Post by drakadorchaos on Mar 18, 2022 11:47:28 GMT
Power of the Stars
Qarvaton calculated his options as streams of data flowed through his consciousness.
Due to the recent events and changes in resource allocation parts of the research they were conducting had now once more returned to his tasks.
Specifically the superweapon research.
He had already loaded the data and notes which he had compiled at an earlier point on the various types and frames which were present in Ancerious, they had already decided on a ship based superweapon frame, however the first question were to be answered now were what type of weapon it should host.
Qarvaton began calculations and the simulations of scenarios.
They had already ruled out utility type superweapons in the research and calculations for the frame, it is what they had their command ships for, which left him with four immediately apparent ones.
Precision weaponry, able to strike specific targets from far away or destroy specific spots on installations or celestial bodies.
Surface scale weaponry, able to wipe the face of a planet clean. Keeping resources and in some cases even infrastructure intact.
An anti-fleet weapon, posing a significant tactical tool in combat and able to hold its own against enemy battlegroups.
…and finally planet cracking weapons. The pinnacle of planet scale destruction not only rendering it completely uninhabitable but destroying it in its entirety.
There were, of course, a number of advantages and disadvantages for everything.
Precision weaponry, whilst able to strike critical targets easily, lacked in destructive capabilities by its very nature, which was an advantage and disadvantage. It avoids collateral but is incapable of inflicting large-scale damage.
Surface scale weaponry, depending on variation, may be capable of wiping a planet clean of life or other assets or leaving its infrastructure or resources intact. However, at the same time it was also usually incapable of dealing any critical blows to more fortificated infrastructure, lying below the surface levels of the planet.
A superweapon optimised for fleet combat on the other hand had the tendency to give up the capability to deal significant blows to celestial bodies to trade it for a significant tactical advantage in fleet combat, supercarriers or super dreadnoughts were examples of these, and whilst their strategic value was variable they gave a significant tactical advantage in individual battles.
Lastly, the planet crackers. With the capability to destroy a planet in its entirety it brought a significant strategic value to the equation, both in military and political terms. However in the same vein it also had considerable political ramifications to possess such a tool, let alone in case of firing it, both causing significant uproar and breeding hostility amongst one's neighbours and galaxy.
Qarvaton pondered for a moment. These summaries were, of course all for extreme cases of the spectrum there were various steps in between each type of weapon and depending on what was used the borders between them would easily vanish.
However,
the main role of the weapon would likely be that of a strategic tool, with fleet combat capability for added versatility and self-defense. In the end, when the Network were to use such a weapon it was only for goals they would not be able to achieve with their fleet alone and given their usual targets, nothing short of complete destruction would be fit for extreme cases.
It would not be a tool for conquest, not a political statement or defensive measure to counteract potential attackers, it would be a weapon, nothing more, nothing less.
Qarvaton wrapped up the current strains of thought and began to move to the next point.
As the class of weapon was decided on, the next step would be looking at what types they could be or should be using and what was at their disposal, after all, research a new sort of weapon would be pointless and resource draining if they could just use one which had already been in development or was already at their disposal at a lower scale.
Whilst particle weaponry, outside of select or exotic kinds usually was not quite the weapon of choice for planetary assault. It certainly had its applications, usually as surface scale weaponry however it was not quite what he was looking for. Disruptor and Laser weaponry both had the same issue, although they could be effective, the amount of energy and effort needed to be so against a planetary target, given mass and atmosphere would be resulting in more costs with at best questionable results.
There was of course also guided warheads in various forms and applications though they had already been ruled out due to being prone to capture as displayed by the Union of Worlds.
The massive kinetic pulse would dig into the crust, creating cataclysmic impact waves across the planet and tearing it apart in the process. There was also the possibility of using two opposing ships, considerably lowering the requirements for such destruction, though he put the idea on hold for the time being, as they were looking for one, not two frames for the moment and it would complicate things. Regardless of that, as some additional research showed, there seemed to be considerably more effective ways to deliver destruction, saving energy and potentially increasing the fire rate.
There was a weapon in development referred to as ‘Fusion Lance’ which was based on the ‘Kugelblitz Lance’ some of the homeworld ships utilised. Whilst they had neither resources nor means to replicate these at the current time, the Fusion lances would not only be possible and would also serve as a reasonable addition to their normal ships arsenal.
Fusion lances were, in simplified terms, the combination of a plasma beam and a kinetic pulse weapon. In this case a more sophisticated variant of a kinetic pulse cannon would be used to deliver both a kinetic impact and superheated and super compressed plasma in an ongoing fusion reaction. On impact, like the upscaled kinetic pulse cannon, it would deliver devastating shockwaves and dig into the planet's crust, however, the supercritical plasma would destabilise at the impact point, causing runaway fusion and fission reactions, tearing the planet apart once more from the impact point, but doing so at a considerably lower requirement for exotic particles and gravitons and anti gravitons. The plasma requirements should not be an issue, they could draw it directly from the reactors, whilst that will leave all other weapons inoperable when using the main weapon, when sent to destroy a planet the ship would not be alone anyways.
As he began to do more calculations he discovered two more things, using the rare resources of this galaxy and through additional research they could potentially build new reactors specifically for this and other large scale ships and potentially scale down the requirements of the weapon even further, though given the current economic crisis and ancerium shortage that would have to be put on hold as well.
As all of the preliminary calculations and simulations were done now it was time for the first prototypes and tests of such.
Pulses of distorted space cored by a bright burning glow passed through space to hit a vessel built for weapon testing; occasionally the impact resulted in an eruption of boiling plasma tearing chunks out of the testbed. He watched the firing and impact sequence from various angles with scout vessels, as the prototypes fired, again and again. The results were… mixed.
The current iteration of the weapon was stable but that was so due to its low scale, a number of problems would arise if he were to scale it up while maintaining its current design.
The heat control would prove troublesome due to the sheer scale, components anywhere near the weapon would need impossible amounts of heat shielding not to melt away immediately and even if not, the entire frame could deform and strain due to the massive temperature differences.
He noted the problems and began looking for solutions, the next prototype was already a considerable step up.
Once more the weapon began firing, the same pulse of distorted space and energy closed the distance between weapon and testbed, although still slow the firerate had increased with the new adaptations. The weapon had fired repeatedly and passed most of the tests with an efficiency and wear within nominal levels, with the help of the new superconductor lines which were feeding excess heat back to the reactors. However, new problems arose.
The fusion reaction at the impact point would sometimes just collapse and dissipate instead of detonating, whilst the weapon in this case would still deal considerable damage it performed considerably below what he expected and required, whilst for a normal weapon that would be, in some cases, acceptable, given its low rate of fire they could not afford something like blind shells.
Calculations and simulations began once more and new testbeds and prototype weapons were planned and constructed.
A torrent of distorted space burst forth from the weapon, now even larger than the prototype before, the beam passed through space until eventually taking more of a conical shape, hitting the testbed, melting away the surface.
The new prototype was using a beam pulse instead of a single shot model. With the plasma and gravitons building up at the impact point it was now reliable causing fusion reactions at the impact point and delivered its destructive capabilities within the planned parameters. At short range that was. Obviously with it being a beam weapon now that came with its own set of problems. As expected, the weapon would have significant issue with bloom due to its plasma components, resulting in sub-par impact energy and accuracy, however, if they would…
Qarvaton pondered and began planning the next protoype.
A new torrent of light burst forth from the latest protoype, this time, at considerably higher velocities. The golden shine accumulated at it’s target not only burning through it but at its apex reaching a critical mass and detonating, tearing it apart in a superheated reaction fusing plasma.
Qarvaton nodded to himself, metaphorically speaking.
The weapon was now fully operational within its intended parametres. Whilst there was still ways to further develop it, such as using ancerium and sinarium for the launch mechanism and beam respectively which was ruled out due to the shortage, raising the launch velocity to relativistic speeds helped with the remaining issues and it should now work even if scaled up to the frame of a superweapon. Admittedly, given the entire construction of the weapon, it would only be able to be mounted spinally or on superheavy weapon mounts on normal ships but that had been its intended role anyways.
The plans for the new fusion lances had already been sent to the construction ships and although it would take time until they are finished and installed in a few months time the Network would be able to rely on a new type of weapon.
Although he had noted it should work when scaled up, it would obviously still need further tests and developments before being built and fielded, even setting aside the resource requirements.
Qarvaton began calculations and the research subroutines began compiling and packaging data when one of his other subroutines notified him that a faction had apparently shared its plans for a superweapon of considerable scale with its allies in one of the two powerblocks. These plans… would surely prove useful in cutting down their research and simulation time and could back it up with actual field data.
If only he could get a hold of the plans for this… ‘Crucible’.
Qarvaton calculated his options as streams of data flowed through his consciousness.
Due to the recent events and changes in resource allocation parts of the research they were conducting had now once more returned to his tasks.
Specifically the superweapon research.
He had already loaded the data and notes which he had compiled at an earlier point on the various types and frames which were present in Ancerious, they had already decided on a ship based superweapon frame, however the first question were to be answered now were what type of weapon it should host.
Qarvaton began calculations and the simulations of scenarios.
They had already ruled out utility type superweapons in the research and calculations for the frame, it is what they had their command ships for, which left him with four immediately apparent ones.
Precision weaponry, able to strike specific targets from far away or destroy specific spots on installations or celestial bodies.
Surface scale weaponry, able to wipe the face of a planet clean. Keeping resources and in some cases even infrastructure intact.
An anti-fleet weapon, posing a significant tactical tool in combat and able to hold its own against enemy battlegroups.
…and finally planet cracking weapons. The pinnacle of planet scale destruction not only rendering it completely uninhabitable but destroying it in its entirety.
There were, of course, a number of advantages and disadvantages for everything.
Precision weaponry, whilst able to strike critical targets easily, lacked in destructive capabilities by its very nature, which was an advantage and disadvantage. It avoids collateral but is incapable of inflicting large-scale damage.
Surface scale weaponry, depending on variation, may be capable of wiping a planet clean of life or other assets or leaving its infrastructure or resources intact. However, at the same time it was also usually incapable of dealing any critical blows to more fortificated infrastructure, lying below the surface levels of the planet.
A superweapon optimised for fleet combat on the other hand had the tendency to give up the capability to deal significant blows to celestial bodies to trade it for a significant tactical advantage in fleet combat, supercarriers or super dreadnoughts were examples of these, and whilst their strategic value was variable they gave a significant tactical advantage in individual battles.
Lastly, the planet crackers. With the capability to destroy a planet in its entirety it brought a significant strategic value to the equation, both in military and political terms. However in the same vein it also had considerable political ramifications to possess such a tool, let alone in case of firing it, both causing significant uproar and breeding hostility amongst one's neighbours and galaxy.
Qarvaton pondered for a moment. These summaries were, of course all for extreme cases of the spectrum there were various steps in between each type of weapon and depending on what was used the borders between them would easily vanish.
However,
the main role of the weapon would likely be that of a strategic tool, with fleet combat capability for added versatility and self-defense. In the end, when the Network were to use such a weapon it was only for goals they would not be able to achieve with their fleet alone and given their usual targets, nothing short of complete destruction would be fit for extreme cases.
It would not be a tool for conquest, not a political statement or defensive measure to counteract potential attackers, it would be a weapon, nothing more, nothing less.
Qarvaton wrapped up the current strains of thought and began to move to the next point.
As the class of weapon was decided on, the next step would be looking at what types they could be or should be using and what was at their disposal, after all, research a new sort of weapon would be pointless and resource draining if they could just use one which had already been in development or was already at their disposal at a lower scale.
Whilst particle weaponry, outside of select or exotic kinds usually was not quite the weapon of choice for planetary assault. It certainly had its applications, usually as surface scale weaponry however it was not quite what he was looking for. Disruptor and Laser weaponry both had the same issue, although they could be effective, the amount of energy and effort needed to be so against a planetary target, given mass and atmosphere would be resulting in more costs with at best questionable results.
There was of course also guided warheads in various forms and applications though they had already been ruled out due to being prone to capture as displayed by the Union of Worlds.
Which left him with their kinetic pulse cannons. Though they did not use any actually kinetic weapons at the current time their kinetic pulse cannons, if scaled up, would be the closest to a kinetic super impactor, which was indeed a valid type of weapon they were looking for, the question was now how far they would have to scale up and whether there were other alternatives which they could use to reduce the scale of frame needed for the weapon.
After a number of early simulations and calculations he had come to a conclusion.
A scaled up kinetic pulse cannon, although very energy intensive, would indeed be enough.The massive kinetic pulse would dig into the crust, creating cataclysmic impact waves across the planet and tearing it apart in the process. There was also the possibility of using two opposing ships, considerably lowering the requirements for such destruction, though he put the idea on hold for the time being, as they were looking for one, not two frames for the moment and it would complicate things. Regardless of that, as some additional research showed, there seemed to be considerably more effective ways to deliver destruction, saving energy and potentially increasing the fire rate.
There was a weapon in development referred to as ‘Fusion Lance’ which was based on the ‘Kugelblitz Lance’ some of the homeworld ships utilised. Whilst they had neither resources nor means to replicate these at the current time, the Fusion lances would not only be possible and would also serve as a reasonable addition to their normal ships arsenal.
Fusion lances were, in simplified terms, the combination of a plasma beam and a kinetic pulse weapon. In this case a more sophisticated variant of a kinetic pulse cannon would be used to deliver both a kinetic impact and superheated and super compressed plasma in an ongoing fusion reaction. On impact, like the upscaled kinetic pulse cannon, it would deliver devastating shockwaves and dig into the planet's crust, however, the supercritical plasma would destabilise at the impact point, causing runaway fusion and fission reactions, tearing the planet apart once more from the impact point, but doing so at a considerably lower requirement for exotic particles and gravitons and anti gravitons. The plasma requirements should not be an issue, they could draw it directly from the reactors, whilst that will leave all other weapons inoperable when using the main weapon, when sent to destroy a planet the ship would not be alone anyways.
As he began to do more calculations he discovered two more things, using the rare resources of this galaxy and through additional research they could potentially build new reactors specifically for this and other large scale ships and potentially scale down the requirements of the weapon even further, though given the current economic crisis and ancerium shortage that would have to be put on hold as well.
As all of the preliminary calculations and simulations were done now it was time for the first prototypes and tests of such.
Pulses of distorted space cored by a bright burning glow passed through space to hit a vessel built for weapon testing; occasionally the impact resulted in an eruption of boiling plasma tearing chunks out of the testbed. He watched the firing and impact sequence from various angles with scout vessels, as the prototypes fired, again and again. The results were… mixed.
The current iteration of the weapon was stable but that was so due to its low scale, a number of problems would arise if he were to scale it up while maintaining its current design.
The heat control would prove troublesome due to the sheer scale, components anywhere near the weapon would need impossible amounts of heat shielding not to melt away immediately and even if not, the entire frame could deform and strain due to the massive temperature differences.
He noted the problems and began looking for solutions, the next prototype was already a considerable step up.
Once more the weapon began firing, the same pulse of distorted space and energy closed the distance between weapon and testbed, although still slow the firerate had increased with the new adaptations. The weapon had fired repeatedly and passed most of the tests with an efficiency and wear within nominal levels, with the help of the new superconductor lines which were feeding excess heat back to the reactors. However, new problems arose.
The fusion reaction at the impact point would sometimes just collapse and dissipate instead of detonating, whilst the weapon in this case would still deal considerable damage it performed considerably below what he expected and required, whilst for a normal weapon that would be, in some cases, acceptable, given its low rate of fire they could not afford something like blind shells.
Calculations and simulations began once more and new testbeds and prototype weapons were planned and constructed.
A torrent of distorted space burst forth from the weapon, now even larger than the prototype before, the beam passed through space until eventually taking more of a conical shape, hitting the testbed, melting away the surface.
The new prototype was using a beam pulse instead of a single shot model. With the plasma and gravitons building up at the impact point it was now reliable causing fusion reactions at the impact point and delivered its destructive capabilities within the planned parameters. At short range that was. Obviously with it being a beam weapon now that came with its own set of problems. As expected, the weapon would have significant issue with bloom due to its plasma components, resulting in sub-par impact energy and accuracy, however, if they would…
Qarvaton pondered and began planning the next protoype.
A new torrent of light burst forth from the latest protoype, this time, at considerably higher velocities. The golden shine accumulated at it’s target not only burning through it but at its apex reaching a critical mass and detonating, tearing it apart in a superheated reaction fusing plasma.
Qarvaton nodded to himself, metaphorically speaking.
The weapon was now fully operational within its intended parametres. Whilst there was still ways to further develop it, such as using ancerium and sinarium for the launch mechanism and beam respectively which was ruled out due to the shortage, raising the launch velocity to relativistic speeds helped with the remaining issues and it should now work even if scaled up to the frame of a superweapon. Admittedly, given the entire construction of the weapon, it would only be able to be mounted spinally or on superheavy weapon mounts on normal ships but that had been its intended role anyways.
The plans for the new fusion lances had already been sent to the construction ships and although it would take time until they are finished and installed in a few months time the Network would be able to rely on a new type of weapon.
Although he had noted it should work when scaled up, it would obviously still need further tests and developments before being built and fielded, even setting aside the resource requirements.
Qarvaton began calculations and the research subroutines began compiling and packaging data when one of his other subroutines notified him that a faction had apparently shared its plans for a superweapon of considerable scale with its allies in one of the two powerblocks. These plans… would surely prove useful in cutting down their research and simulation time and could back it up with actual field data.
If only he could get a hold of the plans for this… ‘Crucible’.