Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/The Amber

"By all means, this is ridiculous."

"Believe me, I have seen it. This is real."

-A tapped communications between a Scientist and Commander of the archipeligos

The Meteor from the Heavens
It fell from the skies, a meteor streaking down from the heavens, a meteor in a shower of meteors, a fragment of a much larger one still in orbit around the Sun. Whether by chance or by design, the meteor landed in the archipeligos around the Elsword Empire.

It should have been ignored, given that the islands were embroiled in a civil war with the Empire, fighting a losing battle, and both of the opposing sides were preoccupied with each other. However, this particular meteor was different. Rumors spread like wildfire about the glowing orange crystal this meteor had contained and the fantastical, almost unbelievable properties it possessed. Due to the color that this crystal was attributed to possess, it quickly gained the name of Amber, and soon that term was being used almost universally to describe the strange orange crystal. Eventually, the archipelagos, seeing that they were losing the war, sought to see for themselves what this material was. Teams were dispatched, given orders to recover this crystal at all costs, so that the scientists could study it, to see if it could give one of them an advantage over the Empire.

Recovery teams from had managed to secure samples of the crystal, while fighting off Empire soldiers ordered to recover the crystal, and bring it back to their leaders, while making sure the Empire was denied crystal samples. The scientists were able to study the material, and were quick to realize that the orange crystal was truly remarkable.

Mystery of the Crystal
This crystal possessed many unusual properties, properties that the scientists could barely even begin to understand. The crystal was self-replicating, able to grow in size and quantity, such that even a small sample of the crystal could eventually be grown into a far larger supply.

Another thing the scientists quickly discovered was its thermal emission and strange effects; there had been stories of people developing strange symptoms after being in close proximity to the crystal; people were reportedly "fused" with the crystal upon coming into contact with it. While the scientists knew what to make of such claims at first, the death of several members of the recovery teams following exposure to the crystal and sudden illnesses in others led them to realize that the stories were true. Not only that, but the crystals were also emitting dangerous amounts thermal radiation. It was only once proper precautions had been put in place that research into the crystal could be conducted safely.

It was only with further research that scientists discovered Amber’s most valuable property to date – that it was capable of nuclear fusion. If two pieces of Amber strike at a relatively low speed it would create enough heat to both separate the nuclei from the electrons and cause the nucleus to collide, thus creating nuclear fusion.

The potentials of this material were remarkable; a power plant exploiting the thermal energy released by the Amber could conceivably have a power output in the hundreds of megawatts, a staggering amount of power, equaling or even surpassing the Empire or Voshkods nuclear plants or Andoran Solaris.

The military application was equally obvious, however; a bomb utilising nuclear fusion would have immense destructive potential, enough to level a city, even it still pales to a nuclear missile. The archipelagos were quick to leap on this new weapon, and that would lead to the bloody end of the Elsword-Corona War with the empire forced into a retreat, losing half their nukes, most of the Empire south coasts, and some of the archipelagos islands, reduced to glass plains, the rise of the Viceroyalty of Corona. The records and sights of beams orange lights, not unlike the Andoran Solaris, exploding into large balls of plasma upon impact incinerating anything near it being permanently etched into history.

Limitless Potential
"The power of the sun, in the palm of my hands."

-Dr Zhāng Yú, one of the Viceroyalty head researchers, upon unveiling the first successful Thermal generator

Amber has many interesting properties, as the researchers of the archipelagos, and later on, the Elsword Empire, would discover. Yet, for all the fantastical properties that Amber possesses, and all the technological marvels it has made possible, the scientists of the Viceroyalty may have barely even begun to scratch the surface of Amber’s possibilities, whereas the other superpowers that had managed to take a sample of Amber and lived can barely comprehend it.

Nuclear fusion, for one, was made possible with the discovery of Amber. By slamming together two subcritical masses of Amber to create a supercritical mass, one can induce a chain reaction, as the Amber reached the heat to separate and fuse atoms into larger atoms, releasing tremendous of energy and heat. Amber is the only known material capable of undergoing sustained fusion, as if it was a Sun, with little complexities making it vital for Corona Fusion reactors, plasma bombs, and small generators to power their vehicles or infantry suit of armor that are otherwise too heavy to move in.

Ray Weapons, on the other hand, rely on the interaction between Amber and high-energy photons. By irradiating a piece of Amber with a sufficiently powerful beam of x-ray or gamma-ray photons, one can induce the Amber to emit an intense burst of heat. It is by this mechanism that the ray guns of the Viceroyalty function, firing blasts of lethal heat-rays, or even plasma in sufficient numbers, that are lethal to tanks and infantry. On the other hand, an ultraviolet beam of sufficient power will affect the state of Amber on the molecular level. In this state, Amber will give off a telltale signature, allowing one to ‘read’ a piece of Amber with the proper equipment. This way, one can utilize Amber as a data storage mechanism.

On the other hand, bombarding Amber with high-energy microwave beams causes the Amber to project a plane of “solid energy”, which forms the basis of Planar Shield technology, which is employed extensively by the Viceroyalty for defensive purposes.

Trivia

 * Amber is inspired by Tiberium and its origins.