Category:Shields

Shields are the primary defense of any notable star navy. These energy fields are capable of resisting almost anything that is thrown at it until they are overwhelmed by continuous firepower, but can collapse violently if enough power is thrown at them in a short span of time. There are two primary shield types and two shield shapes that widely exist within GC with their own special quirks and uses.

The two primary shield generation system types are the absorbing and deflector styled shields, which are mounted within specific generation systems. Arrays are used for absorptive shields, and are composed of large networks of mounted shield generation blocks to compensate for the lack of deflective properties to redirect inbound force with the ship's superstructure. They instead absorb some of the force from an inbound attack to briefly reinforce itself, and are able to recharge off the ship's power grid while active. Deflector shields are held within emission blocks scattered through the hull of a ship. Each of these blocks has an internal capacitor for their shield which cannot be recharged while in operation, but this is offset by the enormous power potential which is further multiplied by the fact that the shield will redirect force away from itself. Absorptive shields have far greater endurance over a long battle, whereas deflector shields can take far greater amounts of punishment at once.

Shields come with two generation shapes by default, bubble or conforming. Area shielding is notable in its role as a support system, with far weaker integrity limitations due to the sheer size of the bubble being generated, but is able to be utilized to assist nearby fleet ships if they close range with the projecting vessel. These systems are expensive to run and require specialized equipment to operate. Conforming shields are the standard issue shield system mounted on most craft, still using a significant power but due to not attempting to cover vast spans of space, are far more energy dense and capable of being far stronger.

In the event of boarding actions, it is important to know that the primary shield generation systems are not designed to stop slow objects. This means a slow shuttle is able to slip through a ship's shield without being obliterated or blocked by the energy barrier. Thankfully however, it does make it extremely vulnerable to point defense systems if one has direct line of sight with it - a problem many orders of magnitude worse if the ship has area shields to contend with as well.

There is a lesser branch of shield technology dedicated to a high cost, low maintenance shipboard defense against natural space debris and particularly low power weaponry in the form of the deflector shields. The most common version of deflectors used are known as point deflectors, which in unison with an inbuilt proximity sensor system that comes with the system, will briefly activate the deflector grid in order to minimize power usage and prevent impact from any potentially harmful, which is able to cause minor harm to less heavily protected systems on a ship and lessen the maintenance costs that come with repairing wear and tear from space debris. A more expensive system would be the standard deflector, which will completely mitigate wear from impact while activated.