Weapons

Ships Weapons (Æ-Z)

A basic dictionary of terms specific to related items found in, or used for, ship's Weapon Systems.

• Ballistic Analyzing Engine
  An analysis engine specifically designed to direct the firing of weapons. The engine calculates range, target relative motion, ambient movement, projectile characteristics and any intervening irregularities to generate a fire trajectory for the ship's batteries to use when firing at a target. The engine uses the resources of various æthervox to detect the target and autonomous data from the ship to render the best trajectory for the weapon. All data from the engine is displayed on the battery control's tactical armilliary sphere.
  
   

• Ballistic Engine
  The ballistic engine is a analytical engine designed with the sole purpose of guiding ordanence or destructive energies toward and intended target. The first ballistic calculators were introduced durring the Crimean War. They calculated range and ballistic arcs to be able to a given target. Later improvements took into account such things as windage, atmospheric conditions and planetary motion.
  
  Today's ballistic engines account for motion of the gun platform (even at trans factor speeds), defensive capabilities of the target, anticipated movement of the target and even continuity of the intermedium.
  
   

• Ballistic Lightning Thrower
  The Ballistic Lightning Thrower or "Lightning Gun" is a standard Æthership deployed weapon on both civilian and military vessels. The weapon projects ballistic lighting through the æther. The projectile has the ability to overload soliton fields, ionize mechanical and electrical systems or even blast through ship's hulls. The charge travels at relativistic speeds but looses it's charge rapidly so it has a limited effective range. The weapon is greatly reduced in range in any sort of atmosphere or material medium.
  
   

• Battery Control
  This refers to the Bridge station where the armoury officer directs the ships weapons. An armillary sphere specifically designed for targeting is used with a ballistic analytical engine to direct the discharge of the ships various weapons.
  
   

• Hand Blaiser

  The standard Ukp service side arm is the R-11 hand blaiser. Æther Marines are issued the K-2 blaiser rifle. There are several models of infantry support blaisers of which the multi barreled Calliope is the most famous. The bore size of blaisers increase up to the 18-inch planetary defense cannon. Most Ætherships mount 12-inch blaiser cannon
  
  Blaisers fire a charge of blaisine isolated within a solectric beam. Blaisine is a highly energetic ætherine gas that stabilizes back into the æther by converting any matter that it contacts into thermal energy. Blaisine charges used in blaisers must be sealed in a static envelope within a crystal capsule to isolate the blaisine from any matter. The first blaisers ever tested projected the gas by forming a magnetic field in the shape of a beam or cone. This produced a shotgun pattern of burning air. The users had to be protected from the heat and concussive force of the disintegrating atmosphere but the weapon was no more effective than a chemical flamethrower.
  
  Blaisers were no competition to the phased phlogisten emitters (phaslers) until the invention of the solectric beam. The solectric beam was an attempt to increase the efficiency of broadcast power by directing electricity in a directional beam. Scientist soon discovered that the beam was hollow with the electrogen particulates orbiting a non-energized column. The solectric beam was used by police as a non-lethal weapon for many years. The ability to deliver a strong electrical charge to a criminal at range without resorting to lethal means was a highly effective.
  
  Franklin Sabastos was the first to use a solectric beam as a containment vessel for blaisine gas. The first time he tried to use the solectric beam as a blaisine isolator he witnessed that the blaisine jumped down the beam like a ray of light. He found that the point at which the solectric beam is interrupted the blaisine would escape and consume the interrupting matter in a white-hot explosion of dazzling flame. Although Sabastos initially incorporated the invention into a method of mining it was not long until the combination was used as a weapon.
  
  The standard issue hand blaiser incorporates a cylinder of 6 blaisine cartridges located just forward of the trigger guard. Just behind the cylinder sits the solectric beam emitter. The power transformers are located in the pistol's handle and the modular veridigen energy cell attaches onto the top rear portion. The energy cell can provide 18 solectric discharges used with the blaisine or alone before needing to be recharged. Both the blaisine cylinder and the energy cell can be quickly replaced with fresh replacements. Firing a blaisine charge from a blaiser without the support of the solectric will result in the gun's barrel exploding in a thermal burst which more often than not will rupture the containment of any other blaisine charges in the cylinder resulting in a massive gangfire. Survivors of such an accident have never been recorded.
  
  Due to the process of aligning the charge and changing the isolation from electrostatic to solectric beam blaisers do not have a rapid rate of fire. The fastest mechanisms in use can still only project a blaisine charge every 1.1 seconds.
  
  The blaiser rifle is similar to the pistol version with an increased bore diameter. The rifle holds 3 cylinders so it is capable of 18 shots before reloading. The energy cell is located in the stock of the weapon and is capable of discharging 100 solectric beams.
  
   

• Blaiser Cannon
  Blaiser Cannon are the large calibre applications of blaisine projecting weapons. Cannon denotes a large variety of sizes of weapons from the Huge hull mounted weapons of the Royal Æther Fleet to the vehicle mounted multi-barreled calliopes.
  
  The Calliope is a multi-barreled version of the blaiser rifle, which can output a rapid pulse of blaisine charges. The five barrels are fed by a magazine of 30 round helical drums. The solectric beams are boundless due to a portable dynamo.
  
   

• Calliope
  A Calliope is the slang given to the multi-barrel blaisine projecting weapon. The weapon requires a vehicle based mount and can fire up to 288 rounds per minute. It is mainly used as an infantry support weapon and to profide cover or suppressing fire.
  
   

• Interruptor
  The standard Klinkon sidearm is the Interruptor. This energy weapon utilizes high frequency hyper luminary vibrations to disrupt matter. The name of the weapon refers to their affect on living tissue. When flesh is hit by interruptor fire the cells are ruptured from the inside causing a grievously painful and almost incurable wound. Æther suits are likewise affected as if they have been exposed to a high velocity sand blaster with its fibres and membranes vibrated to pulp. The effect on metal is rapid localized heating and metal fatigue.
  
  There are two known defenses against interruptors. The first is anechoic gel. The gel dampens the vibrations and transforms the energy into heat, which is easily managed by the gel itself. The second is ærosol foam. A type of soft foam can be discharged in a particulate vapor or smoke that absorbs and disperses the energy of the interruptor beam. In an atmosphere an interruptor beam resembles a quick flash of yellow light. In a vacuum the beam is totally invisible.
  
  Besides Klinkons the interruptor is used by others who desire a weapon with a terrible reputation for injury and pain such as pirates and anarchists.
  
  Possession of an interruptor is illegal on all UKP member planets. Interruptors are fairly easy to make but those of low quality suffer many fatal malfunctions. The best interruptors are of Klinkon manufacture and are known for their reliability and accuracy. Lately many of these Klinkon weapons have been flooding the black-market.
  
  Interruptors have never been developed in a rifle or other infantry support format as the increase in damage is negligible. Most interruptors are powered by a hyper-voltaic stack usually fitted into the weapon's pistol hog-leg grip. The power source has an average capacity of 11 shots but is not modular like blaiser weapons as the power system is capacitance matched to the emitter. This limitation is the reason many pirates carry multiple interruptors in their belts.