Approved Tech Dral'tra [Bright Star] Heavy Assault Laser Cannon

[Valdus Bral]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a powerful, primary weapon capital ship sized laser cannon for use on a unique Star Destroyer class starship.
• Image Source: https://www.deviantart.com/alpyro/art/Gaalsien-fake-unit-594461689
• Canon Link: Assault Laser Cannon
• Primary Source: MandalArms M-5 Assault Laser Cannon (with permission from [member="Kaine Australis"] )

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Bral Metal & Engineering in collaboration with MandalArms
• Affiliation: Valdus Bral, Bral Metal & Engineering (BM&E) as well as MandalArms
• Modularity: No
• Production: Unique
• Material: Dallorian Alloy, Mandalorian Steel, Circuitry, Kyber Crystals

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Laser Cannon
• Size: Extreme
• Weight: Extreme
• Ammunition Type: Energy
• Ammunition Capacity: Effectively limitless as long as the dedicated generators are still operational.
• Reload Speed:None
• Effective Range: Battlefield
• Rate of Fire: Very Low
• Stopping Power: Extreme.
• Recoil: None

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Boring: The bolt fired from this weapon system is capable of drilling a hole through the hulls of capital ships or completely ripping apart smaller vessels such as cruisers, frigates, and so forth.

Strengths:

• Extreme Stopping Power: This weapon launches a long bolt of condensed energy at very high speeds. This leads the projectile to becoming more of a beam than a bolt. The projectile is capable of boring a hole through capital ships, destroyers, and heavily damage dreadnoughts.
• Long Range: Due to the high-powered nature of this weapon the projectile doesn't dissipate very a considerable distance and is more than capable of hitting the back-line of a fleet given a straight shot.

Weaknesses:

• Energy Drain:This weapon is so energy hungry that it requires a series of large, dedicated generators the size of which normally power an entire collective of turbolaser batteries. This generator is neither compact nor light. This means that the entire weapon assembly takes up a large portion of a starship's interior space. The generator is a point of failure for this system.
• Line of Sight: This weapon's projectile is entirely straight and cannot hit targets that are behind other objects, except unless the projectile is able to bore through the obstruction. Additionally, this weapon's beam, while large, does not expand as it travel and thus the longest ranged shots mean an increased likelihood of missing the target.
• Charge Up: This weapon, once fired, drains so much energy from the generators that the generators must be given a chance to charge the weapon again. This is equal to 3 posts, example: Post 1 is firing, Post 2 is recharging, Post 3 is recharge, Post 4 is recharge, and on Post 5 the weapon can be fired again.
• Immense Size: The weapon itself is extremely large and requires a large dedicated space. This is not counting the large amount of space required for the power generators that power this weapon.

DESCRIPTION

The Dral'tra Heavy Assault Laser Cannon is a capital ship sized main weapon created as the collaboration of MandalArms and Bral Metal & Engineering (BM&E) as a part of an even larger project. The Dral'tra, also known as Bright Star, fires an elongated laser bolt that travels at high-speed over a long distance and can inflict such severe damage that it can, given proper placement, bore through the hull armor of a Star Destroyer and detonate its explosive/combustible components/assets within causing that ship to be destroyed. The bolt from the Dral'tra contains enough condensed energy that the explosive force from the bolt itself is lethal to ships of Star Destroyer classification or smaller.

The Dral'tra is powered by a dedicated series of four high-output energy generators. These generators will take up a large portion of interior space on a Star Destroyer and is impossible to be carried on a ship of a lesser category. The Dral'tra can be separated into its cannon portion and it's power-source, however it cannot fire without its power generators.The Dral'tra is primarily used as an anti-capital ship weapon and as a weapon to hit long distance targets or as an orbital strike. The power of this weapon is immense, however the time it takes for the generators to resupply the weapon system with enough charge is its most notable downside.

 

[Vora Kaar]

[member="Valdus Bral"], Apologies for such a late reply. I can only assume it was missed by the monthly auto approval system set up.

A couple questions for you though.

How long does this weapon fire for? Is it a seconds worth of time, or could it be held for a specific period of time that would otherwise, increase the reload/recharge period of the weapon?

As for the boring feature, would this require that the beam be concentrated onto the point of impact for the duration? If so, what kind of damage would one see if the target was moving this impact point of the beam around? An example would be where the beam first impacts on the forward stations, and due to the movement of the ships, moves towards the middle or even the rear of the ship?

 

[Valdus Bral]

[member="Auberon"]

My internet service was interrupted due to a severed fiber optic cable, I just got it back today, excuse my late response.

My initial thoughts when designing the weapon that the weapon fires for roughly 2 solid seconds, which equates to a large amount of damage in comparison to the fraction of a second lasers generally fire for.

I figure that the speed of the beam is quicker than large ships can move a substantial distance and anything that can move faster, such as a frigate, corvette, fighter, or shuttle is small enough that the blast would destroy those ships outright to begin with. However, it's a good question and my answer is that the beam does a large amount of damage and that damage is continuous thus causing the boring. If the beam's target shifts, such as if the ship is moving at a fast rate perpendicular or otherwise, then the boring feature wouldn't really come into effect, there would "just" be a massive amount of damage across a horizontally large area of the ship. If the target was the bow of the ship and the beam hit the bow and, due to the movement of the ship, also the middle of the port side, then there would be a very deep gash from bow to the final impact site.

 

[Vora Kaar]

[member="Valdus Bral"],

Just to clarify thoughts on this.

Its a 2 second burst of power. The closer the target, the less likely it will be able to just "side-swipe" a vessel, with a much higher chance to bore through. However, the further away the target it, the higher chance there is for it to 1, Miss it completely, and 2, not have the ability to bore through a vessel.

If that is correct then great you answered the question. One final one for you.

Should larger ships with dedicated shields with much stronger defenses against laser based weaponry, would they be able to defend against a majority of this weapon?

I am trying to tread very delicately with this kind of weapon. Some of the wording you used is definite as though it will ALWAYS bore through a ship. This site, as well as the factory, has been trying to steer away from this kind of wording. So I am asking these questions to gauge its fullest capability in the first place, and then come up with a plan so that this weapon doesn't come off as something that will always hit, or always bore through ships. Hell, I am trying to avoid others from seeing this as a potential Superweapon.

I really enjoy this concept as I personally have not seen it on the site before (if there was then I may have missed it) and so I do want to see this pass through. I am just really wanting to avoid the possibility of this weapon being recalled to the factory because someone used it incorrectly and thus reported.

 

[Valdus Bral]

Just to clarify thoughts on this.

Its a 2 second burst of power. The closer the target, the less likely it will be able to just "side-swipe" a vessel, with a much higher chance to bore through. However, the further away the target it, the higher chance there is for it to 1, Miss it completely, and 2, not have the ability to bore through a vessel.

Yeah, that's how I envision it.

Should larger ships with dedicated shields with much stronger defenses against laser based weaponry, would they be able to defend against a majority of this weapon?

They would need to be exceptionally powerful shields, but yes, it's capable of being blocked. This weapon is meant to be the "unstoppable force" , which means it would need to come across a defense that fits the "unmovable object" title.



I get that the weapon is very powerful, it's by design, and I appreciate the thoroughness. My intention is very plainly to create a weapon that can be attached to a large ship (in my perspective a Star Destroyer is a large ship) that can heavily threaten from an offensive perspective any ship along the spectrum due to raw damage output. The weapon is a long distance weapon meant to pick off priority targets or disable the largest ships by targeting priority systems. The ship that this will be fitted on will serve this purpose as well - this is the main gimmick of the ship and I'll be submitting the ship once we're both happy with this particular submission, I encourage you to keep an eye on that submission as well in case you have concerns after we're done here.

 

[Vora Kaar]

[member="Valdus Bral"],

Very well. You have answered my questions, and provided explanations to how this weapon operates and functions. Its extremely powerful with only one being used upon a singular ship.

I will give a vote of warning before approving this. You know its abilities. You know how powerful this is and what others may think of it. Should this ever be reported and pulled from the factory to be judged again, it may very well be denied outright. Please use this responsibly. I would hate to see something like this retroactively denied because of a mistake.

Enjoy the shiny.

 

[Vora Kaar]

Approved.