The Society of Carpet Bombers

	The Society of Carpet Bombers: Physics
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The Forcewaves of Lightning

by Archer »–)›

Calculated Observations

Here are the stages of a lightning blast (here portrayed as being from a Fetch, but the same applies to a Myrkridian Pack Mage).

Stage I

The lightning has just begun its journey from the Fetch's clasped hands to the point on the ground in front of it, this path illustrated by a thin line from the Fetch to the ground. The branched apperance of the lightning is irrelvant, as it's just for show (mostly).

When the first segment of this lightning is made extant, it creates a shockwave that expands outward. Then another segment is made, which starts is own shock wave. This means that the first segment will have a slightly larger shockwave than the segments that follow at any one time. This is key to understanding the physics of carpet bombing.

Stage II

The lightning has built segments which nearly reach the ground. The conical shape of the complete lightning shockwave, the forcewave, is demonstrative of how the individual segments emmit their own energy.

Stage III

The lightning has made contact with the target and has created the flashpoint. The flashpoint of the center of target gives off more energy than the lightning bolt because the resulting explosion is meant to do the most damage. This greater energy of the dome-like shockwave that emminates from the flashpoint is represented by a thicker line for the forcewave.

Stage IV

The forcewaves of the bolt and the flashpoint expand further. At this point, it should be visible how there is great imbalance in the shape of the lightning forcewaves. This asymmetry makes carpet bombing a great skill to master.

Stage V

This is the last stage where the lightning exists. Once the attack is terminated, the lightning will no longer be extant, and the shockwaves and combined forcewaves of the lightning will simply halt in their expansion.

Stage VI

Though the lightning, the bolt and the flashpoint, no longer cause any damage and create no more shockwaves, it is unknown at this time if their is a secondary shockwave which continues to expand outward from the point of impact. Evidence is inconclusive, but it is the job of this society to study and determine this and many other mysteries of the Physics of Carpet Bombing.

Conclusions

Because there is more force exerted from the fetch end of the lightning bolt, molotovs thrown over this area will be propelled much more forcefully than molotovs thrown over the opposite end.

There is much more force exerted from the flashpoint forcewave. Flashpoint forcewaves more noticebly project cocktails, such as duds on the ground, so this is why a Carpet Bombing formation based upon this energy evolved first. This formation is the "Classic" CB formation, consisting of two or more Dwarven Heroes throwing from behind three Fetch to a place on the ground in front of the Fetch. The Fetch target a point just behind the cocktails when they are in mid-flight. The resulting explosion shockwaves from the common flashpoint are very powerful and propell the molotovs very far.

However, the flashpoint forcewave is just like the back end of a golf club: round. The hemispherical shapes of both things, when making contact with targetted missiles, have the missiles fly forward in random directions. This is why the C-Formation is inferior to the L-Formation. The L-Formation does not make great use of the flashpoint forcewaves. Instead, lightning is fired perpendicular to the paths of the molotov cocktails. This utilizes the semi-cylindrical shape of the expanding bolt forcewaves to propell the cocktails. The L-Formation is therefore a lot like using the correct end of a golf club to hit the golf ball instead of the curved back end. The resultant paths of the molotovs are a lot less random.

The L-Formation also recognizes that the lightning bolt forcewave is asymmetrical. That is why the Fetch are aimed across and forward. The edge of the forcewave is alligned by this special targetting so the molotovs are propelled from behind, each with a relatively equal force. In addition, the flashpoint forcewave is used to help balance the asymmetry in the same way as angling the targetting of the Fetch lightning bolt.

These factors considererd, carpet bombing can be a very accurate and extremely leathal weapon.