NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: The ATTN list is the invite list. Anyone who tries to "crash the party", a manner of speaking, will be ignored for the purposes of this thread. Also, this is not a combat RP, but a weapons testing RP with a few character RP options.

The New Haven Merchant Marine FTL Freighter reached its final position in the DX Cnc (Giclas 51-15) star system, a red dwarf with several large planetoids orbiting it. Five seconds after it emerged, the New Havenic Dreadnaught "Imperator" and its minimal guard fleet emerged from hyperspace directly behind the freighter, providing protection to the freighter for the duration of the tests.

"Imperator to Copernicus One, what is your status?" Admiral Percival Wright radioed from the bridge. He was a commander who loved to command from the front, something that his contemporaries despised (which was why they were immediately demoted to staffing Fleet Command rather than taking command of the fleets as they were constructed).

"We've finished modifying the first hyperspace module, now designated Special Type Mine-01," Dr. Carter radioed back from the cargo bay of the freighter, now designated Copernicus One. "We are preparing to drop the mine, and we will be ready within the hour."

"Make sure the tamper-proofing systems are operational, Fleet Command has notified me that we may have guests arriving to observe the test," the Admiral radioed back as he read a dispatch from Fleet Command.

"Friendlies or hostiles, Admiral?"

"Friendlies." An alarm sounded in the background. "Incoming FTL signatures, standby."

With a flash of blinding white light, the Galileo Class science vessel Erikson (SV-082) jumped into the system. Behind her were two Ares class freighters that were confinscated from pirates. The pirates had modified the freighters, named Queen Anne's Revenge and Bachelor's Delight, to serve as crude battleships, flagships for a group of pirates operating out of the asteroid belt near Axis. As part of the modifications, the two freighters were armed with heavy military grade weapons and thick armor plating. For the test, the two ships would make fine targets.

"Good morning, Imperator, this is SV-082 Erikson. We've brought you some gifts."

"Welcome to the tests, Erikson," Admiral Wright radioed. "We're transmitting coordinants for where we can set up the test ships." Coordinants were transferred, showing that one pirate battleship was to be very close (within a kilometer of the first mine) and the second was to be placed at 50 km. "If our predictions are right, the Imperator will be able to survive the blast at 100 km. However, since we don't want to endanger anyone else, we're recommending vessels stay 500km from the first detonation point, especially Copernicus One, copy?"

"I'm not sure that those distances are safe, Imperator. This ship was trapped inside of her dock for two weeks after the Axis gate accident. Axis was several hundred kilometers away when the gate blew and our blast door was fused shut."

Lord General Polosh's personal yacht appeared on the scene, subtley. Transmitting friendly codes to the Havenites before settling outside to prescribed test area. The yacht was already equipped with a series of fairly impressive scanning devices, which would barely be used...as the Aumanii would be relying on test data provided by New Haven. A few "experts" accompanied the Lord General and had already begun to scribble notes. Polosh, however, was only here due to formality and was quite bored.

'So, once again we're reviewing foreign weapon systems...once again we're going to have to say "Thanks but no thanks...", well, at least there'll be some fireworks...hopefully!' said Polosh as he lazed on a ridiculously soft couch, facing towards a television which displayed a broadcast of the target area, provided by out kind guests.

"We believe that the damage to the Imperator will be neglegible, Erikson," Wright said, blissfully unaware of what was to come. "We'll be running full shields during the experiment, we should be fine. Imperator out." Wright changed frequencies and hailed the Aumanii vessel.

"Aumanii vessel, we're concerned that you may be too close. We recommend a distance of 500 km or greater, at least for the initial test. Do you copy?"

Aboard the Allanean vessel USS Spacecraft

“Morning, everybody, this is Spacecraft. No, not 'a spacecraft'. I mean, Spacecraft is the name of the ship.” - captain Nielsen chuckled as he pondered what the reaction of these foreigners would be as the Hughey Mark I slipped out of hyperdrive and into the system. “Hello, hello.” Following behind the Hughey was an large, dirty, form of an anceint ship. It was automated, and controlled from the smaller craft. “Here guys. Target for you.”

The Hughey turned, flying close to the Aumanii ship, while the decommissioned Capsule Corporation Kolob-class carrier proceeded neatly to park exactly 268.906 kilometers away from the site of the future explosion. This was going to be fun.

"Attention Spacecraft, welcome to the show," Admiral Wright radioed. "We're transmitting the coordinants of the mine. Send the target to within 100 meters of the mine and hold position there. We're also transmitting a safe radius for your ship to sit at and watch the show. Imperator out."

OOC: I got permission to move the Allanean target ship to its designated location and the USS Spaceship to 500 km.

For those of you whose ships are at 500km, you're going to need to repaint your ships at the end of this test (that can wait until after the prototypes are expended or testing ends).

===================================

"Allanean target ship is in position," an officer reported to Admiral Wright.

"General Quarters! Close the blast doors and raise shields! Divert auxillary power to structrual integrity fields!"

"All ships reporting ready for test."

"Shields up, blast doors closed. All hands reporting to battle stations."

Wright turned on his headset and ordered the comm. officer to relay it to all ships. "10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Wright signalled to the weapons officer, who pushed the DETONATE button.

========================

The mine flared with a burst of intense light as the Hermium reached the HK-limit. Less than a nanosecond later, the Allanean target ship bore the full brunt of the explosive force, being torn into small pieces as gravitic stress dramatically increased along the generated wavefront. The pieces were also charred by the explosion, burning down most of the debris into unrecognisable clumps of metal and ceramic.

The wavefront sped along quickly (at near-c), striking the first pirate battleship target. This ship too was torn to pieces and burnt into unrecognisable chunks. So was the second pirate battleship target.

The Imperator lurched hard to port as the wavefront struck it, the heat from the explosion melting and charring the armor. "Shit! Damage report!"

"Primary power offline! Switching to backups!" A bridge officer called back. "The outer hull on the bombward side has been compromised! Inner hull buckling! We have damage to the frame, the shields were of no use!"

"I thought this wasn't supposed to effect us this far out?!"

"Obviously our calculations were off! Engines now at 20%, hyperspace module charged."

"Contact Fleet Command, let them know we may need to come home early."

================================

(Imperial Fleet Command)

"Tachyon pulse! Massive FTL signature inbound!" An officer yelled out. "Looks to be coming from DX Cnc!"

"The fleet might've been taken out by an enemy attack force," IFC's Commander noted grimly. "Go to full combat alert! Launch fighters and prepare ground-to-orbital weaponry!"

"Signal coming in from the Imperator," IFC's comm. officer called back to the Commander. "They're reporting that the test was more powerful than expected and that they have suffered critical hull damage. They're requesting permission to return back to port for repairs."

"The tach-pulse must've been a result of the explosion, cancel combat alert and stand down to yellow alert," the Commander ordered. "Recalibrate the Tachyonic Pressure Sensors to not be as sensative to the kind of signal we received."

"Yes, sir!"

"The test is going to begin shortly, Captain."

"Raise the blast shields and switch the main screen to external cameras."

There was an audible whine as the thick, solid titanium-ceramic composite blast doors rose into position over Erikson's large bridge windows. Though nobody expected the windows to take damage, the Bryn Shanderans knew what the blast was going to be like, having experienced the explosion that the mine was based on several weeks earlier.

"Blast doors raised and locked. Viewscreen is online."

"Very good."

"The test is starting."


White. Blinding, unforgiving white. For nearly a minute, the space for thousands of kilometers around ground zero was awash with the merciless white light. Sensors were offline, shields were taxed, and paint was faded and seared. In the wake of the flash was the most damaging part of the detonation, the shockwave created as time and space tore themselves asunder and quickly mended themselves. For the sensors on the two Ares class freighters, the shockwave was immense, destroying most outright as the ships were crumpled like compact cars in the path of a speeding freight train. 1000km from the blast, however, Erikson was only slightly disturbed, as though she were a pleasure craft encountering the wake of a large container ship that had gone through the area minutes earlier.

"Did we get that on video?"

"What? A minute of white and static?"

"...Nevermind then."

"I have no idea what the status of Imperator is, but flash them a message."


.-. .-- .- ..-. ..- -.. .-. ..-. .-. -.

.- .-.. -... --. . - ...-

"Highly appropriate, sir," the comm. officer replied as he flashed off the message. Luckily, the signal tower hadn't been blown off the ship in the explosion.

"...Cute."

"Are you going to take that, Sir?"

"I suppose. I'd send the same message if I were in their situation."

"Sir?"

"Send a reply."

-.-. -.- .-. .-. -.. . -.. --.- .-. --. .--. .-.. --.- -.. ... .... - ..-. .. -- -.-. .-. -... -.-- .-.. .. ..-. .- . --.. -.-. ...- / -.-- --.. -- .--- -.-- .-.. --.. .. -.. -. -.- - .--- -- .-. .-. ...- ..- --.. ..-. ... ... .- ..-. ..-. ..-. ... ..-. --- .-- -.-. / -.-. -.- .-. .-. -.. ...- -... ... -.-. -.- -. -.-- -.-- .--. --- .- -.-. ...- .-- -.-. .. --.-

... -... -. .-. ... - -.- -... --. --.. -.-. .--. --.- ...- -..- -- -.-. .... .--- ..- -.. -- .--. .- ... -.. -.- -- .-- - .-- --.. ..-. -.. -.. .--. --.- .- .--. -.. .--. ...- .--- .--- ... -.-- --- .-. -... -.- -... -.-- -. ...- -.-. . .-.. -... -.. -.- --. --.. -.- --- .--. - -. -. .-. --.. -.-. ..-. . -. ..-. .-. -.. -. -..- ... .--- .. --.- .-. ...- .... -. --.- -... -... .-.. .--- --. .... ... .- --.. ...- --.- ..-. ..-. .-- -.-- - - --. -.-- -..- .... .... - -.-. --.- -. - .. --.- --.- ... -.. --.- --.. ..- -... --.. .... --.. .-.. .- -.-- -.. .. --.- .... . -.-. -.-. -.-- -.-- ..-. ..- ... -.-. ..-. --.- ..-. ..-. -.- - - .--- -.- ...- -... --- --.. -..- -- .... .-.. .-.. -.. --.- -.- .--. -.-. -.-. -.-.

The Imperator jumped from the testing grounds back to Asherton, docking as fast as it could with only 20% drive power in a civilian repair station. Inspection would take a week, two at the most. All of the armor covering the ship would need to be stripped off and replaced, but that was not the bad part: if the frame was cracked, it would take a month to repair or replace the damaged sections.

It was time and money the ISK didn't have at the moment, not yet anyway.

==================================

Research Vessel Copernicus One

"Attention fleet, we are now the primary observation vessel and setup vessel," Dr. Carter radioed from the bridge of the transport vessel. For the purposes of the remainder of the tests, he had command of the First New Havenic Fleet. He tuned the dial back to hail all vessels at once.

"Attention observers, we are going to set up our next test on the planetoid marked 'Alpha' on the system map we are providing now. Its about 500km across, and should prove to be a good enough testing ground to show its worth against asteroidal installations. Maintain safety distances and follow us in, Copernicus One out."

"Well, that was fun. Helm, move us into position."

"Aye."

"Deploy two teams of Zaku and have them perform recon on the target ships."

"Aye, Sir."

While Erikson moved towards the new target, six Zaku in two groups departed the ship to take a look at the damage the mine had done to the target ships. For this mission, each was carrying a large sensor pod rather than the usual machinegun or bazooka.

Copernicus One hovered over the first planetoid, about the size of Ceres, and dropped a Hermium Wavefront Mine into a decaying orbit before it entered hyperspace. "The next test will try to ascertain whether we can use a gravitic acceleration detonator on the mine. If the GAD doesn't work, we'll have to remove detonate it. Don't worry, the unit should survive impact."

"Roger that, Copernicus One. We'll move into position to collect data."

While Erikson took the appropriate spot for the best data collection, the Zakus scoured the target ships. The two modified Ares class freighters had been all but obliterated. The armor plates that covered their hulls were melted, twisted, and nearly completely unrecognisable. The frames were in even more damaged, the shockwave of space-time ripping through the ship, popping bulkheads and beams like the ships were balsa-wood models. With the heat and shockwave combined, the ships had become scorched, deformed hulks that only someone who knew exactly what they were looking at could identify.

"Impact in three, two, one..."

A brilliant flash filled space as the ships sat outside the maximum effective range. The gravitic signature of the asteroid left the scanners and was replaced by the wavefront as it approached, losing some of its intensity with every unit of measurement taken towards the ships.

The wavefront brushed past the ships, effecting them very little as it passed. The ships were gently rocked, but stayed relatively still.

"Report!" Dr. Carter ordered the bridge crew of Copernicus One

"The planetoid has been reduced to a field of large meteors and small asteroids, the largest of which is about 10km across. Scans indicate the fragments fit a basic geometric pattern, probably a sphere, and consist mainly of glass, igneous rock and carbon materials such as graphite and traces of buckyballs. Analysis of the wavefront from detonation through the first five seconds will require a full hour of computational time."

"A full hour?! With our computational power?!"

"Its a very complex pattern."

"Very well. Prepare the remainng mines to produce a 3D compression pattern around the next planetoid, lets try to wrap this up as quickly as possible."

"Aye, Doctor."

The suits continued about their business as the rock was shattered by the blinding flash. They began to collect samples from the damaged ships, harvesting loose debris and even cutting off samples of the armored plating and frames for further study back on the ship.


Back on Erikson, the captain could only find three words to say.

"...By Talos' fury...!"

"The planetoid is history, and we have meteors and asteroids approaching our location at a fast rate of speed!"

"Flank speed! Get us out of here!" Carter ordered. Impacts against the hull by smaller fragments began to register. "If we get hit by anything bigger, jettison the mines! We don't want to have this shit onboard if it blows! Prepare to hyperspace us clear!"

"Hyperspace module offline, gravitic interference is preventing us from making a jump!" Suddenly, a massive impact shook the ship. "We're hit! Everything forward of section 2 in the bow just got sheared off! Atmospheric shields activating, emergency bulkheads are closing! Shields offline!"

"What hit us?!"

"A 200m across asteroid! We're damn lucky that wasn't a direct hit!"

"Begin emitting a distress signal."

"...What is it with these New Havenites and parking way too close to their tests? If they were in charge of the Manhattan Project, they probably would have set up camp a few hundred yards from the tower..."

"I don't know, Sir. Targeting the rocks."

"Good idea. Helm, take us along side the New Havenites."


While the ship's turrets began rotating back and forth and spitting powerful beams at the offending rocks, Erikson aimed her bow at the large boulder that struck Copernicus One. With a flash, the rock dissapeared in a spray of megaparticles and cosmic dust.

"What's the status of the mines?" Carter asked.

"Mines are stable. We didn't jettison them, we didn't have any time."

"The gods be praised, we'd of been in deep shit if they were more unstable than predicted," Carter replied.

"Doc, we've lost the shield capaciters. They blew out when the asteroid hit us. Shields are completely shot, we'll need several weeks in drydock to fix the damage we've incurred."

"Send a message to the Erikson, ask them nicely if we may transfer our flag to their vessel... and scuttle Copernicus One with a mine."

"You're not seriously telling us that we are abandoning ship? We are still capable of motion, and we can probably hyperspace back to port..."

"Thats not the point. We needed to test the mine's ability as a self-destruct device anyway. Also, if we do not transfer our flag and destroy the ship, she may fall into enemy hands if we are surprised. I am ordering you under the power invested in me by the Imperatrix to send the message and prep the ship for scuttling as soon as all personnel and mines have disembarked."

"Yes, Doc. Transmitting now."

Carter signalled for the all-hands intercom to be activated. "All hands, prepare to abandon ship. I say again! All hands, prepare to abandon ship! This is not a drill..."

"Captain, the New Havenites are requesting permission to their flag to this vessel and scuttle Copernicus One."

"Very well. Send them the green light and have the crew prepare to recieve Copernicus' crew.


While Erikson finished off the remaining rocks, the heavily armed science vessel came along side her floundering New Havenic cousin to pick up the evacuating sailors.

Copernicus One was evacuated and subsequently destroyed, leaving behind nothing but a pile of debris and a sensor bouy that would continue to relay data about space-time anomolies in the sector for 5 years before permanently shutting down.

Over the next 3 years, Bryn Shanderese and New Havenic scientists refined the technology and would produce a stockpile 1,500 mines strong. A stockpile that would increase by 500 mines per year, with an ever increasing rate of production as New Haven's industry picked up its pace.