Tech Report: Falcon

Falcon

Model: Xaela'tegæ mk7

Manufacturer: Shorsanga Exports

Construction: 2402

Configuration: Enhanced lifting body

Length: 204'

Height: 51'

Width (Fuselage): 58'

Wingspan: 157' at full extension

Wing Sweep: 45°

Decks: 2

Takeoff: Horizontal

Landing: Horizontal

Gravity: Internal field (active graviton stabilizer)

Range Classification: Standard interstellar

Engines: Chaskœl'dar Aerospike Advanced (3)

Directional Thrusters: None (engine integrated)

Mirrorlock Drive: Shorsanga Sacred Gift

Backup Power: Xoel Standard Fusion Core

Shield Generator: Eival'a Mistweaver

Armaments:

4 Talzhara Divine Gleam phaser turrets (point defense)

4 Talzhara Breath of Blades flakburst turrets (point defense)

11 Talzhara Divine Gleam pulse lasers (point defense)

Tech Notes: Communications

One of the key challenges for any spacefaring faction is establishing and maintaining communications over vast distances. Many races develop faster-than-light travel before FTL communications; the two categories rarely use the same underlying technology. The Alliance groups all commtech into four categories, which become more exclusive as distances increase.

It is worth noting that a common interstellar communications 'technology' among the Alliance, at least for civilian purposes, is not a technology at all, but simple physical transport. The Alliance Merchant Marine's Postal Subdivision coordinates the routing of physical mail through its existing infrastructure. Though slower than interstellar transmissions, writing a letter and sending it through the cargo network is reliable, efficient, and far less expensive than any other option.

Local communications operate at the speed of light or slower; they encompass most planetary and shipboard systems. Nearly every Alliance member race has a unique type of local comms, though the vast majority rely on electromagnetic waves, light pulses, or laser technology. There is no standardized local comm system, though most combined-tech Alliance ships use fiber optics due to the market and contract dominance of the fiber optic specialist Prysmastar Systems.

Ship-to-ship (STS) communications are sometimes considered an extension of local comms, as they rarely operate at superluminal speeds. The Alliance classifies them as a separate category due to their significantly different operational requirements. STS systems link spacecraft at relatively short ranges. They permit communications between members of a fleet, but also with any vessels encountered while traveling. As such, STS systems must be able to receive and transmit many different formats based on the origin of the other vessel.

The standard Alliance STS system is the Multifunction Lightwave Relay. For communications between Alliance vessels, the MLR uses a lightweight and efficient line-of-sight laser system; due to the miniscule power requirements of this system, MLR-based laser transceivers can also be carried by spacewalking crew to communicate with their vessel. The MLR is also capable of receiving and transmitting augmented radio waves (used by the Drules and many independent races) and flicker/pulse light signals (used primarily by the Vex-Cha).

Many member races still utilize their own STS systems for their own vessels. These races will often install MLRs only on command vessels; in joint operations the command vessel will relay orders to the rest of its fleet via its native STS comms. Other races have adopted modified MLRs with their own STS system integrated, often to avoid needing to retrofit older vessels.

Hyperbroadcast (HBC) communications are relatively flexible FTL comms, used to transmit across interstellar distances. These comms can move significantly faster than even the fastest FTL ship, but are generally utilized at such distances that messages may still take hours or days to reach their destination. Only three forms of HBC technology exist among the Alliance: hypertachyon, hyperpulse, and augmented laser. Hyperpulse was the technology the Kolaliri used during the time of their empire, while augmented laser systems exist among several member races.

Hypertachyon technology, often considered synonymous with hyperbroadcast, is the Alliance's standard HBC tech. It originated from the ancient Glis Empire's communications web, which utilized 'hypertachyon packets'—a form of specially energized light pulses—to send information at vast distances. Though the underlying technology was lost when the empire fell, thousands of transmitters remained with the Grand Convoys. After the formation of the Alliance of Five Powers, Biboh engineers assisted in attempting to reverse engineer the system, filling in the gaps with their own ship-to-ship wave propagation technology. By the time of the Galaxy Alliance, a useable hybrid system existed; several new member races have helped to refine the technology since.

Hypertachyon transmissions operate at a base rate of roughly 5.7 light years per hour. This can be modified by passing through atmosphere, where the packets are slowed via light scattering; after escaping the atmosphere they can 'snap' back into their original configuration and continue. Due to this scattering, hypertachyon packets produce little more than a garbled mess when received within atmosphere. Planetary bases and civilian facilities must utilize an HBC relay satellite in orbit, connected to the ground by local comms.

The primary use of HBC systems is communication between space stations and nearby planets, or ships and space stations. All known HBC systems require a fixed point as a destination. As such, they are only situationally useful for transmitting to active vessels. A ship wishing to hold a two-way communication via HBC will typically indicate that they are either holding position or moving directly towards the other party, and thus able to receive a return message. Otherwise, HBC transmissions from ships are assumed to be one-way. These are generally routine operational messages; due to their long travel time and relatively unsecure nature, Alliance policy prohibits sending reports or other sensitive information via HBC except in emergencies.

Subspace communications are the Alliance's fastest and longest-ranged system, based on technology originally devised by the Akese. They function by sending laser transmission through a subspace channel, also known as a pinpoint wormhole. These channels operate on the principle of relative spacetime conjoinment, an Akesian theory similar to quantum entanglement. Essentially, all subspace relays on a network are connected on a fifth-dimensional level, permitting messages to be sent over an effective space of mere inches to cover hundreds of light years in an instant.

Though the actual transmission takes only a fraction of a second, subspace relays have several complicating factors. The equipment required is both huge—a single 'compact model' generator is the size of a small house—and delicate, not to mention prohibitively expensive. Generating the subspace channel is a process requiring several minutes and an enormous amount of energy on the transmitting side. The channel itself is unstable and collapses after slightly less than a second, at which point the generator must spend several hours recharging. A receiver assembly has minimal power draw and no recharge time, but a syncing period with the transmitting relay requires both sides to be stationary.

Due to their size and power draw, only large starships or fixed sites can support a subspace relay; due to the limitations of the channel, transmission volume is strictly limited. To maximize efficiency, Alliance-operated subspace facilities limit transmissions to text with basic formatting, except for in cases of military necessity. Some of the rare civilian subspace networks permit more complex data, though it tends to be very costly. Alliance facilities will transmit civilian data when they have the capacity to do so, but military and government transmissions take priority, making them unpredictable and unreliable for civilian use.

A typical ground site subspace relay consists of a hub—the transmission chamber—attached to one or more generators. Depending on the traffic at the location, up to a dozen generators may be used. The receiver assembly is at the bottom of the transmission chamber, which is programmed with multiple terminus points; each time a new subspace channel begins to form, the chamber automatically recalibrates to the next terminus, ensuring multiple messages can be sent and received simultaneously without the channels colliding. (Channel collision is not dangerous, but does hopelessly scramble the messages.) Starship relays usually include five to ten terminus points; only Unity-class flag dreadnoughts and Semaphore-class communications cruisers carry multiple generators.

Like HBC systems, subspace communications with a moving vessel have extra complications, in this case due to the need for a stationary target while syncing. Usually a subspace-capable ship will depart with a prearranged schedule of 'reception stops' in case its home base needs to make contact. Being impossible to intercept, subspace comms are the Alliance's required manner of relaying any sensitive information between ships, stations, and planets.

A fifth theoretical category exists: Planar communications. As of this report, no known communications technology can reach a ship inside of hyperspace, or indeed any other extraspatial plane. Options based on planar scanners and more esoteric theories are being researched by several Alliance-funded programs, but none have yet borne results.

Tech Report: Alliance Shielding (AMAS)

History

Having been developed specifically to counter Drule weapons, Earthling refractive* armor was the original basis of Alliance damage-prevention technology. This armor used aluminum oxynitride and graphene in a specialized microlattice to scatter incoming laser fire, and a layer of reinforced photovoltaic panels underneath to absorb the scattered light into a battery for the armored vessel's use. It was vulnerable to ballistic weapons, which could disrupt the microlattice on impact, but with the Drules favoring powerful laser weaponry this drawback was seen as acceptable.

After the GA's formation, the Kolaliri integrated echo restructuring—a precursor technique to crysforging—into this armor, allowing it to 'remember' its original form. A simple energy pulse triggered by the ship's engineers could then restore any damaged microlattice to a pristine state. Later still, the Daesulos would integrate their own intelligent-reflex technology, eliminating the need for engineers to manually trigger such repairs; the armor could do so itself, drawing on the energy it had absorbed from enemy fire.

In this self-repairing form, refractive armor became nearly immune to attrition damage; only attacks which outright ripped bits of armor away would have lasting effect. It was considered the Alliance's single greatest asset in battle against Drule ships, and over time has forced the Fourth Kingdom to completely redirect several weapons programs to counter it.

Due to the effectiveness of refractive armor, shield technology was something of a niche. Several forms of shielding technology did exist, but few were particularly useful: Glis projected force barriers were unwieldy, and the knowledge of how to produce them was long since lost. Biboh pulse shields were designed for space dust and radiation, not combat. Earthling energy shields had limited absorption capacity and interfered with their own ships' weapons. The military had little interest in improving on any of these technologies, and most languished.

Despite High Command's indifference, the civilian sector still displayed some interest in shield development. Refractive armor was strictly military technology, and even primitive shields had been the difference between life and death for many cargo vessels during the original Drule invasion of human space. With the next invasion seeming inevitable, shields were in demand on civilian vessels, but without military funding the technology saw only creeping incremental improvement.

This started to change when the Kazthol joined the Alliance in 2221. Their homeworld of Skotathyr lay on the edges of an asteroid belt, and was regularly bombarded with meteors. To deal with this, the Kazthol had developed artificial atmospheric domes: layers of ionized gasses which could be deployed over population centers to burn up anything that made it through the planet's natural atmosphere. The Kazthol were happy to offer this technology to anyone who asked, and within two years nearly every major shield manufacturer had Kazthol engineers among their ranks.

Li-kari Shielding Systems produced the first working model of a shield based on this technology: the Li-kari Exo. The Exo system worked extremely well against physical objects, but was less effective than hoped against energy weapons, which tended to cause system overloads after only a few shots. It was, however, an enormous improvement over any previous system. Similar shields were soon being produced by several other companies, and the Alliance as a whole saw a modest uptick in economic activity from increased merchant confidence.

Noticing this, the Alliance Council voted to distribute some research grants to encourage further shield development. Though it was a small amount compared to what the military could have provided, it was enough to spark a new wave of innovation.

The defining breakthrough in Alliance shield technology came in 2234, when continuing efforts by researchers at Servallis Security Development partially unraveled the ancient Glis shield projectors. Integrating Glis directional force matrix technology with the Kazthol artificial atmospheric generators, Servallis shocked its competitors with the release of the Atmo-Matrix A in early 2235.

By using an outward ionic flow derived from the Glis projectors, the Atmo-Matrix shield system achieved nearly double the effectiveness against physical projectiles via a principle they called plasmatic friction. But most importantly, the system was highly effective against energy weapons, concentrating the Kazthol atmospheric shield into a permeable semisolid able to 'catch' all incoming energy. The shield's ionic flow structure would then rapidly disperse the captured energy throughout the shield, giving it far more absorption capacity before being overloaded.

The Atmo-Matrix revolutionized the shield industry almost overnight. Other companies began producing similar models remarkably quickly; it would later come out that Servallis had secretly licensed the underlying technology. Though they wanted to recoup their development costs, they believed it was inevitable that the military would need the system in time, and knew they wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand alone. By the time the licensing agreements expired, most manufacturers had begun to make their own improvements to the base design. Spacecraft shielding had become a robust industry despite being shunned by its most obvious clientele.

Servallis' prediction on that matter proved correct, though it took the better part of a century. In 2318, the Alliance's first contact with the Galra revealed the limits of their refractive armor in brutal fashion. Galra weaponry included solid-state cutting plasma and massive-bore ion acceleration cannons, both of which could tear through the Alliance's prized armor as though it were foil.

High Command, stunned and slightly panicked, immediately looked to issue contracts for military-grade shield development. A rather amused shield industry, with Servallis in the lead, offered the products they'd already been making for decades. On modern warships, refractive armor and powerful shield systems are paired to offer the most efficient and versatile protective suite possible.

*In scientific terms, "refractive armor" does not utilize refraction at all, but rather dispersion. The formal name of this armor is "Laser-Dispersive Photonic Capture and Reversal System," which was never commonly used for obvious reasons.

Function

Tech Notes: Datapads

The formation of the Galaxy Alliance, though primarily a military endeavor, led to countless Earthling companies rushing to take advantage of the influx of new science and technology. This only intensified after the end of Operation Entente, as the Alliance's Integration Task Force began issuing lucrative contracts to encourage technological sharing, adaptation, and discovery. These contracts were also strategically awarded to kickstart the new Alliance's economy, giving larger companies more generalized mandates and offering smaller ones new unique niches. The ITF in fact instituted a policy against granting more than two contracts to any single company, no matter how large or influential.

Alphasoft, a juggernaut that had been one of the prime players in the original Alliance of Galactic Exploration, was issued one of the broadest of these mandates. Four Biboh clans and two Glis research bureaus, as well as individual Hydran, Kolaliri, and Quasnot scientists, were attached to the company. Their primary task was to develop an integrated operating system for the GA's use. Though the resulting system was and remains classified, a civilian version known as Streamline-8 was derived from it soon after.

The first device to be produced with the Streamline-8 OS was the Alphasoft DataPad, released in 2161. Advertised as both the most advanced tablet computer on the market and an invaluable resource for cultural understanding, the DataPad featured a holographic keyboard and accessibility suite, remarkable processing power, and preloaded cultural and linguistic databases for every race in the Alliance.

It didn't take long for the DataPad to become ubiquitous among the civilian population. Its basic computing functions surpassed anything any GA member had ever developed alone. The holographic accessibility systems ensured it was perfectly crafted for the physical convenience of each member race, and the proprietary databases—using information straight from the ITF—were by far the most comprehensive and well-organized available. While other tech giants, most notably Applezon and Niko-Centauri, rushed to catch up, the DataPad and its later models would completely dominate the market for a decade.

This market dominance did come with a certain price. By the time Niko-Centauri released the Ixion Pro-Tab, the DataPad's first true competitor, 'datapad' had become the standard term for any tablet computer of any sort. Alphasoft and Niko-Centauri both fought the genericizing of the trademark, to no avail, and the term datapad remains synonymous with tablet to this day.

Tech Report: ACS Jupiter's Bolt

ACS Jupiter's Hammer Bolt

Model: CM-383-LR Vagrant

Manufacturer: Cerox-Masterson Spacefaring

Construction: 2298

Configuration: Blended wing body

Length: 417'

Height: 74'

Width (Fuselage): 247'

Decks: 4

Wingspan: 466'

Wing Sweep: 40°

Takeoff: Horizontal

Landing: Horizontal

Gravity: Internal field (inertial phase converter)

Range Classification: Standard interstellar

Engines: Aerojet Maelstrom Class 5 (4)

Directional Thrusters: RRA FlareShift Suite (16)

Hyperspace Thrusters: Delta Atomics DS274 (2)

Breach Drive: Kearney-Fushida BT2550

Backup Power: GravSol Voltaic X9

Shield Generator: Blackwood Anomaly

Armaments:

22 Dynamic Fire M71 Vulcan cannons (point defense, paired)

8 Swiftlight Complex laser turrets (point defense)

4 GA Interceptor BVRAAM launch systems

4 GA Wolfpack BVRAAM launch systems*

1 custom electromagnetic pulsar disruptor cannon*

*Not standard to ship class

Tech Notes: Hyperspace and Breach Drives

Hyperspace, technically designated Extraspatial Plane 1, was the first extraspatial plane to be discovered by humanity. Exactly how an extraspatial plane is defined, humanity and many other races are still debating; the closest to an accepted definition, currently, is "a state of existence in which some or all laws of physics do not behave in their normal manner". The full parameters of this debate are well outside the scope of this report, but there are two broad theories. Extradimensional access theory, derived primarily from Earthling string theory, states that extraspatial planes are accessible forms of the dimensions beyond the main four. Spatial decay theory, derived primarily from Glis instability theory, states that such planes are instead pockets of existence where the structure of physics has broken down into an exploitable state.

(Under extradimensional access theory, hyperspace specifically is classified as a ninth-dimensional plane. Under spatial decay theory, 'hyperspace' is more properly thought of as a set of conditions than a location in itself.)

Regardless of its exact nature, the function of hyperspace is well understood. Rather than affecting spacetime directly, the planar fluctuations fully negate the mass of objects traveling within the plane. This permits the defiance of relativity; it also means vessels traveling through hyperspace are unable to collide with each other. These two properties make it extraordinarily useful for interstellar travel, though it does have some drawbacks: foremost among them, while hyperspace inherently permits travel at the speed of light, propulsion and acceleration are still required to move beyond that speed—and neither works quite the same in hyperspace as in real space. On the other hand, to the surprise of early researchers, the expected problems of a vessel's contents becoming massless do not exist in hyperspace, leading to the theorized principle of hyperspatial inertia.

Actually traveling in hyperspace is far different than the calm of deep space, as the same planar fluctuations which allow for superluminal speeds create a travel medium often more akin to a choppy sea or rough skies. This turbulence and unpredictability plays havoc with automation systems. As such, hyperspace travel effectively destroyed the concept of SPAN (self-piloting and navigating) vessels. It should be noted these quirks are by no means entirely bad: of the 49 major hyperspace features currently catalogued by planar scientists, over a dozen can be utilized by skilled crews for various beneficial purposes.

Earth's initial discovery of hyperspace was facilitated by naturally occurring anomalies found within the interstellar medium. Kearney Labs, a research firm based in the Galilei Sector, did extensive research on these anomalies for well over a decade. This research led to reliable methods of predicting, locating, and stabilizing such anomalies for a ship to pass through, resulting in the first human hyperdrive. Though limited and lacking in versatility—it was capable only of utilizing existing anomalies—the hyperdrive revolutionized the entire interstellar industry nearly overnight.

The hyperdrive remained relatively unchanged until the formation of the Galaxy Alliance. One of Earth's new allies, the Biboh, also utilized hyperspace for their FTL travel. (Like much of Biboh history, when or how they discovered it is unknown, though it is likely to have been inherited from their creators. The Bii word for the plane translates to 'the outside path'.) Unlike Earth, the Biboh had a method for creating their own anomalies, allowing access to hyperspace nearly at will. However, there was a notable drawback to the Biboh system as well: they lacked the capacity to fully cross through the anomalies they created, requiring their ships to constantly maintain the anomaly to remain in extraplanar space.

Earthlings and Biboh, along with a few volunteer consultants from the Glis, soon set about unifying their radically different methods of hyperspace access. A coalition of Kearney Labs, the Fushida Development Group, and the Hal-Ariibih and Kiyah-Ar Biboh clans produced the first prototype breach drive in 2172. The first commercial model was released in 2176, and by 2183 it had fully supplanted the hyperdrive among newly-built ships.

The breach drive's most notable strength is its efficiency. It requires no exotic fuel or unusual energy source, and its baseline power draw is minimal. Its core function is to create an anomaly, or 'breach', which allows a ship to fully cross into hyperspace; creating a second breach allows the ship to return to real space. While simple enough in concept, this combination demanded new logistical and safety measures to be practical.

Standard to any breach drive is the containment safeguard system. Human hyperdrives had minimal risk of stranding a ship in hyperspace, since they relied on natural breaches; Biboh anomaly drives, due to not fully crossing over, had even less. Breach drives removed both of these safeguards. When a breach drive fires, it in fact creates two breaches: one which sends the ship into hyperspace, and one which is contained in an unstable, interrupted state within the drive. The containment field for this second breach is the only energy a breach drive draws while in hyperspace. Any interruption of this energy—from momentary power loss to major gravitational disruption to outright destruction of the drive—will cause the containment field to fail, immediately allowing the second breach to fully manifest and return the ship to real space.

While not a part of the breach drive itself, planar scanners are also indispensable for any ship carrying one. These scanners use subatomic anomalies to monitor real space, allowing a vessel to ensure the target area is clear before opening its exit breach. (As with nearly all extraplanar drives, breach drives become unreliable under the influence of gravity. Basic planar scanners only check for possible collisions, relying on the ship's navigator to find suitable exit points. More advanced models can measure the real space gravitational properties of a proposed exit site, though they are no replacement for a proper navigator.)

Finally, in 2218, SpurJumper Propulsion Labs devised an entirely new type of engine for use in hyperspace: hyperspace planar resonance drives, colloquially known as either HPR drives or hyperspace thrusters. Taking advantage of the plane's unique physics, these huge, bulky engines use remarkably little fuel to propel vessels within the plane to several times the speeds conventional propulsion could achieve. Outside of hyperspace, such engines are nothing but large amounts of dead weight, limiting their practical use to spacedocked vessels and a handful of the very largest SSTO craft.

The breach drive is the Alliance's primary FTL travel method, used on all GA-built vessels, though many member races still use their own native FTL systems on their own ships. Some races, most notably the Hydrans and the much later Eskath, have opted to adopt the breach drive wholesale; newly produced Glis ships also use breach drives, as the knowledge to manufacture their native cutter drives was lost with the fall of their empire.

Tech Report: CES Firecrown

CES Firecrown

Model: E5C-14 Endeavor

Manufacturer: Voronin Interstellar Enterprises

Construction: 2355

Configuration: Conventional aerodyne

Length: 175'

Height: 46'

Width (Fuselage): 30'

Wingspan: 180' at minimum wing sweep

Wing Sweep: Variable, 32.5-65°

Decks: 2

Takeoff: Horizontal

Landing: Horizontal

Gravity: Internal field (graviton deck plating)

Range Classification: Short interstellar

Engines: Aerojet Flash Class 8 (4)

Directional Thrusters: Aerojet Spark Class 3 (8)

Hyperspace Thrusters: None

Breach Drive: Kearney-Fushida BT2750

Backup Power: GravSol Pulse X3

Shield Generator: GravSol Harmonics S-41

Armaments:

8 Dynamic Fire M81 Vulcan turrets (point defense)

12 Sibereal Optics Scatterlight laser turrets (point defense)

2 GA Shrieker WVRAAM launch systems

Model History:

In 2071, Clearwater Aeronautics launched the E4 Aquila spaceplane, Earth's first single-stage-to-orbit vessel. The SSTO breakthrough took the industry by storm, with Clearwater at the forefront; they quickly set about consolidating this advantage. As a research craft, the Aquila had modest but well-rounded capabilities. This made it relatively easy to adapt into the commercial E5C-1 Aquila model, which was released in 2074 and dominated space operations for the next twenty years.

Between the departure of the AES Frontier in 2092 and its arrival at Proxima Centauri in 2097, the Aquila's supremacy abruptly collapsed. With Earth's sights now set on extrasolar travel, the system-bound Aquila was no longer on the cutting edge, and the days of spaceplanes seemed to be waning in favor of the large spacedocked vessels which could handle several-year interstellar voyages. Clearwater Aeronautics was bought out by Voronin Interstellar Enterprises in 2105, and Aquila production ceased soon after.

Then came the 2115 development of the hyperdrive. Almost overnight, spaceplanes were back in vogue: given faster-than-light capability, they would once again become a much more efficient spacefaring option than the hulking stellar cruisers. Voronin aggressively pursued a contract with Kearney Labs, and in 2118 the first commercial hyperspace vessel entered production: the E5C-10 Endeavor, essentially an Aquila with a hyperdrive.

(Urban legend claims the Endeavor traces its name to the HMS Endeavour, a common namesake in Earth's spacefaring history, and Voronin is just the latest of a long line of organizations to use the incorrect spelling. In actuality, Kearney Labs' hyperspace research had always been conducted under the name Project Endeavor. The spelling was specifically used to differentiate from the AES Endeavour, the colonization ship which had recently launched for Alpha Centauri.)

The Endeavor never quite recaptured the Aquila's market dominance, as Voronin's contract with Kearney was not exclusive. Still, it was popular enough that a later model, the E5C-12, would be the first commercial vessel to carry a modern breach drive. Later efforts to add hyperspace thrusters proved unsuccessful, given the vessel's small size, but the E5C-13 would be the smallest ship of its time to carry graviton deck plating.

Despite its remarkable pedigree, the current incarnation of the Endeavor is looked upon unfavorably by aerospace enthusiasts. For a class defined by groundbreaking new technology, the E5C-14's general system updates were seen as a letdown at best and an insult at worst; many went so far as to argue that an Endeavor that makes no new strides is no Endeavor at all. Even those who favor the design's merits acknowledge it as fairly uninspired. Voronin shows no interest in these criticisms. The modern Endeavor—versatile, reliable, and affordable—is thus expected to remain a quietly practical workhorse for quite some time to come.

CES Firecrown (E5C-14 Endeavor), main (upper) deck

CES Firecrown (E5C-14 Endeavor), systems (lower) deck