The Monolith, often called the Mure monolith to differentiate it from the Mortis monolith and colloquially known as the Celestial Gates, was a Celestial megastructure that orbited and encompassed the planet Mure. A space station taking the form of a hollow truncated icosahedron, the Monolith superstructure was originally constructed by the Celestials to protect Mure's Kwa settlers from intergalactic cosmic radiation by generating a constant artificial dipole magnetic field capable of encompassing the planet.
The station also possessed a series of independent deflector shields which could be activated to fill the 32 hexagonal and pentagonal gaps in the superstructural frame. These shields were used to disintegrate incoming asteroids or other cosmic debris that littered the Five Deaths system and could also be used to defend the planet from outside attacks.
Description[]
Design and placement[]
The Monolith megastructure was a hollow truncated icosahedron possessing a total of 32 hexagonal and pentagonal gaps between the enclosing edges of the frame. The frame itself was composed of several hundred stacked levels arranged in a radial layout to take advantage of natural centripetal force.[1] In addition to Mure's own gravitational pull on the station, the lowest level of the station, that closest to the planet, hosted many experimental Celestial artificial gravity generators to ensure the station's occupants felt comfortable traversing the megastructure. As the mean radius of the structure was roughly 5,500 km, the curvature of the floors was largely unnoticeable, allowing for the residents to import standard planetary amenities such as furniture without the need for custom-designed alternatives.[1]
The station sat in the planet's stratosphere. Due to its location, the station experienced some atmospheric drag but still retained the benefit of the planet's naturally generated gravitational pull and Force aura. To ensure it remained at the optimal orbital distance at all times, the station was equipped with a multiplicity of directional thrusters scattered across the entirety of the station that allowed for minute adjustments to orbital speed and distance.
Construction[]
The Monolith superstructure was constructed of an early Celestial version of durasteel and duracrete. The raw materials necessary for the creation of the Monolith were obtained from the Twins, a pair of extensive asteroid fields composed the ruins of the ancient planets that existed prior to the Five Deaths' expulsion from the Deep Core. The parts themselves were assembled onsite by Celestial refineries and factories and towed into place by repulsor tractors in a manner like that used to reconstruct Mure.
The outermost layer of the hull, that exposed to the vacuum of space, was shielded in an extremely thick hydrogenated boron nitride nanocomposite capable of resisting cosmic rays.[2] Galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) was a form of ionizing radiation primarily composed of protons and neutrons from heavy elements like lithium, beryllium, and boron accelerated at speeds nearing that of light. The Celestials often plated their vessels and space stations with a hydrogen-heavy polyethylene-based nanomesh to resist this radiation.[3] However, this method was insufficient to protect against intergalactic cosmic radiation (ICR) found in the extragalactic space of the Five Deaths system. Far removed from the galactic plane, ICR particles were unaffected by the galactic magnetic field and were thus powerful enough to tear through the atomic substructure of any materials in their way,[4][5] including conventional Celestial plating. The fragmented remnants of these destroyed atoms were referred to as "secondary radiation" and were extremely deadly to biological organisms.
The monolith's interior was renovated and reconstructed many times over the course of its lifetime.
In response, the Celestials created a trielemental nanocomposite compound with which to shield the Monolith's metal superstructure. The stable refractory compound of nitrogen and boron, both heavy elements capable of absorbing and deflecting secondary particle radiation, formed the basis of the nanotubular structure.[6][2] The gaps between tubes were filled with hydrogen molecules, whose single proton and electron composition was large enough to deflect the protons and neutrons of the ICR particle wave.[2] Together, the material was able to successfully block a large percentage of intergalactic cosmic radiation and was thus applied liberally to the outermost layer of the superstructure.
Deflector shields[]
The Monolith possessed two different types of deflector shield, ray shields and particle shields. Each of the 32 hexagonal and pentagonal gaps in the superstructure representing the sides of the truncated icosahedron structure could be independently sealed with these shields, which could be run in tandem or solo with varying levels of intensity.
The ray shield was the primary defense field of the Monolith, initially installed to protect the planet Mure from the dangerous intergalactic cosmic radiation that pummeled the Five Deaths system every second. With the completion of the Monolith, the ray shield was run nonstop for the next several dozen millennia. However, the shield's lowest setting was sufficient to repulse such radiation, requiring minimal energy and rendering the shield passable for solid objects like starships. At higher settings, the shield could absorb the energy from laser cannon barrages and prevent enemy vessels from passing into Mure's upper atmosphere. At its highest settings, the shield could withstand extended turbolaser barrages from a fleet of capital ships before burning out.
The particle shield was the secondary defense field of the structure, protecting the structure from physical threats. It was most commonly used to intercept and disintegrate incoming asteroids from the Five Deaths' extensive cosmic debris field composed of the remains of the systems' former planets. It could also be used to block the entry of enemy ships into the Murec atmosphere, much like the energy shield. At its highest settings, the shield was capable of withstanding a barrage of diamond boron missiles.
Factories and refineries[]
Maintenance of the facility was undertaken by the Celestials's automated repair systems, similar in design to those reverse-engineered by the Rakata to maintain the Star Forge and Star Maps for countless millennia.[7] Required replacement parts were assembled from raw materials retrieved from the Twins and converted into usable compounds by the station's onboard refineries. The parts were then printed by onsite factories and automatically installed by automated systems. Even with the station's abandonment for a period of 12,000 years during the Murec dark ages, the automated systems continued to function as intended.
The factories of the Monolith could be converted to military usage, capable of producing droids, starfighters, and capital ship components. However, its output was nowhere near as high or as efficient as later structures specifically designed for military applications, such as the Star Forge and Foundry. The Monolith's reliance on asteroid resources rather than direct solar power was a limitation, requiring significant time and energy to round up the raw materials from suitable asteroids and refine them to a usable state.
Defensive systems[]
The outermost layer of the hull was punctuated at frequent intervals with outerward-facing turbolaser batteries, estimated to be in the thousands. The barrels of these guns were also reinforced with the same hydrogenated boron nitrode nanocomposite that covered the hull, with small electromagnetic force fields plugging the resultant embrasures to protect operators from radiation and the vacuum of space. In addition to these, the remaining levels of the structure contained thousands of turbolasers of their own, with complete coverage of the hexagonal and pentagonal gaps between frame edges.
The lower levels of the structure contained extensive starfighter hanger bays and capital ship maintenance facilities capable of fielding a large navy in defense of the planet. In addition to a navy, the entire structure was policed by a small army of guardian droids who regularly wandered the corridors, facilities, and residential complexes.
Power requirements[]
The entire superstructure was a massive power drain requiring extreme amounts of energy to run. Between the life support systems, gravity generators, magnetic field generators, deflector shields, automated defenses, material factories and refineries, directional thrusters, and other assorted systems, the Monolith devoured many times the amount of power required to run other contemporary space stations of note, including the Rakatan Star Forge and Foundry. The Celestials developed the Monolith to rely on space-based solar power, installing millions of unobtrusive solar panels to the Monolith superstructure's outer hull. Reserve power was provided by a series of hypermatter annihilators, though these were not generally used except in cases requiring the use of higher deflector shield settings over a large radius.
Sources[]
- "Do extragalactic cosmic rays induce cycles in fossil diversity?" from University of Kansas
- "Is NASA doing research on “mini-magnetospheres” to protect crew from radiation in space?" from Space Exploration StackExchange
- "How much power would a spacecraft's magnetic shield require?" from Space Exploration StackExchange
- "Real Martians: How to Protect Astronauts from Space Radiation on Mars," retrieved from NASA.gov
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- "The galactic cycle of extinction" from International Journal of Astrobiology
- "Why isn't the Death Star's Structure Radial?" from Science Fiction and Fantasy StackExchange
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Why isn't the Death Star's Structure Radial?" from Science Fiction and Fantasy StackExchange
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Real Martians: How to Protect Astronauts from Space Radiation on Mars," retrieved from NASA.gov
- ↑ "Is NASA doing research on “mini-magnetospheres” to protect crew from radiation in space?" from Space Exploration StackExchange
- ↑ "Do extragalactic cosmic rays induce cycles in fossil diversity?" from University of Kansas
- ↑ "The galactic cycle of extinction" from International Journal of Astrobiology
- ↑ "How much power would a spacecraft's magnetic shield require?" from Space Exploration StackExchange
- ↑ Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
