Ranged Armaments “Chronos” Class Seismic Antimatter Bomb

Discussion in 'Approved' started by Ryanatorx, May 14, 2021.

  1. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    Name: “Chronos” Class Seismic Antimatter Bomb


    Description: The anti-matter containment unit, which is central to the bomb, is a spherical metal container 4 meters in diameter. The external power supply is attached to the rigging, which adds significant weight and size to the bomb. The full size of the container is 9x4x4, with room for added armor and additional failsafes. The containment unit itself has its own internal power supply to compliment its armor and internal equipment. The unit is EMP-proof and cannot be communicated with using Nexus connections. It can, however, receive communications from its internal quantum comm unit. The programming it has on the inside cannot be modified without taking the bomb back into the construction lab and carefully disassembling it to modify internal components.


    [​IMG]


    Abilities:

    -Cause a very large explosion

    -If placed in a deep hole in the ground, cause intense seismic activity

    -If placed in a deep hole in the ground and detonated in resonance with other bombs similarly placed, cause catastrophic seismic activity

    -Larger payload to volume ratio than traditional weapons


    Conditional Abilities (Optional):

    -Can be deployed less effectively as a payload in a missile, where it gives comparable yield to large nuclear weapons and significantly less radioactive fallout. There still is SOME fallout, due to the intense amount of energy creating radioactive material.

    -Can, possibly, kill subsurface Ruin under resonance conditions


    Limitations:

    -Very expensive to manufacture

    -Requires highly specialized facilities and personnel to generate payload

    -Far more expensive than other weapons of similar payload in standard conditions (such as putting it in a missile and shooting it at a ship)

    -Decreased fallout can make the weapon comparably inefficient as far as ‘causing destruction’ goes

    Best and Worst Case Uses:

    Rather than spread this out under the abilities and limitations, this section should serve as a condensed way to consider how expensive using this should be. The bombs are always able to be used to achieve the catastrophic effect, but under some conditions it may be too expensive to be feasible.

    Ideal conditions would be a small world with rich planetary thermal activity and active plate tectonics. Here, low number of well-placed bombs could trigger the catastrophic seismic conditions intended. Massive earth-quakes, awakening super-volcanos, mountains collapsing- the whole nine yards.

    The least ideal conditions would be a large ocean world with no moon and no plate tectonics. Size, naturally, scales up the cost. A large, Moon like moon would allow the bombs to be detonated in sync with the waves it causes- decreasing the number of needed bombs. The lack of plate tectonics would make it require more bombs as the bombs would need to trigger the activity on their own. While this isn't impossible, this already is a dramatic up-cost in bomb number. Finally, the 'ocean' aspect would further increase cost. While there would now be massive tsunamis in the final result, water has a very very high specific heat, so a tremendous amount of energy would need to be deposited in the waters.

    Anything between these conditions will have cost measurements placable between them. An ideal world could take as few as 5 bombs to achieve the intended effect, while the most expensive worlds could take upwards of 50. Most places will land somewhere in the middle.

    How does it work:

    The basic concept of an antimatter weapon is fairly straightforward: in the center of the bomb, include equal masses of matter and antimatter. The detonation occurs when the two masses are introduced to each other, at which point the two masses annihilate each other and release a tremendous amount of energy.


    The actual workings are incredibly complicated. Generating antimatter is expensive and difficult, and is done in particle accelerators that are both expensive to construct and maintain. Stabilizing the antimatter is also difficult and expensive. Most of the volume of the bomb contains the stabilizing technology. In this particular example, the antimatter is contained in a quantum stasis chamber. The device is triggered by disabling the quantum stasis field and releasing the antimatter, which subsequently annihilates against the device around it.


    Due to the large payload of the weapon, this antimatter bomb contains a great number of failsafes to prevent a detonation outside of the programmed detonation conditions. In the specific case of the payload planned for Operation Gutbuster, the detonation condition is when the signal is received from the internal quantum communicator to detonate. The quantum pair is connected to a secure isolated server on Calypso kept cut off from the rest of the station to prevent sabotage. The only way to ideally detonate the bombs early is to be in the room.


    Should one of the weapons be destroyed, which is a difficult task due in part to the heavy armor they are packed with, it will also detonate early. The bomb needs to be completely broken before it will detonate early, as most of the sphere is armor and redundant systems.


    Flavor text:

    “Do you know why the humans lost? They were sentimental. They were still committed to winning back the world they lost, right up until they lost a second one. We don’t have the luxury of bombing them for eighty years. If we strike, we have to win, and we cannot afford to repeat their mistakes.”

    -Viceroy Xexanoth, 3287, to the Project Blackstar team


    The Atlas antimatter weapons project, dubbed ‘Project Blackstar,’ began with a debt months before Operation Forlorn Hope and the Battle of Haven Day. It came paired with a gamble: the Solus company stocks were at an all time low, and there was a pending Ruin threat. A sizable chunk of the Calypso budget was placed into Solus stocks with the bet that a victory at Schelor, and subsequent victory in Silentia, would result in Haven stocks skyrocketing.


    The bet was well placed. The same night that a capital ship detonated in the skies over Haven, the Solus stocks were sold for a colossal premium. Now with the funding, the project was expanded in preparation for the next one- Operation Gutbuster, a plan to annihilate the Ruin on Dakka, the last known Ruin stronghold in the Fringe.


    Referenced Technologies (Optional):


    Attainability: [Closed]


    Tags: [Military]


    Category: Ranged Armaments (and ammo)
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
  2. 9K

    9K Galactic Officer Staff Member Administrator Diamond Donator

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    Hey. I'll be beginning grading on this today.

    How much do results vary depending on things such as the mass and size of the planet being bombed? What can be the expected minimum and maximum levels of destruction based on those factors provided only one of these bombs is used on one? Presumably the higher the mass/size of a planet, the less effective this will be at least to some degree. What's ideal for use of this?

    I'd also like clarification on just one other thing:
    "-If placed in a deep hole in the ground and detonated in resonance with other bombs similarly placed, cause catastrophic seismic activity"
    Are the other bombs being referenced in this point the same bombs as in this app, or other bombs with less yield such as nukes, orbit-dropped rods, etc? Is only one of these specific bombs intended to be used at a time?
     
  3. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    The results vary primarily on the composition of the planet. For instance, a planet with large amounts of iron in it would see different results than one with other metals and minerals in it. As far as destruction levels, which is probably the more important question, the minimum that could be expected would be that of a large nuclear bomb, minus the fallout. While it is physically smaller than such a nuke, it is also MUCH more expensive. The trade off is price to size.

    The maximum yield would occur if used in tandem with other, similar bombs deep beneath a planets surface. The bomb is, really, just a signal generator for a large pulse. The other bombs trigger to constructively interfere, resulting in a MUCH larger pulse than one would get from a single bomb.

    A single bomb detonated deep under a planet would not do all that much. It might cause some slight tectonic movement, which can lead to earthquakes and increased volcanic activity. However, if used with other bombs, the effective yield can be dramatically increased, resulting in the aforementioned 'catastrophic seismic activity.' This would be violent tectonic movement that could cause mountains to collapse, severe earthquakes, sudden and extreme volcanic activity- the kind of stuff that makes living somewhere generally rather difficult.

    If the bombs are used in the same way as nukes and orbitally dropped rods, then it has a comparable effect for much greater cost. The only way that it's actually worth the money is if many are used at once, and if they're detonated in the proper sync.
     
  4. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    Updated with a new section to include things we discussed in DMs.
     
  5. 9K

    9K Galactic Officer Staff Member Administrator Diamond Donator

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    Alright. After much discussion, first pass.
     
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  6. TriReef

    TriReef treef Staff Member Community Monitor Diamond Donator

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    After reading this over a couple times (and forgetting to actually grade it), Second Pass!
     
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