Work In Progress Myka Ionic Destabilization Field

[Gristle]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: A piece of spaceship hardware for the Myka which offers a protective solution instead of a shield, and provides a formidable weapon without being inherently lethal. Something that will hopefully be fun to write against and use.
• Image Source: N/A
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: Ion Cannons | Electromagnetic Pulse | Demp Carbine | Ionizing Radiation

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Ykaradan Colony
• Affiliation: Bryn'adul-Xaelesh Protectorate | Myka affiliated with the Ykaradan Colony or BXP
• Market Status: (Closed-Market)
• Model: MIDF-Y
• Modularity: No.
• Production: Limited
• Material: Myka Resin, Solar Particle / Cosmic Ray Collector, Particle Ejector, Myka Bioframe

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Generates a field of highly-ionizing radioactive particles around its origin which rapidly overheats and deactivates electronic devices.
• Prolonged exposure to the ionizing field may cause damage to organic beings such as hallucinatory episodes, mental blocks, and other neural "short-circuiting"
• Not blocked by standard or ray shields unless these have been specially configured to deal with the field. Even these may struggle to maintain significant exposure to the ion storm.

STRENGTHS

• Ion Field - The MIDF-Y is capable of shutting down electronic, electrical, and computational machines, cybernetics, devices, etc. that enter into a radius of approximately 8 kilometers of its vessel. This is a surprisingly rapid effect with non-hardened or specialized electronics surviving only seconds before fusing or becoming inoperative, and military-grade or specialized electronics shutting down within minutes. Notably, the field generates from its origin point and is designed not to affect the vessel it is attached to. Laser beams (the kind made of energy, not of burning plasma) may also fizzle out before reaching their target upon impacting the field.
• Self-Perpetuating - The MIDF-Y is self-powered and self-refilled utilizing a series of devices that collect solar particles and cosmic rays to utilize as its ammunition and power source respectively. As long as the MIDF-Y is in the relative nearness of a solar system, it can operate without interference for nearly a decade before degrading to uselessness, even if the vessel it is on has been disabled or unpowered.
• Sensor Blind - The fluctuating radiation and ionizing effect of the MIDF-Y prevents easy scanning and analysis of the vessel it is attached to. Results returned from the field will likely be extremely garbled and nearly unreadable if they provide any information whatsoever. The occasional spikes in radiation have been known to blow out the eardrums of the unsuspecting sensor technician who decides to scan a vessel hosting a MIDF-Y.

WEAKNESSES

• Friendly Fire - The MIDF-Y is not something that can be easily targeted or directed. It encompasses the area surrounding the ship it is upon and affects anything within this range including allied or friendly devices or starships. The sole exception to this are other ships possessing their own MIDF-Y's whose protective bubbles "press" against one another and allow them to be closer than would normally be possible. This does not remove the field; it only condenses it.
• Shield Breaker - The nature of the MIDF-Y means that a starship that hosts it cannot utilize shields, ray shields, or anything similar. If these are possessed whatsoever then they must be completely turned off before MIDF-Y activation or risk being burned out in the process.
• Comms Offline - The massive sensor blindness extends to most communication channels and energy waves. This means that a ship with an active MIDF-Y cannot typically transmit complex messages or data to other vessels. Optics are unaffected by this field, so something equivalent to a visual "flag code" could still allow communication, as well as other visual methods of communication.
• Blind Spot - To prevent self-damage, the MIDF-Y field does not become damaging until it is roughly two hundred meters away from the vessel. This means that a small fighter craft can ostensibly get close enough to the MIDF-Y ship that it is no longer affected by the field, though how it would get there unharmed is a different matter.

DESCRIPTION
As the Myka left their extragalactic home to ally themselves with the Bryn'adul-Xaelesh Protectorate, it became apparent that the great motherships that typically formed their mobile fortresses would need to undergo serious upgrades to have any chance whatsoever of surviving the coming conflicts. Data provided by other remnants of the alliance allowed them to better understand the nature of their galactic opponents, and so research was devised to bring current Myka ship-building practices into line with necessity.

Leading the foray into the galaxy's conquest was the Ykaradan colony. With their enormous population and their close relationship with other members of the Protectorate, it was no surprise that they would be able to create more applicable prototypes and technological advancements than their kin.

The Myka had little experience in the creation of shields, and though these seemed to be fairly ubiquitous throughout the galaxy, the insectoids understood that they would almost certainly always be outmatched in this field. Instead, they fixated on the ways that they could nullify the shields of others and still provide defensive measures for their craft. Of particular importance to this cause was maintaining information security so that the threat that the Myka posed to the galaxy could be kept secretive, and their implements of war could be kept hidden.

To that end, the production of the MIDF-Y was begun.

The MIDF-Y is operated and powered by a typical Myka Bioframe. The device itself is placed at the exterior of the vessel and is fed a mixture of solar particles that have already received a charge, and assorted silicate sources that are collected mid-flight and are exposed to increasingly high levels of cosmic radiation until they have achieved the requisite ionization. Upon activation of the machine, these particles are released outward into an orbit surrounding the ship. If the ship moves, then additional particles are released and ionized. As the particles maintain relatively low charges, this field must be maintained regularly, and there are no long-lasting "dead zones" created in the wake of the ship's movement.

While the MIDF-Y is not a perfect tool by any means, it provides significant protection against energy-based weaponry, and against the arrival of enemy vessels and starfighters which are forced to maintain their distance or be shut down. It also means that scanning and information-gathering on the Myka starships is left vague and poor which suits their needs to maintain secrecy about their actions and the makeup of their ships.