Post by Ravished Improbability on Mar 19, 2018 19:55:31 GMT
CASTER, Constellation for Advance Science, Technology, and Extraterrestrial Research is a secretive paramilitary research group tasked with developing advance weapons, searching out extraterrestrial aliens and researching ways ways to counter any threat they may pose to the CCSS and Earth. They have recruited some of the sharpest minds in the Confederation and has access to the most advance technology available to complete their mission. They are the first and last line of defense for the Constellation of Stars.
CASTER was founded by Lord Andrei Jormungand and the council of Ethelwolf Enclave on Mercury. It was originally the Xeno Technology branch of the Sigrun, the secrect police of Etherlwolf. Already a secret division of a secretive organization, it went deep black when the enclave joined the budding CCSS.
With a new name, larger budget, more equipment, and backdoor access into the CCSS; CASTER stays on the cutting edge of scientific research and on top of the xeno threats.
The selection and screening process for joining CASTER is the most rigorous in the CCSS. A committee of CASTER AI's screens for potential candidates by monitoring schools, news sources, and other publicly available sources. The AI's are looking for individuals with the psychological profile useful to the organization's unique requirements and culture. The potentials are narrowed down by more invasive background checking and data mining to develop better profiles. The best candidates are flagged to be guided onto educational and career paths that will prepare them with the skills needed for the eventual contact and potentially recruitment to CASTER.
The new recruits go through a four month long training and orientation course to ensure that all new members have at least the minimum requisite skills to handle shipboard, survival, or even combat situations. This boot camp like orientation course serves as the second to last filter to weed out unsuitable candidates. The final filter is the complete medical screening and ultimately augmentation.
Those that survive the augmentation are the newest members of CASTER and issued a data pad to fill them in on the secret aspects of the organization and on new technologies they will be encountering while they are recovering. Their first assignment is often to a training cruise on one of the many ships.
All members of CASTER are issued a paperback book sized AI assistant and data storage medium called a Tome. They are imprinted to obey only one owner. The Tomes of the base commanders and ship captains can generate override codes to access the data stored the Tome's of lower rank personnel.
The tome's AI is in the same class as the Star Marine's suit AIs. The small AI blocks are well below human level, but the advance programming makes them quite intelligent to the needs of its user. Unlike the tightly hedged in suit AIs optimized purely for combat, the Tome AIs is designed to be more flexible and adaptive without many restrictions to better mess with the wider range of user needs. They are initially general purpose AIs. They quickly grow to become specialist AIs in the same fields of interest of their owner.
A hard coded set of rules and safeguards set in memory isolated from the self learning algorithms of the AI keeps it from growing im ways that would be harmful to CASTER and in general the CCSS. A tome is loyal to CASTER first, its master second, and the CCSS third.
A researcher's tome would be a savant at scientific analysis, and up to date with all related studies and research. An engineer's tome would always be on the look out for irregularities in the systems its master is responsible as well as the rest of the ship or station, and be knowledgeable in the location of all needed tools and materials to enact repairs. A soldier's tome would be expert in threat analysis and relevant military tactics, and be able to assist with most equipment the soldier is likely to encounter.
The full power of the AI is only available when connected to an external power source. As a stand alone device it simply serves as an intelligent PDA and secure communication link. The tome serves as a security pass granting the owner access to permitted CASTER facilities, special equipment, and databases. They are also programmed to serve as kind of master key when it comes to hot-wiring CCSS civilian vehicles and even smaller non-AI equipped military vehicles. Additional special knowledge and AI optimization generally is needed to avoid tripping security features in those vehicles.
Agents and Acolytes
The basic military and security forces of CASTER are called Agents. Those researchers trained for special operations, or have otherwise shown skills in shooting or martial arts, are known as Acolytes. Acolytes are typically the first choice for field missions.
CASTER agents and acolytes are issued an Arcana. The Arcana is effectively the agent's magic wand and like the tome are imprinted to the owner. Unlike the tome, permission can be given by the owner to allow others to use the weapon. They are produced in five different forms: blade, fan, gauntlet, gun, and scroll. All Arcana's are equipped with embedded electrical and hard light projectors. They are powered by cartridge like replaceable power cells.
-- The blade Arcana is a saber that is typically worn at the left hip. Like the other Acrana it is a deadly weapon even before the modifications. It can sheath itself in hard light or electricity to increase the effectiveness of its blade. Its default spells allow it to fire blades of hard light forward when swung, launch ball lightning, form a temporary hard light shields, and even generate a stronger plasma barrier. The scabbard holds additional power cells to quickly recharge the sword when sheathed.
-- The fan is the smallest and most concealable of the available Arcanas. Shaped like a folding fan, it is the most defense oriented of the options. The simple design is made of armor plates that slide over each other. The edge of the fan is sharpen to allow it to be used in cutting attacks. In the open configuration it is able to generate a large hardlight shield. When closed it cannot generate as large a shield but it can better focus the available power into a hardlight blade. Open or close the fan is able to generate a magnetic shield against particle and plasma base attacks. Like the blade's scabbard, the fan's holster is design to quickly recharge the Arcana.
-- The gauntlet Arcana are a pair of bracers that extend into an armor gauntlets in combat. The gauntlets are designed to amplify the users punches by generating powerful shockwaves on contact. The Arcana can project hardlight wrist blades, fire arcs of electricity, shoot ball lightning, and generate explosive plasma grenades to toss at the enemy.
-- The gun Arcana is built around the core of a high power military gauss pistol. It is able to shoot standard gauss rounds, fire short range hard light bullets, shoot small plasma blasts, form a hard light bayonet, and project arcs of electricity. A larger rail rifle version is available as well that increases range and firepower at the cost of increased weight and reduced concealablity.
-- The scroll is optimized to generate realistic holograms and trick sensors with its powerful electronic warfare system. The scroll can generate a hardlight blade, a small hardlight barrier, and electrify one end to be used as a stunner. It can telescope out to allow it to be used as a quarterstaff or spear.
The Tome's AI controls the Arcana's advance spells. The AI is able to manipulate the Arcana's hard light and holographic projectors to create flashy magic like effects. It can generate homing projectiles, multiple spinning blades, and even precision sniper shots. The tome stores a backup of the Arcana's configuration to allow the user to quickly sync up with a new one.
After passing the advance training courses, the can be promoted to Special Agent or Wizard. They have greater freedom to customize there Arcanas. The more successful and copied variants are given special names.
Often found among trained snipers and marksmen is the rifle arcana, Gungnir, named after Odin's spear. The rail rifle is fitted with upgraded sensors as well as even longer range hard light system. The standard hyper velocity darts fired through the rail sniper are more than lethal enough for most situations. The feature that gives its its nickname are the powerful hard light homing shots. The energy missiles are difficult to evade and can pierce even armor targets. Combing the hardlight and normal dart can give the rifle the power to punch through even heavy armor with the energy charge vaporizing and heat softening the armor just before the kinetic dart impacts.
Another well known configuration of the rifle arcana is the Ichaival. Named after Odin's bow, the arcana has been reconfigured into a 20mm gauss shotgun that can fire nine hardlight darts along side the standard pellets or slugs.
A famous variant of the gauntlet is, Jarngreipr, the hardlight hammer. The arcana gives the user the power of Mjolnir, or at least a facsimile made from holograms and hard light. The gauntlet's weight is slightly increased the kinetic damage. The fist lightning powers are heavily boosted by stripping out the systems needed to generate the plasma grenades.
WARLOCK
WARLOCK is a special forces branch of CASTER equipped for force reconnaissance. Its soldiers are recruited from the star marines. They are primarily used for deep raiding operations, usually for intelligence gathering, usually covertly. Other raids are to ensure that CASTER remains for the most part a secret, unknown to the greater public, and only rumored in the conspiracy circles.
Their field uniforms are based on navy security's light combat armor and features both armor and a powered exoskeleton. The exoskeleton does little to boost the soldier's strength but does help support the weight of the equipment carried onto the field to help reduce fatigue and improve combat endurance. It also improves accuracy for sniper shots and doubles as a mobility rig in case of damage renders the soldier unable to move in some way. The basic armor of the suit is only rated to provide protection against electromotive pistol projectiles and fragments. The heavier plates on the chest, back, and front of the thighs provide protection from weapons as heavy as a light 3mm rail rifle. The helmet that goes with the suit is rated for light rail rifle fire, the transparent armor vision slit under the opaque armor visor is only rated to provide protection from pistols.
Their equipment is based heavily, but not exclusively, off those of the star marines. The WARLOCK power armor is an order of magnitude more capable than the suits issued to the star marines. It is at the cutting edge of CCSS technology. All systems have been upgraded and many new ones added. Most notable are the integration of miniature hard light and plasma systems for attack and defense. The suits are designed to make heavy use of hardlight while engaged in combat, with both shields and blades in play to maximize the combat power of the suit.
The suits sensor suite include all of the combat sensors of the star marines plus many more science oriented systems for studying the suits as well the surrounding area. They can do the standard stealth and razzle dazzle electronic warfare. The razzle dazzle effects though have more teeth to them as the hardlight system give them a physical presence.
The suits are equipped with an anchor system copied from suits used by asteroid miners to tether them to multiple attachment points from long range to secure the suit in place even without direct physical contact. The suits include the standard maglocks in the glove and boots as well as high grade jump jets and thrusters for micro gravity work.
They are equipped with plasma shedding shields based off the standard electromagnetic reentry shields for shuttle and landing craft. The shields allowed the armored Warlocks to drop from orbit without the aid of a shuttle or drop craft. They would need to equip a parachute or landing rockets though to slow down before impact as the standard thrusters and jump systems are unable to slow a suit from reentry velocities.
The warlock's Tome is needed to be plugged into to assist the low level gestalt AI of the suits to unlock the full potential of the suits. While it possible to operate a CASTER armor suit with just the low level gestalt AI combat effectiveness is severely degraded. A Star Marine may fight like three; a CASTER Warlock is a legion. The suit's many weapons allows the Warlock to control the entire sphere with in their weapons reach. A warlock is not limited by cones of fire.
The suits have over sized pauldrons on the shoulders housing the primary hardlight generators and the twin 30mm automatic grenade launchers. Attached to the back and extending over the shoulders are a pair 10mm rotary railguns. A plasma cannon fires down the center of the railguns.
On the arms are streamlined shields with 5mm rail submachine guns. The additional parts can extend the SMGs barrel give the arm guns full rifle performance at the cost of reducing arm mobility and dexterity. Alternately one or two 20mm gauss guns may be installed in placed of the arm mounted railgun for more close range firepower. For good measure they carry pods of small seeker missiles on their hips. They also carry a side arm and staff weapon.
CASTER suits can carry a heavy rifle but most commonly carry a more powerful staff weapon. There are a few different types of battle staffs a WARLOCK can use:
-- The standard WARLOCK staff weapon for the suits is the Durandal. It primarily serves as a railgun firing either 10mm or 15mm projectiles. The end of the barrel runs through the sword blade that doubles as forgrip. The blade has a false edge that changes to a cutting edge pass the forgrip area. The Durandal is effective as both a battle rifle and sword.
-- The Aegis is a simple double ended heavy sword, that expands into a large towershield. The staff is equiped with its own hard light shield projectors, magnetic shielding, and power supply.
-- Caladbolg is a large two handed great sword or lance. A hard light blade can be projected to increase the cutting power and reach of the sword. At the core of the Caladbolg is a heavy duty solid-state antiship laser.
-- For microgravity combat, the Skofnung sometimes chosen. The weapon is an rather ornate log of a weapon with twelve 5mm railguns divided evenly between forward and rear firing. Its rough shape is that of a double ended lance. In microgravity the ten outer guns can split off into independent weapon drones. The core staff can split apart into two more guns. In gravity the drones can only serve as remote gun turrets. Kept together the weapon effectively serves as twin six barrel rotary railguns to dish-out a torrent of fire.
-- A superweapon only deployed for special missions, the Astra is huge lance with a resemblance to an umbrella. This heavy weapon is a portable miniature Fusion X-ray Laser (FXL), this warship grade weapon can blast anything that stands in the users way. To fire the weapon opens up like an umbrella to shield the shooter from the worst effects of firing the weapon.
THE SECRET FLEET
CASTER has multiple stations and ships. The bulk of their fleet are decommissioned guard ships as the small size, thick hull, and heavy frames of the small warships are ideal to handle the repeated refits to test out new armor, drives, sensors, and weapons. For the same durability reasons they also field exploration ships as mobile research stations and weapon test beds. These ships rarely come out of the refits looking anything like the largely standardized ships of the rest of the CCSS. The experimental nature of the equipment and the need to easily install and remove the system typically means the equipment is mounted semi externally or even fully outside the hull of the ship.
While the majority are used for science or research and development, a few are refitted for operational testing of the new technologies. These stealthy field units are equipped with the latest in advance weapons and sensors. As the ships are potentially going into real combat, more care is taken to properly install the weapons and sensors onto the ship. This ships still typically end up with additional blisters extending from the hull or even a whole new nose cone to fully fit the weapons, sensors, and jammers onto the small ships. All the field ships are given a new tail assembly to suppress the drive flare and cool the exhaust to decrease the detection range.
CASTER has its own secret shipyard and factories produce the fruits of all the research and development. From these secret manufacturing bases they produce the many stealth ships and other purpose built machines too classified to made outside the organization.
The largest ship to be made at the secret shipyard is the flagship of operations division of CASTER is the battleship Inescapable Mythos, a 7km long behemoth that vaguely resembles two battleships stuck tail to tail. The front 3km is the same as any battleship. The center 2km is the main habitat. Internally it is dumbbell shape with hangers and industrial modules ringing the waist line between the fore and aft habitat rings. The flagships is able to make many of the items it needs, including shuttles, power armor, and small arms. The final 2km roughly looks like the front end a battle cruiser. The internal contents though is loads different. Inside the rear of the ship is the power core, FTL module, fusion drive, and massive baffles and heat sinks needed to render the drive stealthy under low acceleration. Externally the rear mounts nearly the same weight of secondary and defensive weapons as a battle cruiser. Guarded by three times the compliment of vectors of a standard battleship, the ship typically cruises without escorting ships.
Smaller stealth battleships and cruisers serve as operation centers independent task forces. Like the flagship they keep the double ended appearance, but unlike the flagship they keep roughly the same tonnage as the regular navy ships of the same class while only being at most a fifth longer. One such ship, the Sufficiently Advanced, has been assign to investigate the Alien lifeforms and extra ordinary material reported by the Gliese 876 fleet. Other ship, the cruiser Serious Watchman, is rumor to be playing cat and mouse with stealth Aukarian ships as well as regular CCSS patrols to study and improve the stealth systems available to CASTER.
CASTER was founded by Lord Andrei Jormungand and the council of Ethelwolf Enclave on Mercury. It was originally the Xeno Technology branch of the Sigrun, the secrect police of Etherlwolf. Already a secret division of a secretive organization, it went deep black when the enclave joined the budding CCSS.
With a new name, larger budget, more equipment, and backdoor access into the CCSS; CASTER stays on the cutting edge of scientific research and on top of the xeno threats.
The selection and screening process for joining CASTER is the most rigorous in the CCSS. A committee of CASTER AI's screens for potential candidates by monitoring schools, news sources, and other publicly available sources. The AI's are looking for individuals with the psychological profile useful to the organization's unique requirements and culture. The potentials are narrowed down by more invasive background checking and data mining to develop better profiles. The best candidates are flagged to be guided onto educational and career paths that will prepare them with the skills needed for the eventual contact and potentially recruitment to CASTER.
The new recruits go through a four month long training and orientation course to ensure that all new members have at least the minimum requisite skills to handle shipboard, survival, or even combat situations. This boot camp like orientation course serves as the second to last filter to weed out unsuitable candidates. The final filter is the complete medical screening and ultimately augmentation.
Those that survive the augmentation are the newest members of CASTER and issued a data pad to fill them in on the secret aspects of the organization and on new technologies they will be encountering while they are recovering. Their first assignment is often to a training cruise on one of the many ships.
All members of CASTER are issued a paperback book sized AI assistant and data storage medium called a Tome. They are imprinted to obey only one owner. The Tomes of the base commanders and ship captains can generate override codes to access the data stored the Tome's of lower rank personnel.
The tome's AI is in the same class as the Star Marine's suit AIs. The small AI blocks are well below human level, but the advance programming makes them quite intelligent to the needs of its user. Unlike the tightly hedged in suit AIs optimized purely for combat, the Tome AIs is designed to be more flexible and adaptive without many restrictions to better mess with the wider range of user needs. They are initially general purpose AIs. They quickly grow to become specialist AIs in the same fields of interest of their owner.
A hard coded set of rules and safeguards set in memory isolated from the self learning algorithms of the AI keeps it from growing im ways that would be harmful to CASTER and in general the CCSS. A tome is loyal to CASTER first, its master second, and the CCSS third.
A researcher's tome would be a savant at scientific analysis, and up to date with all related studies and research. An engineer's tome would always be on the look out for irregularities in the systems its master is responsible as well as the rest of the ship or station, and be knowledgeable in the location of all needed tools and materials to enact repairs. A soldier's tome would be expert in threat analysis and relevant military tactics, and be able to assist with most equipment the soldier is likely to encounter.
The full power of the AI is only available when connected to an external power source. As a stand alone device it simply serves as an intelligent PDA and secure communication link. The tome serves as a security pass granting the owner access to permitted CASTER facilities, special equipment, and databases. They are also programmed to serve as kind of master key when it comes to hot-wiring CCSS civilian vehicles and even smaller non-AI equipped military vehicles. Additional special knowledge and AI optimization generally is needed to avoid tripping security features in those vehicles.
Agents and Acolytes
The basic military and security forces of CASTER are called Agents. Those researchers trained for special operations, or have otherwise shown skills in shooting or martial arts, are known as Acolytes. Acolytes are typically the first choice for field missions.
CASTER agents and acolytes are issued an Arcana. The Arcana is effectively the agent's magic wand and like the tome are imprinted to the owner. Unlike the tome, permission can be given by the owner to allow others to use the weapon. They are produced in five different forms: blade, fan, gauntlet, gun, and scroll. All Arcana's are equipped with embedded electrical and hard light projectors. They are powered by cartridge like replaceable power cells.
-- The blade Arcana is a saber that is typically worn at the left hip. Like the other Acrana it is a deadly weapon even before the modifications. It can sheath itself in hard light or electricity to increase the effectiveness of its blade. Its default spells allow it to fire blades of hard light forward when swung, launch ball lightning, form a temporary hard light shields, and even generate a stronger plasma barrier. The scabbard holds additional power cells to quickly recharge the sword when sheathed.
-- The fan is the smallest and most concealable of the available Arcanas. Shaped like a folding fan, it is the most defense oriented of the options. The simple design is made of armor plates that slide over each other. The edge of the fan is sharpen to allow it to be used in cutting attacks. In the open configuration it is able to generate a large hardlight shield. When closed it cannot generate as large a shield but it can better focus the available power into a hardlight blade. Open or close the fan is able to generate a magnetic shield against particle and plasma base attacks. Like the blade's scabbard, the fan's holster is design to quickly recharge the Arcana.
-- The gauntlet Arcana are a pair of bracers that extend into an armor gauntlets in combat. The gauntlets are designed to amplify the users punches by generating powerful shockwaves on contact. The Arcana can project hardlight wrist blades, fire arcs of electricity, shoot ball lightning, and generate explosive plasma grenades to toss at the enemy.
-- The gun Arcana is built around the core of a high power military gauss pistol. It is able to shoot standard gauss rounds, fire short range hard light bullets, shoot small plasma blasts, form a hard light bayonet, and project arcs of electricity. A larger rail rifle version is available as well that increases range and firepower at the cost of increased weight and reduced concealablity.
-- The scroll is optimized to generate realistic holograms and trick sensors with its powerful electronic warfare system. The scroll can generate a hardlight blade, a small hardlight barrier, and electrify one end to be used as a stunner. It can telescope out to allow it to be used as a quarterstaff or spear.
The Tome's AI controls the Arcana's advance spells. The AI is able to manipulate the Arcana's hard light and holographic projectors to create flashy magic like effects. It can generate homing projectiles, multiple spinning blades, and even precision sniper shots. The tome stores a backup of the Arcana's configuration to allow the user to quickly sync up with a new one.
After passing the advance training courses, the can be promoted to Special Agent or Wizard. They have greater freedom to customize there Arcanas. The more successful and copied variants are given special names.
Often found among trained snipers and marksmen is the rifle arcana, Gungnir, named after Odin's spear. The rail rifle is fitted with upgraded sensors as well as even longer range hard light system. The standard hyper velocity darts fired through the rail sniper are more than lethal enough for most situations. The feature that gives its its nickname are the powerful hard light homing shots. The energy missiles are difficult to evade and can pierce even armor targets. Combing the hardlight and normal dart can give the rifle the power to punch through even heavy armor with the energy charge vaporizing and heat softening the armor just before the kinetic dart impacts.
Another well known configuration of the rifle arcana is the Ichaival. Named after Odin's bow, the arcana has been reconfigured into a 20mm gauss shotgun that can fire nine hardlight darts along side the standard pellets or slugs.
A famous variant of the gauntlet is, Jarngreipr, the hardlight hammer. The arcana gives the user the power of Mjolnir, or at least a facsimile made from holograms and hard light. The gauntlet's weight is slightly increased the kinetic damage. The fist lightning powers are heavily boosted by stripping out the systems needed to generate the plasma grenades.
WARLOCK
WARLOCK is a special forces branch of CASTER equipped for force reconnaissance. Its soldiers are recruited from the star marines. They are primarily used for deep raiding operations, usually for intelligence gathering, usually covertly. Other raids are to ensure that CASTER remains for the most part a secret, unknown to the greater public, and only rumored in the conspiracy circles.
Their field uniforms are based on navy security's light combat armor and features both armor and a powered exoskeleton. The exoskeleton does little to boost the soldier's strength but does help support the weight of the equipment carried onto the field to help reduce fatigue and improve combat endurance. It also improves accuracy for sniper shots and doubles as a mobility rig in case of damage renders the soldier unable to move in some way. The basic armor of the suit is only rated to provide protection against electromotive pistol projectiles and fragments. The heavier plates on the chest, back, and front of the thighs provide protection from weapons as heavy as a light 3mm rail rifle. The helmet that goes with the suit is rated for light rail rifle fire, the transparent armor vision slit under the opaque armor visor is only rated to provide protection from pistols.
Their equipment is based heavily, but not exclusively, off those of the star marines. The WARLOCK power armor is an order of magnitude more capable than the suits issued to the star marines. It is at the cutting edge of CCSS technology. All systems have been upgraded and many new ones added. Most notable are the integration of miniature hard light and plasma systems for attack and defense. The suits are designed to make heavy use of hardlight while engaged in combat, with both shields and blades in play to maximize the combat power of the suit.
The suits sensor suite include all of the combat sensors of the star marines plus many more science oriented systems for studying the suits as well the surrounding area. They can do the standard stealth and razzle dazzle electronic warfare. The razzle dazzle effects though have more teeth to them as the hardlight system give them a physical presence.
The suits are equipped with an anchor system copied from suits used by asteroid miners to tether them to multiple attachment points from long range to secure the suit in place even without direct physical contact. The suits include the standard maglocks in the glove and boots as well as high grade jump jets and thrusters for micro gravity work.
They are equipped with plasma shedding shields based off the standard electromagnetic reentry shields for shuttle and landing craft. The shields allowed the armored Warlocks to drop from orbit without the aid of a shuttle or drop craft. They would need to equip a parachute or landing rockets though to slow down before impact as the standard thrusters and jump systems are unable to slow a suit from reentry velocities.
The warlock's Tome is needed to be plugged into to assist the low level gestalt AI of the suits to unlock the full potential of the suits. While it possible to operate a CASTER armor suit with just the low level gestalt AI combat effectiveness is severely degraded. A Star Marine may fight like three; a CASTER Warlock is a legion. The suit's many weapons allows the Warlock to control the entire sphere with in their weapons reach. A warlock is not limited by cones of fire.
The suits have over sized pauldrons on the shoulders housing the primary hardlight generators and the twin 30mm automatic grenade launchers. Attached to the back and extending over the shoulders are a pair 10mm rotary railguns. A plasma cannon fires down the center of the railguns.
On the arms are streamlined shields with 5mm rail submachine guns. The additional parts can extend the SMGs barrel give the arm guns full rifle performance at the cost of reducing arm mobility and dexterity. Alternately one or two 20mm gauss guns may be installed in placed of the arm mounted railgun for more close range firepower. For good measure they carry pods of small seeker missiles on their hips. They also carry a side arm and staff weapon.
CASTER suits can carry a heavy rifle but most commonly carry a more powerful staff weapon. There are a few different types of battle staffs a WARLOCK can use:
-- The standard WARLOCK staff weapon for the suits is the Durandal. It primarily serves as a railgun firing either 10mm or 15mm projectiles. The end of the barrel runs through the sword blade that doubles as forgrip. The blade has a false edge that changes to a cutting edge pass the forgrip area. The Durandal is effective as both a battle rifle and sword.
-- The Aegis is a simple double ended heavy sword, that expands into a large towershield. The staff is equiped with its own hard light shield projectors, magnetic shielding, and power supply.
-- Caladbolg is a large two handed great sword or lance. A hard light blade can be projected to increase the cutting power and reach of the sword. At the core of the Caladbolg is a heavy duty solid-state antiship laser.
-- For microgravity combat, the Skofnung sometimes chosen. The weapon is an rather ornate log of a weapon with twelve 5mm railguns divided evenly between forward and rear firing. Its rough shape is that of a double ended lance. In microgravity the ten outer guns can split off into independent weapon drones. The core staff can split apart into two more guns. In gravity the drones can only serve as remote gun turrets. Kept together the weapon effectively serves as twin six barrel rotary railguns to dish-out a torrent of fire.
-- A superweapon only deployed for special missions, the Astra is huge lance with a resemblance to an umbrella. This heavy weapon is a portable miniature Fusion X-ray Laser (FXL), this warship grade weapon can blast anything that stands in the users way. To fire the weapon opens up like an umbrella to shield the shooter from the worst effects of firing the weapon.
THE SECRET FLEET
CASTER has multiple stations and ships. The bulk of their fleet are decommissioned guard ships as the small size, thick hull, and heavy frames of the small warships are ideal to handle the repeated refits to test out new armor, drives, sensors, and weapons. For the same durability reasons they also field exploration ships as mobile research stations and weapon test beds. These ships rarely come out of the refits looking anything like the largely standardized ships of the rest of the CCSS. The experimental nature of the equipment and the need to easily install and remove the system typically means the equipment is mounted semi externally or even fully outside the hull of the ship.
While the majority are used for science or research and development, a few are refitted for operational testing of the new technologies. These stealthy field units are equipped with the latest in advance weapons and sensors. As the ships are potentially going into real combat, more care is taken to properly install the weapons and sensors onto the ship. This ships still typically end up with additional blisters extending from the hull or even a whole new nose cone to fully fit the weapons, sensors, and jammers onto the small ships. All the field ships are given a new tail assembly to suppress the drive flare and cool the exhaust to decrease the detection range.
CASTER has its own secret shipyard and factories produce the fruits of all the research and development. From these secret manufacturing bases they produce the many stealth ships and other purpose built machines too classified to made outside the organization.
The largest ship to be made at the secret shipyard is the flagship of operations division of CASTER is the battleship Inescapable Mythos, a 7km long behemoth that vaguely resembles two battleships stuck tail to tail. The front 3km is the same as any battleship. The center 2km is the main habitat. Internally it is dumbbell shape with hangers and industrial modules ringing the waist line between the fore and aft habitat rings. The flagships is able to make many of the items it needs, including shuttles, power armor, and small arms. The final 2km roughly looks like the front end a battle cruiser. The internal contents though is loads different. Inside the rear of the ship is the power core, FTL module, fusion drive, and massive baffles and heat sinks needed to render the drive stealthy under low acceleration. Externally the rear mounts nearly the same weight of secondary and defensive weapons as a battle cruiser. Guarded by three times the compliment of vectors of a standard battleship, the ship typically cruises without escorting ships.
Smaller stealth battleships and cruisers serve as operation centers independent task forces. Like the flagship they keep the double ended appearance, but unlike the flagship they keep roughly the same tonnage as the regular navy ships of the same class while only being at most a fifth longer. One such ship, the Sufficiently Advanced, has been assign to investigate the Alien lifeforms and extra ordinary material reported by the Gliese 876 fleet. Other ship, the cruiser Serious Watchman, is rumor to be playing cat and mouse with stealth Aukarian ships as well as regular CCSS patrols to study and improve the stealth systems available to CASTER.