Unreviewed RD-XD7 Adaptive Shield Augment

[FN-999 (restored)]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To develop a defensive countermeasure to protect shields from energy leech weapons.
• Image Source: Artstation - Miner's Mettle Mini Shield Generator by Hemanta Chetia
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: Artstation - Miner's Mettle Mini Shield Generator by Hemanta Chetia

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Rim Dynamics
• Affiliation: Rim Dynamics | Caragachi Commonwealth
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: RD-XD7 Adaptive Shield Augment
• Modularity: None
• Production: Limited
• Material: Corondum, copper, gold, agrinium coating

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Shield Attachment: The RD-XD7 can be physically attached to a shield generator by connecting its wiring to that of the generator before being secured in place by exterior clamps. Alternately, the Augment can be attached to an outlet connected to both the shield generator and the generator powering it.
• Anti-Leech Features: The RD-XD7 effectively counters shield leech weapons by altering the behavior of an existing deflector shield at the atomic level. To this end, the Augment instructs the shield to ionize its own atoms, utilizing electrons to increase the potential energy inside the shield while reducing by its rigidity. Furthermore, the Augment modifies the shield to give way in sections where kinetic force has been applied before quickly restoring itself. As a result, energy leech weapons can only deprive energy from sections of a shield they make direct physical contact with, usually affecting no more than a square meter of shielding.

STRENGTHS

• Anti-Leech: The RD-XD7 counters energy leech weapons by automatically disabling regions of a shield immediately within and surrounding a kinetic impact, reducing by up to 95% the amount of energy a leech weapon can take from a shield.
• Easy Fit: The RD-XD7 can be attached to nearly any capital ship, space station, large vehicle, or fortification without needing modification or an additional power source.
• On/Off Switch: Since the RD-XD7 can be manually enabled or disabled with little delay, it is possible for captains to enable their shield coat the moment it is attacked by energy leech weapons and then disable it to launch a kinetic counterattack immediately afterwards.

WEAKNESSES

• Single Layer: The RD-XD7 can only cover a single layer and type of deflector shield, offering no benefits to other layers of shielding even if multiple Adaptive Shield Augments are fitted to a single ship.
• Multi-Shot: If more than one shield leech weapon is fired at the exact same spot and both projectiles impact a shield within a second of each other, the second projectile will bypass the augmented shield, hitting the hull or unaugmented shield beneath.
• Two-Way Barrier: While active, the RD-XD7 makes a shield behave like a particle shield, regardless of what type of shield is being augmented. Consequently, a ship will be unable to fire its kinetic weapons or missiles (if any are equipped) without hitting its own shields.

DESCRIPTION

For Alge Imperial, an anti-energy leech barrier has been a long time coming.
​

From Dac to Caragach, half a dozen Alge-produced capital ships have been crippled or destroyed by Thunderbolt missiles, with two of them being large Star Destroyers. These disasters represent by far the most costly losses of AISI warships in battle, and for years the corporation has attempted to develop an effective countermeasure not only to Thunderbolts but to all weapons of their kind.

Though it would take tens of millions of credits and countless failed prototypes, eventually a breakthrough was made. Rather than trying to develop an entirely new form of defense, AISI’s engineers instead decided to modify existing deflector shields using an augment device to alter shield behavior on an atomic level.

Though it could only be applied to a single layer of deflector shield and could be bypassed by two or more leech weapons hitting the same spot in quick succession, the RD-XD7 proved overwhelmingly reliable in the majority of situations. Furthermore, to help mask these vulnerabilities, captains are encouraged to keep their ship mobile and make good use of other defensive countermeasures, minimizing the chance of a multi-shot impact capable of bypassing the shield augment.