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[Chiefwaffles]

@Andrea: If we assume there's a direct correlation between shell size and fabrication time, then it'd still take less than 5 seconds for the CAF to work in the Lightning turret. (AS-R1 is ~12mm, Lightning turret is 20mm). I definitely feel like that's still better than breech-loading. And as for the AS-R1, the reasons for not using it are told to be "increase in cost and lack of diversified ammo types", both of which shouldn't be a problem.

Duel Report

Spoiler: All Quiet in the Taiga Front (click to show/hide)

The flames licked the faces of the rivals. Behind them lay the wreckage of a Moskurger invading fleet. Al-Mutriqa was standing upright, slowly approaching Myark with his weapon drawn. He had sacrificed everything to get to this moment. His army, his dignity, and more. Myark, his hand clutching a serious wound, was smiling. Because even though Myark was to lose against Al-Mutriqa, he knew he had won. He saved the lives of his fellow Arstotzkans.


It started as the sun set on an Arstotzkan front in the taiga. The men there were still recovering from preventing another Moskurg offensive. The local Mage Hunters watched over the fields ahead with their sniper rifles; ever vigilant. The sound of a Restless passing by and occasionally stopping was familiar to the men. The ground continuously rumbling under the firings of the AS-HA1 emplacements. Streaks in the clouds overhead could be traced to the patrolling Lightnings.


Myark was there. His Wand of True Light inspiring the men; protecting them. Myark never slept. He, without a hint of fatigue in his wise eyes, constantly patrolled the edges of the trenches. He personally visited every soldier. The Mage Hunters were ever more vigilant under his unending watch. Across the whole Taiga, the soldiers of Arstotzka knew they were safe, for Myark’s watchful gaze pierced every inch of land.


It was Myark’s untiring eye that saw it. In the distance, a solitary red Blind-Flare, washing the trees below in a sea of red light. Perhaps the Moskurgers thought the men were tired. But they were wrong. For every Arstotzkan soldier is rejuvenated by duty. Within minutes, every soul nearby was awake. Every man watching the horizon for hints of movement. Squadrons of the indestructible Lightnings scouring the sky for Moskurger trespassers. Thousands of flares made the sky brighter than day.


It was Myark again who saw the coming threat. But soon, every man and woman of Arstotzka would see it. The innocent sky began to disappear under Moskurg’s airborne blight. Phoenixes escorted by thousands of their fighters. Myark looked around him. At the soldiers surrounding him. Every person, as a proper Arstotzkan soldier, lay ready to sacrifice their life to protect their brothers and sisters that day. To ensure the future glory of Arstotzka.
Myark would not let that happen today. He ordered his comrades to stay vigilant and to watch for invaders by land. Myark would deal with the airborne menace, but he could not do it without the aid of his brothers-in-arms.

Myark’s apprentice was immediately fetched, and the two embarked on Myark’s personal Lightning, clad with War paint. The signature rumblings of the Lightning came to all those within earshot. Within seconds, Myark and his gunner were to the sky. Alone. For as the Lightning took off, Myark let loose a single Blind-Flare to order all Lightnings to the ground. Myark would handle this himself. No Arstotzkans would have to die today, no matter how desperate Moskurg becomes.


Looking at the menace horde, Myark simply knew that all the ammunition in the world could not deal with these numbers. He would have to come up with a more cunning solution. The Phoenixes.
Moskurg had foolishly put all their eggs in one basket. One very flammable basket. The Phoenixes were at the center of the swarming fighters, perhaps serving as some kind of twisted symbol to guide the aimless Moskurgers. With the right attack, Myark could end this offensive and prevent any more loss of Arstotzkan lives.

Myark expertly weaved through each lightning flash blindly aimed from the Moskurger fighters. Lightning blazed past the tips of the Lightning, missing it to instead strike and destroy the poorly-built Moskurger fighters. Deft movement of Myark's hands led to a quick and nimble flight. The craft soared gracefully in the sky, serving as a stark contrast against the fumbling Moskurger menace. Single and quick movements of fingers would lead to hundreds of lightning bolts missing the target. Moskurger craft crashed into each other as they attempted in vain to strike at the shining Arstotzkan craft.

The flight was interrupted by a resounding bang to the side of the craft. Myark sharply turned his head to the distance, where he spotted a single aircraft on the horizon.
Al-Mutriqa.

Perhaps a lesser man would be tempted, for Myark faced his oldest foe. The only Moskurger who was even remotely near capable of challenging him. But Myark's determination, like a true Arstotzkan, didn't waver. He could exploit this; take advantage of Al-Mutriqa's short-sightedness. Draw him away from the other Arstotzkans in order to preserve their lives.
Myark came to fly side-by-side with Al-Mutriqa, and could even see the rage in the old man's face. A shot ringed out and pierced the crystal glass cockpit. A coilgun projectile's path went straight through the chest of Myark, splattering blood against the cockpit and staggering the mage. Myark coughed and weezed, but he would not let this stop him. His eyes briefly glinted with a berserker's rage.

With a single gesture, the Lightning brutally rammed into Al-Mutriqa's craft. The kludge-filled Moskurger spellwork upon the craft sputtered and began to fail, sending Al-Mutriqa careening towards the surface. Rage-filled lightning stroked the edge of Myark's gunship, but to no avail.
Myark knew this would not be the last of Al-Mutriqa. He cut his way through the unending Moskurger horde to finally get to the Phoenixes.


Approaching the Phoenix, Myark had a single plan in mind. The Lightning violently rams into the Phoenix, shaking the crew of both! With quick thinking and quick action, Myark angles the thrust and set it to max whilst simultaneously disabling the Reactor safeties. He would only have one shot to save the front. The Lightning had embedded itself into the Phoenix, and was already tipping the gigantic airship to the side. Screams filled the air as Moskurger crewmen eventually began to fall off the ship.

Disembarking from the still-thrusting Lightning and grabbing his gunner in one hand, Myark jumped onto the deck of the Phoenix. Fireballs and bullets would litter the sky as Myark dispatched all those who aimed to hurt him or his comrade. The time of opportunity was coming, as Myark could see the Phoenix he was on quickly approaching the last two. At the exact moment, Myark jumps off the Phoenix, into the air!


A brilliant explosion lit up the sky, as the Phoenixes collided. The first two would suffer a devastating collision, capsizing the second and throwing it onto the third. Right then the Lightning’s reactor detonated, causing the volatile fuel on board the Phoenixes to explode as well. An amazing chain reaction would follow, as the horde of fighters drew too close to the exploding Phoenixes, sealing their fate to become the same as the airships.


Myark made quick use of the Arstotzkan mastery of magic. Within seconds he recreated a KPD4 manually, without circuitry, entirely by himself. He and the gunner carried over his shoulder gracefully touched down on the ground. Myark sent his gunner to run to the nearest scout squadron to be escorted back.
He shot out another Blind-Flare, designed to attract the attention of Moskurg’s ground forces.


Through the coming hours, Myark would slash his way across many untrained Moskurger soldiers. But he was not invulnerable. The furs adorning him became matted with blood - both Moskurger and his. Eventually, he came to the wreckage of the Phoenixes. The last Moskurger soldier fell to his bloodied Crystal Axe. Yet the light emanating from the flaming Phoenix brought his attention to another Moskurger.

Al-Mutriqa. And behind him, the Black Phantasms. Their glowing Adamantium armor masked with snow and tar. Myark looked down at his wound. The blood was all-too-familiar at this point. But Myark still had to buy time. He leaped into battle, yelling with all his might. His trusty AS-R1 being the accomplice to the death of many a Black Phantasm, their Adamantium armor being no match for the bullet. His Crystal Axe effortlessly cut through many more.
Fireballs were thrown across the field, deflected by Al-Mutriqa's mastery of wind. Blastballs used to prevent blasts of wind from knocking Myark over.

Eventually, Myark collapsed.
He was in no condition to battle. He knelt on the ground, gazing at the new wounds littering his body. Both hands gripping bleeding cuts. Al-Mutriqa slowly walked to stand over him, staring at him.

And Myark smiled.
He had won.


The Moskurger offensive lay in shreds. The Arstotzkan soldiers alive and well. The flares coming up over the horizon proof of that. Myark may have been personally defeated, but it was his actions that let Arstotzka win the day. It was his actions that saved the front. That saved his fellow soldiers. So Myark smiled. He even let out a faint laugh. Myark even knew he wouldn’t die today. For his comrades wouldn’t allow that.


And he was right.

As Al-Mutriqa raises his lonesome sword, an Equalizer shell abruptly impacts the ground next to him, sending him flying along with showers of dirt. Sniper shots pierce the silence as the rest of the fierce Black Phantasms quickly drop one by one without their magical crutches.
Under the harsh sound of a horn, the small Moskurger force begins retreating. Without the help of magic, sheer innovation and Arstotzkan determination would finally win the day. Soldiers clad in gleaming Combat Armor, covered from head to toe in snow, charge with AS-R1 in one hand and Crystal Axe in the other. Within minutes, an all-clear flare is let out and Myark is attended to. Not as a hero, but as a fellow Arstotzkan.


Moskurg will stop at nothing. No person, Moskurger or Arstotzkan, is seen as anything but an acceptable cost for the Moskurger horde. That is what differentiates Moskurg from Arstotzka. It was not Myark, but every Arstotzkan that saved lives that day. Al-Mutriqa stopped at nothing for petty personal glory, and Myark sacrificed himself for the glory of all.

Look to Myark. Be Myark. Protect Arstotzka. Protect your brothers and sisters; your comrades. This is in every Arstotzkan, and you are no exception. For at the end of the day, the war will not be won by magic, but rather by comradery. Arstotzka does not stand alone. Every man and woman under its banner exemplifies Arstotzka.

Glory to Arstotzka.

Sure, it may be 1311 words, but evicted did say "epic" and not "concise".


EDIT: Updated some things.
Since both revisions are useless without this, here's a design for a working CAF.

Future Design: CAF2
The CAF2 utilizes the revisions before it to make something truly great.

Spoiler: Fluff (click to show/hide)

The problems with the CAF1 are simple in hindsight. We tried to use a generalized device for a specialized task. The default Fabrication unit is designed specifically to be modular; to easily work with any crystal design. As such, it makes numerous sacrifices to ensure this modularity. Speed, power efficiency, and expense are all limited by this. The Fabrication unit has to work with any design of any size and any complication.

So we hardwire it.
The CAF2 doesn't support swapping crystal designs after manufacture. It doesn't support easy tuning of the designs. It's easy to change the crystal design when making the CAF2, but after that it's set in stone. Instead of having a fabrication logic circuit hooked up to a crystal design circuit with all the extra obfuscation to compile that crystal design, we just make a single circuit to conjure a single crystal design.

This should massively increase power efficiency and likely speed as well. We may not be able to swap out designs in the field, but that's not necessary. Perhaps in the field we can hardwire in an extra design to allow gunners to choose from, but that's not the point of this design.

We also increase the density of Crystal. The denser form of crystal, called "Weightite", should be pretty easy to tweak the density and thus weight in the future and will be used to make shells out of. The density should be set so that shells are the optimum weight for range and stopping power, preferably surpassing metal shells.

Finally, we utilize the extreme precision now allowed to us to enable special ammo types (or at least the Blastshell). Take the Blastshell. It is made of circuitry, Magegems, and metal. We can make the circuitry out of crystal, something we already comprehensively figured out how to do (and the problem back then - cracking crystal - has since been solved by regenerative crystal). Magegems are already made out of a special crystal glass. And the metal can be swapped to Weightite.
Bam. We have a 100% crystal design that still makes use of circuitry and gems. Easy, too. We already know exactly how to make crystal circuitry and we already make all Magegems out of crystal, so it's just a matter of swapping the materials.

Specialization - Currently the fabrication unit is designed specifically to accept different designs heavily varying in size/complexity. So if we hardwire the design in during fabrication so we just have one small circuit, we should be able to greatly increase power efficiency (and thus expense), size, weight, etc., and speed.
Weightite - Use our knowledge with modifying crystal to make a heavier form of crystal optimized for shells; call it "Weightite". Should hopefully be better than metal, but just "as good as metal" is somewhat acceptable.
Special Ammunition (Blastshells) - Make a crystal design for Blastshells to plug into the HA1 CAF2s. Should be easy. We already can make crystal circuitry + just upgraded the precision of crystal fabrication. We already make Magegems out of crystal. And we're already switching the metal to Weightite.

TL;DR: Specialize the CAF2 to hardwire in the crystal design and thus heavily reduce complexity and therefore increasing speed+power efficiency+weight/size+expense. Increase density of crystal for Weightite, and start making Blastshells out of 100% crystal so we can plug them into the HA1 CAF2s.

[FallacyofUrist]

2 - Chiefwaffles' Duel Report: Chiefwaffles, FallacyofUrist

Only thing that needs changing is the title.

[Chiefwaffles]

I'm sorry, do you not like "All Quiet in the Taiga Front"?
It may be a placeholder name, but by god it's a good placeholder name.

But if you have a better name, be my guest.

[helmacon]

Since the revision gave us better aerodynamics in Crystal structures, does that mean that larger Crystal structures would benefit from the aerodynamics as well? * cough* like the lightning * cough cough**

All quiet on the taiga front is a great name imo.

[FallacyofUrist]

I'm sorry, do you not like "All Quiet in the Taiga Front"?
It may be a placeholder name, but by god it's a good placeholder name.

But if you have a better name, be my guest.

How about... "Sacrifice".

Okay fine I have no idea what to name it, really.

[VoidSlayer]

Since the revision gave us better aerodynamics in Crystal structures, does that mean that larger Crystal structures would benefit from the aerodynamics as well? * cough* like the lightning * cough cough**

All quiet on the taiga front is a great name imo.

Or we can just make a rocket-plane.  It would use vastly less energy to have a plane instead of a flying saucer, resulting in a lighter reactor, faster more maneuverable aircraft and it could still fly forever.  Basically go from UFO to aircraft.

If we need to push back the taiga directly I think rocket-shells would be a good idea next turn...

Actually, we could just make missile pods at this point.  Aerodynamic, with a constant thrust from our reactor-blast engine, made out of steel for now (to keep the costs low on not needing to make an entirely new crystal type) with an Honest Flight guidance system (the guidance system is the only real innovation, everything else is just strapping existing parts together).

We could put a few missiles on the Lightning, two on our IFV (and fix the chassis) and a TON of them on our boats.  Basically it would upgrade our ships to missile cruisers... which.. would make it very worth it.

Edit: we can make weightite on a revision next turn and then reduce the expense of the honest strike system, then on turn +2 we can make a full machine gun by combining all our stuff into a single design.  The machine gun can go on our UFO, our IFV and be used in fixed emplacements by infantry.

[Chiefwaffles]

Well, here's what we got via revisions that doesn't require the CAF to be useful:

1.) We have much better knowledge of aerodynamics. This isn't explicitly stated, but it tends to be necessary to have "derived the best aerodynamic shapes" for projectiles. Before our knowledge was pretty much "if we make it pointed it moves faster".
2.) Explicitly stated greatly increased precision over crystal manufacture. We prooobably got this because evicted felt sorry for us.


Anyways. Have some designs!
Design: ASAF-B49 "Firestorm"

The B49 is the first true bomber.

Spoiler: Fluff (click to show/hide)

Based off of both the Valkyrie and the Lightning, the B49 is equipped with a single 13mm ((or whatever the AS-HAC-1 default caliber is) AS-HAC-1 pneumatics ball turret and the pilot. Much like the Lightning, though with the turret downscaled to reduce weight.

Underneath and to the side of the Reactor lies the Bomb Bay. Filled with as many Blastshells as we can fit (which should be a lot, considering the entire point of the B49), each one hooked up to a simple mount. The bomb bay has a single lower pneumatics-powered door that opens to expose the Blastshells, allowing for secure containment.

The Cockpit is equipped with a bombing guiding target to help the pilot estimate the potential impact sites of the Blastshells from high altitudes. Which will be needed.


Now, as it stands, the B49 is nothing more than a slightly-revised Lightning. But in order to facilitate its purpose, it needs to be very high-up. Far greater than Moskurger craft and even our Lightning. As such, the Firestorm has a system to aid with this: The Atmospheric Regulator Circuitry; the ARC.

The ARC is a straightforward circuit. Take our cooling circuitry's methods to monitor the environment and general "passiveness" and combine it with our mastery over Fireballs/Blastballs. The Fireball and all its variants work by summoning gas, so we can simply take out the "ignite" part of the spell and modify the gas mix to our pleasing. This gas mix being the mix needed to replicate standard atmospheric conditions. It's set to "maintain" the closed environment at a certain gas mix, much like our cooling circuits do.

The ARC is placed not only inside the cockpit and ball turret, but also is implemented within the KPD. The KPD is known to lose effectiveness as the craft goes up higher. We predict this is due to the thinning atmosphere. So by strategic use of the ARC, we can create the right conditions for the KPD to operate as high up as it wants. Of course the Firestorm shouldn't go too high up as targeting quickly becomes impossible up there, but it can go as high as it needs.

Body - Basically just the Lightning's base body minus the added bomb bay.
Turret - Retains the Lightning's turret, though it goes back to the AS-HAC-1 13mm instead of 20mm to save a bit of weight and since it's just for self-defense.

Bomb Bay - A large bomb bay with a pneumatics door on the bottom contains as many Blastshells (which should be a lot) as possible. Each Blastshell on a mount.
Bombing Sights - Self-explanatory. To help aim the bombs at high alttitudes.

ARC - We have cooling circuitry. We've mastered Fireball + its variants. Fireball is ultimately just summoning, igniting, and throwing a ball of gas. Instead, we just find a way to maintain a specific gas mix in a specific area.
-   Cabin - Put the ARC in the cockpit + ball turret to allow for breathing at any altitude.
-   KPD - Integrate the ARC in the KPD to compensate the effects of a thinning atmosphere on the KPD, thus eliminating the altitude ceiling and allowing the B49 to go as high as it needs to go.

TL;DR: A high-altitude bomber.

Design: ASN-C49 "Triton"

The C49, the C standing for "Carrier", symbolizes a new kind of naval warfare.
Lately, the state of naval battles has been left up only to the aircraft. So instead of fighting the status quo, why not embrace it? The Triton is designed specifically for this new avenue of warfare.

Spoiler: Fluff (click to show/hide)

The C49 Triton is our biggest vessel yet, taking serious advantage of the Crystalworks Mk. 2 and the new advances in manufacturing complexity recently acquired. It easily dwarfs a Crystalclad in size.

The Triton contains two pneumatics-powered 20mm cannons for self-defense. A single Aether Reactor inside the vessel powers the weaponry and the below-deck Internal Detonation Engine.
We've created a "Bridge" to command and control the vessel from. The Bridge is on the back of the craft, as a stubby armored crystal tower, adorned with crystal glass. The entire ship is still very well-armored - either as armored or more armored than the Crystalclad.


However, that's all simple changes simply modernizing the vessel. The turrets are all strictly placed next to the edges and bridge, to maximize open space. The deck is nearly completely flat. The majority of space beneath the deck is large and open - a hangar, in a way. A single large pneumatic-powered lift is placed in the hangar to allow transport between the two.
Aircraft will be stored both in the hangar and on the top deck. Both Valkyries and Lightnings should be able to be transported by the C49 Triton. When needed, the craft can simply launch and land on the deck as needed ((And runway space isn't an issue since VTOL babyyy)). Both beneath and on deck, the craft can rearm and regenerate their crystal bodies.
The ship will store supplies for rearming the craft and sustaining the crew of both the vessel and the aircraft.

When in combat, the C49 Triton can simply scramble its interceptors instead of hoping its armor can last until a friendly aerial patrol encounters the battle. Battles can be quickly and decisively won. Supply missions and movement of goods and troops across the seas are easy to due the facilitation of Valkyries. Missions can last much longer as the craft can stay on board the C49 Triton to be used as needed and don't need to return to shore to exchange crew. We estimate huge impacts at sea.
We expect to order the Crystalclads to merely escort C49 Tritons to aid in anti-air and the occasional ship that wanders within HA1 range.

Armor - Similar or greater to/than the Crystalclad.
Bridge - A crystal glass raised bridge is present.
Turrets - Simple 2x 20mm pneumatics-powered turrets are placed on the craft for self-defense against nearby hostile aircraft and sea vessels.
Propulsion - An IDE propels the C49 Triton.
Power - Considering the weaker KPD1 worked at 4 PSF-Cs/second and an IDE uses the much less powerful SPSF-Cs to operate, a single Aether Reactor should be able to handle the 2x 20mm turrets and IDE easily.

Flight Deck/Hangar - The top deck is designed specifically to facilitate takeoffs/landings and storage of aircraft. The deck below this one is primarily for storage of aircraft. Both Valkyries and Lightnings should be fine.
Pneumatic Lift - A pneumatics-powered lift connects the two decks for easy unpowered aircraft/storage transport between them. Low priority, since aircraft can just move between decks themselves since 100% VTOL.


TL;DR: We build a better carrier than Forenia's first carrier in ICAR carrier. And it'll be awesome.

Remember when we had steam engine paddleboats that struggled to carry just the steam engine itself?

@VoidSlayer: You're describing exactly the Seeker missiles. The other design I submitted that lost to the Valkyrie.

[VoidSlayer]

Anyway, I think full on missiles would be better then rocket shells, and would be effective even if we do not summon the whole thing at once (that it uses steel, since steel is cheap anyway and dense enough for now).

We have enough air craft right now, we need a better weapon for it.

[Chiefwaffles]

Yes.
The Seeker is what you're describing.


Also Crystal is literally cheaper than steel. Even if we hold the mountains this turn and get the metal bonus steel still won't be cheaper since we've invested infrastructure into Crystal. Remember - this is what evicted said about Crystal:

Your crystal is lighter than steel, but denser than water.  It is also lighter than Moskurgs Adamantium, can hold an edge better, is harder, more brittle, and you can essentially 3D print the stuff.

Moskurgs Adamantium is a constant temperature outside of magical forging, lighter than steel, and cheap as dirt.  It has similar hardness and brittleness to RHS, and all their blacksmiths are trained in forging it.

There's a reason we make everything out of crystal. 
Also, the only reason we don't use crystal ammunition right now (even without the CAF) is since it'd have less stopping power. That doesn't really matter for missiles.

[VoidSlayer]

Yes.
The Seeker is what you're describing.


Also Crystal is literally cheaper than steel. Even if we hold the mountains this turn and get the metal bonus steel still won't be cheaper since we've invested infrastructure into Crystal. Remember - this is what evicted said about Crystal:

Your crystal is lighter than steel, but denser than water.  It is also lighter than Moskurgs Adamantium, can hold an edge better, is harder, more brittle, and you can essentially 3D print the stuff.

Moskurgs Adamantium is a constant temperature outside of magical forging, lighter than steel, and cheap as dirt.  It has similar hardness and brittleness to RHS, and all their blacksmiths are trained in forging it.

There's a reason we make everything out of crystal. 
Also, the only reason we don't use crystal ammunition right now (even without the CAF) is since it'd have less stopping power. That doesn't really matter for missiles.

In that case we need to just up the power of the explosion, though a steel jacket might still be good to penetrate armor, and some smaller pieces for shrapnel in an anti personnel version, although in those cases we could just make specialized crystal or explosive spells.



For way out there stuff, it looks like right now our mages are doing nothing directly on the battlefield.  What if once we have the portable crystal fabricator up we make a "backpack" variant that can be directly used by a wizard to create whatever they are thinking of, mixing "mind detection" magic with versatile circuits, with their "maginess" linking the diffrence.  They could create fortification and weapons, blades, traps specialized armor and all sorts of stuff, like elemental control; but with crystals.  It would also bridge the gap to make our magi tech both usable by none wizards and super buff our wizards.

[Andres]

Revision: Aerophobic Shells [5]

Further refinements to how the print logic for our crystal fabrication units allow us to produce crystal objects with a higher degree of precision.  We can now produce highly complex shapes and designs; most notably is the fact that our Mathemagicians have derived the best aerodynamic shapes for our artillery, rifle, and cannon shells.  Since this application is strictly related to our crystal ammunition, all weapons that use the CAF no longer have the range penalty. Stopping power is still reduced due to the light-weight crystal, and the increase in cost and lack of diversified ammo types means the CAF is still unfeasible for battlefield conditions.

evictedSaint, this has nothing to do with what was described in the post for Aerophobic Crystal. It was a revision of the actual crystal material itself - similar to the Transparent Crystal revision - so that all our crystal stuff would be a lot more aerodynamic, including our aircraft. It was supposed to make it so that air would slide right off the crystal instead of rubbing against it, significantly reducing air resistance. It was not supposed to be a new way to shape crystal. The revision was Aerophobic Crystal, not Aerophobic Shells. The mention of shells was just supposed to be an example of what the new kind of crystal should've been able to do. The fact that I used "aerophobic" instead of "aerodynamic" should've been enough to note that it was a material advancement, not a shaping advancement.

EDIT: This as a Revision should be possible since we did something similar in regards to changing the properties of crystal itself in the form of Transparent Crystal.

[RAM]

@Andrea: If we assume there's a direct correlation between shell size and fabrication time, then it'd still take less than 5 seconds for the CAF to work in the Lightning turret. (AS-R1 is ~12mm, Lightning turret is 20mm).

(20/12)^3*2.5=11.57...

[FallacyofUrist]

Hey chief, you may want to consider replacing the ARC based off a Blastball with an ARC based off Fog, it seems more direct to go from fog to atmosphere.

[Chiefwaffles]

@RAM: I'm not sure that cubing is the right way to get the mass from the caliber, but I did forget to factor in actual mass.
Still, though. Looking at just speed, the Lightning Turret should still benefit from the CAF1. The loading times would definitely be higher than my initial estimate but probably somewhat lower than 11.57 seconds.

@Fallacy: That's actually a really good idea. I'll keep that in mind for when I try getting the ARC or an ARC-containing design passed.

Anyways, since I'm making a new post, I may as well post a design!
Idea behind this one is to make a new gun - the AS-HA1 was introduced in 932 and the AS-HAC-1 in 938. They're both designed around outdated concepts. The AS-HAC-1 was basically designed as a prototype for breech-loading and a stop-gap measure for Moskurg's primitive completely unarmored airforce. It has bad range, bad stopping power, bad aiming, and bad rate of fire for what it was designed to do. We've improved in a lot of ways since then, so we should really update our mainstay weaponry.
Design: AS-AC49 "Devastator"
(AutoCannon 949; successor to HAC-1 - Hybrid AutoCannon-1)

The AC49 Devastator is, well, it's a devastating weapon. A new 20mm gun that's actually an autocannon, designed to replace the AS-HAC-1 in the field.

Spoiler: Fluff (click to show/hide)

The first new component is the Reactor. The AC49 contains a severely downscaled reactor (which should be quite easy, as a Reactor is just a certain arrangement of solid-state Aethergems with a bit of circuitry on top). Just enough to power the AC49 and nothing else. This reactor is optional during manufacturing and the AC49 can simply be manufactured with a power input instead. The Reactor is still a part of the AC49 and can't be removed or hot-swapped or whatevered after manufacture, but will not be needed when the AC49 is a part of a design with its own power source.
This will allow for continuous fire from any user, and the great power:size & power:expense ratios of the reactor will allow for power never seen before in our weaponry!

The next component is propellant. The AC49 actually makes use of a KPD4 for its propellant - the directional thrust, greater control, and just greater power in general makes for insane barrel velocities. Directional thrust in particular allows much greater power than before without increasing the thickness of the barrel, as the barrel won't be forced to focus the blast and thus suffer losses of integrity from doing so.


Finally, the CAF. The main feature of the AC49. Whereas the other components are simple tweaks or porting existing components, the majority of our effort shall go here. The CAF2 employed in the AC49 is much more graceful than the CAF1 revised before. The CAF1 is the definition of unnecessary - a full-fledged crystal fabrication unit effectively glued onto a gun.

The Fabrication Units are designed, after all, for flexibility. Fab units, including the CAF1, are meant to support designs of any complexity and size. This means the CAF1 has enough circuitry in it to build a F45 Lightning if it was programmed to do so. And if this wasn't enough, the CAF1 is designed to accept any new crystal design! It has a whole set of circuitry specifically to facilitate swapping of designs. All together, this makes for a very power-hungry, large, expensive, and delicate tangle of circuitry made specifically for use in large factories. And we tried to put it on our guns.

The CAF2 makes none of these mistakes. Instead of making tons of extra circuits to interpret design instructions, we just build the design into the circuitry itself. Instead of adding tons of extra circuitry in case of extra complexity, we just put as exactly much as we need for the bullet's complexity. Instead of using enough power to make a Crystalclad, we just use enough power to make a single bullet. We use our advancements in crystal precision and complexity to just improve the design overall too.

The result is amazing. The CAF2 should be much faster, cheaper, reliable, smaller, and less power-intensive. It still can't use special ammunition like Blastshells, but that'd be unnecessary anyways. It can't change crystal designs in the field, but that wasn't needed anyways and can be done easily-enough at the factory.


Finally, we do a bit of finagling with the hardwired crystal design in the new CAF2 to increase the density of crystal. It shouldn't be hard, given how easy it is to modify crystal to work as we want it to, this should be no different. Just making the fabricators fabricate more crystal in a given space.
...it's a bit more complex than that, but you get the idea.


The AC49 will be replacing the current 20mm cannon present in the F45 Lightning, and will come with a mount to replace the whole of the AS-HAC-1 for infantry use.

Reactor - We put a greatly downscaled Reactor, just enough power for the gun itself, in the weapon. Though the gun can be made without the reactor if it's being made to put in a vehicle with its own power source. (Given the reactor is just a specific arrangement of crystals + bit of extra circuitry, this should be no problem.) Lets the AC49 use more power (thanks to Reactor's power output!) and be usable by anyone.
KPD Propellant - We adapt the KPD for use as propellant, taking advantage of its greater power, control, and directional thrust. Greater power/control should drastically improve barrel velocities, but the directional thrust should also let us scale power without scaling barrel thickness - since the barrel doesn't need to brunt the unfocused blast anymore.

CAF2 - The CAF1 is just a fabrication unit stuck on a gun. It's designed to make things of any complexity of design with the ability to swap in different designs. We do not need this on a gun. So instead we just hardwire in a design and make the crystal fabricator only big/power-hungry enough for the bullet and not for the most complex biggest design we could ever theoretically make. Should greatly improve expense/power efficiency/size/reliability/speed. Focus of the design.
Weightite - While at it, we finagle the CAF2 to make denser crystal for bullets. Should be easy, given our crystal tweaking experience + how this is basically just "put more crystal per centimeter." Basically.

Use - The AC49 is to be used with a mount for infantry largely replacing the AS-HAC-1 and will replace the existing 20mm gun in the Lightning.

TL;DR - We make the next generation gun. With full CAF integration, integrated reactor, better stopping power and more, this will become a hugely versatile gun for both infantry and vehicle use. Basically the AS-HAC-2, but with a less silly name.

[helmacon]

It has come to my attention that the recent lull in infighting is not enough for us to earn our credit back from ES. We have to show actual team building.

In the spirit of that, Let's play a teambuilding game!

The game is called "The exquisite corpse". It's an old parlor game from the early 1900's. I will write one sentence. The next person will read that sentence, and write one more sentence off of it. Here's the twist. The person after that can only read person 2's sentence, and then they write a sentence off of that, without knowing what my original sentence was. We continue this until we get bored, or everyone has had a turn, or just whenever really, and then we put it all together and read the story we wrote!

Please keep sentences separated in spoilers, so we can play without reading other sentences. If you get ninjad, wait for a few other people to post, and then try again so you aren't overly informed of the story.

Let's aim for 10 sentences on the first one.

Spoiler: Sentence 1 (click to show/hide)

Deep in the frozen wastes of the arstotzkan interior, there sits a secret lab, made of gleaming crystal and deep black iron.