Shields

The Energy Shield

An integral part of any defense, but it also makes normal life possible

Types
There are 2 main types of shields

Radiant Shielding- These types of shields are made to either block, absorb or deflect energy.

Solid Shielding- These are made to block out matter.

Radiant Shields
The primary purpose for these shields is to deflect, absorb or negate energy based attacks or environments. These shields form a characteristic bubble when active.

Under normal operations, this kind of shield will absorb as much energy as it can until the generators run out of power.

Given precise information, it is possible to tune a radiant shield to negate an attack rather than absorb it. It should be noted that while possible to perform, this method is usually not used in battle as all an enemy would have to do is use a different energy weapon type.

If a vast amount of power is supplied, these shields can be almost impenetrable by energy based weapons, one can even travel through a star given enough power to the shield. A side effect of putting large amounts of power to a shield give it the ability to deflect certain attacks rather than absorbing them.

There is not much use of this type of shield outside of war, but there are a few. For research in high energy environments this technology proves invaluable, particularly in keeping superheated plasma contained in a fusion reactor.

Solid Shields
Contrary to the name solid shields aren't actually solid, they are still energy based.

The Primary purpose of solid shields is containing matter. Unlike radiant shields, solid ones are not as "flexible" and will form flat geometric shapes around active areas. Also unlike radiant shields, these are much more commonplace in society.

While it is true that a solid shield can protect against energy based attacks this is terribly inefficient and will overpower it quite easily.

Under normal circumstances, the amount of protection is proportional to the power supplied. Meaning, the more power that is put in it, the more it can withstand punishment.

Obviously this was designed for the military by the military at first. Over time, 'Old' weapons began to be more costly to use and maintain than energy based weapons, and so the solid shields eventually became available to the masses.

One of the very first commercial applications for this was as a window. It provided a different sense of beauty compared to normal glass and even after transparent meta-metals became widely available and cheaper to use, windows with solid shields still invoke a more refined atmosphere whereever they are installed.