Unstable Particle Projectors
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When the Frontier Rebellion began, the Alaerian Cult controlled many ships, but mostly they were civilian vessels, lightly armed. They did control the Kaurium System and its excess of [Jupiter Rocket](/macropedia/jupiter-rocket)s. Trade and production were disrupted throughout the systems they controlled, making weapons development nigh impossible.
Some nameless engineer would put his resources to good use, and create some of the most terrifying weaponry of the Early Imperium. Most warships of the period relied on some form of magneto-plasmic propulsion utilizing charged particles and Magnetic Monopoles. Which allowed them greater maneuverability in systems with hostile or under-developed boost lasers. The Alaerians took VASIMR engines from older ships in a Kaurium scrap yard and mounted them on their ships as weapons.
Modified slightly, the engines would spray a stream of decaying particles at enemy ships. A little nuclear engineering allowed them to alter their ammunition to cause all manner of chaos and destruction on enemy vessels. Neutrons could be emitted to flood an enemy ship with high-energy alpha particles and protons, often killing the crew and disrupting electonics. Heavier ionized isotopes were often lauched to foul the drives and disable enemy ships.
While devastating, the weapons did suffer from a few problems. Primarily, they were not very targetable and maneuverable. Clever Imperial Captains quickly learned to maneuver in such a way to dodge all but the best and luckiest Alaerian ships. Secondly, they still acted as drives, often shoving the firing ship off-course. Third, they were difficult to handle and tempermental. On three separate occasions, Alaerian crews were killed by their own weapon as it fouled itself with heavy isotopes and irradiated the ship.
While they didn’t change the course of naval battles as the Alaerians originally hoped, they still counted the weapons as a success for the horrible effect they had on attacks against mines and space stations. As the Alaerians tried to wipe the “genetic abominations” from the face of the galaxy, they found it very useful to sterilize peaceful habitats and stations. Additionally, the wepons could be dismounted and attached to a small asteroid to be accelerated into a planetary settlement. The reaction of the genetically enhanced people is recorded elsewhere.
After the Frontier Rebellion, more sophisticated versions of the weapons appeared becoming part of the standard arsenal for naval combat. This situation continued with little change until the development of Fractal Shielding by the famous Fteigar smiths of the Dao Jihn Corp.