Project ZUES (Federation-American War)

The ZUES Project was an orbital kinetic bombardment weapons platform that was reverse engineered from the wreckage of the American ODIN System. Developed by the Federation over the course of roughly 10 years, the weapons satellite platform was the most advanced piece of space weaponry that had ever been put into space. However, the Federations plans to use it to win the war against the United States of America ultimately backfired, and the system ultimately was condemned and repossessed by the UNSC after the war.

History
The history behind the ZUES Project began in 2077, after X-Day, when the Federation Hijacked the United States Orbital Defense Initiative Weapons Satellite, destroying several American Cities across Southern United States. Given the popularity of space based weaponry, the Federation was eager to get in on the action with there own. Using the Federations renowned "Division for Civilian and Military Research" more commonly known as the Federation Science division, the viability of a Satellite Weapons array was one that needed to be examined.

Between the years of 2078 and 2080, the Federation Science Division strip-mined the charred remains of what was collectively known as "No Mans Land," created from the destruction of the ODIN Satellite. The Federation Contractors and construction engineers strip-mined the wreckage of the No Mans Land, specifically in craters where the kinetic rods from ODIN touched down. Any information was relayed back to the Federations Research & Development team, and the Federation Space Program. In addition, the Federation sent out dive teams to search the wreckage of the ODIN Satellite in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, in which any data was crucial to the development.

By 2082, when the Federation had conquered most of the world, the Federation R&D teams came up with a brand new design for a weapons satellite. The project was presented to the Federation Council of Commanders, who promptly began voting on it. By July of 2083, the Federation's Government had given the green light, and the Federation's First Satellite Array would become operational.

LOKI
The Federation's First step towards the a Satellite Array was to create a Orbital Space Station for the Satellites. The Federation Space station would be codenamed "LOKI" and it would be in charge of coordinating firing from Earths Atmosphere. The Space Station was the biggest of the project, and was the largest of its kind in world history. It took heavy inspiration from the American Freedom Star, but this station ultimately could house a larger crew, hold more supplies, and produced more energy than the Freedom Star.

The LOKI Space Station is armed with an assortment of conventional arms. The reason for this was so the Federation could drop its ground forces anywhere in the world within roughly 60 minutes, 30 minutes faster than the American Freedom Star. In addition, the LOKI Space Station comes with a special Early Warning Detection System, or EWD System, to warn the crew of upcoming threats against the station. This was so that in the unlikely event the station would come under attack by a hostile power, the Federation Crew would have a fighting chance.

The Federation Crew manning the station consists of a large amount of personnel. Just like with the Freedom Star, every 90 days (Three months) the crew would be rotated. However, supplies would be sent up every two months. To achieve this, the Federation had developed several transport rockets that could travel at hypersonic speeds, allowing the operation to be completed 150% faster than the Americans. With Multiple rockets launching from multiple sights, it ultimately was a huge improvement over the Americans.

ZUES
The Federation Satellites, individually at least, are codenamed "ZUES-(Insert designated number)." Each Satellite is about the same size as the American ODIN System, however the difference is that the Federation Weapons Satellites were lighter, so that way the arms could be attached onto the satellite, allowing each one to be sent up fully assembled. This was a big advantage to the American ODIN System, in which the kinetic rods had to be sent up separately from the main unit.

The Federation Satellites came with an assortment of weapons packages. Its first and most powerful were its seven rocket fired guided control rods. These rods were wider than the tungsten rods, but were able to reach the target with a must faster and much more powerful force. The second package is six pockets of six tungsten rods. The rods were smaller than the American Rods, however the smaller meant the faster they could move, and the less they weighed meaning they could do more damage. The first satellite was put into orbit in August 2084, just after Russia entered the war on the side of the US. The Federation continued putting the satellites into orbit up until July 2087, when the UNSC unintentionally discovered the entire operation. Although the Federation tried to complete as many satellites as possible, the UNSC destroyed its factory that was used to develop the satellites. However, by this point, the Federation had sent up 34 ZUES Satellites, although drastically under what the Federation planned, these 34 could do some serious damage.

Even with this greatest achievement, the Federation began to realize there was a serious problem. The weapons array wasn't operational yet, and the Space Station was still waiting on the necessary parts needed to control the full array. This would take some time, time that the Federation didn't have on its side. This lead the Federation rushing everything to completion, and by the time of Operation Scorched Earth, the satellite array was fully operational.

Other Improvements
Several improvements were made over the ODIN System in the effort to improve its effectiveness and its design. The biggest is that the satellites uses tungsten rods smaller than those used by ODIN which allows for less weight, and this higher speeds, meaning deeper impacts, and more damage. This could also effectively be used against the UNSC forces without needing to use the fear of danger close.

Another big improvement was the design of the targeting systems. Each of the 34 weapons platforms were all operated by the LOKI Space Station, or could be controlled by the Federations Space Ground Array. This in which allowed for a greater range of potential targets that can cover several continents at once. In addition to these, the American System wasn't designed so there satellites could be used individually. The Federation worked around this by giving each crew member in charge of firing to select a satellite to use individually.

The biggest improvement though came in the form of the Federation Space Weapons Array in the Atacama Desert in Chile. In addition for the ZUES Satellites being able to be controlled from the LOKI Space Station, it could ultimately be controlled from the Federation Ground Array. The ground array and LOKI Space Station not only had access in which to fire the direction of the rods, but targeting drones would ultimately give highly accurate targeting positions.

First/Final use
On July 5th, 2087, while the LOKI Space Station was beginning to complete its final assembly, the UNSC launched a full scale invasion into the heart of Federation Territory. The targeting system was rapidly put into position, but in the first few hours of the battle, the Federation Space Weapons Array became operational, and almost immediately began to target its weapons platforms invading UNSC Nations. However, as the Federation Managed to reduce the carrier fleet to rubble and began targeting the ground forces, the UNSC using a Federation Medium range ballistic missile destroyed the Federation Space Array down on the ground. Not only did this destroy the EWD, but the LOKI Space Station lost contact with the ground forces.

In that moment, UNSC spacecraft from both the United States, the United Korean Republic, the European Federation, Russian Federation, and India arrived at the Federation LOKI Station and attacked. Many Federation astronauts in space were completely caught offguard, and they were almost unprepared and unready for such a massive attack. As the battle in space looked worse for the Federation, Federation Astronauts intentionally ruptured the oil lines, causing them to explode, flinging Federation and UNSC Astronauts all over the place.

After engaging several Federation squads, the UNSC finally managed to breach the Federation's Command Module. Using special breaching charges on the hatch, decompressing the module. The UNSC managed to kill the Federation astronauts inside and take manual control of the station, and the ZUES Satellites. With coordinates given from the UNSC Command, the UNSC Space forces opened fire with the first few payloads of tungsten rods towards Chile. The resulting battle was very one sided for the UNSC, as the overhead targeting drone essentially help the UNSC pinpoint the Federation reinforcements. The resulting battle saw several Federation tank battalions, air forces, and ground forces obliterated. Afterwards, the UNSC used another two of the payloads and began firing on the Federation Naval Fleet at the coastline. The resulting battle saw three Federation Naval groups, including 5 aircraft carriers, destroyed, evening the playing field for the UNSC.

After the battle in Chile, the UNSC made a drastic decision, one that could change the outcome of the war. The UNSC, using the remaining payloads, targeted the remaining Federation Navy, Federation Army, Federation Air Force, Federation Cities, and Federation Industrial Centers across South America over the next few hours. The continent fell into complete mass hysteria as the UNSC fired down below. By the time the last payload was finally dropped, 90% of the Federation Armed Forces was destroyed, its entire industrial capabilities were on the verge of collapse, and the entire South American Continent had gone through a radical geography change.

This single decision by the UNSC ultimately is what caused the victory for the UNSC at the end of the Federation War. Although many people still question the actions of the UNSC, as countless civilians were lost in the Orbital Bombardment, it ultimately in a span of a few hours tipped the scales in the favor of the UNSC. It was this scale and many other factors that caused the Federation of the Americas to officially surrender to the UNSC on August 13th, 2087, ending the Federation War once and for all.