OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: A Capable Heavy Mass Driver for Destroyers and Larger. Very Large Structures, Very Large vehicles like Heavy Walkers, or Dedicated Very Large Firing Platforms.
- Image Source: Here
- Canon Link: Mass Driver | Ballista | RMMD
- Permissions: Apex Industrial is an Apex Holdings Corporation
- Primary Source: None
- Manufacturer: Apex Industrial
- Affiliation: Apex Holdings, Closed-Market
- Model: A-HHMD1 Apex Hullcutter Heavy Mass Driver
- Modularity: Ammunition Only
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material:
Duravlex Internal Structure, Barrel | Quadanium External Armor | Aluminium Heat Sinks
Depleted Baradium Explosive Tip | Mullinine Internal and External Projectile Casing | Detonite Payload | Codoan Copper Magnets.
- Classification: Mass Driver
- Size: Large
- Weight: Heavy
- Ammunition Type: Variable.
Standard Fitting, (HEIAP) High Explosive Incindery, Armor Piercing - Ammunition Capacity: Average
- Effective Range: Battlefield
- Rate of Fire: Low
- Stopping Power: High
- Recoil: High
- Very High Armor Penetration, delivering an explosive payload after contact with armor.
- Very Large and Powerful Kickback. The weapon makes a loud noise, needing a lot of space and support to fire, especially on the ground.
- Able to fit several ammo types (to be developed separately) as standard it uses a high explosive incendiary armor-piercing round. HEIAP. First penetrating armor and hull a short distance to then explode internally into a vessel and cause damage. The weapon is also known to fire HETAP shells.
- Requires less maintenance than usual. It can be left unattended in wait for longer than usual and requires less crew to maintain it.
- Very Effective Armor Penetration, delivering an explosive shell into enemy vessels.
- Very High Range, this weapon is designed to either be fitted to ships that want early opening volleys or on ships that sit at the back of a fleet.
- Multiple Ammo types can be used, the standard is high explosive. HETAP is also compatible as are other rounds designed for the same delivery system.
- Low maintenance required. It's a reliable weapon that requires less than average attention and can be operated with less crew than normal. The Hullcutter can be left alone longer than normal in hiding or unattended until required for example.
- Resistant. Comes with its own small shield generator at the rear, designed to take a few projectiles or energy shots from starfighters and small vehicles. Further, it comes with aluminium heat sinks to help it resist overheating. The shield itself won't absorb much fire and certainly not a barrage from a larger craft.
- Low Rate of Fire, High Recoil. At distance, the weapon fires slowly then realigns after each shot.
- Large and Weighty, this weapon needs a lot of room to fire and a lot of support to handle the kickback. It will simply rip smaller ships or weak structures apart from the recoil.
- If fired planetside, the weapon is very loud and needs a large amount of space to fire safely, ear protection is advised.
- This weapon is designed for hitting slow-moving or large craft and targets like destroyers, capital ships or heavy walkers. It is unlikely it will intentionally be able to hit anything else that is moving faster or presents a distant smaller target than this.
- The gun is relatively large, making it a target for enemy fire and easier to hit. It is relatively heavy and somewhat difficult to transport.
Directive 6T, Project Lead Farlon Nayus Codename: Bombstickaroo
Project Cost: 2.1 Million Credits
Total Time to Completion: 5 Years, 3 Months and 18 Days Galactic Standard Time.
HEIAP rounds work by piercing armor at very high speeds with an initial explosive charge, then exploding inward to their targets to cause explosive, heat and fragmentation damage. Mass drivers are especially suited to HEIAP firing rounds at lightning-fast speeds over great distances, their drawbacks usually are they are loud, heavy, need to be aimed accurately and they are slow firing.
Looking for a weapon that was affordable enough to outfit a fleet, yet had the range to make a slower firing mass driver useful. Not wanting to work with Fire for Effect again on this one, as disagreements over a recently missing crate of Correllian Whiskey along with of three Twi'lek interns from the company staff were ongoing. Apex instead commissioned Kssk of the Pyke Providers for this project, knowing him to a fine authority on long-range warfare, and violence in general.
The standard grey barrel of the weapon contains several copper magnets internally needed to accelerate the projectile to a high velocity. After the barrel, the design is very weighty, and square, packed with heatsinks, in the hopes of weighing down the design to take some of the stress off the outer surface it's placed on, and better handle the recoil the weapon generates.
Kssk was no artist, with his input the Hullcutter couldn't be called a pretty design, but it is practical and fitted at the rear with a generic shield generator able to absorb some incoming fire directed at the weapon. It is a generic shield so it won't handle much but it will absorb kinetic or energy forms of damage equally. The result was considered a relative success and although not flagship material, did earn Kssk a place on the regular payroll.
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