The primary phase of the Synergize project has now been completed. The hybrid Azurite control system, combined with improved relays and conduit systems between the Nomad Fuel cell and the Azurite Fuel cell, will now give Delta 4 increased options of improving the Stormhawk's primary subsystems. The Cloaking Device is the highest priority to be improved first, and the teams at Delta 4 will now attempt to properly connect the Hybrid control system to the Cloaking device. The hope is to increase it's runtime and make it far more efficient.
Project Fade Out will now begin and if successful, will help the Stormhawk accomplish it's goals with greater efficiency.
Stage 1:
What has been dubbed Project: “Fade Out” will entail the use of our newfound knowledge of Azurite and the adaptions already made to our systems in conjunction with the Nomad Fuelcell.
The primary objective is to both adapt it with the Nomad Fuelcell using the Azurite and significantly improve our Cloaking Device to better function at our standards. The original Cloak that was installed, although is quite effective, must be further improved to deal with our adversaries and accomplish other goals. In addition, the Cloaking device might have to be taken partially out of service at certain points while these upgrades and enhancements are made to it.
Right now, we will begin with fortifying the power management system so that we have more accurate control of the Cloaking Device and it's support systems. We believe developing this further will allow us to optimize it extensively. Experimental subroutines being tested at this moment will be added into the maintenance system we are using for the Azurite hybrid system. Since all of this tech is cutting edge and somewhat untested yet, we will need our computer systems to recognize the new limits of this subsystem. This process is expected to take approximately a week but could be longer. The conduit system installed prior will be further examined for potential improvements and likely a new power relay or two will be added along the pathway from the Azurite chamber to the Cloak. This will give us added control over the system as a whole and considering no major incidents occur, pave the way to the beginning of it's improvements.
The Cloaking primary coils will be attended to also. Since we notice that it heats up to very high temperatures, the use of Superconductors and secondary venting systems we theorize will allow it to run more efficiently. Simulations on how to properly implement this will begin very soon.
After the newer conduit system has been properly evaluated and confirmed for full use by the engineering team aboard the Stormhawk, we can then begin the process of testing and building the power relays and control systems to further enhance the Cloaking Device. After that, simulations will begin to evaluate how both the Spool up time for the Cloak is affected in any way, and also if any duration increase can be made on it.
We had a small number of additional engineering crew transferred from Livadia to help with completing the work on the conduit and relay system. It took many long hours, but work has now been completed on all the pathways and conduit systems between the Nomad Fuelcell and the Cloaking Device. The Livadia crew will be sent back to their base as soon as tests are complete.
Using data collected from both Knossos and Minor, we actually managed to jury-rig some of our equipment that we think we can put into practice. Although we cannot replicate their exact tech ourselves, we now have enough data to have a far better understanding of hybrid technology since this Project initially began with Synergize. One major aspect we found is the use of magnetized relays.
We required special shipments of magnetic superconductors that were expensive to acquire but quite necessary. A pair of power relays were built and then installed at different points in the hybrid system. The superconductors were then welded between the relays and the conduits where they were installed at. A low power electro-magnetic generator was installed into the relay and then connected to each relay for seamless control. These magnetized relays will be used to help move the Azurite through at a much quicker rate. Trials must be undergone to verify their full effectiveness but based on what we know, we expect our simulations to be very accurate on how it will turn out.
On another note, we likely will need more Azurite in the near future to flood the system with. We have found that higher volumes of it can substantially increase it's effectiveness and make it easier to apply to the Hybrid control systems. A request will be sent for more of the gas to be collected when it becomes possible. Some of the Plasmonic Metamaterials of the Cloaking Device will also be fine tuned to further reduce the draw on the power core. It is believed that they can be rigged for smoother transition between a Decloaked and Cloaked state. The main direction we can go with this is by shunting additional power from the Nomad Fuelcell into the Cloaking Device so that it will be able to run longer and hopefully less susceptible to interference. The goal is also to increase the cooling system's efficiency for the Cloak so that it will not overheat so quickly. All these enhancements, along with tying it to the Azurite Hybrid system should bring it up to the standard we need it to be.
With stress tests finally complete within the conduit systems, they are now working at expected parameters. The control systems and their new operational algorithms we developed for the Hybrid controller also are functioning better than we expected. Faster and more efficient energy transfer is now possible within the Hybrid system. This will allow Delta 4 to push to the next phase.
Based on simulations conducted only recently, the engineering team believes that applying some micro-Azurite pathways to the exterior of the Cloak generator core could further improve it's efficiency. Now that we better understand how to implement Azurite, the installation and testing of these micro tubes should take much less time than the duration we needed previously for the secondary conduit system. Three techs from our team will begin installing the micro tube system right away so that we have no delay for the next stage of the project. The command staff has started to push to complete the Cloaking enhancements sooner. Although rushing the progress could cause problems, we know that there is a sense of urgency that must be applied to the situation.
With the majority of the objectives outside the Cloaking Device itself now having been completed, the time has come at last to begin direct modifications to the Cloak, using our data and algorithms generated thus far. Before we can start tests on the Cloak however, we must optimize and properly test the Hybrid system for it's use. The Azurite Fuel cell we have will act as the primary means of regulating the power through-put with the Cloaking Device. Tied with the Nomad Fuelcell through the Hybrid system, it should bring sufficient supplementary power to the Cloaking Device to allow it to run longer than it currently is possible. Additional simulations are going to be run and diagnostic systems will be running to track any problems that may come up.
Our team intends to try to also evaluate and if possible, adjust the Plasmonic meta-materials within the primary coil system. Although we do not exactly have anyone on board that has extensive experience with this, we are still going to see what can be done, if anything. Schematics are being reviewed again to possibly reverse-engineer any methods to improve their efficiency.
Last thing on the list to complete at this point is cycling the Cloaking Device several times to see how it reacts to the Hybrid system and to check for any potential issues. These tests will be among the first to examine the extent to which it can be improved upon. Even small improvements made now can be crucial to pave the way to larger improvements at a later time. Considering we can get good readings from the Cloak in regards to safe spool up procedures, the full potential of the Hybrid control system can then be applied to it. This will likely be a very slow and methodical process as we want to avoid damage or malfunctions. Any mismanagement of the system could have very undesirable effects to the Cloak and the Delta 4 command staff have expressed that replacement of the Cloak due to unnecessary damage would be extremely costly right now.
Some of our fears were realized lately. During routine tests of the Cloak, the Hybrid control system experienced an overload which almost burned out two power junctions. The damage could have spread to the Cloaking Device, but was halted by fail-safes. Diagnostics conducted have shown some management issues on the return route from the Cloaking device.
The likely cause as we know so far seems to originate with how quickly excess energy is pushed back into the reactor from the Cloaking device through the Hybrid system. With the current configuration, the Azurite is pushed openly along the entire pathway and is only managed through the Azurite Fuel cell we have set up. Since the Azurite Fuel cell has been setup to be connected separately of the reactor core, it still may have problems with wholly controlling the entire system as it does not use a standard power regulation system. Prior simulations were thought to have removed this problem but we have more to learn in that area.
The solution will be to construct a smaller secondary Azurite containment device. This will be set right close to the Cloaking device on it's return power feed and thus, we believe will better manage the Azurite flow. It will not be as large as the Azurite Fuel cell and not as complex, as it's job will be to function as a capacitor and prevent further overloads. Current initial projections show that we will need more Azurite to supplement the system, so the Stormhawk will deploy to capture more of the substance at Minor.
Despite all of this, progress is still being made with improvements. The spool up time on the Cloaking device uses less power than before, with efficiency up at least 20%. This is a huge step forward as it will make running the Cloaking device far easier for longer periods of time. In addition, the vulnerability to exterior EM interference has also been slightly lowered. We have found that overall through the use of tying it into the Nomad Fuel cell, the Cloak field maintains higher stability and with further tests, should be less likely to fail during standard use. This is a critical problem that has been a major concern in the field and thus is a primary goal of the command staff to have rectified. Now that we have a basis for it, the plan is to progress further in that direction to increase the soundness of the Cloaking field.
The next thing on the agenda will be to experiment on furthering the up-time of the Cloak, as that is our main goal we hope to achieve here. Considering no major setbacks occur, we expect the installation of the secondary Azurite containment chamber to be installed soon, and after that further refinements can be done.
The Stormhawk returned from Minor not long ago and managed to procure a sufficient amount of Azurite to bolster their systems with. While on station, they ran into a Core mining ship that was in the middle of acquiring it for themselves.
They claimed that they had their own uses of Azurite but were not willing to expand further on it. They did allow the Stormhawk to take some of the Azurite they found for themselves though. As suspected, the Core is well aware of Azurite and likely may know much more about it than Delta 4. Though it is not likely they will share this information, contacting them later may prove useful.
Recent tests have found that keeping the Azurite at a much lower temperature, combined with the cooling enhancements that were installed, has a even greater effect on the system. Keeping it at extreme low temperatures appears to give it a stronger bond with the Nomad Fuelcell. This improves the throughput of the Nomad Fuelcell and therefore maintains both a more powerful and stable energy flow into the Cloaking device. Diagnostics were run on the status of the Nomad Fuelcell to ensure it also continues to operate at our standards and so far is not showing any signs of depletion. Over the duration of the tests, we found far less fluctuations of power that previously took significantly more effort to both monitor while under cloak and maintain in the long run.
The problem with the overload as we experienced in the past was rectified. The lowered temperature of the Hybrid system has helped with this. Dozens of trials were completed with no more evidence of overloads. Also, the completion of the separate Azurite containment chamber is complete and is working at our standards. Some of the additional Azurite the Stormhawk retrieved in Minor will be processed through this chamber while a portion of it will be set aside for later if needed.
With all the advancement made in the past months, we are happy to report that we are able to prevent some of the excess power loss from the Cloaking device and improve its efficiency by almost 40%. The hybrid system has been the primary factor here, with a large amount of power being fed from the Nomad Fuelcell to the Cloaking device without the need to push from the auxiliary batteries so heavily. In addition, it experiences approximately 30% more resilience against EM interference from outside sources. This goes far above our initial projections and the expectations of the command staff. All of this progress now has enhanced the Cloaking device to a point that it is able to run for a slightly longer time than it's stock projections. Finally we may be close to completing the project and pushing the Cloak to where it needs to be.
At this point, we must continue to fine tune the Cloaking device and make absolutely sure that any major problems have been ruled out.
Our previous attempts to re-tune the Plasmonic system on the Cloaking device did not go as planned. The engineering team made several attempts to rework it's makeup but due to both lack of knowledge and insufficient materials to make needed changes, we decided to cancel any further modifications to it. Some partial changes we saw could have the potential to cause damage had we tried to test it. As soon as the command staff saw the projections, they put a rapid stop to those efforts. The hope is that we can use our array of contacts to inquire if further modifications to it are possible in such a way. Other groups likely will have access to some supplies that Delta 4 does not. Currently we have found that the power enhancements to the Cloak are working within exceptional standards. By using a team that is more knowledgeable in such things, the Cloaking device could be further upgraded to perform within our required parameters.
A part from all this, the Cloaking device continues to show more promise. The final improvements are nearly complete with progress being made to further tighten the efficiency and power of the Cloaking device by use of the Nomad Fuelcell. The power rating of the Cloaking device has improved by 5% and the theory is that if the Plasmonic system can be adjusted to higher standards, the Cloaking field could be improved to maintain a higher level of consistency while it is online.
It is hard to believe for some in the crew how far Delta 4 has come since the start of this project. Countless hours of rebuilding systems, simulations and tests has bore fruit in ways far greater than ever thought possible. After many long months, we believe this project is entering the final stage and like to be declared as mission complete soon.
The secondary Azurite containment chamber has been fully completed now and initial tests are showing great success in perfecting the power flow for the Cloaking device. New subroutines have been created that specifically manage the Hybrid control system. This will prevent further overloads along with the other peripheral systems that were installed. Integration between the Nomad Fuelcell and the Cloak is complete, with all systems showing proper operational status according to our intended standards. We have confirmed that up to 30% more power can be shunted from the Nomad Fuelcell into the Cloaking device to further improve it's capabilities. According to current tests and projections, this significant boost will allow the Cloak to run for at least 20 minutes uninterrupted. In addition, resistance to background interference from outside sources has been maintained and continues to be a cornerstone of the new functionality of the system.
Some inconsistencies still occur where the Cloaking device although being able to stay online for longer than normal, starts to fluctuate during the final minutes. We have narrowed part of the issue among the Metamaterial focusing array within the Cloaking device itself. They seem to be unable to compensate for the lengthened up-time and do not hold the field up correctly the longer it is online. We had found out this issue from a while ago but thought that more power being put into the system could be the solution. This solution has so far proved to be ineffective and at this point, we are running out of ideas based on the tools and personnel we have available.
The decision has been made to explore the contacts in Delta 4's reach and find another technical team that can assist in repairing this issue. Since we know that the Cloak can as a whole withstand further up-time, there must be a solution to this issue. At this point, the Delta 4 team has done what they can to improve both the Cloaking device and the use of Hybrid technology with Azurite. Any further improvements are being set as strictly long term and will be explored in detail once other more important items are dealt with in the near future.
Further tests will be run on the Cloak and Hybrid system until a second opinion can be found.