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Hand-Held Beam Weapons
Beam weapons are energy weapons, generally characterized
by the emission of a free flow of energy or particles. The
beam itself may be a continuous and maintained stream between
weapon and target, as in the case of the Disruptor, or the
beam itself may be a "pipe" that conducts a blast or stream of
particles or energy, as in the case of the Channel Gun piping
electricity through a laser beam.
The numbers include a "tech level" corresponding
to the History section.
| Disruptor Pistol |
4 |
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One of the most
common personal weapons around. Focusing an energetic but
destabilized quantum containment field through a Condenser Ring Matrix, the
disruptor creates a relatively weak beam but is energy
efficient to run. There are a variety of models from a variety of manufacturers
including a cheap, mass-produced series by
Tzar Industries and a specialized, light version by
Volto-Avaiga that
includes biometric security features. Disruptors are
commonly manufactured in both pistol and rifle
configurations. |
Disruptors are old, reliable, and almost
universally available weapon.
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Modulation rifle |
5 |
The Mod Rifle comes in a variety of
forms from a variety of manufacturers, from one-handed
strap-to-the-forearm versions to standard rifle size to
shoulder-fired mini-cannons, but the general principles of operation
remain the same. A high-energy disruptor beam is fired and modulated to
harmonically resonate a target, producing damage both from energy
impact and from resonant shearing forces. An integrated sensor network
analyzes the target to maximize damage. These do decent damage
against soft targets and are particularly effective against
vehicles and other hard targets.
The modulation rifle is an old, reliable, and almost universally
available weapon. |
|
Grapro |
4 |
Backpack based gravity-field
projector. Used in groups, mere mortals can lift and manipulate immense
weights. The hand Grapro gets extensive use in construction but
has also been successfully used in combat for crushing, battering,
and throwing opponents. In a pinch, an opponent can often be
neutralized by dropping a piano on them when they least expect it.
Some form of Grapro can be found on every civilized world and is
used by every civilized race. |
|
Gravite Canon |
5 |
While the Hand Grapro is a
construction tool that can be used as a weapon, the Gravite Cannon
is a weapon that coincidentally can be used as a construction, demolition, or
mining tool. It is designed
to create concentrated or rapidly fluctuating gravity fields that
will crush, throw, or tear apart targets. A larger backpack system
than the Hand Grapro. They are heavy enough that they
are often used in conjunction with powered exoskeletons.
The Gravite cannon is primarily produced and marketed by Azatlath
Advanced construction and Imperial Design Corps, though some
smaller manufacturers make similar products. It is relatively
common in the Prodigal Void and within the Kharkosanth Empire and
can occasionally be found in use in the Farrago. |
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Ripsaw Rifle |
5 |
Another variation of the gravity
projector. Two
parallel beams are fired projecting intense gravity fields in
opposite directions, tearing a localized spot on the target. The
beam is often swept to produce a slashing cut. A close-quarters,
hand-to-hand version of the ripsaw contains the parallel beams
within a blade-like quantum field. |
| Channel Gun or Lightning Rod |
1 |
A pair of parallel laser beams are
fired at target. The wavelength of the lasers is tuned to turn the
air through which the beams travel into conductive plasma. A large electric burst is pumped through the
plasma channel to damage the enemy. Particularly effective against
soft targets and electronics at short range. The discharge can be set to disable targets without
killing them. |
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