Coalition announces new Expanse sett tech

[Gus Givens]

Hello there, Gus Givens here with the latest developments concerning expanse settlements, I’ve recently been given exclusive access to interview one of the leading scientists who was on a joint Coalition/Naristro research project, Dr Lea Shelley.

Dr Shelley, what was it like working with the Naristro?

It was a fascinating experience, like nothing I’d ever expected. There were some initial language barriers, our current translator technology isn’t perfect, but we managed to work around them, it helps that much of science and engineering deals with mathematics, which is something of a universal language.
And what are the Naristro themselves like?

Well its rather hard to describe them, there are the obvious physical differences but their whole society is different from ours, and so is the way they think, they tend to be a lot more silent and contemplatetive, you’ll think they’re lagging behind when they’re actually three steps ahead of you.

Ahh, sorry, I’ve got my producer yelling in my ear, something about get back on topic you lazy hack, so what is it that the Coalition has been developing with the Naristro’s help?

Well, currently with settlements in the expanse the Naristro have been protecting them with their own fleets, while there was apparently some discussion about granting the Coalition access to more Naristro weaponry, they apparently thought it was a better trade off than continuing to expend their military resources guarding our colonisation efforts in the Expanse. They’ll still be protecting settlements below level 3, but after that you’ll be on your own.
So, what can you tell me about these new technologies you’ve been developing?

Well many of them are hybrid variations of standard human defence technology, guns, missiles, shields and so on, but all of them have been pretty much rebuilt using Naristro technology to survive the harsh conditions in the Expanse.

Are they more powerful than standard human weaponry?

*laughs* Not really Gus, I suppose a bit in terms of raw firepower, but mostly they’re more advanced to cope with not only the hostile conditions but also the more advanced nature of Javoran technology, their, weapons, countermeasures, armour and more agile craft and so on. They’re actually extremely complex, so much so that I’m not sure most humans will be able to operate and maintain them, it would take decades to learn by traditional means, perhaps more so since we’re not entirely sure on all the fine details of how these technologies work, I suspect the Naristro will be offering trained personnel who are knowledgeable about such systems.

Are there any other limitations on the technology?

Well as I said its likely they’ll need Naristro engineers and technicians to properly use, they’re also inoperable outside the Expanse, kind of like how a cactus can’t survive outside the desert. They’ll also need Talas to maintain and alien commodities to be able to manufacture them, we tried to design them to use more easily sourced materials but sometimes it just wasn’t possible. Apart from that they just have the standard energy and sett level requirements.

Thank you Dr Shelley, and to all of you across the six galaxies, goodnight.