Technology

The Distant Sands 11 universe is set at a specific time and place in technological development, and

Directorate Technology

Technologies particular to the Directorate or originating within it. Directorate technology tends to be non-digital in nature, or rather post-digital. As a result, it often looks outdated despite its sophistication.

Blaster

These are heat weapons and tools that serve a large range of purposes. They can disintegrate objects and people on the highest settings, but on lower ones they can start a fire, weld metal, or a variety of other tasks. If you need heat on demand, chances are you'll use a blaster.

Directorate Scanner

Large and multipurpose analytical tools. Handheld scanners are very useful for gathering all kinds of information from the surrounding environment and specific objects, but they tend to be very bulky. Ship-mounted scanners are often powerful enough to be lethal at extremely close ranges.

Drone

Directorate surface warfare is largely dominated by drone usage. These are typically small, mass-produced UAVs that can navigate indoor spaces and tend to be controlled by the Pilot of the ship they're deployed from. Generally the Directorate does not deploy conventional infantry, although most RDEF warships carry a detachment of marines for limited surface operations and boarding actions. The Directorate uses drones for a wide variety of purposes both in and out of combat, such as for scanning or scouting, performing repairs in space, and even construction of orbital structures.

Gravity Manipulation

Most Directorate ships' primary propulsion system is called a Gravity Drive. Rather than a chemical reaction or direct energy propulsion, the ship projects a field of heavy gravity in a given direction and is pulled rather than pushed towards its destination. The generation of artificial gravity aboard ships and stations is done using a device known as gravity plating, which is typically positioned under the deck. The strength of this field can be adjusted in real time by the ship's Pilot, which also gives it utility as a means to incapacitate intruders by rapidly raising and lowering the gravity in a given area.

Low-Berth

Chambers in which molecular activity is reduced to near zero in a flash. This effectively freezes the contents in their present condition as long as power supply lasts. These are typically used for the preservation of sophonts in the event of emergency or lack of FTL availability.

Marshmelon

In the early days of human-Rokhandan relations, it was discovered that Feni had a particuliar love of marshmallows. The name of the confectionary was misconstrued as 'marshmelon' and couldn't be corrected before these treats were spread throughout the Directorate. Modern marshmelons of Directorate manufacture are nutrient-dense little spheres dyed to resemble the common djolar melon that taste much like human marshmallows, and most citizens believe that the snack originates from within the Directorate.

Pilot System

So named because its initial and most common use is aboard Directorate ships. Most clans harbor an intense distaste for general artificial intelligences, and instead purpose-build them for specific tasks which they're programmed to see as their entire purpose. This becomes problematic with tasks that require exacting coordination between multiple systems, such as the operation of starship systems. Instead of using AIs, Directorate ships largely use non-sentient computer, life support, and neural interface systems into which sophonts are integrated for several months or years. Can eventually cause neural burnout, so pilots are typically cycled in and out once every few weeks or so.

RRCT

Rapid Reconstructive Cell Therapy. This process has many uses and is a flagstone of technological progress. Effectively, RRCT deconstructs and then rebuilds organic structures according to a DNA plan. This plan can be extensively modified for a wide range of physical changes, effectively allowing a person to splice themselves into a different or even entirely new species. If left unmodified, RRCT is used as a medical procedure to restore a person from catastrophic damage.

GeCo

A spinoff of RRCT tech, Genetic Corruption weapons are essentially the deconstructive process of RRCT without an end state programmed in. Anybody subjected to a GeCo weapon is liquefied.

Sandcaster

Primarily a defensive weapon, sandcasters are ship-mounted and launch dense clouds of highly reflective silicate particles. The intended use is to deflect energy discharges and prematurely detonate conventional munitions, but some enterprising officers have found that sandcasters are also extremely effective anti-personnel weapons in target-rich environments.

Non-Directorate Technology

Generally regarded within the Directorate as either unsophisticated or derivative of something else.

Mass Drivers

Ballistic weapons are generally considered outdated by the Directorate, yet they remain the primary means of ship-to-ship combat outside of it.

Disallowed Technology

Things that players aren't allowed to have because they haven't been invented yet in the setting or are functionally impossible to obtain.

Hardlight

While some ships have begun to mount hardlight shields, they're extremely power-intensive and can't be used for more than a few seconds at a time and in a localized area. Nobody has figured out how to miniaturize the technology yet or make it work for extended periods.