Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To provide Lucerne Labs with a basic starfighter slugthrower system
Image Source: here
Canon Link:N/A
Primary Source: N/A
Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi, Galactic Alliance, Closed-Market
Model: Reaper-class Mag Autocannon
Modularity: None
Production: Mass-Produced.
Material: Durasteel casing, plasteel barrel liner, gauss cannon components, capacitors
Classification: Gauss Autocannon
Size: Large
Weight: Heavy
Ammunition Type: 30mm Mag-pellets
Ammunition Capacity: infinite in practical terms when mounted on a starship or vehicle
Reload Speed:Average
Effective Range:Personal
Rate of Fire: Very High
Stopping Power: Low
Recoil: Average
Mag-pellet Ammunition: Reapers use Mag-pellets as ammunition, which are relatively small for their size, allowing Reapers to carry large amounts of ammunition into battle. Like many mag-pellets, the Reaper's mag-pellets are attracted to metallic material, which gives them a limited ability to guide themselves into targets if that target has metal in it.
Short Range: Reapers only have half the range of a vanilla laser cannon
Equivalent to two laser cannons for shipbuilding
Equivalent to about three laser cannons for damage output over time (each mag-pellet does less damage than an individual laser cannon bolt, but there are more mag-pellets fired over time than a
High Rate of Fire: Reapers have an exceptionally high rate of fire because the electromagnetic fields are rapidly created and discharged over a relatively short barrel. allowing them throw out a high volume of fire, making them ideal for shredding through fast moving targets or gradually chewing through armor plating.
Seeker ammunition: Mag-pellets are attracted to metallic objects, making them marginally more likely to hit many targets than typical dumbfire munitions.
Short-Range: Reapers have a relatively short range even for a starfighter weapon, roughly having half the range of a typical laser cannons because the electromagnetic fields are rapidly created and discharged aren't very strong.
Lack of Variety: Unlike many projectile weapons, Reapers can only fire a single type of ammunition: the mag-pellet.
The Reaper is a gauss cannon that trades range for improved damage output through a high cyclic rate of fire. This makes it an ideal close-quarters weapon for pilots who end up in 'knife fight' dogfighting range. Here, its relatively weak individual shot damage is offset by the sheer volume of fire the Reaper can produce. At typical laser cannon ranges though, its effectiveness decreases so rapidly that for practical purposes, it's useless.
Mechanically, Reapers use a dozen equally spaced coils surrounded by a hardwearing plasteel barrel insert. Thus, the mag-pellets never come into physical contact with the coils (unlike a railgun's projectiles), which allows a higher rate of fire because rail erosion is no longer a concern. The barrel insert though needs to be periodically replaced though from simple wear or tear, or the Reaper becomes noticeably inaccurate. Thankfully this is relatively simple process that can be performed in almost any facility, as it is about as difficult than changing an atmospheric filter on starship. Reloading is similarly quite easy: mag-pellets are simply poured into a hopper which then feeds them singularly into the firing chamber. This makes Reapers exceptionally simple from a mechanical perspective, which has aided their popularity among pilots frequently reliant on limited facilities or even themselves for repair and maintenance.
Reapers are commonly used in conjunction with more conventional laser cannons on smaller starships like starfighters and light freighters, so as to partially compensate for their lower range. However, some more daring and gung-ho pilots in fast craft or in areas where it is difficult to obtain blaster gas use these weapons as their sole primary armament for smaller craft.
