(CNS Luvon Gilrie, Tyhad Station Advanced Prototype Testing Range, Tyhad System)
“We’ve arrived, Captain.”
Captain Faylen Zylna nodded once at her pilot. “Very well. Comms, signal the testing facility, and request further orders.”
Lieutenant Tanyl Leoven, her XO, took a breath. “Think they’re finally going to tell us what we’re going to be testing?”
Captain Zylna chuckled. “Well, I think we can narrow down at least part of it. It won’t be a new ship class, because they would have a test crew already. For the same reason, it won’t be armor, because that would be a good amount of time in the yards.”
Leoven nodded slowly. “Ah, I see. There aren’t yard facilities here for a major rework or redesign, meaning that whatever we’re testing will need to fit inside the existing hull. Not likely to be anything bolted on to the hull, since that would ruin our stealth profile, and at that point you might as well send another ship, right?”
“Right. So, that narrows it down quite a bit. Then you have to consider what we have that the more traditionally built ships don’t have, that makes us the ones who need to test this new design.”
The Lieutenant considered that for a moment. “Sensor software could be tested on any ship, more or less. Our scanners are good, but they are the same as other ships in the fleet. It could be a new comms array, if any hardware was something that could be done without additional equipment outside the hull. But the only way that works is if it is a stealth communications suite, that can somehow utilize the existing emitters.”
Zylna shook her head. “Not likely. Anything comms systems they came up with would almost certainly need to be routed through the hull, same as sensors. And any new drive system would require work, as well.”
“That just leaves weapons then, when you get down to it. Doubt they’ll replace our point defense, or the turrets. Which just leaves, what? The missiles and the main gun?”
“That’s what I’m thinking. The one edge that Black Star has on all the other powers, really, is their weapons capability, and the willingness to use them. That capability is due to the owner not being burdened by oversight committees keeping him from spending R&D money wherever he likes. And he likes developing new weapons tech more than anything else, it seems.”
Leoven chuckled. “No doubt the Navy has been working their connections to the Senate to try and point out that if a single corporation is doing this, the other powers could, too, and that we’ll be left behind. That should wake a few people up.”
Before she could respond, the comms officer spoke up. “Captain, Tyhad Station confirming our arrival. They’ve transmitted docking instructions at the station. Also, they request you and the XO to repair aboard for a briefing.”
“Very well. Confirm receipt. Helm, take us in. XO, I’ll meet you at the forward docking hatch in ten minutes. Ensign Colhara, you have the conn.”
“Aye, Captain.”
(Conference Room, Tyhad Station Advanced Prototype Testing Range, Tyhad System)
Upon entering the station, they were quickly, and efficiently, led to a conference room. Considering that they passed no fewer than three checkpoints between the docking port and the conference room, on a military facility that already had restricted access, that did not give Captain Zylna warm feelings. Anything behind such a veil of secrecy was, no doubt, extremely classified. Like ‘tell a soul and you are disappeared’ levels of classified.
So, she wasn’t entirely surprised to see Naval Intelligence represented when they entered the conference room. It was no secret that Intelligence was simply in love with the Assassins, and even the civilian intelligence services were wanting to get some for their covert operations. She was, however, pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face doing that representation.
“Ah, Captain Zylna, Lieutenant Leoven. I’m glad you could make it.” Major Maerol Zumrora nodded to her as she entered. The Major was the foremost ‘expert’ in Naval Intelligence when it came to Black Star ships, technology, and tactics. Well, as far as anyone could be an expert in that group, or their owner.
She offered a salute, as was proper. “Major. I take it that if you’re here when the Gilrie has been called to participate in these trials, then it has something to do with new tech the Black Stars have parted with?”
He waved her off. “At ease. And, no, it is not any new tech that they’ve parted with that we’ve called you here to test. But for that, I expect it would be best if I let the scientists speak for themselves. Presrel?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
A knelfi with a ratlike face and sharp eyes stepped forward. “Doctor Presrel, thank you very much. I am entitled to the title every bit as much as you are yours, ‘major’.” The level of disdain in his voice on the last word was palpable. Zylna had to fight to keep from sighing. This wasn’t going to be fun. Especially as his attention now swung to her.
“I am Doctor Iefyr Presrel, senior researcher on this project. The Tyhad facility is currently engaged in practical testing under controlled conditions for several new systems that the Navy is keenly interested in. Most of them, you need not concern yourself with. The ones you do, however, are codenamed Project Yesrieth and Project Datoris.”
He took a breath, and continued. “Project Yesrieth is not a true weapons system, but rather a new type of ammunition for the primary weapon on BS-origin ships. The current BS-01 ammunition is a pure ballistic projectile hyper-accelerated by the electromagnetic rails running the length of the ship. While this is a very simple and serviceable system, Project Yesrieth aims to improve upon it.”
Doctor Presrel tapped a button on his tablet, and a screen on the far wall lit up. On it was projected a schematic of a projectile. Zylna couldn’t understand half of the math or science involved. Fortunately, the doctor was too arrogant to not describe his work.
“This is the XP-125 ‘Duntara’ multipurpose projectile. Unlike the solid titanium-nickel alloy projectile that is in current use, the XP-125 is a nickel-iron shell. The heavier alloy is used to offset the hollow space inside the projectile. This space houses a small, but powerful nuclear fusion device, usable in one of two ways.
“The first is to create a powerful bomb-fueled laser of roughly 250 terawatts, with a firing time of 0.05 seconds. This short, but powerful, blast is designed to be fired shortly before contact with enemy shields. As you know, energy strikes attenuate shield strength momentarily as shield emitters struggle to compensate. Using this, we give the XP-125 projectiles a superior chance of penetrating enemy shields and delivering the bulk of their kinetic energy directly into the hull of an enemy warship.”
Zylna nodded slowly. The Gilrie’s main gun was a powerful beast, but this was effectively the equivalent of putting anti-armor rounds in an old-style sniper rifle. If it worked, it would allow Assassin-class ships to truly live up to their name. Looking the scientist in the eye, she asked, “You mentioned these were multipurpose rounds?”
“Yes, indeed. Now, you can fire the XP-125 in ‘shieldbreaker’ mode, which I just described to you, or the ‘normal’ mode, which you’re familiar with. In that case, the nuclear payload simply adds more hazards to the environment, if anything survives. However, there’s also a third mode you can fire in, which we are calling ‘shotgun’ mode.
“As you know, there are several major weaknesses to the BS-01 rounds. The first is that the BS-01, while powerful, is simply too powerful for operations where total destruction of enemy vessels is not the primary goal when dealing with ships below the strength of a cruiser or destroyer, which is less than ideal for situations where you need to capture the target vessel. The second is that, when hitting unshielded or weakly shielded targets, there is an occasional problem with overpenetration, with the round punching all the way through the ship without hitting anything solid enough to stop it, leaving a wreck that, while highly damaged, could still have enough local control to prove a danger to allied craft. The third primary weakness of the BS-01 is that it is useless against fighters, shuttles, or other small craft, due to the fact that hitting a target that small and fast at any range is all but impossible.
“Therefore, we designed the ‘shotgun’ mode. This shotgun mode uses the fusion bomb as just that, a bomb, going off either due to proximity, or on a timer. This explosion shatters the nickel-iron casing, turning it into what is essentially the largest known fragmentation bomb, with the forward momentum already possessed by the weapon effectively making the blast similar to that of a shaped charge. While this renders the weapon useless against warships with heavy shields, the scattered impacts can still take down corvette and frigate shields, and the lesser impacts will serve more to disable, rather than destroy, an enemy ship, allowing it to be rendered safe by traditional means.
“Against fighters, this shotgun mode essentially sends shrapnel in all directions. Most fighters or bombers do not have armor or shielding powerful enough to stand up to this assault, if they are hit by the leading edge of the debris field. If fired in the path of enemy fighters or bombers, the resulting debris field would be catastrophic to any force maintaining strict formations. Even if they broke off, they would have to gather and reset their attack runs, giving allied fighters and vessels a chance to reduce their numbers.”
Leoven nodded. “So, while the blast is omnidirectional, due to the weapon’s momentum prior to the explosion, fragments in front will be accelerated, while fragments to the rear will be fighting their own momentum initially, reducing their impact. Will it be safe enough for friendly fighters, though?”
The doctor shrugged. “The math suggests it will, but this is why we’re conducting these practical tests. Certainly, any ships with at least a corvette’s shields should be protected from the ‘back scatter’, as some are calling it.”
Zylna looked at the screen. “This would be an incredible advantage, if it works, Doctor. I know the other captains of the Assassin squadron have been complaining about some of those weaknesses, especially the part about the fighters, since one of the traditional roles of a corvette is to screen larger ships against fighters, while the Assassin is a dedicated hunter-killer, rather than a screening vessel.”
Zumrora took that moment to interject. “Yes, it is for that reason that Naval Command has decided to keep plenty of the ‘traditional’ ship-classes around, though many will be receiving refits and upgrades, as time and budgets permit, I don’t doubt.” He took a breath, and then looked to the Doctor. “Move on to Datoris, Doctor.”
Doctor Presrel nodded. “Very well. Project Datoris is seeking to replicate a significant tactical advantage that has recently come to light, due to the Nomads having means of communications that transcend all known limitations, invisible to detection, without requiring transmission equipment. As you know, most navies have inducted Nomads where they can, to aid with emergency communications. However, because their connection to this world is nonpermanent, and appears to go out randomly at times, for durations lasting hours or days at a time, this is considered a stop-gap solution until a more permanent solution can be found.”
NOW Zylna new exactly why Zumrora was here. An untraceable communication system that worked at interstellar distances and didn’t have transmission equipment the size of a small house and took a level of power equivalent to 200-500 homes to activate was any spy’s ultimate dream, right up there with perfect invisibility fields and working mind-control technology that didn’t leave obvious markers, or require the use of slave collars or Hundeherstellar nanites. But that just left one burning question.
“How?”
Presrel coughed. “Well, the breakthrough was when we managed to isolate one of the volunteers in a quantum faraday cage. During the testing cycle, it was discovered that the QFC was able to isolate the volunteer from Nomad communications. Using that knowledge, experience with X’thari bio-tech interfaces, and some other experimental results that are unimportant to your testing, we were able to construct a bio-tech device which mimics the Nomad ability to communicate over distances.”
“Really? So, we can listen in on Nomad communications?”
“No, at the moment, the system is fairly basic, with messages being essentially reduced to a binary code, like the old Morse Code from Old Earth. However, while it cannot be linked to Nomad networks, our testing suggests that Nomads cannot access its network, either, allowing for a secure channel of communication that does not require vetting a ‘trusted’ Nomad.”
“Amazing! How large is this device?”
“The actual mechanism is about fifteen centimeters long, with a mass of roughly 375 grams. However, the mechanism is housed in a cylinder made of aluminum and chromed steel roughly twenty centimeters in diameter and thirty in height, filled with a nutrient solution to keep the biological component functioning. The entire mechanism has a mass of just over 36 kilograms.”
“Impressive. How did the volunteers react to the success of the project? They must have been eager to share the news with the Nomad community.”
Zumrora cleared his throat. “Yes, well, that is not part of this briefing. Suffice to say that we believe a security breach on their end is unlikely.”