Particle weapons are a remarkably common type of energy weapon. Being energy weapons they do not experience recoil instead they generate waste heat making the weapons prone to overheating, if they do not have a proper cooling system. Employed by many different races for their reliability, relatively low energy cost, and excellent range. They do however fall short of plasma weapons in terms of raw destructive power. Particle weapons work by firing a stream of compressed particles at a target. Early particle weapons suffer from the effects of particle bloom, but once solved they have good range. Some of the effects of particle weapons can vary depending on the particle composition of the beam. In general particle weapons cause severe thermal damage, limited kinetic damage, and break down the molecular bonds of the target.

Humans have used particle weapons for decades, and have optimized their weapons to rip through most known armor types like tissue paper. Very few alloys can hold up against a bombardment of human built particle weapons. Human built weapons also have fairly rapid fire rate, due to the use of energy absorbers in the weapon design. The absorbers are used to recycle the weapons waste heat, and cycle it back into the capacitors. The process is highly efficient allowing the weapons to fire close to the max potential without fear of overheating, while also reducing the amount of energy the reactors need to generate for successive shots. The fire rate and yield of these weapons can be temporarily increased through the use of superchargers. Use of supercharger will overheat the weapons however, forcing the weapons to cool before they can fire again. Overuse of the supercharger modification has been known to inflict irreparable damage to a starship’s weapons array. However the human optimizations have rendered their weapons ineffective vs energy shields.

A young woman was sitting in her office staring at a holographic image of a ship. The ship in the representation was a cruiser that had caused waves when it first showed up. However it had yet to be seen since then. She was beginning to think her subordinates were incompetent. The ship was the size of a small city and yet they had been unable to locate it, and they have had months to find it. To her it felt like a ticking time bomb. She felt it was a certainty, that if she didn’t find the ship soon and destroy it a calamity would befall the confederation. A feeling that wasn’t entirely unfounded, many refugee groups had joined the local pirate gangs, or the marauders. While often out of desperation, the rising piracy problems were already causing other problems. Ones the greedy council was doing little to fix. This ship however was better equipped and better armed than most pirates, and worse the scans showed it had the ability to support and service a small fleet. What concerned her the most was the fact the scans clearly showed that it had a massive supply of torpedoes. While she wasn’t sure of the exact yield of these torpedoes, or their exact capabilities but analysis put the max yield between ‘140-260 megatons’. She was interrupted from her worries about what the marauders and pirate clans would do with that kind of firepower, when a young woman, her aide walked in.

“Uh, mamm we just got a report about that ship you wanted to find,” said the aide.

“They found it!?”

“Um, well they uh did more than just find it. They uh well engaged it,” replied the aide.

“Where? And how did it go and stop stuttering,” said the councilwoman.

“Cantha, mamm, and uh well, uh,” stuttered out the nervous aide.

“Spit it out and stop stuttering,” said the councilwoman getting a bit annoyed.

“Badly, very badly,” said the aide.

“What do you mean badly, I have six hundred loyal ships at Cantha! That should have been more than enough firepower to sink three measly ships, that don’t even have shields!” said the Councilwoman.

“Maybe you should see for yourself,” said the aide while inserting a data chip into the viewer.

A few hours earlier, EFS Enterprise in orbit of the Valorian colony of Cantha. Starboard hanger bay equipment lockers. Reia walked into the room to find Countryman was already waiting for her. She walked up to him, stopping at a respectful distance. Then following the protocols she had learned in the months she had been aboard, she stood at attention and saluted before saying “reporting as ordered.”

“At ease,” said Countryman, then he opened a locker and pulled out a bundle.

“I’m sure you already aware, but we are now in orbit of Cantha. We will be going down to the surface to trade, and hopefully purchase some star charts. I want you to come along, so it is about time I issue you your field gear. You will find in there, one standard issue set of ultralight personal armor, a standard issue LP-1230, a field guide with voice reader support, and a scanner,” said Countryman.

“Thank you, sir. Also I have been meaning to thank you for going out of your way to help my people,” said Reia as she took the bundle.

“It wasn’t too much of problem. Saving that outpost was not only the moral thing to do, but it also hopefully opened the door to better relations between our peoples. As for escorting this convoy, well were going the same way. The only inconvenience was the fact that these freighters can barely exceed warp three. Anyway that ultralight armor, provides some protection against light weapons but unlike our heavier armors it does not enhance your abilities. The field guide is your most useful tool, the idea for it came from a video game. It contains everything you will need to know about field protocols, and it also contains a self updating encyclopedia. Anything you scan, with your scanner will automatically be analyzed, and the info will be used to update the encyclopedia. I know that you are still learning our written language so I made sure it had voice reader support for you. As for the LP-1230, it is one of the few weapons in our arsenal with a stun setting, which is setting one. On setting one, the pistol fires a low yield charged particle beam that disrupts the targets nervous system, a single hit is usually sufficient to incapacitate a target. Keep in mind that multiple shots can kill. On setting one it has a recharge of 1.2 seconds, and the energy cell has enough power for 280 shots. As for the weapon’s secondary setting, in that mode it fires a burst of focused particle pulses that will inflict severe particle burns on contact with flesh. It has a fire rate of 950 bolts per minute, but it drains the energy cell more quickly, giving you only eighty shots,” said Countryman.

“Sounds like a useful weapon, but how well does it do against personal shields?” asked Reia.

“No idea, honestly. The Cathamari don’t have personal shield technology, and we don’t have much in the way of shield technology ourselves. I think the Krall have personal shields, but we have had no military conflicts with the Krall, friendly or otherwise. As a result the weapon has never been tested against shields. However, it does have a good track record against amor and can penn most known light armors. Against our own light armor, the armor will absorb between twenty to thirty hits before failing,” said Countryman.

“That is a fair number of hits,” said Reia.

“Factor in the pistols’ fire rate, and you will find it is pretty good. A two second sustained burst is more than sufficient to kill someone wearing light armor. Won’t do as well against standard or heavy armor, which both feature significantly better protection. Fortunately no else seems to build armor like ours,” said Countryman.

“Sounds like a good weapon, but what about particle drift?” asked Reia.

“You won’t have to worry about that. We solved that issue with a previous generation of particle weapons. Specifically the LP-231 was the first to have that feature. Anyway, you will have time to familiarize yourself with the weapon later. You should get dressed, and give me a run down on the colony. The other two members of our away team will be here shortly,” said Countryman. Reia walked behind an open locker door where she couldn’t be seen and started to change into the personal armor.

“Like most of the colonies in this sector, Cantra relies heavily on interstellar trade. Being the most industrialized colony in the sector she imports large stockpiles of food and raw materials. While exporting finished industrial products, mostly agricultural goods and field generators. Since we are going to the surface, I would recommend we sell any food we can spare. It will fetch a high price here. One thing to keep in mind though is that since we are in a border sector the military only maintains a token presence here. As a result most of the security is recruited locally. Like any populous world crime is also an issue, here. The rising pirate issues in recent years have also led to the local governments hiring mercenaries, we will have to keep an eye out for them since they can be rather unsavory,” said Reia.

“Will we have any problems with them in space?” asked Countryman.

“We shouldn’t, but I can’t rule it out entirely. Most of our issues will be isolated incidents though, caused by the fact that mercenaries tend to have poor discipline. They don’t make the best security forces either, unfortunately the fleet is already stretched thin dealing with the pirates, and the council keeps slashing the budget every year, for their stupid side projects,” said Reia.

“Sounds like your people are going through their own era of fools. It won’t last, I’m guessing the pirate problems aren’t really affecting the core sectors. So most of them don’t really care, and they are more concerned with their popular image. Most of those projects are probably flawed social programs that don’t actually work,” said Countryman.

“Unfortunately, yes that is exactly what is going on,” said Reia.

“The same thing happened on our world, and tore the most of the countries of the era apart. I’m beginning to understand why so many refugee groups end up joining the pirates. I know how to fix this, but you won’t like it,” said Countryman.

“Wait, you know how to fix it? How?” asked Reia.

“I have been around awhile, when you have lived nearly three centuries you pick a few things up. Unfortunately it sounds like your people are facing the worst type of corruption. On the surface those social programs, may seem like they are intended to help the people, but in reality most of them are probably designed to line the pockets of your politicians. The only way to clean this mess up is a complete restructuring of the government. All current members of the government will have to be purged, and your active programs purged as well. The process will not be easy, and will require a person or group with significant political capital to pull off. Do note, that because of those social programs there will also be rioting, that you will have to suppress or face civil war,” said Countryman.

“That sounds rather extreme, and a bit familiar as well,” said Reia as she came out from behind the locker. Now wearing the ultralight personal armor, and equipment built. The armor unlike the heavier types used by the troops and guards, was made of nanopolymers and kevlar derivative. Lacking the plates typical of human personal armor, it effectively looked like normal clothes but it was perfectly capable of stopping a bullet or an energy bolt. Explosions were different story however. It was originally designed for use by government officials and police units where the intimidating appearance of standard armor would be detrimental, but the ultralight armor has found uses in other areas as well. She was also now wearing a tool belts, with the other items now holstered on it.

“Wait, isn’t that how your Era of Fools as you call it ended!? I seem to recall reading about world wide governmental purges, rioting and in some cases civil war. I think that when things calmed down, it marked the beginning of a cold war,” said Reia.

“Yes, it was a turbulent time. I would love to get into a discussion with you about it, but now is not the time,” said Countryman. Just as two young women entered the locker room. After reporting to Countryman they went to a pair of lockers and pulled out screens that Reia hadn’t noticed, and started changing into their gear.

“I didn’t know the lockers had individual privacy screens,” said Reia.

“Well, I had those included in the design, after I made the decision to save space, by not having seperate changing rooms for both genders,” said Countryman.

“So you’re the reason, for that. Did you also make the decision on the baths as well?” asked Reia.

“No, those were designed by someone else,” said Countryman. Just as the two others finished changing and started coming over. The two had changed out of the normal woman’s uniform and into flight suits, and both also carried a pistol on their hips. The two were both clearly young, late teens or early twenties. The one on the left was a little on the short side, with curly red hair, and a cute face. The one on the right was of average height and build with brown hair. Her chest however was anything but average and Reia was staring at it as the two approached.

“These will be our pilots, and escort. On the left is Amy White, and the on the right is Samantha Freehand. I’m keeping the away team at a minimum so these two will be our only other members,” said Countryman. After a quick exchange of introductions, the group headed for the hanger proper. Most of the shuttles and fighters were stowed away, but in the middle of the bay, there was one shuttle being prepared for launch.

“Looks like the crew is about done, getting our ship ready for launch. I chose an X-1205, since it has good cargo capacity, and can defend itself if necessary,” said Countryman.

“Is there something special about the X-1205, over other shuttles?” asked Reia who wasn’t familiar with Human shuttle types and designs.

“She is a multirole combat shuttle. She carries four frontally mounted particle cannons, and two turret each mounting a dual particle cannon. For protection she is equipped with fifty five centimeters of type I overlord armor as her sole protection. Her Micro fusion power plant powers a twin set of dual core engines, giving her a fair amount of speed and decent maneuvering. She is normally used for either transporting troops or as a medium bomber. Which means she has a decent cargo bay, which I’m having filled with salvage cubes, and protein paste,” said Countryman.

“Protein paste? Not the most popular trade product, but I think I could sell it. As for the salvage cubes, if they are what I think they are, they should sell well. The factories have very high demands for processed metal,” said Reia.

“Maybe not, but it is one of the few products we can produce locally without outside input. We use it in the manufacture of field rations, it is also used in the preparation of some of the fancier dishes in the mess hall. Like the steak imitation that has been popular of late, the key ingredient is protein paste,” said Countryman

“I tried that. Other than the texture it was almost perfect. I can’t believe they made it with protein paste,” said Amy.

“Hey I was wondering, since you can build beam weapons suitable for ground combat, do you have any light craft that carry them?”

“No. Our current beam weapons are not exactly suitable for light craft. While it is possible to mount a beam cannon on say the X-1205, you would not have room for much else if you make it large enough to be useful. Keep in mind that beams are not the best weapon for dealing with other light craft and are better for engaging starships. This means when you mount them on a light craft, they need to big enough to punch through starship armor to be of use, and they don’t penetrate shields very well. There are other problems as well, but we are working on it. Anyway it looks like they are done,” said Countryman. The following shuttle flight was mostly uneventful. Leaving the bay they entered the busy space of a major port. There were hundreds of ships in orbit and thousands of shuttles moving goods to and from the surface. The Enterprise was in orbit of the starport, and had already negotiated a flight plan to the surface. Following the plan, the shuttle passed by the orbital starport and headed for the planets surface. As soon as they entered atmosphere they started braking. After a leisurely flight over many kilometers of urban infrastructure they reached a landing field just outside the largest commercial district on the planet. As such it was one of the larger landing fields for shuttlecraft carrying goods to and from the district. The shuttle came to stop and touched down lightly at their assigned slip, landing pad 13792.

Leaving the shuttle, they were greeted by a young man in a fancy uniform. He had come from a nice looking bunker near the landing pad, that was presumably there to protect people from the thrusters of a shuttle. While also being a good spot for defenders to protect the port from invaders.

“Welcome to Cantra. I’m Taver and will be your guide while you are here. I have been told, you have products to sell and wanted to browse the market. So do you want to sell, or browse first?” said the guide. Reia stepped forward, and having familiarized herself with the cargo while on the flight, told him they wanted to sell and what they had.

“You’re in luck, thanks to a recent drought on Vek, there is a bit of a food shortage here. I can take all of your protein paste off your hands for 41,000 credits,” said Tavor.

“I’m sure you could, but you and I both know this is high grade paste and is worth more than three times as much. I’ll part with them for 230,000 credits,” countered Reia.

“Fine, two fifteen final offer,” said Tavor. Reia smiled knowing she had just got market price for the paste and agreed. She had no doubt that Tavor, knew exactly where to sell it to make hefty profit, hence why he agreed to the price so quickly.

“As for your industrial grade salvage, I can’t really sell that myself. I do know some brokers that may be interested however,” said Tavor.

“Sounds good, call them,” said Reia. A couple hours later, they were on the way back to the shuttle, having sold the salvage for a hefty two and a half million credits. The pilots had stayed behind with the shuttle, while Reia and Countryman had went out to the market. After selling the salvage they had stopped by several shops. Countryman had bought several things in the market including the all important star charts. Along with the star charts, he also purchased supplies that they could use. They were now just outside the port, with Tavor hiding behind a canister with several nasty looking thugs blocking the way and a few more coming from behind.

Stepping forward, a large muscle bound alien covered in dark purple fur, chuckled and then said, “I heard some newbies, were spending big in this area without paying the protections fees. Say you give me half a million, and I’ll make sure nothing happens.”

Countryman shook his head, and decided the guy was an idiot. Sure he was large, but Countryman’s eyes told him the guy was only half as strong as a Cathamari soldier and his large body made him slow.

“Why don’t you just take your men, and leave before you learn why the Cathamari fear my species in ground combat,” said Countryman.

“Nice, bluff but you’re just a Valorian with an unusual skin color. Weak and stupid, so cough it up, before we have to get rough,” said the lead thug.

“Fine, have it your way,” said Countryman as he opened up his wrist cannon. Firing a shot right into the leader. He had set it on stun, so the ugly purple furred alien simply fell over. The others roared in fury, and opened fire. Reia took cover, and pulled her pistol firing a beam at a nearby alien. While Countryman moving with incredible speed, charged the ones on the flank. His cybernetically enhanced body allowing him to move just like a Marine in Light Personal armor, and the fairly open urban terrain allowed him to take advantage of the that mobility. By the time Reia had managed to stun a second alien, Countryman had taken down four, the first two were knocked out by a quick shot. The other two tried to grapple with him, and were knocked out by a blow to the head. They would live, but will wake up with a nasty headache.

Turning around, he found four alien thugs were still shooting, mostly at Reia keeping her pined. Three were using a trash canister for cover. Countryman switched settings and fired at it, then flipped back and followed up with three stun pulsed. The first shot, disintegrated the large trash bin, and left the thugs exposed to the stun bolts that followed. The thugs had barely enough time to register what happened before the bolts slammed into them. The last thug, tried to run, but Reia hit him with a stun beam. Looking around she said, “How did you move like that?”

The group, then called the local security forces. A few quick questions, and twenty minutes after the fight they were back at the shuttle. Getting lift off clearance was easy enough, and before long they were in orbit headed for the Enterprise. Countryman and Reia were in the back seats of the cockpit area, when suddenly a few flashes of light filled the forward screen.

A second later, they were hailed.

“Sir, the Enterprise reports she is under attack,” said Samantha in the copilot seat.

“Tell her to return fire,” said Countryman as he began looking over the console.

“Sir, multiple fighters are bearing down on our position. Their weapons are charged, and shields raised. They are not responding to hails. Estimate intercept in three minutes,” said Amy. Countryman looked at the data, while Reia came over and looked at the readings as well.

“You two man the turrets, I’ll fly the ship,” said Countryman. The two acknowledged the order and left the cockpit for the aft compartment. Where they could enter the turrets from. Countryman slide into the pilot’s chair and opened his left arm. Several connecters extended from the arm and linked into the ship systems. He then brought the weapons online, and told Reia to strap in. Reia complied and strapped in at the copilots chair.

“Those are Valorian ships attacking, why are they shooting at us?” muttered Reia.

“Don’t know, we will find out later,” said Countryman. Moments before the first fighters entered weapons range. Instantly the fighters opened fire. The distinctive red pulses of Valorian Pulse cannons rippling across space. Countryman threw the shuttle into a complex maneuver, that brought it about quickly. Lining up the forward guns with the attackers, he opened fire. Blue particle bolts tore into the forward shields of one of the fighters as it tore past. The fighter’s strong forward shields absorbed the blasts, leaving it mostly unscathed. One of the fighters came at the ship from the side taking several hits to its forward shields, before pulling away. A maneuver that left its aft exposed to the turret. Several particle bolts from the turret ripped into the weaker aft shields, which failed quickly under the barrage. The following bolts tore into the engines and cockpit shredding the fighter. Then its fuel ignited resulting in a miniature fireball as it broke up.

Several fighters unloaded there cannons on the shuttle as it came about. The blasts severely taxing the armor of the shuttle as it slipped out of their arcs. Countryman flew slipped past one of the squadrons and maneuvered to give his gunners a good angle on the aft shields of another. The fighter pilots realizing they were in trouble immediately maneuvered to protect their vulnerable aft. They managed to slip away from the shuttle, but not before half the squadron had been shredded by the deadly turret guns. A couple seconds later, he managed to get behind a pair of fighters and fired the forward guns into their aft shields. The first fighter broke up in a lovely fireball, while the second barely managed to get away. Its backside resembling swiss chess, while plasma leaked from rips in the hull.

Inside the shuttle, Reia wasn’t all that aware of what was going on. Noted a light activate on her console.

“What does that light mean?” asked Reia.

“Engine overload warning. Don’t worry about it,” said Countryman.

“Overload!!!? As in explode?” said Reia.

“That is a possibility, yes. The engines weren’t designed for these maneuvers, but they will hold for another thirteen minutes,” said Countryman, before turning his attention entirely back to the fight. An abrupt roll to the left, allowed him to evade a volley of missiles fired from a squad of fighters coming up from the aft quarter. Following the roll, he brought the nose up and increased speed. As he flew by the fighters, his turrets fired across their upper and aft shields. Three of the fighters exploded, while two others escaped the pass with minor damage.

Pulling into another turn, he came about and chased a fighter down. Firing a volley of charged particle bolts into her aft shields. The shields failed under the volley, and the particle blasts tore the fighter apart, shredding it like tissue paper. A couple seconds later, a pair of fighters attacking the aft quadrant, suddenly exploded. As a fighter squad from the Enterprise arrived. A couple minutes later, the remaining Valorian fighters broke off, and the squad escorted the shuttle back to the Enterprise. While Countryman vented the engines, to cool them.

After landing the ship in the hanger, Countryman headed up to the bridge as soon as the bay pressurized to find the battle was over. Greyman greeted him at the door to the bridge.

“Report,” asked Countryman.

“We were attacked by a large Valorian battlegroup. We sustained minimal damage, and sank four hundred thirty two attacking ships, and fourteen hundred fighter craft. We expended a total of 1382 torpedoes, and 6300 anti-fighter missiles in the engagement. The remaining hostiles have retreated,” said Greyman.

“Can you show me images of the ships that attacked?” asked Reia who had followed. Greyman smiled, and pulled up the images. She stared at them for a minute, before saying, “It looks like they belong to one of the mercenary companies. That mark next to the Valorain flag belongs to the Balyanik Company one of the larger mercenary companies in the area. They aren’t known for attacking without reason, someone probably paid them to attack us.”

“Greyman, have the supplies I bought moved down to the factories. Also have the factories replenish our stock of missiles,” said Countryman.

Back in the office the council woman leaned back after watching the battle.

“Has this been analyzed?” asked the Councilwoman.

“Yes, mamm,”

“Well tell me about it,” said the Councilwoman.

“While these aliens lack shield tech, they clearly possess a technology previously thought impossible. They are carrying shield penetrating torpedoes, each one with yield high enough to destroy a cruiser in a single hit. The analysis indicates that those three ships, have enough collective firepower to wipe out our entire fleet. Their armor is also virtually impenetrable,” said the aide.

“Can we win?”

“Maybe, the battle data, indicates that heavy bombers equipped with Tyleris plasma bombs represent our best chance. Unfortunately, their fighter defense is quite heavy, we will need a large fleet with thousands of bombers to ensure enough hits to penetrate that armor,” said the aide. The Councilwoman sat back, there was no way she could get that kind of firepower on her own. Somehow she would have to convince the council to attack the ship. Something easier said than done, most of the others were more concerned about their silly social projects than actually solving the pirate problem.