Photon missile
The photon missile is a weapon designed to temporarily neutralize enemy defenses in the fictional TradeWars 2002 universe.
Only Missile Frigates and Imperial StarShips can carry photon missiles. The missile's effects have a short duration, normally a minute or less. It disables mines, fighters, and quasar cannons so that an attacker can quickly assault a planet or other target and escape.
If a player carrying a photon missile runs into a mine, a quasar cannon, a Ferrengi, or even one fighter on offensive mode, the missile will detonate, leaving him with no turns left. Some players deploy small amounts of offensive fighters throughout the galaxy in order to trigger enemy photons.
Many sysops set the photon missile duration to 1 second, making it impossible to use without a script, macro, or helper. In order to get the full 1,000 milliseconds, players often wait until the top of the second before launching the script.