In the darkest days of the early wars, it was a singularly unimpressive researcher, one Professor Kol, who, while exploring a nameless asteroid, stumbled upon a new mineral. Taking the mysterious substance to his lab, he made the quick discovery that this substance was totally worthless. In a fit of anger, he grabbed up a handful and threw it against the wall.
"Worthless," he cried. "This stuff is worthless."
To Professor Kol's astonishment as he hurled a pea-sized granules against the wall, they suddenly and drastically expanded, a few nearly to the size of frigates. The bulkheads of his scout ship ruptured, simultaneously sucking the air from his lungs in a despairing last gasp, while the mysterious mineral crushed him into nano-sized particles.
Subsequent salvage and research efforts discovered that this new element, now named Kolarian in honor of the late professor, possessed a unique property: The size of the particle was determined not by its molecular structure but by its velocity. Thus, this strange element (now thought to be the product of a long extinct civilization) was able to overcome the restrictions imposed by the conservation of matter.
"It's size will increase exponentially," Field Marshal Von Kolcreme explained to his superiors. "As velocity increases. In theory, at least, a mere particle could expand to nearly the size of a moon as velocity approaches the speed of light."
And so, a weapon was created, placed on a new type of battleship especially made for this purpose, and named for the poor unfortunate who died for this discovery and the magficent glory of the TEC.
