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In 2293 Rorttman began research on an advanced energy weapon. These high-tech weapons create high energy mesons and direct them at targets. Mesons have short lives, which can be prolonged to precise duration by accelerating them to relativistic speeds. Range is set by varying the velocity of the mesons. Mesons can pass through armor and matter without resistance. They do not interact significantly with other particles, and matter is therefore transparent to them. However, in a short time mesons decay into high-energy particles which do interact. If the point of decay is manipulated to occur inside the target ship, the result is high energy explosions and radiation damage. In a meson beam, the mesons travel to their target where they decay and release a large amount of energy. To conduct their experiments with the prototype Meson Guns, Rottorman constructed an insolated research facility on Hochbaden. They had completed several test models of the weapon and were constructing a larger version to be tested against orbital targets Just before the Kafer attack in 2301, Rorttmann delayed the program by shutting down the hidden facility due to the high costs of the program and what seemed liked several incidents of sabotage. The lab and its program were forgotten until several Rorttman assets were recently purchased by AusCo Aerospace. AusCo was excited about the possibilities of this new weapon, especially with the Kafer threat looming larger than before. While the mission seems like a simple few days of hard work, the truth is much different.

The original experiments were delayed by deliberate sabotage. The French government feared the development of a new German weapon that might shift the balance of naval power along the French Arm. The French managed to bribe key Rorttmann personnel to load viruses and hidden programs into the facility’s computer core. At key times, the programs would activate and cause havoc among the automated construction robots. Rorttmann wrote the accidents off due to the experimental nature of the robots and the hasty programming often used to run them.