Big Game VI – Chapter Thirty Six: The Death of the Omega Station
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+++Transmitted: Class 42-A Frigate Estrad-Koblenz (Explorator Fleet 89-B.47)
+++Received: Anharis Minor
+++Destination: Karteg’s World
+++Date: 5438982.M41
+++Telepathic Duct: Astropath-terminus Lambert
+++Ref: Inq/15072398/Ex
+++Author: Interrogator Cardoc Io, Theta Class
+++Encryption Type: +++ERR:UNKNOWN:REFC4\9a47+++
+++Thought For The Day: From each according to their nature, to each according to their guilt
Lord,
By all accounts from the ground, the death of the Omega Station was an excruciatingly slow process, with several hours passing between the fateful final discharge of its primary weapon and the impact of planetary material that effectively ended its threat. All the better for record-keeping, one supposes. I have managed to track this transmission down during my investigation, finding it upon this cursed frigate’s storage drives, of all places. This is the work of one Tukhmen Kelhar, a Tech-adept whose continued proximity to events of galactic ramifications are either unfortunate or suspicious. Whatever his nature, this analysis does provide insight into how close the Omega War came to becoming a truly unthinkable catastrophe for the entire Imperium.
WARNING: The following information is classified Obsidian-Omega. Reading beyond this point without proper clearance is considered Heresy and is punishable by vaporization.
The Death of the Omega Station
(a realtime analysis of catastrophic annexation of dwarf planetary bodies and the implications of such on Imperial war efforts)
Tukhmen Kelhar, Magos Geologis
Abstract
The Omega Station was constructed from a dwarf planet with a mass of 3.827 x 10^20 kg. It impacted a fragment of a planet with a mass of 9.372 x 10^13 kg. The impact caused liquefied rock to completely reshape the planetoid. A core of highly valuable plutonium and a large province of iron are easily mineable resources leftover from this impact.
Introduction
From 143-151 M41, the Gothic Sector was subjected to the 12th Black Crusade of Abbadon the Despoiler. While the deeds and losses of such a historic and lengthy campaign have been documented, this campaign was unique compared to any previous campaign due to the use of weapons with power far exceeding any previous weapon. Three of the six Blackstone Fortresses were captured by Abbadon and used to destroy the Tarantis star. The Gothic War also saw the first use of the ship colloquially called the Planet Killer, which vaporized the world of Savaven.
After this conflict, the High Lords of Terra commissioned a weapon of equal power to balance these weapons in the Archenemy’s hands. A dwarf planet (mass 3.827 x 10^20 kg) recently formed in the Dalaran nebula was found to have a core composed of 72.9% plutonium. Adeptus Mechanicus probes refined the plutonium bringing its yield up to 91.87% and creating a stable fission core approximately 18.72 kilometers wide. The cavity left from the spoil was filled with superconductive geothermal sinks to draw energy from the core to the surface. Gellar fields, engines, defenses, and fortifications were installed on the surface. Finally, a plasma relay capable of making a small portion of the core supercritical and channeling that energy into an annular confinement beam turned the small planetoid into a weapon capable of shattering any rigid planetary body or greatly disrupting a larger gaseous form.
The final product of this effort was dubbed the Omega Station. It was used only once to destroy the infected world of Tizino Prime. To protect against infiltration, the station implemented a rigid security protocol, forcing the relocation of the Station to an uninhabited system three jumps away from Sacrosanct, the homeworld of the Angels Sacrosanct Adeptus Astartes chapter.
During the lifetime of the station, Xeno-cult infiltrators took control of several key positions on the station, and within the fleet that guarded it. A traitor Astartes warlord acquired a schematic of the station, access codes, and xeno-tech identified as Necrontyr in origin. With these, he took control of the station.
Imperial forces recaptured the engine complex and set the station on course for a nearby iron/nickel-chondrite dwarf planet with a mass of 2.873 x 10^14 kg. The enemy fired the Station’s primary weapon at this target, reducing the dwarf planet to several fragments. One fragment, named Vulkan’s Awl (mass 9.372 x 10^13 kg) impacted the Omega Station.
This record will detail the geologic implications of the impact, and its aftermath.
Methods
Data for all planetary bodies included in this survey was taken as an aggregate from the auspex relays of 372 individual Imperial ships during the Omega War. Vid capture relied on three augur drones launched by Azure Flames Astartes forces minutes before impact. Post-collision radiometric and interferometric data were gathered by intermittent Adeptus Munitorum vehicles until impact + 1 year, 3 months, 9 days when stationary survey collectors in orbit of the debris field were finished, after which these provided the primary method of data collection.
Results
For vid results, see attached files AF-78528743-A through AF-78528743-C.
The Omega Station was moving directly toward the dwarf planet at a rate of 218,300 m/s relative to the system’s star (K-382, a white dwarf, approximately 20 AU from the battle). This gave it a momentum of 8.534 x 10^25 kg*m/s, or roughly 1/48 the average momentum of Holy Terra in its orbit.
Vulkan’s Awl (after the dwarf planet was shattered) was moving at an angle of 0.32° from a direct course to the center of gravity of The Omega Station. Had the planet been shattered 14 minutes 31 seconds earlier (or more), Vulkan’s Awl would have missed the station and altered course out of the plane of the ecliptic. Vulkan’s Awl had an (adjusted for trajectory) velocity of 1.394 * 10^6 m/s, with a momentum of 1.307 * 10^20 kg*m/s, less than 10,000 times the momentum of The Omega Station
The dense (est. 6.325 g/cm^3) nature of Vulkan’s Awl allowed it to penetrate the porous rocky crust (est. 4.8 g/cm^3) of the Omega Station resulting in a partially inelastic collision. Kinetic energy at the impact site vaporized rock and caused seismic waves of such power as to make current systems of measurement irrelevant. The entire crust of The Omega Station was either shattered and flung into low orbit or ripped apart by enormous fissures. Friction caused instantaneous melting of cubic kilometers of subterranean rock, giving The Omega Station a dynamic response more akin to a fluid than a semisolid object. With this motion, all surface structures were completely destroyed.
As the remains of Vulkan’s Awl impacted the plutonium core, it impacted at an oblique angle. Based on the size and dispersal pattern of the blast, it is estimated that 17.8% of the plutonium core was compressed to become supercritical and underwent an uncontrolled chain fission event. 21.39% of the Omega Station’s surface was vaporized over the course of 2 minutes 31 seconds. Channeled by the crust, the dispersal pattern resembles a shotgun blast, spraying the crustal material in a fountain.
The force of this super-nuclear explosion changed the course of the remains of the station by 18° from its previous heading. Debris fields from the impact and explosion created a field of gas, dust, and asteroids approximately 190,000 km on its longest axis.
The crater left by this explosion left a small area of the core naked to the vacuum of space. Vulkan’s Awl came to rest inside the body, appearing as a dark scar that juts out of the surface 3,800 km from the new level of the remaining crust.
Over the course of the next several months, debris from the impact caught in the station’s gravitational field de-orbited, pulverizing the entire surface and creating a thin layer of regolith that blankets the entire body.
Discussion
The remains of The Omega Station are a treasure trove that has no equal in the galaxy. With billions of kilograms of high-grade plutonium so near the surface, mining can commence as soon as sufficient safety procedures can be undertaken to protect mining operations from frequent asteroid impacts. The remains of Vulkan’s Awl could provide iron ore enough to build tens of thousands of starships with a fraction of the toll that a planet’s gravity well normally takes.
However, given the speed of the remains, this body will pass beyond the heliopause of this system within 234 years ± 23.4 years (the heliopause of K-382 is poorly understood). Salvage and mining efforts should be undertaken immediately to ensure that navigation to this body is not impeded.
Acknowledgments
- Inquisitor Voltman Kalmsan, Ordo Malleus for providing clearance to publish this record.
- Admiral Jann Kolten, for unfettered access to augury records from the remains of the Black Fleet.
- Admiral Atilius Magnussen, for the same level of access from Imperial Navy relief forces.
- Master of the Fleet Piers, of the Azure Flames for the same from their chapter’s ships.
- Tactician Grel Chaldor, for advice on resource management.
- The Adeptus Munitorum, for resources pursuant to the construction of listening posts.
- Constantine Mohs-Freiberger, Archmagos Geologis
Post Script
Tukhmen Kelhar is quite obviously mad. Despite his enthusiasm for his chosen area of study, the very audacity of his efforts to catalogue and record such an event speaks to his naivete and an inability to appreciate the secretive nature of the Holy Ordos. That he is the acolyte of an accused criminal and heretic of the Ordos is further evidence of his danger to the Imperium.
Thankfully, due to the efforts of your humble servant, all records of this document, save those in the hands of known and properly cleared participants in the Omega War, have been destroyed. All persons mentioned in the acknowledgement section were interviewed, save the dead and the entirety of the Adeptus Munitorum, by your humble servant.
The Admirals listed had no memory of Kelhar, as requests for information were sent by the Inquisitorial mandate of Voltman Kalmsan, Ordo Malleus. Similarly, the Astartes Captain had never met Kelhar.
Grel Chaldor is a tactician of singularly overlooked talent who conferred with Kelhar on the resource distribution of the remains of the station. Thank He on Earth for Kelhar’s discretion, as Chaldor was under the impression that such an exercise was entirely hypothetical. Despite this, I still hold to my previous assertions that Kelhar cannot keep a secret. The exception proves the rule. Chaldor was very kind to Kelhar, seeing him as a fellow chronicler. As a precaution, Chaldor is now under the strictest surveillance.
Constantine Mohs-Freiberger was Kelhar’s teacher and master. He passed several years ago due to an unfortunately-timed Ork invasion on the world he was cataloging. That Kelhar continues to thank his old master is a sentimental affectation on his part, once again proving the danger of leaving critical information in the mind of someone so diametrically opposed to the secrecy of the Ordos.
Voltman Kalmsan is an odious man.
As always, I am your humble servant,
-Cardoc Io, Interrogator
Post-Post-Script
Please forgive Io. His zeal is excessive at times, but his loyalty to the Throne can never be questioned.
-Eric Boucher, Ordo Hereticus