Proton Beams

Proton beam, or P-beam, weapons are a variety of particle beam that emit a rapid train of high energy bunches of relativistic protons. In air, the beam will self-focus to create a momentary blue-white hot streak like a bolt of straight lighting, with the same accompanying thunderclap. P-beams present a generally circular aspect, as the core of the machine is a ring-shaped device called a synchrotron that accelerates charged particles around its circumference. The beam must come out at a tangent to the synchrotron ring, leading to an aperture sticking off at an angle. The inside of the synchrotron ring generally houses a SMES torus, and the entire device is gimballed to allow the beam to point in any direction.

Particles at these energies are high energy ionizing radiation, and the collisions between protons and atoms in the air or the target produce an additional spray of dangerous radiation. Radiation backscatter would irradiate anyone using the beam; thus particle beams of any kind are only used on large armored robots, or on very large vehicles and fixed installations where the crew can be adequately shielded from the radiation. Proton beams are stopped using the Rad Armor Score of armor and barriers. Usually this means the beam can get through all but the thickest of armor, and can penetrate a considerable distance even into a few meters of earth and stone; however they can often be stopped by deflectors. In addition to radiation exposure, the beam will heat the material it passes through so that it flashes to plasma and explodes.

A P-beam will lose energy just by going through air. In a standard atmosphere of 100 kPa pressure of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, the beam will lose 1 point of Penetration for every 50 meters it travels. This distance is inversely proportional to the atmospheric density; as a game approximation you can treat this as inversely proportional to the atmospheric pressure.

In trace atmospheres or vacuum, proton beams will not self focus. In these environments, a proton beam can be adapted so that the outgoing protons are neutralized by an equal current of co-propagating electrons forming a neutral plasma. The beam will be expanded and then focused to a small spot in the manner of lasers, giving it a Focus range. The Focus can be ignored in thicker atmospheres.

Proton beams use electricity for ammunition. A full 1000 kJ of energy costs $0.001. The cost of recharging a P-beam's SMES can usually be neglected. A P-beam's SMES energy store is usually so large that tracking ammunition can be neglected. P-beams also need a source of protons for ammunition. This is consumed so slowly that it is almost never worthwhile to track it; a proton beam could fire continuously for megaseconds before running out of protons from just one bottle of compressed hydrogen gas.

Variants: Protons are the lightest ion. Other ions can also be accelerated in a synchrotron. In fact, the same synchrotron can be used to accelerate many kinds of ions by switching out the source and changing the timing of the driving RF fields. There are often good reasons for doing this for applications such as medicine, machining, and scientific research. However, ions heavier than protons generally make for shorter range weapons with somewhat reduced focus and somewhat reduced Penetration values (but with Wound increased by ½ the RS decrease to Pen).

Availability: Proton and ion beams are used in the Verge Republic for a variety of civilian applications: medicine, scientific research, industrial applications, food treatment, and public health. Due to the radiation hazard, operating a proton or ion beam will require a license and regulatory oversight. They are not used in the military because they are primarily useful against heavy material armor and fare poorly against deflectors, whereas the greatest threats the Republic faces are against enemies who primarily use deflectors for defense. The proton and ion beams that can be found in the Verge are generally not suitable for weapons use (typically being fixed in place, or on a rotating gantry to move around a static work-piece or patient, and without the same consideration toward ruggedness and compactness that a weapon would require).

Adjusting Beams

• A gunner can choose to intentionally defocus the beam at the target, so that it causes the effects of any chosen range that is greater than or equal to the target's range.

• Proton beams have adjustable energy. The energy per pulse can be decreased from the maximum. This will increase the SMES lifetime before the power is exhausted, and will increase the ROF by 1 RS for every RS decrease in the beam energy. Use the damage from the table below. If the Focus score applies, decrease Focus by the change of the Wound score. Pulse energy cannot be increased above the amount listed for the weapon.

  Energy Pen Wound 1 10 -4 1.5 11 -3 2 12 -2½ 3 14 -1¾ 4 16 -1¼ 5 17 -½ 7 18 +¼

  Energy Pen Wound 10 22 +1 15 25 +1¾ 20 28 +2¼ 30 30 +3 40 35 +3¾ 50 35 +4 70 40 +4½

  Energy Pen Wound 100 45 +5¼ 150 50 +6¼ 200 60 +7 300 65 +8 400 70 +8½ 500 80 +9 700 90 +9½

  This table can be extended ... ×1000 to Energy is ×10 to Pen and +7 to Wound score.

Radiation Scatter: A direct hit with a proton beam will deliver radiation with a Dose of (score of [Pen absorbed by the victim and his armor]) + 2 × (Wound - (victim's Size)) The beam's interaction with any target or other solid matter produces a Dose that falls off as a pulse. Any nearby victim will take a Dose given by (score of [absorbed Pen]) + 2 × (Wound - (score of [range to point of incidence of the beam])). This Dose is already accounted for at the target, don't apply dose for both the pulse and the target struck. The Pen of a P-beam absorbed by deflector screens produces no radiation. However, any Pen that gets past the deflector and which interacts with matter inside or on the other side of the deflector produces radiation as normal. Finally, there's the scatter of the beam off the air it passes through. If you are closer to the beam than the full range of the beam through the air, this causes a Dose of +1 - (score of [distance for 1 Pen loss]) - (score of [range to closest approach of the beam]) + 2 × Wound (arbitrary atmosphere) -11 - (score of [range to closest approach of the beam]) + 2 × Wound (standard atmosphere). Otherwise, the Dose is +1 - (score of [distance for 1 Pen loss]) + (score of [range of the beam]) + 2 × (Wound - (score of [range to closest approach of the beam])) (arbitrary atmosphere) -11 + (score of [range of the beam]) + 2 × (Wound - (score of [range to closest approach of the beam])) (standard atmosphere). Being near a single shot is not likely to harm you, but the small effects accumulate such that crew will need to be shielded from their weapon to avoid cumulative radiation sickness. A certain portion of the radiation exposure comes from gamma rays, which cannot be stopped by deflectors. All other forms of radiation are blocked by the deflector screens. Subtract 5 from any of the Doses given above to find the amount that passes through deflectors. As usual, the dose delivered to electronics is at -7 by default, and may be further modified by radiation hardening.

Electromagnetic Pulse: A proton beam will produce powerful electromagnetic fields. These can affect electronics; gear which has electronic sensors, control systems, communications, or other equipment will be affected by an EMP. Electronics near the target will be affected by an EMP pulse with a Dose of (score of [absorbed Pen]) + 2 × (Wound - (score of [range to point of incidence of the beam])). As usual, the minimum range score is the Size score of the victim, such that anything hit directly by the beam will take a dose of (score of [absorbed Pen]) + 2 × (Wound - (victims Size))

Description	Pen	Wound	AP	ROF	Ammo	Bulk	Aim	Focus	Sig	Mass	Price
Remote P-beam	30	+3	+0	8	5000	+6	+8	+21	+15	35+7	2k|150
Strike P-beam	35	+4	+0	10	5000	+7	+9	+24	+16	100+12	6k|250
Point Defense P-beam	35	+4	+0	20	5000	+8	+10	+25	+16	250+12	15k|250
Sml. Synchro Cannon	65	+8	+0	1s,1	400	+7½	+9	+25	+18	120+6	7k|120
Lt. Synchro Cannon	100	+10	+0	1s,1	400	+8½	+10	+27	+20	350+20	20k|400
Blast	-2 RS		(7)					(-½)
Med. Synchro Cannon	120	+11½	+0	1s,1	400	+9½	+11	+29	+21	1k+40	60k|800
Blast	-2 RS		(7)					(+0)
Hvy. Synchro Cannon	180	+14¼	+0	1s,1	400	+10½	+12	+31	+24	3k+150	180k|3k
Blast	+0 RS		(7)					(+½)
X-Hvy. Synchro Cannon	250	+15¾	+0	1s,1	400	+11½	+13	+33	+24	6k+300	400k|6k
Blast	+½ RS		(7)					(+1)

• Remote P-beam: A rapid-fire proton beam designed to be used from a motorized tripod or vehicle mount.

  Energy per shot: 30 kJ
  

• Strike P-beam: A stationary or vehicle-mounted heavy proton weapon.

  Energy per shot: 50 kJ
  

• Point Defense P-beam: A rapid-fire point-defense weapon.

  Energy per shot: 50 kJ
  

• Synchro Cannon: A stationary or vehicle-mounted large cannon.
  • Small Synchro Cannon:

    Energy per shot: 300 kJ
    

  • Light Synchro Cannon:

    Energy per shot: 1 MJ
    

  • Medium Synchro Cannon:

    Energy per shot: 2 MJ
    

  • Heavy Synchro Cannon:

    Energy per shot: 7 MJ
    

  • Extra-Heavy Synchro Cannon:

    Energy per shot: 15 MJ
    

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