Ranged Armaments Blue Light Explosives

Name:
Blue Light Explosives, Blue Light Grenades, Blue Light Bombs, Nanite Bombs, Machine Blight, Last Light

Description:
Blue Light appears as a large cloud of glowing blue lights that drift through the air with a subtle hum. When hit with an electro-magnetic pulse, the lights cut out and it falls to the ground, appearing as a dark gray powder.

Abilities:
Blue Light Grenades: Blue Light can be found in grenade form as a mechanical form of Black Blight. When in this form, it targets everything indiscriminately within a five meter radius of the grenade and deconstructs at a much more rapid pace, it cannot be used to construct or repair however, only functioning as a deconstruction tool that leaves any harvested material behind as a black powder on the ground. The swarm lasts a maximum of one minute (10 CRP turns) assuming there isn’t any electro-magnetic interference before shutting down from lack of power as the nanites when used in this method consume energy at a massively increased rate It affects material at a speed similar to Black Blight when in this form, taking around six seconds (1 CRP turn) to begin deconstruction of tenth of an inch of material it is in contact with. This material can be anything made of metal, including prosthetics and other implantation.

Conditional Abilities:
Material Dust: As Blue Light Explosives deconstruct things, a powder falls to the ground; typically black in color. This powder is the material ripped away from a given target, and then released as the nanites have no method of carrying them long-term, unlike standard Blue Light.

Blue Light Bombs: Blue Light bombs function in the same manner as Blue Light Grenades, albeit being larger in radius and deployment method. The area of effect of these weapons vary based on the size of the device used, and requires thirty seconds (5 CRP turns) after activation to detonate. The duration is considerably longer than a Blue Light Grenade, being able to persist for a full five minutes (50 CRP turns) before deactivating. Blue Light Bombs deconstruct at a higher rate than Grenades, deconstructing half an inch of material that it is in contact with every six seconds (1 CRP turn).

Breathing Irritant: While non-harmful to Organics, breathing in Blue Light causes irritation and unless coughed out will eventually enter the lungs. This is not immediately harmful, but a visit to a doctor to have the nanites remove will be necessary.

Limitations:
Metallic Target: Blue Light Explosives can only target metal as both a safety measure and to allow it to prioritize important targets. This targeting can never be changed.

Biological Immunity: Blue Light Explosives can’t target organic life, this is a hard limit imposed in its software that can’t be removed without completely disabling the nanites permanently. This is to prevent a potential gray goo scenario against organic life, and to limit its destruction to mechanical life.

Electro-Magnetic Shutdown: Blue Light Explosives have had their EMP protection removed to facilitate more deconstruction power, this means that when hit with a pulse, they are permanently disabled. Falling to the ground and appearing as a dark gray powder.

Power: Blue Light Explosives have a much more limited energy supply compared to standard Blue Light, at most, grenades can operate for a minute (10 CRP turns) and bombs can operate for five minutes (50 CRP turns). A skilled technician or manufacturer can reduce the amount of time the swarms of both are active, but not increase it.

Lifespan: Once the nanites used in Blue Light grenades and bombs are out of energy, they are rendered permanently inoperable, their systems burnt out from overuse and overconsumption of energy. Rendering them nothing more than somewhat expensive metallic dust.

Conditional Limitations:
Biological Cloak: A way to avoid Blue Light grenades and bombs is to coat all exposed metal in organic material to prevent deconstruction. This however, is not always effective as it must be seamless or the nanites will spill through.

How does it work:
Blue Light Bombs function as half of Blue Light’s core abilities. Instead of being able to reconstruct and deconstruct, the nanites have been reprogrammed to only deconstruct. This occurs at a far faster pace at the cost of going through their energy stores at a vastly increased rate to allow faster destruction- giving them a much more limited lifetime.

Flavor text:
"BLUE LIGHT HAS BEEN DEPLOYED! I REPEAT BLUE LIGHT HAS BEEN DEPLOYED! PULL THE MECHANIZED UNITS BACK! I REPEAT PULL THE MECHANIZED UNITS-"

Blue Light Grenades and Bombs in modern day are a recent innovation, relatively speaking. Primarily they’re used for military purposes, being deployed against large groups of mechanized forces or armored vehicles to quickly tear them apart.

Referenced Technologies:
https://galactic-citizen.com/threads/blue-light.3378/#post-12651

Attainability: [Semi-Closed] Blue Light Explosives are incredibly expensive and difficult to manufacture. Limiting their acquisition to the armed forces of large nations, or to be found in abandoned military facilities left behind by organizations like the USCM. Grenades, while obtainable by some characters in technologically advanced militaries, are the extent of what a player character is likely able to acquire. Blue Light Bombs however are likely out of reach of any character outside of events or event rewards as the closest equivalent weapon would be an ICBM or the like.

Tags: [Military]

Category: Ranged Armaments

 

First Pass after minor edits and some discussion. Black Blight for Robots!

 

Despite being the first pass, I second the fail. I was heavily involved in those discussions, and the first pass was a major oversight on my part. There's some close cousin of this that could pass and not damage so much of the setting, but it has enough differences that it would no longer be the same app and core idea.