The Aetherburner is a type of 'afterburner' add-on for fusion thrusters; by adding a secondary reaction to the exhaust of a traditional thruster, it allows increased acceleration and top speed at the cost of being highly visible to sensors. Tt was pioneered in YE 45 by Origin Industries in order to ensure their HFT technology could keep up with TAP systems.

Example of how an Eatherburner appears in use

While coming up with the OI-V5-1A Nagamaki, Origin found that while their HFT technology was similar in performance to what Yamatai was used to, it did lag slightly in acceleration and top usable speed. Still certain that the fusion thrusters were the correct choice for the platform, engineers wanted to give the craft a bit more punch to keep up with the smaller, more maneuverable fighters it would be flying with. As such, an add on thrust augmentation was thought to be the best choice. Unlike other companies that made complex field arrays and used spacial compression or other exotic methods to increase thrust, Origin Industries decided a simple approach was best. what resulted was n add on that could be attached to a thruster nozzle which projected scalar waves into the exhaust of a fusion thruster, and a simple deflection shield system to guide the resulting explosions as well as protected the thrusters themselves, which was then dubbed the 'Aetherburner'.

An Aetherburner assembly is essentially a scalable ring system with miniature scalar pulse emitters as well as a shielding array utilizing Relay Deflector assemblies to amplify and project a protective, cone-shaped field which is modulated to allow particles and exhaust from fusion thrusters pass through unimpeded, but prevents scalar waves, and other associated effects from the extra energy potential being extracted from the exhaust, from being pushed back harmfully into the fusion assembly. It typically takes the form of lumps, bumps, or even modules placed on a fusion thruster's exhaust bell, but can also be integrated into an exhaust assembly as is the case in the Nagamaki. These systems do not require an Aether reactor to work, and can be powered by most external power sources, as the 'Aether reaction' happens outside the assembly. this does of course, present itself on sensors as an unshielded Aether reactor, as essentially that's what it is.

Aetherburners can be dangerous if used in atmosphere, and contain sensors which will disable the system if they detect the presence of an atmosphere. these sensors can also detect if abnormally high particle emissions are coming from the thrusters they are attached to, and will reduce potency or disable altogether in order to prevent dangerous situations. In their primary use on HONEY systems, this would cause the Aetherburner to become disabled if the reactor is overheating and shedding too much of its outer casing.

The Aetherburner is primarily utilized on Origin Industries Fleet Yards craft built for the Star Army of Yamatai, though it is available for sales in a restricted capacity as an add on to other fusion systems, or as an upgrade to older HONEY equipped craft.

Kai created this article on 2023/03/25 02:09.

🚧 This article is a work-in-progress. Is it not currently approved.