User:Vivaporius/Sandbox/League of Civilized Worlds/III: Difference between revisions

====Particle weapons====

*'''Electron beams''' – Electron beams . When used in atmospheric conditions,

*'''Proton beams''' –

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! colspan="3" |Weapons

|-

! Weapon

! Environment

! Description

|-

| {{nowrap|Antimatter beams}}

| Space

| Because of the immensely destructive power of antimatter beams, their use in a terrestrial setting has been outlawed since their development. Conversely, antimatter beams are not that common within the arsenal of the League, precisely because of the trade-off antimatter weapons present for the user. While the weapon itself is no doubt an impressive one, capable of explosively annihilating the target it comes into contact with, the constant threat of the loss of antimatter containment in the heat of battle, either by enemy action or accident by friendly personnel, has discouraged their wider use in the military. Given the considerable resources that would be necessary to secure such a weapon while in transit, as well as the ever-present threat of enemy interference, many authorities have ruled it safer and more convenient to invest said resources into more effective weapons beyond the antimatter platforms available.

|-

| {{nowrap|Electron beams}}

| Space/Terrestrial

| Electron beams are a class of particle beam weapons designed for use in both space and terrestrial combat environments. Technological developments designed to compensate for the scattering of highly-charged electrons and loss of focus for the beam generated, have made electron beams practical weapons for modern-day interstellar conflicts. These innovations have meant that an electron particle beam can fire a multi-terawatt energy bolt of highly-charged electrons at a fixed target about ten light-seconds away, or a moving target in ship-to-ship combat at about one light-second away. Typically, when firing an electron beam an artificial magnetosphere is generated to neutralize the ship or beam installation, and prevent the distortion of the beam or the creation of damaging short circuits.

When used in atmospheric conditions, the electron beam appears as a straight bolt of blue-white lightning, surrounded by a blue nimbus of Cerenkov radiation due to the electrons scattered from the primary beam. A secondary characteristic of the electron beam is that any area hit by the beam will be heavily irradiated due to the scattered electrons and bremsstrahlung x-rays generated at the point of contact and the area surrounding the path of the beam itself. Because of this effect, electron beams are frequently utilized as a form of radiation weapon when in atmosphere, capable of penetrating deep into the atmosphere of a terrestrial planet with little interference to the electron beam. When utilized in a purely terrestrial combat environment, the range of the beam is limited to the horizon and the landscape ahead of the beam's path.

The beams themselves are generated from long electron accelerators which can vary greatly in size from one meter to a kilometer in length depending upon the platform it is designed for. Electron beams can be easily guided with the use of magnets, allowing a warship to redirect the beam toward a new target without having to realign the entire accelerator to do so.

|-

| {{nowrap|Proton beams}}

| Space/Terrestrial

| TBD

|}