Development Log, Project: HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
This log is being created to provide a record of the development of an experimental weapon system designed to counter the newly-created "Corona" beam cannon in use by pirates and rogue military elements throughout Liberty and the surrounding systems. Following the creation of the weapon, this log will be maintained for testing results and combat AARs.
The advent of the Corona beam cannon has, thus far, been disastrous for traditional capital vessels. Allowing bombers to strike with extreme accuracy from a safe distance, the Corona has revolutionized modern capital combat. Previously, larger vessels could utilize flak and countermeasure systems to disrupt the tracking of, and destroy, the relatively slow and large Nova and Incapacitator torpedoes. In addition, many craft smaller than battleships possessed the ability to evade the majority of Supernova cannon projectiles at range. This forced opposing bombers closer in to ensure an acceptable hit rate, opening them up to attacks from Solaris and secondary turret fire.
With the creation and distribution of the Corona cannon, however, these truths have changed. The light-speed travel time of the weapon negates the maneuverability of even the fastest capitals and sub-capitals, while also allowing the ability to strike from maximum range with no loss of damage effectiveness. At the range the Corona cannon remains effective, all weapons in the Libertoninan arsenal, save one, are unable to inflict enough damage to snubcraft that put forth even the slightest effort into dodging. That weapon has been the mainstay of the Security Force gunboat fleet for years: the fast-flying, accurately tracking Silencer missile. Having gone through multiple iterations in the past 100 years, the Silencers combination of range, speed, and tracking ability appears to provide an excellent solution to the new problem facing our Agents.
An issue arises with the subject of numbers. While the Defiant is small and fast enough to utilize a single or pair of Silencer launchers to effectively combat snubcraft, our Archer and Interdictor-class vessels are large enough that a single launcher would be unable to provide sufficient coverage. Simply adapting the weapon mounts of the Archer and Interdictor would require massive redesigns of the ships frame, and render the turret mounts useless for standard cruiser and battlecruiser weapons. A happy medium must be reached.
The recent emergence of the Cult of Technology may provide the solution. Combat reports from Naval and Security Force vessels reveals that, while their missiles are comparable in damage to our own, their trajectory-computing and compensating abilities far exceed ours. If the Agency is able to adapt and utilize their guidance technology, we would be able to miniaturize the Silencer missiles themselves, allowing the creation of a self-contained, rapidly-restocked launcher and ammunition feed module. As such, a transmission has been dispatched to all academic and scientific groups affiliated with the Republic in order to gather information and samples of these weapons. Further investigation will be required in order to ascertain whether or not our level of technology can create a reasonable facsimile of the Cult's guidance computers. A communication will be relayed to Ageira Technologies once sufficient data on the Cultist weapons has been acquired. Their expertise will be invaluable in reverse-engineering the Cultist technology, as well as creating usable examples for Agency use.
Due to the sensitivity and security required by this project, I will personally oversee and participate in the collection and return of all materiel related to this project, codenamed "HEDGEHOG." The Willow Grove has had her holds cleared of extraneous contents, and my Rhino equipped with a cloaking device has been loaded aboard the landing bays. Until sufficient responses from interested parties possessing the relevant scientific data is received, we wait.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
After much consternation, it would appear our "deal" with the captain of the Apahanta, Ezrael Vertiga, is nearing fruition. The data he claims to possess is crucial to the ongoing development of the Hedgehog. Despite much of the data he previously transmitted being corrupted due to an ion storm, our intelligence teams were able to decipher vague schematics and scanner logs from numerous engagements with the Cultists.
Due to the aforementioned ion storms, I will not risk the loss of additional data, especially after the potentially-hazardous undertaking that was falsifying the deaths of a pair of Liberty's most wanted criminals. I am currently awaiting confirmation of mister Vertiga having located a secure transfer site, at which time the Willow Grove will initiate a hyperspace jump to and from his vessel utilizing its Jumpdrive.
In the meantime, the Transport Ship "Nunavut" is being dispatched to gather materials required for the construction of the more traditional components of the Hedgehog, namely the missile racks, ammunition transfer mechanisms, and mounting hardpoints. The materials will be delivered to Chesapeake for categorization, storage, and construction, when appropriate.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
The Willow Grove has successfully completed it's jump to Omicron Theta, and encountered the Apahanta. While I would have been keen on detaching our contingent of Marines to board the ship and take personal ownership of the Cultist data, Vertiga insisted otherwise. "Too many guests," he claimed. Smart man.
Agent Winchester is currently in the process of compiling the raw data into more easily-accessed formats as we prepare for the jump to Kepler, and then our in-system travels to headquarters. Once there, a communication will be sent to additional relevant parties for further development. From preliminary investigation, it would appear that the Cultist "Titan" missile launcher already serves a similar function to that intended for the Hedgehog, of point-defense against attacking snubcraft. After consulting the Grove's resident weapons officer, as well as the onboard intelligence processing module and it's handler, priority has been given to cataloguing data specifically related to this weapon system.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Attached files: None
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
Contact has been made with the IRG. While it's well known that the Research Group is loath to utilize their expertise in the field of weaponry, they seem willing enough to indirectly participate.
While the Security Force is capable of producing the projectiles and launcher for the Hedgehog system, the ability to construct a supercomputer capable of being slaved to the sensor grid of a Battlecruiser, process relevant data, and transmit it back through the communications array to multiple projectiles in real time eludes us. Due to the computer itself not precisely being a weapon, but a component of a weapons system, Doctor Erzie and his team have agreed to take part in it's construction. Perhaps similar loopholes can be exploited in the future.
A request for a Virginia travel visa has already been processed and approved for IRG passenger transports. Once the good Doctor assembles his team, they will be escorted to Chesapeake from Texas by Intrusion Force "Bootknife." The vessels involved, including the Willow Grove, are remaining in orbit above the planetoid Chisos, awaiting a communication from the IRG.
Until said communication arrives, the Nunavut is being dispatched under the command of Agent Valsella to retrieve needed materials for the construction of the Hedgehog launchers themselves. Attached to this log is a basic schematic of the launcher and mounting base. Due to the Hedgehog's reliance on ammunition, the ability to rearm the system in a rapid fashion is paramount. As such, the launch pod is designed to be quickly and cheaply manufactured, shipping to locations fully loaded with an appropriate payload. Once all of the ammunition contained is expended, the entire pod is jettisoned from the mothership, leaving the baseplate bare. This method allows the system to be restocked in minutes, compared to an hour, if not longer, when utilizing a typical magazine-fed missile launcher.
The projectile itself, dubbed the WG-94 Rolling Spaceframe Missile, is an offshoot development of the CD98Rc Reinforced Cruise Disruptor. With the bulky disruption package and tracking system removed, the missile contains sufficient space for a microtransceiver and combination EMP-flak warhead. Additional thrust vectoring nozzles mounted to the perimeter of the missile induce a rapid spinning effect. Immediately before impact with a hostile target, magnetic locks release 9 separate micro-warheads from the main housing via centrifugal force, creating a flak cloud that will, in theory, wholly envelop hostile snubcraft. With an entire battery firing a coordinated barrage on a target, significant kinetic forces act upon the shields or hull, disrupting flight paths and possibly foiling attack runs.
Further data regarding preliminary performance of the WG-94 and the launcher, ongoing communications with the IRG development staff, and shipping records from the Nunavut will continue to be recorded in this log.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
We've just received word that Agent Valsella has completed the first pair of deliveries for the construction of the Hedgehog. With the delivery of the required engine components, modification and base construction of the modified CR98Rc disruptor missile can begin. While the first deliveries of Basic Alloy have yet to arrive, manufacturing blueprints for the Hedgehog launch pods and mounting bases have reached the production stage. With those blueprints completed, the delivered hull segments will now undergo partitioning and fire-forming for application to the base frame, once the appropriate amount of Basic Alloy has been delivered.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
The Willow Grove and Intrusion Force "Bootknife" are currently en route to Planet Houston to rendezvous with the IRG research team. Their preliminary tests have indicated that we require a number of goods not readily available to the Security Force.
In order to complete the shipments, Agent Charger has "acquired" a decommissioned Synth Foods refrigerated foodstuffs transport, previously utilized to transport supplies to various Liners throughout Sirius.
Named "Yuengling," this vessel will be crewed entirely by Security Force operatives posing as an Synth supply team, routed to Rheinland for Ablative Armor Plating, Fusion Diodes, and Critical Temperature Alloy. The ship's manifest will show that the materials are to be delivered to Luxury Liner Mackinac for emergency repairs following a micrometeoroid shower. Once the vessel returns from Rheinland, it will be rerouted away from typical shipping lanes, directly to the Virginia system, where all cargo will be offloaded onto Chesapeake.
In addition, this vessel will be utilized to procure Robotics and PlasFoam Conduits from Omega-3, while the Nunavut continues to supply Basic Alloy, as well as other commodities more easily sourced within Liberty and her allied houses.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Attached files: None
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
As is typical with the monstrous bureaucracy that is Liberty, urgent developments that could be battlefield-altering take a back seat to economic concerns.
With my personal reassignment to the lower Omegas now complete, I can now refocus my attention on more pressing matters. It would appear shipments were halted in my absence, and the vast majority of the IRG researchers have departed Chesapeake. Luckily for all involved, small-scale research and development continued despite the lack of supplies, running primarily off of easily-located and locally-sourced components available at the time. While this most certainly did not please the envoy sent by Doctor Erzie, it did have one very significant benefit: the prototypes created avoided using hard-to-come-by materials and components, while sacrificing only a small amount of simulated efficiency. Improvements could certainly be made, but the economy of large-scale production may prevent widespread use of the Hedgehog. Further testing will be required.
In addition, the prototype launcher component of the Hedgehog system has been completed and is being prepared for immediate shipboard trials, as it is one of the most simplistic components of the weapon. Testing at Chesapeake Research Station with dumb-fired testing payloads revealed satisfactory mount performance, including a sustained traverse rate of 245 degrees per second, and a maximum continuous traverse of 5,400 degrees before encountering issues with control circuits binding within the mount platform. Attached is an image of the mount and launch tubes, as rendered during simulations.
Despite the continued advancements in the absence of proper materials, shipments will resume shortly in order to ascertain what improvements can be made utilizing more exotic materials and technologies, as well as further development of the main missile control computer. Agents Charger and Valsella have been reassigned back to the project, and command of their respective ships reinstated until the deliveries are complete. Backlogs of deliveries of PlasFoam Conduits and Robots are attached, dating from just before my transfer.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
Agent Valsella has returned with the Nunavut, reporting deliveries of Optical Chips, Bio-Neural Processors, and Quantum Multiplexors. These supplies will be significant during the preliminary construction of the primary missile guidance and control systems.
On the subject of this system, known colloquially as the "brainbox," a number of technological hurdles have been vaulted, primarily via the indomitable curious spirit of the IRG researchers. Integrating Cultist missile technology into the spaceframe of the Willow Grove will prove to be significantly easier than first assumed, though it will by no means be issue-free. As it stands, the current command and guidance computer as simulated is far too large to be mounted in the Grove as a single unit, due to restrictions placed on ingress by the ships design. Therefore, an alternate route has been chosen. The guidance computer will be compartmentalized and constructed in a modular form, then the components connected via wired network using available space within the Willow Grove. This method will have additional advantages, as well. By separating individual components and providing redundancy, it is less likely that battle damage will effect the entire network of missile racks.
With the delivery of these critical components, base construction and circuit layout of the "brainbox" prototype can begin aboard Chesapeake, however delivery of further materials will be required for completion.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
The information the IRG has supplied during their stint on Chesapeake has proven invaluable. Developing an exact duplicate of a Cultist guidance control computer within the original size constraints of a missile or torpedo has been fruitless, but further prototyping advancements have been made. Utilizing relevant scientific data provided by Ezrael Vertiga, as well as individual remnants of undetonated Cultist ordinance and IRG expertise, a software program of similar efficacy can be created that is capable of running on modern, if advanced, human hardware. While the processing power required to successfully operate this software in realtime is entirely beyond the miniaturization abilities of even the most intellectually-gifted groups in Sirius, it is not beyond the abilities of the most resourceful. Utilizing a septet of supercomputers, the guidance computation program can be loaded into a simulation of real space surrounding the parent vessel. Information for this space is fed directly to the processing computers from the sensor grid. On most ships, this would prove to be an issue, as standard scanning arrays do not provide sufficient target resolution. However, the Willow Grove is already equipped with a Battleship-grade scanning array, as well as a sophisticated anti-stealth sensor system, designed to pick up not only ships themselves, but the effects they have on surrounding particles and gases in space while cloaked.
With modern quantum computing techniques, each of the guidance computers can process the actions of their linked missile battery with the actions of the Cultist program loaded into the simulation, transmit the actions performed by the simulated missile to the missile in real space, and receive and transmit telemetry corrections for the missile while in flight, with delays of microseconds. As the project is progressing to the point where preliminary installation and mockups are possible, the Willow Grove has been recalled to Liberty from positions abroad, and is being prepped for refit at Chesapeake Shipyard.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Attached files: None
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
Development Log, HEDGEHOG Liberty Security Force
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Sr. Agent 'Tracer'
Deliveries continue at an acceptable pace. Agent Valsella maintains rates of delivery of Basic Alloy for construction of the missile launchers, and they should be completed within a few days, at worst.
Another major breakthrough has been made with the assistance of the wonderful people at Ingenuus. By supplying them with the remainder of our undetonated Cultist missile stocks, they have begun to download, recreate, and recompile the software contained within their onboard guidance computers into something more compatible with Libertonian technology. While we most assuredly could have completed a similar project given the time, the escalating war with Gallia, and internal conflicts within the Republic call for expediency. Attached is a graphic render of the Cultist tracking system, simplified and translated to Human language and in a form more easily comprehensible, navigating a simulated obstacle.
With the technical hurdle of the tracking system rapidly being vaulted, the Hedgehog is one step closer to being completed. All that remains is final construction of the defense grid mainframe, installation of testing rig turret mounts aboard Chesapeake, and fitment pending final testing aboard the Willow Grove.
Senior Agent 'Tracer'
Agent in Command
Dept. of Tactical Operations
Important: This log remains the property of the Libertonian Armed Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807 A.S, Section 30. If you have accessed this message in error, you are requested to contact the creator and delete the log.
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Material Requirements, measured in Standard Cargo Units