Adamantium
Adamantium is an exotic material created by the ancient Hexamite civilizations, able to perfectly reflect all electromagnetic and particle radiation, and remain undamaged by even the most energetic kinetic impacts. Adamantium salvaged from caches and ruins in Hexamite space is used for various purposes.
Adamatium is about as dense as a superheavy transuranic element, but is usually found in very thin sheets which reduces the mass of any particular piece. These sheets are exceptionally sharp, able to cut through any known physical armor, and if dropped sideways on the ground will simply slip through it, oscillating back and forth through the planet's core. It is perfectly reflective, as far as anyone can tell, to the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as particle radiation such as neutrons. All attempts at damaging it through kinetic impacts have failed, though it can be sent flying back if struck with sufficient force. Adamantium retains its solid appearance even under the greatest magnification, no constitutent particles are distinguishable.
A second piece of Hexamite technology, a shaping wand, is required to manipulate the material, as it cannot be cut or bent by any ordinary means. How this tool works is also unknown, but it enables a user to accomplish separations, joins, and re-shapings. In this way, adamantium can be modified from its found state into a useful form. Shaping wands are even rarer than adamantium itself, and carefully guarded by their owners.
Physics
How adamantium gets its remarkable properties is, of course, unknown to modern scientists. Some speculate it uses a similar principle as Hexamite time dilation fields, which also have a near-perfect-reflection effect, but no concrete evidence exists to confirm this.Adamatium is about as dense as a superheavy transuranic element, but is usually found in very thin sheets which reduces the mass of any particular piece. These sheets are exceptionally sharp, able to cut through any known physical armor, and if dropped sideways on the ground will simply slip through it, oscillating back and forth through the planet's core. It is perfectly reflective, as far as anyone can tell, to the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as particle radiation such as neutrons. All attempts at damaging it through kinetic impacts have failed, though it can be sent flying back if struck with sufficient force. Adamantium retains its solid appearance even under the greatest magnification, no constitutent particles are distinguishable.
A second piece of Hexamite technology, a shaping wand, is required to manipulate the material, as it cannot be cut or bent by any ordinary means. How this tool works is also unknown, but it enables a user to accomplish separations, joins, and re-shapings. In this way, adamantium can be modified from its found state into a useful form. Shaping wands are even rarer than adamantium itself, and carefully guarded by their owners.
Applications
The most obvious application of adamatium is shielding, and indeed the Hexamites appear to have used it for this purpose. When Starweb scavengers and treasure-hunters began to find it in Hexamite space during the Second Interstellar Period, uses were quickly devised and it became one of the most profitable Hexamite-derived commodities.Spacecraft Engines
Modern torch drives produce tremendous amounts of heat and radiation which no ordinary engine structure can withstand, requring special techniques like magnetic nozzles and heat-shields to protect ships using them. However, a cylinder or cone of adamatium can contain the reaction with perfect reflectiveness, eliminating the need for heavy radiation shielding. This enables improved, compact ship designs such as belly-landers capable of touching down on planets and then flying through space using torch drives mounted on the underside. By no means is this cheap—until recently, the adamantium used in a ship's engines could easily equal the rest of the spaceframe in cost!Armor
Adamatium has also been used to armor war vehicles such as tanks and spacecraft, especially during the chaotic years of the Second Interstellar Period. The practicality of this is hampered by the tremendous expense, only the wealthiest polities and organizations could afford it with any regularity. Adamatium-armored craft are not invincible, either, they can be knocked around by heavy blows and gaps in the armor are exploitable.
Value
Expensive
Rarity
Rare
Color
Reflective
Common State
Solid
Related Locations
Related Species
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