Ametium

Ametium is an extremely rare metal. Found only on planets with a very specific make-up, it's an inert element with very few reactive properties. It's highly prized for its ability to disperse heat and energy, and for its sheer durability.

Ametium is most associated with the planet Amethine, on which it was discovered and named after. Amethine has relatively large Ametium deposits, and it originally inspired a gold rush of miners hoping to get rich. Indeed, Ametium currently goes for roughly 4,692 Gold per ounce (or 75,072 Gold per pound).

Availability of Ametium is extremely limited, and thus reserved mostly for research or specific, highly important projects. Ametium has been artificially produced with nanomachines, but the cost incurred is astronomical.

Ametium is extremely difficult to work with, and is thus mostly handled by nanomachines.

Properties

Ametium is an extremely dense, heavy metal with a greenish hue. It's extremely durable, over a hundred times harder than diamond. It also disperses heat and energy very quickly, and is an excellent conductor. Chemically, however, it's inert, and has minimal reaction to other elements and compounds.

Ametium Alloy

Because of its rarity, it's always part of an alloy. The density of Ametium within the alloy is measured on the Amt scale. The scale goes from 10000, pure Ametium, to 1, an alloy containing .01% Ametium. So far, the highest-known rating for an alloy is 896 Amt (%8.96 Ametium), held by a component within an unnamed super-reactor. Said reactor is left unnamed to avoid possible attacks and theft.

Uses

Ametium's properties as both a highly durable metal and its energy dispersal have made it useful in multiple fields.

Heat Reduction

Ametium can disperse heat extremely quickly, and remains durable at higher temperatures than almost any other metal known to man. As such, one possible use is to replace metal components susceptible to overheating with Ametium-alloy components. Such components are often extremely valuable, sturdy, and long-lived.

Supercomputers

The ability to disperse heat, work at abnormally high temperatures, and conduct electricity make it invaluable for high-end computers, like those aboard the largest Starcruisers. Rarity, however, prevents it from being incorporated regularly into spaceships, and thus is used for space stations, shipyards, and terrestrial supercomputers.

Ablative Armor

This aspect of Ametium's potential has attracted the most research and attention. Ametium makes an almost-impenetrable armor, capable of deflecting all but the highest-power energy weapons available. It also would render a hull almost completely immune to railguns and missiles, since normal shells would be unable to penetrate the dense metal. However, a pure Ametium hull would be impractical. If even a small T-86 Starlancer was made entirely out of Ametium, it'd weigh the same as a heavy Destroyer or even battlecruiser, and be nearly impossible to fly. A full Starcruiser made out of Ametium would generate enough gravity to visibly bend light because of its sheer mass.

However, Ametium alloy is already employed in the armor of many crafts. However, the amount of Ametium within the armor almost never exceeds 60 Amt, due to the rarity of the metal and the difficulty of working with it.

---