Terraformer

Confederation scientists spent a long time studying the processes that occur during a supernova explosion: how the shock waves of ejected matter blow away the atmospheres of gas giants, and why rocky planets are sometimes torn into asteroids. This ship is the result of that research.

The ship is a flat star with a core at its center. Fourteen rays of varying length carry gravitation collectors and photon engines that pump energy into the core and create a local gravitational anomaly. The ship is too large to transport assembled and must be assembled in orbit.

At a gas giant, the collectors blow away the atmosphere and compress the remaining body into a rocky planet. Conversely, on a lifeless or dead planet the gravitational waves tear it apart into several asteroids. The ship is useless on inhabited home planets and on asteroids; only one terraformer may operate over a planet at a time.

The process releases enormous amounts of energy. An explosion is averted, but after a successful operation the ship is completely destroyed. While operating, the ship cannot join a fleet, cannot move, and needs constant protection.

Object mass: 380268