Shadow Hand
- Intent: To create a Sith engineered hybrid plasma warhead designed to cripple and ignite enemy vessels through high-intensity thermal impact and persistent incendiary damage.
- Image Source:
- Headers - Teresa Zambrano | Darth Pellax
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer:
- Affiliation:
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Screaming Ember Warhead Mk. I
- Modularity: No
- Production: Limited
- Material:
- Crystallite Fracture Shell
- Bloodsteel Reinforcement Bands
- Plasma Catalyst Core
- Obsidian Alloy Guidance Vanes
- Crystalline Shard Dispersal: Upon impact, the warhead's reinforced crystallite shell fractures into hundreds of incandescent shards. These fragments adhere to surfaces and burn at temperatures capable of warping durasteel and compromising armored plating. Secondary fires often spread uncontrollably, particularly along exposed conduits or sensor arrays.
- Plasma Catalyst Core: A compact plasma cell at the warhead's heart releases a violent thermal surge during detonation. The resulting blast can melt hull sections and cause cascading system failures within adjacent compartments, making it ideal for disabling critical infrastructure such as reactors and thruster clusters.
- Harmonic Wail Emitter: As the warhead arms and impacts, embedded sonic nodes produce a shrieking resonance that transmits across multiple frequencies. This unsettling wail is detectable over comms and often causes panic or confusion among enemy crews, particularly those unshielded from direct audio channels.
- Persistent Incendiary Damage: The Screaming Ember Warhead is uniquely suited to long-duration destruction. Even after the initial blast, crystalline embers cling to a target and continue burning, weakening structural supports and spreading damage over time.
- Area Denial Effectiveness: Because the shards scatter across a wide impact zone, the warhead can disable multiple systems or exposed hardpoints in a single strike. Engine nozzles, turrets, and launch bays are especially vulnerable to the secondary fires.
- Psychological Disruption: The harmonic wail sowing dread and distraction can degrade enemy coordination. This effect is often amplified when multiple warheads are used in succession, overwhelming defenders with both physical and emotional strain.
- Thermal Signature Exposure: The intense plasma bloom and burning shards emit a radiant heat profile easily tracked by hostile sensors. Pilots launching the Screaming Ember must expect near-instant detection.
- Collateral Risk: The persistent incendiary effect can be a liability during boarding operations or when friendly craft must operate near the impact site. Fires may spread unpredictably, making cleanup and control challenging.
- Force Nullification: The warhead's harmonic wail emitter and the plasma catalyst stabilization rely on Sith runic circuits embedded within the obsidian alloy vanes. In the presence of Force Nullification, these circuits lose resonance alignment, weakening the psychological impact of the wail and slightly destabilizing plasma containment. This can result in reduced fear response among enemy crews and a partial diffusion of the plasma surge, diminishing the warhead's effectiveness.
The Screaming Ember Warhead Mk. I was first conceptualized in the aftermath of the Siege of Mykav III, when Kainate strategists recognized the need for a weapon capable of both crippling an enemy's external systems and instilling a terror that lingered long after impact. Malsheem's artificers and ordnance masters set out to combine advanced plasma technology with psychological warfare, producing a munition that would devastate the body and unnerve the spirit in equal measure.
At its core, the Screaming Ember is a study in relentless aggression. Its crystalline fracture shell is alchemically tempered to shatter into incandescent fragments that burn at thousands of degrees, adhering to any surface they touch. The Plasma Catalyst Core releases a shockwave of searing energy, warping bulkheads and igniting secondary fires wherever fuel or oxygen is exposed. As if this were not enough, the warhead's harmonic wail, produced by obsidian alloy nodes tuned to resonate with the frequency of panic, echoes across comms networks and crew intercoms, disrupting orders and demoralizing defenders.
While it demands respect for its destructive power, the Screaming Ember is not without drawbacks. Its burning aftermath creates significant risk to any friendly vessel operating nearby, and its heat signature all but guarantees retribution from surviving enemies. Yet for the Sith, these are not deterrents but proofs of purpose: that no strike should ever leave an opponent unscathed, and no survivor should ever doubt who delivered the blow.
Where the Ember falls, ships burn, and their crews remember.
Out Of Character Info
Intent:
To create a Sith engineered hybrid plasma warhead designed to cripple and ignite enemy vessels through high-intensity thermal impact and persistent incendiary damage.
Canon Link:
N/A
Primary Source(s):
N/A
Technical Information
Affiliation:
The Kainate
Model:
Screaming Ember Warhead Mk. I
Modular:
No
Material:
Crystallite Fracture Shell Bloodsteel Reinforcement Bands Plasma Catalyst Core Obsidian Alloy Guidance Vanes
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