For Barrayar mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
barrayarmods) wrote2016-10-31 02:18 pm
barrayarmods) wrote2016-10-31 02:18 pm
Entry tags:
[For Barrayar] technology
Barrayar is more or less a third world in the Nexus, but most planets share about the same baseline of standard technology. It is all super 80s. For a baseline, think Star Trek.
Communications, Security, and Anti-Gravity ⚔ Travel ⚔ Medicine ⚔ Weapons & Defense
communications, security, and anti-gravity
Computers, commonly known as comconsoles, are just about ubiquitous in the Nexus. They are the standard at-home communication device (this universe does not really do phones) and can be used for transmitting text as well as video/holo messages. Comlinks are a handheld mobile communication device, more like a walkie-talkie than a phone, generally used for audio transmission. Wristcoms are a wearable variety of comlink.
Computing technology is largely based around hard media such as data disks and cubes. Comconsoles are usually networked, but networks are usually hard-wired and limited to planets, as digital data cannot be transmitted through wormholes. Although messages can be transmitted at the speed of light using tightbeam technology, realtime connections tend to have a distance-proportionate lag time. Inter-wormhole messages must be physically carried through wormholes in order to reach their destination, which creates days or weeks of lag time between messages.
Holographic technology is commonplace on civilized planets, often taking the place of video in entertainment, although two-dimensional video is still common as well. Digital visual technology has taken the place of most forms of physical media – most people in the Nexus use book readers with discs rather than antequated physical books, and instead of paper for writing on, they use reusable plastic flimsies. Most computing devices make use of both a touch screen and/or light pen and a keyboard.
Building security takes the form of more familiar technology such as keypads and security badges, retinal scans and palm-print locks.
Anti-gravity technology is prominent, with a wide variety of applications. Anti-gravity-based lift tubes have taken the place of mechanical elevators, and this tech is implemented in everything from float pallets to spaceships. Anti-gravity is employed extensively by the Cetagandans, as well as energy-based force field technology. Haut women are almost always hidden on a float chair encased in an opaque force bubble, masking their appearance from the general public.
Also, everyone in this universe calls watches 'chronos'. It's weird, I don't know.
travel
Despite the prevalence of anti-grav tech, however, they have not made the more traditional groundcars and light-flyers (a small aircraft akin to a light jet) obsolete. Whether terrestrial or anti-gravity travel dominates the scene varies from planet to planet, but the Cetagandan Empire relies heavily on anti-grav tech, although terrestrial vehicles and aircraft are more present in their Barrayaran outposts.
By far the most interesting -- and the most complex -- development is in interstellar travel. Rather than true FTL travel, the Nexus is connected by a series of wormholes all over the galaxy. Wormhole science is one of the most important fields of study in the Nexus. While they aren't yet fully understood, wormhole scientists have learned enough about the five-dimensional space between wormholes to have developed wormhole jump technology.
Because wormhole travel involves compressing the ship through five-dimensional space, jump pilots are outfitted with special neural implants that enable them to navigate through five-space. Some organizations, such as Beta Colony's Astronomical Survey, deal in the business of blind jumping through uncharted wormholes, a potentially dangerous or even lethal occupation, as you never know what's on the other side – or if you'll make it through at all.
medicine
Although resources vary from planet to planet, the baseline medical technology of the Nexus is far advanced from modern day medicine, and especially Barrayar. As is typical of Future Scifi Medicine, such maladies as cancer are no longer a severely threatening or terminal illness. Advancements in all areas of surgery are profound, as well as in pharmaceutical science, and in all the Nexus, the Cetagandan Empire has some of the most advanced medical technology.
Most notable are the achievements in reproductive and genetic technology. In the Nexus, STIs are a thing of the past, and contraceptive implants are highly effective and readily available – even standard on some planets like Beta Colony. Although many people still have in vivo pregnancies, uterine replicators used to incubate fetuses to full term are virtually ubiquitous. Childbearing via uterine replicator is generally considered safer than in vivo pregnancies, eliminating the potential risks and complications of a physical pregnancy. However, placental transfers – moving an undeveloped fetus to a uterine replicator via surgical section – are also common procedure.
With the advent of uterine replicator came the golden age of genetic engineering. Practices such as gene-cleaning to eliminate risk of genetic defect or disease are much simplified with the use of a uterine replicator, and it allows for even more specific gene selection such as hair and eye color. The Cetagandans, however, are the undisputed masters in the art of gene selection. The uterine replicator has also given birth to practices such as cloning, the ethics and applications of which vary widely across the Nexus, and, in more extreme cases, even the genetic engineering of alternative human forms.
fast-penta
One of the most notable pharmaceutical developments is a drug commonly known as fast-penta (sodium pentanol), mostly used in interrogations for its use as a "truth serum". While there is no such thing as a truth serum, fast-penta is a powerful barbiturate that induces euphoria, removes inhibition and heightens free association; fast-penta interrogations, when correctly guided, are considered to yield much more accurate information than any other form of interrogation. Subjects on fast-penta tend to talk endlessly in a stream-of-consciousness fashion, freely voicing even their innermost and private thoughts as they spring to mind. Because subjects tend to ramble endlessly without intervention, fast-penta interrogations are usually conducted by a trained interrogator who prompts with questions and leading comments so as to extract relevant information. Because fast-penta is a powerful sedative, subjects are cooperative and do not tend to resist. Most subjects will exhibit the dreamy, dopey expression known as the "fast-penta smile".
Fast-penta takes effect about 10-15 seconds after injection via hypospray, and the effects usually last around 1-3 hours. Administering the antagonist will cause the effects of the drug to wear off within 5 minutes. Allergies to fast-penta are usually fatal. It is standard in many galactic intelligence agencies to give their agents an artificially induced allergy to fast-penta so as to make interrogation by fast-penta pointless. Naturally occurring fast-penta allergies exist, but are considerably rare. Some people who have undergone extensive genetic modification are immune to the effects of fast-penta.
weapons & defense
Projectile weapons are mostly a thing of the past by the 31st century; energy-based weapons are the name of the game here. There are three types of handheld energy weapons that are near-universal: the stunner, the nerve disruptor, and the plasma arc. All handheld energy weapons run on rechargeable power packs, which can be jerry-rigged into IEDs with the right tinkering.
STUNNERS. Phasers set to stun. Pretty much what it sounds like: handheld stun gun. It has multiple power settings, and a particularly nasty blast can leave you with a hell of a stunner hangover.
NERVE DISRUPTORS. The nerve disruptor is difficult to mistake for any other handheld weapon, with its distinctly curved, bell-like end. When powered on, the end is lit with an electric blue nimbus. Nerve disruptor fire is designed specifically to destroy nerve and brain tissue, but doesn't break skin or otherwise damage any other tissue, usually leaving only a mild electric burn on the skin. Nerve disruptor fire is almost always lethal and kills on contact; however, should the blast not be entirely accurate, it can leave the victim more or less a walking vegetable. Being hit by just the penumbra of a nerve disruptor blast, akin to a grazed bullet or a glancing blow, is more likely to result in localized nerve damage than death.
PLASMA ARCS. While stunners and nerve disruptors are more like handguns, plasma arcs typically look more like rifles, and tend to do heavier damage. Plasma fire is much less selective than nerve disruptor fire, and will burn through a hell of a lot more than just human tissue. A poor shot with a plasma arc might do more property damage than killing. Plasm arcs have about three times the range of a stunner.
Plasma technology isn't limited to handheld weapons: plasma cannons of various sizes, ranging from the size of a small rocket launcher to heavy artillery. Plasma is one of two types of grenades typically found in the Nexus, the other being the sonic grenade, which achieves about the same effect via different means. The exception when it comes to projectile weapons is the needler, a nasty weapon that fires dozens of tiny projectiles that break open on impact into razor-sharp strands. A needler does not make for a clean kill, and a clear shot to the torso is usually fatal.
Melee combat has its place, too. Hand-to-hand combat is far from a lost art, and is supplemented by more advanced technology such as shock-sticks, a markedly painful baton-like weapon utilizing the same technology as stunner fire, and vibra-knives, which use power packs; the vibrations of the blade make them especially deadly.
Barrayar had not yet invented gunpowder by the end of the Time of Isolation, so their only ranged weaponry is archery, although they have developed well-crafted crossbows by now. The Barrayaran weapon of choice is the sword, however. Barrayaran blacksmiths have honed their technique over the last several centuries, and Barrayaran steel is formidable. The two most commonly found swords on Barrayar most resemble broadswords and rapiers; knives of various sizes are also common.
Biological warfare still maintains a presence in military tactics in the forms of different poisons and bioterror agents. The Cetagandan Empire is rumored to have the most devastating and lethal -- not to mention the most closely guarded -- bioweapons in its artillery.
As energy weapons dominate the military scene, soldiers in ground-based combat largely wear military uniforms, albeit with a few extra fortifications. Standard anti-stunner netting is woven into Cetagandan uniforms. However, due to the Barrayarans' rather…unique war tactics (read: nobody was prepared to deal with swords), the Cetagandans have had to adopt some armor. Rather than full-body armor, Cetagandan soldiers wear tactical vests over their uniforms with extensions to protect the upper arms.
The Barrayaran guerrillas rely on speed and stealth and typically only wear their Imperial Service uniforms, however weathered.
communications, security, and anti-gravity
Computers, commonly known as comconsoles, are just about ubiquitous in the Nexus. They are the standard at-home communication device (this universe does not really do phones) and can be used for transmitting text as well as video/holo messages. Comlinks are a handheld mobile communication device, more like a walkie-talkie than a phone, generally used for audio transmission. Wristcoms are a wearable variety of comlink.
Computing technology is largely based around hard media such as data disks and cubes. Comconsoles are usually networked, but networks are usually hard-wired and limited to planets, as digital data cannot be transmitted through wormholes. Although messages can be transmitted at the speed of light using tightbeam technology, realtime connections tend to have a distance-proportionate lag time. Inter-wormhole messages must be physically carried through wormholes in order to reach their destination, which creates days or weeks of lag time between messages.
Holographic technology is commonplace on civilized planets, often taking the place of video in entertainment, although two-dimensional video is still common as well. Digital visual technology has taken the place of most forms of physical media – most people in the Nexus use book readers with discs rather than antequated physical books, and instead of paper for writing on, they use reusable plastic flimsies. Most computing devices make use of both a touch screen and/or light pen and a keyboard.
Building security takes the form of more familiar technology such as keypads and security badges, retinal scans and palm-print locks.
Anti-gravity technology is prominent, with a wide variety of applications. Anti-gravity-based lift tubes have taken the place of mechanical elevators, and this tech is implemented in everything from float pallets to spaceships. Anti-gravity is employed extensively by the Cetagandans, as well as energy-based force field technology. Haut women are almost always hidden on a float chair encased in an opaque force bubble, masking their appearance from the general public.
Also, everyone in this universe calls watches 'chronos'. It's weird, I don't know.
travel
Despite the prevalence of anti-grav tech, however, they have not made the more traditional groundcars and light-flyers (a small aircraft akin to a light jet) obsolete. Whether terrestrial or anti-gravity travel dominates the scene varies from planet to planet, but the Cetagandan Empire relies heavily on anti-grav tech, although terrestrial vehicles and aircraft are more present in their Barrayaran outposts.
By far the most interesting -- and the most complex -- development is in interstellar travel. Rather than true FTL travel, the Nexus is connected by a series of wormholes all over the galaxy. Wormhole science is one of the most important fields of study in the Nexus. While they aren't yet fully understood, wormhole scientists have learned enough about the five-dimensional space between wormholes to have developed wormhole jump technology.
Because wormhole travel involves compressing the ship through five-dimensional space, jump pilots are outfitted with special neural implants that enable them to navigate through five-space. Some organizations, such as Beta Colony's Astronomical Survey, deal in the business of blind jumping through uncharted wormholes, a potentially dangerous or even lethal occupation, as you never know what's on the other side – or if you'll make it through at all.
medicine
Although resources vary from planet to planet, the baseline medical technology of the Nexus is far advanced from modern day medicine, and especially Barrayar. As is typical of Future Scifi Medicine, such maladies as cancer are no longer a severely threatening or terminal illness. Advancements in all areas of surgery are profound, as well as in pharmaceutical science, and in all the Nexus, the Cetagandan Empire has some of the most advanced medical technology.
Most notable are the achievements in reproductive and genetic technology. In the Nexus, STIs are a thing of the past, and contraceptive implants are highly effective and readily available – even standard on some planets like Beta Colony. Although many people still have in vivo pregnancies, uterine replicators used to incubate fetuses to full term are virtually ubiquitous. Childbearing via uterine replicator is generally considered safer than in vivo pregnancies, eliminating the potential risks and complications of a physical pregnancy. However, placental transfers – moving an undeveloped fetus to a uterine replicator via surgical section – are also common procedure.
With the advent of uterine replicator came the golden age of genetic engineering. Practices such as gene-cleaning to eliminate risk of genetic defect or disease are much simplified with the use of a uterine replicator, and it allows for even more specific gene selection such as hair and eye color. The Cetagandans, however, are the undisputed masters in the art of gene selection. The uterine replicator has also given birth to practices such as cloning, the ethics and applications of which vary widely across the Nexus, and, in more extreme cases, even the genetic engineering of alternative human forms.
fast-penta
One of the most notable pharmaceutical developments is a drug commonly known as fast-penta (sodium pentanol), mostly used in interrogations for its use as a "truth serum". While there is no such thing as a truth serum, fast-penta is a powerful barbiturate that induces euphoria, removes inhibition and heightens free association; fast-penta interrogations, when correctly guided, are considered to yield much more accurate information than any other form of interrogation. Subjects on fast-penta tend to talk endlessly in a stream-of-consciousness fashion, freely voicing even their innermost and private thoughts as they spring to mind. Because subjects tend to ramble endlessly without intervention, fast-penta interrogations are usually conducted by a trained interrogator who prompts with questions and leading comments so as to extract relevant information. Because fast-penta is a powerful sedative, subjects are cooperative and do not tend to resist. Most subjects will exhibit the dreamy, dopey expression known as the "fast-penta smile".
Fast-penta takes effect about 10-15 seconds after injection via hypospray, and the effects usually last around 1-3 hours. Administering the antagonist will cause the effects of the drug to wear off within 5 minutes. Allergies to fast-penta are usually fatal. It is standard in many galactic intelligence agencies to give their agents an artificially induced allergy to fast-penta so as to make interrogation by fast-penta pointless. Naturally occurring fast-penta allergies exist, but are considerably rare. Some people who have undergone extensive genetic modification are immune to the effects of fast-penta.
weapons & defense
Projectile weapons are mostly a thing of the past by the 31st century; energy-based weapons are the name of the game here. There are three types of handheld energy weapons that are near-universal: the stunner, the nerve disruptor, and the plasma arc. All handheld energy weapons run on rechargeable power packs, which can be jerry-rigged into IEDs with the right tinkering.
STUNNERS. Phasers set to stun. Pretty much what it sounds like: handheld stun gun. It has multiple power settings, and a particularly nasty blast can leave you with a hell of a stunner hangover.
NERVE DISRUPTORS. The nerve disruptor is difficult to mistake for any other handheld weapon, with its distinctly curved, bell-like end. When powered on, the end is lit with an electric blue nimbus. Nerve disruptor fire is designed specifically to destroy nerve and brain tissue, but doesn't break skin or otherwise damage any other tissue, usually leaving only a mild electric burn on the skin. Nerve disruptor fire is almost always lethal and kills on contact; however, should the blast not be entirely accurate, it can leave the victim more or less a walking vegetable. Being hit by just the penumbra of a nerve disruptor blast, akin to a grazed bullet or a glancing blow, is more likely to result in localized nerve damage than death.
PLASMA ARCS. While stunners and nerve disruptors are more like handguns, plasma arcs typically look more like rifles, and tend to do heavier damage. Plasma fire is much less selective than nerve disruptor fire, and will burn through a hell of a lot more than just human tissue. A poor shot with a plasma arc might do more property damage than killing. Plasm arcs have about three times the range of a stunner.
Plasma technology isn't limited to handheld weapons: plasma cannons of various sizes, ranging from the size of a small rocket launcher to heavy artillery. Plasma is one of two types of grenades typically found in the Nexus, the other being the sonic grenade, which achieves about the same effect via different means. The exception when it comes to projectile weapons is the needler, a nasty weapon that fires dozens of tiny projectiles that break open on impact into razor-sharp strands. A needler does not make for a clean kill, and a clear shot to the torso is usually fatal.
Melee combat has its place, too. Hand-to-hand combat is far from a lost art, and is supplemented by more advanced technology such as shock-sticks, a markedly painful baton-like weapon utilizing the same technology as stunner fire, and vibra-knives, which use power packs; the vibrations of the blade make them especially deadly.
Barrayar had not yet invented gunpowder by the end of the Time of Isolation, so their only ranged weaponry is archery, although they have developed well-crafted crossbows by now. The Barrayaran weapon of choice is the sword, however. Barrayaran blacksmiths have honed their technique over the last several centuries, and Barrayaran steel is formidable. The two most commonly found swords on Barrayar most resemble broadswords and rapiers; knives of various sizes are also common.
Biological warfare still maintains a presence in military tactics in the forms of different poisons and bioterror agents. The Cetagandan Empire is rumored to have the most devastating and lethal -- not to mention the most closely guarded -- bioweapons in its artillery.
As energy weapons dominate the military scene, soldiers in ground-based combat largely wear military uniforms, albeit with a few extra fortifications. Standard anti-stunner netting is woven into Cetagandan uniforms. However, due to the Barrayarans' rather…unique war tactics (read: nobody was prepared to deal with swords), the Cetagandans have had to adopt some armor. Rather than full-body armor, Cetagandan soldiers wear tactical vests over their uniforms with extensions to protect the upper arms.
The Barrayaran guerrillas rely on speed and stealth and typically only wear their Imperial Service uniforms, however weathered.