NationStates Jolt Archive

Desolace... dust blowing in the wind clouds all vision. Skeletons of both animals and humans litter the dry and cracked ground. Scrap metal litters the ground around blast craters, where even larger scrap is laid to rest. Building after shattered building leads the way to a vast cityscape - Out of dark comes light.

The city, New Kyokudo, rises from the desert gradually. From the center of the city rises the awe-inspiring Angel Tower, a skyscraper of glorious architecture, whose name does no justice to its beauty and aura. From this, the nerve center of the city, the fledgling nation of Dei Gloriam (Latin, "For the Glory of God") is governed.

Two men sit opposite each other at a large desk, littered with schematics. "It's not much, but it will sustain the development long enough for a permanent budget to pass through Congress."

"I understand," one concurs. He is Goddard Nibel, director of the Ministry of Defense.

"Excellent, Goddard- I must warn you, however. Congress has hung on many recent bills. Watch your budget closely - money may not grow legs and run away but 800 Million Leos will disappear very fast on an operation of this magnitude." Raine Keller, Chief of Staff, closes his notebook and crosses his arms, seemingly hesitant to approve such an expenditure.

An awkward silence engulfs the room as Raine turns to view New Kyokudo from 108 stories. "Three months."

Goddard seems puzzled. "Three months?"

"I want to see it in three months. No later."

Taking it as his cue to leave before suffering another budget cut, Goddard stands and approaches the door. "Thank you. You'll have your ship."

Six months later... A lone transmission weaves its way in light-form, through hundreds of miles of private fiber optic cabling, isolated from the rest of the Dei Gloriam network backbone... This transmission hits its destination, an ECN-470 satellite dish, where it is relayed to a geosynchronous-orbit satellite and is broadcast publicly.

Confidant-class Tactical Command Cruiser
Designed by: TrenTech Exospace Engineering, Inc.
Constructed by: Joint Shipyard Operation
Specifications:
Length: 1,248ft (380.4m)
Width: 610ft (185.9m)
Height: 290ft (88.4m)
Weight: 7,513,716 Deadweight Tons
Crew: 1873 Full-Service, 208 Skeleton
Propulsion: Four (4) F9C Independant Cold Fusion Reactors
Craft Complement: 46
Armament:
Two (2) LADAR-guided AI-7R Ferrite-core Gauss Cannons
Twenty-four (24) Guided Valkyrie Cluster Missiles
One (1) UHCS Magnetic Acceleration Coilgun Cannon
Two (2) Centrally-controlled FACT (Fast Anti-Craft Turret) stations

Overview:
The Confidant-class Tactical Command Cruiser (hereafter referred to by the acronym TCC) is a command-type vessel currently commissioned by the Naval Forces of Dei Gloriam. The TCC was the result of CB412, a Congressional bill enacted to form an interplanetary military force to prepare for colonization of other worlds. The Dei Gloriam Exospace Navy comissioned TrenTech Exospace Engineering, Inc., already a prominent shuttle manufacturer, to design and build a tactical command vessel for exospace use. There is currently one TCC in active service, the DGN Kuiper.

Weapons Overview:
The Confidant-class TCC was armed mainly for self-defense, with little thought given to offensive weaponry. War game campaigns have proven that the Confidant can disable, and even completely destroy, a moderately-armored vessel of equal or lesser size. To complete this task, the Confidant TCC is armed with two Laser-guided AI-7R gauss cannons loaded with ferrite-core rounds.

Perhaps the most destructive weapon onboard is the Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, abbreviated MAC. The MAC Cannon operates under the electromagnetic theory in a coilgun setup. A ferrous round forged around an Ultra-High Carbon Steel core was chosen to provide maximum damage potential. War game tests on dummy vessels have shown that the UHCS MAC Cannon is capable of quite literally punching a hole through a moderately-armored vessel. High-Explosive rounds were considered during initial development, but were later discarded due to safety concerns.

Small-craft combat is handled by three different tools. On the dorsal section of the Confidant exist two Fast Anti-Craft Turret installations, which are centrally controlled by the onboard Beowulf control system cluster. Each FACT installation is capable of a sustained rate of fire in the range of 5,000-6,000 rounds per minute. In the event that the FACT installations do not provide adequate defense, two independant guided missile installations keep a total of 24 Valkyrie guided missiles at the ready.

In the event of the failure of both of those systems to provide adequate defense against small craft combat, the Confidant carries on board three wings of AE9 attack spacecraft, plus ten support vessels. The hangar section of the Confidant comprises roughly the first one-third of the vessel and houses all spacecraft onboard, as well as maintenance facilities and the weapons cache.

Logistics:
The systems onboard the Confidant-class TCC are centrally controlled by three independant systems, called controllers. Each controller is a Beowulf cluster of ten systems. Error-checking and verification takes place between all ten systems before the result is accepted and forwarded to another controller for verification. In each controller, seven out of the ten systems must concur before the calculation is considered verified, and two out of the three controllers must approve the calculation.

In the event of a system error, the offending node is immediately disconnected from its controller cluster and is flagged for maintenance. In the unlikely event of seven systems in a controller failing, thus negating the possibility of a 7/10 majority, the controller is shut down entirely and all processes are handed off to the remaining controller(s).

Further Information:
For further information regarding the data contained in this document and/or transmission, please relay your request to the contact listed at the bottom of this document.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The following information has been DECLASSIFIED to Level 3. This document is hereby cleared for unsecured communications channels and encryption is not legally required.

Contact:
Tzevian Markensi, Admiral, DGNS Kuiper
c/o DGEN CENCOM, A318
5822 Altair Ave.
New Kyokudo, Essex Province, Dei Gloriam PRE318
+38.2046756131

PS>> Attached to this transmission are photos and schematics profiles of the Confidant Tactical Command Cruiser.
http://198.70.254.113/confidant-profile.png
http://198.70.254.113/confidant-bowprofile.png
http://198.70.254.113/confidant-orbit.png

"Ladies, gentlemen, please remain calm... please make your way calmly to the evacuation chamber and wait for further instructions!"

Yelling, crying. It's rather unlike Takai Tenshi's neighborhood in the bustling capital of Dei Gloriam. There's not much of a resemblance in the setting, either - there exists a state of pandemonium aboard TCS Flight 112, a low-orbit, high-speed shuttle flight destined for the coastal city of Port Zenos.

"Attention all LOCOM stations, this is TCS Flight 112. We have suffered major debris damage to both thruster modules and are currently drifting. We are currently running on battery reserves at 10% and life support is barely functional!"

"Understood TCS-112. We are relaying your original transmission and will dispatch aid to your location. Disable nonessential systems and wait for active tracking pings. LOCOM 412 transmission concluded."

Passengers were ecstatic - that's to be expected - but what broke the camel's back was the lack of self-control the crew exhibited.

The light from the sun that shone through the windows disappeared - all aboard the shuttle stood in complete darkness. Takai sat calmly, staring out the window as a large black mass approached the disabled shuttle. Others were not so reserved...

"What the hell is that thing?"

"We're all fucking dead!"

"Wait... I can see something!"

The black mass engulfing a good portion of space disappeared gradually as lights aboard it clicked on, slowly revealing a massive ship lumbering towards them.

"It's bearing our flag... what the hell is it?"

More of the vessel became visible, even more so when a large airlock in the bow opened, preparing to take in the helpless little shuttle.

"Praise be to God... the Kuiper!"