Database and Lore

Warfare of 24th Century Page 2

*Spoilers if you haven’t read Gabatrix: The First Peace* By 2349, the weapons of the 24^th century had continued to improve. The Mark 3 torpedoes and missiles have extended ranges and faster travel capabilities. Nano regenerative hulls have also been toyed with where small microscopic robots can be used to conduct basic repairs to a vessel. The powerful Mark 11 AIO turret is considered to be the best anti-missile and anti-personnel weapon installation. For missiles and torpedoes, the biggest issue is being able to carry large storage for ordinance. Regardless, UHN vessels have opted to carry more and more tubes to deploy missiles at a faster rate. However, it has been pointed out that the ability to store more is the true dilemma that UHN warships face. If the missiles run out, the battleship is little more than a railgun and CIWS platform, nothing more. The biggest crisis in 2349, the discovery of the Itreans, has been alarming to all weapon research. Despite all the efforts, many claim that humanity simply might not have any viable weapon to counter the Itrean threat. The alien ships appear to have similar equipment and operate in a similar fashion when it comes to warfare. It was learned much later until the UWA/T’rintar clan alliance that humanity had faced a foe that fought in similar grounds, tactics, and strategies. The history of Itrean warfare goes beyond all written existence of any known human civilizations. It’s such a broad topic that it’s almost impossible to summarize it completely. However, with that said, much of it is one of oddly slow and mysterious progression. Much like firearms, Itrean weapons technology has been lackluster. It moved at such a horrifically slow pace that in another hundred years, it might have been possible that humanity would eventually have new weapons that would have easily rivaled them. Itrean historians argue that ancient Itrean warships and spaceships often used basic cannons to fight one another. It’s unknown exactly when guided munitions had come into existence, although Yutilian fleets were mentioned to be using them as far as 100,000 years ago or more. Warfare varied between clans, kingdoms, empires, and clan species. The Itreans' history shows that while weapon progression and research were significant, it never seemed to steadily payout. Human scholars had pointed out that even with gate folding technology, the various Itrean brains were not capable of a heavy process of thought compared to the human brain (at least until much later in their evolution). Spaceships were crude even by 21^st-century human spaceship standards. It’s further stipulated that the Itreans had various negative opinions on various technological innovations, even if the invention would have led to a severe technological edge over the enemy or opponent. Loss of technology over the vast amount of time further plagued the Itreans as worlds and civilizations had been decimated repeatedly. This often meant that various technological improvements would be discovered and rediscovered countless times. Despite all the warfare, the Itrean language is somewhat confusing in how they define their spaceships. While humanity boastfully claims that the “Guided Missile Battleship” is a return to the lingo used in 20^th-century naval terminology, the Itreans simply didn’t have a terminology roster. It is true to this day that human scholars consider the current Guided Missile Battleships as more of “Heavy Destroyers” or “Missile Cruisers.” Itrean wording often simply called combat spaceships as warships despite their size or capabilities. Eventually, they simply called them “Battleships,” even if the vessel was hardly capable of prolonged combat or not. Much later, it was revealed that they eventually started to call their command battleships or most potent of battleships “Heavy Battleships.” When the Itreans began to learn and speak English, many started to use the same terms that humanity refers to as an overpowered battleship. It’s not often that their fleet rosters have identifications for “Dreadnought Classes,” which consist of their most powerful of warships. The Itreans have also taken up to calling their assault ships “Assault Carriers,” even though they simply called them “Assault Transports” or “Assault Battleships.” Even then, the Itreans have a simple view of their warships. There are no Itrean words that correctly identify the specific type of warships. For example, they define their stealth warships as “Cloaked Battleships” or “Stealth Battleships.” Scout ships can be defined as “Scout Battleships.”  With the Shal’rein, their history of space warfare is that of cannons and guns. Underwater, they often used harpoon guns or straight traveling hyper captivating torpedoes. Even then, guided underwater torpedoes didn’t really come in until relatively recently, over three hundred years ago. Yet, the Shal’rein are considered to be the masters at underwater and sea warfare. Their space combat is somewhat lackluster. The reason why they had managed to hold out for such a prolonged survival is mainly for the fact that the Shal’rein were more at war with themselves rather than fighting other Itrean clans. Any watery world belonged to the aquatic race. Civil wars over access to those resources were paramount. It was shown that while the other Itreans wanted access to some of these worlds, the Shal’rein had become rather advent into warfare. It would have been dangerous to go to war with them, especially if the clans, empires, or kingdoms were had to compete with other rival groups. The ancient space battles of competing Shal’rein sub-clans are that of legend. Former aquatic bulbous warships would be built with these basic cannons, guns, and rapid-fire weapons in hopes of destroying the other. Even then, the railgun didn’t really come in until much later, and even then, it would only be added to the already enormous stockpile of other guns. Regardless, the Shal’rein railgun is the most advanced hypervelocity slug thrower in all of the Itrean worlds. They are considered twice as efficient as human railguns. Instead of developing basic tungsten rounds, the Shal’rein learned how to operate with advanced metallurgy. This would allow the subspecies to create different variations of rounds, including a special tungsten shell that can splinter apart after it penetrates a ship's hull. Some tungsten rounds are designed as shotgun rounds where the bullets will separate and spread the damage outward upon contact. The Shal’rein has developed a complete science on railgun warfare and mastered the art in its purest perfection. Rumors are constant that the Shal’rein are on their way to developing a nuclear-tipped hypervelocity round. If this is true, then it would mean that a nuclear warhead could be fired at hypervelocity speeds rather than their typical slow traveling nuclear-tipped shells. Even with such advantages in warfare, the Shal’rein suffer heavily due to their own beliefs in the gun. They placed almost no effort in guided munitions. Things like missiles and space torpedoes almost don’t exist as the Shal’rein opinions circulate heavily that to “see your enemy and shoot him/her yourself, is the most glorious action ever to occur.” Despite this, their current anti-missile intercept missile is considered to be one of the best-constructed weapons to help them out as their spaceships close in to engage in nonavoidable railgun ranges. The Yutilians are, perhaps, considered to be the masters of guided munitions. On the other side of the spectrum, the smaller statured race has learned how to develop and fire various torpedo and missile designs. This also includes various forms of countermeasures and intercept missiles to destroy smaller targets that might threaten the spaceships they used. In many aspects, to human scholars, the Yutilian philosophy in space warfare makes more sense in how they had survived to today. It reflects on their ground warfare that the former Velociraptors (that they descended from) had to think carefully about how they conducted their battles. While some other subspecies of Itreans had done well, the Yutilians were well aware that some of the other subspecies were better in combat than others. On the ground, a Yutilian had to fight enemies that were much larger than them. It only made sense that they tried to fight at extreme ranges in order to counter their threats. In space, the concept was no different. Even to this day, human scholars argue if the railgun is truly needed on a warship. Most of this comes down to the housing and space required to use it. It might just as be easier to have a warship that can utilize its space and resources to house more missiles and torpedoes. This helps lessen the chances of a battleship running out of ammunition during a long-term battle. However, others argue in return that the railgun still has an application in space warfare. Yes, a guided missile has many useful advantages, but a hypervelocity round is incredibly hard to stop. It’s tough to shoot down and travels at such fast speeds that it can cause heavy damage for its cost. The Yutilians have often analyzed their use of heavy slug-throwing cannons and simply shoved them to the side. When they developed guided munitions, they instead only focused on guns that could counter the enemy warheads in turn. It is unknown if the Yutilians were the first to develop guided missiles and torpedoes, but it is well documented that they heavily embraced it. There were many usages of warships and spaceships that were nothing more than mobile missile launchers. Some Itreans have claimed that the ancient Yutilian spaceships were ugly-looking but effective in many concepts. The Yutilian battleships were a constant counter to various Itrean subclans and other Yutilian kingdoms. Different technological exchanges and endless wars further helped the implementation of guided munitions. Even to this very day, the T’rintar clan (former Yutilian clan) holds a slight edge on guided-missile warfare, but only by so much. The Aksren have an almost similar history to the Yutilians. Much like the Yutilians, the former oviraptor race also had to reconsider how they conducted their warfare. Again, it’s unknown who developed guided munitions first, but there are hints that the Aksren might have been the first successors. Even then, the Aksren weren’t as advent on openly embracing it until much later. When it was, ancient warships would often carry a mix between heavy guns and missile launchers. Many Itrean historians and human scholars are quick to point out that the Aksren have a more balanced view on warfare. In many ways, they are exactly how humanity views space warfare to this day. While the Shal’rein focused on railguns and the Yutilians with guided missiles, the Aksren have taken the middle road. With their power of economics, they have embraced a simple concept in their battleships. “If it doesn’t work, then just build more till they overrun the enemy.” In the era of “Dead Space,” various clans, subclans, kingdoms, and empires all struggled for dominance in the galaxy. It’s pretty often that current Itrean historians will point out that the era of a million to 400,000 years ago was one of the horrific mistakes done repeatedly. However, warfare was still considered to be a great topic. Using primitive equipment, clans such as the Alara’jal had managed to develop entire gigantic frames capable of firing enormous shells. Even if railguns did or didn’t exist, it didn’t matter as they had access to nuclear technology. Eventually, antimatter would be used to rip and devastate entire worlds in a single series of strikes. It was similarly blamed that “Runaway Galaxy Apocalypse” had occurred during this era. If certain civilizations didn’t agree or were in conflict with the other, then planetary busters would be used to devastate entire worlds. It’s no surprise that many former habitable planets had been long abandoned during this time period. The large area of “Dead Space” is nothing but shattered worlds or irradiated planets that are beyond repair. It is believed that it consists of 1/8 of the Milky Way Galaxy. It would help lead to the end of many clan species as warfare was out of control. Many Itrean historians argue that there were points to why this had happened. While Itrean exploration was light, access to new worlds was always present. This, fueled with hatred towards the other, drove many species to endless warfare. By around 150,000 years ago, there were six main subspecies of Itreans. The Yutilian Kingdoms, Aksren Empires, Alara’jal Warlords, Noo’dort Raiders, Shal’rein Subclans, and Palierans had engaged in some form of warfare against the other or themselves during this time frame. It wouldn’t be until this time that most species had reached an equilibrium in technological advantages and strength. Any of the others that didn’t were to face extinction eventually. Biological warfare had become more and more observed. However, it only had some effect on space combat. It was true that if a single infected crew member had come to a ship, it could quickly spread to the others. However, tactics and strategies very rarely changed. By this time, the “Old Space” era had been in full swing. The time of wiping out planets or nuking civilizations had occurred less and less to the point that it practically stopped. Was it necessary to still commit to an act of planetary destruction? For some human scholars and Itrean historians, this had been a continuous debate. Among one of the profound reasons for “Old Space,” to begin with, was the simple fact that civilizations were tired of having to be nomadic. This was commonplace by all the species, with the exception of the Noo’dort. Even then, the Noo’dort were more about raping, seizing, and pillaging worlds rather than outright destruction. Even for a species that was considered insane, they still had this concept to consider. For all Itreans, commitment to widespread planetary destruction warranted little gains. It was true that denying a world from another’s control by destroying it could be effective for a short time. However, the ability to conquer a world was possible and could warrant more significant gains in the future. Biological warfare has proven to be effective and could devastate entire worlds without having to destroy a planet or whole cities. At the same time, long- term strategic thinking had proven to play a more beneficial role in seizing a world and using its resources for long-term gain. Space warfare had become stagnant during this time frame. While it still happened at a large rate, many of the planets in this region of space had become more stabilized. Long-running governments and legal systems would operate. While it was confirmed that various clans would still engage in massive campaigns to take out the other, the era of “Enormous Siege Battleships” mainly had come to a close. Antimatter would become seen less and less, and finding it was difficult. Nuclear exchanges onto worlds would still occur but only to certain points. Massive efforts could be installed to revitalize the ecosystems of planets. There were two significant events during the age of “Old Space” to that of “New Space.” This included the Empire of Yol’ikren that had wiped out the Noo’dort clan and the Empire of Jalgren. Within 30,000 years ago, Jalgren had committed to a vast effort in conquering the galaxy and uniting all the Itreans under his banner. Jalgren was a master ship designer and had access to one of the best shipyards that the Itreans had to offer. Much can be said about Jalgren’s achievements. He personally introduced his Xetregren Mark 1 Class Battleship or “Viper” class that would revolutionize all ships of the time period. Many are easy to point out that his battleship was comparable to the HMS Dreadnought of former 20^th century Earth. It would be one of the first well-known Itrean warships that had a rotational centripetal ring. This would allow his ships to become floating space stations over sieged or conquered worlds. Blockades could be achieved for years until worlds would starve into submission. The Xetregren would mark the beginning of the more modern Itrean battleship. Even the current Mark 2793 today still carries a little bit of the ancient legacy that he put forth. Jalgren’s war was one that faced numerous hardships. His concept of warfare was that of space dominance rather than ground invasions. He was well aware that he didn’t have much hope in taking down the Shal’rein or Alara’jal in land or underwater invasions. Most of the battles stemmed from the fact that he had to challenge other Aksren Empires or Yutilian Kingdoms for space dominance. Even then, the Shal’rein and Alara’jal were still a threat in space. Jalgren’s goal was a mixture of various maneuvers. He placed great emphasis on training his crews. It was even possible for the Xetregren to become generational ships as mated pairs could have children and pass the information on the ship’s operation to the next. Long-term sieges and blockades would carefully target areas that generated food to even water developing systems. Ground-based weapons could also be targeted and destroyed. While warfare did exist, Jalgren also used careful negotiation to take over systems one by one. Persistence was the key, and each world that was taken over only added to Jalgren’s reputation. Jalgren the Great was monumental in how he looked at the current warships of the time. It’s not surprising that many Itreans, whether they are Aksren or not, refer to his strategies and tactics in space warfare. Jalgren was one of the few that expanded the concepts of various spaceship types and applications in how the battles would be waged. It wasn’t just the Xetregren that he introduced, but also siege dreadnoughts, fleet replenishment vessels, and even missile launcher support cruisers to help aid the battleships that he massed produced. Various applications to his weapons would be carefully implemented according to his wishes. He even had his own heavy battleship that would carry him into the sieges across Itrean space. Jalgren was not genocidal and made it a priority to only engage in destruction when necessary. It would take almost his entire life to achieve his goal, but the final Yutilian Kingdom surrendered to him, cementing his new Unified Galactic Itrean Empire or the Empire of Jalgren. During the 20,000 years, however, Jalgren’s fleets would become the standard implementation by other Itrean species. Even then, the empire was not to last. As the realm had become stagnant, so did the population. Many Aksren racists profited over the exploitation of the non Aksren people. The Aksren elite wanted to split the empire apart again. Lack of money also further plagued the imperial navy. This caused much of the former conquered worlds to operate under a basis of partial control. It was expected for the rich autocrats and appointed tyrannical leaders to hold onto systems for the sake of the empire. Despite Jalgren’s long-time passing, his former kin and other rulers still managed to make some notable achievements. This would include the great Starfortresses, a series of powerful space stations that use a red dwarf star as a basis of power. Many consider these space stations the most outstanding engineering marvels and the most powerful weapons ever constructed. It would even rival that of the ancient siege cannon dreadnoughts of long ago. The Starfortresses involved finding a red dwarf star that was incredibly stable. Typically, it is surmised that lonely early mid-age red dwarfs are the most viable of locations to place a base. It was Jalgren’s dream to see these titanic stations be constructed. The entire star’s planets would be stripped down and used to construct the framework of heavy heat resisted alloys. Tungsten, for example, has a high melting point. The tinier red dwarfs generate far less heat than most stars and have advantages in lasting the longest of all the stars in the universe. A special buoyant alloy and tungsten mixture would be slapped and wrapped around the entire star. This essentially created the Itrean version of Dyson’s spheres. The orbital rings that surrounded the star would then use the heat generated to power the enormous super reactors. With the right amount of material that was brought to the station, the Starfortresses could then mass produce warships at a progressive rate. At the same time, the star fortresses could also utilize their primary super weapon. An extensive rail system moves an enormous focusing lens along in the frame. This would use the star’s light coupled with the station’s power generators to turn the lens into a super laser. Using the speed of light combined with the sheer magnitude in strength, the star fortress super laser can obliterate entire fleets of warships in a single quick strike. This not only includes the laser but a slew of various other weapons that dot the frame. The great starbase houses billions upon billions of inhabitants that is entirely self-sustaining. However, despite the revolutionary design, the star fortresses suffered from its sheer cost. Construction of these facilities would take several thousand years each to complete. It was possible for families of construction workers to have generations of children and so forth and never see the eventual completion of these marvels. Only a few generational family’s lines that had managed to do so would ever get a chance to really enjoy it. It was hoped that the laser system could fire through opened wormholes and further contribute in large-scale fleet operations. However, upon testing, the super laser was found to be useless when combined with gate folding technology. Despite this, the system did work and could at least defend itself if attacked. There is some argument in the Itreans that the cost of lives, resources, money and other materials didn’t really pay out in the end. As the empire stagnated, it would rely on the slave labor of other Itrean species to build them. The high continuous cost further strained the imperial treasury. However, within thousands of years of their completion, the star fortresses were able to build fleets of warships at a faster pace than typical planetary orbital facilities. In the end, three-star fortresses were built, with a fourth one that was completed long after the empire had collapsed. Ultimately, it would be a Shal’rein that would bring the downfall of the Empire of Jalgren. Rototrein had led one of the most significant rebellions that would lead into a massive downward spiral against the tyranny of the empire. As much discussed in other pages, the Rototrein Rebellion was one that started off as small but led to a massive unified effort of other Itrean species and Aksren sympathizers. Every ship was used from secretly mass-produced warships, secretly hidden ships, former imperial designs, and any other form of cobbled-together ships to fight against the imperial fleets. Weapons also reflected the haphazard nature of the rebellion as they used anything that they could bolt onto their ships. Ironically, Jalgren’s own concepts of space warfare and ship design would contribute to the downfall of the empire. In the later years, Rototrein’s vessels would incorporate weapon profiles and ship layouts that would follow to this very day.