Carbon-nanite

Carbon-Nanite material is composed of a web of nanoscopic self-replicating robots (nanites) that can conjoin together into larger structures. The appeal of carbon-nanite over other, more traditional armor plating is the use of biomimesis to provide additional means of protection beyond inflexible fortitude.

Operation
At its most basic operation, a carbon-nanite shell is created by having a large mass of nanobots physically attach to one another to form a unified surface. Depending on the size of the surface generated, this could mean thousands, to billions, to quintillions or nanoscopic robots clutching to one another.

The resulting surface can be qualified as air-and-water-tight, resistant to pressure changes, and able to survive atmospheric re-entry as well as indefinite deep-space exposure.

Coagulation
It is a basic fact of protection that no material is completely invulnerable for long. For every new alloy designed, someone out there will develop a weapon to break it open. To its benefit, carbon nanites acknowledge but side-step this inherent limitation by providing a recovery mechanism for the event that something manages to pierce through the nanite shell. This mechanism, known as Coagulation (named for the homeostatic response), is designed to minimize the damage caused to the shielded unit. The process consists of nanites in sectors surrounding the breach forming a new nanite layer over the hole. While this will reduce the overall effectiveness of the shell in those sectors, this maneauver will seal up the breach, preventing the loss of cargo/oxygen/personnel during deep-space transit.

Foreign Body Extraction
In a similar vein of thought, if foreign matter becomes lodged in the breach prevents proper coagulation, the offending body can be broken down and removed by the nanites, or used as fuel for the Regeneration process.

Regeneration
In the event that any nanites are destroyed, existing nanites can salvage material from nearby sources to replenish numbers, and can actually increase the overall nanite count, further increasing protective capability (to within the limits prescribed by the Drexler Coefficient). By royal decree as part of the Irrimar Treaty, this functionality is only permitted outside of allied population centers. (See: The Recyclophage)

Selective Protection
Using external sensors, the nanite shell can predictively re-organize positioning priority to mitigate imminent damage. This draws idle nanites from nearby sections of the overall structure together to temporarily increase the protective factor of the selected sector. There are, of course, limitations to this capability, since it means that by strengthening one section, others sections will be similarly weakened by having some of their nanites shifted. For this reason, a popular strategy employed against carbon-nanite armor is based around two simultaneous attacks from opposite sides, one after the other, with the second attack representing the true target. While difficult, this limitation can be overcome through manual control of the reorganization process through the intervention of a Psychomancer.

Structure Reconfiguration
Lastly, one of the strengths of carbon-nanite plating is that the nanites are not restricted to only hard-surface configuration in gestalt formation. Fragile cargo, for example, could be protected with a layer of "cushioning" nanites that can compress in order to redirect and dissipate impact force during travel over difficult systems (such as the asteroid-laden voyage through Noriko's Gut).

Notable Uses of Carbon-Nanites

 * Shell of the Bejeweled Hermitage
 * The Einherjar
 * Aphid Class Frigates
 * High-ranking Untrooper armor sets
 * Pulton's "Folly"
 * Senator Maxwell Cog's private parts were famously replaced with carbon-nanite replacements after acquiring a DUO on Bubba's Junction