That the “Ulysses 1994XF04” asteroid would impact the Earth, was announced to the world in April of
1996. Its unique, largely hollow makeup all but guaranteed that upon entering Earth’s atmosphere,
the asteroid would shatter into thousands of fragments and bombard the world with
the force of two million nuclear warheads. The date of impact would be July 3rd, 1999,
thereafter forever known as Ulysses Day. The continents of Usea and Anea were predicted
to suffer the greatest damage and their respective nations led the defense effort.
Many projects were proposed, and many built, but only one would engage Ulysses directly.
Today, human civilization still exists in the areas that found themselves on the wrong side
of the world solely because of the Spaceguard Turret Network, better known as Stonehenge.
Resembling the ancient prehistoric monument from which it drew its name,
the Spaceguard Turret Network consisted of eight sectors arranged in a circular formation,
each housing a single railgun turret. Officially designated "120 cm anti-air-and-surface,
gunpowder-and-electromagnetic hybrid acceleration-based semi-automatic fixed-gun
system", the turrets were in fact not true railguns, but rather “electromagnetic launchers”,
due to the combination of the propellants it utilized. This hybrid design was selected to
prevent excess heat from warping the barrels, an absolute necessity as its projectiles were
to be launched at a velocity of six kilometers a second - roughly 18 times the speed of sound.
Control of the turrets was directed by a synthesized network located underground
beneath the main circular ring. It housed 8192 supercomputers, split into 1024 sets of eight,
each capable of performing nine billion floating point arithmetic operations per second.
Together, Stonehenge as a whole was capable of 100 trillion operations per second,
based on data collected from orbiting satellites, planetary observatories,
weather models, and other methods of obtaining information on atmospheric conditions. In the
event this control network failed, each cannon also had a range table, although
its ability to intercept asteroids without a computerized fire-control system was negligible.
With each turret in operation, Stonehenge had an effective range of 1,200 kilometers,
spanning from Eursea’s capital of Farbanti on the western coast of Usea, to the Faith
Park Gorge in the east. It could fire a wide array of specially designed ammunition, though
the use of several types was restricted except in special cases under international treaties.
Rumors have continued to circulate that the design and construction
of Stonehenge was underway well before Ulyssess was announced to the public,
and potentially even before the asteroid was discovered. The selection of the Hatties Desert as
the site of its construction drew protests across the historically neutral country of San Salvacion,
due to both the region’s cultural background and fears of an international military presence.
A human ring around the proposed site was briefly formed, before the protests were disbanded.
The development of Stonehenge was amongst the largest engineering projects ever attempted,
requiring a central executive committee with over 28 different design departments. It was
a true international effort, involving not only the nations of Usea, but dozens across the world.
The main site was completed in June of 1998, though the railguns would be delivered only
gradually throughout the next few months. The first test firing occurred in September that
same year. The triumph of the project’s completion was somewhat tarnished when
updated impact models revealed that Ulysses fragments would strike a much larger area
than had first been estimated. These included many areas on the neighboring continent of
Anea well outside the range of Stonehenge. Additionally, a planned orbital laser system had
been destroyed in the Usean coup d'état, leaving the Stonehenge as the only operational defense.
On July 3rd 1999, the Spaceguard Turret Network commenced operations against Ulysses,
intercepting thousands of fragments over the following weeks.
Though the network performed flawlessly, it could not prevent every impact. 500,000
people were killed across Usea, with even one of the railguns itself disabled by a nearby
asteroid strike. A mass extinction across the continent however, had been prevented.
The geopolitical fallout from the impacts transformed Stonehenge from a planetary
defense system into the most important strategic weapon in the world. In the Summer of 2003,
amidst a worsening refugee crisis and accelerating tensions on Usea, the Federal Republic of Erusea
invaded San Salvacion and took control of the turret network. Its seizure would
mark the start of the Continental War between Erusea and the Independent State Allied Forces.
With control of Stonehenge, Erusea was able to erase allied airpower across the continent
and cover the advance of its armies. Combat losses to Stonehenge were so severe that Allied planners
were forced to concede that any counter-attack on the continent would be impossible until the
railguns were disabled or destroyed. Early attacks by veteran ISAF squadrons and special forces on
Stonehenge were all countered, but the escape of several engineers who worked on the project
from Erusean detention, revealed critical insights into the network’s vulnerabilities.
On April 2nd, 2005, ISAF launched Operation: Stone Crusher, which successfully disabled the
seven remaining railgun turrets. The outcome of the operation was widely credited to ISAF
pilot “Mobius-One” who would end the war as one of the most legendary aces in military history.
The destruction of Stonehenge was immediately recognized as the turning point of the conflict,
and Erusea surrendered less than 6 months later.
For 15 years, Stonehenge was left abandoned in the desert, until it unexpectedly became
of critical importance during the “Lighthouse War” of 2019. In much the same way in which it
had first seized control of Stonehenge, Erusea had taken control of two Osean Aerial Arsenal Ships,
known as the Arsenal Birds, and used them to pursue a war against Osea itself. Protected
by powerful energy shields that made them impervious to every conventional weapon,
the Osean Army undertook a secret program to repair the last remaining Stonehenge railgun,
disabled by Ulysses some two decades earlier.
In a dangerous and risky operation, the Arsenal Bird was lured into Stonehenge’s airspace,
and the railgun fired manually. Such was the power of Stonehenge that this single shot destroyed the
most advanced military aircraft in the world, shattering its supposedly impervious shields.
Its firing however also destroyed the aging turret,
ensuring its shot against the Arsenal Bird would be its last.
Stonehenge has once again been reduced to a rusting ruin in the desert,
but its importance to the world will never be forgotten. Millions of lives are owed
to Stonehenge, and hundreds of thousands were claimed in the wars to control it.
Perhaps some redemption might be found in the fact that while the first shots it fired at
rival nations ignited a war, its final shot ended one. Because of this, Stonehenge might have even
more power now than it did while in operation. It can finally live up to its namesake; becoming a
monument to what can be achieved, and a warning for what must be avoided for the sake of peace.