[BB16] Trattorian Dirac-class Dreadnought
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:12 am
The Dirac-class dreadnought TNF Dirac Delta after a successful weapons firing test in neutral space. The system's star collapsed into a black hole after the Dirac's main cannon catalyzed its supernova.
The Dirac-class is Trattoria's third-generation dreadnought, also classified as a star juggernaut like its second-generation predecessor, the Lagrange.
The main focus of the Dirac-class was integrating advancements from Project ℝ^m into a practical military application. As a result, the Dirac is equipped with the largest and most powerful gun in the galaxy, a spinal cannon running along its whole length powered by the alternative universe contained in its gyro rings. Otherwise, the Dirac is lightly armed, having 26 dreadnought-class turrets, three Quantum-Tunnel Cannons (represented by the three vertical particle accelerator rings going through the sides, see the Heisenberg MKII for further description), and the fighters in its two hangar bays. Thus there is an expectation that the Dirac is either accompanied by heavy escort or far from enemy lines. Given all this, it is likely that the old and reliable Athenia-class first-gen dreadnought will continue serving in a field operations dreadnought role, with the Dirac serving mainly a specialty purpose and replacing the Lagrange.
A defense company was largely responsible for the construction and lobbying for the Dirac during the years of development hell, with the experimental teknology and expertise coming from the Trattorian Physics and Engineering Departments, and design consulting from a team of Appel engineers. Due to the latter's contributions, the Dirac looks significantly more pleasing than its other Trattorian dreadnought predecessors, with function being sacrificed for form at several points in the design process (like the relative lack of armament).
To be more accurate, the gyro rings contain an inter-universal Einstein-Rosen bridge (a spherical "hole" in the BrikVerse that leads to a 4 dimensional tunnel) to an alternate universe with a different set of physics laws, created by OSFC collider experiments under Project ℝ^m. This allows the Dirac to channel limitless energy into an ultra-destructive beam focused through its long tines. The Dirac can also siphon off energy from the other universe to power other functions. The containment and stabilization field for the spherical opening also doubles as a nigh impenetrable shield for the Dirac. The consequences for a containment failure are unknown, but likely disastrous.
As a side note, the crew of the Dirac requires a full complement of theoretical physicists, engineers, and at least one staff member from the Inter-Universal Affairs Office (IUAO) of the Black Box Bureau.
The beam from the Dirac's main weapon is one of the brightest minifig-made events in the galaxy. It easily catalyzes supernovae when aimed at stars, and when aimed at planets it will actually turn it into small dwarf star and then collapse the resulting star. When aimed carefully, the main beam will actually punch through spacetime itself and create a wormhole, continuing through the other side. There is no restriction on how far away the other terminus is, even across intergalactic distances. Thus, given extremely precise aiming, data, and calculations, the Dirac-class's main weapon has effectively unlimited range in a very true sense of the word. A side benefit is that other ships can access the wormhole as well, allowing small fleets of small ships without intergalactic-capable drives to traverse such distances (the Dirac itself is too big to fit through, so it uses standard FTL for moving around). This capability, coupled with the Heisenberg's intergalactic drive, has been considered in various contingency plans regarding extra-galactic threats like RARCom, M-Throne, and the Immortals.
When an instrument less blunt than a neutrina bomb is needed, the Dirac can be deployed to decrement an offending empire's star system count and, if transgressions continue for long enough, totally wipe out entire star nations. The Dirac-class represents the epitome of technological arrogance and is a symbol of Trattorian might to the galaxy.
Although the Dirac-class would be prohibitively expensive for lesser star nations and still represents an unpleasant expenditure even for Trattoria, the Armed Forces Department plans to order several more to modernize the Trattorian fleet.
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Inevitable size comparison:
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The Dirac is significantly larger than the original Athenia and the previously longest Trattorian dread, the Lagrange. A Midgetman frigate is included for scale. It is almost as long as Sahaquiel (!!) and is probably the longest dreadnought in the galaxy right now. It easily beats out the Praetorian Inexorable and the Deadnocide Caretaker. The only real contender is the Deadnocide Gatekeeper, since I don't have the LXF to compare directly. At around ~450 studs, we're around halfway there to 1000 now.
Also yes, I acknowledge that the design is a total ripoff of the Mass Effect mass relay. But it's so pretty...
EDIT: Now with render!