Approved Ranged Weapon Shredfire-type Ranged Weapon System

[Ethanael Halscott]

Shredfire​

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a brutal, short-range 'shotgun' in space weapon designed for use on Commonwealth capital ships, optimized for close-quarters devastation during entanglement or boarding operations.
• Image Source: N/A
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Primo Victorian Enterprises, Commonwealth Naval Engineering Bureau
• Affiliation: Primo Victorian Enterprises, Dosuunian Commonwealth
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: CSP-CRWS-X1 “Shredfire”
• Modularity: Yes (variable bolt count, energy dispersal tuning)
• Production: Limited
• Material: Durasteel casing, heat-dissipative alloy lining, plasma-coil conduits, Gravmire Gel insulator as well as the weapon housing system components.
  
  • Judicite Composite Frame
  • Crystalamnium Internal Sheathing
  • Crystaplast Reactive Coating
  • Insulating Liner: Durasilk Thermafoam
  • Insulating Medium: Gravmire Gel

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Plasma-Based Starship Weapon
• Size: Large
• Weight: Heavy
• Ammunition Type: Plasma energy cell, high-capacitor bolt storage
• Ammunition Capacity: Average
• Effective Range: Point Blank to Personal
• Rate of Fire: Low
• Damage Output: High (localized), Variable per bolt
• Recoil: High

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Fires in multi-bolt scatter patterns (Scatter-6 or Scatter-12 variants)
• Plasma dispersal fields enable wide-area saturation
• Designed for point-blank discharge post-grapple
• Gravehand integration socket-ready
• Burst-stagger timing to maximize shield overload and hull breach
• Compatible with broadside or dorsal recessed mounts
• Twin-Barrel Convergent Discharge: Dual emitters allow for greater plasma density and selective fire modes—either wide-scatter (Scatter-12) or tight-spray (Scatter-6).
• Firing Mode Variants ("Shell Types") – Plasma charge types modulate internally:
  
  • Brimfire Mode (Incendiary Plasma): Plasma bolts are enveloped in mag-cladding to breach weakened hull plating before delivering a compound incendiary mix of thermite gel, conflagrine-14, and g-20 glop. Internal ignition melts systems and spreads flame through breached compartments.
  • Ionflash Mode (Electromagnetic Suppression): Overloaded plasma bolts emit a localized EMP pulse on impact. Effective at disabling small craft, shields, or electronic systems caught in the blast radius. Ideal for crowd control or halting boarding actions mid-approach.
  • Cryocleave Mode (Cryo-Plasma Fracture): Combines synthetic collapsium vapor, CryoBan-laced thermite gel, and liquid carbonite particles into a semi-coherent plasma mass. Encased in cold-field containment via boreas crystal matrix, each bolt flash-freezes hull materials on impact and induces thermal shock fracturing moments later. G-20 glop particle infusion ensures widespread adhesion and internal structural compromise.
  • Breakerbolt Mode (Plasma-Detonite Shrapnel Burst):
  • Delivers a contained blastwave via encapsulated tibanna and baradium-impregnated plasma core—essentially a directed detonite-equivalent explosion. Upon impact, a shaped burst fractures into an expanding cloud of crystadurium ball bearings coated in ardanium, which amplify kinetic and radiative aftershock as they penetrate deep into exposed hulls. Ardanium's radiative reinforcement intensifies internal detonation effects, overloading reactor shielding and compromising fuel storage. Ideal for annihilating critical infrastructure once shields are down.
• Heuristic Firing Control Suite: Includes auto-target lock, predictive leading for moving targets, and fast-track fire-linking with other Shredfire mounts.
• Boreas Crystal Matrix Generator: Internal power source supported by energy crystals and Boreas resonance chamber.
  
  • Internal heat regulation system (fans, heatsinks, thermafoam conduit)
  • Remote exciter field tuning for enhanced bolt stability
  • Auto-fail containment and emergency shutdown protocols
• Smart Sensor Array: Rangefinder suite with built-in early-warning for incoming fire, target distance analytics, and fire mode suggestions.

STRENGTHS

• Devastating at Close Range: Shreds hulls, fighters, and exposed systems at short distances.
• Anti-Cluster Weapon: Ideal against squadrons, boarding pods, or grouped light ships.
• Shield Overload Capable: Multiple impact points strain enemy deflectors.
• Versatile Payload Modes: Multiple plasma types for incendiary, EMP, cryogenic, and explosive damage profiles.

WEAKNESSES

• Ineffective at Long Range: Bolt dispersion renders it useless beyond close proximity.
• Power Draw: Massive capacitor demand limits firing cycles.
• Fixed Firing Arc: Requires careful positioning or integrated mount rotation.
• Payload Volatility: Mode-specific ammo variants may create additional safety concerns and logistical burden.

DESCRIPTION
The Shredfire Scatter Array, known across Commonwealth fleets as “The Barking Guns,” is the unapologetic embodiment of close-range, capital-scale violence. Designed to tear through clustered targets, exposed hulls, and boarding craft with savage efficiency, the Shredfire trades long-range precision for overwhelming burst firepower.

Deployed most infamously with ships that carry the Gravehand, the Shredfire is stage two of a calculated horror show. Once a ship is caught in the Gravehand’s grasp—its mobility crippled and escape denied—the twin barrels of the Scatter Array rise from their armored housings. They don’t fire. They detonate.

Depending on the chosen variant—Scatter-6 for tighter, punchier fire patterns, or Scatter-12 for wide-area carnage—each blast floods a sector with plasma configured for the task at hand. Integrated firing modes such as:

• Brimfire (incendiary plasma): a burning gel-plasma mix that melts hulls and floods interiors with g-20 glop clingfire;
  
• Ionflash (EMP burst): a shot that disables electronics and shields with an electromagnetic exciter overload;
  
• Cryocleave (freezing pulse): a cold-seeded burst that flash-freezes armor and fractures it via thermal whiplash;
  
• Breakerbolt (detonite-plasma with radiative shrapnel): an internal-mangling payload that floods enemy compartments with ardanium-coated crystadurium fragments…

…make each Shredfire volley not just loud—but tactically adaptive.

In execution doctrine, the weapon is neither subtle nor forgiving. It is designed to finish crippled ships, break hull-crawlers, or drown squadrons in indiscriminate energy. Its modular design allows it to be mounted along dorsal batteries or broadsides, and its integration with plasma modulation tech, cooling arrays, and reactive matrix controls ensures sustainable operation through protracted engagements.

It is not a weapon of war. It is a sentence carried out.

Few escape its bark. None forget its bite.

 

[Delsin Shaw]

Ethanael Halscott

Approved