E-cannons

E-cannons

E-cannons (the 'E' standing for 'electron' and not 'electronic') are largescale offensive particle-beam weapons currently unique to the ICEL military, the ICEL IDF, and are mostly found on Commonality Space Force (and VESF) warships; the Vanguard and Devastator classes of wet warhips are also reportedly capable of carrying one mounted E-cannon.

An E-cannon fires a cohesive 'beam' of electrons in an oscillating waveform contained by an intense electromagnetic field - the exact method of containment is unclear, as that level of information is not available publically.

However, E-cannons are particuarly dangerous weapons - yet only at rather short ranges. Apparently there are difficulties in focusing the beam onto an object at great range; exactly why this is the case unfortunately also remains unclear. Yet it is known that they tend to be effective in a range envelope of fifteen to thirty thousand kilometers; it is further known that the E-cannon is not restricted in strength against targets employing EM-based solid-matter shields - or even more sophisticated EM shields, which are likely to collapse thanks to the interference caused by the powerful EM containment 'envelope' carrying the electrons in the 'beam' to the target.

However, it is also known - oddly enough - that the E-cannon is considered by the ICEL CSF to be a dangerous last resort: it is increasingly clear that the CSF much prefers long-range engagement scenarios to short-range engagement scenarios.

E-cannon platforms are also commonly installed on submunitions used in the Hornet missile system, commonly referred to as the combat Hornet.

E-cannon are technically free-electron lasers (FELs).

See also: ICEL, EF cannons, Wank