Chapter 3:
Unified Earth Government Science Nexus
Sol System
February 16th 4525 AD
11:15 AM
In the corridors of the massive complex, were countless scientists, engineers, and researchers from various scientific fields who were hard at work to produce and invent the countless advanced technologies that Humanity uses today. Each corridor had every room connected to it, and each room was a laboratory specializing in a single field of science. Together these rooms allowed for incredible knowledge and studies to be produced throughout the facility. As a result, this facility earns the motto "Ex Astris Scientia" or "Knowledge from the Stars" as it is translated into the ancient language of Latin, for the works done here for the betterment of mankind. Scientists and engineers from all over the System regardless of their background or nationality were invited here to cooperate and research to their heart's desires. It was an important facility for all of Humanity, and its importance had just grown since the arrival of the Alien craft six months ago with faster-than-light technology. The news of an alien civilization with access to faster-than-light technology had sent shockwaves throughout the scientific community.
The existence of such technology threatened to overturn humanity's understanding of science as they know it. As such, the staff of the Science Nexus was hard at work to analyze what they currently know about the alien FTL technology and their way of travel. In one of the many science rooms, was Dr. Catherine Halsey a renowned scientist within the Unified Earth Government and interplanetary science community. And also, is a key scientific adviser of the Office of Naval Intelligence, best known for her work with the SPARTAN-II program, developing and creating the next generation of smart AIs, and the head for overseeing the development of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor for the SPARTAN-II program. Dr. Halsey held considerable authority within ONI, despite being a civilian, and commanded respect from important military figures for her work in the military field.
Today she is one of the many scientists studying the newly arriving alien transportation technology. Albeit with little data, since the evidence only consists of a small clip and data on the ship's sensor records from the UNSC Cloak of Dagger onboard camera and sensors which captured the moment of transit. Unlike her fellow scientist, who would spend hours analyzing the video and data from the sensors. Dr. Halsey took a proactive approach and went over the mountains of data archived over thousands of years of human technological development. Her hope was that some ancient forgotten field of science in the thousands of years of human development could shed some light on the Alien secrets of faster-than-light travel.
While she was working, the door to her workroom opened to reveal a man as revealed by his uniform to be part of the UNSC navy. The badges and insignia on the left side of the uniform gave him the rank of captain. The man walked into the room and approached the doctor.
"Catherine." He greeted her.
"Ah, Captain Jacob Keyes, it's been so long." She answered the newly identified captain.
"Well, yes as you know I've been busy these past few years. I was lucky to have this small time to visit of course before well…" He explained.
"I know, I guess the navy is going to get busy lately." She replied.
"Yes, well the arrival of the aliens would have to do I suppose." He said sheepishly. "By the way, Miranda told me that she wanted to come and visit but unfortunately, she couldn't as her duty in the navy demands. So, on my behalf, she told me to give this gift to you."
"Ahh, that's so sweet of her." Exclaimed Dr. Halsey as she took the bag that contained the gift. Before rustling inside it for the content. "Chocolate, how nice of her. You know I had always thought she was someone who was going to join the Interplanetary Sol Guard."
"Well, knowing her, she takes after her father more than her mother. In many ways, she is her father's daughter I suppose. As for the chocolate, I guess it's her way of saying sorry for not visiting and living up to your expectations." Explained Captain Keyes.
"Well, I guess you can say that." She said with a sigh. "When she came into this world. I was expecting her to be like her mother you know."
"I guess I'm sorry?" Replied Captain Keyes.
"No worries." She replied. "Anyways, we're all going to be busy in the next few weeks or so."
"Yeah, I guess it's the same for you huh?" He asked.
"Well yes as you can see here." She gestured to her work on the screen. "I've been busy scouring through the records of our ancestor's past research and knowledge."
"Oh, that strange?" Asked Captain Keyes. "I was under the assumption that you would be studying the data gathered by the ONI stealth ship?"
"Yes, which is what I did several months ago. However, as you would know that the ONI Stealth Ship didn't exactly give us any precise data on the alien FTL technology. Except for the detection of hawking radiation, gravitational lensing, and particle beams used to open the portal to transit. Then again, the Stealth Ship sensors weren't exactly equipped with such equipment for the task anyways. The only data we got was only camera footage and limited data gathered by the ship's sensors." Dr. Halsey explained.
"Huh, sounds about right." Replied the captain.
"Therefore, unlike my colleagues, who would often ramble and argue with themselves on theories of the Alien FTL Technology. I, however, decided to be more proactive in my work and began looking into the mountains archives which is the collection of research papers and knowledge from the past." Explaining her rationale for her course of action.
"I'm surprised that you believe that there could be knowledge of the alien transportation technology in the past archives. I'm also surprised that we might have an idea of what it is exactly." Said the Captain surprised.
"Well yes, as you would know this isn't the first time, that theoretical Faster-Than-Light technology was first conceived." She explained. "In fact, the really first breakthrough that we have in this field was the development of the transporter teleportation system. Which converts an object (Living and non-living) into the matter and sends it to a select location to be reassembled there in a process that takes seconds to instantaneous to complete. The only real issue with this system is the vast amount of energy required to be used to send distances over light-years. Which increases exponentially as the distances between two points increase."
"Yeah, I heard about that." Nodded Captain Keyes. "Wasn't there a plan to fix or alleviate this issue?"
"There was, the first idea was using artificial stars." Dr. Halsey showed on the screen. "More preferably a dwarf star, brown, red, and white to do the job. With the advancement of Dyson Sphere technologies, we can harness the power of these stars to power a series of gate systems which would allow us to transit other star systems instantaneously. Henceforth, creating a series of FTL gates that would allow us to connect the wider Interstellar Human Community."
"It's hard to imagine that we the human race have access to technologies to create suns." Said Captain Keyes in awe.
"Well yes, ever since the theory of nuclear fusion came around. Mankind had always dreamed of ways to harness the power of the sun and stars." Replied Dr. Halsey. "Ever since the successful experiment to create a brown dwarf we scientists have always been enamored with the idea of the potential applications of such technologies. And thanks to studies done on our sun and its smaller brother red dwarf. Our understanding of stellar creation skyrocketed, after the creation of the brown dwarf, we've gone on to create more brown, then red and white dwarfs, to even explore the idea of creating more exotics stars. However, with the limitation of our solar system creating any main sequence stars was just not feasible even with the current advances in gravity manipulation technologies."
"Okay... so how does this benefit?" said Captain Keyes unsurely.
"Because Captain Keyes if you are not already aware creating a star would give us a lot of energy for a really long time. Red dwarfs have a lifespan of tens of billions to trillions of years. White dwarfs have a lifespan longer than that. They would be able to provide humanity with unlimited energy for as long as we will remember. Moreover, that is not the only thing we can do, with the understanding of how to create stars we can also use this knowledge to refuel them. Like our own star, the sun, for example, we can now refuel our own sun, making it able to last indefinitely. Furthermore, we can also create new elements and resources via these stars. Stars themselves are natural fusion reactors able to generate enough heat to create new elements. While we cannot make a star go supernova itself, we can use the immense heat and gravity of a star to create heavier elements from lighter resources gathered from nearby resource-poor star systems and so on. The application's potential is just endless." Dr. Halsey lectured.
"Even so it's hard to believe that humanity has reached this far." Captain Keyes admitted. "You were beginning to lose me for a second there."
"Well, I guess I explained the benefits of using stars as an energy source in the FTL System. Although creating stars had many issues that need to be solved. Such as gathering the material to ignite and create a star, to begin with. We had to build gravity generators 3.5 to 3.9 light-years away in order to create a suction effect that would tap in and draw in the majority of the galaxy's interstellar dust cloud and other gases for us to use to create stars in the first place. So yes, it's time-consuming and resources intensive to create stars in the first place." She explained.
"Is there another method Catherine?" Asked Captain Keyes.
"There is but it's only in the theoretical stage at the current moment." She answered.
"Oh, then what is it." Said Captain Keyes intrigued.
"Zero-point energy, otherwise known as vacuum energy." She spoke. "It is energy that exists in the underlying background of the universe. Based on current theories, is completely unlimited so long as the universe exists. However, as of now, we are only touching upon the access of that field. As a result, most that we could gather is purely theoretical."
"Right, so this technology is unusable as of now?" Captain Keyes Clarified.
"That would be right captain." Replied Dr. Halsey.
"So apart from this method of Faster-than-light was there any development elsewhere? Or do you think there was an alternative method?" Asked Captain Keyes.
"There was the idea of using cosmic superstring or something similar I heard from my colleagues, but it never really took off." Explained Dr. Halsey.
"So, there was another way." Exclaimed Captain Keyes.
"Yes, there were but there were issues with it mainly because of how limited the idea was." She answered.
"Limited, how?" he asked.
"Glad you asked." Said Dr. Halsey. "This proposed method came from the discovery of what we called cosmic superstring. This led to the discovery of small gravitational fractures between stars. Which we believed was leftover damages remnant of when the big bang occurred. By using a special drive to access this space. A starship is able to instantaneously travel between two-star systems by using these nodes. We tested this using a probe, and the probe was able to conduct the travel without any issues. During these tests, we discovered that some stars would have many of these fractures, while others might have none."
"Sounds like a good system so why haven't we used it?" Asked Captain Keyes, perplexed by this seemingly missed opportunity.
"Well, it is a combination of many factors. This travel is faster than light but is restricted to the natural string connections between gravity nodes and these may or may not be close by in terms of the regular fabric of space-time. For example, to go to a star such as Alpha Centauri we may need to head in the opposite direction and go from there using the node network until we reach the right node that will take us to Alpha Centauri. Just because we have nodes, doesn't mean we would always have a direct connection to our intended destinations. Some star systems may not even have nodes at all. Forcing us to colonize it via slower-than-light methods." Explained Dr. Halsey.
"I see that could be an issue or an inconvenience." Said, Captain Keyes. "But then again it's a small inconvenience I don't see why we should ignore it."
"You're right on that account however, there is the issue of tactical maneuverability in terms of what has just occurred recently. While the short encounter with the FTL alien civilization, we were able to glean a few facts about them. One is that their FTL technology doesn't seem to be limited by any energy requirements or some kind of direct cosmic pathway. This is based on the initial observations and assumptions of their capabilities. If this is true, then the aliens possess a distinct tactical and strategic advantage over us and other FTL systems concepts we currently have. After all, they could just bypass all the node fractures and attack our most vulnerable system. With the gate idea even if we manage to figure out the power usage. These aliens could attack and destroy our gates, making it hard to manage the logistics of fighting an interstellar war. Hell, even we had issues managing an interstellar war. During the War of Sol, both sides had many issues when attempting to maintain their logistics lines in the nearby star systems. There are so many issues, that the aliens could exploit, and we don't even know their full capabilities." Dr. Halsey rambled on.
"Okay, why don't you leave the strategy and tactics to the military." Said captain Keyes while rubbing his head.
"Oh, my apologies." Dr. Halsey replied. "I was going off there to myself."
"It's okay." Captain Keyes assured the doctor. "I find it worrying as well as you do."
"Well, I suppose it's when aliens more advance than us arrive people tend to be more stressful." Dr. Halsey acknowledge.
"Yeah, I suppose that is the case, by the way, did you find what you were looking for?" He asked.
"Yes, I have." The doctor quickly replied. "Take a look at this."
She gestures to the captain to look at the holographic screen of her workstation. On the screen was a science journal from the distant past. On it was the title "The field of Eleven Non-dimensional space and the application of space travel" by Dr. Tobias Fleming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa, dated April 2291. It was an interesting article, one that captain Keyes himself had not expected her to find. Looking up from the screen he asked.
"Slipspace huh?"
"That's right." She spoke.
"You think this is the FTL method the aliens utilized?" He couldn't help but ask again.
"Yes, I do. Slipstream space as detailed in the article is a specific set of eleven "non dimensions" existing in a very small bundle "above" the one temporal and three spatial dimensions perceptible to human beings. By moving matter from the three space dimensions and the one-time dimension of normal space to slipstream space, one effectively changes the laws of physics for that piece of matter. This allows faster-than-light travel without relativistic side-effects i.e., the occupants do not "warp" time, despite their superluminal speed. This is what the aliens utilized during first contact made with the Cloak of Dagger." Dr. Halsey pointed out.
"If that is so then why was this technology or concept forgotten?" Asked Captain Keyes.
"I'm not sure myself, considering that this article was in 2291, I suppose it had been a century after the disaster that struck the solar system and turn it into a binary star system. I believed back then that the Unified Earth Government at the time didn't see the need for resources from other star systems, as they were too busy fixing the mess caused by the disaster. However, this still leaves a lot of holes and questions. However, I believed there is more to this story-" Explained Dr. Halsey.
She taps on the holographic screens in a series of touches before opening a file that she chose. Captain Keyes looked at the file with mixed surprise. Even before opening the file, there was a warning. It said, "CLASSIFIED BY THE OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCES SECTION-0117-013." Along with the seal of ONI, it was already clear where this was going.
"ONI." Said, Captain Keyes.
"Yes, it would appear so." Nodded Dr. Halsey.
"Why though?" asked the captain. "Why try to hide something so vital that humanity might need?"
"I don't know that's what I'm trying to find out." Answered Dr. Halsey. "I'll already put in a request for access to this document through ONI. Although, I suspect they might not give me. Whatever the reason they had this technology locked up and forgotten."
"Well, I suppose you're right on that account. However, with the arrival of the Aliens, I suspect that they might care if you built this drive system yourself." Suggest Captain Keyes.
"That's what I'm planning to do if I can get my colleagues on board with the idea." Replied the doctor.
"But then again, please remind me weren't you already on a current ongoing project?" asked Captain Keyes.
"Ah yes, that project." Exclaimed Dr. Halsey. "It is still ongoing it is supposed to be a generation project anyways."
"Generation project?" questioned Captain Keyes.
"Yes, it's meant to be a Generation project when it was first conceived." Answered Dr. Halsey. "It's called Genesis, the simplest explanation is the next evolution of Embryo space colonization. It basically consists of a moon size megastructure that doubles as an interstellar ark. Powered by a white dwarf at its core, this object will be sent to the far reaches of the galaxy where it would enter a barren or newly formed star system and initiate a process of building and terraforming a new world and serving as that world moon. Once completed the megastructure will seed the world with life and humanity. In tens of thousands of years, it would hope that these humans will rise from their planet colonize the moon, and eventually discover their origins. I was in charge of ensuring the artificial intelligence system on this structure will work as intended."
"Well, I'm impressed, it appears to me every day that you're always working on a special project as ridiculous as the one you're working on now. I mean what prompted a project like this to get the green light?" said captain Keyes with a sigh.
"Well, the project is a pinnacle of humanity's current technological prowess and also a showcase of their arrogance. I guess the higher-ups within the UEG wanted to now start playing God with the latest advances in our current technologies. And besides, it's not going to launch until the next millennia or so. However, I suspect with the situation of current, I assumed that the UEG would want that launch as quickly as possible after all as a safety measure if humanity goes extinct at the hands of these aliens. We have completed the shell and the core just the systems. It's just the other items and systems that needed to be completed." Dr. Halsey Assumed.
"Well anyways, while it's nice talking to you again Catherine. I got to get going." Said captain Keyes looking at his holographic watch. "Duty calls."
"Alright, I'll see you soon." Replied Doctor Halsey giving him a small wave as he leave.
Taking his leave Captain Keyes walked out of the Room. It was nice having a break when he is off duty. With the current situation in the last few months, it was a welcoming break. However, as he suspected, this little respite was only the calm before the storm.
UNSC Strategic Coordination Centre
Sol System
February 17th 4525 AD
1:35 PM
The UNSC Strategic Coordination Centre could be considered the heart of all military operations across the numerous branches of the United Nations Space Command. It is here the command center where the UNSC once controlled millions of ships during the years of the War of Sol. And it is here where once again the UNSC high command will coordinate the defense of Earth and the Solar System from the potential threat the FTL alien civilization may pose to them.
In the intervening six months since the alien's arrival to Sol, the UNSC high command had begun preparations to prepare for their arrival. Out of all the branches of the UNSC, the navy was the one that took the most time they have as possible to prepare its forces for this inevitable arrival. As one of the branches that have been severally affected by the long peace, the UNSC navy had already begun ramping up ship production, and its officers going through countless scenarios and strategies already in place in the event of a hostile encounter.
Fleet Admiral David Terrance was present along with the other admirals in the UNSC. Their goal here today was to discuss the current fleet status and the status of their preparations. Along with the discussion of their current strategies and tactics. As such, this meeting was considered the utmost priority. All admirals and the essential staff were required to meet as mandatory.
Fleet Admiral Terrance looked at the assembled admirals and staff and spoke.
"Admirals we are all gathered here today to discuss the current status of our fleet, production, and readiness status, as well as to discuss strategies and tactics that we may use if the aliens are hostile. We shall start with the status of our fleet, admiral Roland Freemont you have the chair."
The man in question stood up to give his report, and he began. "With the current situation six months after the initial encounter with the aliens. A lot has changed in the navy since the time of the War of Sol. The arrival of the aliens had us getting our forces back to the same readiness rate of the past. I'm glad to say during the six months we have spent our time effectively. We are now at an eighty percent readiness rate and in the coming weeks we should see a majority of our ships combat-ready at a moment's notice."
"Excellent." Fleet Admiral Terrance smiled.
After finishing his report Admiral Freemont sat back down, coming next was admiral Carl Patterson who was the head of the UNSC navy department of ship production and acquisition. The department was responsible for the navy's current supplier of ship production and equipment to weapons systems, etc.
"My fellow admirals." He began. "In the six months since the alien's arrival, our department was hard at work in providing the ships to allow our navy to regain the effectiveness and power projection capabilities of the past. My department has debated on what ships classes we should prioritize first and what can come as secondary."
"Okay then let's hear it." Nodded Fleet Admiral Terrance.
"So, during the initial discussion on what ship classes and types we should build my department think tank suggested that we focus our priority on the smaller warship classes. While leaving the other big classes and other auxiliary ships as secondary concerns." Lectured Admiral Patterson.
"What is your rationale for this move admiral?" Asked Fleet Admiral Terrance. "Wouldn't big warships classes would allow us a better advantage against the aliens? While at the same time, fielding a massive navy, especially considering the now increased size of our navy, we would require a dozen more support ships to handle them?"
"Yes, true, however, we the UNSC have always believed in the idea of Quality vs Quantity. In terms of the alien force, we may or may not have the luxury of such an ability. For all, we know the aliens have better ships than ours. It is better to have a large number of ships just in case and to maximize our navy's effectiveness. Building large ships will just be an expensive waste if it is lost in combat against a highly superior foe. We also want to minimize the loss of resources and cash also. As for auxiliary ships we still have a sizeable number of ships of that type stored in mothballed fleets. It won't be that difficult to reactivate a few of them to serve in our navy." Explained Admiral Patterson.
"I see, I'll accept your explanation for now. Apart from that, I want to know how many ships your department has managed to produce in the past six months?" Asked Fleet Admiral Terrance.
"Around eleven fleets admiral, we weren't able to produce as much as we thought, we mainly spent most of the time on debates on what ships types we should prioritize, and design new classes to fit our needs, and combined with the fact that Nidavellir is only beginning to reach full production capabilities. We should have full production up and running by the end of the month." Said Admiral Patterson.
"I see, do as much as you can time is of the essence." Said, Fleet Admiral Terrance. "I also want to know the composition of each fleet your department has to arrange for us. If you, please admiral."
"Will do." Replied the Admiral. "In each fleet that we build it usually follows a usual standard number of ships to keep things uniform as well as standard classes for each ship type. However, this can change depending on how many classes of the same ship types are out there currently. For this batch of order in each fleet there are 3 Jormungand dreadnoughts, 36 Punic II-Class carriers, 72 Halberd-class Next-gen Stealth Destroyers, 100 Stalwart-class light-frigate, 100 Paris-class heavy frigates, 6 Phoenix II-class support ships, and 200 corvettes of various classes."
"The fleet is looking nice I see; however, I have one question.' Said, Fleet Admiral Terrance.
"Yes, what is it?" Asked Admiral Patterson.
"Why are the Phoenix II-class support ships included in the fleet? As far as I'm aware are they just troop transport ships?" Asked the Fleet Admiral.
Admiral Patterson inwardly sighed at that statement. There was a common misconception going around in the navy from the lowliest sailor to the highest-ranking officer of the navy about the Phoenix II class and its role in the wider fleet operations. However, that misconception was mainly down to its history of how it came to be and its common usage during the War of Sol. As a result, it earned this misconception that still lingers to this very day. However, there is more to this class than meets the eye. One that struck fear in the enemy forces to the point they had to go so far as to destroy these ships no matter the cost.
Turning to the Fleet Admiral, he explained. "Fleet Admiral, I am sure that you are to be made aware of the common misconception of this ship. While it's true that the Phoenix II-class support ship is little more than a glorified troop transport, based upon the original design which was an interstellar colony ship that was hastily converted into a military ship during the early days of the War of Sol. However, there is more to the ship than it meets the eye."
"Go on." Said the Fleet Admiral intrigued.
"Gladly, as you know the converted colony ships was repurposed as a military support vessel. What most people tend to focus on is the ships' ability to carry roughly up to a hundred thousand troops, equipment, and supplies for planetary invasions. This is also coupled with the fact that these colonies' ships also came equipped with an onboard fabrication plant allowing it to produce military vehicles for air and ground units. What most people don't realize is that this is only a fraction of what the ship is truly capable of. What they don't focus on is the ships' ability to deploy orbital infrastructure. The original ship was equipped with this ability. In the time when slower-than-light was the way to go these ships came equipped with an onboard orbital infrastructure to allow colonies to already have a foothold in their star systems. Used mainly to repair, dock, and build new craft, it also serves as the colony's port facility and so on. After the Military requisition of the colony ships classes, they made a few changes with the major one being the orbital infrastructure will be converted to support military operations." He explained.
"But then that would mean-" stammered the Fleet Admiral.
"Yes, admiral the ship's orbital infrastructure combined with technologies found on Nidavellir provides us with an asset similar to a Martian Factory Satellite. However, the orbital infrastructure is able to construct ships of patrol boats, cutters, corvettes, and frigate sizes. It does not have the capabilities and infrastructure necessary to construct larger warships. Mainly due to weight constrained. Nevertheless, it does possess yards that would allow ships of all classes to conduct the repair. Moreover, these yards are modular meaning that they can adjust to the number of ships needed for repair if there are a hundred ships then the yard expands to a hundred dockyards and so on." He showcased.
"Fascinating, I'm surprised I haven't heard about this. I wasn't made aware of its true capabilities." Exclaimed the Fleet Admiral, followed by a few nods across the room.
"Well, the previous UNSC Fleet Command had spent an enormous amount of effort to conceal what they were doing. At the same time while attracting attention." Said Admiral Patterson.
"What does that mean?" asked the Fleet Admiral.
"Well, originally the UNSC kept the capability of the converted colony type a secret. After proving itself to be successful the UNSC commissioned more types of this time with the sole purpose of being a military ship while at the same time keeping its capabilities a secret." Admiral Patterson informed.
"But okay, from what you said previously, it would appear the Martians Republic and our enemies found out about it. And made it their top priority to destroy." Said the Fleet Admiral.
"Which is true unless that was part of the plan." Admiral Patterson said mysteriously.
"All part of the plan?" Asked the Fleet Admiral.
"Yes, you see while these ships' capabilities are useful to the UNSC. What was more useful was the concept that it gave."
"Concept?"
"Yes, the concept you see this gave way to a new type of ship class." Said Admiral Patterson, he swipe his hand across the holographic table revealing a blueprint design of a previously unknown ship.
"Admirals, I present to you the Juggernaut class." Boasted Admiral Patterson.
The design of the ship showcase was impressive. There were two designs present on the screen the difference between the two designs was the wingspan length of the ship. One is 86 kilometers and the other 67 kilometers. Both had a triangular boomerang shape, but what strikes the gathered admirals and staff was the interior. Within the ship's interior were a multitude of different facilities, each geared towards a specific purpose. Based on the initial design it was already clear what the ship class's main purpose was.
"You have designed a mobile battle fortress!" Exclaimed vice-admiral Alexander Reaves.
"An interesting design, I would like to know your rationale for designing such a warship." Said vice-admiral Ysionris Jeromi.
"Well, it was years in the works before the outbreak of the War of Sol." Admitted Admiral Patterson. "We had the specific, but it wasn't until the Martian Factory Satellite and the military's conversion of the colony ship that this project really took off. It was thanks to this development that prompted the development of these ships. After the two assets proved the feasibility of the idea the previous Fleet Command commissioned the ship. The plan was to use the two ships as the UNSC's main flagships spearheading the invasion of the Outer Planets and the Martian Republic. But as you know that never happened. The armistice occurred, and the design concept of the ship class was forgotten until now."
"How much progress did the department make on this design?" Asked vice-admiral Michael Stanforth.
"We are currently in the designing process nothing concrete at the moment." Claimed Admiral Patterson.
"And how long if we say to commission this ship right now?" asked admiral Konrad Volkov.
"Well, we can work on creating the frames now, but building the ship itself will take time as we need to develop the technology and complete the design. It might take a few years at best to complete the ship and test its system." Explained Admiral Patterson
"Do as you can." Said Fleet Admiral Terrance, the admiral nodded, turning to vice admiral Preston Cole who is responsible for the tactics and strategy. Knowing that it is his turn vice admiral Cole stood up to begin his report.
"Admirals, with the arrival of the aliens we were forced to reevaluate our current doctrine." He began. "This including planning for the alien theatrical invasion plans and a war against us."
"Let's hear it then." Said, Fleet Admiral Terrance.
"Well let's begin with our theories on the alien's potential battle plans against us." Presented vice-admiral Cole. "For if this hypothetical event, we estimate that the aliens would roughly muster a force of tens of millions to a hundred million ships against us."
"Wouldn't that be an extreme number?" Asked Admiral Konrad Volkov. "After all, if they wanted to completely exterminate us, they wouldn't need that many ships anyway."
"Yes, while that is true, then again you're operating on the assumption that the aliens are out to exterminate us completely." Explained vice admiral Cole. "However, we are working on the assumption that fits between the lines of extermination and conquest to occupation and potentially enslavement. In this case, the number of ships needed for these different war objectives would vary depending on the situation. At best our low estimate is around a million ships, however, do be aware that many of these ships in the first place are not combat ships, to begin with, but a combination auxiliary ships and other vessels such as troop transport."
"Which is true, but then again like Admiral Volkov stated they don't need that many ships." Admiral Dale Kilkin insisted. "In our own histories, planetary invasion is an expensive and costly endeavor. Take a look at our own attempt during the System Wars and the War of Sol. Both invasions of Mars cost billions of lives and have nothing to show for it. What began as a quick and decisive victory turned into a massive slog, with our soldiers engaged in years upon years of campaigning just to seize half of the planet. At the same time, our bloated navy as a result of building ships to support the invasion was a massive drain on our resources. Moreover, they were lost to enemy actions which further weakened our overly stretched logistics line. End the end after half a century we were forced to give up. As the planetary invasion became a huge waste of resources. Of course, this is not mentioning other planetary invasions that took place namely on our own artificial worlds more or less. That itself was a logistical nightmare in its own right. There even countless stories of our AI's going rampant from the burden of trying to handle the logistics for these operations in the duration of the War of Sol."
"I second that motion." Agreed vice-admiral Michael Stanforth. "The easiest thing an alien fleet can do is destroy our navy and ensure naval supremacy and threaten our worlds from orbit. Basically, demanding us to surrender, if extermination then the aliens would just need to just bomb us to oblivion and use whatever tech they have for terraforming to repair the damage and colonize our world. Or they could deploy a bioweapon to target us and wipe us out. There are so many things they could have done I don't get the alien's rationale for bringing that many ships for the task."
"Moreover, the reason why we were forced to conduct planetary invasion, to begin with, is the limitation of attempting to use orbital bombardment to try and force the enemy to surrender." Added admiral Kovalic. "Our weapons have gotten powerful as the centuries progressed. Meaning that Orbital bombardment isn't the same as it was during the System Wars. During the War of Sol, our weapons were literary too powerful that a constant rate or continuous bombardment of a planet had the potential to crack it apart. This specifically occurred in several instances during the War of Sol. In one instance, after continuously using orbital bombardment to soften hard targets for the opening wave, to supporting infantry troops. The artificial planet literary cracked, resulting in the deaths of billions of servicemen and women from both sides and an untold number of civilians. There was also another instance where a Martian Admiral launch a full-scale planet strike which resulted in the planet disintegrating into millions of pieces. While one might argue that issue of cracking and destruction was a result of these planets being artificial in nature. Bombardments against Mars have left it tectonically unstable even to this very day. This is why we had to go the hard way. After all, destroying a planet or a moon does not give us any tactical or strategic value. Just a massive field of useless debris."
"Yes, while that is also true, you do realize that we're talking about an interstellar polity with the ability to easily draw resources from countless worlds in different star systems than we do. I suspect that such a power would be willing to take that risk. After all, we don't know how big they really are." Rebutted vice-Admiral Cole.
The room was silent. That had forgotten that little tidbit about the implications of the Alien FTL capabilities. At the current moment, most of the high-ranking officers in the room were still using tactics and strategies meant for more "conventional" human warfare. The vice-admiral's job is to change that mindset in order to prepare for any potential conflicts. As well as to minimize the risk of disasters from the engagement of such conflicts. At best, peace was an option, but an option that was not guaranteed at least in the long term.
"In that case, vice Admiral Cole what is your recommendation?" Asked Fleet Admiral Terrance.
"My recommendation would be to leverage our current planetary defenses as much as possible." Advised vice admiral Cole. "We still don't know the capabilities of the Alien's FTL system, nevertheless if they could initiate an intersystem jump. Therefore, it is advisable for our ships to stay within the cover of the Planetary Defence Network as much as possible. They can provide cover for our ships and allow us to preserve as many lives as possible."
"Agreed." Nodded Vice Admiral Alexander Reaves. "Our planetary defenses are some of our greatest assets. They were designed in mind to cover our own fleets as well as destroy any invasion force. They will be useful in this situation."
Nodding his head vice admiral Cole continued. "As for our fleet engagement, we shall use guerrilla tactics. This is on the assumption that the aliens are superior to us. In this case, we will leverage our small ships to carry out hit-and-run attacks against enemy supply and logistical lines as well as engage small formations. We would like to avoid any direct confrontation against the heavier fleet formations. At best it is recommended that we avoid direct decisive engagements as much as possible. It is unfortunate that I have only come up with these recommendations. As we still don't know much about the aliens. One does not wage war without knowing the enemy. As such many of my recommendations are only geared to save lives and buy us time to understand."
"Nevertheless, your insight is just as valuable." Assured Fleet Admiral Terrance. "We will consider your recommendation and advice."
"Thank you, fleet admiral." Said vice admiral Cole sitting back down.
"Now then fellow admirals, we now face the toughest challenges since the War of Sol. A challenge that may determine the fate of humanity today and tomorrow. We must make use of it to the best of our abilities. May Humanity and the Unified Earth Government stand strong. Terra Aeternum." Said, Fleet Admiral Terrance.
"Terra Aeternum." Shouted the admirals and staff back.
Thus, the die was cast, whether or not their preparations will make a difference, only time would tell. As the anticipation of the alien's arrival only grew with each passing day. Hope is looking bright for humanity at the current moment.
A/N:
Sorry for the long wait this chapter kept going on and on. I was initially planning for the chapter to end when the Covenant Fleet arrives at Sol but the chapter was already long so I had to cut it and put it in the next part.
Anyways, here is the chapter. As you can see humanity is preparing for their arrival. You might say this chapter is the calm before the storm that is First Contact. I had fun writing this chapter, although I feel like I would need to revise this chapter in the near future. Especially the Halsey part, I kinda made her ramble on and on here. My initial intention here was to showcase more of this humanity's technological potential (aka making artificial stars and advanced gravity manipulation). And also their other Faster Than Light experiments and concepts. Thus, will be revised in the future as the story progresses.
For the Navy, writing them was a bit hard. I was still debating internally whether or not I should include ships from the canon or make new ship classes. I decided to go with the former because a majority would know what these ships are and including new ships would just throw the readers off. However, there are some ships classes that are my own creation.
The Phoenix II class warship is just my version of the Phoenix class support ship, which is the main ship class of the UNSC Spirit of Fire. One of my favorite ships in the Halo series. I must admit, the first halo game I played was Halo 4. But I, being turn-based tactics and real-time strategy enthusiast and type of guy only have Halo Wars 1&2. I enjoyed playing the games and the story of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and their journey so this ship is my homage to the class. With a few modifications and other capabilities. I like the Infinity but I like the Spirit of Fire more, it's just my preference.
As you the readers may have realized. Because this is an AU, while the ship class names may stay there are differences and similarities from the canon. First and foremost is weapons. Most UNSC ships or human ships in this matter now possess direct energy weaponry. This range from particle cannons to lasers, etc. There are also missiles or torpedoes as they call them, which contain specialized warheads from plasma to nuclear, etc. Some ships of the UNSC navy also possess MAC cannons and other conventional gun-type weapons. But these are mainly used as secondary weapons. Although do be aware that these MACs are a lot more powerful than that of the canon. An average ship is able to Fire a 160 to 600-ton shell at 1 to 4 percent of lightspeed. But ships equipped with these weapons are rare in the navy overall.
The ship design would also be similar but will have differences, such as being larger. Some will be sleekier others be bulkier and more utilitarian in design. The conversation about Planetary Invasion was something interesting to write about. From what I know about the canon of the Halo series. Planetary invasion and warfare were extremely rare. In most cases where it occurred was when the Covenant had to land on the planet to secure Forerunner artifacts. In many cases during the Human-Covenant War, Naval battles are where most of the war took place. Spacedock really gives a good idea of why such an invasion is infeasible in his video which I'll reference here. ( watch?v=Kc_2v1_yAlU&ab_channel=Spacedock). Although I would suspect, a planetary invasion would still occur anyways despite these challenges. Mainly to secure key industrial areas to be repurposed for uses, etc.
Moving on is the number of ships required. I have done research regarding how many ships the Covenant actually has and the information I got was conflicting. Some say around 6,000 to 80,000 others say in the millions. But narrowing it down, in the context of my AU, I would say they have around half a million ships. Here is why, from what I know the Covenant core territories were situated in the Orion arm of the galaxy. That's not a big territory compared to the forerunners and ancient humanity. Also, there is the issue of the Covenant shipbuilding capabilities. Now, this is the hard part, as there are many conflicts made on this topic. One story has the Covenant struggle in shipbuilding and the other says they have a vast amount of resources and many shipyards, etc. Then again we don't know, so I'll have to make up my own lore in this regard one that would make sense. Until I can decide on which, I'll just say the Covenant have at least half a million ships at their disposal at best.
Orbital bombardment is a tricky topic here. The UNSC rarely does it because it can damage or destroy a planet and destroying a planet would not give any side any value in war. The way the UNSC weapons work here is while a direct energy weapon type. It works more like a kinetic projectile than a laser beam. It is essentially a beam of charged particles accelerated at a significant percentage of the speed of light. When it impacts a target, it impacts like a kinetic round rather than an Ablation or a piercing often seen in energy beam weaponry of the Covenant. In the cases describe in this chapter, two of the artificial planet, yes I'm aware cracked. This is mainly because these planets are hollow and thus are more vulnerable to this type of destruction. Mars was not, but it left it with scars in the form of unstable geology and tectonic activity which persist to this very day.
I'll try to explain more as the story progresses. Although I might revise this chapter later on to fix any issues and holes that may come up. An interesting note this particle beam technology has been miniaturized as a firearm. As most firearms are mainly this weapon technology which has modes that can adjust the firing rate or type of "round" utilized. The UNSC also possesses other types of energy weapons, some of which resemble that found in ancient human ships. Anyways this chapter is out I hope you all enjoy it and be on the lookout for the next.
Q/A:
To Naotw
Tier scale; just my opinion going by canon slipspace capabilities.
Well to be fair, we still don't know the exact criteria of what makes a species a tier 3 or tier 1. Ancient humans are said to be tier one but they don't have access to technologies such as megastructures, etc. But have weapons that are tier 1 so what does that make them? My assumption of the criteria is the creation and the added sum total of advance technology that humanity currently has. Although feel free to argue with me on this.
QEC; too crippling given the boons it brings to economics in space. A shot in the foot imo.
The Technology is still experimental at the current moment. The UNSC or more so ONI knows the implications of this technology. Thus, they're not going to release it right away. Also, it is still limited in terms of bandwidth meaning that it still can't be used in modern-day to day standard communication yet.
Human lifespan trippling puts in the the 210-300 year mark. 5-7x gives 500. For the resources, it'd take 2 decades, plus the time to mine, for returns to start being made.
Well, yes I was going on the assumption that the human lifespan in the 22nd century is around 180 years. Thanks to the advances in medical technology and genetic modification. While humanity is still a long way from being the humans of the past. It is a start.
"Sol system.." are most humans in Sol? Seems so going by how often it's used to imply all important human space. " two billion, ten billion.." population looks good enough to support megastructures, assuming this is a low proportion.
Yes, most of humanity lives in Sol. It is mainly down to preference, after all, would you like to live in a massive megastructure that mimics a garden of Eden? Or would you like to live in an interstellar colony where it is not guaranteed to have a carefree and easy life? Choose wisely, my friend.
" shock and disbelief.." aren't they the ones that manage the budget? Hard to believe that they wouldn't have a relative idea of the navy's situation.
Well, okay I'll let the suspension of disbelief play out here. But the UEG does not actually know the navy's situation. This is because the UEG DOES NOT CONTROL THE UNSC, I'll explain why in the next chapter. But what I can tell you is that this situation kept UNSC independent so that in times of crisis it can quickly take over from the civilian administration without any issues or politicians holding them back. This policy was from the System Wars since they (UNSC) were the ones who made this policy. The result was the UNSC is in sense, a quasi-independent entity of the UEG. The UEG supplies it with money while making sure that the money is used carefully. But at the same time, they don't know what the money is going to be used for. As you can see it is kinda a conflicting point here. One that will make itself known in the later chapters.
1.) " dreadnoughts.." would have been among 1st to go after size cut. They'd go for numbers(cruisers, battleships and the like) to maintain consistent coverage/deployment range against piracies. Plus dreads are really mainly useful in a direct fight against a strong defensive position, something that hasn't happened for centuries here.
2.) " building new ships.." largely obvious. President's question would touch on specifics; what classes, how many, any budget changes or force composition changes, what of the marines that also use the navy's ships? If the navy is low, it would also be low, etc.
3.) " nanotechnology.." largely inhibits fast builds due to nano-scale precisions. Compare this to just slapping together 100m by 100m armor and structural plates/beams using large cranes.
Dreadnoughts have been largely the first to go. Although the UNSC still keeps a few in mothballed fleets, in case they need something to be smitten out of existence. The President and by extension does not control the UNSC a fact that I will make this fact obvious in the next chapter. The UNSC has this unusual deal with the UEG in which it remains somewhat independent from the Government. Why and how this even come up in the first place will be explained as the story progresses. It essentially acts on its own at times but needs the UEG to legitimize itself somewhat. But that's all I can tell you. As such, the President is left out of the loop on the whole defense situation. Only the UNSC itself can plan which classes to build and what their defensive plans are. But regardless the treaty between them is to have the president brief on the UNSC plans and have him formally agree on them. Nanotechnology in the billions will not actually inhibit as much as you might think. With billions working in unison, it will build things at a fast rate. The Forerunners have these facilities called assembler vats which are essentially nanofabrication plants. Even the Covenant has them too.
1.) "..steal technology." a very obvious fact no one needed to hear. Fact is that they are divided and politics applies.
2.) " trump card.." one doesn't use a trump card unless it's the last option. Given that Mars can apparently almost match it(10% per cheaper, mobile station) it's not even a solid one.
3.) "...off the table.." he should be more than concerned about appearing divided before the aliens. That's too rude diplomatically and closes many more doors than the shipyard.
Here is the issue the president has. While he does theoretically control the UNSC, the UEG itself cannot ultimately make this decision. Even if he wanted to, the UNSC would not allow him to give away that advantage anyways. Even ONI will do everything it can to sabotage the agreement in some ways. Moreover, the president knows to some extent that the other powers will be using this opportunity to one-up Earth and the UEG. Even after the War of Sol and the armistice, there is still that lingering distrust between Earth and Mars. Giving them technologies to Nidavellir would have only widened the divide even more and caused a lot of problems such as trying to get these powers to cooperate. It sounds a bit rude, but it has the reason why the president choose this path to negotiate. On to the Trump Card, well my argument is that Mars was hit quite badly by an initial UNSC counterattack which devastated its industries. The Factory Satellite was a last resort option to stop the nation from collapsing with the near destruction of its industries and subsequent invasion by the UNSC. With the invasion, Mars was unable to effectively build ships via facilities on Mars and the outer planets. Thus, they relied on the Factory Satellite as to substitute and the last resort for their production.
1.) " outskirts.." how far away from the sun? If past, or before, the Oort cloud, it'd be easily detectable.
2.) "SPARTAN.." UEG isn't in near/active civil war. Would have no need for spartans.
3.) " off the streets.." with the economics shown, would have been hard to find.
4.) "...has full control.." dubious that she'd be able to keep the station a secret from the UNSC, along with the funds for it given its classified details.
ONI base was in the Oort cloud using a combination of advanced cloaking and heat reflectors which made it hidden from all sensors. The SPARTAN was conceived as a next-generation series of augmented supersoldiers once used in the War of Sol. Essentially it's an upgrade, however, I won't spoil why they were created in the first place as it will link to the upcoming conspiracy arc later on in the story. Well yes, Orphans are near-nonexistent in Sol, quite a few orphans can exist in Sol. But ONI mostly takes those from interstellar colonies that are often not as well-developed as the Sol System and are often prone to corruption practices. As such, parents are lost and you have yourself an orphan. Now on to the next point, You are underestimating Admiral Parangosky abilities here a little bit here. However, yes she couldn't keep it a secret for long but she had help from a third party, that's all I can tell you.
I hope this satisfies you. I tried to answer to the best of my abilities without spoiling the story too much. Although it needs to be I might revise this story sometime in the future. But anyways enjoy the chapter and be on the lookout for the next one.