two types of canisters: the PDS canister (PEE-DIS) for point defense and the CQC canister (CUTIE) for broadsides and strafing attacks.

A single-point defense grapeshot canister holds 25,000 3.3mm (.13 inch) diameter Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) pellets and is fired at a velocity of 5,000 m/s. For point defense under 1,000 kilometers, the spread of the grapeshot can be controlled by changing the shape of the barrel it is fired from and the muzzle velocity.

The Gatling-style rotary turret has eight cannon barrels and a firing rate of eight canisters per second, allowing for a combined one million hyper-velocity pellets to be fired in five seconds for close-range point defense against missiles and torpedoes.

For missile and torpedo interception at distances greater than 1,000 kilometers, the CQC canisters are fired towards a missile volley, and they have a proximity fuse that will either detonate the canister in front of an approaching missile volley in a directional fragmentation arc of 60 degrees or detonate inside a missile volley in a 360-degree fragmentation burst pattern to send pellets in all directions.

The CQC (close quarters combat) anti-ship canister holds 5,000 9.14mm (.36 inch) diameter tungsten–boron carbide composite hollow core buckshot filled with octanitrocubane (ONC) explosive, and their spread and muzzle velocity can also be changed as required.

The CQC canisters have a similar firing rate, and the larger buckshot fired in broadsides against an enemy ship at 5,000 m/s are utterly devastating, destroying any weapons emplacements, sensors, and other hull-mounted apparatuses with ease. The rate of fire is the same as grapeshot, allowing for 200,000 HE buckshot pellets to be fired in five seconds.

Buckshot that is fired into openings and hull breaches left by railgun slugs, torpedoes, and missiles causes severe damage to enemy ships as they decimate crews and scatter throughout the interior sections, tearing through bulkheads and severing conduits and power transmission lines.

The PDS and CQC canisters are both the same size for ease of manufacture and utility and are cylindrical in shape, measuring 7.62cm x 17.78cm (3 x 7 inches) in diameter and height.

Flak Guns: These weapon systems are secondary point defense weapons utilized by the Commonwealth and copied by the Insectoids when they reverse engineered them from derelict Commonwealth warships that were left behind after the first battles.

The Commonwealth variant is a twelve-barreled cannon system that shoots an explosive projectile that is 30 cm in diameter and 50 cm long. They have fuses that can be set for a variety of circumstances, such as distance, proximity, or penetration.

Once the projectile fuse is activated, an explosive core will go off, sending tens of thousands of fragments and tiny ball bearings in all directions, with a lethal area of effect for 1000 meters around the projectile.

The Commonwealth will typically use this as a barrage method and create a wall of fragments and ball bearings around their ships that will destroy incoming missiles and torpedoes. The Commonwealth also utilizes a variant of flak gun ammunition that will disperse large clouds composed of microscopic polycarbonates and other highly reflective particles that will attenuate laser and particle beam weaponry, reducing the damaging effects of the strikes on hulls.

The Insectoid variants are crude, typically firing hardened organic materials such as petrified frass, tiny chunks of unrefined metal, or crushed stone. Despite their low-tech nature, they are incredibly effective at intercepting torpedoes and missiles due to the large numbers of them deployed on the Insectoid hulls, especially the massive Hive ships.

Point Defense System: Used for medium- to close-range interception of missiles and torpedoes, these multi-layered defense systems typically utilize a defense-in-depth approach to protect ships. Though there are variations depending on tactical doctrine and technology level, most interstellar powers tend to use the same type of proven systems and layered interception networks.

The most common setup is an integrated system controlled by powerful computers or bounded AIs to handle point defense systems without input, as biologicals are incapable of properly reacting to threats that can sometimes measure in mere milliseconds of time.

Before and during point defense activation, all navies will employ their own suites of ECM, jamming, and hacking protocols to reduce the number of missiles and torpedoes the point defense systems must engage. This is a constant evolution of new protocols and countermeasures between the navies, and very rarely do these protocols achieve a success rate greater than 20%.

The first layer of defense is usually long-range laser systems, such as Phased Laser Arrays (PLAs), X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), or plasma lasers, coupled with adaptive optics to shoot down incoming missiles and torpedoes for the first defense layer.

Most navies have maximum effective ranges of 20,000 kilometers for these laser systems, though at these distances the beams tend to be greatly attenuated, and hit rates suffer until the targets come within at least 15,000 kilometers.

The second layer of defense is typically kinetic interceptor systems such as the flak gun variants used by most navies or the grapeshot turrets used by the Republic. These simple systems work by creating a wall of hypervelocity fragments or ball bearings/pellets in the path of the incoming missiles and torpedoes to supplement the laser point defense systems.

The typical maximum effective range is 10,000 kilometers, as distances beyond that quickly lead to wasted ammunition due to over-dispersal. As the range decreases, the effectiveness of this second defense layer greatly increases in lethality, with optimum engagement envelopes ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 kilometers.

The third layer of defense is typically comprised of an integrated missile turret system located around warships to provide full coverage, with most turrets holding a magazine of 20 to 24 sprint missiles. These basic missiles are typically .5 to 1.5 meters long and simply fabricated with an encrypted guidance system controlled by the point defense computers or bounded AIs.

The Sprint missiles are much smaller than standard missiles, decreasing overall mass and enhancing their speed and maneuverability to increase the chances of a successful interception.

They have powerful warheads relative to their size, and they can easily destroy the much larger enemy missiles and torpedoes if they are able to intercept them before activation of the final terminal guidance phase.

The optimum engagement range for most navies is 1,000 to 3,000 kilometers, as the sprint missile's small size emphasizes speed over fuel capacity, and this is typically the last line of defense for most navies except for the Republic.

The Republic Navy utilizes its own variants of the point defense systems used by the other navies, but they have two additional last lines of defense that most navies do not employ. The first are the rotary plasma turrets, which can be scaled down in power output for a point defense role.

Each turret can fire eighty bolts per second, with an effective engagement range of 500 to 1,400 kilometers for the point defense bolts before they lose cohesion. For the second and final line of defense, Republic Naval war planners looked to history and the lessons learned by their vaunted predecessors, the navies of the United States and Great Britain, for inspiration.

A result of that was the creation of the Mark-16 Phalanx CIWS, an integrated close-range point defense system that provides full 360-degree coverage for Republic warships. Like its ancestor, the Mark-16 relies on advanced 20mm hypervelocity Gatling turrets with an impressive firing rate of 10,000 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of 8,000 meters per second.

The rounds themselves are fabricated of a highly classified, hollow-core ceramic matrix composite (CMC) material that greatly reduces the weight of the ammo while still providing the same hitting power as traditional 20mm rounds, and they are engineered to self-destruct after 1000 kilometers to prevent friendly fire accidents during combat operations. The optimum engagement range of these weapons ranges from 100 to 950 kilometers.

Armor: Hull armor plays a critical part in warship survivability, and hundreds of billions of credits have been spent researching and developing the best armor possible for decades, sometimes centuries, by the interstellar powers of the quadrant and beyond.

Despite the differing warfighting doctrines and tactical/strategic considerations of the various species, armor plating technology developed along the same pathway across the major powers and their naval forces because of the similarities in technology levels and weapons systems.

As a result, armor plating technology is essentially the same across the quadrant, with only minor variations between the navies, with an exception to the Ma'lit Domain, whose armor technology is far more advanced and considered by many to be redundant because of their shielding technology.

Armor plating for most warships follows a multilayered design philosophy in conjunction with a two-layer outer hull and a single inner hull, with a gap between them that is filled with a shock layer, such as advanced aerogels or foam absorbers.

Republic warships before the uplifting featured a two-layered outer hull and a two-layered inner hull, all spaced with a gap between the four layers and engineered specifically to create a Whipple shield effect to compensate for their lagging armor plating technology.

The Republic Navy decided to keep this design configuration despite the uplifting no longer requiring them to do so, as it still offered superior crew protection benefits and ship survivability over the typical three-hull configuration of the other navies.

The gaps between the four hulls of Republic warships are filled with a combination of aerogels and foam absorbers with a composite nanocarbon Kevlar layer sandwiched in between, which greatly enhances crew survivability.

The armor plating is constructed as panels and attached to the outer hull for redundancy and modularity so that damaged panels can be quickly jettisoned or replaced by the crew in an emergency.

The standard armor plating thickness ranges from .5 to 1.5 meters for lightly armored scout ships and warships such as frigates and all the way up to 3 meters for ships of the line, with critical areas having directional armor plating of up to 6 meters combined across the outer and inner hull layers.

Critical areas of the ships are covered with thicker and more durable directional armor that cannot be replaced except at shipyards or by an automated repair ship, such as the bridge, engineering sections, reactor bays, engine and thruster cowlings, and other sensitive areas that require extra protection to increase crew survivability in battle.

Null-Particle Infused Plating: The newest and most advanced hull plating known to be created by a younger species, this highly classified armor tech is employed by only the Republic on its automated Spectre-Class nullships.

The method of fabrication is highly classified, and since its reveal in the Battle of Eleania, it is suspected by the other powers that the Ma'lit Domain had a hand in helping the Republic create it since it represented the first massive technological leap forward in armor plating in over a hundred years.

This unique armor plating is infused with null particles, which should not be possible considering the nature of the null space particles and their violent interaction with matter outside of null space itself.

Another consideration is the neurological danger it presents to biological crews, as the same effects that are suffered by crews in null space would be present, which is the most likely reason why the Republic has only utilized this type of armor on its automated nullships so far.

Null particle-infused hull plating offers several advantages over even the most advanced armor plating technology of the other species. The most important aspect is the incredible stealth and target lock scanner deflection it affords to nullships.

The unique semi-fluidic properties of null space particles create stealth capability that far exceeds the ones currently employed by the Republic and other powers, as well as an incredible 90 to 95% reduction in targeting scanner triangulation.

As a result, the sensor returns from the 220-meter-long nullships are reduced to the cross-section equivalent of a human basketball, making a nullship almost impossible to detect in the vastness of space if they do not want to be seen.

Even direct observation techniques tend to fail, as the nullships themselves seem to fade in and out of existence when being visually observed through scopes for manual targeting. Targeting scanners cannot maintain locks on nullships, which triggers the default standby mode of the battle computers and bounded AIs of most enemy warships due to the lack of sufficient target acquisition, verification, and triangulation.

Only when ranges fall under 2,000 kilometers do the chances of detection and target locking increase to a measly 10-15%, but attempting to close with and engage a nullship at such close distances is a near impossibility for most warships, as they will be targeted and destroyed by the nullship long before they are able to get into range.

To date, the only way to successfully hit nullships is to saturate the last verified location of a nullship and its estimated trajectory with a mass volley of rapid-fire particle beam strikes in the hopes of bracketing them.

This is incredibly wasteful and will quickly drain particle beam capacitors and potentially burn out the crystals, putting the firing ships in danger of not being able to defend themselves if they are attacked.

Another advantage of null particle-infused hull plating is the natural ablative properties that are a byproduct of the interaction between null space particles and matter. The topmost layer of the null particle-infused hull plating is polarized, which maintains the integrity of the plating and inhibits the interaction between the null particles and normal matter.

When a directed energy beam has sufficient strength and contact time to disrupt the polarization, the subatomic particles will interact with the underlying null particle-infused layer, causing an ablative effect as the null particles react violently and expel the subatomic particles away from the ship.

This reaction dramatically reduces the effectiveness of directed energy weapons, as it requires a sustained strike for a duration of time to penetrate through all the laminated layers of null particle-infused composites, which is almost impossible to achieve in a combat situation.

Null particle-infused armor is susceptible to kinetic weaponry, and if enough of the top layer of the armored panel is sufficiently damaged, that section will lose its innate stealth ability and become more visible to enemy targeting scanners.

This increases the chances of enemy vessels being able to zero in on the now exposed plating and bracket the immediate area if the panel is not ejected in time to expose the underlying secondary stealth-coated armor plating beneath it.

Between the double outer hull and the single inner hull, the gap is filled with the sandwiched shock absorber layers, and the inner hull is constructed with an emphasis on EMP protection for the battle AI rather than crew survivability, as the ship is fully automated.

Ship designers did not opt for the standard Whipple-style four-hull configuration of Republic warships to reduce the overall nullship mass in favor of speed and maneuverability, and the increased internal volume was dedicated to power generation and weapon capacity, allowing the relatively small nullships to match the combat power of much larger battlecruisers.

Fighters/Bombers: The Republic is the only power that fields manned fighters and bombers for fleet combat in space, as BioSynth pilots and their unique bottling technology are not susceptible to the usual restrictions facing autonomous and AI-controlled drones that were used at one time by the other powers before ultimately being abandoned.

The usual ECM/jamming and hacking protocols developed by other navies do not affect the Biosynth pilots, and they are able to withstand the extremely high g maneuvers required to effectively operate in fleet combat and evade missiles and point defenses. The Republic enjoys a rare tactical flexibility and advantage over the other navies because of this, which they used to great effect against the Insectoids in multiple battles.

Peregrine-class Starfighters are piloted by a single Biosynth pilot and are used to defend Republic fleet formations and attack the capital ships of other navies with the two powerful penetrator anti-ship missiles they carry within the internal missile bay.

Secondary weapons systems include powerful rotary plasma turrets, miniaturized versions of the Mark-16 Phalanx Gatling guns, and a load of eight .5-meter-long sprint missiles. All weapons systems are internal, further enhancing the stealth profile of the starfighter.

The starfighter is a stealth-coated sphere with a diameter of 6.5 meters and an internal volume of 143.8 cubic meters. The Biosynth pilot's bottle is only one meter in height and .5 meters in width, and the gel-filled chamber protecting the BioSynth pilot is 1.2 meters in diameter.

Since the bottle itself is its own life support unit, there is no requirement for an energy-intensive, integrated life support system to keep a biological pilot alive. This allows for almost the entire interior volume of the starfighter and the miniaturized fusion reactor power output to be dedicated to weapons and engines, creating an extremely fast and powerful vessel that punches far above its weight class despite its small size.

The starfighter can execute high-g maneuvers up to 800 g's for several seconds to evade missiles and point defense systems during attack runs, and the AI-controlled defensive systems are second to none. The engine and thruster system allows for rapid changes in direction along all axes, further enhancing maneuverability and survivability.

The top cruising speed of the starfighter is 472,892 kilometers per hour, and the overdrive system can bring that up to 582,490 kilometers per hour for short durations in an emergency.

The Valkyrie-class bombers follow the exact same design philosophy as the Peregrine-class starfighters and are controlled by two BioSynths, a pilot and a weapons officer. With a diameter of 12 meters and an internal volume of 904.78 meters, they have a loadout of eight penetrator anti-ship missiles and twenty-four sprint missiles, as well as the standard 20mm hypervelocity Mark-16 Gatling gun and rotary plasma turrets.

Despite the same stealth coating as the starfighter, the larger size of the bombers reduces overall stealth and increases chances of detection by enemy forces. As a result, doctrine calls for bombers to be escorted by starfighters, and they tend to engage at standoff ranges by releasing their payload of penetrator missiles at longer ranges, increasing chances of interception by point defense systems.

If circumstances require it, starfighter squadrons will launch strafing attacks against screening enemy ships and attempt to destroy or disable the point defense systems enough to allow for bombers to get closer before releasing their payloads, drastically increasing the chances of the bomber missiles successfully reaching their targets.

Bombers can execute high-g maneuvers up to a maximum of 400 g's and have a cruising speed of 238,109 kilometers per hour. The overdrive system can bring that up to 310,567 kilometers per hour for short durations during an emergency.

An additional tactical advantage enjoyed by the Republic is the ability of the fighters and bombers to reconfigure for atmospheric action, eliminating the need to build expeditionary aircraft and endanger carriers with low-orbit skimming insertions.

Just like in space, BioSynth pilots can perform high-g maneuvers far beyond the abilities of enemy biological pilots in air combat, assuring complete aerial domination for Republic forces during planetary operations.