Directorate Officer
Image Source: N/A
Intent: To provide Lucerne Labs and its customers with a capital-scale plasma railgun like the canon Incinerator railgun
Development Thread: If necessary
Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
Model: Firestorm-class Plasma Turbolaser
Affiliation: Closed Market
Modularity: ammunition
Production: Mass-Produced.
Material: railgun components, dallorian alloy rail cooling system, liquid carbonite for cooling system, plasma rotor
Classification: Capital ship Plasma Railgun
Size: Capital Ship-Mounted
Length: Comparable to a standard turbolaser
Weight: comparable to a standard turbolaser
Ammunition Type: Gas, power supply
Ammunition Capacity: dependent on host vessel (in practical terms, infinite)
Effective Range: Equivalent to a standard turbolaser
Rate of Fire: Half of that of an average turbolaser
Special Features:
-Counts as the equivalent of a single turbolaser for ship-building purposes
-Equivalent to a standard turbolaser in terms of damage over time
-Variable damage effects: Thermal, electromagnetic, explosive, corrosive, biohazard
Strengths:
Variable Effects: The Firestorm can use a variety of gases and other matters to form different kinds of plasma that acts as its base ammunition, which grants its “bolts” slightly different effects. Each Firestorm Plasma Turbolaser can only carry two types of ammunition gas at a time. There is a noticeable delay in firing when switching ammunition gases.
Weaknesses:
Slow Rate of Fire: Like many other railguns, the Firestorm has a slower rate of fire compared to contemporary energy weapons.
Description: Upon encountering the Commonwealth and their reliance on older technologies, Gir began to ponder how to produce a weapon that would produce a similar performance to standard turbolasers without the need for specialized blaster gases. To that end, Gir turned to the old Incinerator-class Plasma RailgunIncinerator-class plasma railgun and the FlakBlaster Ten for inspiration to meet this challenge. Despite its name, the Firestorm-class Plasma Turbolaser is not a turbolaser, but rather a railgun that launches bolts of plasma, The misnaming is intended to confuse corporate spies looking to duplicate the technology found in the weapon. However, the plasma bolts fired by the weapon which typically impart massive amounts of thermal energy to a target, causing a broadly similar effect to the kinetic excitation of particles caused by conventional blaster weaponry such as turbolasers. But the Firestorm has some significant differences compared to these weapons.
The core weapon system is composed of two chief components: a railgun and a plasma rotor. The railgun itself is fairly conventional, consisting of two conducting rails which produce the electromagnetic field that will drive the projectile. These twin rails are encased by concentric Dallorian alloy cooling tubes filled with liquid carbonite. The cooling sleeve immediately over the barrel pumps the carbonite quickly to rapidly absorb heat and lower the ambient temperature. Consequently, this carbonite heats up as it travels along the barrel before it enters the second cooling sleeve that wraps around the first. This tube acts as a radiator, using its large internal volume and cooling ribs to slowly disperse heat. Like many railguns, it takes time to build up the charge to fire the weapon, which usually makes the Firestorm slower firing than most conventional turbolasers. This is offset somewhat by the fact that the individual bolts of plasma fired by the Firestorm tend to be more damaging than those of turbolasers, leading to a roughly equal damage output. But the method in how this damage is dealt is highly variable based on the gas used by the plasma rotors to make the weaponized plasma.
Plasma guns inflict most of their damage through heat, but there are a wide variety of additional effects that plasma can create on a target, as illustrated by the plasma disruptor's ionization effect or the plasma thrower's explosiveness. Lucerne Lab engineers believe that these effects are the result of the different internal structures of the plasma (and consequently the gas used to create the plasma). While it is nearly impossible to classify the effect of each individual gas that could be used as an ammunition, gases can roughly be categorized by secondary effect:
Pure thermal: Or no secondary effect. The molecules in these plasmas are highly excited, either kinetically or thermally, which causes them to quickly release heat upon impact, making it useful for quickly overwhelming defenses. This is probably the most common reaction of gases used as the Firestorm's ammunition. Many gunners compare it to the FlakBlaster Ten's bolts.
Corrosive: The molecules in these plasmas are excited, though not initially as much as in the Pure thermal variants. They tend to release energy at a slower rate, slowly corroding through the target in the same manner as the plasma used by the Firestorm's starfighter predecessor, the Incinerator-class plasma railgun.
Explosive: These bolts explode on impact because of the molecular, imparting almost equal amounts of kinetic and thermal damage. Most gunners compare such plasmas to the plasma bolts used by plasma throwers.
Electromagnetic: These plasmas cause electrical disturbances on their targets, much like the small plasma disruptor or the massive M-68 magnapulse cannon[url].
Biohazard: These plasmas are exceptionally unstable at the molecular level. They produce large amounts of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremsstrahlung#In_astrophysics]Bremsstrahlung radiation, which can cause radiation sickness or even death of organic or the destruction of organic-based technology.
The basic thermal damage dealt by the Firestorm is affected by both standard ray shields, which usually can absorb heat from the plasma, and by particle shields, which protect against the actual physical plasma itself. Against unshielded targets, the plasma's effects tends to vary by range because of how the magnetic field around the plasma degrades as it travels. In general, the closer the target, the more concentrated the bolt, which can lead to small diameter but deeply penetrating attacks. The farther away, the less the field is held together, the more the plasma disperses across a target, causing large areas of damage with very little penetration.
The technologies behind the Firestorm are widely proven, but their fusion into a single capital scale weapon has made their effectiveness not entirely proven. Consequently, these weapons are generally used in combination with more conventional and proven weapons. Like Lucerne Lab's other projectile weapons, Firestorms can only carry two types of gases into battle because the weapon only has two gas ports into the weapon's plasma rotor. Changing gas types takes several minutes as the weapon not only purges any trace remnants of the former plasma type, but also reconfigures the magnetic field to better suit the plasma that will be produced by the plasma rotor. Many starships which are equipped with Firestorms use scoops to refill their gas ammunition supplies from gas giants during long voyages. Lucerne Labs recommends experimenting with these recovered gases before employing them in battle.
Primary Source: N/A
Intent: To provide Lucerne Labs and its customers with a capital-scale plasma railgun like the canon Incinerator railgun
Development Thread: If necessary
Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
Model: Firestorm-class Plasma Turbolaser
Affiliation: Closed Market
Modularity: ammunition
Production: Mass-Produced.
Material: railgun components, dallorian alloy rail cooling system, liquid carbonite for cooling system, plasma rotor
Classification: Capital ship Plasma Railgun
Size: Capital Ship-Mounted
Length: Comparable to a standard turbolaser
Weight: comparable to a standard turbolaser
Ammunition Type: Gas, power supply
Ammunition Capacity: dependent on host vessel (in practical terms, infinite)
Effective Range: Equivalent to a standard turbolaser
Rate of Fire: Half of that of an average turbolaser
Special Features:
-Counts as the equivalent of a single turbolaser for ship-building purposes
-Equivalent to a standard turbolaser in terms of damage over time
-Variable damage effects: Thermal, electromagnetic, explosive, corrosive, biohazard
Strengths:
Variable Effects: The Firestorm can use a variety of gases and other matters to form different kinds of plasma that acts as its base ammunition, which grants its “bolts” slightly different effects. Each Firestorm Plasma Turbolaser can only carry two types of ammunition gas at a time. There is a noticeable delay in firing when switching ammunition gases.
Weaknesses:
Slow Rate of Fire: Like many other railguns, the Firestorm has a slower rate of fire compared to contemporary energy weapons.
Description: Upon encountering the Commonwealth and their reliance on older technologies, Gir began to ponder how to produce a weapon that would produce a similar performance to standard turbolasers without the need for specialized blaster gases. To that end, Gir turned to the old Incinerator-class Plasma RailgunIncinerator-class plasma railgun and the FlakBlaster Ten for inspiration to meet this challenge. Despite its name, the Firestorm-class Plasma Turbolaser is not a turbolaser, but rather a railgun that launches bolts of plasma, The misnaming is intended to confuse corporate spies looking to duplicate the technology found in the weapon. However, the plasma bolts fired by the weapon which typically impart massive amounts of thermal energy to a target, causing a broadly similar effect to the kinetic excitation of particles caused by conventional blaster weaponry such as turbolasers. But the Firestorm has some significant differences compared to these weapons.
The core weapon system is composed of two chief components: a railgun and a plasma rotor. The railgun itself is fairly conventional, consisting of two conducting rails which produce the electromagnetic field that will drive the projectile. These twin rails are encased by concentric Dallorian alloy cooling tubes filled with liquid carbonite. The cooling sleeve immediately over the barrel pumps the carbonite quickly to rapidly absorb heat and lower the ambient temperature. Consequently, this carbonite heats up as it travels along the barrel before it enters the second cooling sleeve that wraps around the first. This tube acts as a radiator, using its large internal volume and cooling ribs to slowly disperse heat. Like many railguns, it takes time to build up the charge to fire the weapon, which usually makes the Firestorm slower firing than most conventional turbolasers. This is offset somewhat by the fact that the individual bolts of plasma fired by the Firestorm tend to be more damaging than those of turbolasers, leading to a roughly equal damage output. But the method in how this damage is dealt is highly variable based on the gas used by the plasma rotors to make the weaponized plasma.
Plasma guns inflict most of their damage through heat, but there are a wide variety of additional effects that plasma can create on a target, as illustrated by the plasma disruptor's ionization effect or the plasma thrower's explosiveness. Lucerne Lab engineers believe that these effects are the result of the different internal structures of the plasma (and consequently the gas used to create the plasma). While it is nearly impossible to classify the effect of each individual gas that could be used as an ammunition, gases can roughly be categorized by secondary effect:
Pure thermal: Or no secondary effect. The molecules in these plasmas are highly excited, either kinetically or thermally, which causes them to quickly release heat upon impact, making it useful for quickly overwhelming defenses. This is probably the most common reaction of gases used as the Firestorm's ammunition. Many gunners compare it to the FlakBlaster Ten's bolts.
Corrosive: The molecules in these plasmas are excited, though not initially as much as in the Pure thermal variants. They tend to release energy at a slower rate, slowly corroding through the target in the same manner as the plasma used by the Firestorm's starfighter predecessor, the Incinerator-class plasma railgun.
Explosive: These bolts explode on impact because of the molecular, imparting almost equal amounts of kinetic and thermal damage. Most gunners compare such plasmas to the plasma bolts used by plasma throwers.
Electromagnetic: These plasmas cause electrical disturbances on their targets, much like the small plasma disruptor or the massive M-68 magnapulse cannon[url].
Biohazard: These plasmas are exceptionally unstable at the molecular level. They produce large amounts of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremsstrahlung#In_astrophysics]Bremsstrahlung radiation, which can cause radiation sickness or even death of organic or the destruction of organic-based technology.
The basic thermal damage dealt by the Firestorm is affected by both standard ray shields, which usually can absorb heat from the plasma, and by particle shields, which protect against the actual physical plasma itself. Against unshielded targets, the plasma's effects tends to vary by range because of how the magnetic field around the plasma degrades as it travels. In general, the closer the target, the more concentrated the bolt, which can lead to small diameter but deeply penetrating attacks. The farther away, the less the field is held together, the more the plasma disperses across a target, causing large areas of damage with very little penetration.
The technologies behind the Firestorm are widely proven, but their fusion into a single capital scale weapon has made their effectiveness not entirely proven. Consequently, these weapons are generally used in combination with more conventional and proven weapons. Like Lucerne Lab's other projectile weapons, Firestorms can only carry two types of gases into battle because the weapon only has two gas ports into the weapon's plasma rotor. Changing gas types takes several minutes as the weapon not only purges any trace remnants of the former plasma type, but also reconfigures the magnetic field to better suit the plasma that will be produced by the plasma rotor. Many starships which are equipped with Firestorms use scoops to refill their gas ammunition supplies from gas giants during long voyages. Lucerne Labs recommends experimenting with these recovered gases before employing them in battle.
Primary Source: N/A
