Numguinitiso paste

Numguinitiso paste  is a spicy condiment, light orange in color, that also acts as a mild numbing agent.  Slightly gritty in texture, it is a rare delicacy from the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns.  Humans generally enjoy numguinitiso paste on chicken or vegetables, mostly as a way to make relatively bland foods more interesting.  The numbing properties of numguinitiso paste make it a somewhat risky condiment, as many people have choked when their throats became too numb to swallow properly. 

Numguinitiso paste was invented around GC 1230 by the Vangalri chef Nalgax Blom.  The main ingredient in  numguinitiso paste is the same flying jellyfish-like creature that is also the base for the popular desert blovonde, but it is treated in a chemical bath that radically changes its properties. 

Civil Defense Battleoid

The civil defense battleoid is a classic design in the history of the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns.  Dating back before the 1,000 Years war, it was a common sight on garrison duty, defending cities, and even on the outer hulls of space habitats and capitol ships.  While many of its systems were upgraded, the basic design of the civil defense battleoid changed very little over the history of the empire.

Capabilities

The civil defense battleoid had two arms slung below the center of its body, these could be used to wield a number of different weapons and other equipment. 

The "eye" at the front of its body housed both a searchlight and a powerful laser cannon. 

The body housed a large deflector shield to supplement the battleoid's weaker than average armor.

The feet of the battleoid contained powerful electromagnets that allowed it to operate on the outer hulls of star-ships.

The civil defense battleoid was designed to be operated by a single pilot who entered and exited through a hatch on the under-side of the body directly behind the arms.

Spinoffs and variants

The design of the Convergence scout walker was based on the civil defense battleoid, with many of its systems being directly copied.

E1MS Artillery Pod

Overview

The Artillery Pod was an important weapon in the armory of the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns.  Before the 1,000 Years War, these walking artillery pieces were, for the most part, fully robotic.  During the war; however, they defected to the Cult of Troniac in large numbers, and subsequently, were manufactured almost exclusively for operation by an organic pilot.

Heavily armed and armored, but slow and ponderous, the Artillery-pod was often used to set up fortified positions, especially in rough terrain. 

E1MS "Sapling" Rifle

The "Sapling" was the standard rifle chassis for most of the history of the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns. 

An unadorned Sapling, as might be seen in field use.

For formal inspections, parades, etc., the Sapling is often seen adorned in Imperial Green.

History

First developed during the 1,000 Years war, it saw continuous service (albeit with many variations and upgrades) until the period between the Great Reckoning and the War of the Empires.  Many later claimed that the E1MS might have won the War of the Empires if they had stuck with their traditional arms instead of upgrading to higher tech designs provided by the remnants of the Planetary League.

The E1MS also used the Sapling as a foreign policy tool, gifting it (or the designs to build it) to nearly anyone willing to fight the enemies of the Empire. 

The Cult of Troniac also made extensive use of the Sapling, (especially during the 1000 Years War), as many early conversions to the faith were robots that built the Sapling in the Empire's military machine.

Over time, this weapon was produced in such large numbers, and the designs to create it were so widely available, that most criminal enterprises, insurgencies, and warring factions throughout the galaxy had at least a few of them in their armories.

Variants

There were three main variants of the Sapling in use throughout most of its career. 

The first was the laser rifle, which was the most widely used as it required only electricity to operate, and was therefore the simplest to keep in service.  It was also the cheapest to mass-produce.  This simplicity was offset by the fact that a foe could deflect the laser by presenting an appropriately reflective surface.  Most laser rifles could be switched between "single shot" mode, which activated the laser briefly, and "continuous beam" mode which would operate until either the trigger was released or the power cell discharged.

The second main variant was the rail-gun, which used electromagnets to launch kinetic projectiles.  This necessitated carrying ammunition in addition to power cells.  The projectiles came in a variety of variants with various properties, such as armor-piercing, hollow-point, etc.

The third, and most complex of the standard variants was the plasma-bolt rifle.  This version launched a magnetic core surrounded by charged plasma.  It had the most complex ammunition, consisting of a power cell, a magazine of cores, and a cylinder of gas.  This was a logistical hassle that helped make this the least used of the main variants of the Sapling.  In addition to the damage caused by the magnetic core (its self a kinetic projectile), the plasma fired by this weapon could damage electrical circuits, super-heat armor, and burn flesh.  If the specialized ammunition was unavailable, this version could also fire the projectiles made for the rail-gun variant as well. 

Accessories

Being such a widely-produced weapon for such a long time lead to a plethora of accessories and modifications being created for the Sapling from the mundane to the exotic.

Other Notes

The Sapling rifle was designed to be used by Cielioids, and as such, the trigger is about twice the size as what a human would normally use.  (Cielioids have only two large fingers on a hand about the same width of a human hand.)  This makes operation of the rifle by humans awkward, but not by any means impossible.  During Era-2, one of the most popular modifications for the Sapling was to replace the handle and trigger with something more amenable to human hands.

The Graviscope

First invented late in Era-0, the graviscope is an instrument that makes gravitational waves visible.  The first graviscopes were large and unwieldy, mainly used in ground-based observatories.  The graviscope revealed much about space, showing the locations of black holes, dark matter clusters, and many other objects that would not otherwise have been found.

Graviscopes are also useful for detecting ships traveling faster than light, as doing so distorts the fabric of space-time, creating gravitational waves.

Midway through Era-1, graviscope technology was developed to the point that it became a practical instrument for space voyages.  As a result, space travel became substantially safer.  Ships that would have previously been lost in gravitational-wave storms, or swallowed by black holes were able to avoid these fates.

Early graviscopes were based on laser interferometry, while later designs changed to a mechanism combining nanotechnology with the exotic material known as gravitonium.

There was a previous version of the graviscope used in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, but it was never developed there beyond the level of the ground-based observatory.  The legendary engineer Kroah Dashan wrote a famous treatise on the use of graviscope data in finding the optimal placement for stargates.

Star-gates

Description

Star-gates are ring-shaped machines that directly connect two locations in space.  All star-gates are constructed in pairs that connect to one another.  They are huge and very expensive to create.  The two halves are built together, and then, after the gate has been activated, the two pieces are separated, one going to either location that is to be connected.  Once activated, there is no way known to shut down a star-gate.  The construction of star-gates requires large amounts of exotic, and hard to obtain substances.  The absolute minimum size a star-gate can be is about 500 Meters in diameter.  If one half of a star-gate is destroyed, both halves will explode with a colossal amount of energy. 

History

In the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, the star-gate was invented well before the 1,000 Years War.  The legendary engineer, Kroah Dashan, oversaw the creation of a dense network of star-gates that protected imperial shipping routes from piracy, but also helped keep the Empire provincial.

Within the E1MS, and in a few other places, there are some ancient, dormant star-gates, known as the Zanathian Gates.  They are rumored to have been built by a civilization even older than the E1MS.

In human space, Star-gates were invented midway through Era-1, but the Planetary League only ever built a handful connecting a few major systems and regional capitols.  The Holy Empire of Man built a few more during Era-2.  Era-3 saw a dramatic rise in the use of star-gates, after the Galactic Republic discovered a more economical means of production.

The Nalaxian Code

The Nalaxian Code is the only algorithm known that is strong enough to defeat the Creed of Troniac.  It was developed in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns during the 1,000 Years War, as part of the development process of General Zarlok.   The code was created by the Grand Nalaxian, a sentient complex of spawning pools on Artanis 4 that served as that planet's governor.