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Jay Industries develops Plasmatic Thrust.

Posted: Jan 15 2006, 05:19 PM

The tired man in the lab coat made a quick scribble on his clipboard. Satisfied, he leaned over to the mike, and wearily announced "Plasmatic Thrust Drive, prototype JIPTD-52mkVI test 2530." The JI R&D team had been working on this technology for roughly a year. The first month had been initial concept proposals. By the end of the first year, the principles had been laid down. The subsequent eleven years had been taken up with making prototypes of different sizes in a massive trial-and-error experiment to try and get it right. Jory Georgo had been given charge of the trial process.

He settled down in the seat and prepared for the test. The men at the far left hand side of the warehouse tightened up a few screws and got well behind the blast shield. Jory leaned towards the microphone and clearly enunciated "fire." The PTD made a whirring noise as the internal screw began to revolve. There was a hiss as the deuterium was let into the chamber. It was trapped inside with the revolving screw. The screw turned quicker, and inside the deuterium tumbled over and over itself and the screw. The screw turned faster and began to heat up. The electromagnet around the chamber began to energise with a hum. The deuterium tumbled over itself and was held in the magnetic field. A massive electric field grew inside the chamber, ionising the deuterium and forming plasma. The rear chamber opened and the plasma was released, expelled by the screw. It was working. Or at least Jory thought. The plasma couldn't sustain itself. The magnetic field was fluctuating. The plasma imploded, bringing the screw with it. Broken free of its moorings, the screw was free into the magnetic field. The field hurled it into the blast shield. The fire crews came on, hosed down the smouldering mess and left.

Jory went down the stairs to the testing area. "That was promising. Get one of the 53mkXI's and give it the same power levels. I think this one will work." The team nodded, and Jory made his way back up to the supervising station. "Plasmatic Thrust Drive, prototype JIPTD-53mkXI test 2531." The team got behind the blast shield as before. The PTD whirred, hissed, hummed, zapped, and opened the chamber. The plasma flew out, in a continuous stream. Jory whooped, and the team behind the blast shield could be seen leaping with joy. They had done it.

It was at this point the PTD broke free of its moorings. The unit soared across the warehouse and impacted on the wall. All whooping stopped. Jory noted down the results on his clipboard and dialled the Ben Valens, CEO of Jay Industries.

"What is it? I'm a busy man."

"Mr Valens, sir! This is Jory Georgo. We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that PTD prototype fifty-three mark eleven works when given the power ratings of the fifty-two mark six."

"What? You mean the Plasmatic Thrust Drive is a reality?"

"Quite so."

"Fantastic. Have a bonus. Oh, what's the bad news?"

"Um... Your testing warehouse in featbridge is on fire, sir." Jory glanced at the burning building, and made for the fire exit. "I really have to go, sir." He clicked the phone shut and ran.

Falcania

Winging It Since 2004

Posts: 776

Posted: Jan 16 2006, 01:53 PM

King Falcon sat in Valen's office. "So, you've invented the future of propulsion."

"I wouldn't exactly say that, sire. The PTD has immense thrust, but there are numerous risks and weaknesses. The deuterium tank is small for the amount of plasma generated, enough for about ten to fifteen seconds at best. And if there's a leak, the whole thing ruptures and tears the host apart. The electromagnet is only just strong enough to sustain it. If it fails, which it probably will, the plasma will melt the screw, which will be charged by the power feed and thrown out by the electromagnet, tearing the host apart. And the deuterium is highly flammable, meaning any shots to the fuel tank will blow the fuel up, tearing the host apart. In fact, you'll have to go far to avoid tearing the host apart."

"Well, it sounds like you've created useless technology." Falcon raised an eyebrow.

"Not necessarily, sire. This thing is perfect for missile technology. Not to mention, if we add it to your rockts, it will make your Project Dionysus even more effective. These things are the perfect replacement for retro rockets if you're prepared to risk the lives of the crew and the structures for the surrounding 500 metres."

"Well, we shall have to consider the patents," said Falcon. "I assume prodrights will be given to all SDL nations?"

"And no other, sire," said Valens, grinning. "With Sarz's navy and our PTD missiles and rockets, it could indeed be said that we pwn j00." Falcon raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, sire."

Falcania

Winging It Since 2004

Posts: 776

Posted: Jan 17 2006, 05:12 PM

Valens pinned up the diagram on the wall. "This is the PTD. However, there's a snag."

Falcon raised an eyebrow. "What may that be?"

"This is just the system. Implementation will take longer. We've begun research on a PTD missile, but I don't think we'll get a yield until [OOC: RL time] February at the earliest."

"This may present a problem. I've got nations champing at the bit for prodrights."

"That's out of the question, sire. International law would prevent us from releasing the rights to something this dangerous. We need to refine it, sire."

"Very well. I shall wait until February. I just hope this Damocles lark clears up soon. If it goes wrong, there may not be a Falcania come February. Who knows what Purpleville's doing up there?"

This post has been edited by Falcania on Jan 17 2006, 05:15 PM

Falcania

Winging It Since 2004

Posts: 776

Posted: Feb 1 2006, 05:59 PM

The missile spiralled through the sky at a massive speed. Jory Georgo had been reassigned, this time to the testing of the Jay PAAM-1 Plasmatic Air-to-air missile. Boom! The thin stamped steel target tore and oozed. The "Pam" as it was affectionately known, was basically a long, thin PTD with a weaker mechanism, fitted into an aerodynamic shell. It was designed to fail upon impact, causing the extreme structural damage associated with the now-infamous PTD; a unique combination of shearing metal and superheated hydrogen plasma mixed with burning hydrogen. The design was crude, but effective.

The next prototype evidently had a damaged shell. Jory could ascertain this from the fact the missile had swerved and was heading right for him. He dived under the desk as the missile impacted on the blast shield. The high temperatures of the plasma expanded the glass, cracking and weakening it. The drive screw snapped, and the electromagnet hurled it through the cracked glass. The red-hot steel landed on the wooden desk, burning through it and landing on Jory's leg. He screamed. The response team came on the scene armed with fire extinguishers. They sprayed the burning pile of furniture in a thick foam, and extrapolated what appeared to be a winged snowman. Choking on the foam, Jory was loaded onto a stretcher. "Change the shell on that one, and it'll work."

Falcania

Winging It Since 2004

Posts: 776

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