| Observatory/Meteor Defense |
Observatory
| Eden Observatory
|
| Common Metals Cost | medium | Rare Metals Cost | very low |
| Build Time | medium | Tube Connection Required | yes |
| Power Required | 30 | Size | med.-small |
| Workers Required | 1 | Hit Points | low |
| Scientists Required | 3 | Armor | light |
Meteor Defense
| Eden Meteor Defense
|
| Common Metals Cost | high | Rare Metals Cost | low |
| Build Time | long | Tube Connection Required | yes |
| Power Required | 100 | Size | med.-small |
| Workers Required | 2 | Hit Points | medium |
| Scientists Required | none | Armor | light |
New Terra's orbit is near a huge asteroid belt, much larger than the one in Earth's solar system. A large gas giant located beyond the belt disturbs the movements of these asteroids, causing occasional collisions and orbital changes that have provided New Terra with a slow, constant rain of meteor impacts throughout its history. The geological record also shows clear signs of multiple asteroid impacts, hardly a comfort for Colonists from a planet whose ecosystem was destroyed by just such an impact.
Still the risk was minimal throughout the colony's early years. But unknown to anyone, an event that had happened years before was about to change that. Two of the larger asteroids with orbits near New Terra had collided, sending out an invisible spray of billions of particles, some as small as grains of sand, some several meters across. Now those particles are being swept into New Terra's gravity well, causing a meteor shower that never ends, and New Terra's thin atmosphere offers almost no protection from the bombardment.
While most of these meteors can be handled by the micrometeor shielding incorporated into all buildings and vehicles, some are large enough to cause major damage to the colony.
Unfortunately, these chunks are still too small for early detection, and too large to be easily destroyed. Plymouth's reaction to this was simply to grin and bear it, but Eden's Scientists weren't satisfied to sit and wait. A special Observatory was designed, employing radio and thermal targeting, along with special wide-field, computer-guided, optical telescopes. The Observatory provides minimal advance warning of approaching large meteors, allowing some time for Colonists to get to shelter, for emergency airlocks to be closed, and for other measures to be taken to minimize loss of life.
This offered small comfort to worried Eden Colonists, however, and a method was sought to eliminate the threat of incoming meteors. The Meteor Defense they developed works in conjunction with the Observatory, which provides targeting information. A huge bank of underground volt-sinks stores power for the weapon, a High Energy Ray-Composite (HERC). The HERC system produces pulsed beams of energy in optical and microwave wavelengths, as well as a particle beam. The effect is to rapidly pump energy into the meteor in such a way as to cause it to crumble into harmless dust.
Despite a pilot laser that detects and corrects for atmospheric disturbances and the best efforts of Observatory Scientists, tracking and targeting aren't always exact, and the weapon's long cycle time usually doesn't allow for a second shot. Still, Eden's Scientists reason that any protection is better than none.
Operational Notes: The Observatory detects incoming meteors. The Meteor Defense attempts to destroy incoming meteors, but can only target them if the colony has an Active Observatory. NOTE: These structures are available only to Eden.
Tales from New Terra
"Missed!"
Milo Jake looked up from his control console, the crack of the huge HERC weapon's discharge still ringing in his ears, disaster alarms echoing through the building around him.
Elba Chancellor started running for the door. "Let's get out of here, Milo."
He hesitated, feeling somehow responsible. The Meteor Defense had just come online, and he'd been responsible for the final beam alignment. He wondered what he could have done wrong.
Elba hesitated in the door. "Come on!"
He followed her as she sprinted for the underground shelter, thought of his wife in the Agridome, and hoped she'd be all right.
"It's ... not ... your ... fault," said Elba, between breaths as she ran. "Nobody ... ever ... said ... it'd ... be ... perfect."
They ran into the shelter following a couple of kids from the adjacent Residence unit. He looked at the frightened children, huddled together, waiting for the impact, and vowed that if he walked away from this, he'd get it better next time. No matter what they said, for him, less than perfect would never be good enough.
