"Good day Captain." Cobra moved some controls on his desk and zoomed in on specific parts of the model. "The primary fuel store is located in the armoury section and is protected by the torpedo bulges. There are smaller tanks located near the secondary drive system to allow this drive to run in the event of a failure. Due to the difference in power output between the cores for the drive systems there isn't a need for as much fuel."
"The fuel will be pumped through a series of pipes with electronic quick release connections and stop taps. There is also a flow limiter which will cut off the flow of fuel to a specific pipe if a leak is sensed. The fuel pipes themselves will be reinforced and are run towards the centre of the ship." He paused for a moment while he brought up a deck layout of the ship.
"As for the crew there are three main areas where quarters are available. Engineering and armoury personnel will be assigned quarters at the base of the armoury section. This will allow these officers to get to their stations quickly in the event of an emergency." He moved the plans forwards to show the central part of the ship. "Senior officers and bridge officers will have quarters assigned in the top part of the ship between the observation and bridge sections." Once again the map moved to show the nose section. "There are also quarters towards the front of the ship intended for the officers maintaining the ships forward weapons systems. As well as the pilots and mechanics for the strike craft aboard."
He switched the display back to a general view of the ship. "This way none of the crew will be centralised in one place. I am glad you find the introduction of the forward engine system to your liking." He turned to the window behind him. "The main reason I requested this meeting is to ensure that you are happy with the new scale model of the drive prototype. This design has met our design goals however our engineers don't yet have the experience with this reactor system that we do with the overlord class reactors. I would suggest that the ship will be down on power until your engineering team gets experience handling the reactor design."
Cobra brought up several power draw charts. "As you can see the optimum efficiency band is a lot narrower on this new engine type. Unfortunately, it is a negative of a prototype vessel. Initial tests show that this band may widen once the drive is scaled up to the intended size. But we won't know for definite until we build the thing and test it in real world scenarios.
I'm sure you will agree that simulations are no substitute for real world tests." Cobra pressed a few buttons and the display switched to the works schedule. "We will need to make a decision now on the design if you want the ship to launch to the new schedule. I'd suggest that the risk is low and that we should build the full size drive model to be installed. We have done all we can with scale tests. But the final decision is yours."
Cobra took a drink of his coffee and waited for Uhmen to respond.
"The fuel storage and transportation within the ship are all very expertly thought out and designed and I can tell a lot of manhours went into their inception," the Captain said as she took a closer look at the model, "there is a question that occurred to me however; I wonder what was the thought behind relocating the hangar bay from the bottom of the ship - as is apparent on the Overlord - to the top. That being said, the passive protection through the use of large parts of hull protruding from the sides of the ship that look like they double-up as support from the bridge structure makes the latter look like a much more stable and safe bridge to be on than it's Overlord counterpart."
Uhmen paused for a few seconds and let Cobra continue on, noting different parts of the model to make sure that everything so far would make sense.
"The introduction of multiple crew quarters itself is a genius idea as not only will it help reduce casualties should a catastrophic failure take place in parts of the ship, but it also helps off-duty crewmembers to get to their stations faster during an emergency."
The Captain carefully listened to Cobra as he brought up the team's concerns regarding the prototype drive. It was apparent that the engineers had gotten all data they could from the built scaled-down version and there was nothing else it would help them with.
Uhmen took a few moments to re-think of everything she had been shown over the past few minutes. She was pleased with Cobra's blueprints and his interpretation of what the final design should look like and there was close to nothing keeping her from allowing this to continue the way Cobra intends.
"Let's scale it up then," Uhmen finally spoke after taking a deep breath and leaning back on the chair, "you and all of the engineering team working on this have came up with a brilliant scaled-down design for a new and improved drive. I highly doubt that the scaled-up version will be any worse than our expectations, Cobra," she nodded.
“The hangar bay needed to be moved to allow the CMS to be fitted.” Cobra brought up a detailed schematic of the nose section.
“As you can see there is a lot of additional bracing and reinforcement in the nose. This is to handle the additional force of the CMS system.” He paused and switched the schematic to a moving diagram. “In a normal ship turning is achieved through the RCS systems. An alternate force is put on say the front and rear of the ship to turn it.” The overlord displayed on screen fired it’s port rear RCS and forward starboard RCS and began to turn.
“The CMS puts additional force onto the front of the ship. As this isn’t an equal force there is additional load placed on the nose as it is under more force than the rear. In a traditional design this would cause damage over time as the force was applied. Leading to fatigue cracks and eventual failure of the hull frames in that area.” A diagram was shown of the nose section again.
“As you can see there is additional bracing throughout the nose of the ship that absorbs the load of the CMS. This would not be possible if the hanger was placed on the underside. With the hangar above the bracing can continue unimpeded throughout the nose section.” Cobra returned the schematic to the default display. “Any more questions Captain?”
"The advancements you have made regarding the propulsion and maneuvering of the ship hardly go unnoticed, Cobra," Uhmen noted as Cobra kept on speaking, continuing to pay close attention at his words and the diagrams being shown to her, "the introduction of the CMS will greatly help the Akhetaten be a more versatile class in combat. With the CMS system's presence and the structural needs it requires in order to operate safely and effectively, the relocation of the hangar bay to the top of the ship is a sensible choice."
"Allow me to take a closer look at the ship for a few moments," the Captain said as she closely inspected the diagrams one last time to make sure all her concerns were covered.
About a minute later, she took a reassuring breath and leaned back on her chair again, looking at Cobra.
"I have no further questions, Cobra. I believe it's time to commence building the prototype drive system in real-scale and see how effective your design is," she spoke, looking into Cobra's eyes, "congratulations so far, Cobra, you've done an amazing work with the project, keep it up."
Several weeks had passed and the core parts of the main drive section had been constructed. Prior to the armour plate being added the final test to complete was to ignite the core and then test the primary drive in both standard and cruise regimes.
To allow this test to be completed the drive section had been secured to the shipyard with additional struts which could handle the load of the drive running.
Cobra sent Uhmen a message asking for her to attend a demonstration of the drive to occur in a couple of days.
Uhmen had received Cobra's message and was currently heading to the deck in which the demonstration would be taking place. Upon arrival, she took a moment to just stand there and look at the full size drive prototype, amazed. The drive had came out looking exactly like what she expected it to and by this point she was almost convinced that the project was nearing it's end - with the most difficult part being built. The only major part left was the demonstration that was to follow that would be the epilogue to today's chapter.
"Cobra," she greeted the man in charge as she arrived. "I see the real-scale version of the drive has came out looking good. We can now see if it works equally as good as it should."
"Is it ready to be operated?" She asked after a few moments of silence.
Cobra was standing with several technicians alongside several engineers checking a number of readouts on screens at the front of the deck.
He turned around and acknowledged Uhmen as the drive system lit up. "Captain, the drive system appears solid and we have just begun the power up sequence."
The drive lit up and the panels began to rotate, as they did so the shield generators for the drive assembly sputtered into life causing a short lived glow as the shield re-activated and stabilised.
A couple of minutes passed and the reaction began to stabilise. The struts holding the engine section in place.
"Captain, would you care to take the controls" Cobra said, pointing to the slider on the touchscreen to control the engine output and the button which had been temporarily wired to the cruise drive.
Uhmen remained still in the control room beside Cobra and watched as the drive system begun it's activation sequence. The Captain couldn't help but be nervous regarding the drive's proper operation - if it wasn't going to work now then that would set the project back at least a few more months.
Seeing the reaction stabilize and the struts themselves not failing to hold the entire section in place, she was stunned. Maria was reactionless, staring at the drive for a few seconds before hearing Cobra's voice.
"Of course, Cobra," she nodded before gently placing her right hand index finger on the touchscreen slider, steadily moving it up and gradually increasing the output of the drive.
Upon reaching the maximum output after approximately a minute, Maria kept her finger in place and took a glimpse at Cobra. The certainty with which he was looking at the drive was enough to convince her that it could handle the cruise-drive test, and without a second doubt the Captain gently tapped the button which she assumed corresponded to the cruising sequence of the drive using the same finger.
The hull panels would continue to rotate at the same velocity, indicating that everything was likely to be still stable, as what would soon be the Akhetaten's primary engine begun to rapidly light up and glow during cruise charge-up. At full charge, and at the peak of it's glow, the primary engine would force all the stored energy straight out it's back, creating a mesmerizing show for all the personnel observing the testing phase.
The struts didn't seem to struggle holding the drive completely in place, but the Captain was pleased with the results and did not wish to push the drive any further. Tapping the button again would soon de-activate the cruise-drive. Uhmen then proceeded to gradually bring the speed slider down until it reached zero, shutting the drive off.
"Wasn't too bad, and I don't think I broke anything. Am I hired?" The Captain commented, audible relief being present in her tone.
Cobra turned to look as the drive section was reconnected to the main mooring points of the drydock it was being constructed in. The panels around the engine core which rotated while the ship was underway slowly coming to a stop.
"Doesn't look like it." Cobra said as he looked at the diagnostic panels.
"I think we are ready to proceed with the final integration." He said, referring to the floating diagram of the different ship modules into the final configuration. "Another couple of weeks and the ship should be ready for shakedown assuming you agree we can proceed?" Cobra asked.
"With the ship's most sophisticated part optimally functioning, I don't think there's anything holding us back from moving on," Uhmen commented as she turned to face the operative, "you have my clearance to proceed, I'll be forming a report on the splendid work you've done so far to be sent to the Admiralty through Nova. I should have all the blueprints and related data stored on my data-pad - if I require anything extra I'll get in touch."
The Captain would take one more glance at what would be the Akhetaten's drive section before walking away, assumingly headed to her office in order to properly organize Cobra's blueprints and forward them to Nova.
"Congratulations, Cobra, you've made me - and I am sure the Admiralty as well - proud."
Upon arriving at her office, Uhmen would spend the next few hours working on the blueprints she had been given by Cobra. With the technical side of things being outside her field of operations, the Captain would refrain from making any significant changes to Cobra's writing - she instead opted to combine all separate blueprints into one large entry, reformatting what was necessary to make sure that the final version of the file was at a presentable and easy-to-follow state.
With that out of the way, she would record a message that she'd send to Nova regarding the blueprints and the project's progress.
"Operative Nova, Rear Admiral, this is Uhmen speaking, project Akhetaten is continuing on schedule and as planned. The progress is steady with Cobra's work being flawless. Testing of the rear drive section of the ship - real scale - has been completed. The drive shows no signs of instability and performed as well as expected. I've taken the time to combine all the separate blueprints provided to me by Cobra into one large file that I have attached in this message as "Akhetaten Specifications". The file is to be forwarded to the Admiralty upon approval by you, that is all."
Uhmen made sure the file was attached before sending the message to Rear Admiral Nicole Prower, awaiting for a response.
One (1) primary fusion power core with magnetic containment.
One (1) standby drive system based on the Defiant-class' drive system.
Eight (8) front mounted custom built low efficiency drive units designed for combat maneuvers (CMS).
Standard RCS system complement for standard low speed maneuvers.
Detailed analysis to follow.
Primary Power Core
--The primary power-core (attachment BP001) is a new design based off of the Overlord type drive system. The drive itself consists of a fusion drive located in the center which is space cooled, effectively reducing the weight of the drive system. The four panels located around the core contain electromagnets which create an electric field to control the fusion reaction. The rotation of those panels is to keep the magnetic field charged. --The rear component of the drive system (referred to as the primary engine) is capable of converting up to 80% of the power-core’s output into forward momentum. This is achieved through the use of standard engine principles. The Akhetaten-class is capable of achieving the same cruise speed as other craft in her weight class. --The forward part of the drive system is an energy storage system (referred to as primary capacitor). The primary capacitor stores energy generated by the power-core for use in powering the ships primary systems.
--The protection of the exposed drive core is achieved through the a secondary shielding system. This shield is generated by the drive fins positioned at 90 degree angles around the core. Any shot which hits the drive core is dissipated by this backup system. This does however, still cause damage to the ship through shock stresses.
Standby Drive System
--The standby drive system (highlighted, attachment BP002A) is a standalone system located in the central section. This engine is capable of moving the ship at low speeds if the primary drive system sustains battle damage. --Due to the nature of the standby drive system's placement, the exhaust of the engine is pointing directly at the ship's rear main hull. In order to prevent overheating of the hull, an advanced heat dissipation system (highlighted, attachment BP002B) has been installed in the appropriate area to prevent any external hull damage. --The standby drive system is the Akhetaten-class' emergency engine and is only to be used as a means of propulsion for the vessel to safely reach the nearest shipyard for immediate repairs should the primary drive fail during battle.
Combat Maneuver System – CMS
--While in combat the CMS will dynamically adjust the thrust output to the 6 minified drives (highlighted, attachment BP003A) positioned at the rear of each of the two skids located on the battleship's nose. --The purpose of these drives is to compliment the ship's maneuvering during combat and are not designed to be the ship's primary propulsion method. Should the primary drive fail, the CMS will work alongside the standby drive to drive the vessel to the nearest repair station.
--The CMS additionally includes two more engines (highlighted, attachment BP003B), each located at the sides of the skids, to provide additional acceleration during turns and other complex maneuvers, as well as increased strafing performance. It is to be noted that the Akhetaten-class does not gain any speed advantage over other standard battleships of it's size. The additional maneuvering engines and thrusters are a necessity due to the ship's structure being based on the heavier Overlord-class battleship.
--It is to be noted that the nose is the primary section of the ship, with all other connected sections being modules that have the capability of being custom built in order to meet specific mission parameters. For that reason, the CMS' secondary role is to act as a means of propulsion for the nose section of the ship should it ever be detached for standard movement.
Reaction Control System – RCS
--The RCS and CMS work in conjunction during strafing and turning maneuvers, the former being used primarily in sharp turns. The RCS consists of a total of 8 thrusters, 4 of which are located at the nose of the ship (highlighted, attachment BP004A) while the other 4 are located at the very rear of the primary engine (highlighted, attachment BP004B).
Protection systems
The Akhetaten protection systems consist of:
One (1) standard light battleship shield generator.
Four (4) dedicated shield arrays.
Rated eight (8) armor plating.
Six (6) torpedo Bulges.
Detailed analysis to follow.
Primary Shield Generator
--The Akhetaten-class' primary defensive system is a standard battleship shield generator, powered directly from the primary power core. --The shield generated (attachment BP005) is capable of absorbing both incoming kinetic and energy-based fire and will continue to regenerate itself until completely depleted, rendering the battleship susceptible to damage. --Once depleted, overheating safety measures prevent the shield generator from reactivating and the shield from regenerating. When the safety cooldown has passed, the shield generator will begin to redeploy the defensive barrier around the vessel.
--Should the primary power core sustain unrepairable damage and is rendered useless, the shield generator will instead begin drawing power from the secondary capacitor located at the nose (highlighted, attachment BP011). It will however operate with decreased efficiency.
Dedicated Shield Arrays
--The Akhetaten-class battleship, much like it's predecessor, the Overlord-class, features an exposed reactor core. To avoid the primary reactor's destruction and render it completely immune to any direct attack, the primary power core has been equipped with 4 dedicated shield arrays (highlighted, attachment BP006) located at the rear of the primary capacitor drawing power directly from that capacitor. --The drive core is permanently covered by a rotating, segmented ring of reinforced armor panels, along with a dedicated shield. This is constantly replenished each time a ring segment passes a shield array contact point and remains powered as long as the primary power core is functional. It is important to note that hits from heavier weaponry will be absorbed by the shield, possibly causing concussive damage to the hull around the fusion core.
Armor
--The Akhetaten's armor plating has a rating of eight. The hull integrity of the battleship matches the integrity of other ships belonging to the same weight class. The Akhetaten-class' armor and hull employ lightweight, reinforced materials to achieve greater maneuverability compared to the Overlord without compromising on hull integrity.
Torpedo Bulges
--The use of lightweight materials in the ship's hull along with the hull thickness on specific areas of the ship being less than ideal, vital and high risk areas of the Akhetaten-class are protected by torpedo bulges (attachment BP007). These are sacrificial armor sections designed to detonate incoming fire safely away from the mentioned vital areas, such as the hangar or munitions storage sections.
Auxiliary Craft
The Akhetaten's primary hangar is capable of carrying:
Two (2) flights of fighters - Flight ready (Naval variant).
One (1) flight of bombers - Flight ready (Naval variant).
One (1) fighter (parts).
One (1) bomber (parts).
--The Akhetaten can also moor with two large craft using in-built mooring points (highlighted, attachment BP008) on the port and starboard side to take on supplies or render aid. These mooring points are also used when mooring at smaller stations or orbital mooring fixtures. --Additionally, due to the hangar's location, ships docking or undocking from the Akhetaten-class would normally be exposed to incoming fire from both the port and starboard sides of the warship. To alleviate this, a method of passive hull protection (highlighted, attachment BP009) was implemented, consisting of two extrusions in the hull to either side of the docking bay that are capable of absorbing incoming fire, should the primary shield be offline while a snub-craft is in its docking or undocking sequence from the battleship. --Lastly, it is recognized that during combat it may be hard for less experienced pilots to hastily undock from the Akhetaten-class due to the nose's geometry in front of the docking bay's exit. To prevent docking or undocking snub-craft from colliding with the ship's hull during maneuvers or times of emergency, several secondary shields (highlighted, attachment BP010) have been installed around the primary hangar doors. These power up during docking and undocking sequences and are sufficiently powerful to safely deflect an oncoming snub-craft away from the hull.
Weapons Systems
The Akhetaten-class' A-0 prototype is armed as follows:
Artillery batteries.
Main battery.
Torpedo launchers.
Secondary batteries.
Anti-missile systems.
Detailed analysis to follow.
Artillery Batteries
--2x [CLASSIFIED]
All information regarding this weapon is classified under level 5 security clearance.
Main Battery
--4x [CLASSIFIED]
All information regarding this weapon is classified under level 5 security clearance.
Torpedo Launchers
--6x [CLASSIFIED]
All information regarding this weapon is classified under level 5 security clearance.
Secondary Batteries
--8x [CLASSIFIED]
All information regarding this weapon is classified under level 5 security clearance.
Anti-missile Batteries
--2x [CLASSIFIED]
All information regarding this weapon is classified under level 5 security clearance.
Additional Advancements
--The Akhetaten-class is built with a modular design to allow for rapid replacement of damaged sections and to accommodate reconfiguration for additional mission roles. The warship consists of 4 main parts; the nose, the center, the rear and the drive. These parts can be constructed individually at different shipyards and can be then transported to the main shipyard for final assembly of the warship. The mentioned construction process significantly cuts down on production costs and time, and renders the Akhetaten-class an affordable and quick vessel to produce. Non-military sections (such as cargo and crew areas) can be built in civilian shipyards to reduce the load on military shipyards. --Additionally, the Akhetaten-class comes equipped with a capacitor located at the nose (highlighted, attachment BP011), which is used to power the weapons systems of the ship during normal use. In the emergency event of the primary power core being shut down, the capacitor takes the role of a secondary power core, able to deliver enough energy to sustain the ship's secondary armaments as well as one fourth of the normal propulsion speed using the CMS and the standby drive system as the ship's functional engine system.
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