Approved Ranged Weapon VML-3 "Craterling" Light Mortar

[VesperWorks]

VML-3 "Craterling" LIGHT MORTAR​

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To submit a light, antiquated anti-armor space mortar platform for low-cost ships, private vessels, and gunnery training purposes under the VesperWorks umbrella.
Image Source: MidJourney
Canon Link: N/A
Permissions: N/A
Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Vantablast Industries (Subsidiary of VesperWorks)
Affiliation: Vantablast Industries, VesperWorks, Project Vesper, Serina Calis, Atramentum
Market Status: Closed-Market
Model: VML-3 "Craterling" Light Mortar
Modularity: No
Production: Minor
Material:

• Durasteel: The mortar's primary structure, including its barrel, breech assembly, and outer framing, is constructed from durasteel—a common but reliable alloy found across the galaxy. While not elegant or lightweight, durasteel provides a satisfactory balance of strength, affordability, and durability, making it ideal for a weapon expected to withstand repeated explosive launches without complex reinforcement. Its surfaces are prone to heat scoring and weathering, but can take punishment over years of use.
• Agrinium: A thin internal lining of agrinium is used within the breech to offer basic radiation shielding and help protect internal components during high-heat launches, especially when operating near ionizing phenomena such as gas giants or stellar debris. This is particularly useful on older ships where reactor shielding may be inconsistent.
• Ferrocarbon Bushings: The turret's elevation and recoil mounts incorporate ferrocarbon bushing joints, chosen for their high friction resistance and low maintenance needs. These allow the weapon to endure the mechanical stress of repeated shell launches with minimal performance drift over time—essential for vessels lacking dedicated artillery crews.
• Ceramiweave Padding: Located within the recoil arm and shock-absorbing gimbal, ceramiweave insulation layers help disperse kinetic transfer to the deck mounts. Originally developed for shock-absorbing armor and protective uniforms, this material's use in the Craterling is unorthodox but effective in reducing stress on lighter hulls.
• Plasteel: Non-critical components—such as the protective housing for the analog firing dial, ammunition cradle brackets, and outer shell guards—are constructed from plasteel, a lightweight, blast-resistant composite. It reduces overall system mass and provides enough durability to protect exposed systems from stray shrapnel or space debris.
• Thermoguard Gel Reservoir: A limited reserve of Thermoguard Gel, stored in a pressurized microcanister, runs through the firing chamber jacket. This passive cooling compound, often found in small fighter-grade energy weapons, is used to dissipate heat during prolonged firing sessions. While not sufficient for continuous combat, it prevents immediate cook-off and allows the mortar to sustain its low rate of fire safely.
• Fiberplast Wiring (Analog Fire Control): The fire control dial, while mechanical in nature, is reinforced with fiberplast-coated wiring and magnetic locks, ensuring it can operate in zero-atmosphere environments and remain functional even if partially exposed to vacuum or electrical surge conditions.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Slugthrower (Mortar)
Size: Average
Weight: Light
Ammunition Type: Cased Anti-Armor High-Explosive Rounds
Ammunition Capacity: Small (5–8 shells ready-load depending on platform size)
Effective Range: Average
Rate of Fire: Low
Damage Output: Average
Recoil: Low

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Modified Breech Loader for Zero-Atmosphere Operation:
  Originally designed for use on moons and low-gravity planetary surfaces, the Craterling's breech-loading mechanism has been reworked with vacuum-safe seals, reinforced breech locking pins, and pressure-rated lubricant films. These allow it to function reliably in zero-atmosphere environments such as deep space or asteroid belts, despite its archaic origin.
• Analog Fire Control Dial:
  The VML-3 features a brass-rimmed analog targeting dial, complete with manual gradation markers for pitch and range adjustment. While primitive by modern standards, this system enables gunners to calculate ballistic arcs manually, training operators in drift compensation and target prediction. It's a favored tool for instructors and a rite of passage for novice artillery crews.
• Low Flux Footprint:
  Lacking energy-intensive coils, capacitors, or high-yield plasma conduits, the Craterling produces virtually no power or thermal load. This makes it ideal for low-reactor vessels and ships running silent operations, and it is nearly undetectable on thermal scans while idle—until it fires.
• Minimal Recoil Assembly:
  The weapon's low muzzle velocity means recoil is negligible, allowing the mortar to be mounted on lightweight hulls or unarmored exteriors without bracing the surrounding superstructure. This makes it especially valuable for older freighters, auxiliary craft, and modified non-combat vessels.
• Compact Design:
  The VML-3's entire system occupies a tight turret footprint, allowing it to be mounted on dorsal fins, maintenance rings, or undercarriage pylons. This adaptability has led to its widespread use in retrofits and field modifications where space is at a premium and defense is an afterthought.
• Manual Shell Handling Option:
  While some installations include basic grav-fed ready racks, the Craterling can also be hand-loaded, shell-by-shell, using a crank-breech system. This feature has allowed pirates, mercenaries, and frontier militias to operate the weapon even when ship power is damaged or inoperable.
• Shell Arc Control Lever:
  A mechanical lever system at the rear of the turret allows the operator to adjust barrel elevation through set notches, each corresponding to a basic engagement envelope. Though crude, it enables experienced crews to bracket targets over cover, station geometry, or battlefield debris with shocking accuracy—provided they're willing to calculate manually.
• Radiation-Hardened Components:
  The firing mechanism and recoil sensors are constructed with agrinium shielding and ferrocarbon insulators, allowing the Craterling to remain functional near ion storms, irradiated wreck fields, or during post-reactor detonation conditions where more sophisticated weapons would fail.
• Emergency Firing Pin Override:
  Should all automated systems fail, the weapon can still be fired through a manual override, involving a physical crank, a firing pin hammer, and a safety release lever. While slow, this guarantees the mortar can deliver its payload even under power loss or combat damage—a final shot in desperate hands.

STRENGTHS

• Low Emissions – Stealth and Efficiency on a Budget:
  The Craterling's lack of high-energy coils, capacitors, or powered loaders results in a remarkably low power signature. It generates minimal heat, negligible flux buildup, and places no meaningful strain on even the most primitive reactors. This makes it ideal for low-profile or low-tech vessels, including older cargo ships, solo interplanetary vessels, and retrofit transports where every joule of energy counts. Additionally, its passive nature allows it to be used on stealth-adjacent ships or in black-ops training where maintaining a low electromagnetic signature is critical. While it offers no cloaking features itself, it won't betray the ship's location until it fires.
• Simple and Reliable – Function Over Form:
  With no digital fire control, no electronic sensors, and few moving parts, the Craterling is a weapon that thrives in conditions where more advanced systems would fail. It's not elegant, but it's incredibly difficult to break. The breech-lock is mechanical. The elevation lever is hydraulic. The firing sequence can be triggered by hand if needed. This makes it immune to ion-based disruptions, slicer interference, and EMP attacks that would disable modern turrets. Its continued use by pirates, militia groups, and survivalist colonies across the Outer Rim speaks to its ability to function in complete isolation from advanced support infrastructure.
• Low Recoil – Compatible with Fragile or Light Hulls:
  Because the mortar fires low-velocity arcing shells, recoil is surprisingly gentle despite the explosive payloads. This allows it to be mounted on ships not designed for weapon systems—such as civilian transports, converted exploration craft, and diplomatic vessels that quietly want a backup option. Its low recoil also reduces the risk of structural stress on older frames, reducing maintenance demands. This makes it ideal for solo operators and small crews who cannot afford regular refits.
• Training Tool – Teaches Fundamental Gunnery Concepts:
  In military academies and naval war colleges under Serina Calis' control, the Craterling is still used to teach the core tenets of spatial ballistics: arc prediction, target drift, gravity well interference, fuse timing, and recoil compensation. Unlike point-and-click laser turrets or guided missiles, the Craterling forces crews to think like artillerymen. Instructors claim that anyone who can land a Craterling round on a drifting debris target can handle any turret in the Sith Navy. The weapon's use in officer training is both pedagogical and cultural—it's a rite of passage, a tool for building respect for the art of gunnery.
• Compact and Affordable – Accessible to the Galaxy's Fringe:
  The Craterling is a rare example of industrial Vantablast engineering made accessible to the galactic underclass. It's cheap to produce, cheap to maintain, and compact enough to be installed on ships without requiring structural changes or advanced power routing. It has become a staple weapon for Outer Rim scavenger fleets, smugglers, mercenary gunboats, and private yacht captains who want to protect their investment without attracting regulatory attention. Its affordability also makes it expendable—ships often carry a Craterling as a last-ditch fallback, a tool they'll happily discard if they outgrow it.
• Vacuum-Ready Construction – Optimized for Harsh Environments:
  The VML-3 was modified specifically for zero-atmosphere operation, which gives it an edge over many ground-based artillery platforms. With vacuum-rated seals, non-corrosive lubricant blends, and radiation-hardened components, it can function even after being exposed to plasma shearing, micro-debris impact, or radiation saturation—conditions that would render more sensitive turrets inert. Whether mounted to the exterior of a space barge or tucked beneath a hidden smuggler deck, the Craterling can be trusted to fire when few other systems will.

WEAKNESSES

• Very Poor Rate of Fire – Time is Not on Its Side:
  The Craterling's manual or semi-automated breech-loading system limits its effective rate of fire to one round every 8 to 10 seconds at best, and even slower when loaded by hand. This sluggish cycling makes it ill-suited for high-intensity engagements, particularly against swarms, coordinated strike wings, or enemy ships with high mobility. By the time one round lands, a modern counterpart may have fired five times. In fleet skirmishes or duels, the Craterling quickly falls behind the pace of combat and leaves its host ship dangerously exposed between shots.
• Incapable Against Shields and Agile Targets:
  Lacking any form of tracking, targeting correction, or guided munitions, the mortar's low-velocity arcing shells are practically useless against shielded or fast-moving ships. Shields deflect the blast entirely, and small vessels like starfighters or interceptors can outmaneuver incoming fire with ease. The Craterling is fundamentally a siege weapon, not a dueling piece. Its shots must be preemptive, predictive, and lucky—traits that are incompatible with dynamic or reactive battlefield tactics.
• Extremely Limited Firing Arc – You Either Aim It or You Don't:
  The Craterling's turret mount offers minimal traverse and elevation control. Most installations only allow for a 15–30 degree vertical adjustment and no more than 20 degrees horizontal swing. This means targets must be brought into its narrow firing arc manually via ship maneuvering, turning the entire vessel into a glorified gun platform. In battle, this lack of agility is a liability—especially when paired with the slow fire rate. Ships mounting the Craterling must either kite their prey or hold position and risk becoming a sitting target.
• Obsolete Against Modern Armor – The War Has Moved On:
  While the Craterling was originally adapted for anti-armor roles, its payloads simply do not carry the penetrative force needed to deal with contemporary warship armor compositions, such as beskar-fused hulls, Mandalorian ablatives, First Order durachrome plates, or kyberite-reinforced station walls. Against advanced defense systems, even a direct hit may do little more than scratch paint or disable a sensor cluster. It remains effective against low-tier or retrofitted civilian-grade hulls—but in modern warzones, it's a weapon of desperation, not dominance.
• Antiquated Controls – No Firelinking, No Remote Sync, No Support AI:
  The Craterling is entirely analog, relying on manual targeting, shell loading, and local firing. It cannot be slaved to central fire control networks, does not support automated threat recognition, and lacks compatibility with modern sensor relays or targeting overlays. It cannot participate in synchronized fire groups or coordinated barrages, and it cannot be remotely fired from the bridge—someone has to be physically present to use it. This disconnect from fleet-level coordination makes it a tactical outlier, often requiring dedicated crew who could otherwise serve more efficient systems.
• Unshielded Ammunition Storage – A Fire Risk in the Making:
  Most Craterling mounts lack advanced thermal insulation or smart munition lockers. As a result, stored shells remain vulnerable to stray fire, heat buildup, or reactor overloads. A single plasma leak, hull breach, or well-placed ion shot near the magazine could result in sympathetic detonation, causing significant hull damage or even critical system loss. On ships with exposed external mounts, the Craterling's ammunition is often the weakest point on the vessel—a liability few can afford under sustained fire.
• Crude Aiming – Skill Floor is High, Ceiling is Low:
  While the Craterling is praised as a training tool, it is also a test of patience and gunnery discipline. Without digital compensators, gravitational drift algorithms, or assisted recoil control, each shot must be aimed manually using range estimations and target prediction. This creates a steep learning curve for new users and offers little reward once mastered—since the weapon's inherent power is capped by its design limitations. In high-stakes engagements, even skilled operators will often be outclassed by smarter, faster, more adaptable systems.

DESCRIPTION

The VML-3 "Craterling" Light Mortar is a weapon that should have been consigned to history—but wasn't. Born from the archaic artillery designs of lunar sieges and planetary militia arsenals, it was never intended to be mounted on a starship, let alone fired in vacuum. Yet through a mix of ingenuity, desperation, and Vantablast's uncompromising vision of battlefield pragmatism, the Craterling has become an enduring fixture on the fringes of galactic warfare. It is slow. It is ugly. It is wildly outdated. But it works—and that alone has ensured its survival.

The original mortar was developed during the Clone Wars by backwater militias attempting to defend moons and outposts lacking orbital cannons. Vantablast Industries later acquired a forgotten schematic buried in a Republic-era munitions database and—seeing potential in its rugged mechanical simplicity—modified the breech and recoil assembly for spacefaring conditions. They did not polish it. They did not modernize it. They refined it just enough to function, then began discreet production for private operators, planetary militias, and budget-strapped warlords.

In the modern age, the Craterling finds itself mounted not on destroyers, but on aging freighters, smuggler yachts, civilian refits, and training vessels. Its minimal energy requirements make it popular among ships with unreliable reactors or stealthy profiles, and its low cost means it's often the only weapon some captains can afford. On the battlefield, it performs poorly in dynamic engagements. It can't keep up with modern weaponry, and it's borderline useless against shielded or agile targets. But when the enemy is slow, exposed, or foolish enough to close the distance—it can still make a crater out of them.

Among Serina's own academies, the Craterling is used not because it is efficient, but because it is punishing. Officers are taught to manually adjust firing arcs, calculate shell drift across orbital debris fields, and predict movement patterns without digital support. It is a gun that demands attention and discipline—qualities Serina Calis values deeply in her operatives.

The Craterling is not glamorous. It is not powerful. It is not new. But it is stubbornly alive, still claiming kills across the Outer Rim long after its original designers turned to dust. It's the last weapon a dying freighter might fire in defiance. The first one a cadet ever learns to load. A weapon of the forgotten. And Vantablast made sure it would never be truly forgotten again.

 

[Delsin Shaw]

VesperWorks

Approved