Excerpt from the introductory lecture to Trans-Dimensional Physics 101
“...what is the Aether you ask? It surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together… no, wait, that is the Force.” Galerius Luscius Crispus laughed, and the auditorium full of students politely laugh with him.
“My poor joke aside, the Aether does surround and penetrate us - at its simplest, the Aether is our name for a dimension that is similar to our own and coexists in close proximity. Our dimensions share many of the same rules, but also have many critical differences. One of the most obvious is that the Aether is not a Newtonian universe, and laws that are absolute here do not apply there.”
“In practical regards, this has the potential to open up practical mass space travel to us within our lifetimes. A ship traveling within an Aether bubble will be many times faster and infinitely more agile than one relying on conventional technology.”
Galerius paused to take a sip from his glass of water.
“The key to TN technology are eleven minerals that are present in the Aether, but not our dimension. We’ll cover those materials in depth in a later lecture, but what is important is that the gravity well of a planet - like Terra - serves to attract those minerals. This allows opening rifts into the Aether and extracting those minerals to our reality, where we can refine and process them to useful purposes. We are fortunate that all eleven that were first discovered used in the alien ruins on Arachne are also present on Terra itself.”
“Now we’ll take a look at the enabling equations that allow us to open stable rifts to the Aether. If you open your books to page 27…”
September 6, 369The new possibilities provided by TN technology forces the Senate to overhaul its plans for the next few years. The first order of business is reordering construction priorities.
Present tasks are given just 10% of the capacity available, except for the Research facility, which remains at 20%. The remaining 50% is put towards beginning to upgrade the Republic’s industrial base to use the new technology. It is believed that upgrading the industrial base fully would increase productivity almost 250%, something that appeals to the Populares in the Senate.
The scientists have a dizzying array of avenues to pursue in Trans-Newtonian research, but there is a problem - the scientific base is limited in their areas of skill. Critically, there are no specialists at all in the critical fields of Energy Fields, Logistics, Power and Propulsion and Sensors and Control Systems.
The solution for the moment is that Galerius Luscius Crispus will be made Commandant of the Campus Martius, to identify potential lead scientists among the STEM classes there.
The Quaesitors in the Senate push to build systems that would allow project TRIBAL to produce a survey vessel, based on Dr. Crispus’ assertion that properly tuned sensors should be able to detect concentrations of TN minerals from orbit.
The Navy proposes that before construction of a vessel (already dependent on the shipyards being finished first) is possible, gravity and geological sensor technology would be needed, along with first generation TN engine technology. Dr. Trailus believes that a hull composed of Duranium would also provide significant weight savings to the design and would be easy to design, so his requirement is added to the proposal.
Dr. Servatius is pulled off his Genome Sequence research and retasked to research the sensor technology, while Dr. Quietus begins working on the engine technology and Dr. Trailus researches creating a hull composed of Duranium.
Research Projects:
Active Grav Sensor Strength 10 - Publius Curius Servatius - 1.2x, 4 labs - done September 370
TN Construction Equipment - Galerius Galenus Pompolussa - 1.6x, 3 labs, done January 374
Pressurised Water Reactor - Manius Volumnius Quietus - 1.2x, 3 labs, done in July 370
Duranium Armor - Spurious Manlius Trailus - 1.4x, 1 lab, done in June 371
Vectura IFV Mk III - Spurious Calatorius Fimus, 1.4x, 1 lab, done in December 369
December 4, 369The Vectura IFV Mk III is complete, and the design for the Infantry Cohort is finalized.
Legion Cohort
Transport Size: 5,746 tons
Build Cost: 168.9 BP
6x Centurion
420x Legionnaire '67
24x Legionnaire '67 (CAP)
18x Legionnaire '67 (LAV)
18x Legionnaire '67 (LB)
60x Vectura IFV Mk III
37x Cohort Combat Supplies
480 legionnaires divided into six centuries of 80. Each century is divided into ten contubernium of 8 legionnaires, with one carrying a heavy support weapon, and the others helping share the load of ammunition and equipment to support it. Each contubernium is carried into battle by a light autocannon-equipped Vectura IFV, which carries supplies to allow the Cohort to operate independently for more than a week of constant fighting.
The first Cohort begins training immediately, while research begins on the command equipment needed to organize five cohorts.
May 28, 370The Republic’s first graduate from the leadership program for scientists is Oppius Volusenus Catullus, with an admin rating of 20 and research bonus of 20%, he would be a prime candidate… if he wasn’t their third Ground Combat specialist.
Nonetheless, he is selected to replace Spurius Calatorius Fimus as the Republic’s ground forces weapons and equipment designer.
July 7, 370Research of a Sorium-fueled Pressurised Water Reactor is completed successfully, and work begins on adapting that technology to produce Nuclear Thermal Engine technology, slated to be completed in late 371.
September 8, 370The first Legion Cohort is commissioned today, and Senior Centurion Spurius Talmudius Musa has the honor of being the first commanding officer in the Legions.
September 23, 370Research is completed on both Active Grav Sensor technology and mobile supply formations for the Legion, necessary for the Vexillatio project. Work begins on geological survey sensors and the Vexillatio command post.
June 21, 371Research is completed on Duranium armor - as expected, it is a massive boon to Project TRIBAL - updating the hull material used in the design trims 1,500t of weight from the ship with no other changes.
This also presents a challenge for the Legions - the Centurion equipment was designed before any technology improvements and updating their equipment to use Duranium would quadruple their protection. The same goes for the Legionnaire equipment, which would be doubled.
Ultimately the decision is made to hold off on refreshing the technology, as there are plans to produce new weapons based on TN technology, and there are no threats present at the moment.
Dr. Trailus begins working on an innovative project to energize the inner surface of the warp bubble used to enter the Aether. He believes that it would be possible to create a shield of sorts that would protect the ship from damage. He begins research, though it will be years before his work will bear any fruit.
August 15, 371The challenge of his new work has spurred Dr. Trailus to several innovative new techniques, improving his research bonus to 15%.
October 9, 371Work is completed on the technology for Geological Survey Sensors, and Dr. Servatius’ teams begin creating working designs for Project TRIBAL of the necessary sensor technologies.
December 1, 371Dr. Quietus has completed research into Nuclear Thermal Engine technology. Based on the requirements for Project TRIBAL and the disruptive effect of the Geosurvey Sensor built into the design, they begin work on a military-grade engine, far more compact and powerful then the civilian-grade engine it was originally designed with.
While work is underway on the sensors and engines of the vessel, the updated specification for Project TRIBAL is far different then its first incarnation.
Tribal class Survey Craft (P) 1,877 tons 36 Crew 232.6 BP TCS 38 TH 50 EM 0
1331 km/s Armour 1-13 Shields 0-0 HTK 22 Sensors 5/5/0/1 DCR 1 PPV 0
Maint Life 7.46 Years MSP 202 AFR 28% IFR 0.4% 1YR 6 5YR 96 Max Repair 100 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months Morale Check Required
Hilario-Priscillianus Marine NTE-50 (1) Power 50.0 Fuel Use 100% Signature 50.00 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 57.5 billion km (500 days at full power)
RR/SPN-3 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1000 Range 18.5m km Resolution 100
RR/SQR-1 Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
RR/SAD-2 Electromagnetic Sensor (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes
January 1, 372Over the past five years, the coalition government of the Quaesitors, Populares and Tutela have worked hard to roll out Trans Newtonian technology, the army initiative, and prepare for space flight. In the last months, their efforts have been judged in the polls as the political parties campaigned and jockeyed for position.
Now the results of the election were confirmed.
The
Boni lost two seats, from 10 to 8
The
Pius gained a stunning 6 seats, from 14 to 20
The
Populares lost 3 seats, from 20 to 17
The
Quaesitors remained the largest party, but went from 32 to 29 seats.
The
Optimates gained one seat, taking them to 12.
The
Tutela gained one seat as well, taking them to 14.
The losses to the Pius could be traced to dissatisfaction with the unemployment level. The Pius campaigned on creating more jobs, and unease with the break with tradition that was establishing a military. The new jobs that the Quaesitors and Populares had promised were slow in coming, and the Pius hammered hard on that during the election.
This meant that the Consul remained
Galerius Urgalanius Lucullus, while the Co-Consul became
Timerius Didius Crassus, a noted and bitter foe of the government of the past five years.
To Consul Lucullus, a government with the Pius was unthinkable, but it meant that any government formed would have to include four parties instead of three, straining the government’s stability.
That the Quaesitors, Populares and Tutela would continue working together was not the issue, but the question was whether to approach the Boni or the Optimates.
The Boni were quite uncomfortable with the rapid changes taking place in the Republic, and would require that the programs in place be heavily curtailed, particularly the plans for the Legions.
The Optimates on the other hand were perhaps easier to appease. They are fully in favor of the current economic policies, but will demand that the Legion mandate be expanded to four, and that more priority be given to constructing a second GFCC.
In the end, the coalition with the Optimates was formed, and the government plans proceed as usual, except with a more tedious step as Co-Consul Crassus vetoes each proposal and the senate majority votes to override his veto.
Party Goals:
Quaesitors - Construct the first scientific spacecraft and begin exploring the Sol system
Populares - Continue the conversion of industry to TN standards and lower unemployment
Tutela - Construct the first military spacecraft, expand the Legions
Optimates - Expand the Legions significantly and increase ground force training capability.
Roman Republic Statistics - January 372Population: 523.29m (+10.71m)
Annual Growth Rate: 0.88%
Manufacturing Sector: 74.9m employed, 55.92m available, 130.82m total
Research Facilities: 12
GFCC: 1
Conventional Industry: 1120 (-80)
Construction Factories: 16 (+16)
Fighter Factories: 16 (+16)
Mine: 16 (+16)
Fuel Refinery: 16 (+16)
Maintenance Facility: 10 (-)
Financial Centers: 24 (+18)
DSTS: 1 (-)
Military Academy: 1 (-)
Naval Headquarters: 1 (-)
Spaceport: 1 (-)
Fuel Available: 14,374,328
Maintenance Supplies: 3,494
Legions:
1,212 legionnaires in service
Legion Cohort I
Legion Cohort II