Technology
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Minovsky Craft System Beam Weaponry Mobile Suits Mobile Armors Medical Tech Armor Materials Core Block Newtypes Psycommu Anti Newtype Tech Please note that the information contained here has been slightly tailored for the RPG, and should not be considered Gundam canon. In order to complete flights between Jupiter, Mars, the Asteroid Belt and Earth, newer, faster methods of transportation had to be devised. Interplanetary spacecraft in the Universal Century used a combination of Solar Sails and Nuclear Pulse Engines to travel between planets. A trajectory is plotted, and the ship accelerates for the first half of its journey, decelerating for the second half. It is worth noting that the time required to make any interplanetary journey will be different, depending on the positions of the two planets in relation to their respective orbits around the sun. Because the math required to design such a system for a role playing game is incredibly complex, we assume that the planets are on fixed positions relative to each other in order to simplify game play. The area around each planet becomes known as the planetary Sphere, and is dotted with way stations and refueling points in order to ease travel. Because of these way stations, planetary travel within this Sphere can be much more freeform, and does not require a fixed trajectory. Military warships especially carry an abundance of extra thruster propellant, in order to use in combat as well as to operate in open space for extended periods of time.
Lagrange Points are a naturally occurring phenomenon in space. They are areas where two bodies gravitational forces counteract one another, creating a pocket of space where a natural equilibrium exists. During normal space travel, a certain amount of fuel has to be expended in order to maintain a correct orbit in relation to a planet. However, at the five Lagrange points this fuel consumption is reduced to nearly zero. The Space Colonies and large Asteroid Fortresses are placed in these positions, in order to minimize the required fuel usage to keep orbit. The vast majority of the next generation technologies of the Universal Century are based around Helium 3, and the abundance of energy given by cold fusion reactions. Helium 3 is mined from the orbit of Jupiter, and fusion reactors using it as a power source are used to power mobile suits, space ships, space colonies, and most other things in the solar system. Solar energy, and to a lesser extent oil, are still used as power sources, but only for specific purposes. After cold fusion started to become the norm, a young scientist by the name of Minovsky recorded a strange particle being created inside the reactors. This particle would later be named the Minovsky Particle, and would have enormous consequences in all avenues of life.
Professor Minovsky had always theorized the existence of this M particle, but the concept was largely rejected by the scientific community. It wasn't until years after his reactor had become commonplace that he discovered the particle. The particles military applications were realized immediately, and Minovsky, a citizen of the newly formed Republic of Zeon at the time, had his research heavily classified by the Zabi family. The particle was a natural byproduct of the Helium 3 fusion reaction, and behaved in many erratic ways, not explainable by conventional physics. The new particle proved to be the cornerstone of a new era, that of Minovsky Physics. The M Particle did a vast number of interesting things. When a large number of them were collected in one area, they conformed to a very tight lattice structure. This lattice, if thick enough, deflected forms of electromagnetic radiation. Even a thin cloud of particles would block radio waves, and dense clouds would blur visible light, and degrade the cohesion of lasers. In addition to this, Minovsky particles would fry circuitry that was not properly shielded, in a similar way to an EMP. However, the particle did not survive very long outside a fusion reactor, and once released would dissipate after only a few hours. Minovsky Particle Fields were used en masse by the Zeon, and later the Federation, during the One Year War. They blocked all forms of radio communication, and rendered most advanced forms of missile guidance ineffective. The M Particle created a battlefield where, despite humanities technology, they would still have to operate most weapons manually, and fight at close ranges, often hand to hand. During the war, nearly all capital ships use equipment to vent Minovsky particles when in combat, creating a protective cloud to block enemy artillery strikes or guided missiles. While individual aircraft and mobile suits don't have the reactor power necessary to create such a cloud, many would arm missiles designed to release a cloud of particles. These would be called M Warheads or M Bombs. Zeon used these devices en masse during the One Week War, catching the missile dependent Federation fleets by surprise. In response to M Particle Fields, military forces quickly began designing ways other than using radios to communicate. Capital ships were equipped with powerful laser transmission systems, which could punch through dense particle fields and give orders to units on the field. However, the equipment required to send a signal strong enough was too bulky to equip on a plane or a mobile suit, so MS pilots had to create inventive ways to communicate amongst each other. Sound waves were not hampered by the field, but yelling over a loudspeaker was not always the best option while fighting an enemy. Flares were often used to communicate between teams, as well as Morse code. All modern weapons of war would be equipped with beacons that could quickly flash coded signals. In addition, a form of effective communication was designed for weaponry via vibrations. If a mobile suit was to grab onto another physically, the vibration system could be used to quietly communicate between the two units. It didn't matter which part of the mobile suits were touching, as long as there was enough contact to pass the message on.
The second application of the M Particle was the creation of the I-Field. It was quickly found that Minovsky particles could be polarized, and a polarized field would repel neutral particles, or particles of a different charge. I-Fields could also be organized in particular shapes, and used to funnel charged or uncharged Minovsky particles in particular ways. I-Fields are used by ships to spread Minovsky particle fields, and are essential in the use of mobile suit beam weaponry and the Minovsky Craft System. Late in the war, Zeon would use them to create a barrier system for their mobile armors, designed to block enemy beam weaponry. The Minovsky Craft is an expensive and bulky system used on some mobile armors and battleships to enable atmospheric flight on an otherwise non-aerodynamic platform. An I-field cushion is suspended under the ship or armor, and Minovsky particles are flooded into the area. The end result is a hovercraft-like effect, allowing the unit equipped with the system to stay buoyant at any altitude. The final application of the M particle was the creation of beam weaponry. Professor Minovsky found that particles that were compressed and charged with enough energy, would transform into a second particle, which he dubbed the Mega Particle. While the M Particle was tiny, the Mega Particle was enormous, and carried an incredible amount of latent energy. These particles could be directed by an I-field to be released in a given direction, and were so high in energy and heat that they would melt any matter they came in contact with. The result was the Mega Particle Cannon.
Mobile Suits would also use the Mega Particle for melee weapons. A Beam Saber created a shaped I-field around an E-Cap serving as both a handle and a battery. The I-field would then be filled with Mega Particles, forming the shape of a sword, axe, spear, or anything else you could imagine. These melee weapons would eat through enemy armor, and since I-fields would repel other I-fields, beam sabers could be used to parry one another. The final important note of beam weaponry was its reaction with Helium 3 particles. While a normal Minovsky reactor is harmless if it is destroyed, if the reactor is pierced by a beam weapon, it causes a chain reaction, and creates an explosion equivalent in force to that of a small nuclear device. For this reason, mobile suit pilots were trained to not hit enemy reactors with their beam weapons if they could help it, and in urban environments or inside space colonies conventional ballistics are often preferred to beam weaponry, in order to avoid collateral damage. Mobile Suits were the result of the Duchy of Zeons need for an all terrain weapons platform, that could operate both inside a space colonies gravity, and in Zero G. They are humanoid weapons, generally between 17 and 20 meters tall. Powered by Minovsky-Ionesco fusion reactors, they have huge hydraulic systems and a skeleton capable of supporting tons upon tons of weaponry and armor. Under gravity, mobile suits are slow and bulky, operating more like large, well armed and armored tanks than like aircraft. However, in space their impressive thrusters allow them to fly in all directions and change their orientation quickly. A system called Active Mass Balance Auto Control, or AMBAC, automatically moves the Mobile Suits limbs in order to shift center of gravity and re-orient the unit in space. This allows the pilot to make quick turns while expending a limited amount of fuel. Fuel consumption was seen as a primary problem with space warfare, and mobile suits were designed to be able to carry as much fuel as possible, and use as little as possible. Early in the war, most mobile suits were armed with hand held or shoulder mounted nuclear weaponry. However, after the Antarctic Treaty was signed, designers created a plethora of conventional ballistics and later beam weaponry for existing models. These weapons often resembled conventional firearms, but while they were held by the mobile suits hands, they used telemetry from the units computer, and could be fired remotely so long as a vibration signal could be sent to the gun.
Following Mobile Suits, Zeon created a number of Mobile Armor models, which were more like small gunships than humanoid weapons. They kept the "mobile" designation, since they would standardly use AMBAC to conserve fuel in space combat. However, they were more like small warships, using high powered weapons to punch through enemy lines. The Federation did not see much use in Mobile Armors, since they were expensive and, while capable of terrorizing enemy warships, were vulnerable to the smaller Mobile Suits.
While most mobile suits used solid ceramic or titanium armor plates, many mobile suits had reactive platings affixed to the outer layer of their armor. These plates would explode when struck, counteracting the force of enemy ballistics. While effective, the ablative plates would only work until all of the reactive armor layers had been ignited. When the Federation started its mobile suit project, one of the end results was the development of a new sort of armor. Using an alloy of mineral deposits only found on the moon and some asteroids, the Federation created Luna Titanium. While it was not resistant to beam weaponry, Luna Titanium was all but impervious to conventional ballistics, able to ignore fire from machine guns and smaller missiles. The downside to the new armor was availability and cost. The Federation was only able to outfit about five percent of its mobile suits with the new armor, and only ever built one capital ship made from the alloy. Beam Resistant Armor was originally developed by Zeon, but was later used by the Federation as well. It used certain materials that were known to dissipate the energy made by Mega Particles in order to stop beam weaponry. Instead of the beam melting straight through the armor on contact, the armor would evaporate when hit, absorbing the energy of the beam. The main problem with this anti-beam armor was the use of gold, one of the elements required in this process. Few mobile suits were made with this armor due to cost concerns. The most important Federation mobile suits were equipped with a Core Block, designed as a high tech escape capsule for the pilot. The cockpit was actually a fully functioning fighter aircraft, that would dock inside of the mobile suits frame, linking up with it. This system was expensive, and was generally only used on test models and prototypes, in order to safeguard test pilots and testing data. Some Zeon models were equipped with similar escape systems, but they were never as advanced as the Federations Core Block.
The Psycommu System was a mechanical device that could receive messages directly from a Newtypes brain. This system was invented by Professor Flanagan of Side 3, and was used as a weapon by the end of the One Year War. A mobile suit equipped with a Psycommu was capable of being controlled with a much faster reaction time than a conventional unit, since the Newtype pilot could input commands directly using their mind. The Psycommu also allowed a pilot to control powerful remote weapons. Mobile armors were designed that carried things called Bits or Funnels, essentially a single Mega Particle Cannon with an assortment of thrusters. This allowed Newtypes to orchestrate devastating attacks from all angles, and at all ranges. However, Psycommu systems were known to cause feedback in the pilots proportional to the range at which the remote weapons were used. This limited the maximum range of the system, as it would become possible for a Newtype to kill themselves if they overused the Psycommu system. More modern Psycommus designed after the end of the war would mitigate this feedback. While Zeon put a lot of research and funding into their Newtype weapons development program, the Federation spent resources on finding ways to counter Newtypes on the battlefield. They developed two main technologies, the EXAM system and the use of AI controlled mobile suits. EXAM took a living Newtypes brain and encased it within a life support system inside of a mobile suit. By directly linking the two together in a similar way to prosthetic limbs, the Newtype could interface with the weapon without the use of a Psycommu. However, finding a willing subject for this experiment was impossible. The lead researcher, Dr. Chlust Morses, ended up using Marion Welsch, one of his lab assistants, for the prototype against her will. Her brain was placed inside the prototype mobile suit Blue Destiny, and the transfer process did considerable mental damage to the young girl. While technically the project was a success, Marion hated the military and the war for doing what it did, and she would often take control of the Blue Destiny away from its human pilot, going on a rampage and killing both friends and foe. After the failures of the EXAM, research was done to create a mobile suit that was piloted exclusively by a computer AI. While the project could not produce an AI with as much piloting skill as an ace pilot, a computer controlled weapon had one enormous advantage over Newtype soldiers. Since it had no living pilot, it could not be detected by a Newtypes senses. |
