Energy Fields and Shields

An energy field is an artificially created forcefield of charged particles created through the use of a field generator, which uses exotic matter to put up an infinitesimally thin barrier in the fabric of spacetime which, depending on the amount of energy used, is capable of deflecting any matter or energy ranging from cosmic background radiation to dreadnought-caliber railcannon fire.

Categories
Fields can be shaped into any form and expanded to any size, though required power increases exponentially with surface area. A shield is defined as any field which remains active for extended periods of time and covers a significant portion of an object's body. Though shields could theoretically be of any strength, in almost all cases they are used solely to protect spacecraft from radiation and debris during space travel, and as a result are of comparatively low intensity.

Combat fields, which are used by most spacecraft as a primary means of defense, are small portions of extremely high intensity field put up to deflect enemy fire. These fields only stay up long enough to repel the beam or projectile, normally less than a second, and are managed by a ship's main computer, as an organic brain is nowhere near quick enough to counter incoming fire. For this reason, ship-to-ship combat often revolves around finding a way to trick or distract the enemy computer, allowing weapons fire to come through and strike the enemy vessel. Alternatively, a ship with a very large number of weapons could simply fire every weapon in a spread at their enemy, with the ship being unable to raise combat fields covering a large enough area to deflect all fire. However, engagements like this are rare, with most space battles resembling a fencing match in many ways, fire and fields bouncing against each other until one single shot is able to come through. Ship-to-ship engagements often last hours or days before even one shot connects with its target.