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[Chiefwaffles]

I am very sorry for butchering science as I attempt to explain it, everybody.
Design: Quantum Gravity Theory
So we've been wielding quantum mechanics fairly haphazardly at this point, applying it to concepts such as Nanoquantum Capacitors, and perhaps more importantly, Optimal Power Pathing, in order to manipulate reality in ways we don't quite understand yet. But with a serious retrospective on what we've been doing, how we're doing it, and why what we're doing works, we may be able to come up with something new.
Specifically, the theory of Quantum Gravity - the theoretical field attempting to describe gravity using quantum mechanics.

While holding this knowledge would be a great scientific boon, a milestone in our understanding in the universe, yada yada yada; it could hold potential for weapons: Gravitons! Theoretical particles mediating the force of gravity! If we were to have control of gravitons, we would have control over gravity itself.

We have to start small. We have a solid basis - greater knowledge of quantum mechanics (primarily Escher Nanostructures from Optimal Power Pathing, but also Power Pathing and Nanoquantum Cells), than no human before us. Now we just need to apply that knowledge to begin our search into the manipulation of gravity.
TL;DR: Use knowledge of quantum mechanics to attempt the theory of Quantum Gravity with the main goal of gaining knowledge of the Graviton. The goal here is to be able to gain a foundation for the direct manipulation of gravity.

Tractor beams, gravity drives (supercoolbest thrusters) for use everywhere, and much more. Just need the Graviton first.


Going to remove my vote from the Raider for a clearer majority.

Nuclear Fusion "Skylight" reactor (4): Detoxicated, khang, Chiefwaffles, sprinkled chariot
Psychohistoric Principle: (1): FallacyofUrist
EAF-X2 "Raider" Laser Rifle (1): Blood Librarian

[NUKE9.13]

Design: Nuclear Fusion "Skylight" Reactor

The Skylight reactor's purpose is quite obvious - to create a viable fusion reactor. We're only shooting for "it works here." Anything beyond that, especially ship reactors, is merely an unexpected but hopeful bonus. Ultimately, its design is most similar to the Tokamak concept commonly chased on Earth prior to our departure.

Really, the Skylight gains from two main advantages compared to its failed predecessors:
1.) Funding & Dedication. Earth was a chaotic place with many nations and many interests all competing, and fusion research often got caught in the crossfire. By focusing the combined resources, time, and effort of our colony on fusion power generation, we should get much more done in much less time.
2.) Escher Nanostructures. We believe that we can effectively replicate a room-temperature superconductor by strategically aligning Escher Nanostructures on a larger scale with the pure goal of conducting electricity without resistance. No wire, no resistance. Pretty simple. These do have a tendency to flow current backwards under strong magnetic fields (which will occur), but if that's a problem then fixing it should still be much easier than the extra effort required if we had to use non-room temperature superconductors like a bunch of barbarians.

TL;DR: Make a Tokamak fusion reactor. We don't expect (but hope) it to work perfectly as a ship reactor - we just need the theory down. The "gimmick" is that we use Escher Nanostructures (power pathing) as room temperature superconductors. Like I said in t he  design - "no wires, no resistance".

Nuclear Fusion "Skylight" Reactor (Very Hard): (4+3)-2=5: Average
The hardest part of this design was definitely the Escher-Superconductors. Don't get me wrong, designing a working fusion reactor wasn't a walk in the park, but at least we knew that was possible.
Escher-Superconductors do not, unfortunately, work at room temperature. The nanostructures need to be very precisely alligned- too hot, and they distort ever so slightly, ruining the superconducting effect. We also needed to change up the materials used to make them- our standard zinc/aluminium construction can't stand up to the required magnetic fields. Rare-earth minerals were required to get the properties we needed. Which in turn required a redesign of the manufacturing process. The end result is the liquid-nitrogen cooled Escher-Superconductor-Magnet, which by itself is a substantial breakthrough- a complicated and expensive one, but still.
We have placed these ESMs in a Tokamak-esque configuration around the fusion chamber, containing the millions-of-degrees-hot deuterium/tritium plasma. They operate better than equivalent electromagnets would, although conventional liquid-helium-cooled superconducting magnets would (according to projections) have worked even better- although the cooling systems required would've been more complex. There is a very slight amount of plasma leakage- nothing too serious, but it does mean we can't run the reactor indefinitely- it needs to be shut down for maintenance every few days.
When operational, the reactor has a very respectable Q of around 20- meaning we get 20 times as much heat out as we need to put heat in to sustain the reaction. Even after accounting for various unavoidable inefficiencies, and the other power requirements (primarily the magnets), this means the Skylight produces a surplus of electricity. Not a huge surplus, mind. In terms of cost, its about twice as expensive as more conventional power sources. However, it is clean, safe, and plentiful.

The engineering headquarters have been symbolically turned over to Skylight power. The future is bright.


It is now the revision phase of SY97.

[Detoxicated]

Escher's geometric principles
By using advanced mathematic formulas we are able to understand and plan the layout of esheresque constructs greatly increasing our escher-superconductors as well as giving us insights how to store stuff more efficiently.

[Chiefwaffles]

I was extremely annoyed at first but I do realize with some comments on Discord and Detoxicated's revision that it does help improve action economy - we can affect both our Nanoquantum Capacitors and superconductors with one revision. And since the superconductors directly benefit the fusion reactor...

(This is more-or-less a ripoff copy from Detoxicated's revision right behind my post, but with more detail.)
Revision: Natural Escher Constructs
Guess what happens when one crude principle represents the basis for literally everything we've developed thus far?
Massive leaps with small developments!

Natural Escher Constructs is mostly just taking a step back and looking at what we've done with the Escher Pattern. It's great and all, but we do not understand it. So by studying it and... understanding it, we should be ablee to more efficiently organize the nanostructures. Gently guide electricity along the desired path utilizing a "handful" of nanostructures instead of brute forcing the path of electricity using waay too many nanostructures.
This is the revision. Take a moment and refine our knowledge of Escher Nanostructures - understand how they work. It's a bad idea to fumble around blindly. Use this newfound knowledge to more gracefully guide electricity with fewer nanostructures instead of brute forcing it with way too many.

Now, that's the entire revision, but it should have many benefits:
1.) Less nanostructures means higher NQC capacity.
2.) Less nanostructures should mean a less delicate Escher Superconductor, decreasing its cooling requirements. Ideally it would become workable at room temperature.
3.) Less delicate Escher Superconductors should mean much more effective E.S.M.s, increasing the effectiveness of the Skylight. Hopefully, this would allow us to raise the temperatures (without leakage) to the point where energy generation would skyrocket.
Again - one revision, but because of how many things it affects, many benefits.

TL;DR: Improve Escher Nanostructures. This should result in better NQ Cells, better Superconductors, and hopefully a much better Skylight reactor.

Escher's Geometric Principles (0):
Natural Escher Constructs (1): Chiefwaffles

[Detoxicated]

Hmm i wanted to give the whole escheresque geometry a whole field to apply it to other areas but your suggestion seems fine

[joha4270]

Escher's Geometric Principles (0):
Natural Escher Constructs (2): Chiefwaffles, joha4270

[Detoxicated]

Escher's Geometric Principles (0):
Natural Escher Constructs (3): Chiefwaffles, joha4270, Detoxicated

Thx for the props.

[piratejoe]

Escher's Geometric Principles (0):
Natural Escher Constructs (4): Chiefwaffles, joha4270, Detoxicated, Piratejoe

[3_14159]

Escher's Geometric Principles (0):
Natural Escher Constructs (5): Chiefwaffles, joha4270, Detoxicated, Piratejoe, 3_14159

Not much to say here.

[NUKE9.13]

Revision: Natural Escher Constructs
Guess what happens when one crude principle represents the basis for literally everything we've developed thus far?
Massive leaps with small developments!

Natural Escher Constructs is mostly just taking a step back and looking at what we've done with the Escher Pattern. It's great and all, but we do not understand it. So by studying it and... understanding it, we should be ablee to more efficiently organize the nanostructures. Gently guide electricity along the desired path utilizing a "handful" of nanostructures instead of brute forcing the path of electricity using waay too many nanostructures.
This is the revision. Take a moment and refine our knowledge of Escher Nanostructures - understand how they work. It's a bad idea to fumble around blindly. Use this newfound knowledge to more gracefully guide electricity with fewer nanostructures instead of brute forcing it with way too many.

Now, that's the entire revision, but it should have many benefits:
1.) Less nanostructures means higher NQC capacity.
2.) Less nanostructures should mean a less delicate Escher Superconductor, decreasing its cooling requirements. Ideally it would become workable at room temperature.
3.) Less delicate Escher Superconductors should mean much more effective E.S.M.s, increasing the effectiveness of the Skylight. Hopefully, this would allow us to raise the temperatures (without leakage) to the point where energy generation would skyrocket.
Again - one revision, but because of how many things it affects, many benefits.

TL;DR: Improve Escher Nanostructures. This should result in better NQ Cells, better Superconductors, and hopefully a much better Skylight reactor.

Natural Escher Constructs (Normal): (4+4)=8: Unexpected Boon
So... you know how we farmed out the design of nanostructures to a bunch of students, right? One of which gave us the Escher Pattern?
Her name is Moira Libum. And she has some ideas. We brought her in with the intention of quizzing her on the working nature of the Escher Pattern. She barely let us get a word in edgeways.
First off, she complained, the competition to redesign the nanostructures was flawed, since they were only allowed to modify the macro structure, rearranging what we thought were the basic building blocks- but we thought wrong. Very wrong, according to Ms. Libum; the very idea of building blocks is antithesis to the noble art of nanostructure arrangement. She showed us dozens of pages of (erratic, handwritten) notes detailing how the Escher Pattern should look. To our eyes, it makes even less sense than the previous one. Yet... there is a certain elegance to the designs, and after we let the red-headed researcher take control of the labs we use to prototype nanostructures... well, the results speak for themselves.
Gone are the NQ capacitors surrounded by Escher Pattern non-wiring. The entire NQ Cell is now a single mass, a ludicrously complicated piece of chemical engineering that is nevertheless easy to make once the equipment has been set up right. Not only does it store all the electricity we thought was possible, it actually stores more. They are now 15 times better than our old chemical batteries, or 3 times better than our previous iteration.
And furthermore, she continued, this thing about using the Escher Pattern as a superconductor? Ludicrous. You want a superconductor? She has your superconductor. Featuring what is possibly the most bizarre molecular compound we have ever seen, Libum-265K (the name was her idea) is a nanostructural "wire" that acts as a superconductor at 265 Kelvin- easily attainable with conventional refrigeration.
Moira Libum's ideas don't stop there. However, around three days into her visit she passed out, which was when we realised she had not slept or eaten for over 60 hours- whilst drinking possibly lethal amounts of coffee. Her notes are utterly indecipherable without her presence, so we'll have to wait for her to recover before utilising her genius more.

This has tripled the Ranger's ammo. The magnets in the Skylight are now more powerful and precise than they were before, reducing plasma leakage to truly negligible amounts, and increasing the reaction temperature- raising the Q to infinity, AKA achieving ignition.

The cheaper power has benefited our industry, increasing our SPP & GPP by 2 each.


Another year over.
Hype continues to build for the D Mission. Concerns are raised that the rollover into a new century might cause problems, but that's silly. A popular oracle predicted that the mission will face a disaster that will lead to the death of millions.
In order to prevent this disaster, weapons research must continue. It is now the design phase of SY98

[FallacyofUrist]

I guess energy is no longer a concern.

Well that was awesome.

You know what super-energy can be used for? Power armor. The main problem with powered exoskeletons nowadays is that our batteries aren't good enough. Here in the future, though with our NQ Cells?

Vanguard Powered Armor MK1:
We've constructed power armor. The Vanguard is a powered armored exoskeleton. Features include:
Armor! The wearers of this armor are going to be bloody hard to kill.
Servomotion! The armor's powered servos increase the strength and speed of the wearer greatly, and remove the problem of the armor's weight being unbearable.
For weapons, we have the integrated Tesla Discharge. Basically, the Vanguard has so much spare electricity that when the wearer throws a punch, we can discharge a bunch of that, frying whatever it hits. We don't need any other weapons integrated with this thing, the wearers can just charge into battle and crush the enemy with their punches. We have considered the possibility of throwing in a sword, though. Maybe if we have extra time for development...
All of this is made possible by the integrated NQ Escher cells, which provide enough power to operate the Vanguard for up to a whole day(or that's what we're aiming for, at least) before needing a recharge. Though this is assuming a lack of use of the Tesla Discharge.

[Blood_Librarian]

This is gonna be nuts, we should do the full-scale industrial usage of everything.
I was thinking later we could design something along the lines of a
Cornucopiaat Fempto-Atto "Miracle Machine" Manipulator
It is, simply put, an utterly massive, almost gargantuan machine added as an extension to the [insert orbital structure]. Its purpose is to directly create, manipulate and simulate  Pico-Atto scale physics and observe Zepto/Yocto scale quantum reactions with far, far more reliability than the relatively primitive earthbound particle smashers of the ground. Coiled around the entire expansion is a supermassive coil of a Particle Accelerator Apparatus, giving it a  vaguely cylindrical shape heralded with occasional sensor booms, radiator panels and a set of blackened panels to for experiments involving direct sunlight, should it be required.

The utilization of the machine is two-fold. The first of which is the mass production of the various catalysts, short chain quantum "pieces" and other parts of our various nano or quantum scale industrial catalysts for the express purpose of streamlining and simplifying quantum scale construction. This isn't building blocks, but the "parts" of the pieces of the completed component that would otherwise take too much time to build. its second purpose is the research into third-generation Quantum physics, such as cutting-edge esoteric research potentials such as the inner workings of fusion, malevolent Plasmic weaponry, and other, more enigmatic experiments.


However, before we can build the miracle machine, we need an orbital presence. I don't dare hope for a Space elevator, Not yet. What we need is something that can restock our wartime vessels, and something that can actually go out there and fight, so to that end I put forward the designs for

Blarington Orbital Center Piece

Simply put, This is going to be the center of our logistical chain, as well as the centerpiece of our orbital infrastructure, it is placed in geocentric orbit so when an elevator ready, we can simply hook it up. It is built so that up to four shuttles can dock with it, It has hangar bays, repair gantries, and several fabricators for the express purpose of servicing the shuttles as well as any future vessels. Expansion points are placed in several areas, allowing for any number of expansions to a certain point, and communications equipment along with the best air control personnel we can find are placed in the expectation that sister stations would be soon brought up. A fusion reactor is emplaced into its hull to negate the need for SOlar panels or an RTG.

It is equipped with several gun points with both empty space and reactor feeds allocated for it

We focussed enough on infantry, it's time to put our feet firmly in place of the stars.

Blarington Orbital Center Piece (1):Blood Librarian
Vangaurd Powered Armor MK1 (1): Fallacy of Urist

@FallacyofUrist: I think we should focus on a exoskeleton that can get our soldiers moving with basically inifinite wieght and then revise it with armor plates.

[Detoxicated]

psychohistoric principle
By applying quantum theory to psychological and sociological fields and statistics we are able to precisely predict movements within our society. By applying these  theorems we can easily control our public and trim them to more efficiency and it lays the groundwork to eventually predicting enemies fleet movement.

[joha4270]

Design:ESC-FS 1 'Cuttlefish' laser corvette
The cuttlefish is a relatively low mass spaceship designed for space combat.
It takes the shape of an long tube becomming slightly smaller  towards the nose. It's front, and to a lesser degree its sides are armored with ceramics able to withstand both kinetic attacks and lasers.

It contains a skylight fusion reactor near the back. This serves a dual purpose. It provides power to the ship, but it also runs the engine. By taking the plasma in the reactor and leading it out and into an electormagnetically shaped nozzle, it can archive huge amounts of thrust while still being very fuel efficient. For attitude control, it is equipped with chemical thrusters allowing it to control roll, and pitch and yaw without the engine active.

Its equipped with 3 lasers-- named Hewey, Dewey and Louie-- that are basically upscaled "Ranger"s placed around its center, on slight bumps. This allows all three to shoot forward or backwards and two to target any other direction at the same time. A capacitor bank provides power for the lasers and other systems when all power is directed to the engine.

It is furthermore equipped radar and a radio allowing two units to communicate within approximately 3 light seconds.


Most of the ship is okayish, but the fusion torch should provide a very solid foundation to propulsion tech (Until physics breaking reactionless drives or anitmatter drives)
This also migrates some of its weaknesses, combat only happens when we want it, as more regular propulsion simply cannot catch it.

Blarington Orbital Center Piece (1):Blood Librarian
Vangaurd Powered Armor MK1 (1): Fallacy of Urist
Cuttlefish Laser corvette (1): joha4270

Edit: Apparently i used the wrong naming scheme.
Edit 2: Apparently warships need armor

[sprinkled chariot]

Spaceship should probably come in bigger priority then land based weaponry or obscure space lift, as , well, the space wars are decided IN SPACE.

But it seems, that we don't have colossal laser weapons of doom to abuse our super energy and capacitors.