"Arsenal Of Freedom"
27th Hoggagha, 8 (2186)
Alexandra
I arrive at the main building. On the gateway is this: 'Give me liberty, or give me death.' Carved in the stonework. The graffiti on the doors of the gate?
An Olinbar head riding a mushroom cloud. Says it all really.
And when you stop to think that five races progressed to Early Space era technologies and developed nuclear weapons, the rate of progress doesn't sound so surprising.
Three weeks since Geoffrey put forward a proposal for using nuclear bombs to propel a kinetic artillery weapon. That's how long it's taken them to put together a proposal on how to make it happen. I sit down in the conference; I'm with Ykrett and Rhizome Of Ebony on the military side of the seating area. Naomi and Rivkah sit in the middle. Monica and various non-military staff on the far side.
Geoffrey enters. "Ladies and gentlemen. Me and my team have spent the last three weeks developing our ideas for thermonuclear boosted kinetic artillery. As always, we began with brainstorming ideas."
A slide with an asteroid with a cylinder dug out is placed on the projector.
"This is what we believe is the most feasible weapon we can build. This is a single use platform, we don't expect most asteroids to be strong enough for repeated use - they must be more than five hundred metres in radius to have sufficient confidence that the asteroid itself will not be reduced to a mini debris field."
Slide changes to a mechanism display. "The bomb detonates in the middle of the asteroid, with our projectile in the tube. The immense pressure releasd by the bomb vaporising the silicate hits the projectile and partially vaporises it, accelerating the rest of the projectile."
Slide changes to a pie chart depicting the expected energy distribution. "As can be seen, the process is highly inefficient; real world scenario I'd consider anything over one percent as brilliant."
Next slide; series of calculations. "The good news is, by the time we come up with optimised distribution of mass that leaves as much of the projectile vaporised as possible and the remainder heading towards an enemy vessel extremely fast, we should be able to eventually achieve muzzle velocities in the region of three million metres per second."
The slide changes again, to an extremely long tube. "As said in the introduction, that was the assessment if you were to ask us 'MSI warship inbound, we need it ASAP.'. If we have more development time and resources, we believe that we can make this."
Slide changes to a close-up. "This is a multi-staged and far more controllable weapon that detonates numerous much lower yield weapons to give a smoother acceleration with more consistent results. The downside is it is incredibly big and bulky, as the sheer volume of metal needed to resist the forces of repeated nuclear detonations leaves us contemplating a barrel several hundred metres thick. However, as said this is in the region of two hundred million tonnes of steel."
He places the last slide; a graph showing the expected variations in performance. "As can be seen, the expected outcomes are highly variable. We are still in the position of hiding in asteroids and luring them in. But now we can kill a Flagship."
He removes the slide. "Any questions?"
I put a hand up first. "How soon could you build one?"
"The asteroid type I can have combat ready in a few days from arrival at the asteroid; we could start immediately if needed. The second type needs far greater space industrialisation to build."
I review my list of asteroids in the system. Hmm. "How tight is that five hundred metres radius?"
"If the asteroid structure is compromised, there is no control over the direction of the projectile, or the highly radioactive materials that will remain. I cannot stress enough that as little as five hundred metres in radius is an absolute minimum; even at that size the damage to the asteroid can seriously affect projectile performance."
"Was staging within the asteroid considered?"
"Yes. We evaluated however that sequential detonations would cause greater shock within the asteroid, and would be more likely to cause structural failure."
Daas asks the next question. "I noted that Valerius advised a consideration of an Orion-type propulsion. Was this evaluated?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, while it makes a workable space ship propulsion, the resulting craft is effectively a high payload fraction rocket, and therefore is subject to much longer acceleration times that mean the critical advantage of this type of weapon system is lost."
Monica puts her hand up. "Supposing a suitable asteroid is within Unity's ring, what would be the expected effects on Unity of using such a weapon?"
"Assuming that the asteroid does not suffer structural failure, then the damage to the planet should be less than our previous scenario of utilising nuclear warheads against orbital bombardment capable MSI vessels, and from that perspective we are in substantial improvements. Adverse effects are still expected however, most notably we still anticipate the need for EMP shielding for several thousand kilometres of Unity's surface."
"And if the asteroid explodes?"
"The effects would be somewhat reduced relative to an otherwise normal nuclear detonation, but there's a risk of deorbiting asteroid debris, of which most would burn up in the atmosphere, with some chunks surviving to impact."
I look at Naomi. "I have my list of asteroids here. None of the ones around Unity are suitable."
She looks at me. "Which candidate is nearest?"
"MSI charts called it Kidore IV-Tethys MCIX. Six hundred and twenty metres average radius, minimum point is four hundred and three though..."
Everyone looks at Geoffrey. He shakes his head. "I have to veto."
Rivkah speaks. "What if we restructure it ourselves, and fill in the gap?"
Geoffrey replies hesitantly. "We'd need to trim it to approximately spherical anyway. It might be feasible. But I would not recommend putting a bodged together asteroid in Unity orbit for this."
Naomi has a decision. "Next nearest?"
I look at the list. " Kidore BT-Icarus XII, in the asteroid field, on the innermost edge. Right size too." It's a bit far. "The energy to move it would be massive though."
Naomi goes into her contemplative face. "Let's move Icarus that little bit closer to the star. I want a plan put together and up for review best possible speed."
Geoffrey smiles. "On our way, Arch-Imperatrix."