Samtonia
01-08-2006, 17:23
A brief history of time...
The question of what to do withj criminals has always plagued societies throughout the ages. Some locked them up, while others simply 'disappeared' anyone they even suspected of crime to labor and death camps. An un-named human group at an unknown time decided to emulate the ancient British and strand criminals on the nearest hellhole they could find and control.
It happened to be a desert planet, ninth from the sun of its system and close enough to the sun of another that it was bathed in sunlight from two suns. So, for millenia, convicts, political enemies, and dirty and unwashed people came to be thrown onto the planet. Then some catastrophe overtook the society and ships- both filled with convicts and supplies- stopped coming. Faced with death, the guards and the penal population banded together and signed the First Agreement of Ix, the name some wag had given to the ninth planet from the sun in roman lettering.
After slowly eking out a living over the long and very, very dusty years, space travel was again rediscovered. And, owing to their rather unsavory nature, the ships controlled by the people of Ix were planetary raiding vessels. And, after steady years, of plundering, pirating, and generally trashing the surrounding systems, the Compact was on top of its immediate neighbors, who eventyually were forced to join the Compact, leading to the signing of the Second, Third, Seventeenth, and all the way up to Ninety Second Agreements of Ix. (Most were anulled in a bout of planetary nationalism that led to wholesale revolt across seven sectors, but still... that's a lot of agreements)
Which all leads to the Compact today- a group of like-minded people working for the end to their goal. Not total domination of the universe. Not riches and women to last all eternity (though that is a good benefit of their work). Instead, foir reasons not entirely known, the coupling of Buddhist acolytes with the potent drug required to pilot the Compact's ships throughout the void led to prescient individuals who saw humanity's Golden Path, the path to the future in which humanity was too far spread to ever render extinct. Owing to the eccentricities of the assorted convicts, intellectuals, and dirty peasants who had birthed the progeny that now controlled the Compact, the leaders embraced the idea wholeheartedly and decided to jam humanity onto the path whther it wanted to go there or not.
Through diplomacy, force, trade, and good old pirating, the forces of the Compact work tirelessly to showhorn humans onto the path. Led by countless recon vessels simply moving about the universe looking for outposts of humans, aliens, and strange gribblies from beyond the stars, the forces move ever onwards in their quest for life, truth, the Golden Path, and enough money to be able to get half the women in the known universe.
A brief tech listing...
First a bit of back story. While fooling around with some unimportant experiment on board the hollowed-out asteroid that he was at the time inhabiting with a band of privateers from the Ixian Compact, Theo Wassermann made a chance discovery altering the fate of the Compact for all time to come. Wassermann had discovered the secret of the universe itself, namely the quantum mechanics of space and the methods of screwing around with said mechanics of space.
From this principle came the Wassermann effect, the folding of space at the quantum level with the ambient subatomic energy fields of the object generating the effect in order to move objects through space in literally no time at all. In effect, an object will be moved from one point of the universe to the other without any time elapsing whatsoever as the particles forming the object are folded through what we see as reality. The Wassermann Effect, produced by Wassermann generators on objects ranging from ships to communications devices, allows instantaneous FTL travel. Anywhere.
Of course, the moving through of a level at which quantum mechanics have been changed requires expert navigation. Enter Melange (Or, as more commonly known by, Spice). Melange, a derivative of a number of natural ingredients found only in certain (and very, very rare places), allows limited prescience when imbibed in large enough quantities. Quantities that large, however, of such an addictive drug, mean that withdrawal results in death. The Guild Steersmen of the Navigation Guild live their entire lives out in chambers filled with floating Melange and, through the prescience given by the drug, are able to guide their vessels through space. A more modern version of this effect are computers with limited prescience, though their rates of error are high enough that they are still relegated only to guide duties for such unmanned vehicles as Magnetic Acceleration Cannon rounds and scout vessels.
The two most advanced applications of Wassermann generator-driven technology present in the Compact’s weaponry are primarily the moving ability of the Wassermann effect and the computers required for the ability to travel through the folds of the universe present throughout most advanced forms of non-energy weaponry. By using the Wassermann effect to move to any point in space, the massive torpedoes carried by many ships of the Compact are able to appear inside an enemy’s longer range defenses, inside shields, and even inside the hulls of ships at time, giving PD little to no reaction time against an object moving at extremely high speeds. The same effect can be given to railgun rounds and smaller missiles, albeit with far less accuracy or power. The limited prescience employed by the computers within these missiles is also present in the abilities of missiles and drones to manouver- the pathways shown to missiles mean that they can often avoid PD fire directed at them (though messing with the paths of the future is always difficult) and drones employing these computers can often pull off the tactical edge required to defeat other smallcraft opponents.
An unforeseen side-effect of the Wassermann effect is its ability to be used as shielding. A Wassermann field, when activated, allows only slow-moving objects to pass through it while repelling quick-moving objects away from it. This results in near-total protection from almost every from of weapon created, other than edged weapons moving at slow speeds, seen only in personal combat while using a portable, personal generator. Nonetheless, Wassermann fields have the tendency to blow up in a manner similar to a fusion bomb if they are overloaded by enough quick-moving objects striking. When a Wassermann shield is brought down due to enemy fire, the result is disastrous for the vessel using the field. As such, vessels tend to drop the fields at danger levels, allowing previously repelled objects to easily hit the vessel.
With the ability to fold space, Wassermann generators are also used as standard Non-FTL transport. By folding space, a vessel effects millions of micro-jumps through the Wassermann generator as it moves, with faster speeds requiring more micro-jumps. As such, an Ixian Compact ship is really never in existence as it moves in what appears to be a standard manner, the ship slowly pushing through rips in the quantum levels. This translates to no practical advantage, but is an interesting side effect of the Wassermann effect, one that Theo himself probably would have found far more interesting than any other use that came from his discovery.
A use of this concept that did produce tangible results was the speed at which a vessel could reorient itself to wherever it was deemed most tactically beneficial at any moment in time. The limited capacity of the Wassermann generators means that micro jumps of the level required to move a ship from one side of a battlestation to another sector of it or to the other side of the planet are used as seldom as possible. But the use of jumps of the nature is widely held and the advantage offered by this extreme maneouverability is potent when it is utilized.
Leto-class Background
Facing the problem of the continuing annoyances of systems actually able to mount effective defenses against raiding crews and Economic Harvesting Vehicles, the compact needed a vessel large enough to be able to effectively lead a fleet on attack duties, engage entire planetary defense fleets on its own, and carry enough ground troops for effective interdiction and raid missions. As such, the Ruling Council authorized the design of a new class of vessels that would become synonymous to much of the universe with the Ixian Compact- the Heavy Cruiser.
Armed and armored as much as the Battle Cruisers or Battleships of some planets, the Leto-class was envisioned as a capital-line ship that could excel at any situation it was thrown into. Its array of weaponry, the Wassermann drive systems unique to the Compact, and the heavy armor mean that a Leto is capable of standing its own against smallcraft swarms, a barrage of missiles, or a Dreadnought far larger than itself.
Armament
With a varied armament, the Leto is able to effectively engage any vessel in operation through either directed energy or kinetic weaponry, in both exo and endo-atmospheric engagements. Weaponry is mounted in turrets scattered across the ship, with each weapon in a single-mount turret that allows for total coverage of all arcs of engagement by at least two-fifths of a ship’s weapons at any given time.
The Magnetic Acceleration Cannons perform duties both as missile-launching platforms and as kinetic-kill attack weaponry, with the ability to fire a variety of slugs and warheads as well as act as the primary boost stage of a missile. Sizes range from the smaller 18cm MACs which are primarily used for ship-to-ship engagements to the larger 150cm MACs, used generally as missile-launching devices for the standard missiles used in ship-to-ship engagements. The largest MACs are the 400cm Torpedo Launchers, used almost only for firing the massive WEB-M ship-killers. Only in engagements against massive or stationary targets are they able to be used as more conventional cannons, as their slow traverse rate makes it impossible to track small vessels with enough accuracy to justify their use.
The GRASERs (Gamma-Ray Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) mounted by the Leto are one of the directed-energy weapons employed that utilizes gamma-ray laser that operates between energy levels established by meta-stable isomeric transitions in the nucleus. The ability to pinpoint attacks on enemy vessels or stationary targets makes the Grasers a potent weapon with vastly diminished beamspread present on other laser types, with the only disadvantage to the platform the fact that output of the Grasers is massively diminished should the need ever arise for a Leto to enter a planetary atmosphere.
The final major weaponry employed by the Leto are the Particle Beam Cannons, with wide apertures for their use as primarily heavy engagement weaponry. Neutralisation of the ions at the aperture for exo-atmospheric combat and charging of the ions for endo-atmospheric engagements allows effective use of the weapons in both endo- and exo-atmospheric engagements. Capable of bringing down shielding with ease and able to chew through enemy armor, the PBCs are a valuable weapon against any target, with their endo-atmospheric power diluted only somewhat by the random collisions with molecules inside atmospheric areas and without enough loss of efficiency to be alarming.
Armor
Layer 1- 1.5m Tlex Ablative Armor: A standard ablative armor, beneficial against almost every weapon encountered, especially directed energy weapons. It is designed to be easily replaceable, as even standard space travel can result in the armor being weakened enough to necessitate replacement with the amount of particles striking it when approaching planetary bodies.
Layer 2- 1.0m Super-Conductive Plating : Designed to defeat lasers and other energy weapons of their nature, this armor layer enables heat to dissipate rapidly across the entire ship and acts as a powerful barrier against heat-creating weaponry. At a certain point, even it is heated to too high of a level and has been designed to then begin to fragment in specific areas, rather than heat the entirety of the armor to dangerous levels. Its construction also provides large protection against kinetic weaponry.
Layer 3- 1.5m Cermet Plating: The tertiary level of armor, Cermet is a composite material composed of ceramic and metal materials. It provides substantial protection against both kinetic and directed-energy weapons.
Layer 4- 2.0m Arenak Plating: A transparent metal 500 times stronger and harder than the strongest and hardest steel, used primarily for spaceship armor. It is created by molding a plastic-like clay called the "matrix" into the desired shape, then coating the matrix in a weak saline solution and running an electric current across it. Pigments may be incorporated into the matrix to make opaque colored Arenak. This composes the final layer of armor in the Leto-class and allows a damaged vessel to continue fighting, with this extremely strong material providing enough protection to allow damage to almost be ignored until it is at critical levels.
Systems
The Leto carries the standard complement of electronics and transmission devices, able to communicate anywhere in the universe if necessary. Tracking devices and other ranging and computing apparatii are often far more powerful than the same system on equal or larger ships, for the simple fact that transmission through Wassermann fields can dampen the strength of some transmission types.
A notable absence on the Leto-class is the prevalence of computers and AI usually found on ships of its era. With the Butlerian Jihad and the creation of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Compact is understandably aghast at entrusting the fate of humans to mere machines. And so is required on every Leto the mentats who act as its central computer, for all matters tactical, navigational, and monitorial. Not to say computers are not used- but it is a rare emergency indeed when the ship’s back-up computers are totally controlling the workings of the ship unattended.
Leto-class Heavy Cruiser(CA)
Length: 1,600m
Beam: 250m
Height: 220m
Propulsion: 6 Wassermann Generators (For both under and over c-speed travel)
Power Plant: 10 Benson Fusion Reactors.
Complement: 2,250 (500 Fedaykin, 1,750 Core Crew)
Armor:
Layer 1- 2.5m Tlex Ablative Armor,
Layer 2- 2.0m Super-Conductive Plating,
Layer 3- 2.5m Cermet Plating,
Layer 4- 3.0m Arenak Plating
Armament:
18cm MAC(52)
150cm Graser(16)
75cm Graser(12)
125cm Particle Acceleration Cannon(8)
Point Defense Cluster(90)
400cm Torpedo Launchers(6)
150cm Mk4 MAC(24)
Smallcraft Complement: 12 Dual-Purpose Shuttles(Assault/Diplomacy), 10 Chakobsa Drone Pods (100 drones per), 4 Personal Transport Ships
The question of what to do withj criminals has always plagued societies throughout the ages. Some locked them up, while others simply 'disappeared' anyone they even suspected of crime to labor and death camps. An un-named human group at an unknown time decided to emulate the ancient British and strand criminals on the nearest hellhole they could find and control.
It happened to be a desert planet, ninth from the sun of its system and close enough to the sun of another that it was bathed in sunlight from two suns. So, for millenia, convicts, political enemies, and dirty and unwashed people came to be thrown onto the planet. Then some catastrophe overtook the society and ships- both filled with convicts and supplies- stopped coming. Faced with death, the guards and the penal population banded together and signed the First Agreement of Ix, the name some wag had given to the ninth planet from the sun in roman lettering.
After slowly eking out a living over the long and very, very dusty years, space travel was again rediscovered. And, owing to their rather unsavory nature, the ships controlled by the people of Ix were planetary raiding vessels. And, after steady years, of plundering, pirating, and generally trashing the surrounding systems, the Compact was on top of its immediate neighbors, who eventyually were forced to join the Compact, leading to the signing of the Second, Third, Seventeenth, and all the way up to Ninety Second Agreements of Ix. (Most were anulled in a bout of planetary nationalism that led to wholesale revolt across seven sectors, but still... that's a lot of agreements)
Which all leads to the Compact today- a group of like-minded people working for the end to their goal. Not total domination of the universe. Not riches and women to last all eternity (though that is a good benefit of their work). Instead, foir reasons not entirely known, the coupling of Buddhist acolytes with the potent drug required to pilot the Compact's ships throughout the void led to prescient individuals who saw humanity's Golden Path, the path to the future in which humanity was too far spread to ever render extinct. Owing to the eccentricities of the assorted convicts, intellectuals, and dirty peasants who had birthed the progeny that now controlled the Compact, the leaders embraced the idea wholeheartedly and decided to jam humanity onto the path whther it wanted to go there or not.
Through diplomacy, force, trade, and good old pirating, the forces of the Compact work tirelessly to showhorn humans onto the path. Led by countless recon vessels simply moving about the universe looking for outposts of humans, aliens, and strange gribblies from beyond the stars, the forces move ever onwards in their quest for life, truth, the Golden Path, and enough money to be able to get half the women in the known universe.
A brief tech listing...
First a bit of back story. While fooling around with some unimportant experiment on board the hollowed-out asteroid that he was at the time inhabiting with a band of privateers from the Ixian Compact, Theo Wassermann made a chance discovery altering the fate of the Compact for all time to come. Wassermann had discovered the secret of the universe itself, namely the quantum mechanics of space and the methods of screwing around with said mechanics of space.
From this principle came the Wassermann effect, the folding of space at the quantum level with the ambient subatomic energy fields of the object generating the effect in order to move objects through space in literally no time at all. In effect, an object will be moved from one point of the universe to the other without any time elapsing whatsoever as the particles forming the object are folded through what we see as reality. The Wassermann Effect, produced by Wassermann generators on objects ranging from ships to communications devices, allows instantaneous FTL travel. Anywhere.
Of course, the moving through of a level at which quantum mechanics have been changed requires expert navigation. Enter Melange (Or, as more commonly known by, Spice). Melange, a derivative of a number of natural ingredients found only in certain (and very, very rare places), allows limited prescience when imbibed in large enough quantities. Quantities that large, however, of such an addictive drug, mean that withdrawal results in death. The Guild Steersmen of the Navigation Guild live their entire lives out in chambers filled with floating Melange and, through the prescience given by the drug, are able to guide their vessels through space. A more modern version of this effect are computers with limited prescience, though their rates of error are high enough that they are still relegated only to guide duties for such unmanned vehicles as Magnetic Acceleration Cannon rounds and scout vessels.
The two most advanced applications of Wassermann generator-driven technology present in the Compact’s weaponry are primarily the moving ability of the Wassermann effect and the computers required for the ability to travel through the folds of the universe present throughout most advanced forms of non-energy weaponry. By using the Wassermann effect to move to any point in space, the massive torpedoes carried by many ships of the Compact are able to appear inside an enemy’s longer range defenses, inside shields, and even inside the hulls of ships at time, giving PD little to no reaction time against an object moving at extremely high speeds. The same effect can be given to railgun rounds and smaller missiles, albeit with far less accuracy or power. The limited prescience employed by the computers within these missiles is also present in the abilities of missiles and drones to manouver- the pathways shown to missiles mean that they can often avoid PD fire directed at them (though messing with the paths of the future is always difficult) and drones employing these computers can often pull off the tactical edge required to defeat other smallcraft opponents.
An unforeseen side-effect of the Wassermann effect is its ability to be used as shielding. A Wassermann field, when activated, allows only slow-moving objects to pass through it while repelling quick-moving objects away from it. This results in near-total protection from almost every from of weapon created, other than edged weapons moving at slow speeds, seen only in personal combat while using a portable, personal generator. Nonetheless, Wassermann fields have the tendency to blow up in a manner similar to a fusion bomb if they are overloaded by enough quick-moving objects striking. When a Wassermann shield is brought down due to enemy fire, the result is disastrous for the vessel using the field. As such, vessels tend to drop the fields at danger levels, allowing previously repelled objects to easily hit the vessel.
With the ability to fold space, Wassermann generators are also used as standard Non-FTL transport. By folding space, a vessel effects millions of micro-jumps through the Wassermann generator as it moves, with faster speeds requiring more micro-jumps. As such, an Ixian Compact ship is really never in existence as it moves in what appears to be a standard manner, the ship slowly pushing through rips in the quantum levels. This translates to no practical advantage, but is an interesting side effect of the Wassermann effect, one that Theo himself probably would have found far more interesting than any other use that came from his discovery.
A use of this concept that did produce tangible results was the speed at which a vessel could reorient itself to wherever it was deemed most tactically beneficial at any moment in time. The limited capacity of the Wassermann generators means that micro jumps of the level required to move a ship from one side of a battlestation to another sector of it or to the other side of the planet are used as seldom as possible. But the use of jumps of the nature is widely held and the advantage offered by this extreme maneouverability is potent when it is utilized.
Leto-class Background
Facing the problem of the continuing annoyances of systems actually able to mount effective defenses against raiding crews and Economic Harvesting Vehicles, the compact needed a vessel large enough to be able to effectively lead a fleet on attack duties, engage entire planetary defense fleets on its own, and carry enough ground troops for effective interdiction and raid missions. As such, the Ruling Council authorized the design of a new class of vessels that would become synonymous to much of the universe with the Ixian Compact- the Heavy Cruiser.
Armed and armored as much as the Battle Cruisers or Battleships of some planets, the Leto-class was envisioned as a capital-line ship that could excel at any situation it was thrown into. Its array of weaponry, the Wassermann drive systems unique to the Compact, and the heavy armor mean that a Leto is capable of standing its own against smallcraft swarms, a barrage of missiles, or a Dreadnought far larger than itself.
Armament
With a varied armament, the Leto is able to effectively engage any vessel in operation through either directed energy or kinetic weaponry, in both exo and endo-atmospheric engagements. Weaponry is mounted in turrets scattered across the ship, with each weapon in a single-mount turret that allows for total coverage of all arcs of engagement by at least two-fifths of a ship’s weapons at any given time.
The Magnetic Acceleration Cannons perform duties both as missile-launching platforms and as kinetic-kill attack weaponry, with the ability to fire a variety of slugs and warheads as well as act as the primary boost stage of a missile. Sizes range from the smaller 18cm MACs which are primarily used for ship-to-ship engagements to the larger 150cm MACs, used generally as missile-launching devices for the standard missiles used in ship-to-ship engagements. The largest MACs are the 400cm Torpedo Launchers, used almost only for firing the massive WEB-M ship-killers. Only in engagements against massive or stationary targets are they able to be used as more conventional cannons, as their slow traverse rate makes it impossible to track small vessels with enough accuracy to justify their use.
The GRASERs (Gamma-Ray Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) mounted by the Leto are one of the directed-energy weapons employed that utilizes gamma-ray laser that operates between energy levels established by meta-stable isomeric transitions in the nucleus. The ability to pinpoint attacks on enemy vessels or stationary targets makes the Grasers a potent weapon with vastly diminished beamspread present on other laser types, with the only disadvantage to the platform the fact that output of the Grasers is massively diminished should the need ever arise for a Leto to enter a planetary atmosphere.
The final major weaponry employed by the Leto are the Particle Beam Cannons, with wide apertures for their use as primarily heavy engagement weaponry. Neutralisation of the ions at the aperture for exo-atmospheric combat and charging of the ions for endo-atmospheric engagements allows effective use of the weapons in both endo- and exo-atmospheric engagements. Capable of bringing down shielding with ease and able to chew through enemy armor, the PBCs are a valuable weapon against any target, with their endo-atmospheric power diluted only somewhat by the random collisions with molecules inside atmospheric areas and without enough loss of efficiency to be alarming.
Armor
Layer 1- 1.5m Tlex Ablative Armor: A standard ablative armor, beneficial against almost every weapon encountered, especially directed energy weapons. It is designed to be easily replaceable, as even standard space travel can result in the armor being weakened enough to necessitate replacement with the amount of particles striking it when approaching planetary bodies.
Layer 2- 1.0m Super-Conductive Plating : Designed to defeat lasers and other energy weapons of their nature, this armor layer enables heat to dissipate rapidly across the entire ship and acts as a powerful barrier against heat-creating weaponry. At a certain point, even it is heated to too high of a level and has been designed to then begin to fragment in specific areas, rather than heat the entirety of the armor to dangerous levels. Its construction also provides large protection against kinetic weaponry.
Layer 3- 1.5m Cermet Plating: The tertiary level of armor, Cermet is a composite material composed of ceramic and metal materials. It provides substantial protection against both kinetic and directed-energy weapons.
Layer 4- 2.0m Arenak Plating: A transparent metal 500 times stronger and harder than the strongest and hardest steel, used primarily for spaceship armor. It is created by molding a plastic-like clay called the "matrix" into the desired shape, then coating the matrix in a weak saline solution and running an electric current across it. Pigments may be incorporated into the matrix to make opaque colored Arenak. This composes the final layer of armor in the Leto-class and allows a damaged vessel to continue fighting, with this extremely strong material providing enough protection to allow damage to almost be ignored until it is at critical levels.
Systems
The Leto carries the standard complement of electronics and transmission devices, able to communicate anywhere in the universe if necessary. Tracking devices and other ranging and computing apparatii are often far more powerful than the same system on equal or larger ships, for the simple fact that transmission through Wassermann fields can dampen the strength of some transmission types.
A notable absence on the Leto-class is the prevalence of computers and AI usually found on ships of its era. With the Butlerian Jihad and the creation of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Compact is understandably aghast at entrusting the fate of humans to mere machines. And so is required on every Leto the mentats who act as its central computer, for all matters tactical, navigational, and monitorial. Not to say computers are not used- but it is a rare emergency indeed when the ship’s back-up computers are totally controlling the workings of the ship unattended.
Leto-class Heavy Cruiser(CA)
Length: 1,600m
Beam: 250m
Height: 220m
Propulsion: 6 Wassermann Generators (For both under and over c-speed travel)
Power Plant: 10 Benson Fusion Reactors.
Complement: 2,250 (500 Fedaykin, 1,750 Core Crew)
Armor:
Layer 1- 2.5m Tlex Ablative Armor,
Layer 2- 2.0m Super-Conductive Plating,
Layer 3- 2.5m Cermet Plating,
Layer 4- 3.0m Arenak Plating
Armament:
18cm MAC(52)
150cm Graser(16)
75cm Graser(12)
125cm Particle Acceleration Cannon(8)
Point Defense Cluster(90)
400cm Torpedo Launchers(6)
150cm Mk4 MAC(24)
Smallcraft Complement: 12 Dual-Purpose Shuttles(Assault/Diplomacy), 10 Chakobsa Drone Pods (100 drones per), 4 Personal Transport Ships