Prefsbelt Commander
PROJECT MAXIM: DH-52 ROTARY MASER CANNON
"This gun's gonna make a lotta poor, dumb bastards die for their country."
~Major General Giorgy Patten
First Order Special Warfare Command
Upon seeing the DH-52 in action
Upon seeing the DH-52 in action
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a special forces weapon for First Order forces
Special Thanks: Shoutout to [member="Kirchenhof"] who helped refine and develop the submission and the weapon concept.
Image Source: Sergey Kolesnik of Artstation (x)
Canon Link: None
Primary Source: DE-39 Maser Rifle (x)
Manufacturer: Hammand and Klammer Gunsmiths and the First Order.
Affiliation: The First Order
Model: DH-54 Rotary Maser Cannon
Modularity: No.
Production: Limited
Material: Durasteel, Bronzium, Plastoid Weave, Quandanium Steel
Classification: Maser Rotary Cannon
Size: Very Large.
Weight: Very Heavy. 45 kilograms, divided between the 15 kilogram launcher and 30 kilogram reactor pack.
Ammunition Type: Maser Charge Batteries
Ammunition Capacity: 4000 per battery.
Reload Speed: Slow. Approximately twenty seconds.
Effective Range: Average. Maximum effectiveness, 500 meters.
Rate of Fire: Very High. 1500 rounds per minute.
Stopping Power: Extreme
Recoil: High
The DC-229 Reactor Pack: Mounted onto hardened durasteel weave straps, is the DC-229 Reactor. The Reactor houses a portable nuclear reactor, which feeds radiation into the actual blaster, enhancing the microwaves of its maser discharges.
Maximum Firepower: The stopping power of the DH-52 is immense. From either destroying light targets, all the way to giving the most hardened of opponents at least some pause for thought.
Solid Discharge: The discharges from the DH-52 hit like a solid object, unlike other similar weapons, meaning its shots carry more force behind them.
Versatile: Whether it be droids, Mandalorians in beskar, shields, vehicles or even lightsabers, the DH-52 performs against them with distinction.
Spread: Under sustained fire the DH-52’s accuracy is dramatically decreased, making it unsuitable as a precision weapon for engaging singular targets at range. Instead, it’s designed to act as a suppressive weapon making movement difficult to nigh impossible.
Vulnerable Reactor: Should the vulnerable durasteel-encased reactor be sufficiently damaged it will rob the DH-52 of power, rendering the weapon entirely useless.
Tremendous Recoil: The DG-52 produces incredible recoil under sustained fire, so much so that a regular Human operator would quickly find their wrists sprained from its’ use. The Recoil is so vicious that a Death Trooper’s advance is slowed considerably by the horizontal force of the weapon pushing back against them.
Overheating issue: Despite possessing a staggeringly high rate of fire in practical conditions the DH-52 cannot sustain this, its’ barrels quickly glow hot with thermal energy and is programmed to vent the heat-sinks to prevent damage to the weapon. This occurs usually after fifteen seconds of sustained fire followed by four seconds dedicated to venting. The overheating issue encourages its’ wielder to fire in short, concise and precise bursts. As the venting time-frame can permit opposition forces to move or return fire.
Following the successful implementation of the DE-39 Maser Rifle, designs were tendered by many in the First Order corporate sector to find another maser weapon. Hammund and Klammer, a weapons manufacturing concern from Bespin turned in the DH-52, a rotary maser cannon, one which eliminated the issues with the DE-39, and its snubnose design, and managed to empower it.
The main reason which allows for this, is the use of an DC-229 nuclear reactor. One which sits as something of a backpack. This reactor, needs to be attached to the actual cannon, lest its firepower be then mitigated. The addition of the reactor, ramps up the firepower potential and at the same time, meaning it is no longer weak at short range. It is now a versatile, crowd suppression weapon. The maser projectiles are perfect for eliminating threats ordinary infantrymen would find difficult, such as Beskar-clad Mandalorians, lightsaber armed combatants, droids or mechanised and armoured assets.
The source of the DH-52’s immense destructive capacity comes from the DC-229 Nuclear Fusion Reactor, it is housed within a durasteel armoured backpack and connected to the weapon via a feed without this connection the weapon will not function. Featuring a staggering rate of fire, the DH-52 is suitable for laying down suppressive fire at range, its’ beams of maser energy lancing across space and striking down heavily armoured targets conventional directed energy weapons struggle to subdue such as: Mandalorians clad in Beskar, Lightsaber wielding individuals and lightly armoured targets such as infantry fighting vehicles and units deployed with shield generators.
Due to the extreme weight and manufacturing costs of the supporting reactor, the DH-52 has only so far been rolled out in First Order Special Warfare Command units. Specifically the First Imperial Special Warfare Command’s “Death Trooper” assets. This has the effect of severely hampering its’ deployment to the First Order’s most elite soldiers, reducing the risk hostile combatants have of facing the weapon or its’ odious and rightly feared wielders
