Chronicles of Sol: The Fall

Ruri smiled as she slipped into her lab. These new labs aboard the Enterprise were well equipped. She actually liked the way they were set up, and the lab computer was powerful. Already she had it running a few simulations on the warp engines. She wasn’t going to review those yet. Besides until they actually got underway she wasn’t going to be able to make much progress on the Warp Four project. She understood they would need it, especially now.

She had other things she wanted to work on right now. Ruri had ideas she wanted to keep working on. In her lab, back on Earth, she had been working on compressing the particle stream generated by a particle cannon. To be more accurate she was trying to improve upon the compression of the particle stream. Current generation particle cannons fired a focused particle bolt, and the process of focusing the particles into a tightly focused stream did compress the particles to a degree. Just not enough to be considered a truly compressed particle bolt.

Compressing a particle bolt further would have advantages. Particle cannons were moment of impact weapons. They did all their damage on impact with the target rather than over time like a particle beam. A compressed particle bolt would be able to carry more energy to the target with each impact. In other words, a compression chamber would increase the yield of the cannon. Her work so far on a compression chamber left much to be desired, her last attempt hadn’t worked out as well as it did in the theoretical model. The chamber did its job just as the math indicated. The problem was that the chamber was unable to withstand the stress for more than a couple of shots. As such she had gone back to the drawing board. She needed to figure out a way to reinforce the compression chamber so that it could handle the stresses involved in firing a compressed particle bolt.

The particle cannon wasn’t the only project she had been working on. In fact Ruri had been doing a lot of work with Rydium Cooling arrays, trying to improve upon them. The applications for an improved version were numerous. There was a lot of stuff on a ship that generated heat that needed to be dealt with. The weapons, and the engines both came to mind for that. In fact Rydium based cooling arrays were the preferred method for that since those arrays were quite efficient at converting waste heat into usable energy. That waste heat had to be dealt with somehow or it would harm the ship. Recycling it was not only effective, but it reduced fuel costs across the board.

What she was trying to do with the cooling array was to miniaturize its components without losing effectiveness. In fact that particular project was something she had been working on with Countryman. It was critical to several military projects that Star Tech had been working on. One of the most important being the miniaturization of the cutting beam so that it could be fitted on a corvette.

The single most important reason for the project actually had to do with the warp drive. During the initial testing of the warp program, they had actually tried three different cooling schemes. The first scheme employed a radiator array, that would bleed the excess heat into space, where it could not harm the ship. It was found to be very effective at dealing with heat buildup and was easy to implement. The second approach tested employed a series of rydium cooling arrays, and liquid cooling to draw the heat away from the drives, and convert it back into usable energy. This approach was not as effective at dealing with heat buildup, but it was significantly more fuel-efficient. It was also worth noting that it was still able to deal with the full output of the drives.

The final approach tested was a hybrid approach. That method was found to be rather complex and took up the most space. It was ultimately not used, and the Enterprise ended up going with the second design. The reason for that lies mainly with the intended mission profile of the Enterprise, which would have required her to spend extended periods in deep space with little to no access to friendly ports. As such the more fuel-efficient scheme was most attractive. The hybrid scheme was dismissed due to the added complications it would have added. Not to mention another factor that led to the rejection of the other two approaches was that radiators would have required creating an opening in their armor to function properly. A factor that would have invited enemy fire to their engines. Modern armor was very resilient, and their use of reactionless sublight engines allowed ships to have armor covering every square meter of the hull.

Although it was important to note that modern ships did have emergency venting ports and special hatches over the viewports. Both potential weaknesses if left open. Something similar could likely have been done with the radiator design, but since the cooling array design was proven able to deal with all of the heat output of the engines there was no need. At least for the current limits of the technology. At higher speeds they might encounter a few problems.

The very importance of the cooling array to the warp four project was why she was going to be working on it today. The lab was in fact perfect for that as well. She had her own terminal with a dedicated lab computer and database access. A side room contained a small nano fabricator that would allow her to produce prototypes for physical testing. Speaking of testing most of the lab space was actually designed for that, and could be reconfigured easily if she need it changed. If she wanted to test a weapon the labs even featured reinforced internal plating. Although some testing would be best done off ship.

Ruri didn’t even look into the testing area, but headed for the terminal. Where a younger woman was working. Although as she neared the Terminal Ruri noticed she wasn’t actually working.

She glanced at the screen and noted that it was a game. One that she recognized. The game was actually fairly old, but it had seen a bit of resurgence in recent years. Perhaps that was because it struck a chord with modern humans who could sympathize with the characters. In the game, Humanity was also facing a desperate war against all odds. In the case of the game, it was an overwhelmingly powerful alien alliance instead of warlike space lizards. Of course, since it was a game Humanity doesn’t lose. They manage to get lucky and make peace with the aliens. She knew many would have preferred the fantasy to the reality of today.

She chuckled, “Enjoying your game?”

The girl hit the menu, and the game paused. “I have the computer running some simulations. So I decided to play a bit while waiting for the computer to finish.”

“I see. The game was an interesting pick though.”

“I kind of like the universe. Not to mention its fun to play as an armored super-soldier fighting against all odds.”

She giggled, “I guess it is. Although if you want to be a real one you could sign on as a marine.”

The girl shook her head, and giggled as well, “Maybe but it wouldn’t be quite the same. I wouldn’t be enhanced like the chief is in the game. Although maybe a bit better protected.”

Ruri nodded. Modern soldiers were equipped with a personal version of overlord armor that also functioned as an exosuit. Being an exosuit, the armor actually assisted the wearer with physical tasks like lifting or running. The suit wasn’t made of titan alloy though, as that was deemed too heavy a material. Instead, they used a special polymer blend that was quite sturdy, and much lighter. Just not as strong as Titan alloy.

“Sure you won’t be genetically enhanced, but those personal suits do come with mechanical assistance.”

The girl smiled, “They are impressive alright. Although I think we can do better.”

Ruri inquired, “Better? Does that mean you have ideas on how to improve it?”

Ruri mentally reviewed what she knew about the armor. It protected the wearer from small arms in much the same way modern ship armor protected the ship. The outer layer was a laminated polymer plating floating on top of a gel layer. That was followed by a layer of nano weave. The nano weave was made from artificial polymers and was a lot like the kevlar of old. Employed in the body armor for much the same reason, but did the job much better. There were several layers of gel, and nano weave employed, along with thin polymer plates. It resulted in a reasonably thick suit of protective armor. Those layers were laced with protective circuitry. Circuitry that served the same purpose it did in ship armor. The suit also had sophisticated sensors that would monitor the user’s health, the status of the armor, the status of any weapons the user had, and more. All of which would be displayed to the user in a heads-up display contained in the helmet. The armor also had a sophisticated medical system that would deploy stimulants, and medical nanites as needed.

It did a remarkable job of keeping troops alive. Not only did it keep them alive and well, but it also helped them fight. Thanks to the use of suits like these human ground troops could easily outperform those of the Cathamari. Ruri didn’t think much could be done to improve it, but she figured she would hear what the young woman before her had in mind.

The girl nodded. “I know, its proven technology. Highly reliable. Able to protect the wearer from virtually anything short of a tank shell, and magnify the user's strength to the point that they could lift a tank single-handed.”

Ruri giggled, “A light tank maybe. The mechanical systems top out around twenty tons. I don’t think I need to remind you how much a modern tank weighs.”

She smiled, “I don’t. The Rex weighed 208 tons as I recall. I think those new Raptors we have stowed weigh less, but not by much.”

Ruri answered, “The Raptor weighs 185 tons, which as I recall is actually a bit more weight than her antigrav suspension is rated to handle. Not much can be done about it though since most of the weight comes from the meter of armor she carries.”

The girl nodded, “Yeah that sounds about right. Anyway, as for the personal armor. I was looking into the power systems. I think they can be improved. A new high-density power cell was developed a few months ago. I was looking into using those new cells to design a new power pack for the armor. I’m hoping to extend the operational life of the armor.”

Ruri nodded, “Sounds like a sound theory.” she reached the console and tapped a few keys bringing something else up. “Although most would be looking at micro fusion.”

The girl nodded, “Yes, but reducing the size of a micro-fusion generator to the point it could be fit into a suit of personal armor has met a few roadblocks. The new power pack idea is much more feasible.”

Ruri smiled, “It is alright. I’ll let you work on it. I have something else I would like to work on. I’ll be using the other terminal.”

The girl nodded and went back to her game. The computer hadn’t yet finished the other girl’s simulations. Soon Ruri was listening to the sounds of kinetic and energy-based weapons in the background, while she was typing away at the other terminal. Already imputing data for her own simulation. It was time she got to work on that improved cooling system. The scientist in her couldn’t help but think of other things as well now. Other projects she would like to work on. There was always something new to fascinate her.

The young man shifted as the shuttle set down. He gripped his rifle and stood ready for the door. He was one of the marines for the Enterprise and was down on Luna to help with the evacuation. Command had forced him to leave behind his trusty XR-471. The standard-issue XR-471 was a great weapon that he like most other marines loved. It was a charged particle weapon with two distinct firing modes. In the first mode it fires deadly charged particle pulses. These bolts are highly accurate and could do considerable damage even at range. Not to mention they could penetrate most forms of armor. It could fire roughly twelve hundred bolts a minute, and the power pack stored roughly 240 shots worth of energy. The weapon also had a secondary short-range fire mode where the weapon fires a wide area particle pulse much akin to a shotgun blast. This pulse isn’t as effective against armored targets, but it could clear a room of lightly armored targets easily.

Thanks to command however he wasn’t carrying that weapon. As the XR-471 like most human-built weapons lacked a stun setting. Instead, he was carrying the LPR-117, a light particle rifle. It didn’t have a shotgun setting. It too could fire charged particle pulses, although not as powerful as those fired by the XR-471. Its real value was its secondary firing mode. In that mode it fired an electrostatic particle pulse that was designed to incapacitate the target. A single hit wasn’t going to kill anyone, but that didn’t mean the stun setting could not kill. In fact, it was a well-known fact that multiple stun impacts to a single target could kill. The pulses weren’t pleasant for the unfortunate on the other end either. They were known to cause a fair bit of pain, and some subjects were known to experience something called stun sickness.

The weapon just didn’t feel right in his hands though. He missed the weight of his trusty XR-471. He sighed as the door opened. The squad commander signaled for everyone to leave. Where they found the locals were already swarming into the recently pressurized bay. They were raising a mighty clamor. So much so it was hard to hear what they were saying, but not too hard to figure out that they were rushing to be first off the moon. This wasn’t going to be a fun mission. He just hoped he would not have to shoot anyone today.