Helion
Counted among the great innovations of the past century, the idea of producing power from the energy of a fusion reaction — as opposed to that from fission — has been with us since the first decades of the twentieth century. It was not until the technological breakthroughs borne out of the Third World War that the ability to harness such power in a practically-sized generator was at long last realized. The fusion reactors which so successfully mechanized the belligerents of that world-war were, in peacetime, utilized to power the ever-expanding market of space settlement and its innumerable industrialized niches. The central reason that fusion energy had not before been readily adaptable to practical use was the relative dearth of the isotope helion, or helium-3 (3He) within the Terresphere. Although much of what fueled the belligerents’ fusion energy in the Third World War had been mined from the lunar surface, its equally limited supply made perpetual production of fusion energy impossible.
But where the Terresphere has very little of this isotope readily accessible, the Outer Planets are resplendent in its natural accumulation, and can be readily harvested from the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. The critical importance of this resources produced settlements devoted solely to the task of preparing helion for energy-consumption. The helion-starved Confederation therefore launched the Earth Expeditionary Force and its attendant fleets to invade the remote outpost of Saturn’s moon, Titan, and not the expected targets of Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa. Production on Titan represents nearly half of all helion production across the solar system, though much energy has been expended in the preparation of automated harvesting operations in the Cythereosphere and Caeliosphere in order to undermine the other half controlled by the Galilean League.
Electron Saturation
One of two known effects of the most recent iteration of fusion reactors is the production of a phenomenon known as electron saturation. Although inert and generally contained, the effect of so many electrons in the space around the reactor creates a pocket of space through which no form of wireless electronic communication can pass. Viewed initially as a problem, the work of the Staten Project demonstrated the weaponization of the effect through the ability to broadcast the effect with an effective range of some ten kilometers, dissipating only with the passing of time. Regions of space can be so heavily saturated that only line-of-sight communication may be possible. Innovation followed in the deterrence of the effects of such weaponization by the development of the Advanced Laser-Line Communications Array (ALCA) and its speed-of-light transmission across enormous distances. The greater sophistication of the laser-line communications technology became apparent in the rapid mobilization of Space Forces across the Transmartial orbit before the deployment of the Galilean entanglement weapon.
Entanglement
In quantum mechanics, the principle of superposition established that entangled particles are capable of instantaneous communication when subjected to measurement by an observer. The entangled particles retain a relationship that is not yet completely understood, though which the scientific community has attributed to the peculiarities of the Big Bang. It is believed that the particles are capable of communication across gravitational waves, a force of universe which itself can distort and possibly even alter time. Though experiments have remained inconclusive regarding the applicability of such knowledge, its weaponization had never been considered. To this day the single greatest mystery remains the entanglement device or entanglement weapon developed in total secrecy by the Galilean League. Through its visible effects, it would appear that the Galilean League has devised a way by which entangled particles can be exchanged, distorting the very fabric of spacetime to make even line-of-sight communication impossible under such conditions.
The effects of the weapon can likewise be measured on the health of persons in the affected regions of space, whose very atomic fabric becomes distorted. Though limited effects have been shown to be temporary, continuous exposure has been firmly demonstrated to cause organ failure, various forms of cancer, and psychosis. Its use has become a veritable moat around the Zeosphere. Although capable of detecting its deployment in a given region of space, the Peacekeeping Forces remain incapable of countering or replicating its effects. More recent intelligence suggests that the Galilean League may itself not fully grasp the weapons power or be capable of replicating it either, perhaps explaining why it has not again been deployed since the outbreak of hostilities.
The implications of entanglement:
