Friday 25 July 2014

Expoletian Command Vessels: Aius Avenger

A state-of-the-art warship, the 9.9km long, 400 tonne Aius Avenger is not classed as a Dreadnought due to falling 100m short of that classification. Known as a Hades Destroyer Battlecruiser, the Aius Avenger is the newest vessel in the Expoletian Armada, and is planned to become the new capital ship once the Malevellum is retired from active service.

The Aius Avenger is made from a unique design; no other vessel shares the same layout as the Avenger. The bridge of the Aius Avenger is located 3/4 of the way along the vessel, and provides a full view of the entire hull to the 50 crewmen that operate the behemoth. The crew is protected by a single pane of 4m thick diamond glass, with anti-projectile turrets destroying anything larger than a standard laser blast. Immediately in front of the bridge is the intake port for the vessel's matter collector, which fuels the vessel while in flight. The intake port leads directly to the engine room, occupying 10% of the vessel.

The Engine room is home to a pair of twin Hydra Engine blocks. The core of these 4km long, 70 tonne behemoths is the extremely efficient Combat and Real Time Espionage eXtreme (CoRTEX) rods. Although the three rods in each engine are 400m long, minimal power is required to run at peak efficiency. As such, all of the four engine cores are run by a single Super Fusion Reactor. The power provided by the twin Hydra is concentrated by the 200m long, 3m wide Apollo thruster port, enabling the Aius Avenger to output a total thrust of 10 billion tonnes. To do so, each Apollo is equipped with an infuser, which brings the volatile, superheated fuel from the two Hydra engines, and forces it through the exit port at speeds fast enough to ignite the gaseous fuel on contact with the cold of space. The saturated area behind the one way valve ensures that the fire cannot enter the engine block. Given that the engine was run for 11 years straight and not one instance of back flow occurred, the soldiers on board the Aius Avenger know that the vessel is safe.

Concerning safety, at 90 tonnes, the ultra strong, ultralight Chimera armour is stress tested to be able to absorb the impact of a 2 tonne projectile. The Chimera plating is classified down to the exact materials it is made from, as the Aius Avenger doesn't have a carbondium layer underneath this plating. What makes the Chimera plating even more intriguing is the fact that the hull isn't one solid plate, but millions of smaller plates seamlessly connected with no visible weak points. What helps defend the Chimera plating is the Hades barrier. The Hades barrier is resistant to forces generating over 900,000 Hydrogen Fusion bombs worth of power, even though the barrier itself is less than a centimetre thick. Powered by a single fusion reactor, the Hades barrier is the single toughest shield system in the Universe for a small power draw, and is the pride of the Expoletian Armada.

Since other systems on the vessel require low power draw, the weapon systems are a boast to the fact that the Aius Avenger is better than anything else. Featured on the vessel are the CAMAC MkII guns. The 8 cannons provide a high powered STS combat weapon, but due to the low fire rate, they need to be supplemented by the largest amount of turrets ever assembled on one vessel. With 500,000 Type XV turrets, 300,000 Type XIV turrets and a further 250,000 Type XIII turrets, the Aius Avenger has the highest number of rapid fire weapons of any vessel known, while being one of the fastest and toughest vessels to see action. Along with the million plus turrets, the Aius Avenger also has nearly 400,000 torpedo tubes, ensuring that the vessel can take on most enemy craft with minor damage.

In addition to the impressive firepower of the vessel, the Aius Avenger is equipped with 8 double wide hangars, with each capable of holding 225,000 fighters. This gives the Aius Avenger the role of mobile command centre or carrier, since the sensors on the vessel are more sensitive than anything else in production.

While the Aius Avenger may seem unwieldy, the Hydra engines give the vessel the maneuverability of a vessel 20 times smaller, while providing enough firepower to level any capital vessel in a heartbeat. Combine this power and agility with ultra tough armour and the Aius Avenger is truly a vessel to be feared.

Just stay on it's good side, and you'll be fine.

Monday 21 July 2014

Expoletian Command Vessels: Phalanx

The Dreadnought Phalanx is smaller than its father vessel, Ultimate, but is by no means less dangerous. 13km long, and weighing 300 tonnes, the Phalanx has never seen a battle in its life, due to the underwhelming ability of the vessel.

While most regard the Phalanx as a failure, the vessel was never designed to be a front line combat vessel, with Kodekai opting instead for a stealth destroyer. This is evidenced as the 2m thick reflective titanium plating masks the energy signature of the vessel, disguising the profile of the vessel. The Phalanx uses the standard issue Herculean Shield system, which forms a barrier over the entire hull of the vessel, and can absorb ten minutes of sustained firepower, although the shield can only recharge if engine power is rerouted, rooting the vessel while it regenerates shielding. Featuring less firepower than a standard Expoletian Guard ship, the Phalanx, while lacking in sheer numbers, has upgraded versions of the Type XIV turret, using piercer rounds as opposed to the standard shredder bolt. This makes the Phalanx well suited to attacking unshielded craft, and often intercepts military grade cargo transports.

In order to intercept military grade transports, the Phalanx requires a powerful engine that can also mask any energy signature it creates. Kodekai used the Shadow Hawk made Obelisk Engine core to power the 2km long, 15 tonne Haven Engine block, attached to the Whirlwind thruster port. The Obelisk enables the Haven to produce 1.25 million tonnes of power, which is translated into 10 million tonnes of thrust by the Whirlwind. In order to mask the heat signature of the engine, the Whirlwind is equipped with heat vents that dissipate the heat generated over a long path, and this heat is then recaptured to power the Super Fusion generators that power the Obelisk core. The heat signature of the Phalanx is reduced to an area of 500m at most, making the vessel one of the stealthiest ever created.

While the 4 Haven Engine blocks provide the movement ability for the Phalanx, the true might of the vessel lies in its spine. Running the length of the vessel is the dreaded Phalanx cannon, which weighs around 140 tonnes. The weapon, which is shrouded in secrecy, is a smaller, less powerful version of the Ultimate's Civilian. The inner machinations and power requirements are unknown, but given the size of the Phalanx, speculations are that the Phalanx cannon can cause incredible damage. To defend the weapon, the Phalanx has 5 hangar bays spanning the 2km wide vessel, and each is capable of holding 300,000 fighters. Only 10,000 fighters are assigned to the vessel however, and the Phalanx is unlikely to see combat for a long time.

The Phalanx bridge, built towards to front of the vessel, is inline with the hull of the vessel, and composes mainly of a viewing window and the 120 crewmen that operate the systems around the vessel. Since the vessel is classified and hasn't seem combat, the full capabilities of the Phalanx can't be determined, but the vessel is assumed to be quite capable in combat, even if it doesn't show.

Friday 18 July 2014

Expoletian Command Vessels: Ultimate

One of only two Expoletian Dreadnoughts, the Ultimate was the largest warship ever created. 20km long, and weighing nearly 700tonnes, the Ultimate was the brainchild of L'lurk M'aig.

Wanting a vessel like none seen, the Ultimate was built around the gargantuan Civilian weapon. At 18km long, and weighing 350tonnes, the Civilian was the largest weapon ever created, but was never fired. Since the Ultimate was built to protect the Civilian, the 150 tonne armour plating was made of reinforced Tungstanium - an alloy made by combining Tungsten and Titanium - with a thickness of 3 metres. Because of the power draw of the Civilian, a shield system was never installed on the Ultimate, although the vessel was tough enough to shrug off most firepower. Along the hull were 450,000 Type XIV turrets, along with a further 250,000 Type XIII turrets, supplemented by 200,000 torpedo launchers. The sheer amount of turrets disallowed the Ultimate any form of STS Battery Cannon, making the Ultimate a vessel of fear as opposed to force.

In order to propel the Ultimate, Kodekai Enterprises made the largest engine block to date - the 4km long Cerberus Engine, which is built around the Minotaur rods. Four of these engines were installed on the Ultimate, and each weighs 40tonnes, but are capable of putting out nearly 4 million tonnes of thrust. In order to achieve this feat, the Cerberus is built with 8 Fission-Fusion reactors dedicated to powering the mighty engine. For the rest of the ship, another 8 Fission-Fusion reactors are required in order to make sure the vessel runs at optimal power.

Besides the massive power consuming engines, the rest of the Ultimate is pretty basic. The 30 million strong crew is housed over 6 stories, but the luxuries of the Ultimate aren't like the Malevellum or Sonic Rupture. The Ultimate wasn't designed as a hybrid vessel, and was built with one purpose in mind: war. Due to the design of the Ultimate, the bridge of the vessel is similar to a viewing deck, jutting out from the hull, made entirely from reinforced glass.

Although the Ultimate is a weapon of war, the vessel is limited as it is super massive and draws on massive amounts of power. The specialty of the Ultimate was also its downfall; while holding back the entire Earth Armada so the Expoletian Fleet could retreat, the Ultimate suffered fatal damage, and tore apart, killing everyone on board. The $63 Octillion vessel only served to show how powerful interstellar warships have become.

Expoletian Command Vessels: Sonic Rupture

The Sonic Rupture is one of the last Generation 4 starships manufactured by Kodekai Enterprises, and the vessel is a 6km long, 220 tonne behemoth. The base vessel is the same make as the Malvellum, but highly altered and with more advanced technology.

Built in 3753, the Sonic Rupture is outfitted with Generation 7 weapon systems, which include the Type XV Turret. Half a million of these turrets lie concealed in the vessels hull, which is made of 2.4m thick titanium alloy, layered on 1.2m thick carbondium. The plating of the Sonic Rupture is thicker than most other warships in the armada, although the armour alone weighs a staggering 70 tonnes. Also concealed within the hull are 8 LABs, with everything being optimised to have as little mass as possible.

While the Sonic Rupture has massive plating, the Swarmer Shield System is leaps and bounds ahead of previous shielding. Instead of oscillating waveforms, the Swarmer is thousands of overlapping shields that absorb 12,000 joules of energy each, regenerating every five seconds to form a highly resistant barrier that ensures the Sonic Rupture can withstand an insane amount of firepower. These shields consume little power, but because of the size of the vessel, two Fission-Fusion reactors are required to power them all. These reactors are in the massive reactor room of the Sonic Rupture, which occupies the full width of the kilometre wide hull and the full 1.75km height.

The main reason the reactor room is so large is to house not only the dual warp cores, but the Leviathan Engines. The Leviathan is more powerful than any other engine of a similar size, only beaten by the power the 4x larger Gorgon can output. Powered by the TRACER core, the Leviathan is capable of outputting 900,000 tonnes of power out of the 175m long, 2m wide thruster block. This thruster block is the funnel for two Leviathan engines, meaning the Sonic Rupture has 16 Leviathans inside the Reactor room. The thrust provided by the engines is not cheap, and for every two Leviathan engines, there is a Super Fission-Fusion reactor, making the Sonic Rupture the most expensive vessel ever produced at a cost of $173 Octillion.

Powered by the mighty Leviathan engines, the Sonic Rupture is capable of entering Warp space twice as fast as the Malevellum, and the vessel is normally the first attacker in a fight. To allow maximum effectiveness and streamlining, the bridge of the vessel is at the foremost point of the hull, covered by two way reflective plating. With a bridge crew of 50, the Sonic Rupture has specialist pilots that have control over specific systems. The weapon systems operators are shielded by special pods that mask outside interference while allowing full functionality. The crew of the Sonic Rupture is said to be second-to-none in terms of reaction timing as a result, although this might have something to do with the fact the vessel is commanded by a soldier of no rank less than Colonel.

Like the Malevellum, the Sonic Rupture has 8 large hangars, capable of hosting well over 100,000 fighters each, although the main hangar, which is twice as large, is located on the top of the hull. Although this exposes a major weakpoint of the battlecruiser, the sheer amount of fighting that needs to occur to reach this point makes attacking the hangar virtually impossible. Since the Sonic Rupture is unable to enter an atmosphere, there is a command hangar on the belly of the vessel, hidden from sight, which is where most cargo vessels dock.  The other 6 hangars line the port and starboard decks of the Sonic Rupture.

The interior of the Sonic Rupture is composed of a twelve story luxury crew deck. Four million soldiers can reside on the vessel, which features state of the art training facilities, and a massive training facility. Two hallways run the length of the vessel, and are able to have twelve Expoletian soldiers stand fingertip to fingertip across. The sheer size of the vessel, although shorter than the Malevellum, make the Sonic Rupture a target few would consider attacking. Rightly so, as the Sonic Rupture possessed more firepower than any other vessel in the Expoletian Armada before it's destruction in 2754.

Thursday 17 July 2014

Expoletian Command Vessels: Malevellum

The Expoletian Armada is led by the battlecruiser, Malevellum. Built in 3716, the Malevellum is the oldest vessel still in service, being one of the first Generation 4 starships to be produced.

One of the largest starships ever produced, the 8.7km long, 130tonne Malevellum is the second largest vessel in the Expoletian Fleet, but is often regarded as the toughest vessel to ever be built. The hull is made of large panels consisting of steel support bars, built into an osmium-tungsten-iron alloy. The largest of these panels lines the belly of the vessel, falling just short of the length of the vessel to make room for the engine outlet. This panel weighs nearly 10 tonnes, but is only 0.45m in thickness. The panel is secured to the interior wall of the vessel with a layer of carbondium, 2.3m thick, providing the Malevellum with the armour it needs, while reducing weight as much as possible. The firing deck of the hull is made of smaller panels, intertwined to form a lattice over the vulnerable areas of the vessel, while allowing the weapons systems to be used quickly.

While the armour of the Malevellum seems light, the real defensive power of the vessel comes from the Insanity Barriers. These barriers form a network of advanced combat shielding for the Malevellum, and while they may be small, they provide a massive defensive boost to the vessel. Using rapidly oscillating shield technology, the Insanity Barrier takes the entire impact of an object hitting the barrier, and dissipates it across the entire vessel. This process has a limited threshold, and after a few minutes, the Barrier engines will fail, requiring a 10 minute restart. While this may not seem like much, the Malevellum has suffered some major damage in battle on occasion, and this can be shown as the vessel is noticeably less active in combat.

The Malevellum, although a humungous vessel, is the fastest non-fighter craft in the Expoletian Armada, capable of outrunning a Galdon class interceptor cruiser. The Malevellum gains this speed from the 6 TASER class engine cores, providing the power of the massive Gorgon Engines. Each Gorgon weighs 10 tonnes, and is capable of providing 1.73 million tonnes of thrust. Powered by two Fission-Fusion reactors, the Gorgon superheats He-2, which is used as the catalyst for the He-3 fusion process which provides the thrust of the engine. The Kilometre long Gorgon has a thrust port 375m in diameter, and can house enough fuel for the Malevellum to stay in transit for 7 days with one functional TASER core. Being such a large engine, it is impractical to replace the Gorgon with a new one, making the 6 Gorgon Engines of the Malevellum the oldest in service.

With the speed of a vessel 1/10th it's size, the Malevellum is highly mobile, but it does not sacrifice firepower for such agility. The vessel has an armament of 400,000 Type XIV turrets, with just under 100,000 Torpedo Tubes, giving it an edge over most other vessels in combat with just those weapons. Complementing the light weapon systems are 16 LTABs as well as 4 LABs, making the Malevellum a high power vessel. These weapon systems are supplemented by the 100,000 fighters the Malevellum can carry inside of it's 8 huge hangars, each capable of holding two Gorgon Engines. With 4 hangars on each side of the vessel, a large crew deck runs along the area between the hangars and the engine room. With a crew of nearly two million, the Malevellum has 10 floors to house everything the crew needs, including a 300m diameter sparring arena.

The Bridge of the Malevellum is located at the top of the vessel, streamlined to disguise the profile of the vessel, with a 5m thick viewing mirror providing 360 degree vision around the bridge. This mirror is two way; and has seeker turrets which protect it from any object larger than a shredder bolt. The Bridge has a small crew for a Generation 4 warship, requiring no more than 20 crew members. Each crew member is specially trained for the micromanagement of systems aboard the Malevellum, with each crew member in charge of two reactors and a large number of weapon systems. The piloting of the vessel is done by two of the most decorated pilots in the Empire, and each pilot is in charge of managing half of the vessel, while co-ordinating with the other to ensure the Malevellum runs at maximum efficiency.

While the Malevellum may have low armour, the vessel was designed to act as a fast, hard hitting vessel, based off the Expoletian Guard Ship design, but heavily modified to be physically superior. Having some of the most advanced technology in the Empire has increased the longevity of the Malevellum, but the Gorgon Engines are slowly becoming more of a burden as the vessel ages, often failing to engage on first ignition, and possessing no stealth capability whatsoever. The Malevellum is at the end of what is regarded as the longest lifespan of any space faring vessel, and it is being prepared for decommission, although it is predicated the vessel will become a cargo transport due to its immense size. Only time will tell.

Thursday 10 July 2014

Warp Technology

Interstellar travel is a key part of life in the 38th century, although the process involved to achieve this differs in many ways, but the outcome is always the same: Warp Technology.

This phenomenon is prevalent in most stars that give off high energy electromagnetic waves. The first Empires to discover this technology have since been absorbed by the Western Universe's Gorbal Syndicate - the single largest Empire in the Universe. Roughly 400 years later, the Expoletian Empire figured out the basics for Warp Technology, after a manned expedition past Tyrgon. On board they had a lump of Iridium inside a mass field, and after a few days the scientists noticed that the piece of metal had formed an antigravity well inside the mass field - effectively making the Iridium massless. More tests were conducted with lighter metals, and this yielded the opposite results: the metals gained more mass, and had an increased gravity field. Elements that weighed more were then tested, and the antigravity field increased in strength, with Bismuth producing the strongest field.

Knowing this data, the Expoletians began tests using Bismuth, and after 4 decades of arduous research and testing, a prototype teleporter was made, and managed to transport 100g of LiFe7 a distance of 260km using 130GV. This energy was provided by a prototype fission-fusion reactor, powering a small gamma ray emitter surrounding the Bismuth donut. Not sure what would happen, the test compound was launched through the donut at mach 1, and what happened astounded the scientists.

The scientists discovered that the Bismuth core of the Warp Field didn't increase the velocity of the compound that went through it; the matter had been translated to a plane of space smaller than the Universe as it entered the field, and had materialised at a spot correspondent with the initial speed and mass of the object. The 100g alloy was discovered intact, and without damage. Further tests were conducted with more mass, and the distance increased linearly; a 1kg ingot managed to travel 2,600km. During one of the last tests, a 10kg ingot was accelerated too much, and hit the Warp Field at Mach 1.5. Rather than traveling the proposed 39,000km, the ingot traveled 40 times further, coming out of the warp field 1.5 million kilometres away from the launch point. It was at this point the military gained interest in this new technology, and procured all rights and resources, commissioning the science team to run further tests for speed.

A decade after the military seized the Warp Field technology, another breakthrough was made by the team working on it. After countless calculations and theories, the Warp Field was generated in a zero gravity environment, and the initial experiment - 100g of LiFe at Mach 1 was repeated. This time, the Warp Field was much more potent, and the ingot traveled nearly 12 Astronomical Units before exiting the Warp Field. After presenting their findings to the Military Council, the low budget project was commissioned to make the first Warp Core. After years of exhausting production, the 120m wide Bismuth-208 Warp Core was finished. Scientists had discovered that Bismuth-208 produced a field 10 times more potent than any other isotope of Bismuth, so the Warp Core was produced using 98% Bismuth, mixed with Tungsten to resist the 3000C temperatures. The Warp Core was powered by a 130TV reactor - 1000 times more powerful than the first reactor used to power the initial Warp Field. Once the Warp Core was powered up for the first time, a noticeable gravity shift was observed by everyone in the command room, who started the superaccelerator responsible for firing the 100kg ingot to 10% lightspeed. The Emperor was given the honour of firing the ingot into the Warp Core, and upon passing through the Warp Field, the entire Warp Field core - Bismuth donut, gamma field generator, shieding, everything inside - and the generator were seemingly lost as no data was sent back within the next few hours after everything instantly disappeared. The Project was shut down afterwards, but in a stroke of luck, as the facility was about to be powered down a week later, the probe they had placed started sending data back.  S'tr'ry, the head scientist was the first to notice, and reports indicate that he fainted when he saw the data.

After S'tr'ry regained consciousness, he marched into the Emperor's chambers, holding a thick folder, throwing it into the Emperor's lap. Opening it, the Emperor's jaw dropped, and he looked back up at S'tr'ry, mouth agape and uttered the now famous words "N'char'is O'gh'p." Three hours later, Kodekai Enterprises was founded and began mass production of the Warp Core, in varying sizes, while reducing the power load that the contraption required. The first Warp Core had finished it's journey 130,000 light years away, fully intact and fully functional in a matter of days. The Warp Field wasn't limited to passing through the Bismuth; it could transport anything in a radius based on the size of the Bismuth Donut. S'tr'ry was tasked with improving the Warp Core's design, and eventually produced a Core that could be calibrated and consumed less than 130MV/kg of energy at maximum. This Core was tested on the Plux Probe, and transported the probe, fully intact with all systems functioning, a full 200,000 light years in less than 48 hours.

Almost simultaneously, the Earth Empire conducted similar experiments, but used the element Platinum instead, and produced a similar Warp Core, although the Earth Empire variant is often regarded to be inferior to the more streamlined Expoletian Warp Core. The Earth Empire variant is cheaper to produce, but lacks the Expoletian Warp Core's ability to be installed on one man fighters. The Expoletians have used this to their advantage, using their fighters to intercept the Earth Empire supply lines.

The latest version of the Expoletian Warp Core has the added feature of delaying exit from Warp Space when the entire fleet is in motion. If the vessel's sensors detect any obstruction, the Warp Core is recalibrated midflight to change exit location if any asteroid sized rock or larger is detected, or delay exit by a few seconds if an allied vessel is in front of them. The modern Expoletian Warp Core, which is a Generation 7, is a 36m diameter sphere of Tungsten encasing the 12m diameter Bismuth Donut, which rotates in all directions when active, making Warp Space seem like a leisurely flight on board the vessel. The Warp Core is protected by a 12m thick carbondium cube - made by compressing a layer of diamond between two layers of graphene, forming an ultra strong, flexible material which is commonly used to layer the underneath of interstellar vessel plating due to its ability to hold together under an extreme load. The fighter variant is completely different in design, using two 30cm diameter spheres of 1.2cm thick carbondium to house the two 16cm diameter Bismuth Donuts. These spheres are functionally the same as the larger version, but are located directly behind the cockpit, and providing a Warp Field that prevents air sickness from occurring in battle. Due to the nature of the Warp Core, the Expoletians have no need for Gyroscopes; the Warp Field generated by the Bismuth Core is enough to stabilise any vessel in combat. To prevent accidental warp jumps, the Core has a power regulator; going to Warp Space is not possible if the Core doesn't have sufficient power.

The modern Expoletian Warp Core is able to transport 1000tonne vessels 500,000 light years in approximately 72 hours, making the Warp Core significantly more powerful than any other Warp Core in the Universe, but also the most expensive.

Warp Technology has advanced civilisations more rapidly than any other discovery in their recorded history, and it is one of the most important features of daily life for all citizens of the Universe.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

The Tyrgon-Plux Star System - Expoletian Home System

The Expoletian Empire is based around a binary star system - Tyrgon-Plux, and consists of four planets.

The largest planet is Tharassia, and orbits at a distance of 40 AU. Roughly 150 Earth masses, Tharassia has a dense atmosphere, and has a surface gravity averaging 1.4 G, which has forced the Expoletians to evolve much stronger back and leg muscles to support the increased pull. Orbiting the stars Tyrgon and Plux in roughly 270 Earth days, Tharassia has slowly been increasing in velocity, and it is expected that the planet will reach terminal velocity and escape the system in the next three thousand years. As a result of this, Tharassia is slowly being evacuated.

New Expoletia is slightly smaller than Tharassia at 140 Earth masses, but has a much thinner atmosphere and slightly lower gravity. Orbiting Tyrgon-Plux at a distance of 2.3 AU, New Expoletia breaks all laws of habitable planets. In addition to being in a hostile zone - surface temperatures in unshielded areas can reach 300C, New Expoletia has a retrograde orbit compared to other planets in the system. The axial spin also does not support life since no surface water can form on the planet, yet 2km underneath the hard exterior of the planet lies the largest basin of water in the universe. This water basin is over 10km deep in places, and surrounds the mantle of the planet, which is speculated to be responsible for the harsh orbit of the planet, as this water is affected by all three moons, causing tremors to regularly shake the surface. The largest of these moons is Z'for'is, which literally means outsider. The moon has a retrograde orbit to the planet, orbiting in the reverse direction that the axis of New Expoletia, and at a 90 degree angle to the other two moons. The orbit of the moon is the same as it's day length, so the same face is always facing New Expoletia. The next moon is uninteresting, as it has a standard lunar orbit, and is used to determine the calender of the planet - it always orbits the planet in exactly 38.6 days, and has a 19.8 day axial orbit. Other than that, nothing resides on this moon, and it has minimal effect on tides until Z'for'is is in the same orbital area, which causes tremors that are felt planet wide. The final moon is [CLASSIFIED] and is the Empire's most closely guarded secret. Only half the size of New Expoletia's second moon, [CLASSIFIED] is often cited as the heart of the Expoletian Military, since military traffic frequently passes through the moon's area, although very little is known.

Expoletia orbits at 95 AU, and is 80 Earth masses. The planet is heavily occupied by military stations since the end of the Tharassian Civil War, and has no known moons. The surface temperature is close to absolute zero, as the heat from Tyrgon-Plux cannot be stored due to a lack of atmosphere after the planet was towed to it's current location. Expoletian Military keeps most data on Expoletia hidden, and it is proposed to be a military testing ground, due in large part to the number of operations on the planet.

Eternia is the Empire's Farm. Orbiting at a distance of 5.5 AU, Eternia is a jungle planet of 4 Earth Masses, protected as a national park, the ecosystem of the planet cannot be interrupted, and most farms use the abnormally high gravity of the planet to stay in orbit around it, since Eternia is at the sweet spot for life to grow. Approximately 10 billion biofarms orbit the planet, and almost all the food from the Empire comes from here. Due to it's high gravity - 19 G - scientists propose that the core of the planet is an undiscovered super dense element, perhaps the elusive element 144, which is confirmed to exist, but has never been produced due to the nature of elements 143 and 145 - both incredibly expensive and unstable in all forms, and Element 144, although produced, has only had a half life of 1 femtosecond in most states, proposing that the core of Eternia is an undiscovered isotope composed primarily with Protons and Positrons, meaning the element has a strong magnetic field, and will violently bond with any element. This has been the most accepted answer for the strong magnetic and gravitational fields of Eternia, but attempts to find the answer have turned up no results to this day.

Prior to the Earth Empire's discovery of Tyrgon, most stars were though to emit certain wavelengths of light, centered in the visible spectrum. Tyrgon appears as a white giant star, but emits light with a wavelength in the extreme Ultraviolet range, ranging from 100nm to 10nm in length, causing atoms to eject electrons, which the Expoletian Empire harnessed as a means to help create their warp drive. Tyrgon acts as a unreliable, but permanent warp drive for the Expoletian Military, able to hyperaccelerate the generator for the warp core, effectively providing the Expoletians with an infinite power source, and this energy was transferred to the Fission-Fusion reactors which power most of New Expoletia.

Plux is a star half the size of Tyrgon, and it is even more high energy than its sister. Plux emits gamma rays, and very rarely releases a Femto Ray - a super high energy Gamma Ray with a wavelength in the femtometres. Because of the radiation produced by Plux, the Expoletian Empire is unable to study the chemistry that occurs within the star, as any attempts to study the star result in almost immediate destruction of any equipment. It is hypothesised that if the energy of Plux can be used to create a new warp core, then it may be possible to travel anywhere in the universe in a matter of seconds. The gamma energy of the star is used in prototype Anti Matter cannons, which allows for the mass production of antimatter. This is an energy dependent process, although this process is observed in the Fusion reactors regularly, which surprisingly improves the efficiency of the reactor, rather than diminishing it, since the antimatter purges the reactor of most heavy elements. The purge produces more lighter elements, such as the always necessary He-2, which is used as the catalyst for many engines. Plux has advanced science in ways many thought impossible, and it holds many more mysteries.

Tyrgon-Plux is a rare binary star system because it houses one of the most advanced species in the known Universe. Why the Expoletians haven't found a more suitable star system is puzzling to scientists around the universe, but there is a reason that the Expoletians haven't left the system.

Tyrgon-Plux is Home.

Saturday 5 July 2014

The Expoletian soldier weapons

The Soldiers of the New Expoletian Empire are trained in a variety of weapons, often from a young age. Due to the complex nature of their weapons, most are heavy and difficult to use without proper training.

An Expoletian is required to be trained in hand-to-hand combat, and this occupies much of the time spent aboard a vessel during wartime. They are trained in unarmed combat, as well as combat with a custom made energy sword, which is normally composed of a 90cm long blade, of varying sizes, with a simple hilt. The weapon has been praised by soldiers because of its simplicity, the fact it is easy to use and it is rather light.

The Kodekai Enterprises pistol comes in three varieties: standard, heavy and automatic.
  The standard version consists of a 20cm long barrel, with a microaccelerator inside of it, which launches the bullet at Mach 4. The bullets are stored inside of clips of 23, and are fed into the firing chamber from the handle of the weapon, making reload simple and efficient. The weapon, when fully loaded weighs 2kgs, making it one of the largest handheld weapons in the Universe.
  The heavy version has a slightly shorter barrel at 17cm, but has a much larger accelerator inside of it, adding an extra 1.5kgs to the total weapon weight. This version can fire heavier bullets at Mach 6, although the clip is limited to 11 bullets, and this clip is loaded into the weapon underneath the firing chamber, inserted via the front of the body of the weapon. This makes reload harder, but stabilises the weapon more, allowing for more accurate firing.
  The automatic version is similar to a small submachine gun, having a larger body than the pistol to allow for a different trigger mechanism and a heat sink. The automatic provides the Expoletian army with a quick response defense, as it can empty its entire clip of 77 bullets in a matter of seconds when both triggers are pressed. Each trigger provides a different function; the topmost trigger, used by the index finger fires at a rate of 140 bullets per minute, allowing for accurate burst firing. The second trigger, located on the forward grip, fires in 3-4 round bursts, providing minimal recoil when the weapon is used with both hands. Pressing both triggers at once overloads the accelerator, causing the weapon to fire at a rate of 20 bullets a second, emptying an entire clip in just under 4 seconds.

A step up from the Kodekai Automatic is the short rifle. Sacrificing range and rate of fire for a compact, lightweight weapon, the Kodekai short rifle is 75cm long, and weighs 7.5kgs fully loaded. The weapon has the same heatsink and a similar trigger mechanism to the automatic, opting instead for a switch controlled by an opposable digit to adjust fire rate. Firing bullets similar to the heavy pistol, the short rifle has negligible recoil, as well as a simple reload system, where the clip is inserted into the stock of the gun, behind the body allowing the user to always have the weapon in their hand. When empty, the clip simply detaches itself, and a warning light flashes, alerting the operator.

The Kodekai Assault rifle is the primary weapon of Expoletian soldiers. A hefty 1.2m long, and weighing nearly 20kgs, the assault rifle sacrifices accuracy for sheer fire rate. Requiring a power source inbuilt to the stock of the weapon, the 300 bullet clip is loaded directly into the firing chamber, and can fire upwards of 30 bullets per second, due in part to the bullets firing four or five at a time. Primarily a weapon of fear, the Assault rifle is difficult to use, due to a high recoil.

The Kodekai Heavy Assault Rifle is used by the more experienced Expoletian soldiers, and provides a more reliable weapon. At 1.1m long, and weighing 24kgs, the Heavy Assault Rifle fires 34mm bullets at speeds exceeding Mach 8, while maintaining a low recoil. The clip is loaded directly underneath the firing chamber, and contains 49 bullets. The Heavy Assault Rifle is equipped with an x-ray sight, allowing for enhanced combat in a building.

The Kodekai Advanced Assault Rifle is 1.3m long, and weighs a staggering 32kgs, and is mostly found used by front line insertion teams due to the damage it can cause. Loaded in the same way as the Heavy Assault Rifle, the 145 bullet clip can be emptied in under three seconds when the trigger is pushed to overload. Unfortunately, this rifle does not have a heatsink, and using the rifle in overload causes the barrel to melt within a second, destroying the weapon. This is designed as a security feature to prevent unauthorised use, since the weapon is bound to it's owner for life.

The Kodekai Advanced Heavy Assault Rifle is 1.6m long, and weighs 35kgs, used primarily by defence soldiers and commanders. Firing at a maximum of 1200 bullets per minute, the weapon has a 600 bullet clip, which requires the body to be opened up to reload. Noted as the hardest weapon in the Universe to reload (opening the body of the weapon requires 100kgs of lift) the Advanced Heavy Assault Rifle is also one of the most treasured due to the heatsink that allows it fire off indefinitely without cooldown. This can be achieved by using an ammo belt instead of a clip, and this belt is fed directly through the firing chamber. With 4x X-ray optics, a soldier can reliably hit a target 500m away with less than a centimetre of error.

The Kodekai Sniper is a 2.4m long weapon, weighing 40kgs, capable of firing bullets 3cm long at speeds exceeding Mach 16. The weapon doesn't use an ammo clip as the body of the weapon is occupied entirely by a power supply and super accelerator, so each bullet is loaded into the firing chamber manually. Even the least experienced Expoletian sniper can fire off 45 rounds a minute, making anyone wielding this weapon extremely dangerous.

The Kodekai Combat sniper is 3m long, and weighs 60kgs, and is used by only the most experienced snipers in the army. Firing slower than the regular sniper - 30 rounds per minute - the Combat Sniper provides more accuracy, more stopping power and a bullet clip system. The 30 bullet clip is loaded inline with the firing chamber, at the rear of the superaccelerator, and is able to fire the 7cm long piercer rounds at 10% lightspeed, although the superaccelerator has a 2 second charge time before it can fire, making the weapon useful in non-combat situations.

The Shadow Hawk Sniper is Shadow Hawk Limited's long range rifle, and is a favourite of the Expoletian military. 1.8m long, and weighing 30kgs, the rifle can fire 120 bullets a minute, with the clip being integrated as the main grip of the weapon. Unique for an Expoletian weapon, the Shadow Hawk has two barrels, which allows the weapon to be used in close range, or as a true sniper. Shadow Hawk invested time to integrate a silencer into the weapon, reducing muzzle volume by 99% allowing the user to infiltrate with more ease than a normal sniper.

The Hunter Explosive Launcher is a manually powered grenade launcher. Able to fire off all 6 grenades in under two seconds, the Hunter removes a superaccelerator, and instead uses a high pressure environment, ejecting the grenade out at 500km/h, triggered by the user cocking the barrel. This simple weapon is also one of the most critical for sieges, as it can deal major damage in a small timeframe. This weapon is also wielded by only the strongest soldiers due to the force required to fire the weapon quickly.

Sunday 29 June 2014

Expoletian Ship to Ship Weapons - Continuation of "The Armada and its Armaments"

For the Expoletian Fleet to possess the firepower it does, the Armada has a small, but powerful selection of Ship to Ship combat weapons. Each has strengths and weaknesses which affect how effective they are against certain types of craft.

Starting in the basic weaponry, the Kodekai Enterprises Turret line is the backbone of any vessel in the Expoletian Armada. The most recent in this line is the Type XIV, which is offered as a stationary version, primarily used on fighters, and a mounted version, which is found on most cruisers. Offering a quick firing, hard hitting weapon, the Type XIV, although small by STS standards, is powerful in mass numbers. An Expoletian fighter has two of these turrets mounted to their fighter, while the largest Expoletian vessels can have upwards of half a million. Noted for their low power usage, the Type XIV can be controlled by an intelligent AI, or manually by a specially trained soldier, increasing their effectiveness in the heat of battle. The dual barrel design has increased the firepower of the weapon, without increasing it's size or power consumption, which is almost exclusively used by the superaccelerator. This superaccelerator launches a very small piece of matter, called a Shredder Bolt, at 1/6th the speed of light towards it's target. Because of the small projectile mass, the damage caused to the hull of an enemy vessel larger than a fighter is negligible, but the speed of the projectile can rip through most shields and connection points on the hull of an enemy vessel.

The Kodekai Enterprises Torpedo Tube weapons are an extension of the Turrets. Using a larger caliber barrel, they can fire larger projectiles, usually laced with contact explosives, at speeds slightly slower than the Type XIII turrets. On fighters, this weapon is usually mounted between the barrels of the turret, which further reduces power usage for the weapon. On larger vessels, the torpedo tubes are always found attached to turrets, but draw power from a separate line. While turrets are known for their fast firing Shredder projectiles, the Torpedo tube fires at a much slower rate, compensating for its high heat ejection by launching slow moving cylinders of matter no larger than a fist, which deal damage 10 orders of magnitude greater than a turret could do in it's lifetime. This projectile, while only moving half the speed of a Shredder bolt, is superheated in the superaccelerator, which enables the projectile to melt most enemy hulls, causing collateral damage as well as point damage.

The Kodekai Enterprises Light Assault Battery (LTAB) is a much larger, more powerful version of the Torpedo Tube. The LTAB is found mostly on cruisers, usually as a pair. Due to their much higher power usage, the LTABs normally have a reactor exclusively to power them, and occupy the space of two docking hangars. Having a barrel with a diameter of three metres, the LTAB comes equipped with it's own fusion core, which produces the ammo for the weapon, which is loaded automatically into the firing chamber. During the firing process, the LTAB has a minute long charge up period, where the superaccelerator reaches the desired firing speed, which is usually 1/3rd the speed of light, at which point the firing piston pushes the ammo, which is launched out of the barrel in less than 1/1000th of a second, causing the projectile to stretch due to being superheated and this liquifies on contact with a target, able to destroy any less than a cruiser in one hit.

The LTABs larger brother is the MAC, or Medium Assault Cannon, although this is being phased out for the more efficient and cheaper Battery Cannon. Found on Expoletian Battlecruisers, the MAC is functionally identical to the LTAB, but fires a projectile twice as heavy, at 90% of the speed. The MACs superaccelerator is twice as large at the LTAB version, but has been optimised to run at the same power level. The MAC is more accurate than the LTAB, due to a barrel 150% longer than the 75m long LTAB. The cannon is supported through high power dampeners around the firing chamber in the hull of the vessel, in order to prevent any cracking of the weapon due to recoil. The Battery Cannon is of a similar size, but is 70% more efficient, with a 50% cost decrease, due in part to the removal of the interior fusion reactor. The Battery Cannon is instead powered directly from the main reactors, causing a momentary surge in non-essential systems.

The Large Assault Battery, LAB for short, is the largest of the Battery Cannons, and is found on Expoletian Guard Ships, where two of them are equipped. The 400 metre long barrel, with a 5 metre diameter, makes the LAB the highest caliber non-beam weapon in the Universe. Requiring power from Fission-Fusion reactors, the LAB can fire it's payload at 70% lightspeed, although the LAB rarely sees action due to the hour long process to reload. The 4-tonne projectile is loaded by crane, after the firing chamber has been vented and cleaned of leftover debris. When the LAB is used, few vessels can take a direct hit, and in most cases, one hit results in crippling an enemy vessel to the point that it cannot fight or retreat.

All Battery Cannons  are forward firing due to them requiring mounting and attachment directly to their vessel.

A newer version of the Battery is seeing more use in battle, as enemy vessels get tougher. The Anti-Matter Cannon, AMC for short, was initially a prototype weapon, which provides more firepower than the MAC, for a space less than the LTAB. This is due to the AMC having a firing chamber devoid of matter, where antimatter is created and eventually pooled into an acceptable projectile size. This is then launched at speeds exceeding that of the LAB, enabling the AMC to have an independent firing AI, at the cost of consuming 20% of the vessels entire power. As a result, special cruisers were built specifically for the AMC.

The AMC inspired Shadow Hawk Limited to undertake their most ambitious project ever, and eventually produced the Concussion Anti-Matter Assault Cannon, or CAMAC. This version of the Kodekai Enterprises manufactured AMC reduces power usage, increases firing rate and improves the Anti Matter Projectile. Although the Shadow Hawk superaccelerator can only fire at 50% lightspeed, the efficiency improvements to the weapon have inspired Kodekai to support production of the CAMAC, and have also partnered with Shadow Hawk in order to produce a CAMAC that can launch it's projectile at much greater speeds. The CAMAC MKII is in a testing phase, but the CAMAC is one of the most powerful weapons in the Universe, being able to disable an enemy vessel with only a glancing hit.

The classified Phalanx cannon is an enormous weapon, being the primary weapon for the Expoletian Dreadnought of the same name, and also being 40% of the mass of the vessel. This is one of the first beam weapons used by the Expoletian Armada, although it hasn't seen any battle. Requiring a ten minute charge up time, the Phalanx fires a beam of superheated metal at 98% light speed for up to five seconds. Most specifications of the Phalanx are reserved for the highest ranking officials, although in tests all who heard the weapon firing recall a distinct hum, decreasing in pitch, until a two second pause, when a loud whoosh is heard, accompanied by a blinding light. The inner machinations of the weapon are unknown, although it is theorised that the barrel is not as large as the diameter of the weapon - 4 metres, but merely a 50cm wide hole, and the blinding beam is produced as a result of the expansion of the superheated matter leaving the barrel. Considering the Dreadnought that houses the Phalanx is a 300 tonne vessel, the Phalanx is suspected to weigh nearly 140 tonnes, and runs the length of the Dreadnought. Due to the size of the weapon, the Dreadnought Phalanx has less firepower than a medium sized Expoletian Cruiser, which makes the Phalanx unsuited for prolonged combat situations.

The Type 2 "Civilian" Class Super Ray Destroyer Battery Cannon is the Grandfather of all Beam weapons in the universe. A Colossal construction, the Civilian was designed with the purpose to implode planets with one shot. The weapon was decommissioned after the Galactic Senate passed the Preservation of Life law, although the vessel built around the Civilian saw use for decades after. The weapon was destroyed when the Expoletian Dreadnought, Ultimate, was destroyed in the Battle over Earth. The 350 tonne weapon made up 60% of the mass and size of the Ultimate, and the Phalanx cannon is based on a similar principle, although with severely reduced damage output. Never fired, the Civilian was theorised to fire a beam of metal 3 metres in diameter, superheated to temperatures exceeding 100,000 centigrade at 99% the speed of light. This is likely to destroy the core of a planet, annihilating anything on the surface instantly. The Civilian cost as much as the current worth of the combined Expoletian and Earth Fleets.

The Expoletian Armada, although lacking in variety, possesses the strongest weapons in the Universe, equipped on a fleet of around 900,000 vessels, but this is hardly the largest fleet; the Earth Empire Fleet is nearly 2 million strong. All numbers exclude fighters and transport vessels.

Monday 23 June 2014

The Armada and its Armament

The Expoletian Armada is a fleet of approximately 850,000 interstellar warships, 50,000 Battleships, 47 Battlecruisers and 5 command class vessels. Far from being the largest Armada, the Expoletian fleet gets its strength from the technology it possesses.

The Fleet is armed universally with Kodekai Enterprises Type XIV Turrets, which provide lots of firepower for little power consumption, even in mass numbers. Most vessels can shrug off the energy bolts they fire, yet these turrets deal massive damage to shields, and transfer all their energy when they hit to the opposing vessel, heating the hull gradually over time.

Once the enemy hull is weakened, the Expoletian Armada uses Hunter Demotions, a sub-division of Kodekai Enterprises, branded Torpedo Tubes to pierce and destroy the enemy vessel with high energy plasma balls. These weapons, easily absorbed by heat shielding, are standard on every vessel, although in severely reduced quantities as opposed to the turrets. Much like the turrets, these weapons use low power for the damage they can cause.

The larger Expoletian vessels are outfitted with large battery cannons, which fire large amounts of superheated metal at a high velocity. Due to the size of these weapons, they are stored inside the hull of the vessel when in transit, as they draw large amounts of power from the reactors, which limits most vessels to two of the light battery cannons.

Battlecruisers, the largest of the Expoletian vessels, are equipped with more firepower than any other vessel in the fleet, being equipped with the heavy battery cannons, which fire solid cylinders of metal at speeds capable of going through the entire hull of a cruiser class vessel. These cannons draw as much power as every other system on the vessel combined, which forces the vessel to redirect most engine power in order to fire these cannons.

Command Class vessels such as the Malevellum and Sonic Rupture, are the largest, most powerful war class ships in the entire universe, completely incapable of entering a planet's atmosphere due to the resources required to house them. They are equipped with specialist weapons along with the full firepower of a Battlecruiser. These vessels are also noticeably quicker in the middle of battle, having several more reactors than Battlecruisers, allowing most systems to run at full capacity when in full combat mode.

The most powerful Expoletian vessel is rarely used in battle, as the upkeep is highly expensive and inefficient for combat purposes. The Dreadnought Class vessel is a planet sized behemoth, possessing the prototype Incineration Cannon, a weapon so large, the Dreadnought was built around it. Two Dreadnoughts were built, although one, The Ultimate, was destroyed while covering the Expoletian Armada retreat from Earth, and these were funded completely by Kodekai Enterprises at a cost of $63 Octillion each, although neither was a significant loss for the company.

Three classes of fighter make the backbone of the Expoletian Armada. Many of these can be controlled by an AI that evolves during battle, saving billions of lives.

The Vorcha Fighter is an interceptor, designed for speed and agility. The fastest vessel in the Expoletian Fleet, the Vorcha does most of the dogfighting, although it is rather weak.

The Arclight Bomber is tough and slow, but is one of the few vessels capable of trans-atmospheric flight. It does not possess a turret for fighter-to-fighter combat, but it can deal rapid damage to enemy warships.

The Hg-X Fighter is the newest Expoletian fighter, and is a hybrid of the Vorcha and Arclight classes. The cockpit is no more than 80cm wide, and the vessel is heavily equipped and armoured. The fighter has a pressurizer, which provides the pilot with a comfortable atmosphere in the cockpit, which dynamically changes based on the conditions outside. Fast and tough, the Hg-X is a favourite amongst pilots, who say they prefer the control responsiveness and the ease at which tasks can be done, due to a dynamic AI which monitors and controls every system, allowing the pilot to focus on maneuvering and firing weapons in the heat of battle.

The AI installed on all Expoletian vessels responds to voice commands, and the video communicator is capable of contacting a commander's battle computer, which is integrated into their armour, removing the need for short range headsets or communicators, allowing the commander to freely fight while talking.

Battle Armour is hardened to respond to every atmosphere, and soldiers are not required to wear helmets, as the chest piece of the armour is outfitted with a high powered chemical convertor, which changes the current atmosphere - toxic or not - and converts it into the Expoletian atmosphere (60% Nitrogen, 30% Oxygen, 9% Sodium Hexafluoride, 1% other), allowing soldiers to easily breathe any atmosphere without fear of poison. Expoletian Battle Armour is one of the toughest things in the known galaxy, being able to take over 10 Expoletian atmospheres (~12G's) worth of force before cracking.



A small post, but this gives an insight to what the fleet of New Expoletia is actually like.

Enjoy, and be sure to spread the word,

Timothy Connor, Creator.

Sunday 15 June 2014

A brief background to the New Expoletian Empire

The Chronicles of Expoletia, being a Sci Fi adventure, is set in the future, 1300 years after the discovery of warp technology. This places the date at 3754 Earth Empire Time. The story arc is set in our own Universe - frequent references to the Sol system are made.

Population and Genetics of the Expoletians


The New Expoletian Empire consists of the super planets New Expoletia, Expoletia, and Eternia. This trio of planets is located 433,796 light years from Earth, orbiting a Blue Supergiant star. The technology of the Empire mirrors that of Earth at each point in time, but since the inhabitants live on planets that possess very little liquid of any sort, they require atmospheric space farms to synthesize and produce enough food to feed the 300 billion inhabitants (Excluding those that have not come of age) of the Empire.

There is an approximately equal amount of males to females due to the way that Expoletian genetics work. A female Expoletian is guaranteed to have two children in her lifetime, but these children are genderless. The male Expoletian carries all the DNA for the children, and is guaranteed to impregnate the female with a male child as the first born. If there is a second child born, and in most cases there are two children born to each couple, this child is always female. A female can have more than two children, but the likelyhood of conceiving after the second child decreases by a factor of 6 for every child after 2. The likelyhood of conceiving a third child is one-in-six, and a fourth child is one-in-thirtysix. 

A male Expoletian will grow up to be between 5foot8inches tall and 6foot8inches tall, and weigh anywhere between 90kilograms and 140kilograms. The males most suited for the military stand around 6 feet tall, and weigh 100kilograms, with some exceptions being made for outstanding prospects. The Expoletian soldiers are expected to serve for a minimum of twenty years in the armed forces, although most do not see combat face to face as battles are normally undertaken by the most experienced soldiers only. Regardless of rank or tenure, a soldier is required by Expoletian law to wear their armour and carry a weapon with them at all times when in public. This is to signify that they are a protector of the peace, and that they serve their Empire with pride.

The Expoletian Military has eight ranks within it. There are specialist academies for soldiers willing to learn how to be a leader in the military, and these soldiers are among the best in the Universe.
  • The Admiral of the Fleet, or Admiral for short, is the highest power in the Expoletian Armed Forces. Every operation and every attack is approved by the Admiral. The Admiral's insignia is a patch showing the Expoletian Empire, signifying their high status.
  • The Commander takes their orders directly from the Admiral and the Senators. Normally the highest ranking officer of any operation, the Commander's insignia is represented as the current Command Vessel of the Empire
  • The General is the soldier that leads the troops when on the battlefield. They possess far greater knowledge of soldier tactics than the Commander or the Admiral, and is often regarded as the best soldier in the Empire. Their insignia is a fully armoured soldier, holding a heavy assault rifle.
  • Colonels, also known as Wing Commanders, respond directly to the General, and lead large squadrons or platoons of soldiers on the battlefield. They have undergone extensive, and advanced combat training to be recognised as leaders. Their insignia is an energy sword.
  • Captains are numerous, and most are pilots of the Expoletian Fleet. They have the most training of any soldier, as they are required to monitor multiple ship systems and keep an eye out for trouble. Their insignia is represented by the Mercury-10 Fighter.
  • Lieutenants serve as assistants to high ranking officials, making sure that they are safe during battles and acting as messengers. Their insignia is represented by the Hawk Transport.
  • Defense Soldiers are elite soldiers that are primarily stationed aboard the Expoletian Fleet, preventing any attacks on the vessel itself. Their insignia is a Shield.
  • Soldiers are the initial class that every recruit is known as. For the majority of their military career, soldiers never received a rank increase, but are known as the heart of the military. They have no insignia, but each soldier is allowed to customise their suit of armour to have their family name printed on the back of it.
Of the 150 billion adult males in the Empire, just over 100billion are registered soldiers, and they help any civilian during their free periods, either by harvesting crops or offering to act as couriers. Fiercely loyal to the Empire, they wish to only see it prosper and grow. 
Due to Expoletian regulations, females are banned from considering a military career, as they are the key to ensuring the survival of the Empire. Many females take up political careers, or serve as engineers and scientists, and this allows them to help the military without being considered a soldier.

After the Fall of the last Emperor, the Empire has been run by a Senate, consisting of around 30,000 diplomats, representing every faction in the Empire. The Senate is responsible for appointing the current governor, and for ensuring peace in the Empire. The Admiral of the Fleet receives their wishes and is tasked with maintaining the Senate's rule.

Weapon and Vessel Manufacturing


Kodekai Maufacturing is the largest of the Empire's manufacturers, creating all Galdon-class cruisers and above of interstellar vessels, as well as developing and manufacturing almost every weapon used, as well as all power sources used in the Empire.
Shadow Hawk Limited is responsible for the production of the Empire's fighters and the most deadly sniper rifles available, as well as the totality of the Empire's AI robotic forces.

The Fleet is currently equipped with Generation 6 weaponry, which includes Type XIII Turrets and Type X Torpedo launchers, as well as Kodekai Assault Batteries. The Fleet is dominated by Kodekai Galdon and Heavy Cruisers, which are the fastest and toughest ships, respectively, vessels in the entire fleet for their size. The Command Ship is normally the largest, most advanced vessel in the fleet, and this vessel has been the Malevellum for nearly 5 decades. The largest vessel produced by Kodekai Manufacturing is the Dreadnought Class. Ten times larger than the Kodekai Super Battleship, the Dreadnought was formerly equipped with the Type 2 "Civilian" Class Super Ray Destroyer Battery, a weapon capable of imploding a planet. This weapon was removed when it proved to be the downfall of the Ultimate, a prototype Dreadnought. The Dreadnought now has nearly impregnable armour and shielding, with enough firepower to take on an Armada of over 1,000 vessels single-handedly. However, the Dreadnought is so large, it cannot be serviced on any Expoletian Stardock, instead requiring four years of laborious repairs at the hands of engineers clinging to the vessel as it orbits New Expoletia. This makes the Dreadnought an unreliable combat vessel, and it is rarely seen on the battlefield, instead acting as a heavily armed courier vessel.

Friday 13 June 2014

Summary of The Chronicles

 This is a brief summary of what The Chronicles of Expoletia is about, and what I hope to achieve with this Screenplay


*SPOILER ALERT*

Chronicles of Expoletia is a 6 part saga that follows the tale of the New Expoletian Empire and the struggle to save the Universe

The Tharassian Civil War is the basis of the Universe. This part introduces the major characters of the first trilogy, and their relationships to each other. The plot starts off with the Tharassian Empire engaged in conflict with itself, and builds to the eventual formation of the New Expoletian Empire. Primarily, the plot follows Ak'ab'r, Admiral of the New Expoletian Empire, and Aius, Commander of the Tharassian Empire and their stories. It is revealed that Aius was chosen to be the successor to Ak'ab'r, and that Ak'ab'r does not like the current leader of the Empire, but he tolerates him. The Story builds up to a Tharassian insertion team infiltrating the Expoletian Capital vessel, Sonic Rupture which leads to a climactic battle, ending in the destruction of the vessel and heralding the beginning of the New Expoletian Empire.

The Return of an Old Friend continues the story 5 years later. The Battle over Earth ended up being an ill advised campaign move, and New Expoletia lost ground during the attack. The nobility of New Expoletia is gathered to bury Ak'ab'r, but the man they thought dead makes a surprise appearance and alerts the Governor and Aius that the Earth Empire is preparing to attack New Expoletia. Ak'ab'r learns that one of the New Expoletian diplomats was killed while on a mission to Earth, so he heads to the Ancestral Hall to consult the Great Ancestors about what is to come. While in the hall, Ak'ab'r is attacked by Rigel Maklius' brother, Frederick Rainer. Ak'ab'r barely escapes, and heads back to New Expoletia to prepare for battle. As the Earth Empire fleet is attacking the New Expoletian fleet, Ak'ab'r tells Aius of Al'urk's traitorous plans. Aius and Ak'ab'r head back to New Expoletia where Ak'ab'r confronts both Rainer and Al'urk. Ak'ab'r bests Rainer in combat, and after a short conversation with Al'urk, shoots him in the head. He then proceeds to kill Rainer.

How the Mighty Fall is the climax of the first trilogy. The war between the New Expoletian Empire and the Earth Empire has peaked. The Earth Empire is assaulting an outpost run by K'lurk M'aig, and they force New Expoletia to retreat. However, this is what Ak'ab'r anticipated; the outpost contained a communicator that Ak'ab'r used to contact Earth Emperor Novastorm and arrange a truce meeting. During the meeting, K'lurk fights Captain of the Earth Empire Yusarius. K'lurk prevails and spares Yusarius' life, and the two super powers mass at New Expoletia. While waiting for the Brood Lord fleet, Gaia contacts the leaders and reveals that he isn't the higher power they need to worry about. During the battle, Ak'ab'r breaks off from the main fleet to meet Gaia face to face. Novastorm follows Ak'ab'r into the void as do Aius and Flu'try. Ak'ab'r and Novastorm regroup on Gaia's battleship and make their way to the control room. The computer relays the last log it recorded, and Ak'ab'r realises that this vessel is the Sonic Rupture. The troops head towards the reactor room, where Ak'ab'r leads them into the airvent in order to surprise Gaia. However, his plan is ruined when Aius charges into the reactor room to confront Gaia. Ak'ab'r, Novastorm and their troops drop from the vent and join Aius, although Novastorm quickly reveals he is one of the Brood Lords. A small battle ensues, and the Brood Lords are forced into retreat, although Gaia does kill Aius before he leaves. Flu'try is promoted to Admiral and the newly formed Resistance gets ready for an assault on the Brood homeworld.

Hivemind begins the second trilogy. The Resistance armada is receiving their final orders when L'lurk M'aig, chief lieutenant of the Brood Lords appears and requests that Ak'ab'r come with him and talk to the Hivemind. The Commanders of the Resistance advise Ak'ab'r against doing this, but Ak'ab'r insists he must. Once Ak'ab'r has been taken to the Hivemind, the Resistance forces come under attack by the Brood fleet. Ak'ab'r talks with the Hivemind, who grows increasingly frustrated with Ak'ab'r. The Hivemind boils over when Ak'ab'r reveals that the Hivemind was once Nacahazar, a Cyclops. The Hivemind orders his lieutenants to kill Ak'ab'r, but L'lurk stops them from doing so, giving Ak'ab'r enough time to fatally wound Nachazar. Dying, Nachazar has one last thing to say, and Shaltar, patron saint of the Cyclopean race, decides Nachazar should do so as a cyclops. Nachazar says his thank you to Ak'ab'r, and passes from the realm of the living. The fight over New Expoletia was going bad until the death wail of the Hivemind forced the Brood fleet to retreat. Regrouping, the Resistance follow them to prepare for the final days of the fight.

Showdown continues where Hivemind left off. The Resistance fleet has begun to siege the Brood planet, and the commanders are attempting to set up a command centre on the ground. They successfully do so, as Ak'ab'r, L'lurk and Shaltar are planning to make their way to where the Resistance forces landed, although the Brood army stands in the way. Almost simultaneously, both sides come under attack by one of the Brood Lieutenants, although both Resistance forces manage to kill the attacking lieutenant. At this point, something awakens inside Yusarius and he jettisons to the planet, heading into Brood territory, and is revealed as a Brood Lord. After hours of fighting, both sides of the Resistance meet up and head back to the command centre, although Gaia tries to stop them, and is dealt with by Shaltar. Shaltar sacrifices his mortal body to destroy Gaia, and the Resistance fall back to organise their last push against the Brood lairs. Flu'try heads to the medical centre in order to request some bandaging for a wound received. It is here where Flu'try is revealed to be a woman, although Ak'ab'r pardons her from punishment and tells her that she has a war to win. Flu'try rallies the Resistance behind her and the army leaps over the command centre's walls and attacks the Brood force in full. Rigel then tries to kill L'lurk, succeeding, but also dying in the process. Novastorm attempts to kill Hagai, but is killed almost immediately, leaving only Odin, Yusarius and Brood Master K'flinga to fight the Resistance.

Darkness Incarnate is the penultimate finale of the Chronicles of Expoletia. The Resistance forces are pushing the Brood army back. Flu'try leads her troops into Yusarius' lair, where he attempts to play mind games with her. She outsmarts him through use of a poison tipped boot, piercing his brain with her knife. The wound she received earlier hurts her, but she and her forces press onwards. Outside the Brood Hive, Odin is killed by K'flinga, who says that he does not need anyone. With all the Brood lords dead, K'flinga confronts the Resistance inside his Hive, and overpowers most of the commanders, wounding them. Ak'ab'r confronts K'flinga, and sees that the Hive is built around a high powered fusion bomb. Secretly he tells the Resistance to evacuate, and once they get to safety, K'flinga, having been distracted by the departure of his prey turns around to see Ak'ab'r holding the detonator for the bomb. Ak'ab'r presses the button and the Brood planet is destroyed, along with most of the Brood army, uttering two words that reflect K'flinga himself. The Resistance fleet move to New Expoletia, where the commanders are treated for their wounds. Flu'try leads the funeral service for all those that sacrificed their lives to ensure victory, speaking highly of L'lurk and Ak'ab'r. Once this is done, she resigns as Admiral of the New Expoletian Empire and becomes a senator, overseeing change around the capital. Ardakas, narrator of the series, records everything that occured since the Tharassian civil war in the archives, before placing a personal archive tape down labelled "Retribution".

With this screenplay I hope to bring a different view and a different style into the Science Fiction genre. For now, the series in stuck in a limbo phase of drafting.