Life2.0 - An "Of Unity" Narrative (Completed)

[Mithrill]

I raise a hand. "What does 10MW do to, say, enemy infantry?"

"Enough that they won't be your problem for very long."

In the immortal worlds of Randall Munroe (paraphrased), "it is at this point when [the target] stops being biology and instead becomes physics".

 

[CBR JGWRR]

In the immortal worlds of Randall Munroe (paraphrased), "it is at this point when [the target] stops being biology and instead becomes physics".

Not quite - 10MW is enough that someone unarmoured suddenly thinks "why the heck is my hair on fire", looks up and gets blinded so badly they'll need an Engenerator. In armour they get a little while longer to notice their helmet and pauldrons are melting, but the same natural instinct to look up takes them out the fight.

It would be survivable, as cover could be reached before the damage is lethal - people have walked away from more energetic lightning strikes. Immediate treatment for extremely severe hyperthermia would be critical for long-term recovery however.

10GW though, then basically their brains are boiling off before they realise they're under attack and your cited description is highly apt.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Closing The Net, Part 2"
29th Daas, 10 (2189)
Juno Laronius
​

I follow Tryykad onto the bridge of the Gallus. Well technically the Trebonarius Gallus, after an old CEO, but... That's Appia's humour.

He perches on the Captain's chair while a Human technician carries on fixing it. There's twice as many technicans as there are bridge officers.

Tryykad looks at me. "I am not letting Appia be the one to liberate The Infinite Wheel. We go first."

I lean on the chair of the laticlavius as a klaxon starts and cuts out. "Tryykad, this ship was meant to be in drydock still. Appia only dragged it out because it was the only ship available to meet her end of the deal."

He runs an eye over the tactical angusticlavius' console. "The bits we need working, are. The rest we can finish later." He frowns. "Honestly, I expected better readiness from you Olinbari; shpyards that can produce dozens of ships, and we've had to compile a fleet from scrap and borrowed freight."

I shrug. "We're a MegaCorp, not a war machine. Freight takes up the overwhelming majority of shipyard time. And besides, normally we'd have ships we could draw on from all over MSI space, whereas the Praetorians nicked the Gateway and cut Brigantia off. Now we have the Gateway again, we can bring in the ships and Sirzusians to liberate your home-ring."

He turns to the windscreen, fixing a stare at the Gateway ahead. "I have dreamed of liberating The Infinite Wheel for so long... It is frustrating to wait."

I sit in the chair. "Well, as your laticlavius, it is my duty to remind you that come next week we'll have Sharpbeak and freighters on the way to collect whatever the Holocron and Unity come up with, the Commanders have been working on coordinating legions and the piracy-patrol fleets... It is wise to wait a little longer."

He fluffs his plumage. "I know."

Sparks and static from the comms station get our attention.

Tryykad frowns. "It worked earlier."

I look at my wrist display. "Nevermind, I'll check."

The holodisplay brings up Admiral Tulla Sabucius. She frowns at me. "Is there a reason you aren't moving?"

I pan the view. "Still working."

She sighs. "Fine. We're moving out. Is your ship operational?"

I look at the resolute Kyaese at their stations, and turn last to Tryykad. The others cease their work, and also look at their... What rank is Tryykad even anyway?

No matter.

He tilts his chin up, fluffs out his plumage like a dueling rooster. "Kri Kyaese Ci!"

 

[Mithrill]

I hope they'll be fine; martial spirit can substitute a lot of things, but void protection ain't one of them.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Fortunately, our space chickens also get space suits.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Some Ringworld Mechanics​

There are quite a few complications when writing ringworlds. The single biggest problem with ringworlds is that people want them to have Earth-like gravity while being orientated towards the central star.

Obviously, we can't use the gravity of the ringworld, as it is concentric with the star (unless you have a big problem of course) and too low.

The simplest from a habitability perspective (with some near-unsolvable engineering constraints) is spinning it.

Spun habitats are a well understood principle - you build a ring or torus structure, spin it up and live on the inside.

The difference is a ringworld is up at well over a million metres per second in angular velocity for a 1AU radius ring at 1g. There are things that can cope with the stresses enough to make that work in theory - manipulating the strong nuclear force is probably the most feasible, although negative mass integration might also help. At this velocity, the "year" is only two weeks long.

Now, spinning the ringworld up to that speed is quite possible - even 400m Orion pusher-plates could do it, if you didn't mind burning billions of planets worth of U-235 and U-233 per ringworld. (the total energy required is measured in weeks of the Sun's power output at just 8000kg/m³ average density)

But...

A ship orbiting around Sol at 1AU is travelling at around 20-30km/s depending on the exact orbit - at the 1000km height of the top of the atmosphere of the ringworld, the ringworld is passing above/below fast enough that whole continents pass in moments. Not ideal for doing orbital bombardment or dropping an Iron Rain.

So, you have to match velocity then descend into the atmosphere of the ringworld, or dock to tethers. Safe to say that in an invasion scenario, you don't have tethers until you have established your beachheads, and merging into an atmosphere travelling at 1.2Mm/s with a ship starting at ~30km/s is... Interesting.

And frankly, because Life2.0 are going to be our characters handling the ground warfare bits, we need to tweak the scenario so that they can get to the battle safely. And take off afterwards.

So, can we tweak some settings and come up with a more narratively-suitable ringworld?

Well, lets look at The Infinite Wheel. we know it orbits a G-type star, and therefore it is analogous to orbiting at Earth orbit plus or minus a bit of an AU. It was built by the Cybrex, and subsequently colonised by ancestral Kyaese. It doesn't need to be at 1g gravity; the Cybrex might have been fine in microgravity, and being avians, it isn't going to be too hard for Kyaese to adapt to microgravity. So, the ringworld orbiting at the natural velocity for it's orbit suits fine.

Septima will want a gravity-equivalent for her facilities, and ring-type structures built on the ringworld can be adapted to suit her requirements - meaning the Kyaese are now being captured and dragged into gigantic tube facilities where they are being forced to acclimatise to more standard gravity, spun around all day like they are in a gigantic hamster ball. This would complicate the design that I originally had in mind that Ruki outlined on the previous page, but, it's still workable - we now consider a ring of battery farm blocks rather than a stack of battery farm blocks.

Needing to have a physical "roof" to retain atmosphere - which could be as simple as reinforced glass to allow daylight through, with solar panel tiles that are following train-tracks along the roof to give a "night" equivalent - does complicate the exercise as bombardment of the surface is no longer available for reasons of atmospheric retention. But equally, after these revisions Septima's logical place to site her infrastructure is also the roof, as it would make transporting produce from the ringworld easier.

Is this necessarily what I had in mind?

Well... I had in mind following Elizabeth descending against flak turrets shooting up at her before fighting Sirsuzians and Praetorians in CQC as her and her team fight their way through a battery farm and liberating Kyaese as they go, covered in open ground battles by laser-armed warships that were essentially safe from returned fire by virtue of Septima's MSI weapons technology using Gamma ray lasers that couldn't fight through the atmosphere of the ringworld. There are a few changes resulting here.

Chiefly, it impacts the order of battle. The whole USP of Life2.0 here is that their lasers can go through the atmosphere at hit the target. in the target is in space, that no longer applies, which means MSI ships take over the bombardment duties.

The opportunity is it gives the chance for the railguns of Life2.0's corvettes a chance to shine - with no atmosphere to diffract the gamma ray lasers to uselessness, Septima now has the better lasers, with Life2.0 now needing to use the Vanguard corvette railguns. (CoaDE limits railguns to only fire when based on their accuracy against the target size, which usually means lasers beat railguns, but you can make a combat range extender that allows a 10Mm combat range, which is enough that sand-pellet railguns with decent tracking beat lasers)

CQC inside a building which has gravity in some places and not others could always be interesting, especially as stuff starts breaking.

What if the farms are on the surface, but the transports launch from the roof?

Well... the Kyaese population is likely to build on the surface as that is where their raw material is, and space elevators would handle transporting Kyaese products from the farms to the roof with ease - in a microgravity environment, the self-supporting load on the elevator is minimal, meaning vastly increased payload mass. So there is a rationale for it.

Life2.0 can still use their lasers - you can compensate for refraction through a reinforced-glass lens - which brings the laser vs flak discussion back into view. And well, capping the atmosphere instead of builidng the walls high enough to naturally retain the atmosphere massively reduces the height that engagement takes place over.

Hmm...

I think I can work with it.

 

[Macavity116]

Given the sheer size of Ringworlds (as presented in Stellaris) isn't it possible to find a location on the Ringworld where Life 2.0 can make an uncontested surface landing? I imagine that even with an army of two or three million men, it should not be possible to defend every possible landing site on the ring. Defending the space above and around it is a more workable option, but once those defenses are bypassed or defeated, the attacking force should be suddenly swimming in options for landing sites.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Yeah, but don't forget all Life2.0 have got is limited rockets and infantry until they start collecting the Holocron's armies of battle droids; right now it is a war of precision strikes, as that's what they've got to work with.

Plus, we kind of finish Life2.0 after liberating the first battery farm. After that, we're into Mandate Of Heaven.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

So, this is the last 'fun' piece before we get into the final confrontation with Septima - after this, we are into the darkness before the dawn.

As a teaser of how dark...

"I will warn you once. For every weapon you fire, every boarding pod you launch, every hour you plan my destruction and not withdraw, I will purge a million Kyaese. If you doubt my resolve, then watch their fate, courtesy of a certain tool from their Human 'allies' - Zyklon-B."

---

For now though, here's Rivkah, Naomi, Appia, Buri and Sophia discussing Olinbari society, Companionship Assets and of course, Scipio. Some non-graphic, mildly NSFW content played for light-hearted comedic value, hence the spoiler tagging.

Spoiler: "So Mum, About Scipio..."

"So Mum, About Scipio..."
30th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

I follow Mum and Dad down to meet Appia and Sophia, in a bar on one of the Human-adapted Arishkan cruisers.

They are at a table, several empty synthol bottles already. I take a chair next to Appia, and smile. "Drinking on duty and flirting with Sophia now?"

They both laugh. Appia loudest. "Please Rivkah, I'm being good now, the wine is synthetic, and no, we're just two friends, putting the world to rights before we enter the Gateway."

Sophia looks at Appia. "Besides, we tried that when we considered the seducing Appia plan. It didn't work out." She leans back in her chair. "Honestly, I don't intend to have sex again, not after all I went through on the Vulcan."

Mum looks at Dad as they take their seats. "Yeah, I felt that way, until our first mating season."

Appia looks back at Sophia. "Point is, I'm not flirting with her. We're just talking about a few things."

Sophia looks at Naomi. "Like Gaius."

Mum sighs. "He deserved everything I did to him."

I think back to the footage. "Mum, you cut off his hands, lacerated his legs, arms, torso and head, stabbed his chest sixteen times and castrated him..."

She picks a bit of dirt off her claw. "As said, he deserved everything I did to him."

I look at her. A little nervous. "What did he do to deserve being butchered like that?"

Mum seethes. Appia looks at her. "Perforated bowel, wasn't it?"

Mum takes a deep breath. "Yes... Thankfully Virtruvius Amatius chose to pay for emergency surgery and sue Gaius for property damage and costs rather than lose me."

Appia nods. "And the courts actually made him pay."

Mum sighs. "Only his attempted corruption ever made any doubt; he was recorded going in to my boudoir, recorded bending me over the bed, ramming right up there despite my screams, and... Leaving me a sobbing wreck after pulling out and finding my blood all over his manhood, caught trying to escape, with forensics matching my blood on him and a sample of his semen taken in custody with samples taken from my body at the medical centre."

I take Mum's hand. "I'm sorry Mum."

"He improved slightly after that, he at least used lube... I hated every second of pretending to enjoy him."

Appia leans in. "Absolutely - it is why so many Olinbari women either turn lesbian or bisexual; the boys have their first goes on Companionship Assets who are terrified of giving a bad experience, so they are all compliments and sweetness, and then the boys think they are really good. But, they are actually so useless us girls find each other, and find out we're much better."

Sophia rests her hands on the table. "And likewise, for us girls who have our first experiences with a Companionship Asset, we get a really good time because they aren't terrified of us."

I look at Mum. "Is that true?"

She glances at Dad before replying. "Yeah, it is. I really dislike it - I can just about tolerate the taste of my own vagina on Buri when I clean him up afterwards, but I hated licking out other women."

Appia shudders. "You were really good at it though. Like, the moment we started doing that... I recorded us and sent it to Valerius to tell him I was breaking up with him."

"Vopisca wasn't keen."

"Yeah... It got awkward after that threesome."

They pause. Mum looks down at the table.

Buri stares at Appia. "How did your species reach this point?"

Appia shrugs. "Long or short?"

I look at Appia. "Long."

She sighs. "Originally, going back centuries, Companionship Assets weren't for sex, but for teaching how you should deal with non-Olinbari, and for genuine companionship. But then we found the Humans, and an enterprising CEO realised their suitability for sexual relations." Appia looks at Mum. "He reframed Companionship Assets into what they are today, where Human women are your introduction to practice on when young, and your pleasuring toy on the side when you're older. Only, it got out of hand, and suddenly we had a major issue with declining birthrates as heterosexual Olinbari pairings stopped beginning and existing ones stopped having children. Gnaea was looking into how to curb the excesses as part of his reforms."

"Is that why you didn't have as much trouble pushing it through as we thought you would?"

"Yeah. Plus, the Holocron and Sophia here have been working on a whole load of material to educate Olinbari men on how not to be useless, and hopefully, that'll work."

I look at Mum. "Did you know about that?"

Mum looks at Dad. "Oh."

He looks at her and thinks it over. "'Give people the chance to see anything, become anything, explore anything, learn anything, and all they do is...'. That's what he said."

Appia looks at them. "So you didn't know?"

Mum shakes her head. "Nope. Makes sense though. So... Is he now the biggest supplier of cock rings?"

I look at Mum. "What's a cock ring?"

She sighs. Looks down at Dad. Smiles. "A small ring that fits on the base of the manhood that has a piece that sticks out for stimulating certain external pieces of the female anatomy while penetrating her."

Appia leans back in her chair. "You also get dildos and strapons."

"Which are?"

Mum glances back up, briefly. "I have a dildo that is a cast of your Dad's manhood that I use. It's a little worn now."

"So... It's a fake manhood?"

Appia smiles. "I'd say better than the real thing actually, so many shapes."

Sophia looks at her. "Dildos are ok, but I prefer a strapon."

Appia scratches her nose. "Fingers and tongues are better really."

Mum sighs. "Buri and I have a strapon we share. It's really intimate."

Appia whistles. "Wow, go Buri."

Dad runs his claws through Mum's braids. "I learned a lot."

I hesitate a little. But, well... "Dad... Where does it go when Mum does that?"

Mum laughs. "Well, one end goes inside me, the other inside him."

"Where though? The bowels? That's... An exit."

Mum looks at Dad's face. "On a Human woman, or Olinbari, it's all... Quite close together down there, so the right man can make it really quite lovely. But Gaius was as much the wrong man as your Dad is right."

Appia giggles. "So you really do take it up there from Buri?" She looks down. "But... Isn't he... Titanium?"

Mum smiles as she looks down at Dad below the table. "Yes, he is. And yes, I do."

Appia leans in. "And hung like a stallion?"

Dad looks at Mum. She's still looking down, her eyes now closed. "He's enough for me."

I look at Mum. "What's a stallion?"

Appia giggles. "An Earth mammal reputed to have very long manhoods."

I look at her. "So..." I take a deep breath. "I have a theory, which... This is kind of confirming. Humans and Olinbari really are sex addicts."

Appia howls with laughter. "Yes." She composes herself. "Yes. We are. Personally I can't believe how well I'm coping with just my fingers for company these days..."

Mum laughs. "I was addicted to masturbating while I was a Companionship Asset, it was the only way I could stay sane."

I look at Mum. "And Dad's manhood really is that good that you need it twice?"

Mum blushes. "To be fair, dildos are available in every size up from your Dad up to those crazy big ones you get for the novelty and don't use much."

Appia looks at Mum. "I have a few of those, just for when I wonder if I should try a man again. Wait." She looks at Dad. "Up from Buri?"

Mum rests her head on Dad's chest. "I have a confession to make... I have been overstating Buri's size pretty much since we mated for the first time." She rests a single finger on the table as she looks up at Dad. "The first time we mated, I knelt at the bedside in suspenders and a eyecatching crotchless garment, and waited for my Buri to come find me and mate with me. The Xenaya had prepared me by telling me how Xenaya mating works, and I decided to practice unreserved submission."

Dad nuzzles her head. "I entered the room to find her like that... Very invigorating."

Mum giggles. "His hands held my hips, and my excitement rose as Buri gently stroked me, then spiked as the tip of his tongue touched the back of my knee. He ever so slowly placed the rest of his tongue on me, and well... I was wet with anticipation by the time I felt his sabres against my thighs."

Dad purrs. "She is very delicious, and so juicy."

Mum purrs too. "And well, eventually he picked me up and held me in the air. I was left looking at this lovely four inch long tube sticking out of him. I popped it in my mouth, and we've loved having each other that way ever since."

Appia looks at Dad. "Four inches? Not Fourteen?"

Dad smiles. "Her clitoris is on the outside. Her G-spot is two inches in. Do I need any more than that?"

Appia's cough splutters, while Mum nuzzles him. "After a decade and a half of surgically enhanced Olinbari men, I was so thrilled to find my husband was just right for me."

Appia looks at Buri. "I need a Xenayan wife."

I think of my sexy Scipio. "So... What do I do with my husband?"

Mum looks at me. "Well, what have you done so far?"

"Mostly laid on my back while he enjoys."

Appia looks at me. "If you are making him get there in minutes, you'll do that fine. The question is, do you enjoy it? Does he at least know where your clit is and how to use it?"

Mum looks at her. "Appia... Xenayan women don't have clits. They have a rigid mating season so that children are born ahead of the summer so that they grow before winter." She looks down at Dad again. "That's the other reason I made a cast of Buri's manhood, their men only have theirs at all during mating season, and once Buri had mated with me, I... Missed taking him. Until we got in the Holocron's engenerators, I kind of needed a dildo eleven months in a year..."

Appia looks at her. Takes it in. Then back to me. "Girl, you are missing out."

Mum takes my hand. "Suggest pegging him, Buri and I found it a really wonderful bonding time."

I look at Appia. "That raises something interesting. Why have I met loads of gay Olinbari girls, yet seemingly no gay guys?"

Appia looks at me. "You ask that after hearing about what happened to your Mum?"

"Are they really that bad? Scipio isn't."

Appia snorts. "Rivkah, sat at this table you have three women. Two have very extensive experience of Olinbari men, and the third has had more than a few manhoods inside her in her early years. We're now one committed lesbian, a celibate bisexual, and an ex-Companionship Asset who chose her female clients in preference to her male clients despite her strong heterosexuality. All three united because Olinbari men really are that bad in bed."

I think about Scipio. "Scipio... I like it with him. It's really easy, I just invite him on top and let him do what he wants."

Sophia shakes her head. "That is precisely the problem Rivkah. Does he at least kiss you? Hold your hands?"

I smile. "Yes. Well, we lick each other. I can get my tongue down his throat."

Sophia looks at Appia. "Well, not all your efforts were wasted."

I look at them. "So... I'm doing it right?"

Mum smiles. "Honestly Rivkah, you can't really go wrong - wear some more lingerie, men love that. Especially Olinbari men, women's lingerie is extortionately overpriced in MSI space... The hard part is training them to take care of you."

"Extortionately overpriced?"

Appia nods. "Even for us Olinbari ladies, although Companionship Assets got charged even more." She shrugs. "It's a fascist economy."

Mum nods. "I had a friend kill herself because a client leased her with lingerie to wear, as the asset is liable for paying a lease even if he buys it outright to give to her."

I look at Appia. "What possible logic is there for that?"

Appia sighs. "Gets Companionship Assets stuck into debt for clothes they need to seduce men into paying for them."

"Why?"

Mum sighs. "Companionship Assets were in a weird place where they were property of the state, and leased out - MSI charged staggeringly high sums to actually purchase Companionship Assets."

Appia nods. "I paid hundreds of Energy Credits over the years to have my little collection of Companionship Assets be mine outright."

Mum looks at her. "Hence why most went to the brothels to hire Companionship Assets, as they were the only groups who had lots of women to hire as MSI made sure the margin was there, but razor thin."

I look at her. "How razor thin?"

"Virtruvius risked bankruptcy to save my life. Obviously while in surgery I wouldn't be earning, but he'd still have all the costs going out of my care and the overheads, plus lost clients if my regulars didn't wait for me to heal up. So he gambled on winning in court to have costs awarded, and paid for Olinbari medical treatment quality."

Appia looks at me. "It was quite a high-profile case - the Licenii were a rising force in MSI internal corporate power-broking, and just as Gaius was pressing on the court to throw the case out as simple property damage, there were others hoping to check their growth, and there were Reformers hoping to get a sexual assault case against Gaius."

I look at the table. "But... It's obviously sexual assault."

Mum leans on Dad. "But property cannot be sexually assaulted."

"Oh."

Appia nods. "He wasn't convicted for sexual assault though."

Mum sighs. "No. But I punished him, in the end."

I look at her. "You regret it, inside."

Mum sighs deeply. Takes the synthol Appia offers. "The Gaius I wanted to kill was that six foot something Adonis with his stupid eight-pack and his ridiculously broad shoulders and toned biceps and..." She sighs. "What I actually got was this slob wearing his face. Sometimes, I think of him, and wonder what the heck happened between him dating Cassia Epidius and when I met him again."

"Forgiven him, in death?"

Mum takes another bottle. She sighs, before downing it.

Dad looks at Appia, then flicks glances back to Naomi.

Appia smiles. "It's synthol Buri, you can throw the effects off any time you like."

Mum looks at Dad, holding her stomach. "I forgot how much synthol disagrees with me."

"Mum..."

I'm interrupted. "All hands battlestations. Repeat: All hands battlestations. Sixty seconds to Gateway transit."

 

[Macavity116]

I feel like this is the final deep breath before the final sprint to the finish. Also,

I have a theory... This is kind of confirming. Humans and Olinbari really are sex addicts.

Truer words have never been spoken, Rivkah. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Humans went off the deep end a long time ago on this front.

 

[Mithrill]

Truer words have never been spoken, Rivkah. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Humans went off the deep end a long time ago on this front.

Well, with sapience came ability to ignore biological impulses (to a degree, but still), so evolution had to come up with  something to make sure the species continued to produce next generation. And maybe overcorrected.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

I feel like this is the final deep breath before the final sprint to the finish. Also,


Truer words have never been spoken, Rivkah. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Humans went off the deep end a long time ago on this front.

Not as far off the deep end as Olinbari though.

Well, with sapience came ability to ignore biological impulses (to a degree, but still), so evolution had to come up with  something to make sure the species continued to produce next generation. And maybe overcorrected.

In my opinion, we can safely ignore the possibility that a rational species will choose as a whole species to not reproduce; one or more demographics within the species will choose to reproduce, and outgrow the others. And when you trace the history of Human warfare, population growth is one of the most critical determinations of which societies win, and which lose.

You'd be more likely to end up with mating seasons that time the child's conception to give them the optimal chance of future success in later life - in modern Humans, that would be early January to early February to give them the most growth prior to beginning school, although perhaps a September-November mating season would be better in a clean-slate system designed for mother and baby welfare rather than accomodating tradition following the historical factors that led to school terms starting after the autumn harvest.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Storm"
30th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

I join Scipio just as we get through the Gateway.

I lick his ear, then make an obvious look down. "Is that a rocket in your pocket, or are you pleased to see me?"

He stares at me a while.

I giggle. "Scipio."

"Yes?"

"My eyes are up here."

He laughs. Then looks back at his screen as the sensor feed resumes. "Being serious, look."

I look at the sensor data in front of him.

Oh.

Ah.

It's... Blank.

I sprint to a window as the radiation blocking curtains retract.

Then stop.

Space is blue.

I step back. "What the?"

He calls out to at me. "She's generated a cosmic storm. We're blind."

 

[Macavity116]

"She's generated a cosmic storm. We're blind."

Oh, interesting. That'll change the dynamics of the fight. Maybe some Mutara Nebula-inspired action?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Oh, interesting. That'll change the dynamics of the fight. Maybe some Mutara Nebula-inspired action?

While I didn't have that specific incident in mind, there are definitely parallels. I'm much more drawing on the recent dev diary for Cosmic Storms.

Of course, the biggest issue with that comparison is that in our scenario our Khan figure - Septima - is more experienced at ship combat than our Kirk-figure. (Tryykad)

Personally, I find the idea of system-wide cosmic storms to be highly immersion breaking, but a variation on the "Stardust Storm" fits perfectly.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Star-Submarines"
30th Daas, 10 (2189)
Buri Of Unity​

I follow Naomi into the briefing room.

Well... Observatory.

Behind us is the Gateway, and in front a boiling boundless ocean surrounding all.

She looks straight at Appia. "Um, we appear to be floating in an ocean of liquid water."

Appia glances at another Olinbari. He nods. "Yes. Although it is ice further out."

I nuzzle Naomi. "I thought water froze in space?"

She returns. "I expect the heat of the Gateway is enough to keep it warm enough to stay liquid. The real question is why is there an ocean here?"

I look at the Olinbari Appia looked at. "Who are you?"

His eyes narrow at me. "Corcius Tullus, Chief Science Executive of the Probus."

Appia looks at Naomi. "The best explanation we have is someone has melted an iceball out here, and it's coagulated around the gravitational centre of the Gateway. We're blind... At this point, we have no light this far from the star, which being coplanar with the Ringworld can't be seen anyway. All we have is the lights of our ships which are only visible to certain species once we get more than a few hundred strides. We are also extremely limited on propulsion."

I look at her. "Surely we can still go?"

She sighs. "While we have deflectors, they are designed for mitigating the interstellar medium and very light atmosphere. They are not designed for pushing through open ocean."

Corcius points at a screen. "The hydrodynamics calculations indicate we are thrust limited to the equivalent of just over five of your metres per second."

I look at him. "I could swim faster... But what about Septima?"

"We've calculated that Septima's Titan is going to be limited to a fraction of the velocity because of the vast hull damage she's sustained. But, she could have towing ships."

"So the hunt is on. How far though? How big is this ocean?"

Appia shrugs. "Can't be more than a few thousand kilometres. The problem is finding her. Spaceships are not equipped with submersible sensors, for obvious reasons. Gravitic scanners are getting interfered with because of the Gateway and that they think they're at the centre of a planet. Radar is getting absorbed by the water, although we are hoping to have the frequencies reworked shortly, and tachyon sensors have undesirable interactions with Gateways."

Tulla sighs. "The Acca Larentia is on the way, and they're working on the revised sensors to allow us to see. But, if we intend to pursue, harsh reality means we have to choose to risk being ambushed in the water effectively blind and still take a few days to a week just to traverse the ocean."

I sit. "Not ideal."

Naomi sits on my lap. "Definitely not."

Appia sighs. "The sensible thing is to wait."

Tulla shakes her head. "Which is exactly what Septima wants. Even if there are no subs, she forces us to add a week to travel this ocean every time."

I look at her. "What weapons would we have?"

Tulla frowns. "Here, we can defend ourselves." Her fists clench. "But after a week in open water, who knows what will still be working... Missiles will be weapons of choice, but we will have to get close. Very close."

Naomi sighs. "Looks like all we can do is hold the Gateway then?"

I nuzzle her. "Septima must have alternative trade routes... She knows the Gateway is lost, but so is she if commerce fails to flow."

Appia nods. "Hyper Relay to the next system that has a Hyper Relay next to the Gateway."

Tulla looks out the window. "We must make a decision. By our calculations, Septima's Titan will be withdrawing at barely a few metres per second. At that pace, she'll need almost two weeks to escape. We should send in the Corvettes to pursue - they can make the journey in a day."

"If she has other Gateways, then surely we can attack through each one? She can't block all of them."

Naomi leans back on me. "Buri is right - we send the covettes to intercept Septima, and hold the rest of the fleet until Sharpbeak arrives, then break through another Gateway."

Appia turns to the ocean. "I think so too. We lose too much time and fuel pushing the larger ships through this ocean. We should split." She looks back at Tulla. "Your thoughts?"

Tulla stands. Joins Appia. "I believe that the hunt is on."

 

[Mithrill]

"So the hunt is on. How far though? How big is this ocean?"

Appia shrugs. "Can't be more than a few thousand kilometres

That's no small thing, actually. Assuming no gravity manipulation happens, this would mean Septima parked a ball of water with radius of over 1000 km near the gateway. Over 4 milion cubic km of water, if math serves, if this is minimum case. Assuming the source of ice (which would have to be dwarf planet made out of pure frozen H2O) started at 0 Celsius and just had to be melted, that is... 333 kJ/kg times over 4 milion tons... 1.3 terajules just to make it liquid. At minimum size and maximal temperature. Every degree lower adds approximately 0.016 terajule at this size. Making the ball larger increases demand by square-cube law. All this discounting the necessity of keeping it in equilibrium with radiation heat loss, which is quite likely negligeable, but not free.

What I'm getting at, it's a big lad and Septima seems to be quite deep in sunk cost fallacy if she's willing to throw that much mass and energy into the battlefield disruption that might inconvinience her more than Appia. Or she's still high on Eater juice and supremely overconfident.

 

[Macavity116]

"Um, we appear to be floating in an ocean of liquid water."

Appia glances at another Olinbari. He nods. "Yes. Although it is ice further out."

I nuzzle Naomi. "I thought water froze in space?"

She returns. "I expect the heat of the Gateway is enough to keep it warm enough to stay liquid. The real question is why is there an ocean here?"

I look at the Olinbari Appia looked at. "Who are you?"

His eyes narrow at me. "Corcius Tullus, Chief Science Executive of the Probus."

Appia looks at Naomi. "The best explanation we have is someone has melted an iceball out here, and it's coagulated around the gravitational centre of the Gateway.

Now THAT is a really cool sci-fi twist. Will we get a problem-solving sequence where our heroes "Science the shit out of this problem?"

 

[CBR JGWRR]

That's no small thing, actually. Assuming no gravity manipulation happens, this would mean Septima parked a ball of water with radius of over 1000 km near the gateway. Over 4 milion cubic km of water, if math serves, if this is minimum case. Assuming the source of ice (which would have to be dwarf planet made out of pure frozen H2O) started at 0 Celsius and just had to be melted, that is... 333 kJ/kg times over 4 milion tons... 1.3 terajules just to make it liquid. At minimum size and maximal temperature. Every degree lower adds approximately 0.016 terajule at this size. Making the ball larger increases demand by square-cube law. All this discounting the necessity of keeping it in equilibrium with radiation heat loss, which is quite likely negligeable, but not free.

What I'm getting at, it's a big lad and Septima seems to be quite deep in sunk cost fallacy if she's willing to throw that much mass and energy into the battlefield disruption that might inconvinience her more than Appia. Or she's still high on Eater juice and supremely overconfident.

Over four billion cubic km, but essentially yes. (you squared rather than cubed) So, call it a few PJ. To us, that is an immense amount of energy, on the order of magnitude with planet-wide consumption. To Septima, that's a slightly higher energy bill if she cared to check why a slight rounding error crept in; her Titan burns that in seconds in engine thrust power.

There is nothing Humanity has done that takes as much energy as torchship operation - TW and PW consumption is simply inescapable with such ships, and anything capable of that is therefore quite reasonable as energy supply. (see this post on using nuclear pulsed propulsion as power generation for example)

Once the infrastructure is in place to build the antimatter-producing solar-powered particle accelerators, then the attitude they'd have to burning TJ is analogous to us burning kJ, where we hardly ever stop to think about our energy consumption (~20kW peak in a family home, another ~20kW average usage over a journey family car) despite the fact our energy usage is as vast compared to that of only a few centuries ago as Septima's usage is to us.

And yes, of course Septima is quite high on Eater juice, so she is approaching this on a very much "money no object" basis. As alluded to with the earlier hinted threat at genocide on the Kyaese, this is a win at any cost scenario.

Now THAT is a really cool sci-fi twist. Will we get a problem-solving sequence where our heroes "Science the shit out of this problem?"

We could do.

But, it is easier for them to just go around.

The question is, why would Septima want them to just go around?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"The Pursuit, Part 1"
3rd Shendredie, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

I look over my shoulder at Scipio. "watching sonar is really boring."

He sighs deeply. "I miss tachyon sensors. It's a shame they don't work underwater."

"I'm glad we got onto another ship."

He chuckles. "Fabian Cornelius was delighted to get in Appia's favour." He runs his tongue down my neck. "This is the slowest I've ever travelled outside spacedock on a starship."

I laugh. "The important thing is we're going ten times Septima's speed."

He grips my hips tighter. "But, no idea where we're going to intercept her. Or even if..."

I stand up. "Scipio, there's a blip."

He pulls away from me to come beside. "Nuts, really?"

I point. "It's pretty big."

He gets on the comms. "Sonar observatory to bridge, we've found something. Object bearing 217L and 34P."

"Bridge checking. We see it."

We feel the ship change course. Scipio slips his tongue in my ear. "May I finish?"

I look at him. "We're supposed to be focused."

He shrugs. "Please?"

I lean forward at the display, turn some of the dials trying to get a better ping. "Be quick."

He slips behind again.

Hmm.

Interesting. "Sonar observatory, bridge. Object new bearing 180L, 180P."

Scipio leans over my shoulder. "That's an intercept."

I lick him. "Yes... It must be aware of the sonar."

I see him frown. "But... Septima shouldn't be realising that we're using sonar."

I nod. "It's interesting, isn't it?"

We watch the slowly approaching object.

Eventually we get a clearer picture of it, and I focus a second sonar on it to keep varying while getting a better fix.

By now, Scipio is back beside me. "It seems like there components hanging off."

"Could be damage?"

He taps the comms. "Sonar observatory to bridge, advise that the object appears to have a shape consistent with damage."

"Bridge copies."

We keep watching.

I look at him. "That is a weird looking ship."

"It's moving!" He traces it. "That... I wonder..."

I lick him. "Good? Bad?"

He hums. "Both."

I sigh. "Both?"

He's quiet.

We continue to close.

Eventually, I think... "Tentacles?"

"Tiyanki." He taps. "Sonar observatory to bridge, could object be Tiyanki?"

"Bridge checking."

"What's a Tiyanki?"

He smiles. "I think you'll like them."

We wait longer.

Then, Scipio leads me out the sonar observatory, to a window just outside.

A gigantic creature swims beside us, investigating the sonar equipment we've improvised.

Scipio smiles. "What a lovely false positive."