It’s an erp that’s really, really old?
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Erp? Oh, that “common origin” theory. Even my scholars of the FoH don’t think that theory is true. At least not as how everyone who knows it thinks of it.
I don’t know, let alone care what an erp is. We have more pressing matters to contend with.
Well, common origin is pretty much a given. We are the exact same species, with a common genetic source somewhere out there, and there’s plenty of evidence of New Eden being on it’s second (third, fourth? Sod knows) rise of civilization. I just wonder where these ‘Erp’ references come from.
… also, I’m kind of offended at the thought of originating from something called an Erp. “Oh hi, yeah, we’re the Erplings from Erp.” Yeah, no, that’s not a first contact situation I’d be particularly proud of. Ridiculous fiction, clearly.
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… yes, I am well versed in the cannons of New Eden.
Are anyone else having a stroke or is it just me?
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Do you smell burnt toast?
Edit: Wait no I have a better post.
“Well someone here is having a stroke that’s for sure.”
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I apologise. By my scholars, I mean the record keepers of the Followers of Harmony. I have gotten too used to using the abbreviation for it because it spawns questions when they’ve never heard of them before, and I get tired having to explain it all.
And besides, this is no time to talk about my theology. If you want to know more, ask me privately, and I will do my best to respond. All I will say now is they are not really my scholars, they are the scholars of the Followers.
. . . oh my dog. We need to officially name a planet ‘Dump’ just so we can make all the people from there really, really nervous.
“So, you’re Dumplings, huh?”
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I love dumplings, but I do not think that these dumplings would be tasty. I don’t think the Blood Raiders will mind.
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So you replaced the science “magic wand” with the “religion super magic wand”.
When you realize you are stuck in a hole, you need to stop digging it deeper.
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Uh … a couple of questions, Ms. Nieyli.
First, how does it being plasma explain the “lensing” effect?
Second, “plasma” is basically just a term for ionized gas; it can cover everything from (technically) ordinary fire to the material at the core of the ongoing thermonuclear reaction we call “a star.” As noted, we do already have plasma weapons ourselves-- notably particle blasters, frequently used to project antimatter in a plasma state. I’m not sure there was much question plasma was involved; what is it about this plasma that makes it so much, well, worse?
If you’re right, we should maybe be asking what properties argon might have that would make it so widespread in Drifter energy effects as to be, basically, a signature.
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It’s not antimatter plasma, rather it is good old-fashioned superheated gas. Our doomsdays are much more modern than the Drifter weapons. The Argon is a byproduct of boiling liquid air into liquid Nitrogen, liquid Oxygen and, you guessed it, Argon. The Nitrogen and Oxygen get passed through the ship’s cooling system to be turned into gas, which later gets heated by a laser to turn into plasma.
Now, this is where the Argon comes into play. It’s a core part of the targetting system. Even today cargo loading drones use green lasers to gauge obstacles and not hit walls. The way this works is, the laser takes a snapshot of what’s in front of it and sends the data to the computer. If that system is used on a ship, the computer of that ship would now know where to aim the turrets. It’s a very antique technology, but one that works nonetheless. Conversely, taking a snapshot like that makes it hard to hit fast-moving targets.
So, how does the Argon come into play in all this, you say? The way to get a green laser is to pass a regular laser through Argon. Same laser that heats the rest of the gases produced from the Argon distillation. Awfully simple, yet efficient system. Then you guide the plasma into a beam and just vent all the excess Argon and other gases through with it.
The “lensing” effect is not due to the plasma, rather due to the magnetic fields guiding the beam scattering light around. Think of it as a crude almost-invisibility cloak, not very complete, but it’s there.
It’s not strictly worse, it’s just that our weapons research has been going on while the Drifters have been stuck with what they had a long time ago. Their weapons systems are simply outdated and need a complete overhaul to match the sheer destructive potential of today’s capsuleer ships.
I mean, if you look closely at their shielding systems, you’ll perhaps noticed that they have a second layer - one that is a much more specialised electromagnetic field, specifically designed to fend off plasma strikes in particular. That alone points us at the fact that they have not expected to meet any sort of the weaponry that we’re currently toting around.
It also stands to reason that this particular shield limits their own weapons from projecting out, which is why the “doomsday” only comes out once it’s down. Or rather, there’s no doomsday, just the initial strikes are suffering from their own inbuilt defences.
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Except the doomsday fires once, when the overshield drops, and then doesn’t fire again. I think it might be more likely that the doomsday discharge is in fact a result of the overshield shutting down—as if they’d taken all of the energy that would normally be going into the suddenly overloaded outer shield system and vented it… and if you’re going to vent a massive plume of energy in a fight, why not make it targetable?
So far, we have no indications that it can fire a second time. It may need the overshield to recharge before that can happen. So it can’t simply be the outer shield impairing the performance of their weapons, because the performance of the primary armament doesn’t change.
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That also stands to reason. It would simply mean that the energy that was powering that shield layer is redirected and discharged in a shaped manner, producing and guiding a much stronger plasma beam, in order to prevent the feedback from melting the ship’s power core.
Right, but it means that
isn’t what’s happening.
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Then I was wrong on that part. I’m still struggling to achieve the level of minaturisation that’s required to fit a doomsday, even if it is weaker on a battleship and have it able to actually do anything else, like have any space leftover inside it. I haven’t looked at the shielding systems too closely as of yet.
It can. And I am pretty sure that is what is needed, yes.
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Duly noted. Looks like whoever designed this was cutting corners everywhere. A clear military commision, won by the lowest bidder.
Yeah, whatever corner cutting military commission that built a super weapon like that onto a battleship hull can work for me every day of the week.
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The only real hiccup with the proof of concept so far is getting everything to fit on a repurposed Machariel frame.
And it’s corner cutting everywhere.
Targetting system that’s also used to actually power your weapon? Check.
Weapon payload priming also produces coolants, and by the virtue of distilling liquid air to do so also powers the reactor of the ship itself? Check
Charge shaping method by virtue of electromagnetic fields that also double as a defensive shield system? Check
Shield systems that produce a discharge so powerful upon failure that the resulting blast can sometimes topple capital ships? Check.
It just screams “I want to do this as cheaply as possible, so I’m going to make the systems as multifunctional as I can and hope for the best.” The ship is designed in such a precarious way, that if anything onboard fails, everything on board fails, as it’s all part of a single, cohesive chain.
Not something I’d want to fly.
On the other hand, if you’re just an infomorph jumping from ship to ship to ship, I really don’t see a problem with disposable battleship sized superweapons that have enough corners cut that you can churn them out in significant numbers.
And I highly doubt it requires the shield to fall before firing the doomsday. There was nothing firing on the Drifters when they took out Jammies. They can fire that thing at will, and they can do it in the hundreds and toodle off to wherever they came from without delay.
Doesn’t strike me as outdated tech. It strikes me as very purposeful engineering. It’s exceedingly elegant in how it feeds into itself, to be honest. While I’m sure it gets tiresome to hear, I just have to repeat that a few hundred of those in the hands of the right capsuleers - if we could even control the damn things - would be enough to strike down nations. The strategies that open up with unstoppable logistics and travel, titan toppling alpha strikes and nigh instant retreat as a follow-up… well, let’s just say there are people in CONCORD and the various nations spending their nights staring at the ceiling in a cold sweat.