Approved Ranged Weapon RKV "Firewisp" Heavy Phosphor Projector

[Helix]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a standard naval weapon for Helix's next-generation vessels
• Image Source: Link
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Helix Privateers
• Affiliation: Helix Privateers
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: RKV Firewisp
• Modularity: No
• Production: Minor
• Material: Helsteel, Storm Iron, Helglass

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Rail/Incendiary/Radiation
• Size: Large
• Weight: Heavy
• Ammunition Type: Condensed X18
• Ammunition Capacity: Large
• Effective Range: Long Range
• Rate of Fire: High
• Damage Output: Very High
• Recoil: Very High

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Powerful incendiary and toxic aftereffects
• Integrated Aftershock firing solution software

STRENGTHS

• Battering Ram: The Firewisp launches diamond-hard masses of X18, offering greater range and damage than most mass-produced turbolasers, and carries a powerful radiotoxic/incendiary aftereffect.
• Accurate: The Firewisp does away with the multi-mode firing settings of its forbear, in exchange focusing purely on power and precision.

WEAKNESSES

• Burn Notice: The Firewisp pays for its relatively higher lethality with the explosive volatility common in X18-based weapons.
• Tunnel Vision: The Firewisp lacks the dedicated flak-burst mode of its forbears, and its users must rely on its targeting software and their own skill to tackle strike craft.

DESCRIPTION

The Firewisp is a starship-grade phosphor projector, a technology used exclusively by the Helix Privateers. By now, weapons utilizing the principle have been used on everything from small arms to tanks to starfighters to battleships, and thanks to extensive battlefield testing, have become safer and more reliable than ever before.

Like other weapons of this sort, the Firewisp uses powerful magnetic fields to supercondense a mass of pre-ignited X18. This creates a diamond-hard projectile, yet one that glows with barely-contained heat as the energies inside rage against their constraints.

This projectile is then launched at some 15% of the speed of light toward a given target. Should the object strike a shield or solid object that it cannot penetrate, its magnetic containment ruptures, releasing the condensed molten material with thunderous force over a sizeable blast radius. In such circumstances, it can nonetheless leave a patch of armor-consuming chemicals on a hull or shield barricade, potentially placing greater stresses on energy shielding or threatening a hull breach long after impact. Should the projectile instead manage to breach, it will often detonate in the process of doing so, dumping its incendiary-chemical payload inside the enemy vessel with grim results.

As X18 is both profoundly radiotoxic and profoundly hot, this subjects anything in the area to both significant thermal shock, and serious radioactive contamination, to say nothing of the incredible kinetic trauma caused by the initial impact.

This latest generation of the technology trades away the variable firing-modes of the Pilum and Huntsman models, focusing instead on accuracy and pure ship-to-ship hitting power. The addition of Aftershock trajectory calculation software results in a practical accuracy increase of nearly 165%, ensuring that the Firewisp can strike much more reliably than its forebears.

Despite its relatively reduced versatility compared to the aforementioned models, the Firewisp nonetheless retains a degree of battlefield versatility. Its traversal speed is deceptively fast, and coupled with its Aftershock software, it can still pose something of a threat to careless fighters, though this is not its primary purpose. The Firewisp is instead intended for tackling large targets.

This it does admirably, offering excellent across-the-board performance as a heavy-duty shipboard weapon (though perhaps not excelling in any one category).

 

[MANIAC]

Helix

Nicely made again.

Approved.