[Kha]

Originally Posted by Kikaifan

Question: Wouldn't the requirement that energy remain constant demand that any difference in energy between the BJ in extradimensional space and in 'real' space be made up in the process of transferring it between the two?

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Knockback as a result of reactive shielding alone is implausible due to the power of the attacks used. The forces involved in the reactive effect would have to be huge, more than enough to splatter the mage (for one thing, a tank's reactive armor would splatter a person wearing it, and the midrange beam attacks in Nanoha look like they could compare in energy to your average APFSDS round to me), which implies that they're somehow compensated for (multilayered BJ with inner layers absorbing force from reacting outer layers sounds fine to me). Similar to the ridiculous 'tumbling bridge crew' in Star Trek, the only explanation I find acceptable is that whatever system is compensating for the reactive force just happens to be well-tuned enough to bring the force within human tolerances but isn't perfectly-tuned so as to null the force entirely. Which kinda beggars belief itself, but it works for me...

I didn't quite get your question but I'll try and answer it. Energy is not transferred from extra-dimensional space but drawn from it by virtue of several processes (which I won't go onto just yet) to build the BJ. Yes some mana is used to draw more from extra-dimensional space for it is an active process, but enough is left to be worked on by the nanites. Most of the formation process occurs because of the controlled manipulation of the speed of light due to artificial conditions created by the nanites as they deconstruct and save the mage's clothes and build up the BJ. Does that answer it?

Sidenote:

The special form of numerous and externally derived energy used specifically to drive magical processes is what we call Mana, as opposed to the somewhat limited and internally derived type generated by one's Linker Core which has many names like Reiatsu, Furyoku, Chii, Chakra etc, etc.

Originally Posted by mdauben

Isn't the "reactive armor" feature of Reactor Purge actually a separate power, or at least an upgrade to Barrier Jacket that Nonoha did not originally have? The way it's listed in Wiki gives the impression that Barrier Jacket is more like a force field, and Reactor Purge is the explosive defence.

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One possible explination occures to me. In "real life" reactive armor doesn't just knock the projectile away, what it does is disrupt the explosive attack of the projectile (many AP rounds use a shaped charge which generates a sort of high-temperature plasma jet which is what actually pierces the armor). Perhaps defensive powers like Reactor Purge do the same thing to magic? Use a counter-charge to disrupt the focused nature of the spell, so that the underlying Barrier Jacket can effectivly resist the now difussed attack?

Originally Posted by Kikaifan

I know Kontakt-V at least works primarily by the lateral movement of the plates sandwiching the explosive, resulting in multiplication of their effective thickness by several times and possibly the disruption of the HEAT jet and severing of a penetrator's point.

I'd imagine the reactive effect in BJ is just a disruption of whatever features of the offensive energies make them a good penetrator of the armor/shield layers like you say, not an out-and-out attempt to equal the force of the attack, but I'm dubious that the heavier attacks used by the Nanoha mages could be disrupted without a significant force.

Also, while I'd like to imagine that the BJ form a comprehensive defense like we've been discussing, it could be that 'reactor purge' refers only to the complete destruction of the jacket to form a last-ditch reactive defense, as when Nanoha was protected against Vita's final rocket-hammer strike only by the expenditure of the entire energy of her BJ.

Ok I should be clearer in my explanation. Like you all said, what I really was talking about was how Reactor Purge worked. That does not cover all bases on how the BJ works to protect the mage. It has 3 layers of defence: First the intangible Protection field, then the smart material that is flexible like cloth, probably "breathes like Egyption cotton" to quote one superhero costume tailor, and yet can resist most impacts, and is the layer that self-destructs to oppose the impact when the BJ is subjected to impact beyond its limit, then the distribution layer that prevents the mage from being crushed by her own BJ exploding to resist the attack.

Originally Posted by Woden

I somewhat doubt that nanomachines are involved in the creation of Barrier Jackets. As we can see from the binding spells of Yuuno in the first series, mages seem to be capable of creating effects that appear to be solid (capable of appearing to break) without the use of an intelligent device.

Edit: Couldn't the following also serve as an alternative?

Mythology is filled with references to objects that should not be able to withstand forces that they should not be able to. Two instances that come to mind are the Nemean (I think that's how you spell it) Lion slain by Hercules, and magical properties of the blood of the dragon Fafnir. All of Hercules' weapons failed to penetrate the skin of the Nemean Lion, and the blood of Fafnir conferred invulnerability to every part of Sigurd's body that it touched.

If we look at magic as the process of bringing substances into being, it is quite possible that barrier jacket is merely the product of specialized magic. It is also possible that the creation is merely the harnessing and transmutation of nearby substances and energy into a physical form. If we say that there is a natural order (as one could infer from the insane amount of scientific knowledge) it is quite possible that the apparent "dissolving" or "bursting" of barrier jackets is simply the energy and substance drawn upon returning to its original place.

In this case, the intelligent device serves the role of managing and maintaining the use of energy according to the instructions/programming inherent in its being. The device has a certain form of the barrier jacket imprinted into it upon initial activation (perhaps by user), and it continues to use that form until the instructions are altered.

Yes that's true. I approached Nanohaverse device with a mindset that everything has some science in it, however warped it might be, and hence my preference for nanomachines over pure enchanting magic in explanation of certain things

I'd like to point out that Yuuno does not create a barrier jacket for himself with his magic. My explanation for this distinction is that, maybe in the Nanohaverse, while a person's wielding of magic can create solid objects on its own, for more precise and complicated objects like the smart multi-layered defenses of the Barrier Jacket, the precision offered by mechanical tools like Devices is required. Its a bit like an unaided human being able to build a rather large integrated circuit, but a robot is able to build things to a micron accurately and quickly, thus achieving more with less space used.