Unreviewed NZ HP-X Super Heavy Turbolaser Turret

[Captain Charles]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION:

• Intent: To create a semi-unique super heavy turbolaser exclusively for Captain Charles’s future flagship, the Imperial V Class Star Destroyer Stryker II
• Image Source: Turret Model from Takom 1/72 German Battleship Bismarck Turret B model review by James Wechsler, Armor Modeling & Preservation Society (AMPS). Link to website given here: AMPS Website
• Canon Link: Turbolaser
• Permissions: N&Z Umbrella Corporation
• Primary Source: AMPS Website, NZ HP2 Heavy Turbolaser, Wookieepedia

PRODUCTION INFORMATION:

• Manufacturer: N&Z Umbrella Corporation
• Affiliation: Captain Charles, MIN Stryker II, First Scouting Squadron, Mahporeem Imperial Remnant
• Market Status: Closed Market
• Model: NZ HP-X Super Heavy Turbolaser Turret
• Modularity: No
• Production: Semi-Unique
• Material:
  • Reinforced Durasteel (frame and barrel)
  • Duralium (internal plating and mechanical components)
  • Ersteel SLCA - Super Light Composite Alloy (turret housing and casemate)
  • Heat Resistant Carbonite Coating (barrel and crystal array housing)
  • Kyber Crystal Focusing Array
  • Electrical Components
  • Electrum Wiring

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• Size: Very Large
• Weight: Very Heavy
• Ammunition Type: Kyber-amplified Tibanna Gas
• Ammunition Capacity: Very Large
• Effective Range: Long Range
• Rate of Fire: Very Low (Standard Mode) / Single Sustained Burst (Lance Mode)

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Standard Fire Mode - In this mode superheavy turbolaser bolts are fired from the turret’s twin barrels. Each bolt is much more powerful than a conventional heavy turbolaser discharge due to the bolt being amplified via the kyber crystal focusing array.
• Lance/Beam Mode - All Kyber crystal output concentrates into two sustained beams that discharge for 3-5 seconds. The beams overwhelm shields, not through impact force, but by overloading the victim’s shield regeneration. The penetration capabilities of these beams against shields and armor is significantly higher than in Standard Fire Mode. After firing in this mode the turret must enter a cool down where it is completely unable to fire for several minutes until its recharged.

STRENGTHS

• “High Caliber” - Thanks to its kyber crystal focusing array amplifying energy output, the HP-X can deliver devastating hits against even the most well protected capital ships. A sustained HP-X barrage against a capital ship's shield section creates localized stress that no standard deflector generator was designed to handle.
• Lance Mode - When lance mode is toggled, the HP-X fires two sustained focused beans that overwhelm shield regeneration through sustained pressure rather than simply hitting hard once. Coordinated salvos are capable of collapsing entire shield sections simultaneously, leaving the victims vulnerable to follow on attacks from secondary batteries or small craft. Against unshielded targets the beams can literally slice ships in half.
• Long Range - The HP-X is capable of engaging targets at long range allowing for those crucial first hits before enemies can close to conventional heavy turbolaser or standard turbolaser range.

WEAKNESSES

• “Slow Tracking” - Due to the turret’s size and weight the HP-X tracking system is significantly slower than standard turbolaser batteries making it pretty much useless against small, fast or erratically maneuvering craft. The HP-X is a capital ship killer, not a point defense system.
• Lance Mode Cooldown - After lance mode is used the affected turret is completely offline for several minutes during its recovery phase. Full salvos of all turrets are capable of causing immense damage but leave the ship completely dependent on its secondary weapons after use until the turrets recharge. Any enemy commander aware of this vulnerability will attempt to exploit the window the best they can.
• “Unique” - The HP-X's kyber crystal focusing arrays are both the source of its exceptional power and its greatest strategic vulnerability. The HP-X turrets installed on the Stryker II are the only ones in existence. Therefore a damaged kyber crystal array will be extremely difficult to replace due to the scarcity of the materials. The turret’s custom nature means that any repairs done must be with specialized technicians either from the Stryker II or the N&Z Umbrella Corporation, repairs that could take months.

DESCRIPTION
The NZ HP-X Super Heavy Turbolaser represents something the N&Z Umbrella Corporation had never previously attempted, a weapons systems not designed for mass or even limited production to sell on the market but rather a system designed without the constraints of costs or resource management. The result was a weapons system that was so specialized, so resource intensive and so dependent on irreplaceable components that it was only built for one ship.

The HP-X is like a distant cousin of the HP1 and HP2 using a similar tibanna gas discharge system. But where as the HP1 and HP2 use conventional discharge systems, the HP-X routes its discharge though a kyber crystal array. The crystals don’t generate the weapon’s energy, instead they amplify it by magnitudes concentrating the discharge into devastating bolts that have far more destructive power than any conventional turbolaser of the previous two HP systems.

HP-X Turrets have two distinct firing modes: Standard and Lance. Standard is something you would expect. Slow rate of fire, slow tracking, devastating damage per bolt, standard capital ship main battery stuff. Just with the ability to strain shield sections that no conventional turbolaser can hope to match. Lance mode is a different beast. When activated the crystal array stops producing separate bolts and instead concentrates all output into two sustained beams that last 3-5 seconds. These beams don’t just hit harder, they overwhelm the victim’s shield regeneration forcing a continuous draw that most deflector systems cannot compensate for over the duration of the beam. The effect against a shielded capital ship is the creation of a sustained gap. A window of shield collapse that does not close until the beam ends, giving allied ion cannons, torpedo bombers, and secondary batteries a precisely defined opening to exploit. Against an unshielded hull, the penetration potential is catastrophic even leaving ships cut in two.
However powerful lance mode may be, it has a significant drawback. After lance mode fires the affected turret is completely offline, unable to fire at all for several minutes. A full salvo from all nine of the Stryker II’s HP-X turrets is perhaps one of the most destructive salvos seen in the galaxy but leaves the ship dependent on its secondary batteries and point defenses until power normalizes. A competent opponent that knows this weakness will attempt to exploit this window the best they can.

The HP-X’s greatest weakness though its the scarcity of its parts. The kyber crystal focusing arrays so crucial to its performance cannot be replicated from standard supply chains. Each array mounted aboard the Stryker II represents years of sourcing and preparation. A commitment only justified because the ship would never be replicated. If an array is damaged it could genuinely take months to repair degrading the Stryker II’s main battery.

The HP-X is the only one of its kind. It was designed to remain that way.