Approved Tech NADIR G-SERIES Tesseract

[Nadir]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

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  Intent: A new type of armament.
  
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  Image Source: Frank Capezzuto IIIhttps://www.artstation.com/artwork/0EbdG
  
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  Canon Link: /
  
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  Primary Source: Tractor beamhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tractor_beam/Legends
  

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

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  Manufacturer: Nadir
  
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  Affiliation: Closed-market
  
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  Model: NADIR G-SERIES Tesseract
  
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  Modularity: Color
  
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  Production: Semi-Unique
  
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  Material: Phrik, tractor beam components
  

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

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  Classification: Gravity weapon
  
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  Size: Average
  
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  Weight: Average
  
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  Ammunition Type: Gravity
  
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  Ammunition Capacity: Beam
  
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  Reload Speed: None
  
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  Effective Range: Average – Long Range – Battlefield
  
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  Rate of Fire: Very Low
  
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  Stopping Power: Extreme – High – Average
  
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  Recoil: Extreme
  

SPECIAL FEATURES

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  Tears targets apart by applying an extreme amount of gravitational force on an extremely small surface.
  
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  Really slick design; whatever you install it on will look ten times hotter for it, and that’s a guarantee.
  

Strengths:

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  Fatal attraction: Over a period of longer exposure, the beam serves to enact a massive gravitational pull on a relatively small target area. At close ranges, the Tesseract is capable of slowly tearing materials apart through artificial magnification of weight – the increased strain often results in various structures giving out.
  
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  Pinpoint: As a beam weapon, the Tesseract is a relatively accurate – in terms of space battles, anyway. It can hit the designated target without much issue, but aiming at specific structures is impossible unless a big ship enters close-quarters range.
  

Weaknesses:

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  Hungry Ravenous: A truly monstrous generator is required to power such a weapon – both in output and size. While the Tesseract itself is visually unassuming, the source of its energy is most definitely not. Even a capital ship would have trouble running any other special systems alongside this bad boy; and you can just forget about installing more than one. Space stations can use them more reliably, although installing one after the fact may not work quite to optimum. For best results, Nadir recommends that the potential buyer build their vessel or station around the Tesseract.
  
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  Hot stuff: After imposing its considerable power upon a target, the Tesseract requires a cooldown. Though this period – usually around half a minute – is hardcoded into the weapon system, someone clever enough with electronics could find their way around the limitation. This would shortly result in their death, as well as the death of everyone in a half click radius of the weapon’s mount. The rails, you see, explode; so please, observe the required cooldown.
  
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  Reach: The destructive power of the weapon exponentially decreases the further out its target is. At long ranges, the Tesseract simply becomes a tractor beam; an imposing tractor beam to be sure, but still just a tractor beam.
  
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  Flexibility: Despite its advantages, beams aren't all sunshine and rainbows. Outside its line of effect, the Tessaract does... exactly nothing. If you miss, even if by an inch, the target will breeze onwards on solar winds, utterly unscathed.
  
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  Exorbitant: Due to the cost of production, this technology is absurdly expensive. Because of Nadir’s peculiar business model for the G-series, the price is not in credits – rather one of favors and objects of great value.
  

DESCRIPTION
Whereas the traditional tractor beam merely seeks to trap its target and prevent it from escaping, the Tesseract was built to make your foes shake in their boots.

Or that is, at least, how it’s advertised. And you can never trust a marketer – doubly so if they look suspiciously like the guy that mugged you in an alley last week.

Trust issues aside, the idea behind the Tesseract might be exactly what the tagline says. And, in a controlled environment, it works. Unfortunately, as any seasoned spacer knows, opponents rarely show the courtesy of staying in place while you’re trying to blast them out of your backyard. It’s poor manners, really, but it’s the truth of the matter.

In practical applications, the weapon is best used against slower, larger vessels. Smaller corvettes and below are simply too prone to buzzing to and fro, and missing a shot that needs half a minute to recharge simply isn’t worth it. Thus the Tesseract has evolved into something of a sleeve-ace; brutally effective, but only if used right.

So, you know – aim true.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

[member="Nadir"]

This has been removed from the archive for a second chance. Please give me a day to review the submission and get back to you with suggestions.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

[member="Nadir"]

I apologize (again!) for the delay.

Fatal attraction: Relatively speaking, the weapon’s beam serves to effect the gravity of a planet upon a target the size of a credit chit.

This is essentially the piece of the submission which causes a lot of ambiguous and vague potential issues. Applying the strength of a planet's gravitational force to a singular space in order to physically tear apart entire starships is teetering on the border of superweapon. In the examples shown, what is being done is that droids are magnifying the strength of the gravitational force to anchor themselves to the ground, essentially, artificially increasing their weight. Obviously that wouldn't quite happen the same way in space.

In order for a gravitational force to have enough power (theoretically) to pull apart something like a starship in space you would need to have an immense amount of energy, more so than that of just a planet. For example, what is believed to have caused the Whirlpool Galaxy. At present, all that would seem to happen would be a tractor beam effect.

If we step into the realm of suspension of belief and leave astrophysics behind, I can see what you're getting at in terms of idea, however this leads us back to the superweapon issue. So, in order to avoid stepping on that landmine, what I would suggest is that the range at which this is used becomes drastically weaker the further you are from the object you are targeting, with its strength optimally at rather close range. Additionally, I would state that this is not a weapon whose effect is immediate and worded in such that it reads like:

the Tesseract was built to rip ships apart like so much wet paper.

atomize their vessel and/or crew

These are both problematic statements, implied or not.

Its power may be focused on an area as small as a cockpit or as large as a whole squadron of X-wings; but it will be focused.

This bit here is a tad much. I wouldn't want to see this being used to declare that the bridge of a ship where the captain happens to be standing is being targeted from half a system away with no logical means to actually target something that relatively small at such an immense distance. It's getting into the zone of calling damage without specifically calling damage. Generalize this more to a concentrated field of fire, and allow the defender to decide the exact spot.

Even a capital ship would find trouble running multiple systems alongside one of these bad boys.

I don't want to see multiple of these on a ship.

 

[Nadir]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

I would suggest is that the range at which this is used becomes drastically weaker the further you are from the object you are targeting, with its strength optimally at rather close range. Additionally, I would state that this is not a weapon whose effect is immediate

Added the following:

Effective Range: Average – Long Range – Battlefield
Stopping Power: Extreme – High – Average

At close ranges, the Tesseract is capable of slowly tearing materials apart through artificial magnification of weight – the increased strain often results in various structures giving out.

Reach: The destructive power of the weapon exponentially decreases the further out its target is. At long ranges, the Tesseract simply becomes a tractor beam; an imposing tractor beam to be sure, but still just a tractor beam.

Rephrased the problematic stuff in the description.

Generalize this more to a concentrated field of fire, and allow the defender to decide the exact spot.

Added:

Pinpoint: As a beam weapon, the Tesseract is a relatively accurate – in terms of space battles, anyway. It can hit the designated target without much issue, but aiming at specific structures is impossible unless a big ship enters close-quarters range.

Flexibility: Despite its advantages, beams aren't all sunshine and rainbows. Outside its line of effect, the Tessaract does... exactly nothing. If you miss, even if by an inch, the target will breeze onwards on solar winds, utterly unscathed.

I don't want to see multiple of these on a ship.

It wasn't meant like that in any way; the opposite, in fact. I've reworded that bit to make the limitations on these clearer:

Even a capital ship would have trouble running any other special systems alongside this bad boy; and you can just forget about installing more than one.

Basically anything else that's power hungry (redundant shielding, HIMS, big capital guns, etc.) would need to be turned off or forgone entirely in favor of the Tesseract.

Hopefully that addresses all of your concerns.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

<p>Approved.</p>