BARD PAPER: GAIL0008

Project Valhalla

by Pete Gray

Our good friend Strephon was a perceptive man. He saw that his empire had ossified and was in danger of internal collapse because of competing factions. To stave off such a future, he incorporated a number of projects that would revive the Imperium and restore popular trust in its institutions. But as is the case with many such plans of imperial rejuvenation, Strephon's were rather late in bolting from the barn, and it was a situation of "too little, too late, too slow, too bad."

But Strephon was also a prudent man as well. He had long range contingency plans just in case it all fell apart. First and foremost was Project Jumpstart. Second was Project Valhalla, a program of secret ship construction, and fallback depots and manufacturing facilities placed at strategic intervals around the Third Imperium. Unlike Jumpstart, however, the logistics of Valhalla were so great that it was unlikely to be completed in Strephon's lifetime. But it fostered a number of brainchildren and epitomised the high water mark of the Third Imperium's technological development.

The project was divided into four parts:

1. Project Vulcan: Construction of automated starports and factories in the "shadow" of Imperial naval depots. This was Valhalla's greatest accomplishment, as nearly every sector (with the exception of Solomani Rim, Spinward Marches, Trojan Reach, Diaspora and Empty Quarter) receiving several covert facilities. A notable example of such facilities in the Regency of Deneb include Coshecawat/Sabine (Deneb 0816) and certain facilities within the infamous "Spinward Defense Complex" of test ranges and secure factories in Gulf Subsector (Deneb M). Most "Plant #" facilities are modelled directly upon Deneb Depot Alpha "Aqua Metamorphosis" facility, which is located in deep space almost 600 AUs from the primary.

Such facilities range from small automated Zero-G furnaces and kilns, to the large AI run shipyards made famous in Regency vids. Most facilities built before 1105, however, had rather primitive AI systems built on architectures similiar to the Kinunir's; these were high maintenance and are unlikely to remain operative after the Civil War, but Regency crews are still cautioned about approaching such facilities for possibility of Viral infection. Post-1105 facilities, which includes Aqua Metamorphosis, were designed with newer Quantum systems in the wake of Strephon's concerns over the uncontrollability of Herzoch Stearns Deyo chip derived AI Virus. These systems were not designed to be as intelligent as the Cymbeline chips, but Regency personnel have reported strange activity and evolutionary behavior in these systems as well, and caution is dictated nowadays for approaching ANY Vulcan facility.

A selected number of Vulcan facilities were designed in case of a total collapse of the Imperium, and would give its descendants the ability to rebuild the Imperium from scratch provided that a Jumpstart cache bearing information on such a facility was first found and its contents deciphered. Every Cache has a protected memory that provides coordinates to Vulcan facilities, but these only become available when TL-12 is deciphered by anyone who has opened and is using a cache, and only when installed psych-profiling programs identify a person or persons as being suitable for such knowledge (in other words, no dictators or would be Space Caesars). Known as "Phoenix Eggs", these were mostly microfactories that would demonstrate basic stellar level technology and industrial techniques, acting as a seed for industrial and infrastructure renewal.

2. Project Arkidgi: Previously described

3. Project Avalon: Pentecost decided to construct an additional ship program in addition to the Arkidgi. These included the Avalon class Battlecruiser and the Hierophant Frigate. Unlike the Arkidgi, however, these vessels were intended for a "worst case" happening. The Avalon's were only built in small numbers, and the Hierophants fell under Project Forge (see below) and became part of Lucan's vaunted Superweapon Project.

4. Project Forge: Intended to construct escorts for the Arkidgi and Avalon. The only part of Valhalla to be revealed to Lucan (and apparently Dulinor as well, thanks to his spies). Details of Forge are hard to come by, as it was only in its preliminary design stages when Lucan came to power. But from the sketchy information provided to Strephon by his loyalists on Capital, it apparently incorporated a "sane" version of the Deyo chip or some other advanced AI system based upon the Deyo architecture that would be capable of building and controlling a fleet of automated and autonomous ships.

WHETHER THIS IS THE SOURCE OF PUPPETEER VIRUSES IS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME, AND SUBJECT TO SPECULATION. No details of this fleet exist beyond a few plans stolen by Strephon's agents, including schematics for a "parasitic" data architecture based upon existing silicon based systems. Certain Vulcan components would allow for the creation of a mobile, jump capable shipyard limited only by the availability of resources and spare parts.