The Kernfäule torpedo is a three-stage, free-standing weapon designed to surgically pierce and take out capital ships through the creation of a cascade of system failures without directly destroying them. Stage 1: Penetration of shields (Frequency resonance attack) Initial Scan: The torpedo nose cone performs a high-frequency scan in order to measure the resonant frequency of the target ship's energy shield. Anti-Frequency Emission: It emits a counter "anti-frequency" to dissipate the natural vibration of the shield, creating a temporary, unstable bubble in the integrity of the shield. Phase Shift: A subatomic "phase-shift" field then allows the torpedo to pass through this bubble without touching the shield. Shield Restoration: The shield is then re-stabilized when the torpedo has passed through, with no visible sign of the breach left. Stage 2: Hull breach (Molecular disintegration) Physical Penetration: Once having penetrated the shields, the torpedo deploys its physical breach system. Nanite-Reinforced Tip: A self-sharpening, nanite-reinforced tip uses ultra-high-frequency vibrations to "unzip" the hull at a molecular level, allowing for silent penetration. Thermal Lance: Concurrently, a focused thermal lance incinerates internal wiring and layers. This minimizes noise and prevents triggering the ship's automatic defense systems. Void-Counting Fuze: A "void-counting" fuze is intended to track the torpedo trajectory, so it can move through internal bulkheads until it reaches a critical system. Stage 3: Internal destruction (Systemic failure payload) Micronized EMP: The torpedo releases a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that won't destroy electronics but ride the ship's internal power and data bus. It releases a burst of high-frequency "chatter" that pours noise and fake data into critical sensor and data lines and causes internal scanners to report false alarms and disables damage control. Targeted Virus Dispersion: Following the EMP, the torpedo deploys "logic-bomb" nanites. They infect the internal air ducts and vent shafts of the ship, assuming command of critical control systems with a sophisticated virus. The virus introduces minute but fatal flaws, such as slowly destabilizing the reactor, producing poisonous gas in the life support, or derailing the propulsion system. System Failure Cascade: The convergence of the EMP noise and the virus deployment sets off a cascading chain of system failures. The sheer volume of simultaneous spurious and actual problems is designed to flood the crew, rendering the ship a "floating coffin"- disabled, dangerous, and defenseless. Since it is considered a "superweapon", only limited amounts have been made.
