Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a variable charge ion cannon in Lucerne Labs product line
- Image Source: here
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi Concord, Lucerne Labs Customers
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Equilizer-class Variable Charge Ion Cannon
- Modularity: software; mounting hardware (can be fixed in place on small ships, fitted on turrets on capital ships, etc)
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Dallorian Alloy casing and barrel, Biolux series Organoform Circuitry, Calor Series Bio Computers, typical ion cannon components.
- Classification: ion cannon
- Size: Average
- Weight: Average
- Ammunition Type: Energy
| Standard Fire Mode | Supercharged Mode | Blast Mode | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition Capacity | Average | Average | Average |
| Effective Range | Average | Average | Average |
| Rate of Fire | Average | Very Low | Very High |
| Stopping Power | Average | Very High | Very Low |
| Recoil | Average | Average | Average |
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Variable Fire Modes: The Equilizer can be set to use different power consumption levels, allowing it to be easily adapted to fulfill different roles. While the company wanted to build off the concept of its variable charge energy weapons, the Equilizer as an ion cannon uses different operating mechanics than blasters, laser cannons, and similar weapons. Not easily detered by this, Lucerne Labs intensively studied an example of a C-136 to try and figure out how to amplify some of its unusual side effects of firing. Consequently, not only can the Equilizer act as a typical ion cannon, but it can also supercharge or make "ion blasts". To supercharge, the Equilizer large copies and streamlines the C-136's firing sequence, producing an intense, large ion bolt. In blast mode, it produces ion bolts which mimic the C-136's bolts ability to explode at the end. While the blast radius is not as great or as powerful as the C-136's, the Equilizer's blast radius of several dozen meters is still quite effective as acting as flak against enemy starfighters or warhead systems.
- Versatile: The Equilizer can alter the intakes of its firing cycle to allow it to be tailored to be better suited for certain roles, whether its using its supercharged setting to entirely disable vessels in a single bolt or its blast mode to better ensure a hit on a small target.
- High Rate of Fire (Blast mode): Equilizer can rapidly produce relatively weak, exploding ion bolts.
- Heavy Hitting (Supercharged Mode): Equilizer add more power to each ion bolt it produces, making it significantly larger and more destructive at the cost of a slower firing cycle. These bolts are exceptionally powerful, reaching levels of firepower more typical for guns several times its size.
- Delay: Switching between fire modes takes a few seconds to recalibrate power feeds, meaning that Equilizer often has a minor delay in firing when switching modes. This is especially true when switching from blast fire to supercharged mode because of the time needed for the capacitors to build up the requisite energy needed for such shots.
- Weak Power (Blast Mode): While Lucerne Labs was able to amplify the bolt blast radius of the C136 for the Equilizer's size, it came at the cost of overall bolt power. Each bolt is largely equivalent to that of a light turbolaser cannon or capital-grade laser cannon – more than powerful enough to disable most small craft in a single hit or damage a subsystem on a capital ship, but unlikely to severely damage any capital ship.
- Slow Firing Rate (Supercharged Mode): Supercharging bolts requires more power than normal, and with its discharge, a noticeable amount of time to cool and then form a new bolt. This makes the Equilizer's relatively slow firing in its supercharged mode, with its cooldown time being more typical of a much heavier ion cannon.
The Equilizer is a variable charge ion cannon designed to mimic the conventional, variable charge energy weapons that the Lucerne consortium is famous for. Roughly the size and shape of a typical ion cannon in order to easily fit the weapon into existing starship designs, the Equilizer isn't much to look at. Even when conducting an internal parts inspection of the weapon, there isn't much that separates it from the typical ion cannon. The secret to the Equilizer is its programming, which has been carefully crafted to produce several firing sequences that allow it to fulfill different fire roles.
In most instances, it acts as a simple ion cannon, firing ion bolts which are well-suited to battering down shields and disabling electronic systems on starships and installations. However, but lengthening the charge-up sequence in the ion accu-acceleration capacitor banks, the Equilizer can produce exceptionally powerful bolts - typically best used at the start of engagement - that can severely damage the subsystems of large vessels or outright disable small craft up to light corvettes in a single shot. Conversely, the programming can alter the firing cycle to produce exploding ion bolts, which while relatively weak, are excellent as area of effect weapons against small targets such as starfighters, mines, or space troopers.
Equilizer is slated to begin replacing formerly licensed ion cannon designs previously used by the company. While not expected to offer a huge advantage over many other offerings on the market, the company believes that the utility of the exploding ion bolt does give it a minor advantage over many of its corporate competitors, especially if the weapon is employed in large numbers, theoretically allowing ships to throw up "walls of ion flak". It will likely see limited production for a long time.
ris II is much up-scaled version of the Vaapad-class Laser Cannon, with the Iris II being several orders of magnitude larger, about the size of a typical turbolaser. This convenient size makes it well suited to form secondary weapon batteries on larger warships or primary weapons on frigates and corvettes. In this basic function and in its standard mode, it is almost indistinguishable from countless turbolaser models that have come before it aside from its somewhat longer range attributed to recursive galven circuitry.
Yet like many Lucerne Labs designs before it, the Iris II has some flexibility that's not immediately apparent do its variable charge fire modes. Effectively, by overbuilding the cannon's capacitor banks and galven circuitry, strengthening the gas chamber, and adding extensive cooling systems to the barrel, the Iris II can adapt its firing cycle to different roles. The most aweworthy of these modes is supercharged mode, in which the Iris II pushes the strength of these augmented components to their max by pushing in a lot of blaster gas and almost overcharging the capacitators. The resulting bolt is exceptionally powerful, with the resulting power being much more typical for the main battery of a star destroyer. While excellent at punching through defenses (especially against corvettes and frigates), this supercharged mode does have a very slow rate of fire due to the high energy requirements and the extensive cool down time. Conversely, the Iris II can fire out bolts quickly that use only a small amount of energy and blaster gas, resulting in a large number of shots per second which is particularly good at improving hits against small or fast moving targets, such as against starfighters or capital-grade warheads. While officially designated as "rapid fire" mode, many starship captains often refer to it as "defensive fire mode" instead.
Turbolaser technology is common enough that most galactic militaries and many starship crewmen are familiar with it, providing a certain amount of training and logistical commonality that the Iris II is almost certainly going to become commonplace on Lucerne Lab and allied manufacturer's starship designs. With a similar size, shape, and power output as a typical turbolaser, the Iris II almost certain to take the place of conventional turbolasers in these manufacturers designs. While not a particularly inspiring weapon, its commonality will make it an important weapon in Lucerne Labs product line for some time to come.
