Acadia

## **HMCS Halifax**

*Acadia*

* Iceland

**HMCS Halifax**, commonly known as **Acadia** is a mobile megastructure that was commissioned by the Government of Canada after the Quebec War in order to ensure the survival of Canadian people. The megastructure was designed and built by ANN, the artificial intelligence that was created to govern the structure. After it started moving in June 26, 2032, HMCS Halifax has been treated as an independent entity that was no longer governed by the Government of Canada.

The name Acadia was adopted when Halifax's sister ship, HMCS St. John's was destroyed by an American air assault in 2039. After Acadia's arrival at Europe, it came to be treated as a separate country rather than the representatives of Canada. Since 2083, Acadia has been actively involved in the war against the UK, mainly by disrupting their raids.

After the destruction of HMCS St. John's, the Acadians agreed that a capable military was critical to Acadia's long term survival. After the formation of Acadian Self-Defense Force, the ratio of people involved with the Acadian military rose from 3% when the Acadian SDF was formed to 86% in 2126. The Acadian soldiers are well-known in Europe for their skills and success.

## The Structure

The design for HMCS Halifax was handled by the Royal Canadian Navy between 2023 and 2026. The ship was named after the Halifax class frigates, all of which were lost in the Quebec War. Because the ship designers of the navy were employed in this project, the initial design of HMCS Halifax came in the form of an aircraft carrier capable of moving over ice as well as floating when the ice is not thick enough. The construction of HMCS Halifax as it was designed by the navy never started since there were still disagreements between government agencies on whether an aircraft carrier would meet the requirements of Cartwright Conference. Additionally, the government was unwilling to commit $18 Billion on a structure whose fate would be unknown.

After ANN learned that her purpose was to manage the structure, she evaluated the design and eventually rejected to take part in it unless major changes were made. Over the next month, ANN spent most of her resources redesigning the structure to maximize its survival and satisfy all participants of the Cartwright Conference. When she released her revised design in January 2027, the design had mixed reactions. Initially, because the project called for a budget of $600 Billion over the course of 5 years, her proposal was immediately rejected. In the following two months, however, her influence among the government agencies were so extensive that her proposal was unanimously passed.

The new HMCS Halifax design appeared more like a massive apartment block on tracks than an aircraft carrier. Placed on 8 independently moving electric powered tracks, the main structure is 65 metres tall, 250 metres wide and 450 metres long. All points of the structure is protected by a 12.5-metre hull, which is promised to tolerate even a 1 megaton nuclear explosion.

Acadia is divided into 5 floors (where floor 5 is the lowest floor) and each floor serves a different purpose. At the centre of the first 4 floors is the computing core which is the supercomputer on which ANN first ran on. The heat needs of the whole structure is provided from this core. The first 3 floors are compartmentalized and every part of these floors (aside from the computing core) can be easily repurposed in times of need.