Fallen Angels

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Fallen Angels.

 

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Phoenix Rising

Edits completed.

A 92K roller coaster ride of action and heartbreak.
But you'll have to wait until next year to see.

Phoenix Rising

 

First draft complete.

92K

 

Let the editing begin.

Harmonic Union

 

As you've read through the adventures of the Guardians, I've no doubt you've come across the term, "Harmonic Union"

 

The Guardians employ such a procedure as part of their emergency management program, as it helps them to accomplish great feats which they otherwise wouldn't be able to do alone.

 

So what is a Harmonic Union?

 

Basically, it is a method of linking minds. But there's much more to it than you think.

 

For example. Let's take 3 candidates: A, B, and C.

A has a psychic strength quotient (PSQ) of 15.

B has a PSQ of 18

C has a PSQ of 10

 

If our friends were to simply mesh their minds together, the sum of their combined energies would only amount to a PSQ of 43. While that's a pretty respectable level, it wouldn't be strong enough to say, lift a collapsed bridge, or control a plummeting passenger jet - as happened in Guardian Angels.

 

So what can they do?
They resort to the Harmonic Union.

 

Let's imagine our candidates above employ a simple program with an augmentation Factor - called a Choral Resonance Factor - (CRF) of only 10%. 

 

First of all, they create a placebo type nexus into which the amplification module is placed. In this case, 10%.

Then A (15) links to B (18)

Usually, this would provide a PSQ of 33 - BUT, this is where the CRF kicks in, because the nexus augments their combined energy by 10% to a new threshold of 36.6.

 

The final operator to link into a Harmonic Union is the Primary. They are the Director of the concert, in that they execute Executive Control over how the power is employed.

 

In the case above, C (10) now adds their strength.

36.6 + 10 = 46.3 + 10% CRF = 50.93.

 

Do you see how valuable the Harmonic Union can be? Already, our 3 friend above have boosted their strength to a PSQ of just under 51.

 

To help you get a grasp of the concept - look at the schematic below:

 

You can imagine how powerful things can get when transcended Guardians add their potency to such a program, especially when the more sophisticated procedures employ a CRF ramping into the 100's.

*******

 

So, the next time you're reading through the mind-blowing exploits of the Guardians, just imagine what it would be like to harness such godlike energies within your own mind.

 

What would YOU do with such power?

 

 

Are you thankful that the Guardians have to go through such rigorous selection and training procedures?

 

I know I am.

Guardian Compressor Training

 

Readers of the Guardian Series will be aware that candidates attending the Guardian Academy need to submit themselves to the most gruelling, intensive, and mentally stimulating course in existence, the 5 year Compressor Training Program.

A 24 hours a day, 7 days a week marathon of personal sacrifice, study and application.

 

Only those who survive to the end have the privilege of calling themselves Guardians, and of wearing the black uniform that distinguishes them from all others.

 

But you must have wondered, what do students actually study? What courses are they required to attend and pass before they can successfully move on to the next phase of training?

 

Well, here you go...

A little indication of the syllabus each candidate must complete to ensure their physical, educational, mental and psychic limitations are stretched to the limit.

 



 

Obviously, I can't include everything the students have to deal with. There'd be far too much to include here, but, this overview will give you an idea of the scope of their commitment.

 

I hope you enjoy studying the syllabus. Through it, you'll become that little bit more appreciative of the sacrifices our heroes have to make to ensure their service is beyond reproach.



Kalliste-Type "Other Earth's" Do Exist

As fans of the Guardian Series will be aware, one of the most amazing discoveries the Guardians have made to date, is the discovery of a fictional Earth-Like planet - Kalliste - on the edge of the Pegasus (Spheroid) Galaxy.



Guardians - book 2 of the series - details quite a bit more scientific data about that world and the system in which it lies. In book 3 - Fallen Angels - due in the Fall of 2014, many more interesting snippets will be forthcoming.

With what you've read so far, I'm sure you've wondered...just how much science is there within the fiction? Could a solid, Earth-like, planet actually exist out there? You see, the more sophisticated scientific instruments become, the more places scientists are discovering that might be capable of supporting life.
But, what about an actual solid, rocky world like our own?

Well, look at this article I discovered in Sciencedaily.

*****

 

Astronomers announced recently that they have discovered a new type of planet — a rocky world weighing 17 times as much as Earth. Theorists believed such a world couldn’t form because anything so hefty would grab hydrogen gas as it grew and become a Jupiter-like gas giant. This planet, though, is all solids and much bigger than previously discovered “super-Earths,” making it a “mega-Earth.”

 

“We were very surprised when we realized what we had found,” says astronomer Xavier Dumusque of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), who led the data analysis and made the discovery.

“This is the Godzilla of Earths!” adds CfA researcher Dimitar Sasselov, director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative. “But unlike the movie monster, Kepler-10c has positive implications for life.”

The team’s finding was presented today in a press conference at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

The newfound mega-Earth, Kepler-10c, circles a sunlike star once every 45 days. It is located about 560 light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco. The system also hosts a 3-Earth-mass “lava world,” Kepler-10b, in a remarkably fast, 20-hour orbit.

Kepler-10c was originally spotted by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. Kepler finds planets using the transit method, looking for a star that dims when a planet passes in front of it. By measuring the amount of dimming, astronomers can calculate the planet’s physical size or diameter. However, Kepler can’t tell whether a planet is rocky or gassy.

Kepler-10c was known to have a diameter of about 18,000 miles, 2.3 times as large as Earth. This suggested it fell into a category of planets known as mini-Neptunes, which have thick, gaseous envelopes.

The team used the HARPS-North instrument on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) in the Canary Islands to measure the mass of Kepler-10c. They found that it weighed 17 times as much as Earth — far more than expected. This showed that Kepler-10c must have a dense composition of rocks and other solids.

“Kepler-10c didn’t lose its atmosphere over time. It’s massive enough to have held onto one if it ever had it,” explains Dumusque. “It must have formed the way we see it now.”

Planet formation theories have a difficult time explaining how such a large, rocky world could develop. However, a new observational study suggests that it is not alone.

Also presenting at AAS, CfA astronomer Lars A. Buchhave found a correlation between the period of a planet (how long it takes to orbit its star) and the size at which a planet transitions from rocky to gaseous. This suggests that more mega-Earths will be found as planet hunters extend their data to longer-period orbits.

The discovery that Kepler-10c is a mega-Earth also has profound implications for the history of the universe and the possibility of life. The Kepler-10 system is about 11 billion years old, which means it formed less than 3 billion years after the Big Bang.

The early universe contained only hydrogen and helium. Heavier elements needed to make rocky planets, like silicon and iron, had to be created in the first generations of stars. When those stars exploded, they scattered these crucial ingredients through space, which then could be incorporated into later generations of stars and planets.

This process should have taken billions of years. However, Kepler-10c shows that the universe was able to form such huge rocks even during the time when heavy elements were scarce.

“Finding Kepler-10c tells us that rocky planets could form much earlier than we thought. And if you can make rocks, you can make life,” says Sasselov.

This research implies that astronomers shouldn’t rule out old stars when they search for Earth-like planets. And if old stars can host rocky Earths too, then we have a better chance of locating potentially habitable worlds in our cosmic neighborhood.

 

*****

We live in exciting times. The science fiction of today is gradually rolling forward to merge with established science fact. As an SF writer myself, I have to admit, that scares me a little. I have qualifications in astronomy and physics. Even so, I find myself having to conduct more and more research to give the fictional, futuristic technologies I write about in the Guardian Series that ring of truth. It's becoming increasingly difficult to stay one step ahead of our scientists as they continue to unravel the mysteries of the universe at an alarming rate.

 

It often makes me think...

 

Thank goodness for imagination.

 

Otherwise, what will the science fiction authors of the future have to write about?

 

Stay tuned - hopefully the Guardian Series will continue to surprise you. :)





The Guardian Fleet.

 

Now that you’ve read Guardian Angels and Guardians, you’ve no doubt come across reference to a number of starships.

Some are mentioned by name. Others by classification. Many were destroyed during the Abaddon Incident.

So, just how do the Guardians arrange their Starfleet?

Well, the accompanying diagram may help a little.

 

Basically, a Group is led by a Command Carrier. (A craft that serves a function very similar to the aircraft carriers of today). The Olympus serves as the flagship of the entire fleet, as well as the command carrier for A Group. She carries a compliment of 1400 crew.

The Olympus is supported by the following ships in A Group:

2 Dreadnoughts. 680 crew.

8 Cruisers. 450 crew.

16 Frigates. 200 crew.

Earth itself is protected by the 1^st Fleet, which is divided into A, Φ, Ψ, and Ω Groups.

Although each vessel is equipped to fulfill a specific role, certain technical, defensive and armament similarities are evident. (Quantity and placement varying according to ship classification).

Propulsion:    Tession/Keller LA-32 FTL Drives. 2 Main – 1 Auxiliary

                         Conal/Sigmund Slipstream Sub-light impellors 6 main – 2 Auxiliary

                         Shogun repulsor/XTR thrusters with atmospheric entry capability

Shields:           Lorenzal Mitigator Reactive/Targeting Emitters

Outer Hull:     Lyssium ablative/reactive armor

Armaments:  Orbital/Linear plasma generators

                        Photonic cannon pods

                        Raptor antimatter/plasmic torpedoes

                        Irrenor-Husker Antimatter/nuclear javelin silos

                        Dual kinetic weapon pods

Mobility:        Viceroy matter-transporters

                        Trident shuttle-darts

Obviously, as their story develops, you can expect to see quite an expansion in the Guardian fleet, with the addition of several brand-new armadas to cater to humanities expanding needs.

Until then, imagine you were the captain of a starship. If time and distance was no object, where would you visit first?