Balmite

## Description

Known for its glowing magenta sheen and incredible power, Balmite is a rare crystalline element that is most frequently used as a fuel source, capable of generating the same power as a thermonuclear or plasma reactor with just a single 5 inch shard. The crystal has been harnessed by a wealth of empires, especially those in the Deltaverse who all all have largely replaced their previous methods of fuel with the crystal. The crystal has been utilized extensively as both a power source as well as weapon, of which there are several patterns across the galaxy.

Though Balmite is extremely rare and even more so outside the Deltaverse and Zetaverse, it's speculated to be a byproduct of the Zunni Mezulas. Unknown if they created the material or settled it on planets prior to future civilizations. But in the Delta and Zeta all Balmite deposits were from former Zunni territories.

Furthermore, the karis and Ures have methods to create synthetic lower yield Balmite to supplement their megacities and reserve refined natural Balmite for more important purposes. Due to its rarity, it has not completely supplanted other energy sources throughout the galaxy.

## History

Balmite was first discovered on the planet Ouros, the former homeworld of the rurkis, in 6876 CE, by the Karis Empire, who immediately began exploiting the rurkis as mining labor to mine the millions of tons of crystal found in the planet's crust. Conflict arose when the Tayrigo Empire, who were already at war with the karis, landed on the planet and began fighting with the karis soldiers over control of the planet, effectively destroying it in the process after crude Balmite bombs engineered by the tayrigos were deployed on the planet. Balmite would later be discovered in 6900 CE by the Ures Empire on Eurokt, who eventually weaponized it in 6922 CE, which has since become a staple of the Uresian arsenal.

### Balmite Wars

Balmite would become the subject of several conflicts and policing actions as well, which have persisted for hundreds of years since its discovery. The xamon engaged in a vicious conflict with the Imperium of Dethin in 7068 CE over the planet of Hendra. The ayar also invaded the planet of Solaria in 774 AUA and were beaten back by a coalition army of NRR, xamon, Ures, and gorgon armies, though the ayar did succeed in obtaining over 170 tons of Balmite to be used in experiments and weapons research. However, much of this Balmite would then be stolen in 874 AUA by the dreaded Spravac Empire, who not only took the Betvo to prevent the ayar from mining it, but also liberated the enslaved planets of Restor, Rhahn, and Yetherius in the process, allowing the spravac to mine the planet dry of Balmite to power their prodigious supercarriers and create new terrifying weapons.

Due to the interconnectedness of the galaxy, Balmite was inevitably commodified by a host of fuel companies and manufacturers. Because of the rarity of the crystals, shipments of the substance of subject to raids from pirates, raiders, and mercenaries hired by rival companies, an ongoing and intermittent conflict that is known colloquially as the Balmite Wars, which have raged effectively since its discovery in 6876 CE.

## Sunshots

The solar powered artillery cannon also known as the SPAC or the sunshot, is the greatest weapon in the naval arsenal of the Ures Federation. It is a 50 meter long space station, striking fear into any naval fleet it goes against. Within the core of the weapon is a single 30cm orange Balmite shard. Its given a constant flow of sun rays that powers it, when fired the Balmite releases this power through the Balmite projector. Devastating the landscape into a scorching pit of melted rock and metal.

### History

On November 24, 6922 CE, an engineer named Anna Williams from the Madison Military Science Institute created a Balmite projector. Using her funding, she went to a Balmite dig site to find the orange Balmite, a rare varient of Balmite located only on Eurokt (modern day use cheap synthetic versions). She used a laptop sized projector to destroy a boulder, blasting a narrow beam that reached 4,000 degrees Celsius, leaving a pile of lava in the rock’s place. The institute was pleased with the raw power the small projector created, garnering funds from a private weapons contracting company called FEDOX, which managed to build a modern day pattern of the SPAC. Before it was considered for use in the military, it had been used for mining equipment and to quell a large uprising on Iris. Burning an entire empty plain of snow, the weapon melted the snow then evaporated the water, melting the ground. They used this to strike fear into the uprising and severely damaged the morale of the rebels, soon putting the rebellion to a swift conclusion. After this grand show of power the Ures Empire used it on a gorgarian dreadnought that was attacking civilian vessels for supplies. Only taking 5 minutes, the single Sunshot melted through the hull of the large ship and destroyed it from the inside. No survivors from this devastating attack were left, leaving the rest of the system terrified.

### Usage:

SPAC are used mostly for naval combat, often never used during ground combat in fear of killing friendlies with its beam. When it's needed planetside, it obliterates any bunkers, cities, or bases. Post fire, the cannon will need to release hatches to vent out the exhaust so it doesn't overheat and melt from the inside. The cannon does have different functions for defense or against a grouped armada. The first fire releases a narrow orange beam that is used for a precise and deep hit. As the workers on the station can change its power for how deep it can go below the surface. Its second fire is an arc style fireball, that explodes on impact on whatever it collided with. This is used to take out the hulls or command centers of ships, the problem with it. It can only be fired once after its vents, along with it being a slower projectile. Lastly its defense emp, if any boarding ships get close to its vicinity, it will release a large radius emp wave disabling the ships for a few minutes. Its recommended to attack from a distance as its barely mobile without a deployer ship. With its pure power and fast assembly, this technological marvel is the greatest weapon humanity has ever built. In the modern day in opposition to Spravac ultrabow armaments, Ures implements these weapons with their carriers with stage 3 AI assitance.

### Notable Deployments:

#### Iris uprising:

Use to evaporate an entire plain of snow and ice as a show of force against the Iris rebels, pacifying them and ending the rebellion with little bloodshed. In the modern day the crater is now a lake that reaches 271169 km wide, morbidly called the Sun Sea by Irisians.

#### Grace Blight War:

In 4667, After establishing a strong community on the colony grace. A blight infestation occurred, at the time this was the first time the public was alerted to their existence and potency. Nearly half of the nascent colony of Grace was consumed by the Blight parasites due to their numbers only over 100,000 condensed in a singular region. King Terrance of the Ures Empire reacted quickly and the 2nd Sunshot Flotilla deployed alongside several divisions of the newly created hazard specialists Red soldiers to evaporate entire swaths of the infected land, eventually bringing an end to the Blight infestion. The aftermath of the event left the original colony of Bakers to a smoldering scorched crater. In the modern day it's left as a memorial to the tragedy as now the Ures people are reminded of what true horrors exist.

#### Battle of Iol:

During the 1st Ures-Gorgarian War, the Uresians used sunshots to obliterate the gorgarian fleet defending Iol. Due to Ures' desire to conquer the planet, they were not used to bombard the surface to preserve its infrastructure and fertility.

#### Spravac-Delta War:

Sunshots were used extensively throughout the Spravac-Delta War in various naval battles across the various fronts. However, since many of the planetary battles were on invaded Ures worlds, they were not used on the ground. However, General David Jackson of Black Division, who was spearheading the counter-invasion efforts on Trox, Malthus, and Ual, used Sunshots to obliterate hundreds of cities and killed hundreds of millions of deentrox and malthale civilians, effectively ending the war but also his career, as David Jackson was tried for war crimes in a multinational tribunal and executed for directly disobeying orders forbidding him from targeting civilian populations.

#### Crake Invasion of Crystaria

During the unholy invasion of Crystaria by the Crakes, the zyyntoreans were aided by an allied coalition of karis and Ures, who wished to express their gratitude for the zyyntoreans assisting in their war against the spravac 5 years prior. The Uresians, at the request of the zyyntoreans, belayed any attempts to bombard the planet, instead using them to target Crake ships to trap the invaders on the planet for the allies to slaughter.