what would a flashpack do?

Assuming that it does kill instantly.... In large ships, it could cause slower burning fires that broil people alive or cause them to suffocate to death from lack of oxygen.

Best, Raptor
 
Mmmmmh... I thought that even the Vesuvius was surrounded in flames when you unleashed the Flashpak on it...

Hence I guess the whole atmosphere inside the ship is ignited, so the people are instantly combusted... am I wrong?
 
A weapon is a tool, and all tools are amoral. That is they exist without morality, and assume the morals of the user.
 
Originally posted by mpanty
Mmmmmh... I thought that even the Vesuvius was surrounded in flames when you unleashed the Flashpak on it...

Hence I guess the whole atmosphere inside the ship is ignited, so the people are instantly combusted... am I wrong?

All ships are counted as "killed" in the game engine as soon as you fire the killing shot. That says nothing about the actual time taken for the device to its work. And even if the *ship*is taken out of action instantly, what with fireproof doors and fire suppressant systems, it could be very far from instant for the people inside.

Best, Raptor
 
Well I wasn't referring to that actually, but rather to the balls of fire we see across the ship after the Flashpak detonates...

To me, that's pretty much instantaneous death... NOT to be approved of course, but...
 
Originally posted by Meson
A weapon is a tool, and all tools are amoral. That is they exist without morality, and assume the morals of the user.
]

So one one could find "moral" uses for mustard gas, Zyklon-B, biological weapons ect?

Best, Raptor
 
That just means the fire has burst through windows, vents and hatches across the ship. The people inside could still be alive and burning.
 
And the fact that there is fire pretty much rules out the instant ignition therory, which would consume all the oxygen. Fire all over the place would be much more indicative of a slow burn...

Best, Raptor
 
Originally posted by Raptor
I wonder if the people on that refugee transport would agree with you that the Flahpak is a downright pleasant weapon in comparison to other ways.

Best, Raptor

Well, given the variety of agonzing and prolonged ways of dying from chemical, biological or radiation poisoning, or just asphyixiating in the cold vacuum of space, I'll take the relatively quick flashpak any day.

I'll happily admit there are better ways to go. Personally I'm aiming for "in his sleep of extreme old age", or "of a sudden heart attack during a moment of wild sex" myself.
 
Originally posted by Raptor
And the fact that there is fire pretty much rules out the instant ignition therory, which would consume all the oxygen. Fire all over the place would be much more indicative of a slow burn...
Well... not exactly... I was rather thinking that the ship is coverded in fire, than dies out almost instantly, like a "wave" of fire from the front of the ship to the aft... This way the "instant atmosphere ignition" could still hold...
 
There wouldnt be any fire covering the ship because there is no oxygen in space to burn. The ship could only be filled with fire. The only fire you would see outside the ship is oxygen burning as it escaped the ship.
 
That's what I'm saying Supdon...
It ignites, escapes the ship, then nothing, because all the oxygen is used up...
This in a "wave" across (or "INside", if you want) the whole ship...
 
I have no idea if its true or not but its possible the temperature in which oxygen ignites is lower than for people, so the flash fire would burn up all the oxygen but not necessarily kill all the crew, they could be left horribly burned for agonizing minutes before they died of asphyxiation.
 
Hum... but then wouldn't the whole ship be rapidly be depressurized so that they would die anyway from depressurization? (like the Kilrathi on the Karga in False Colours)
And that wouldn't take long anyway...

But maybe you're right Supdon... while the majority would die instantly, perhaps *some* would agonize for a while...
 
Especially deeper in the ship where the oxygen couldnt escape, the by product of the fire would still leave some pressure aboard in some places.
 
These are all hypotheses which are hard to formulate if one doesn't know the true physics and chemistry of a Flashpak explosion... :)
 
Originally posted by Supdon3
I have no idea if its true or not but its possible the temperature in which oxygen ignites is lower than for people, so the flash fire would burn up all the oxygen but not necessarily kill all the crew, they could be left horribly burned for agonizing minutes before they died of asphyxiation.

Umm, well, technically oxygen does not ignite.

Combustion is the oxidization of a material (combination of a material with oxygen) producing various byproducts including gas, heat and light. Rapid oxidization (fire) produces large amounts of heat and light.

So, fire is basically a rapid chemical reaction. You need to have something to burn (fuel) and oxygen for it to combine with. Generally you need a certain amount of heat to begin with to spark the reaction.

The flashpak has to raise the temperature of the atmosphere to such an extent that anything flamable (e.g. people) rapidly oxidizes (burns).
 
Well that sounds like a cool "physical" explanation, AzraeL... :)
Nevertheless, would that actually be "possible" (assuming we can get to those temperatures...)?
 
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