Character
Rhypalm: The Reaping of the Whirlwind
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a new destructive type of weapon for people.
- Image Source: None.
- Permissions: The New Imperial Order.
- Primary Source: Napalm's Wikipedia Article [x]
- Manufacturer: The New Imperial Order [x]
- Affiliation: The New Imperial Order
- Model: Rhypalm Chemical
- Modularity: Yes.
- Production: Minor.
- Material: Rhydonium | Industrial Chemicals
- Classification: Incendiary
- Size: Average
- Weight: Very Heavy.
- Explosive Type: Chemical
- Delivery Methods: Grenades, Flamethrowers, Vehicle Mounted Warheads, Starship Mounted Ordinance.
- Effective Range: Personal.
- Area Of Effect: Battlefield.
- Stopping Power: Very High
SPECIAL FEATURES
- [When Ignited] Burning Temperature: Anywhere between 4800 and 7200 degrees celcius. This dependent on exposure and concentration of rhypalm.
- [When Ignited] Atmosphere Generation: Can generate an atmosphere of 60% carbon monoxide.
- [When Ignited] Self-Sustaining Fire: When ignited on certain organic surfaces such as woods and grasses, rhypalm can produce self-sustaining firestorms with winds exceeding 160 km/h.
- Versatile Loading: Be it in an artillery shell, a flamethrower, grenades or via starfighters, rhypalm can be deployed in a variety of modes.
- Versatility: Be it fuelling a flamethrower, packed as a warhead for an artillery shell or perhaps a capsule launched via bomber and or fighter, rhypalm can be easily dispersed and used.
- High Temp: Rhypalm burns at such a high temperature that a good source of it dispersed can melt through most metals with direct contact or roast people alive with the heat of its flames.
- Oxygen Thievery: Rhypalm burns at such a temperature that oxygen is drawn into it, and is perfect for clearing out sectors with limited sources of oxygen and starving hostiles of it.
- Easily Spread: Rhypalm is a light liquid that can be easily spread over an area and ignited very easily.
- Toxicity: Fire and brimstone aside, rhypalm retains the toxicity found in rhydonium, and as such against lightly armed combatants, can be devastating.
- Shield Infiltrator: In its liquid state rhypalm is able to slid through shields, and then by later being ignited can circumvent them.
- Reap The Whirlwind: Rhypalm burns with such heat and intensity it can generate its own firestorms, and with the right locality, can become a self-sustaining wildfire.
- Indiscriminate: Rhypalm has no friends or enemies. Personnel armed with it are to be cautious as to not inflict friendly or civilian casualties. Soldiers or assets carrying rhypalm are easy targets for hostile fire.
- Not For Space: Rhypalm only works effectively within an atmosphere. This means it's not a weapon suited for use against vessels. But, could be used by boarding parties.
- Explosive Yield: Rhydonium is a material infamous for its explosive qualities. And while rhypalm does have some explosive yield to it, it has been diluted by the chemical manufacturing process so it doesn't quite have the same capability.
- No Control: Once set alight in high concentrations, rhypalm can spread like nothing else, and become a danger on the battlefield to friendly troops.
The New Imperial Order found that as it pushed through into the supposed 'heartland' of Sith Imperial territory, it needed a new weapon. A weapon that could be used to effectively destroy enemies hiding either in the densely populated city centres of Sith Empire space or in the infamous fortified bunkers. Rhypalm came to be the weapon decided upon. Taking the already flammable and volatile starship fuel and diluting it with cleaning chemicals and industrial agents. The result was an agent easily reproducible and versatile, but with some costs.
The advantages of rhypalm are evident in its heat, toxicity, versatility and the fact it almost generates its own toxic atmosphere. The heat generated by rhypalm could be used to melt components or vehicle hulls, and close proximity to personnel can see them cooked alive. Rhydonium's trademark toxicity was replicated both in how the chemical burned, creating a highly toxic and hostile atmosphere while also being poisonous to touch. The strength of the flame in the right circumstances can see rhypalm fires become self-sustaining. In particular urban, woodland or plains environments. Due to the light weight of the liquid, rhypalm is easily spread via aerosol, or via flybys performed by low flying craft, or dispersed via shells.
The disadvantages of rhypalm are that in testing it was found to be indiscriminate and lacked the same explosive kick as rhydoniusm. When deployed in large quantities via starfighter or artillery shell, the resulting flames could be uncontrollable, resulting in a situation where the NIO's own soldiers could be put in harms way. It was also found soldiers deploying rhypalm manually or with vehicles could find themselves engulfed by it through accident, error or alternatively enemy fire. On top of that, the trademark explosiveness of rhydonium was rather nullified by the distilling. Rhypalm was found to have diluted the explosive effects of rhydonium in the production process, and while some concussive effect exists, it is negligible compared to the reputation of its namesake. On top of that, rhypalm is only effective within an atmosphere, meaning its use in space is an effective waste.
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