HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a unique staff for HK to use as an energy-based weapon and a tool for recharging his other equipment
- Image Source: Modified image found by Google Image search for "Saruman Staff" link here
- Canon Link: Particle beam
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Uses a Sourcefyre Crystal as firing mechanism
- Manufacturer: Abregado Rae Guild of Hammers
- Model: The Black Staff Of Power
- Affiliation: HK-36, Unique Personal Item
- Modularity: N/A
- Production: Unique
- Material: Blackened Phrik structure with central emerald colored Sourcefyre crystal, electrum wiring and firing mechanisms
- Classification: Staff, Particle Beam and Electricity Firing Tube
- Size: Handheld
- Length: 2 meters
- Weight: 3 kilograms
- Ammunition Type: Energy from Sourcefyre crystals
- Ammunition Capacity: Energy within the crystal can sustain a beam or electric arc for 5 minutes of continuous firing.
- Effective Range: Equivalent to a standard blaster or beam rifle
- Rate of Fire: Single action continuous fire
- Phrik Structure and Blades
- Sourcefyre Crystal
- Energy Beam Firing Mechanisms
- Sourcefyre/Particle Beam
- Lightning Arc Firing Mechanisms
- Recharge Arc Emitter
- Charge Adapter Terminal
- Phrik Structure and Blades- forged out of Phrik colored to look black the staff can take quite a beating before being broken, it can even go as far as block lightsabers in melee combat. The blades that make up its crown are sharpened, able to puncture and cut through armor as well as function as a large mace and deal blunt damage.
- Sourcefyre Crystal- the emerald Sourcefyre crystals at the center of its crown can store large amount of power, enough to fire for 5 minutes straight before there is need to have it recharged.
- Energy Beam Firing Mechanisms- applying a proper sequence of energy and electrical pulses the staff can emit out a beam of energy out from its crystal. This beam is focused by a magnetic field emitting from its crown from which smaller beams shoot out and all connect in the middle to form a bigger particle beam before launching out straight from the top of the staff, forming much like a composite beam would. This beam is green at its core although the edges emit out in variety of colors, just the same the surfaces it scorches are set ablaze on the edge of the point it burnt in colorful unnatural fire.
- Sourcefyre Beam- the beam that results from the Sourcefyre crystal in this staff forms much like a composite beam would but functions more like a particle beam. It only deals damage similar to a standard or particle beam blaster rifle for the first half a minute after which it increases exponentially, by the time the beam fires for over 4 minutes it has cutting power similar to a lightsaber. The beam leaves a ring of unnatural colorful fire around its edges and when it comes to contact with electromagnetic surface, for example some deflector or ray shields or lightsaber blade, much like a particle beam, it causes a minor incendiary explosion of its colorful strange fire flying about.
- Lightning Arc Firing Mechanisms- applying a proper sequence of energy and electrical pulses the crystal can emit out a lightning arc, channeled and guided by magnetic field from the crown's blades, guiding it straight from the staff's top towards general area. While this attack has a much shorter range than the beam fire, it is also much more unpredictable, arcing through the air and able to jump between multiple targets, which is as much of a blessing as a curse, it deals electrical and ionic damage.
- Recharge Arc Emitter- this device gives the staff an option to emit out a lower intensity electrical arc at very short range, this arc can be captured by a charge adapter terminal to recharge another Sourcefire crystal.
- Charge Adapter Terminal- this device can capture a recharge arc from another Sourcefyre crystal in order to channel its energy into the large crystal at the crown of the staff and recharge it over time.
Strengths:
- Energy Damage- one of the ranged attack settings of the staff is unleashing a Sourcefyre particle beam, this beam travels over range a standard blaster or beam rifle shot would travel before dissipating without a trace and burning out. While this beam forms much like a composite laser beam would it only deals damage similar to that of a standard or particle beam blaster for the first half a minute it fires, afterwards its intensity and strength grows exponentially, by the time it fires for over 4 minutes it has intensity similar to a lightsaber and peaks at that until the crystal runs out of power. The beam sets solid surfaces on fire, leaving a ring of the colorful flames around the area it scorches and burns. It also functions similarly to the way particle beam would, when it comes in contact with electromagnetic surfaces, for example some deflector shields or the blade of a lightsaber, it triggers a minor incendiary explosion, creating a blaze of the eldritch colorful flames against the surface which burn out almost immediately after the contact between electromagnetic surface and the Sourcefyre beam is broken.
- Electrical Damage- the other ranged attack setting of the staff is lightning constantly changing its colors, it has about half the range the Sourcefyre beam does, but it deals both electrical and ionic attacks, making it more effective against mechanical beings, although it functions well as a non-lethal weapon against organics. While it has small range its lightning can arc around and bounce from target to target, while this is useful in groups of enemies it is not easily, or pretty much at all, controlled, meaning if there are any allies in the area, they will probably be hit by the chaining lightning as well. The Sourcefyre Lightning also has a reaction with electromagnetic surfaces, like deflectors or lightsabers, it can be deflected by them, bouncing back away from the target and often towards the user.
- Phrik- The staff is forged out of Phrik made black for aesthetics sake, as such it is very durable and resistant, able to take hits from a lightsaber in melee without the weapon melting through it right away. The crown of the staff it made out of sharpened blades which can cut and pierce their targets, although that depends largely on how much force is put behind the hits and what kind of armor the target wears. The staff as a whole could be used as a mace and deal blunt damage.
- Recharge- While the central crystal of the staff cannot be replaced unless destroyed, it could be recharged by draining energy from other crystals and in turn use the energy stored within itself to charge other crystals back, to do so the Recharge Arc Emitter and Charge Adapter Terminal components need to be operational within the staff and the crystal that the power is being either drained or channeled from.
- Vulnerable crystal- the staff itself may be made out of Phrik but the crystal itself is not as durable, it can absorb energy damage to a degree but physical attacks would be able to shatter and crack it much faster. If the crystal is cracked it will explode soon after as all the energy stored within it is unleashed at once uncontrollably, how big the explosion it is depends on how much energy is stored within it, at most it would be considerable to a thermal detonator going off, except the explosion it causes is brilliantly colorful and sets the immediate area on eldritch vibrant fire.
- Large- since this weapon is a solid metal staff with a big crystal on top of it, it is hardly inconspicuous, making it a bad choice for anything close to a stealth mission. It is also difficult to carry it along without one hand always being occupied by it, which means if this is one's weapon of choice they have to pretty much commit to it. Thankfully it does not weight that much due to Phrik being a rather light alloy.
- EMP vulnerable- the staff is vulnerable to EMP grenades and similar weaponry, such attacks would temporarily shut down its electronic components like the firing mechanisms, rendering it nothing but a fancy walking stick for some time.
- Ionic/Electrical vulnerable- the staff is vulnerable to ionic and electrical weaponry, such attacks would temporarily shut down its electronic components like the firing mechanisms, rendering it nothing but a fancy walking stick for some time.
- Simple- outside of the two different attacks there isn't that much to this weapon, with those systems disabled it's nothing but a fancy staff with a sharp end, while there is some beauty to simple weaponry, on modern battlefield, especially if one is not a Force user, a weapon without additional tricks could be a death sentence.
Introduction: The creation of Sourcefyre crystals opened up a new possibility of energy-based weaponry for Abregado to compliment their dominant shattergun technology. This staff, known by the Gados who forged it as the Black Staff of Power, was their first invention to utilize one of these crystals as a firing mechanisms, it came to be one of the most powerful Sourcefyre weapons, but at the same time, one of the most volatile ones as well.
Technical Details and History: The staff itself is mostly just an elongated Phrik shaft ending with a metal crown of blades that houses its Sourcefyre crystal. The first crystal used in this staff was also the first crystal made by the Gados, the one they accidentally created when channeling plasma and pure raw energy through an absolute degree chamber, when they realized that some of the energy froze and actually solidified into a tiny splinter-like shard, they decided to channel more and more energy through, causing the crystal to grow until became a large diamond shaped glowing emerald. It was an unrefined process compared to later methods of growing Sourcefyre crystals and as such the crystal itself reflected that, it could store more energy than a standard crystal, its beams burning hotter and for longer periods of time, its lightning spreading farther, but it was more unstable as well. It required a large staff and strong mechanical hands to keep its firing mechanism steady once the beam was formed, starting at the crystal it shot upward, channeled by electromagnets found in the crown's blades, its excess feeding into the staff and out through the blades until it burst from the tips, connecting with the main beam like a composite laser would, focusing it straight outward so that it could be aimed properly. The lightning generated by the crystal was manipulated in similar way.
Sourcefyre Particle Beam: While the particle beam generated by the crystal looks dangerous it does damage equivalent to that of a particle or standard rifle for the first half a minute, afterwards its intensity begins to increase exponentially until it reaches the heat and potency of lightsaber's blade after about 4 and a half minutes of firing and plateaus until the crystal runs out of power. The beam itself is emerald green at its core but its edges constantly change colors in a vivid ethereal dance, this is further shown by the flames it leaves in its wake, setting the area around the point it burns ablaze in unnatural fire that burns at the same temperature as normal fire does. The beam also turns incendiary with a minor explosion when it touches deflector shields and lightsaber blades as it has a volatile reaction with electromagnetic and magnetized surfaces, making it a bad idea to try and deflect it. This explosion sets the electromagnetic surface ablaze, even if it is suspended in the air, however these flames burn out and disappear immediately once the contact between electromagnetic surface and the beam is broken. Once the crystal stops firing and the beam dissipates its intensity is reset, meaning its more potent when the casting/firing is uninterrupted and the longer it goes on. The only reason why this beam does not explode because of staff's own electromagnetic field is because it is more passive and functions like a lens, rather than like a shield trying to stop it.
Sourcefyre Chained Lightning: Another firing method of the staff, when the crystal is excited mostly by electric impulses, is an arc of colorful lightning, which deals electric and ionic damage, making it more useful for stunning and subduing organic targets or damaging mechanical components. The range of the arc is half of the beam but it can arc from one object or person to another, if they are too close, allowing it to affect multiple marks at the same time, however this cannot be controlled outside the fact that it does not bounce back at the staff itself or its wielder, meaning that if one's ally stands too close to a person affected by the lightning they will probably be zapped as well. Unlike the beam the lightning does not turn explosive when in contact with a lightsaber or deflector shield but in fact it bounces back from them, most likely towards the staff's wielder, making them an effective defense against it.
Other Strengths: Other strengths of the staff is that it is forged out of Phrik, making it extremely durable, like Phrik-forged electrostaff of old it can be used effectively as a melee weapon against pretty much any weapon, able to even resist strikes from a ligthsaber in combat. Other than that it is pretty standard Phrik stuff, it makes it lighter, and it has some sharpened Phrik blades that make up its crown, those could be used in melee to cut or stab through a target, although their effectiveness is based on how much force is put behind it and what kind of armor the target is wearing. Another strength is the fact that the crystal used in the staff, like all Sourcefyre crystal, could be recharged with proper technology that utilizes recharge arc emitter and charge adapter terminal, and it can drain some of its power to recharge other crystals, which means that instead of the need to replace the crystal within it, another crystal could be sacrificed to simple replenish it. Due to the Sourcefyre's potency it could also hold enough charges to fire for 5 minutes straight.
Explosive Crystal: The major weakness of the stuff is that while majority of it is made out of strong Phrik, the crystal is rather exposed between the crown's blades, meaning that precise attacks could damage it. Of course it can absorb a degree of energy based attacks directed at it, as all Sourcefyre crystals do, however physical attacks are its weakness as strong enough blow could crack or shatter it. Doing so would cause the crystal to release all of its energy at the same time in an explosion, how devastating this explosion is depends on how much energy the crystal was holding, at most it would be comparable to a thermal detonator going off, also spreading its colorful eldritch flames and setting nearby objects and people ablaze. If that happens it is not much loss in the long run as it would not damage the Phrik structure of the staff and the crystal can always be replaced, but immediate damage to the user and the artifact's loss would be probably troubling.
Other Weaknesses: Other weaknesses of the staff include it just being a large staff, while not exactly unwieldy in combat it's pretty obvious when one brings it along as it attracts attention with its large glowing crystal, not to mention it is rather difficult to store it elsewhere while on a mission other than just haul it along with you. As such it's probably a bad choice for stealth missions and even then one really has to commit to using it to justify bringing it along instead of a more compact weapon that would free one's hands. The staff is especially useless when its electrical components are deactivated, then it just becomes a very expensive possible explosive fancy stick. While it can still do some damage in melee its versatility becomes limited. Speaking of deactivating its systems, the staff is vulnerable to electromagnetic, ionic, and electrical attacks which could damage its components like the firing mechanisms enough for it to be temporarily deactivated until it could be rebooted, making it useless for a brief period of time.
Summary/Conclusion: In conclusion, while there are more deadly melee weapons out there than this Phrik staff, its strength and versatility comes from the ranged attacks it possesses, one being a colorful eldritch energy beam that starts with power similar to that of a standard blaster rifle, however as it continues to fire after half a minute its power grows exponentially until it finally peaks after four and a half minute when it reaches the intensity of a lightsaber and then fires for another thirty seconds and the crystal is drained from its power, another ranged attack is an equally colorful lightning that, although short ranged, can arc between multiple objects or people, dealing electric and ionic damage. Both of these attacks have a reaction with electromagnetic surfaces like charged magnetic metal, lightsaber blades, or deflector shields, the beam creates a minor explosion of flames while the lightning can be deflected back at the user by them, making it a solid protection. The price for the potency of the crystal and its power is its volatile state, should the crystal be cracked or shattered it will release all of the energy stored within at the same time in an explosion that at most is similar to a thermal detonator going off while setting area around it on colorful unnatural fire, most likely damaging its wielder and surely turning the staff into a fancy walking stick as nothing but the Phrik shaft and staff remains behind.
