Terrible, Swift Sword

The Torch Focus Device, as it is called on official documents, is often nicknamed the "Niven Gun" as a homage to the 20th Century author Larry Niven and the concept of the "Kzinti Lesson", which posits that a reaction drive's efficiency as a weapon is directly proportional to its efficiency as a drive.

In this case, the core of the Torch Focus Device is often the ship's reverse thruster assembly, around which is built a number of magnetic field generators, spatial lens projectors, and other such devices such that the entire output of a capital ship's fusion torch drive is focused down into a pencil thin beam of radioactive plasma at its point of convergence.

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I wanted to see if I could adapt Jonas Noell's technique for faking fog in Vray to a space scene, and I think it turned out pretty well. There's just that feeling you get when you make something for yourself after months working on commissions, as well.

There are a number of references to other works of science fiction, and the title is a quote from the Battle Hymn of the Republic.