Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Approved Tech Nuclear Trebuchet

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Rusty

Purveyor of Fine Weaponry
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
  • Intent: To push the concept of the trebuchet to its illogical extreme
  • Image Source: N/A
  • Canon Link: N/A
  • Permissions: N/A
  • Primary Source: N/A
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
  • Classification: Trebuchet
  • Size: Extremely Large
  • Weight: Extremely Heavy
  • Ammunition Type: Osmium brick
  • Ammunition Capacity: Extremely Small
  • Effective Range: Extreme
  • Rate of Fire: Very Low
  • Damage Output: Extreme
  • Recoil: Extreme
SPECIAL FEATURES
  • It's a trebuchet that uses a nuclear explosion in lieu of a counterweight to launch the projectile
STRENGTHS
  • Hyperpower: The theoretical forces involved in the Nuclear Trebuchet are enormous. According to simulation and testing data from the Brick in a Sock, the kinetic energy of the projectile will best the energy of the nuclear "counterweight" by an order of magnitude. The only real upper limit is the strength of the trebuchet itself.
WEAKNESSES
  • One Shot: The Nuclear Trebuchet will destroy itself upon use. The whole thing is designed to hold together just long enough to hurl the projectile, no more, no less.
  • No Kills: Like the Brick in a Sock, the Nuclear Trebuchet is not, technically, a weapon. As such, it's not designed to be aimed at anything smaller than the gas giant that serves as the backstop for the test. Due to the potential destructive power and, yes, the nuke, it must be registered as a weapon with the relevant authorities, but is not designed for use in battle. It is a one-off prototype.
DESCRIPTION
The Nuclear Trebuchet was designed solely to annoy the regulatory agencies who got their undergarments in a twist over the whole Brick in a Sock thing. As it turns out, there are any number of galactic agencies who are extremely averse to the idea of nuclear weapons in the hand of mere civilians, despite the fact that much more powerful weapons were freely available to anyone with the scratch. Nevermind that Rusty had all the relevant permits, a stellar safety record, and had himself produced weapons that made mere nukes look like toys for toddlers, they saw words like "megaton" in the permit application and excreted their own bricks that would make formidable weapons if placed into socks. So, naturally, the next project was the sort of thing that was bound to give them nightmares for ages.

The concept is exactly like a normal trebuchet. A long arm with a pivot point about two thirds of the way through has a counterweight on one end, and a projectile on the other. It's supported by scaffolding, and can only be "aimed" by pivoting the whole thing and adjusting the release point of the sling that holds the projectile. Only in this case, the arm is 200 meters long and made of phrik, the pivot point is a supercooled frictionless bearing, the sling is phrik chainmain, the scaffolding is a pair of asteroids tethered together by tractor beams, the projectile is a 100 kilogram osmium brick, and the counterweight is a nuclear warhead.

The warhead is enclosed in a shield bubble that, although not powerful enough to completely contain the blast, will provide it directionality for the fraction of the second needed to propel the arm. At the appropriate point in its swing, the sling will release, hurling the osmium brick at speeds best described as harmful to the sanity of safety inspectors the galaxy over. The whole process should only take a few hundredths of a second, which is about how long before the shields fail and the whole thing is incinerated by a ball of superheated plasma, courtesy the nuclear warhead. As an added bonus, the remaining energy will add a little more zip to the projectile. Made of osmium, it should be tough enough to leave the blast radius safely, and will impact on the target gas giant.

Is the Nuclear Trebuchet sane? Safe? Practical? No. Is it awesome? Very. Sometimes, awesome will have to do.
 
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Rusty

Purveyor of Fine Weaponry
Links done. Sorry for the confusion, as I'm a bit out of the loop, but is linking everything in the materials section standard practice now?

Also, since the main component is launched, I figured it would go under ranged. When you get right down to it, it's a projectile propelled by an explosive charge, just like a slugthrower.

William Bradley William Bradley
 
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