Dodekistan
31-07-2004, 01:22
Secret ICC:
In a classified partnership with Photodyne Corporation, one of the largest and most advanced electronics companies in Dodekistan, the Dodekistan Research Institute is making the final preparations for the test of its new air defense system, nicknamed George, after St. George the Dragon Slayer.
"Final Grid authentication transmissions on my mark. Three, two, one, mark." The computer screen in front of Lt. Max Hunter flashed from a satellite-radar screen image to waves of hexidecimal numbers, and back to the radar image. "Grid communicating back at 500 MB per second. We're online, sir."
"Very well," General Jeffery Folston said, taking a puff at his cigar. "Call the Vangard. Let’s see what George can do." The lieutenant picked up a red phone which sat next to him and dialed.
"DNS Vangard, this is George command center. Proceed with fire order alpha gamma gamma bravo echo."
"Roger that George Command, weapons away."
500 miles from the command bunker, the outer hatches on the arsenal ship DNS Vanguard shot open, and 27 missiles, 17 standard stealth cruise missiles, 6 hyper-velocity cruise missiles, and 4 intermediate range ballistic missiles (powered during boost phase by hypervelocity scramjet engines) emerged simultaneously from them. The Vanguard was engulfed in smoke from the firing of the solid rocket boosters, and under that veil of smoke, it slipped stealthily into the night.
Instantly the radar screen in front of Lt. Hunter flashed red .
"We have inbound, 27 contacts. 4 taking ballistic trajectories, rest cruising at 75 feet above the deck. All different headings. Request authorization to initiate George."
"Request granted." The general took another puff of his cigar. "Now the test." Lt. Hunter flipped open a red plastic cover on his control panel, revealing a 3 position switch. The positions read, "Manual, Automatic, Urgent Automatic." He flipped the switch from manual to "Urgent Automatic." The lights in the control room switched from flashing yellow to blue.
Targeting data that had already been streaming from the control center to the central Grid queuing computer was now being forwarded to the relevant branches of the Grid system, specifically to the air defense network. As usual, pilots in this network were scrambled, and their planes put on the runways for immediate launch if given the command. Manned air defense batteries were also put on red alert. This time, however, a new component came online.
Atop the mountains that lined Dodekistan's shore and dotted its interior, a small dome surrounded by an anti-tank and sarin nerve gas / sulfuric acid minefield and approximately 15 feet in diameter, came to life. A section of the dome opened, revealing a set of mirrors, the first 8 inches across and 3 inches thick, the second, 28 inches across, and 10 inches thick. This mirror is held in place by a steel arm, which is floating at its base in an extremely powerful magnetic field. 30 feet below the mirror lay a 25 kJ (kilo joule) infrared laser (similar to the present day National Ignition Facility laser and the lasers used in Pure Fusion nuclear weapons) powers a pebble bed nuclear reactor 100 feet beneath the mirrors.
Relatively low powered laser light from the idling of the diodes illuminates the sky from 10 other sites just like this one. Each site, guided by Grid targeting signals fed by satellite radar, instantly homes in on the missiles. A radio telescope, mounted directly atop the mirror, focuses on the target, listening for the radio waves given of by the atoms in the body of the missile as they are excited by the laser light. The instant the telescope confirms that the laser is indeed on target, a pulse of 25 kJ is fired from the laser into the mirrors, and focused on the missile, which is instantly vaporized.
In less than 5 seconds, the 27 red triangles moving at different speeds, headings and altitudes disappeared from the radar screen in the George Command Center. The lights went from blue to green, and the hatches on the domes closed, and all is as silent as 10 minutes before.
General Folston takes long drag on his cigar. He exhales a smoke ring. "So it works, then?"
"That's affirmative, sir."
"Very good. So what do you think we should tell the press?"
Lt. Hunter turned around in his swivel chair. "Swamp gas, sir. Definitely swamp gas."
Technical Specifications (also secret ICC):
10 sites scattered throughout Dodekistan.
Each surrounded by motion sensors, concertina wire fences, anti-tank and sarin / sulfuric acid minefields.
25 kJ (32 kJ max) solid state infrared laser.
Power provided by pebble bed nuclear reactor beneath facility.
Three mirror system. One directs beam through secondary mirror to primary mirror, primary reflects onto secondary mirror. Adjusting the distance between the primary and secondary is the means of focusing the beam on the target.
Floating mirror assembly allows for rapid target acquisition and disposal.
Radio telescope gain can be adjusted to infinity. Optimum range for reception between 300 and 100 miles. Detects radiation from excited atoms in material exposed to laser light. Slaved to mirror assembly.
Dome is constructed of steel reinforced concrete 2 feet thick.
Each site can fire at 30 targets per minute for 1 hour, followed by a minimum cool down time of 20 minutes. Cool down time listed is only for the maximum target density.
Site is unmanned, and only accessible to service technicians after being cleared by Grid Authentication. Any unauthorized entry into the site will prompt the Grid to automatically contact special forces teams to secure the facility.
OOC:
For those of you who don’t remember (probably most of you, it was a long, long time ago), The Grid is an artificially intelligent network of computers designed to link the intelligence, police and military services and to allow them to share information seamlessly. It also has a threat queuing capability which will automatically queue targeting data to any unit in the system, optimizing the battlefield for the most effective attack or defense and for the fewest number of friendly casualties. Targeting data is fed into the grid from the radars of combat and reconnaissance aircraft, imaging and radar satellites, and from soldiers on the ground. For offensive operations, mobile transmitting stations feed information directly into the main Grid station in Dodekistan. All of this capability exists in real time, for completely fluid control of the battlefield.
In a classified partnership with Photodyne Corporation, one of the largest and most advanced electronics companies in Dodekistan, the Dodekistan Research Institute is making the final preparations for the test of its new air defense system, nicknamed George, after St. George the Dragon Slayer.
"Final Grid authentication transmissions on my mark. Three, two, one, mark." The computer screen in front of Lt. Max Hunter flashed from a satellite-radar screen image to waves of hexidecimal numbers, and back to the radar image. "Grid communicating back at 500 MB per second. We're online, sir."
"Very well," General Jeffery Folston said, taking a puff at his cigar. "Call the Vangard. Let’s see what George can do." The lieutenant picked up a red phone which sat next to him and dialed.
"DNS Vangard, this is George command center. Proceed with fire order alpha gamma gamma bravo echo."
"Roger that George Command, weapons away."
500 miles from the command bunker, the outer hatches on the arsenal ship DNS Vanguard shot open, and 27 missiles, 17 standard stealth cruise missiles, 6 hyper-velocity cruise missiles, and 4 intermediate range ballistic missiles (powered during boost phase by hypervelocity scramjet engines) emerged simultaneously from them. The Vanguard was engulfed in smoke from the firing of the solid rocket boosters, and under that veil of smoke, it slipped stealthily into the night.
Instantly the radar screen in front of Lt. Hunter flashed red .
"We have inbound, 27 contacts. 4 taking ballistic trajectories, rest cruising at 75 feet above the deck. All different headings. Request authorization to initiate George."
"Request granted." The general took another puff of his cigar. "Now the test." Lt. Hunter flipped open a red plastic cover on his control panel, revealing a 3 position switch. The positions read, "Manual, Automatic, Urgent Automatic." He flipped the switch from manual to "Urgent Automatic." The lights in the control room switched from flashing yellow to blue.
Targeting data that had already been streaming from the control center to the central Grid queuing computer was now being forwarded to the relevant branches of the Grid system, specifically to the air defense network. As usual, pilots in this network were scrambled, and their planes put on the runways for immediate launch if given the command. Manned air defense batteries were also put on red alert. This time, however, a new component came online.
Atop the mountains that lined Dodekistan's shore and dotted its interior, a small dome surrounded by an anti-tank and sarin nerve gas / sulfuric acid minefield and approximately 15 feet in diameter, came to life. A section of the dome opened, revealing a set of mirrors, the first 8 inches across and 3 inches thick, the second, 28 inches across, and 10 inches thick. This mirror is held in place by a steel arm, which is floating at its base in an extremely powerful magnetic field. 30 feet below the mirror lay a 25 kJ (kilo joule) infrared laser (similar to the present day National Ignition Facility laser and the lasers used in Pure Fusion nuclear weapons) powers a pebble bed nuclear reactor 100 feet beneath the mirrors.
Relatively low powered laser light from the idling of the diodes illuminates the sky from 10 other sites just like this one. Each site, guided by Grid targeting signals fed by satellite radar, instantly homes in on the missiles. A radio telescope, mounted directly atop the mirror, focuses on the target, listening for the radio waves given of by the atoms in the body of the missile as they are excited by the laser light. The instant the telescope confirms that the laser is indeed on target, a pulse of 25 kJ is fired from the laser into the mirrors, and focused on the missile, which is instantly vaporized.
In less than 5 seconds, the 27 red triangles moving at different speeds, headings and altitudes disappeared from the radar screen in the George Command Center. The lights went from blue to green, and the hatches on the domes closed, and all is as silent as 10 minutes before.
General Folston takes long drag on his cigar. He exhales a smoke ring. "So it works, then?"
"That's affirmative, sir."
"Very good. So what do you think we should tell the press?"
Lt. Hunter turned around in his swivel chair. "Swamp gas, sir. Definitely swamp gas."
Technical Specifications (also secret ICC):
10 sites scattered throughout Dodekistan.
Each surrounded by motion sensors, concertina wire fences, anti-tank and sarin / sulfuric acid minefields.
25 kJ (32 kJ max) solid state infrared laser.
Power provided by pebble bed nuclear reactor beneath facility.
Three mirror system. One directs beam through secondary mirror to primary mirror, primary reflects onto secondary mirror. Adjusting the distance between the primary and secondary is the means of focusing the beam on the target.
Floating mirror assembly allows for rapid target acquisition and disposal.
Radio telescope gain can be adjusted to infinity. Optimum range for reception between 300 and 100 miles. Detects radiation from excited atoms in material exposed to laser light. Slaved to mirror assembly.
Dome is constructed of steel reinforced concrete 2 feet thick.
Each site can fire at 30 targets per minute for 1 hour, followed by a minimum cool down time of 20 minutes. Cool down time listed is only for the maximum target density.
Site is unmanned, and only accessible to service technicians after being cleared by Grid Authentication. Any unauthorized entry into the site will prompt the Grid to automatically contact special forces teams to secure the facility.
OOC:
For those of you who don’t remember (probably most of you, it was a long, long time ago), The Grid is an artificially intelligent network of computers designed to link the intelligence, police and military services and to allow them to share information seamlessly. It also has a threat queuing capability which will automatically queue targeting data to any unit in the system, optimizing the battlefield for the most effective attack or defense and for the fewest number of friendly casualties. Targeting data is fed into the grid from the radars of combat and reconnaissance aircraft, imaging and radar satellites, and from soldiers on the ground. For offensive operations, mobile transmitting stations feed information directly into the main Grid station in Dodekistan. All of this capability exists in real time, for completely fluid control of the battlefield.