Approved Ranged Weapon GHO-884 "Megalith" Storm Cannon

[Helix]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a close-range heavy weapon for Dzara starships
• Image Source: Link
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Helix Privateers
• Affiliation: The Dzara
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: GHO-884 Megalith
• Modularity: Yes
• Production: Minor
• Material:
  
  • Overall Construction: Helsteel
  • Interior Electronics: Helglass
  • Exterior Armor Layer: Blightsteel
  • Primary Payload: Otherplasma

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Plasma
• Size: Large
• Weight: Heavy
• Ammunition Type: Otherplasma Bursts
• Ammunition Capacity: Large
• Effective Range:
  
  • Average (In quick bursts)
  • Personal (Normal operation)
• Rate of Fire: Very High
• Damage Output: High
• Recoil: Very High

SPECIAL FEATURES

• High rate of fire
• Carries a radiotoxic aftereffect

STRENGTHS

• Plasma Hose: The Megalith is designed to overwhelm defenses by sheer volume of close-ranged impacts. It is very effective against shields and many physical armors, and its sheer rate of fire offers some utility against fast-moving strikecraft.

WEAKNESSES

• Clumsy Or Random: The Megalith is not a precision tool. It possesses only moderate accurate range, and cannot target individual weak points on enemy hulls accurately.

DESCRIPTION

The Megalith is found mounted on larger Dzara pirate vessels, and usually forms part of the primary armaments of such vessels.

These enormous, multi-barreled Otherplasma cannons are typically set in rotating turreted housings, where they can best put their virtues to use. Most such arrangements feature a twin-weapon arrangement (as seen in the image) but smaller vessels may instead carry a single-weapon arrangement to save on space and weight.

As its appearance might suggest, the Megalith possesses a withering rate of fire, and is capable of battering enemy shields mercilessly. At their top firing rate (measured in the upper four-figures per minute), multiple night-black bolts will have been fired before their predecessors have left the barrel. Unaware observers have thus repeatedly misidentified the Megalith as a sort of beam weapon, when in truth, its rate of fire is simply too prodigious for most humanoid eyes to distinguish the sight or sound of individual projectiles.

These weapons have quickly acquired an ugly reputation amongst void crews who travel Dzara-haunted areas. A close-ranged burst from a Megalith can potentially shred smaller vessels apart in their entirety, riddling them with glowing holes until their entire structure collapses. Many Dzara technologies descent from the cruel rad-weapons favored by the Helix Privateers, and the Megalith is no exception to the rule. The otherworldly ebon fires utilized in its operation can inflict a lingering rad effect on the places or vessels they strike, greatly complicating any consequent cleanup.

In-atmosphere, these weapons are occasionally utilized in low-orbit strafing runs in support of ground forces, where they can sweep kilometers-wide areas clean of life in the manner of more common turbolaser weaponry. The resultant sizzling, radiation-blasted deserts seldom entirely recover, at least without advanced terraforming technologies. As with the smaller examples of this technology in use, the Megalith emits an earsplitting howl when in operation, a din intensified a hundredfold by its brisk firing rate. The few survivors of such bombardments frequently describe the noise as the worst part of the experience, audible as it is from many kilometers away.

In either case, the Megalith is not a scalpel-type instrument. While its range is theoretically a long one, and its projectiles stable over great distances, in practice its usage at such distances is limited. The incredible force of recoil generated by its operation and the sheer ferocity of its firing rate tend to scatter fire over a wide area. While this does offer some utility against strike craft in a flak capacity, it does mean that targeting a precise point for any length of time is difficult. Captains attempting to do so are advised to fire in quick bursts, though even under these circumstances the Megalith's range and precision leave much to be desired.

Thus, the Megalith serves as a powerful but indiscriminate short-to-medium-ranged option, when a captain needs a target gone quickly with a minimum of fussing about precision.

 

[Krass Wyms]

I am going to approve this, please remember the one defending deterrmines the damage done to their vessels.

Approved please use responsibly