defy the tyrannous stars
- Intent: To submit a mainline rifle for Mechanicum battle droids, based on an unusual form of canon technology.
- Image Source: Mass Effect 2
- Canon Link: Tensor Weapon
- Primary Source: /
- Manufacturer: The Mechanicum
- Affiliation: (x) The Mechanicum, (x) Confederacy of Independent Systems, Closed-Market
- Model: Binary-series Pulse Rifle
- Modularity: Yes; Various Tactical Attachments, Universal Over and Underslung Rails.
Production: Mass-Produced.
- Material: Durasteel, Tractor Beam Components
- Classification: Tensor Rifle
- Size: Average
- Weight: Average
- Ammunition Type: Power Generator
- Ammunition Capacity: 60 Bursts Per Drum
Reload Speed: Slow
- Effective Range: Long Range
- Rate of Fire: Low (1-5 second coherent pulse wave followed by short recharge)
- Stopping Power: High
- Recoil: Very Low
- Tensor Effect: Tensor weapons emit quick pulses of compressed tractor beam waves which pummel its target with a constant barrage of cell-destroying tensor energy. Focusing a beam upon an adversary will increase the rate of cell disruption, increasing injury upon the target until death.
- Compact Power Generator: Based on compressed tractor beam technology, each burst of tensor energy rapidly drains conventional power cells and plasma cartridges. To compensate for this increased draw, Mechanicum enginseers designed a compact circular power generator which affixes to the rifle's side and, after a brief recharge period, restores the rifle's systems to full power.
- Pulse Rifle: The Binary-series does not fire conventional blaster bolts or projectiles, but rather quick pulses of continuous tractor beam waves to bombard its target with a deleterious stream of tensor energy.
- Marksman Accuracy: While the tensor rifle's translucent wave effect can be difficult to aim, once properly trained it is possible to accurately fire on targets up to 250 meters out. Very little recoil also means it is practical to maintain a beam on target even over long distances.
- Cumulative Effect: The destructive waves of most tensor weapons requires time to ramp up. If a target breaks contact with the tractor beam impacting it, the inflicted harm can stop short of cataclysmic cell death. Given most species innate ability to repair cell damage over time, this means that wounds inflicted by the Binary-series are self healing. Rate of injury is also variable, meaning a target who only catches a second of tensor fire will recover much more quickly than a target which is pulled away at the last moment.
- Recharge and Reload: Despite the name, pulse rifles are not built for continuous, sustained fire. After each wave of tensor energy, there are several seconds of downtime as the internal systems of the Binary-series draw on its power reserves to summon another burst. Likewise, it takes additional time to reload the tensor rifle when its energy reserves are spent, not only must a new power generator be affixed but it takes additional seconds to recharge the rifle's internal reservoirs.
The Binary-series is one of the Mechanicum's rare profitable ventures born out of a systemic obsession with exotic technology. Purchasing in bulk thousands of Squib tensor rifles from Skor II through their partnership with SoroSuub shortly before the fall of the Galactic Alliance, the machine cult's enginseers dismantled and analyzed thousands of models before concluding they had assimilated enough information concerning the weapon's general concept.
After assimilating the fundamentals on how to adeptly manipulate tensor waves, Mechanicum hierarchitects began iterating on their own model. Their end result is functionally speaking not too dissimilar from the more common Squib variety, most design alterations were focused on ergonomics of use and energy storage/recharge functionality. The resulting product is a tensor rifle that is far more efficiently wielded by taller humanoids, with a more efficient internal reactor capable of storing more charged bursts before recharge.
While this pulse rifle is one of the first consumer level products the Mechanicum has made available in bulk for both their military contractors and Confederate citizenry, most amateur enthusiasts will find the same difficulty in adjusting to the tensor wave's translucent quality and near lack of recoil that make the Squib variants so niche, but for the machine cult's battle droids it is a precision instrument with very few downsides. As a result, these rifles are by far most commonly scene in the Zhar system in the hands of Mechanicum combat personnel.
