#repulsor anti-grav generator

[sw5w]

N-1 Knocked Off the Platform

STAR WARS EPISODE II: Attack of the Clones 00:03:29

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I know I sent you something else about a plane you haven't answered yet but I have a completely separate question now. I was thinking about building long and massive 10 storey skybridges between buildings in a very flat oval and the flat part goes across the 1km long river. The biggest problem is how much the bridge weighs. There are shops and stores along the bridge, even a cinema and a large sports complex. I have not seen skybridges of that length and size before, and while there are plenty of long bridges over the river, none of them need to hold anything heavier than vehicles and I'm gone way past that. So I'm not sure about what I need for this?

Tex: Bridges are at the mercy of gravity, and gravity is not a forgiving force - it’s why there’s upper limits on everything from the evolution of species to architectural developments. At some point, it becomes cost prohibitive to attempt broaching the upper boundary of what’s possible within the restraints of gravity on a planet. If you’d like to do some handwaving and suspension of disbelief in your readers, you could use some anti-gravity generators on larger structures that would reduce the building cost of architectural features due to an artificially-raised boundary on what gravity will tolerate until it brings everything down.

Addy: So first off, a 1km long stretch of river is different than a 1km wide river. How many pillars and support sections do you have on this bridge? Because at this point, you're not really building a bridge, you're building an elevated plaza with roads on it. And, assuming you don't have antigrav, there's no way that (with modern or modern+50yrs tech) that you can support 1000m (~3000ft) of moderate-heavy commercial development with only two supports on the far ends.

You could, however, have something that's suspended on a series of arches, with some small shops or food areas along that length. After all, if people are walking between buildings, go ahead and put some places for them to eat. If this is a tourist attraction, also put some places for them to buy trinkets (either on the bridge-plaza or at the ends)

For a sports complex and a cinema, I'd say that it'd be cheaper (and more feasible) to have them inside the buildings, and to have the skybridge as a sort of public park.

If you're looking for a plaza 1 km long, and looking at a river that's more like 50-150m wide, then you could have a long, long skybridge-plaza that's supported by multiple buildings along its length. It could wind along the course of the river, with glass-paned areas to shed light to the river underneath, if that's something you want.

If you've got antigrav, like Tex mentioned, then you could replace pillars with anti-grav repulsors. That'd allow you to build something more like what you're envisioning, I think, with a wide stretch of space above and beneath the 10-story skybridge. If you don't want to have antigrav in the rest of your setting, maybe antigrav requires a bunch of power and can't change quickly to different amounts, so they're mostly static. Or maybe they're heavy/large and have a lot of inertia, like spinning (in a circle) a tube of wrapping paper while holding it in the middle vs spinning it while holding it at the end. Or bending an eraser on the thinner side vs bending it on the thicker side (mass vs area moments of inertia, but whatever). That could make them hard to incorporate into things like cars or planes, while still giving you your cool building structures.

It's all up to you and how you want to design your world.

[artemisfowlcodex]

LEP ground vehicles

The LEP may control the skies, but that’s not where the cities are. Plying the roads of Haven and other cities are an assortment of cruisers, utility vehicles, and even in rare cases heavily armoured and armed combat vehicles. They may roll on wheels and tracks, float on low power repulsors, or even walk on huge metal legs. 

The Prefect patrol car is a an older design first produced two hundred years ago, but it still serves well thanks to its sturdy, reliable construction and powerful drive core. The car’s internal computers are upgraded to reach parity with LEP standards, linking officers to the communications grid and giving them access to databases that can tell them everything they need to know about their missions. While it is able to take a hit, the Prefect proved woefully under equipped for combat situations, resulting in many of them getting destroyed during the B’wa Kell rebellion. Nonetheless, they continue to transport LEP officers during their daily business with the quiet efficiency that they are known for. They are crewed by two man patrols, usually used for basic apprehension of suspects and traffic interdiction.

In the event of a chase where airborne assets aren’t available, sector commands may choose to deploy the Vector Interceptor, a vehicle that eschews basic utility in favour of raw speed and manoeuvrability. These speeders can outperform sports cars while carrying a set of Immobiliser Missiles behind retractable panels, designed to impact and disable targets as quickly as possible, as the longer a chase goes, the higher risk there is of collateral damage. They are operated by a single driver and have no room for keeping arrested suspects. 

Traffic duty officers are given access to nimble, anti-grav equipped speeder bikes, allowing them to navigate heavy traffic with their small size and efficient drives. The riders must rely on their personal armour for protection, and are occasionally seen being thrown from their vehicles due to crashes. Thanks to advanced impact resistance tech and internal inertia compensation, LEP officers will usually get up again none the worse for wear. Some bikes are given light armament in the form of a Neutrino blaster or two. They also carry medical supplies in locked cases on the side, only accessible by LEP units or medical staff. This is to prevent the theft and misuse of medicines and equipment.

The versatile Warthog Multi Purpose Vehicle is a wheeled transport meant for moving materiel around on LEP bases and deployment areas, but it is also popular amongst officers when patrolling the rough tunnels that criss-cross the underground. It uses a sophisticated all wheel drive system that can independently move its axles for maximum mobility on any terrain, and its rear cargo bed can accommodate all sorts of attachments, like personnel seating, holding cells, or even turreted weapons. They are powered by a hydrogen ICE unit equipped with a Molecular Cracker device, enabling it to be refuelled by simple water. The Warthog also comes in civilian versions, and has been in use for a couple of hundred years now.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. That is what drivers of the Boar Armoured Patrol Cruiser have to say about their vehicles. These six wheeled APCs are equipped with a turret mounted Neutrino cannon capable of firing powerful ‘splash’ shots or a smattering of lighter bolts, with equal uses in riot suppression and outright combat. The Boar is clad in a thick set of armour made from NanoCrystalline Compound and Durasteel, able to take hits from anti-tank weapons. They also utilise shield generators to defend against impacts and weapons fire. Two squads of LEP officers can ride in the Boar, while it is manned by a driver and a gunner. The cruiser is capable of switching from its wheels to a repulsorlift system, enabling smooth and fast travel, although it is somewhat vulnerable to electromagnetic weapons and environments, which is why it has wheels to begin with. 

One vehicle is rare and almost never deployed. The Crusader main battle tank is an armoured beast that can give anyone a bad day. Featuring a powerful main cannon that can fire either Neutrino rounds or utilise a mass accelerating Multi-Munitions Launcher to send out shells, they can use anti-armour ‘Crackers’, bunker busting ‘Diggers’, or a variety of tracking missiles outfitted with whatever warheads take your fancy. The turret also features a remote operated rotary Neutrino cannon, a missile pod, and an anti-missile point defence blaster. Much like the Boar, it can swap between using treads and repulsors on the fly. 

Another military grade vehicle is the Archerfish Anti-Air Defence tank, which makes use of a quick-turn turret that mounts four rotary Neutrino cannons and twin General Purpose missile pods, and both weapon types are also suitable for anti-ground operations. The rear of the Archerfish features a Vertical Launch System (VLS) for heftier missiles that can swat heavily shielded ships out of the sky. The vehicle’s tracking is accurate enough to take down Sprites and small drones with little trouble. 

Now for something a little more unconventional. The Paladin Armoured Walker is a large, bipedal vehicle designed to maintain mobility on the roughest terrain, providing a towering weapons platform that can stand tall in the face of riots and raids. Crewed by two qualified officers, the Paladin is armed with a pair of rotary Neutrino cannons on a gimballed chin mount, with another two sitting further up on the head, which also serves as the main body, for better coverage of firing angles. Multi Munitions Launchers also adorn the top of the vehicle. Bulky articulated legs in a digitigrade configuration convey the walker in surprisingly nimble fashion, guided by advanced Virtual Intelligence (VI) technology to allow it to step over and across anything.

(Paladin with chromatics set to arctic mode for use in the annual all-weather training mission Operation Four Seasons)

Super Heavy Infantry Vehicles (SHIVs) are a new development on the field. Built in a humanoid shape, SHIVs are designed to be operated by the newly developed Neural Link technology, allowing their operators to move them as if they were their own bodies. SHIVs are experimental and are being tested for applications in utility load lifting, riot control, and warfare. Officers involved in the test program have taken to calling them by the colloquial term ‘Titans’, reflecting their size and shape.

(The long and sturdy legs of the SHIV makes it highly agile on rough terrain. They’re even capable of jumping.)

The LEP also owns a variety of modified civilian vehicles with the intention of blending into everyday traffic. They are used for stake-outs and discreet transport. Vans are upgraded with command systems for infiltration operations, while generic cars hide a number of scanners and use overcharged engines. They are also given chromatic shifting tech, allowing them to change their colouring to a number of styles and patterns, including standard LEP designs.