nanoweapons

Trope-a-Day: I’m Melting

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I’m Melting: This is what happens to people who are being devoured by certain types of nanoweapons (the generic name is nanoburn) whose mode of functioning is to rip you apart, molecular fragment by molecular fragment, until what’s left is a pile of organic sludge.

This is, of course, a ridiculously impractical, inefficient, and above all messy weapon, and not one fielded by the majority of military groups anywhere; rather, it is the specialized intimidation weapon of people who like their choice of weapon to reflect just exactly how pissed off and indiscriminately wasteful you made them at the time they sent this stuff after you; or, in other words, who are trying to make a (melo)dramatic point.

Trope-a-Day: Fire Breathing Weapon

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Fire Breathing Weapon: Plenty of ’em, up to and including flame tanks.  For two reasons: one, fire is scary, and since there are very few species indeed willing to charge directly into a wall, cloud, or ocean of fire, they make excellent area-denial weapons against light infantry.  Without having to kill anyone not led by General Stupid, even.  And two, they’re great against nanoweapons and other swarms in general, because it doesn’t take all that much fire to make them exceed their heat budget and stop working.  And since nanowarfare is quite popular, such a convenient way of dealing with it is most useful.