The “Diadem” Divider Cannon is a small, weaponized hyperspace fold system that acts as an anti-armor weapon. It is the mainstay for Noval's fast attack frames.

Rather than destroying what it touches, the Diadem separates it. Affected craft appear to have been separated at the molecular level, as though they were two parts of one whole that had simply never been put together.

First introduced in YE 42.

Rather than creating a fold field around itself, the “Diadem” projects an “inverse fold beam” away from itself. The beam has the same general height and width as the weapon that fired it. Anything struck by the beam is moved to the exterior of the beam's dimensions. Against a solid target, such as a thick slab of armor, it simply separates the slab at the molecular level into two separate pieces.

As most advanced technologies do not appreciate being split in this fashion, the result is an unusual, but effective, weapon design. As its “inverse fold beam” persists for a few seconds, a slicing motion is recommended.

It is important to note that the Diadem's beam collapses rapidly upon contact with an electromagnetic shield. While the beam's distortion effect harms and drains these shields, it cannot bypass the shield until it has been sufficiently weakened. Against dense or highly durable surfaces, the energy maintaining the fold field may dissipate before it is able to pass completely through¹⁾.

Most Hyperspace Fold Drives have numerous safety precautions in place to prevent the destruction of the ship they are intended to relocate. A vessel that Noval was performing refits on, however, did not.

The original owner had disabled these safeties in case their financial opponents decided to “have them removed”. The owner's thought was that, if they were likely to die anyways, they might as well accept the risk of an unsafe Fold and try to get away.

Noval's test of this idea proved just how bad the idea was. The craft's quantum waveform was established neatly, but at an incorrect angle. Worse, rather than teleporting the craft, the Fold waveform simply bisected the craft and collapsed.

While the craft was a complete loss (and was eventually replaced with a craft that had all of its safety measures intact), the notion of a weaponized fold drive had created a spark.

Preliminary tests of the idea proved fruitful. A Fold waveform intentionally designed to fail consumed considerably less energy and could be made much smaller. This reduced size allowed for a significant increase in waveform length - or, in this case, the weapon's range. The engineers dubbed the resulting waveform an “inverse fold beam”.

The development of the Diadem itself came not long after as a direct application of their research.

• Designer: Noval Defense, Space, and Security
• Manufacturer: Noval Defense, Space, and Security
• Name: “Diadem” Divider Cannon
• Nomenclature: NH-V-W1
• Type: Anti-Armor Rifle
• Role: Anti-Material Weapon
• Length: Varies by Class
  • Light Anti-Mecha: 4.95 meters
• Power source: Aether Tap

The “Diadem” Divider Cannon features a large priming chamber and a long set of beam projection rails. It is typically held in an under-slung position due to the priming chamber's size.

• Muzzle Flash: None
• Retort: A low-pitched modulating energy sound
  • In atmosphere, the entire length of the beam creates a continuous sonic boom as the air it touches is instantly shoved into a new position
• Projectile/Beam Appearance: A stark, electric blue 'box' that remains aligned with the weapon's barrel for the duration
• Effective Range: 600,000 km
• Rate of Fire: 8 shots per minute; each beam lasts for 3 seconds and then must recharge for the next 3.5 seconds
• Recoil: None

The Diadem's Inverse Fold Beam separates what it touches at the molecular level, effectively slicing it in half. The beam's ability to penetrate dense targets is somewhat affected by armor and will require an increase in size or power of the weapon in order to deal nominal damage.

• Damage: Tier 9
• Beam Duration: 3 seconds
• Recharge Required: 3.5 seconds

• Firing Mechanism: A quantum waveform is generated within the Diadem's stripped down Fold device. It is then amplified by the beam projection rail before firing. It takes 3 seconds before the generated waveform, the “inverse fold beam”, collapses - during that time, anything it touches is sliced in half²⁾.
• Weapon Sight: The Diadem can be firelinked to the craft wielding it. Simple sensors are built into the weapon to facilitate improved aiming.

• NH-V-W1 “Diadem” Divider Cannon(Tier 9): 140,000 DS (45,000 KS) [Military Restricted]

Whisper created this article on 2020/04/30 18:11.

• This was approved on 12/25/2020 by Andrew in this post.