Planetary Defence System 'Henge'
In 2891, a group of sectarianist extremists undertook a project to overthrow the New Terran Mandate when its expansion had peaked in the years previous. They disagreed with the methods of the government and felt as theough they were just trying to revive the name of the Old Mandate under a different banner for power. These extremists took to the outer rim of the system and through a large, covert operation, altered the orbit of object RRVB-146 from the outer asteroid belt to be on a collision course with the planet 0907-a: Perithy in perhaps the bravest and boldest terrorist act in recorded history.
After catching wind of this action, the New Mandate immediately refocused to the impending appocalyptic event; quelling any pressing matters through publicizing the terrorist act via media connections. A project was inacted within the same week of the alert codenamed [Project Triage]. This project spawned the creation of a planetary defence system nicknamed 'Henge', solely designed to nullify the threat of the asteroid impact.
After almost a year of frantic construction, the facility, consisting of 8 skyscraper-sized railguns (one of which was incomplete), was barely operational. The date of firing had to be puched ahead of schedule for various astrophysical reasons and on the 10th of June, the first test shot was fired.
A single railgun from the henge facility can launch a warhead at sub-orbital speeds and detonates either at a desired altitude or if it impacts something. When the warhead triggers, the projectile acts like a cluster bomb, sending out smaller pellets towards the target before those explode into a clean nuclear blast or a significantly weaker though still potent thermobaric explosion if the area is within nuke snuffer coverage. With all eight railguns firing, a salvo can cover a 20 cubic kilometer area.
Even without the eighth gun operational, Henge was able to obliterate the incoming asteroid on the 18th of June 2892. Parts of Object RRVB-146 burned up in the atmosphere, resulting in a wonderfull meteor shower when seen from the ground. Other pieces of it entered orbit of the planet and formed the faint planetary ring that still lingers to this day.
The operation went reasonably well, fighting a frontline battle against the mandate's coastal defences, but that changed when the New Mandate gathered up the courage to power up Henge. The eighth cannon had been completed in the downtime and a full salvo was launched on a suborbital trajectory towards the opposing forces. The detonation vapourized all of the aircraft above around 300 meters, damaged some satilites in low orbit over the planet and the EMP blast knocked out a large portion of the ground and sea units, surprising everyone. With their spearhead force decimated, the aggressors had no choice but to flee back to their homes.
The The Halo's War of 2893 ended in the same month that it began, and since then, multiple attempts have been made to destroy Henge through espionage and deciet but only one actually made any effect; a payload of explosives were set up in the tunnles beneath the cannons, but there was a fault in the fuse system and only one of the banks detonated, badly damaging the exterior wall of the facility and temporarily disabling one of the guns. To this day, the cities of Perithy live under constant threat of destruction if they deviate from the New Mandate's desires.
After catching wind of this action, the New Mandate immediately refocused to the impending appocalyptic event; quelling any pressing matters through publicizing the terrorist act via media connections. A project was inacted within the same week of the alert codenamed [Project Triage]. This project spawned the creation of a planetary defence system nicknamed 'Henge', solely designed to nullify the threat of the asteroid impact.
After almost a year of frantic construction, the facility, consisting of 8 skyscraper-sized railguns (one of which was incomplete), was barely operational. The date of firing had to be puched ahead of schedule for various astrophysical reasons and on the 10th of June, the first test shot was fired.
A single railgun from the henge facility can launch a warhead at sub-orbital speeds and detonates either at a desired altitude or if it impacts something. When the warhead triggers, the projectile acts like a cluster bomb, sending out smaller pellets towards the target before those explode into a clean nuclear blast or a significantly weaker though still potent thermobaric explosion if the area is within nuke snuffer coverage. With all eight railguns firing, a salvo can cover a 20 cubic kilometer area.
Even without the eighth gun operational, Henge was able to obliterate the incoming asteroid on the 18th of June 2892. Parts of Object RRVB-146 burned up in the atmosphere, resulting in a wonderfull meteor shower when seen from the ground. Other pieces of it entered orbit of the planet and formed the faint planetary ring that still lingers to this day.
The Halo's War of 2893
In an ideal situation, Henge would have remained dormant, only to be used when absolutely necessary. But that wasn't the case. The New Mandate saw opportunity in their new weapons systems and started using the influence that this superweapon granted to win the political battles that were put on hold while Henge was built. This didn't sit well with the other territories on Perithy, and in early 2893, a joint operation was staged to destroy the facility.The operation went reasonably well, fighting a frontline battle against the mandate's coastal defences, but that changed when the New Mandate gathered up the courage to power up Henge. The eighth cannon had been completed in the downtime and a full salvo was launched on a suborbital trajectory towards the opposing forces. The detonation vapourized all of the aircraft above around 300 meters, damaged some satilites in low orbit over the planet and the EMP blast knocked out a large portion of the ground and sea units, surprising everyone. With their spearhead force decimated, the aggressors had no choice but to flee back to their homes.
The The Halo's War of 2893 ended in the same month that it began, and since then, multiple attempts have been made to destroy Henge through espionage and deciet but only one actually made any effect; a payload of explosives were set up in the tunnles beneath the cannons, but there was a fault in the fuse system and only one of the banks detonated, badly damaging the exterior wall of the facility and temporarily disabling one of the guns. To this day, the cities of Perithy live under constant threat of destruction if they deviate from the New Mandate's desires.
Maps
-
Henge
Facility Specifications:
Diameter:980m
Ext. Wall Height:
15m
Primary Armament:
8 Railguns
Defence Systems:
20 SAM Launchers
10 AA Gun Emplacements
QECM Jamming (~5km Range)
Radar Jamming (~10km Range)
Railgun Specifications:
Height:110m
Foundation Area:
60m²
Projectile Caliber:
120cm
Types of Round:
Thermonuclear Fusion Cluster Charge
Thermobaric Cluster Charge
HEAP Precision Round
Muzzle Velocity:
~10 Kilometers per Second
Type
Megastructure, Land based
Parent Location
Owning Organization
Comments