Unreviewed Drazhul Shardpulse Blaster Mk. I

[Darth Prazutis]

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• Intent: To create a limited production Sith starfighter cannon that fires alchemized plasma-shard munitions, designed to cripple enemy vessels through internal fragmentation, learning fire, and psychological shock.
• Image Source:
  • Click - ChatGPT by Me
  • Headers - Teresa Zambrano | Darth Pellax
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

• Manufacturer:
  
  • Malsheem Hypernautics and Manufacturing
• Affiliation:
  
  • The Kainate
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: Drazhul Shardpulse Blaster Mk. I
• Modularity: No
• Production: Limited
• Material:
  • Alchemized Sarrassian Iron
  • Hexphase Capacitor Coils
  • Shadowsteel Conduction Filaments
  • Obsidian Alloy Focusing Lenses

• Classification: Plasma Shard Blaster
• Size: Large
• Weight: Average
• Ammunition Type: Alchemized Plasma Shard Cells
• Ammunition Capacity: Average
• Effective Range: Long Range
• Rate of Fire: Average
• Damage Output: Very High
• Recoil: Low

• Shardpulse Convergence Array: The barrel integrates a series of resonance-tuned focusing lenses and filament rails that compress each plasma discharge into a dense core surrounded by fragmentary alchemical shards. On impact, the bolt violently disperses these shards into the target's internal compartments, where they embed and detonate in microbursts. This dual-stage effect allows the weapon to compromise critical subsystems without necessarily destroying the hull outright.
• Sith Guidance Rune Matrix: Each discharge is imprinted with embedded guidance runes that generate a subtle gravitic pull toward the target. While not true homing ordinance, the projectiles exhibit a mild correction effect in flight, improving accuracy against maneuvering fighters and agile corvettes. This signature flickering trail is known among Sith squadrons as the "Drazhul's Fang".
• Resonant Capacitor Overfeed: The blaster's power core features a calibrated overfeed cycle that momentarily surges energy through the chamber, increasing bolt density and accelerating shard velocity. This capability can be engaged for brief windows to break hardened defenses or deliver decisive crippling shots. Repeated overfeed use risks overheating, forcing cooldown intervals.
• Shard Memory Encoding: Each plasma bolt carries a residual energy signature linked to the Cognition Engine's archives. When multiple shots impact the same target, subsequent volleys can adjust their dispersal harmonics to exploit newly formed breaches, compounding internal damage with chilling precision. This "learning fire" effect grows more lethal as a dogfight drags on.

• Precision Shard Dispersal: Unlike conventional plasma cannons, the Drazhul's projectiles fragment internally on impact, ensuring damage propagates inside the target's armor. This makes it ideal for disabling engines, reactors, or weapon batteries without requiring repeated direct hits.
• Partial Tracking Capability: The Sith guidance runes embedded in every bolt grant the weapon a limited homing characteristic. While not comparable to dedicated tracking torpedoes, it is effective within dogfighting ranges and often sufficient to thwart standard evasive maneuvers.
• Psychological Impact: Pilots targeted by Drazhul fire often report the unnerving sight of violet plasma bolts trailing black sparks before exploding into clouds of shards. The weapon's distinctive resonant, hollow thrum nicknamed "the Shard Dirge", echoes across comm channels, degrading morale and provoking panic responses.

• Limited Sustained Overfeed: While overfeed mode greatly increases destructive potential, using it too frequently without cooldown cycles can overheat the conduction filaments. If pushed beyond safe thresholds, the weapon may shut down or suffer catastrophic capacitor rupture.
• Maintenance Demands: Each sortie requires thorough recalibration of the rune matrix and inspection of the filament rails for microfractures. Neglecting this upkeep risks misalignment, reducing accuracy or causing unpredictable dispersal patterns mid-flight.
• Force Nullification: The Drazhul's rune matrix and shard memory encoding depends on alchemized energies to maintain their adaptive dispersal and limited guidance properties. When operating within Force Nullification, these systems lose efficiency.

Forged within the factories beneath Malsheem and tempered by countless trials against enemy formations, the Drazhul Shardpulse Blaster Mk. I was envisioned as a weapon of both precision and cruelty. Where standard plasma weapons batter shields and armor through brute force, the Drazhul's purpose is far more insidious: to pierce a ship's defenses, scatter alchemized shards through vital compartments, and watch the vessel bleed itself into submission.

The project began as an evolution of the Bloodtide Shard Rail concept, a proven lineage of Kainate weapons that wedded Sith alchemy to advanced projectile design. Seeking to adapt the same principles to energy-based armaments, Malsheem's engineers devised a plasma containment method that maintained cohesion long enough to reach the target, then ruptured into fragmentary jets. Each discharge carries a flickering signature of violet and black, a visual herald of the chaos to follow.

The Drazhul saw its first proving ground in the siege of M'kael's Reach, where a single squadron equipped with prototype mounts crippled an entire corvette screen without firing a torpedo. Starfighter pilots trained in the weapon's operation are taught to reserve overfeed cycles and leverage Shard Memory Encoding for decisive moments, when an enemy flagship exposes a vulnerability, or when an escort must be rendered inert in seconds. Those who fail to respect the system's limits often find themselves with an overheated cannon and no second chance.

In the hands of the disciplined, however, the Drazhul becomes a scalpel honed to a terrible edge, one capable of cutting the heart from any foe that dares challenge the Kainate's dominion.