Feedback GDE-RS5 Molecular Reactive Shield Array

[Martin Draigo]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To develop an advanced, scalable shield array system for use in newer starship designs.
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PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer:
  • GDI Incorporated
    • Guardian Defense Engineering (Subsidiary)
• Affiliation: GDI Incorporated
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: ‘Guardian Defense Engineering’- Molecular Reactive Shield Array Mk V
• Modularity: Can be scaled up or down in size depending on the size of the ship utilizing the shield system.
• Production: Minor
• Material:
  • Agrinium
  • Chromium
  • Durasteel
  • Transparisteel
  • Power Conversion Components
  • Molecular Power Dispersion Relays (See Special Features)
  • Reactive Shield Hardeners (See Special Features)
  • Micropoles
  • Cold Plasma Cooling System
  • Emergency Energy Dissipation Modules
  • Shield Array Technology

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Molecular Shielding Basis: While the GDE-RS5 Reactive Shield Array possesses shield generators covering a wide variety of resistances, the overall basis of design is that of molecular shielding technology. As the GDE-RS5 receives incoming damage from enemy armaments, it utilizes molecular power dispersion relays to aid its host ship’s reactor system in recharging/bolstering the efficacy of its ancillary shield systems.
• Reactive Shield Hardeners: Guardian Defense Engineering has achieved a breakthrough in shielding technology with the advent of advanced components they’ve dubbed ‘Reactive Shield Hardeners’, which are proprietary to this shielding system. Their function is rather simple, but no less revolutionary. As damage is tanked by the shielding system, the hardeners begin modulating the shield array to harden the overall system to the specific types of damage coming in. Functionally, what it really does is communicate with the Molecular Shielding System to increase power redirection to the appropriate ancillary generators which are more attuned to said specific damage types (such as ray shields, particle shields, solar ray shields, etc). Although this could be done manually by a starship’s engineering crew, these modules automate the process, thus increasing the overall stability and strength of the shielding system. Given this automation process, these hardeners give the impression they ‘bolster the strength’ of said shielding system, when in reality they simply streamline the process already at play in most military-grade starships by reducing actions that could take minutes into mere seconds.
• Modular Shield Array Configuration: This shielding system is GDI’s attempt to streamline the implementation and application of all known shielding systems, as noted below:
  • Deflector Shields
  • Ray Shields
  • Particle Shields
  • Thermal Shields
  • Electromagnetic Shields
  • Solar-Ray Shields
  • Basic shielding systems, such as Ion, Relativistic, Magnetogravitic, and other non-exclusively combat centered shielding systems.

STRENGTHS

• +Scalable: The GDE-RS5 is designed to be scalable for all manner of starships to varying degrees of effectiveness. That said, it is recommended for use in ships 1,000 meters or larger in size for maximum optimization.
• +Extremely Durable: Given its aforementioned Molecular and Reactive bases of design, as well as the ability to rather seamlessly integrate with a myriad of other shielding systems; the GDE-RS5 Shield Array is an extremely durable shielding system capable of absorbing, redirecting, and harnessing massive amounts of damage into energy for use by its host ship. Overall, this is a very flexible and adaptable shielding system.
• +Supplemental Energy: As noted above, the GDE-RS5 is capable of harnessing incoming damage into energy for use in boosting its ancillary shielding systems. This thusly reduces the normal demand placed upon ship-board reactor systems in maintaining shield levels during high stress situations, allowing for the reactor to be diverted in powering armaments or other important subsystems.

WEAKNESSES

• -Intricate: Although this system was designed with scalability in mind, there are limitations with regard to ships smaller than 1,000 meters. Specifically, the process involved in harnessing normally destructive energy from opposing weapon systems and transferring it for use within the system’s host ship involves significant processing power, as well as considerable energy drawn from the ship-board reactor. While the system is designed to ease the overall energy consumption of the entirety of the shield array overall, both factors result in the inescapable fact that a ship below the 1,000 meter limit cannot utilize the system to its fullest extent, even with an advanced reactor or cpu system; unless it is a highly advanced ship with limited production (basically, a ship below 1,000 meters cannot expect to fully utilize this system unless it is at least ‘limited’ in production. Otherwise, the ancillary shielding systems listed previously would be limited in the sense of how this system amplifies their effectiveness. Only 1 system would be able to benefit in that case.)
• -Energy Focused: This shield system’s ability to harness and redirect incoming firepower into energy is most effective against various forms of ‘energy’ based weapon systems. Ballistic munitions are more effective at bypassing the molecular structure of the main shield, thus reducing the overall efficiency of the system in harnessing said energy for consumption. In such a case, the reactive hardeners would be the only means of harnessing the sheer ballistic energy of a munition’s impact against the host ship’s ancillary shield systems, reducing the intended effect by half in such a scenario.
• -Focus Fire!: The main weakness of this shield system is the event in which the host ship is targeted with weapons that engage all of the system’s ancillary shield generators over a prolonged period of time. As previously described, the shield effectively ‘hardens’ when exposed to certain damage types by generating and redirecting said energy to the appropriate ancillary shield generators to essentially empower the shield most attuned to that damage type. In a situation wherein nearly all different damage types are being focused on the host ship, the shield would hold (and even thrive) for a short-medium period of time. But if such focused firepower were sustained for a long period of time, the shield system’s energy harvesting would eventually become overwhelmed to the point wherein the molecular and/or reactive features would shut down to prevent critical overload.
  
  The ancillery shield systems would remain online to protect the ship from continual damage, but the molecular and reactive infrastructure would need to be rebooted, and the stored energy harvested prior to the overload would need to be dissipated via the system’s emergency energy dissipation modules. Once back online, the system would return to normal operation - but the blackout period would allow for the shield system to sustain damage considered ‘normal’ by other shield systems.

DESCRIPTION
With the expansion of GDI’s starship development program, its sub branch ‘Guardian Defense Engineering’ saw fit to develop a proprietary, advanced shield system for use in the company’s capital-grade vessels. During the conception-phase of development, GDE’s designers felt the need to make their offering unique, so as to stand out in the marketplace and make their ships ‘one of a kind’. After a trial and error period involving four prior iterations, they finally perfected the technology behind the GDE-RS5’s energy harnessing and redirection operation.

Its development is revolutionary within the shield system market, as for the first time - a ship can be outfitted with an array capable of covering nearly all damage types, while also easing the burden upon reactor systems by utilizing the very energy used in attempts to damage said ship. The GDE-RS5 is currently exiting trial phases and being implemented in mainline ship designs under development by GDE, but its potential is truly inspirational. The effect has been noted in GDI’s valuation on the galactic stock exchange, with the company’s overall value maintaining its dominance as opposed to its competitors.

Many experts believe this latest technological release to be a precursor to the company’s long anticipated initial release of capital grade starships, with rumors circulating that its first entry into the highly competitive market being a carrier utilizing this very technology, with the implication being a keen focus on defensive staying power.