Star Granger Season 2 - Chapter 9
Thoughts
"speech"
"Goa'uld speech"
SG SG SG SG SG SG SG
June 22nd 1999 – Moon complex
HMS Hind rises slowly from its cradle, after about a year of construction. I would have loved to describe how it shines under the direct sunlight, but Naquadah is quite a dull metal, so Hind is a dark grey, unassuming spaceship. We rushed its construction and treated it as a test build and rehearsal, before real ship work starts. Already two new cradles were constructed, and two new ship keels were laid. Those will be slightly larger, at 298 feet, to accommodate our new concepts in ship building and space warfare.
This was actually both fun and intriguing, but I'll get to this later.
Generally speaking, 'we', both as Earth, Britain, and our own select group of people, know bugger all about spaceship building, using, and fighting with. All we had to work with were Goa'uld and Alteran technologies. Some, like the ring transporters, we could use, though not really understand. Some we could partly even understand and adapt to our needs. Both Alteran illusion emitters and crystal-based computers are good examples for those. And most importantly – few we were able to both understand and improve upon. Main examples for this last, depressingly limited group, were the reactors.
We also had years of space travel and warfare thought to learn from. True, it takes the form of many science fiction films and shows, but you'd be surprised just how many bright minds took part in creating those.
Then, we had our limitations. Without colonies, mining planets, and a merchant fleet, we are painfully limited in scope, size, and time by the arguably small quantity of Naquadah which was graciously donated to us by Apophis. All possible long-term goals are limited by our success in locating, reaching, mining, and shipping back additional quantities of this ore. Short term goals, on the other hand, are clear – Using what we have, and what we can learn to develop the ability to fight off the same kind of capital ships, now floating away in pieces, in space above Earth. Up to ten of those, if we can only manage.
Frankenstein was a test, to demonstrate our ability to cobble together those alien parts, including the development of our own crude control system, into a working space worthy craft.
No-wings was our proof-to-self that we are capable of planning, and manufacturing our own designs, and improving upon the original design. This stage was concluded as a huge success, since no-wings can kick Goa'uld fighters' arses easily. Even Frankie can hold its own – the installed targeting system alone, made a huge difference.
Now, HMS Hind is launched as a testing platform for ideas, and technologies, and an on-going development platform. It will serve for as long as it's flexible enough to accommodate our progress, and obviously – for as long as we can spare the Naquadah in its hull.
The first step in this process, towards building real ships, was to sign in our first military ranked officer to the lab. It wasn't an easy process, let me tell you. Our need was raised by both Calvin and Ted, was approved by both Harry and R, and strongly supported by the Prime Minister.
First candidate was a Royal Navy Commodore, who somehow got the idea, into his bald head, that he was nominated as the commander of our operation. He was set in place first by Harry, then by R, and just before Prime Minister Blair had the chance to set him straight too, he tried to complain up the chain of command, and promptly forgot anything about us and our project.
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their entrances and their exits.
Next in line was Captain Selfridge. We were quite happy with him and started moving forwards with our plans when by the end of his first week with us, he stopped arriving. A short search located him at the Royal Navy headquarters, with no recollection of his new, now former position. R's colleagues managed to follow his trail to a meeting with the naval attaché to the US Embassy.
The Prime Minister was later heard mattering about loose lips and sunken Royal ships.
Captain Peers Penrose (That's his real name – I swear down!) is currently the charm. He has his own reservations regarding this not being a military project, and regarding a lack of a clear and structured chain of command. I think he accepted our explanation regarding the chain of command, meaning Harry and I are the owners and generally do what we see is right. Others do as R says. I believe he sees his mission as making sure us youngsters won't kill ourselves in the process, or do something utterly daft. It helps that at 36, he's young enough to dream and have fun. Just a fortnight ago, Harry told me that he was visiting the Hind for a round of Skywalker pretending, when he found the esteemed Captain sitting at the unfinished command seat, and playing Goa'uld invaders, on the targeting system. 'With a lot of ambient sounds' as Harry delicately puts it. This memory is already uploaded and is ready for display at tonight's round, unless something horrible happens with the Hind.
Touch wood!
Captain Penrose was probably also appeased to learn that we are planning to heavily recruit from both the Royal Navy and the RAF when the time comes for crews to be assembled. This is a whole different can of worms, but I'll get back to it later.
Like we can just pick up a crew of buccaneers in Tortuga.
He was still of the idea that planning and building a whole new kind of warships should be led by the Admiralty.
"Fulton's steamboats" Siya remarked.
"Exploding shells," Calvin coughed.
"HMS Hood explosion," R added to the list.
Penrose was honest enough to admit that innovation, quick thinking, and sadly - vision, are not some of the Admiralty's strong attributes.
Back to the Hind?
Right, it was built with a single task in mind, which is to test our capability to oppose a Goa'uld capital ship. It's mostly a game of power-efficiency-volume balance. To have the best chance at a ship to ship space battle, one first needs to have enough power. Then one needs to wisely, flexibly, and efficiently distribute that power to propulsion, weapons, and shields so your weapons will overwhelm the bad guy's shields, and not the other way around, with you still holding enough manoeuvrability to get out of Dodge, if necessary.
Clearly, it's more complicated than that.
We all crawled all over the Goa'uld wreck and came back underwhelmed.
Well, those who understand did.
Power, meaning – the reactor, was overly large and inefficient. That part was the easiest one for us to improve upon. Keira's reactor is already half the size, offers only about 10% less power, and Keira says it's 'substantially' more efficient, but doesn't have a number for that. We didn't have a chance to test any of those under full load after all. She did set one of her reactors on Mars' surface and loaded it till it exploded. Well, the power distribution module did. The reactor itself is a sorta 'cold fusion' one and would not explode for itself.
Another reactor is there now, running for three months already, at 80% (ish) output capacity of the former explosion, in an effort to define a red line. Another reactor is powering a containment field to define the power needs. We would prefer our first indication not to be an exploding ship. Well - going into an uncontrolled power release, is a better description.
Back to the Goa'uld ship. It's huge! I mean it has shiploads of wasted space, even when counting barracks for ground forces, and hangars for hundreds of fighters and bombers. That means many more shield emitters sharing in the power load.
Weapons are another ridiculous issue. That ship has loads of those. Probably almost a hundred plasma cannons. Those are distributed all around, so only up to a quarter can be brought to bear on a single target at one time. Add to that the plasma cannon's short range, and the relatively slow speed of the plasma beam, and one gets quite an inefficient battle platform.
Ted says it's as if those were planned to be thrown into a cut-throat battlespace with dozens ships on each side, all engaged and shooting in all directions, waiting to see who will be the last one still air-contained at the end.
This has Captain Penrose pulling his neatly cut hairs. "Lord Nelson did that at Trafalgar, and it was innovative battle thinking back then. But that was early 19th century, and spaceships are not wind dependent?" he says.
The first meetings with Peers listed dozens of requirements for the design, which ranged from hangars for the fighters to ground forces barracks, as well as the Admiral's command room, office, and private room, and Fleet officers' conference room. That made Calvin laugh his head off.
"Look mate," Ted finally answered. "We're building the smallest ship we can, that has a chance to fight off those Goa'uld ones. A Whitestar, not a Shrlin, right? Tough little ships – as they say."
Peers looked like he still wanted to argue, but R stopped him.
"Your shiny Admiral's loo will have to wait for a medium size mining colony," she concluded.
That's the point at which the Prime Minister had to set Captain Penrose straight regarding the actual chain of command and just how clear it is.
A much more bitter pill to swallow for almost all of us was the decision to give up on fighters. The shipyard manufactured a few more no-wings to complete a squadron of dozen – mostly for initial space flight training. Goa'uld invaders had a humbling enough scoreboard to make almost all pilots and naval officers stop and reconsider their self perceived flying abilities and proficiencies. Those who didn't, found themselves back on Earth, wondering what happened during the last couple of weeks.
It was a long and quite emotional discussion, but the reality of it was that almost all agreed that fighters are fun, but quite useless. It boils down to speed and firepower.
Take the Galactica show universe, for example, where shielding is non-existent and ships crawl around using thrust based propulsion and try to out shoot each other using oh-so-slow missiles and rail-guns – There, lots of small crafts make lots of sense. Ten small, missile carrying crafts, damage the enemy just as much as a capital ship shooting those same ten missiles. More so actually since the crafts can scatter and shoot from different angles. These fighters are also faster than their capital ships at sublight.
The Goa'uld, however, have shields.
And so do we – thank god, Apophis?
This means that the lightest weapon viable is one which can strain Goa'uld scale shields. Siya simulated this. It would take a hundred Goa'uld fighters about a week to breach a capital ship's shield. As long as they all shoot at the exact same spot this whole time. Ten of those larger pebble ships, we found inside one of the wreck's hangars, will need a bit more than a day.
This is true for as long as the capital ship stays put, since here, using Anti-grav engines, neither the fighters, nor the larger pebble ships can keep up with capitals, at sublight speed.
As best as we could calculate those.
And only the pebble ships can do Faster-Than-Light travel. Bottom line, in a shielded space battle, one needs to have capital ship grade weapons, and capital ship grade shields – to withstand those weapons, as well as capital ship speed to keep up with the enemy. Smaller, lighter, weaker, and slower than this, and you're a cloud of debris, or left behind – if lucky.
Defiant anyone?
The Hind is 248 feet long, almost a perfect short oval. Think of the pressure hull of an attack submarine, without the bridge tower. She's also a tad more bulbous than the said submarine, since out here in space hydrodynamics and being quiet through the water are not really an issue. One would be hard pressed to recognize front from back if not for the six forward shooting plasma cannons, mounted on small, limited tilt turrets. Even the windowed emergency cockpits are located front and aft, in case ship controls to the CEC and both primary and secondary bridges, deep in the heart of the ship, are somehow ruined.
There are two reactors, far enough from each other, so one would survive a direct hit, as long as the failsafe works, or containment survives. The new ships are a tad longer to accommodate a third one. The Hind is also prepared to receive a magic generator – once Keira has one she deems ready.
It has a hangar, to accommodate two shuttle-size crafts, which are still under construction. It has some dorsal and ventral weapon turrets to act as point defence, though planned to depend on shielding for anything lighter than capital ships. It can be operated by five. Offers decent accommodation for a full crew of 25, and can carry about 50 more, if needs arise. A little magic makes food, water and air a non-issue. More importantly, it is expected to outfly, withstand and penetrate Goa'uld capital ships, of the class we have underhand.
Our largest disappointment is our inability to truly improve on weapon design – Those plasma cannons are almost at the limit of their margins. More power made the canons start to melt. We couldn't make the plasma fly faster without containment starting to deteriorate. We did manage to multiply fire rate, with very little damage to the cannons themselves. We also added an automated targeting system, which enables effective fire at capital ship size targets, from four times farther than the Goa'uld manual targeting allows, and hit a point target at three times that range.
Theoretically, HMS Hind should be able to fire all six front cannons, each firing at three times the rate the Goa'uld cannons are able to, all straining a single shield emitter on the Goa'uld ship's hull, while maintaining evasive manoeuvres, hopefully penetrating those shields even before the Goa'ulds are in effective weapon range.
God, I hope we won't get to test this theory soon…
= Hind, this is Lunar, Captain Penrose here. How are things looking? Over =
= Lunar, this is Hind. All systems are green = We hear Commander Victoria Floyd back.
First captain of a British spaceship – how cool is that!
I'm piloting Precious to accompany Hind on her maiden flight. Kaden is out there, in a no-wing, filming. Troy's at the Hind's helm.
= Initiate cloaking =
Hind drips out of visibility, under Disillusion . It's a pretty sight, and I'm positive it'll look great on film, but not truly a cloak. HMS Hind is still clear on sensors, and is certainly large enough for it to be an issue. Any strong enough radar on Earth, pointed this way, might get a hit.
Those pebble ships have real cloaking, and when on, are invisible to our, and the Goa'uld sensors too. Sadly, we haven't managed to reproduce that system yet, and the Hind's size is just too much for the Goa'uld units to work.
= Alright, Hind. Take her out, behind the moon, and away. Keep it sublight for today, and below 60% on all power systems =
= Roger Lunar =
HMS Hind lifts up, turns and accelerates away from the moon and Earth. There's a huge smile on my face as she gets away into the black.
Precious can't keep up!
June 24th 1999 – Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry
"And this is the reason Runes are probably the most important magical subject one can take," I conclude my unplanned lecture to OWL and NEWT Runes students. It's a depressingly small group. Those who are also learning maths, within it, are fewer still.
Should give this lecture to second years…
Luna is the only person I know in this group. There are a few familiar faces, a couple from Gryffindor, and a Hufflepuff girl I vaguely remember from my fifth year.
And I considered that year exciting.
Luna gives me a warm hug. "You should give this lecture to second years," she says. She'll be off to, well – somewhere, with her father for a month, and we'll be meeting when back, to talk about the future. Her's is a mind I will genuinely appreciate working with us, but she has a stiff learning curve before she can be of any help.
"Can you stay for an hour after dinner?" Prof. Babbling asks. "That's a very good idea, and I would hate to wait a whole year on it? We still need to have our talk, too."
I ponder it for a moment. All I have waiting for me back in the office are the emails gathered there since lunch.
And Harry!
Luna gives me a knowing smile, and I agree.
"Wasn't easy getting a hold of you, Miss Granger. Took a week for an owl to take your letter. A couple came back undelivered and all confused."
"Hermione please. I work with very informal people. I don't think anyone missed me ever since that conference in New-York, six weeks ago."
Poor owls must have been so confused with me hopping between London, the moon and the asteroid belt.
"I'm travelling a lot, lately," I offer a non-committed excuse. "Sorry?"
"Can you tell me where you found the crystal you gave me?" she cuts directly to the issue.
"In a dig, in Egypt.' I lie without batting an eye.
"Strange," she remarks.
I'm waiting for her to go on at her own pace. One thing I've learned during those last couple of years is patience.
"This crystal you gave me is sort of a real myth. It's stuff of legends – Merlin kind of legends. The reason we know it's real is because Hogwarts wardstone is one."
Yep, poor ruined power crystal…
"A couple of Unspeakables showed up, demanding the crystal for research. The Headmistress had to intervene and send them away. Said if they want something of yours, they will have to take that up with you." She shrugs.
"Did you find anything about charging these things?" I wave the Unspeakables issue off.
"No and yes," she answers.
Interesting.
"Again, what I tell you is based on Merlin legends – He's said to be the last one able to produce those. All sources I could find states that you can't charge these crystals."
Just as I'm about to express my disappointment, she adds – "You need to somehow grow new charged ones. It is said that the sun has something to do with it."
"Did you find any information regarding the way to grow these crystals?"
She shows me a few marked pages in an old tome, apologizing all the time she can't let me borrow it, for any period of time. That's not a worry. I read through the pages, take out the memory, verify it's integrity and cork it. I'll be going over it thoroughly, together with Keira, Kazuko and Jeremy, when I get back to the office.
I get a raised eyebrow for my effort. "Do you have a Pensive to work with?" she asks, with just a tad of envy in her voice.
This brings a soft smile to my face. "Actually, I have access to something much better."
Dinner, at the great hall, is lovely as ever, though the food is a bit on the heavy and sweet side, and the view from the Professor's bench is not something I'm used to. I'm receiving condolences from many, to pass to Harry and Sirius, for the death of Remus. The official story, published after the clean-up, had him being killed, protecting Lord Black from a muggle gang fight. It's heartwarming to learn he is remembered here as a loved professor.
My lecture about Runes, maths, well – Arithmancy, and the combination of both to create new and exciting magic, is a success. Hogwarts will probably be in need of an additional professor in a couple of years.
Professor Babbling is delighted with the Emitter I use as a demonstration tool, then gifted to her and the school. Had to show them how to power it through the wards, though.
"Miss Granger?"
I form a shield and look towards the forest. There, just inside the treeline is a large shadow, though no 'looming' is in effect. The shadow takes a step forward, and I can recognise him.
"Bane!" I say amicably and drop the shield. "Sorry?"
"Is this one of the worm's?" he asks, pointing at my brace. "Never managed to use any of it."
I've stopped being surprised by the Centaurs a while back. "I was taken by a worm – Isis, three years back. Got rid of her, but this capability remains."
He nodes calmly. "Must have been a horrible experience."
"It was," I shrug.
"Did you secure the Port?"
I sigh. "The American normals have it. They don't listen to reason, and we can't take it from them, without creating an international crisis, and possibly a normal-magical war. The one we hold is secured."
We are quiet for a short while. "How is Mars shining?" I ask, just to have the conversation started again.
Bane smiles at me. "Just as usual." He answers. "The moon, though, is glowing with magic, as of late."
Really?
"But, it's all under Fidelius?" I say incredulously.
"Fidelius is a strange one. And are you always inside of it?"
We need better wards!
"Can you take me to visit?" He looks almost mischievous now.
I look him up, then walk around. He's a big Centaur. Almost three feet higher than me, and quite long.
"It's going to be a tight fit. Might lose a tail by mistake. If patient, we'll have a better way in a few months' time?" He looks at me imperiously.
Right, Centaurs are the Oxford definition of patient.
"Bane," I add, just after we say our goodbyes. "That 'old-one's' place in the south woods. Do you have a better location for it? It's a bit covered with ice, this century."
"Secure the Port," he tells me.
Yey! A ship finally!
Now they can go and explore. Look for trouble, or just go gallivanting across the galaxy, and let trouble find them. They can go visit the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, or try and find those little grey alien, who visited Roswell New Mexico in the late 40s, at the least.
So many options - who knows what might happen :)
Huge shout to flyboy38, my beta, who takes the time to make sure the story is a much better read.
Also to Dalwolf For doing Brit-Picking for, well - you all, and help my British.
Cheers!
