Dark Fate, Chapter 244

Chapter 244 – Plans

The debrief went on for some time. After all, there were three major battles for us to go over, dissecting and analyzing the decisions and tactics that had gone into those battles. As promised, there was no talk of blame, because even where things had gone sideways, we were pushing into new ground. This was a learning opportunity for everyone.

I was happy to see that, after the squadron leader from Panama spoke up, other officers from the un-blooded parts of the military felt more comfortable offering their suggestions and asking questions. That was the reason we did the debrief like this, after all. We needed to ensure that everyone learned from the mistakes that had been made already, and took the right lessons from the things that had gone right.

Once the breakdown of the different battles during the campaign was done, the meeting turned to other things. Tactical analysis was fine, but since I had everyone here, it was a good time to talk about possible strategic developments, and coming up with new tactics. I’d had talks with the top-level people in the room already, but more eyes on a situation gave more points of view, which could help find better paths forward.

Of course, one of the things that needed discussion was that we now had solid combat data on some of the weapons that had barely been used before now. The Hellfire Cannon and Tiamat torpedoes had not really come into play before now. Pulse torpedoes were simply more useful, since they did not require physical ammunition, and they had proven to be very powerful weapons, so far.

However, we also had new weapon systems coming down the development pipeline. The Hypermissiles and Skip Missiles were powerful pieces of kit, after all. It would be foolish to just ignore their potential. At the same time, the Hellfire Cannon and Tiamat torpedoes had also proven their worth.

Luz ‘Fangs’ Carita, the Squadron Leader for the 401st Panamanian Fighter Squadron, callsign Cazador Leader, brought up the point that, where possible, we ought to consider keeping multiple weapon loadouts, especially for fighters and interceptors. Skip Missiles were powerful, but were serious overkill for taking out enemy fighters or targets like naval vessels threatening the Canal. And even in space, skip missiles would destroy targets that we might otherwise want to disable, or capture. Same as with the Pulse Torpedoes, there was such a thing as being too powerful for the job.

Naturally, this was easier to accomplish for the squadrons that had permanent bases on the ground or on Ceres itself. However, he had an idea for what to do for the carrier-based squadrons, as well. His argument was that, if we used the expanded space technology the System made available, we could expand the ammunition bays for the capital ships, allowing them to carry a larger quantity of missiles and torpedoes, while putting them in the carriers would allow for fighters to take different loadouts depending on what they were going up against.

From there, Spencer Murphy, one of the design guys who preferred optimizing and iterating on things that were already made rather than creating brand new things, said that adding those systems into the warships would be possible, allowing the launchers that were currently designed for ship-to-ship missiles to choose which types of weapons were loaded for each shot. However, if something interfered with the expanded space, or damaged the loaders, then they would not be able to use any of the weapons until repairs were made. As for the fighters and interceptors, the design of the internal weapons bays for those craft meant that, even if you loaded different types of missiles, you would have to either limit the right launcher to one type of weapon, and the left launcher to another, or fire off weapons wastefully to get to the ones you wanted. Trying to change that would require a complete rebuild, and would be prone to malfunction, since there were too many moving parts in too small an area.

That said, the Thunderbolts had both internal weapon bays and external hard points to mount weapons to. While originally the idea was simply ‘more is better’ when it came to things sending explosions downrange, it would be possible to have the launchers loaded with different munitions types, especially since the Thunderbolts didn’t bother with stealth, and their shields meant that aerodynamics were less important than they would be for a normal jet bomber. The Thunderbolt was quickly turning into the ‘all-rounder’ when it came to the Navy’s small craft. About the only job it couldn’t do was act as a fast attack interceptor.

Heretic raised her hand at that point. “One thing I noticed, between our actions at Ulora and in Operation Slaughterhouse is that the Renegade platform could use some work. The current Mark 2 versions are good, but I think we could get more mileage out of them if we could add some extra launchers.”

“What exactly are you suggesting, Heretic?” I asked.

She tapped a few commands on her tablet, accessed the main screen in the conference hall, showing the basic schematic of the Renegade Mark 2 platform. “So, currently the Renegades have the option of pulse torpedoes, every fifteen to thirty minutes, or blasters, including the point defense turrets on top and bottom. Then, you have the three single-shot launchers, with two forward facing, and one rear-facing. That is fine, for most situations, since the goal of the Renegade platform is to hit hard and fast with pulse torpedoes, and let other craft take out fighters and the like.

“However, there are issues with the setup. First, if the pulse torpedoes either miss, or are not sufficient to take down the enemy’s shields enough for blasters to be functional, the recharge time on the pulse torpedoes means you need more craft already in place for another strike, or you have to hope that your torpedoes recharge before the enemy’s shields do. That is not a race I would like to be running in live combat.

“Second, because of this limited supply of missiles and point defense, the Renegades are heavily reliant on Hunter and Interceptor squadrons to run cover for us. While we certainly appreciate it, I think I can speak for all of Cinder Squadron when I say we would like it if we were better able to defend ourselves. Not to active dogfighting kind of levels, but at least enough that we can hold off some fighters until help arrives.

“Third, the Mark 2 models, like the Mark 1s before them, have a lot of wasted space. Namely, the crew quarters. While having sleeping quarters on board is nice, and definitely essential when you’re going to be basically living out of your bird for weeks, like some of the original plans stated, that isn’t what the current role of the Renegade is like. We are primarily stationed either on carriers or assigned to bases either on Earth, Ceres, or other colonies that may come later.”

She took a breath, and said, “My proposal is to add three more launchers in a vertical stack over each of the existing launchers set at the corners of the small wing and the main body of the craft, and three more on the top to augment the rear-facing launcher. This would greatly expand our stand-off capability versus fighters, or give us backup weapons to use between pulse torpedo strikes. At the same time, it does not dramatically change the sensor profile of the craft, and would not need any changes in the shield patterns, or moving the existing turrets, which are already positioned to keep them from causing trouble.

“In addition, I would remove the sleeping quarters from the Renegade model, and instead add in dedicated electronic warfare capabilities, as well as psychic defenses. This would also include adding a third crew-member, who will be the primary navigator and electronic warfare officer. So far, we have been lucky, and the foes we’ve fought had no idea about what sensor jamming, information manipulation, or active hacking can do to shape the battlefield. This is especially important given that many of our engagements have occurred well beyond visual sight ranges, making sensors imperative. And the existence of the Kroscyl, which made a very vibrant entrance to the Sol System shortly before we left on our mission, suggests that more attention needs to be paid to psychic weaponry at least on the defense. Ideally, all ships would include some form of psychic defense, but I believe priority should be given to those carrying pulse torpedoes and other potential WMDs.”

My eyes turned from Heretic to Ran, who was sitting with the other designers. “Ran, I believe you are the expert on psychic shields here. Care to comment?”

“Of course, Master,” she said as she rose to her feet. “The current Marine armor, based on Great Horde designs, already has psychic shielding capabilities. With the reverse-engineering of power supplies conducted by Webb’s team, new power armor designs should include psychic shielding as standard. However, when talking about ships and small craft, active psychic shielding fields would not only interfere with any of our own people who have mental powers, but also ruin most stealth effects, much like active radar jamming may keep anyone from locking on to you, but broadcasts your presence loud and clear.

“That said, I have created three defensive options, but they are currently in prototype stages. The first is an active shield, based on conventional designs, and adapted to use technology and resources currently available to the Empire. This would create a field of psychic ‘static’ that can protect space stations, ships, or ground installations, but would be immediately obvious when in use. In the wider galaxy, this kind of defense is primarily seen on military installations, government centers, and the like, but are generally left in a standby state until needed.

“The second prototype is effectively a psychic ‘Faraday cage’. By creating a psychic lattice in the hull of a ship, or even just around the crew compartment of a fighter, those inside the lattice would be passively protected from psychic attacks. Indeed, the would be effectively invisible to psychic scans while the lattice is intact. However, opening the ‘cage’ would completely negate the shielding, so care should be taken to also include the interior of airlocks and hangar bays, for instance.

“The third prototype is a more invasive option, and not recommended for general use. While the first one is an active area defense, and the second is a passive area defense, this would be a personal defense, but it comes at a cost. I designed the implant technology used to induct new crew members on the Kroscyl, and have since developed an implant that will forcibly block psychic effects and mental magics from affecting the target, but with the side effect they are permanently unable to use those things, either. It has no effect on deeper magics, like a [Slave Brand], but it will prevent someone from receiving so much as a telepathic ‘hello’.”

“How safe are the implants, and how easy are they to remove?”

“Unfortunately, due to the nature of the implant process, removing one of the implants would require the patient to undergo some form of regeneration magic to recover the missing cerebral material. If they survived the procedure, which is unlikely. At present, the technology is only usable as a form of permanent punishment for a rogue psychic or mental magician.”

Those options were… comprehensive. And the third was just the right brand of horror that I expected from Ran when she was pushing the limits. Fortunately, this wasn’t a situation where I was going to need to use the nasty toys.

“Very well. Ran, I want you to get with your teams, and work on a Mark 3 version of the Renegade, including electronic warfare capabilities and the expanded launchers. I also want a refit plan to have all ships, fighters, and assault shuttles in the fleet protected with the psychic Faraday cage. And I want psychic shield devices to be designed to protect Ceres, and the other capital cities in the Empire. As for the implants, archive the designs, but we will not be revisiting that for the foreseeable future.”

I took a breath, and said, “The Mark 2 Renegade will remain in service, but transitioned to ‘niche’ uses, such as intelligence operations out of system, or for use on colonies without much infrastructure, as well as backups for the Stalwart-class gunboats that are currently being designed. Once the Mark 3s are phased into the current squadrons, we’ll have electronic warfare officers added to the crews to fulfill that role. Any further observations?”