Name: Hypersonic Abrasion Weapons [HAW/HSAW] Description: (@Bug for Comparison: A typical HSA weapon.) Hypersonic Abrasion Weapons all appear large, usually around the size of a minigun, and typically have two grips which are needed to keep the weapon stable. Most HSA weapons also typically have a precision laser used to help aim the weapon, as it can only be fired at the hip. Typically in the back they will have a cartridge used to hold the grain ammo. In the midsection of the weapon will be the 'chamber' that holds the rotating cylinder, typically with a grip above it, with the large barrel moving through. Somewhere on the weapon will also be a power system, typically around the front of the weapon to balance the weight on a standard model. Abilities: Weakens material extremely well, and at longer exposures can completely destroy armor and inflict lethal damage. Same as above, can tear down structure integrity easily. Can use different ammo types of different materials. Most have lasers to help aim. Conditional abilities: Works wonder against still or slow-moving targets. Works with a much longer range when fired in environments containing less or no air. Limitations: Tend to be heavy. Most weigh at around 30 kg. Extremely difficult to aim due to the gyroscopic effect applied by the rotating chamber. Can only be fired at hip. Takes 3 seconds to spin up. Must heat up for 6 seconds after 10 seconds of fire. Requires a strong grip on both grips to hold during fire, or else the weapon will spin out of control and maybe whack the user. Conditional limitations: Works worse against fast-moving targets, much of the time impossible. Works with shorter range when fired in environments containing more air. How does it work: HSA weapons work primarily utilizing a high-velocity motor aided by magnetic bearings to rapidly rotate an impervium-lined chamber containing grain ammunition; in 3 seconds, the chamber will rotate at an extremely high speed of over 1200 RPM, rapidly accelerating the grain ammunition. Then, after the top grip of the weapon is twisted and the bottom grip is squeezed as a trigger, the center section of the chamber facing the barrel is opened up and tiny particles of grain ammunition are sent flying out through a chamber containing electromagnetic coils, working similar to a coilgun to further accelerate the grain until the stream of grain exits the barrel at a velocity of around 11,000 m/s, appearing as thousands of grains glowing in an extremely fast stream firing from the barrel. Because of the extremely high velocity that is actually comparable to reentry speeds, the grains will begin to disintegrate as they move throughout the air, the high friction causing the glow that is seen (unless in a vacuum, in which it will not glow). This means that a typical range in an air environment like Earth, a HSA weapon will fire at 19 meters at maximum, though will typically not damage an enemy placed exactly at the maximum extent of this range, as the grain will mostly have been disintegrated. The motor, using room-temperature superconductors to achieve an extremely high velocity, will begin to heat up after approximately 10 seconds of straight fire; after this, the engine must take 6 seconds of cool or else the impervium lining in the chamber will begin to fail and the chamber will begin to collapse on itself, exploding in grain which will extremely injure the user. During this cooldown period, more grain is also added to the chamber from the grain reserves. This is one of the reasons why the trigger system is in place, which will cause the motor to stop when pressure or torque is no longer applied to the grips. HSA weapons were designed primarily to deal heavy damage to slow-moving targets such as those in bulky power armor or slow-moving vehicles such as tanks. The grain will pierce most of the armor typically and will begin to weaken it using the high-velocity grain's abrasion. With full fires of only 5 seconds, a section of even powered armor can be completely destroyed. Though, this assumes the target is standing still; the rapidly rotating cylinder creates an extremely strong gyroscopic effects that makes rotating the entire weapon extremely difficult, making it only really effective against slow, still, or closed in targets as they can be hit. Different materials may be pulverized down to grain to be used; typically heavier materials are favored, though some may have desirable effects. Pulverizing different metals requires an industrial-grade grinder, typically in a factory instead of a home workshop. Tungsten - Typically used for a standard effect. Cheap, making it preferred. Red glow. Osmium - A denser grain used for slightly more penetration. More expensive. Red glow. Impervium - A dense grain that has higher penetrating power, though has less range of around 3 meters due to its weakness to heat. Also kind of expensive. Orange glow. Ferozium - Less dense, but its heat-repelling properties allows it a range of around 5 more meters, but with less penetrating power. Blue glow. Aegisalt - Not really used much because there are better, cheaper options. Green glow. Durasteel - Less effective than tungsten, but is much cheaper and easily ground to dust, perhaps at a home workshop. Red glow. Violium - During the spin-up process, the grains will unfortunately fall apart IN the chamber. However, it can still be used if one wants greater spread, but much less penetration. If you want to absolutely painfully spray down an entire crowd of unarmored people for crowd control, violium grain is the way to go! Also easy to grind down. Purple glow. Solarium - Will explode. In the chamber. Do not use. Prisilite - How rich one would have to be to grind down prisilite or even obtain it is unimaginable, but otherwise it is both high penetrating and will have a much higher range of 20 additional meters due to its structural integrity. Rainbow glow. Any other material that is extremely weak - Used purely for a flashy fireworks show, as these possess pretty much no penetration power and is used as good fireworks, with different colors depending on the material. Nanomachines? - Tiny grains containing nanomachines will often disintegrate, but at shorter ranges or in grains of ferozium or prisilite, can work okay to deliver nanomachines. Typically there are better options, though. Much larger ones can be made, such as turrets, that can use industrial, larger motors to help aim and to fire more grains at once; as such, these can also be useful on ground to defend against armored vehicles, or in small ships that can deal damage up close. Flavor text: HSA weapons started out as experiments for abrasive metal cutters and mining tools to pierce dense rock and metals, around 80 years ago by Humans; it was quickly weaponized by the USCM to deal with armored threats, and spread to other factions upon reverse engineering. Referenced Technologies: N/A Attainability: [Open] Tags: [Military]
