The AN063 is a multi-function powerplant. It works by 'burning' matter in a process unlike fusion or fusion in that it requires no special or specific fuels. The process instead even breaks down the nuclei of atoms into useful energy without the need to carry volatile antimatter on-board. One of the decay products of the process – aeons – can then be used to form an ad-hoc aetheric tap if more power or the use of aetheric weapons is needed. The given mode the powerplant operates within depends on the mission, involved threats and political variables.
Useful products from the powerplant include…
Mounted directly to the AN063, it uses gamma voltaic induction heating rather than relying on its own heavy fusion ignition laser like its predecessor making it 40% lighter than the original PDCT found in the Winter I. Linear accelerators are also used throughout the body to further compress and accelerate plasma, raising its thrust potential. The end result is improved combat endurance, reduced weight, greater stability, and faster responsiveness.
This increased performance comes at the cost of a greater maintenance overhead – though like the powerplant, the PDCT-II can be swapped out during maintenance cycles between sorties.
Depending on the given environment, the PDCT-II can operate in different modes which best suit the situation – either for raw output or fuel efficiency. They can be thought as being similar to the different gears of a car.
| Mode | Description | Performance Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RAM/PLASMA | Air in, plasma out. | Similar in function to a jet engine, the thrust can be shaped. This mode is always available in atmosphere. As the speed increases so does compression which result to higher accelleration at post-mach speeds. |
| APOGEE/PLASMA | Propellant/fuel in, plasma out | When no air intake is available onboard propellant or fuel is used instead, this can be wasteful in some circumstances but is often useful. |
| POSITRON BOOSTER/PULSE BOOST | Positrons + Plasma | Positrons are vented into thrust stream. The result is a brief but explosive jump in thrust capable of throwing the frame large distances similar to a flea jumping. This is often ideal for rapid breaking, changing directions, side-stepping ordinance or making sharp turns. |
| PION ROCKET | Pions + Plasma | Pions, which break down into positrons anyway (but can be transferred with much lower losses of energy) are vented into thrust-stream. This “higher ratio” of positrons in the mix results in a sort of rocket which can achieve escape velocity from large gravitational bodies with very little fuel expense or be used for orbital burns. While very powerful it is in no way environmentally friendly and would be unthinkable around inhabited spaces. It has a habit of interfering with sensors and communications as a side effect. Additionally it can potentially be weaponized up close. |
Serving as the bread and butter of the Winter II's power-grid, the C4R (Centriguge/Condenser/Casimir Cooling/Capacitor & Rectifier) is a modular hot-swappable beer-can sized energy and resource management system.
While normally these technologies (gravitational control, particle condenser, cooling and particle rectification) are ordinarily separate, the C4R is installed as a redundant repeated unit – meaning as a Winter II takes damage, its performance falls off gradually reducing the potential for highly damaging critical strikes. The benefit is in making the frame much easier to repair and upgrade: peeling back the substrate and simply removing the C4R units and replacing them with new modules as needed.
Specifically, the C4R does the following:
Stored against the endoskeleton, the units are used to drive many weapons and core systems of the frame. Sitting just beneath the surface of the frame they glow hotly making them visible when in use. In emergency cooling mode or high-fidelity rectifier mode, the tubes may be extended from the body for high precision control. In the event a C4R is damaged, it may be ejected and should the situation warrant intentionally detonated.
Within each C4R is a core of stored aeons: condensed potential aetheric energy, similar to the interior environment of the Aura powerplant. These aeons can be expelled as as aether both in conventional form as an aether beam and dimensionally dimensionally aspirated forms as turbo-aether.
This is used by either expelling their core in all directions in a bubble like blast, or by temporarily forming shells or discs of aether over parts of the frame which are able to provide temporary protection to aetheric weapons.
While this function provides a powerful defence, if any part of the frame moves through this shell it will be annihilated exactly as if it were being struck with an aetheric weapon.
Basically serving to stabilize the CCD sometimes broadcast by the gravitic centrifuges (either by the frame, the Mercurial units if fitted, and the C4R Array), field-effectors usually double up in purpose depending on their location and type.
Dotted across the body, shock-vanes are externalized horn-shaped elements which act as convex field effectors, used in fine-tuning electrical fields. They are instrumental in synchronizing CCD fields in CLASP mode and almost all fit at least one module from the C4R array which they can normally extend to reveal.
Doubling in function as communications masts, their exteriors usually feature a sharpened tip or edges to serve in close combat, working even when primary power has failed and only basic movement is available.
Resonance plates are rows of concave field effectors resembling rowed parallel vent flaps or razor-blades which glow when in operation. They usually sit beneath an exoskeletal flap, covering or even inside shock-vanes, tucked neatly away. When revealed, they double as a cooling system and additional booster vents for the PDCT-II.
Other smaller resonance plates can be seen as thick circuit like channels beneath the structol substrate which shift in colour and brightness, shifting in a manner that appears as if something were pumped through them.
Following a both simple and complex principle, a gravitational centrifuge is a sort of a revolving door of super-conducting super-cooled super-fluid (referred to as S3 compound). When accelerated at very high speeds, if an electrical current is applied, gravitational projection is exerted. The device performs an enormous number of functions: Propulsion, CCD projection, self-concealing, and sensor masking just to name a few.
Any pilot who wants to come even close to getting the most out of the Winter II should consult the devices documentation and familiarize themselves with its full array of capabilities.