Entry #2: Technology #2: Mech Tech
Mirror Shield / Reflective Shielding – A variation on holographic technology that refracts all light directed at it, used as a counter to Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER or laser) weapons. These devices can safely negate beam weaponry (within certain limits); however, their power consumption makes them highly localized, covering only a small area, making them difficult to use effectively. Pilots generally outfit the mirror shield to one of their mech forearms and use them much like a traditional shield, but other implementation methods are not uncommon. Since incoming beams travel at the speed of light, most mecha are also painted in a light-scattering reflective coating that can help to dissipate the beam (into fuzzy light) in order to give the pilot enough reaction time to bring up the mirror shield and reflect the rest of the light safely away. If a pilot is too slow in raising the shield, the beam will quickly burn past the reflective coating and cause moderate to critical damage depending on the power of the beam and the longer it sits in one location.
As a side note: Mirror shields are useful only against other mechs that have beam weapons with comparable power capacity. These defenses are utterly useless against Capital Class beam armaments where the size and power are nearly inexhaustible and the best defense is dodging the weapons altogether. Dodging a weapon that travels at light speed is accomplished by moving quicker than the turret can track, or using sensor shadows to prevent a lock on. Outrun the system, not the weapon. Some Capital Ship gunners, however, take great pride in the number of mecha they destroy with beam weapons because of the natural difficulty of the target.
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