Space Battleship Yamato (Kaori, Jorus Merrill, PM for Invite)

[Juro Tanaka]

Another project was occurring at Orbital Shipyard-B as Tanaka looked in on the progress. The bones were already laid out and workers were already laying the internal structure into place. Soon, electrical equipment would follow and more and more structural work and internal components would be set into the ship. Eventually, the vessel would take the form that it was meant to have.

The heart of the Asahian fleet was just that: a heart. It needed guarding. Protection. A rib-cage, so to speak. An unmoving bulwark against all comers. A noble samurai of old and honored legend.

The Yamato.

Named after both an ancient and brave wet-sea captain early in Asahi's history and after a massive sea-sailing ship that dominated the oceans of the planet with its powerful guns and thick, heavy armor, the Yamato class was the perfect guardian and warrior to protect its counterpart in conflict.

Again, Tanaka stood with his companions, the AI [member="Kaori"] and the Explorer [member="Jorus Merrill"] upon the observation deck overlooking the work below.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Juro Tanaka"] [member="Kaori"]

"Now that's a big boat." Jorus let out a low whistle, unfeigned. For numerous reasons, he decided against telling Tanaka that he had piloted the largest and most powerful starship in the galaxy, by far, in the process of aiding with its...repossession. And there was a point at which any ship over, say, five hundred metres just started looking unquantifiably and mindbogglingly vast. That was the human eye for ya.

"Redundant shields, I assume? What about compartmentalization? Ah...honeycomb systems?" He scrambled for simpler words. "What about internal durability? How did you work for that?"

 

[Juro Tanaka]

"Yes, redundant shields," Tanaka said with an affirmative nod. He knew the Basic for Honeycomb, but the other one eluded him. "Heavy shields. Many backup generators. Rokkaku structure - Honeycomb. Many heavy guns. Not too heavy arm, just right. Two hundred fifty heavy Taboreza... Please, forgive. Turbolaser. Fifty Ion cannon. Twenty five heavy warhead launcher."

He pulled a holoprojector from his pocket and handed it to [member="Jorus Merrill"] to look through. He waited until the other man activated the device before continuing.

"We install one point zero hyper-drive with en-cryp-ted hypercomm. Ranger transceiver and many Dedicated Energy Receptor, also. We even put Kaze Ejin. You see top speed in corner?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Juro Tanaka"]

That got a double-take. The Kaze engine's power draw and structural concerns seemed to preclude any kind of serious hangar space, but that max acceleration number let this big, heavy bruiser keep up with the vessels it escorted.

Two months ago, worth trillions of credits as he'd been, his reaction would have been pretty much the same as his reaction was now.

"This engine technology's quite somethin'. Does it come in...smaller versions?" He caught himself salivating, and kept his hand away from the sonic servodriver at his belt.

 

[Juro Tanaka]

"<Kaze enjin comes in many sizes,>" Tanaka said with a formal nod. "<We place on Destroyer craft and bigger. For not Asahi classes, is Corvette or bigger. Smaller than Corvette, no space to put it. Heavy arm ships not have enough power. Not able to power Kaze Enjin and guns at same time. Carrier ship need hangar space. No room for Enjin. Only middle ships. Just right. Balanced. Fit Kaze in perfect.>"

Juro reached over and carefully hit a control on the projector. The section of the Kaze engine enlarged showing both size and power outputs more clearly.

"Kaze use Hyper-matter fuel. Very... fragile. Take up much space, but give much, much power. Yamato will better escort ships. Yamato will catch many by suprise. Will fit with fleet tactic of fast tactic and carrier warfare."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Juro Tanaka"]

"Yeah, you'd have to use hypermatter, wouldn't ya..." Jorus subsumed himself in the data to assuage his bitter disappointment that fitting a Kaze into the Gypsymoth wouldn't be feasible. For one thing, its engines were already advanced. For another, its weapons drained a lot of power, as did the cloak. For another, it was not suitable for a vessel twenty-two metres long.

Bitter, bitter disappointment.

"So, here's my question." He tapped the structural braces just forward of the engine assemblies. "This is a big, long ship, with powerful engines. At a guess, structural stresses are going to be a problem with a lot of maneuvers, and torsion's going to jeopardize that touchy, touchy hypermatter. How're you compensating for that? Something as simple as empty space tolerances, or what?"

 

[Juro Tanaka]

"We use reinforced supports in whole ship," Tanaka stated, gesturing at the designs. "Triangular and Rokkaku - honeycomb - structure. In key area, we allow for more flexibility. Maintain strength while rapid moving. Retro thrusters along hull help spread stress evenly, also. Much debate over use of uta-tsu hagane - singing steel, is your word? For structure. Cost was prohibitive. We chose heavy reinforcement instead. More weight, but same job and less cost."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Juro Tanaka"]

"Triangle an' hexagons, yeah, that's the way to go." He squinted, pondering. "I got called in to do some contracting a while back. Some associates of mine had captured the blueprints to some Sith Empire capital ships, and I had the chance to look pretty closely at what they call a Tulak Hord. Pretty standard command ship with some ground assault capacity. What I liked about it was how they set the bridge and shield generators way low-profile, then plated'em with turadium. You have any of that in this system? Guarantee you can buy some off Fringe at 244 Core next door, and that distance'll beat most other folks' transportation markups. But who knows. Market like this, deal like this, someone might cut you a killer deal."

 

[Juro Tanaka]

Tanaka felt he now understood the Basic word 'hexagon'. [member="Jorus Merrill"] used the word and then swapped to honeycomb. Honeycomb was of a distinct shape and was where the Asahians had gotten the word for Rokkaku. The words clicked, finally. Rokkaku originated from Honeycomb. The Basic word Jorus used refered to Honeycomb. Apparently, Hexagon and Rokkaku were the same word in different languages. Who knew?

"Turadium?" he asked, the word feeling strange in his mouth. "Please explain. What is Turadium?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Juro Tanaka"]

"Turadium's good stuff. Really good stuff. Tougher than durasteel, both for hardness and for tensile strength. Heavier, sure, more bulk. I'd never make a whole ship out of it, but it's solid for reinforcing key points. Most of it that I've seen has had this subtle green tint to it, but who knows. Oh, and while it won't shrug off a lightsabre, it'll sure slow it down. A lot."

 

[Juro Tanaka]

"<Please, forgive,>" Tanaka said as another puzzled look came over his face. "What is this 'Sword of Light' you speak of?"

As he waited for an answer, the Asahian Shogun gestured at a few points in the designs.

"This 'Turadium'. Could be used for security?" he asked politely, pointing to a few choke points on the Yamato. Namely, the bridge, turbolift, and the engine rooms. "Make Yamato... Hard to kill?"

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Isoroku Shima]

Only a few weeks have passed since the Merill Incident occurred on Asahi, and as would be expected of first contact with the outside world, issues and complications have started to spread from under every nook and cranny in the nation, to every facet of society. Be it in Academia, Theology, or in the marketplace of a remote village, each and every last person on the planet has been affected by this new surge of technology, culture, and outside influence, for better or for worse. As far as some individuals were concerned, the strain put on the armed forces, and by extension their supply lines, was the most dangerous and pressing issue brought on by the foreigners. Shima quickly made his way upwards through the shipyard, heading towards the observational deck from which his liege looked on down below at the progress being made.

The construction of the Yamato was wrecking the nerves of every department involved in it's construction, and each and every branch had it's fair share of complaints to raise regarding the ships cost in resources and manpower, as well as its efficiency in certain areas. Whether those issues will be brought to light during the construction of the ship remained to be seen, but the issue that's been pressing Shima and his branch the most, the entire logistical issue of this flagship, needed to be raised lest the entire structure collapses on them. Reaching his destination, he exchanged bows and greetings with the Shoguns bodyguards, stating his name, rank, and intentions and asking to meet with the Emperor. He himself doubted he would be able to meet his liege and raise the issues to him personally, but he could at least hope that his small lie regarding the fact he came on behalf of the logistics department could give him a shot.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Juro Tanaka"] - "That's how turadium's normally used, aye, when it gets used at all. I have some data I probably shouldn't share with you, and it'd come back to me the hard way if anyone learned I'd given it to you, but in secret, the Republic's Chancellor called me in to examine the captured starship plans of his enemies. I still have'em, including a ship that does just what you're talking about. I have the data on my ship; I'll send it to you so you can see what others have done.

"As for lightsabres..." He grimaced. "I don't like them, I don't use them, but some call them as good as it gets. Swords made of plasma. Very, very common out there. Turadium will resist them a bit, and the songsteel deposits in your system -- those will resist them very well."

 

[Juro Tanaka]

"Hmmm... Sword-of-light..." Tanaka said quietly to himself. One of his bodyguards moved from the door and stepped forward to whisper in Tanaka's ear. With a nod from the Shogun, the bodyguard gestured to the other by the door, and the door was opened to admit [member="Isoroku Shima"] into the room.

"Kaigun Daisa," Tanaka said. "<You wished to speak with me?>"

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Isoroku Shima]

Exchanging one last, short bow with the guards, he hurriedly walked past them into the room, immediately falling onto his knees once he got past the doorway. Tilting his upper body forward into a deep bow, his face was barely an inch from the ground, hands firmly placed beneath his face and onto the ground. "<Your Excellency, I beg forgiveness for disturbing you at such a time. I come on behalf of Senior Akira and the Imperial Logistics Department.>" He responded in a monotone voice, not daring to lift his head from the ground or even to open his eyes. "<I humbly request permission to speak>"

[member="Juro Tanaka"]