Zoids: Chaotic Age Zero |
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An indepedent Zoids RPG Website. |
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Name: Imperial Hyper Beam Cannon The Empire had a problem. They had never been quite as good as the Republicans at concocting new and deadly weapons. Eventually, the Empire would take the lead after developing the deadly Charged Particle Gun, but before the invention of that superweapon, the destructive masterpiece of the Empire remained the Hybrid Vulcan Cannon. The Hybrid Vulcan was still brand-new when the Imperial testers and soldiers noted its many inadequacies. It lacked range and was rather inaccurate, despite its high rate of fire. It also only mounted to the toughest of Imperial Zoids, notably the Iron Kong and the Horn family. Later, hardpoints were found for the Zaber Fang as well. While that meant that many of the Republican frontline Zoids, such as the Guysack and the Godos, were as good as cheesecake against the Imperial heavy hitters, the more heavily armored Zoids of the Republic could stand up to the assault and do rather serious damage. The best example of this was the Republican Gordos, which could pound on the Red Horn from afar and take a good bit of punishment from the Hybrid Vulcan at a reasonable distance (500 meters or more). As a matter of fact, to the chagrin of the Empire, the Gordos usually came out on top in that battle. Though the Dark Horn was already under production, it fared little better, having fewer missiles and in many respects less ranged firepower to combat the Gordos. To compound problems, the Republicans had a new weapon under construction, which was carefully kept secret from Imperial ears. When the Twin Republican Supercannon premiered at Mount Osa base, mounted to the back of the devestating, new Republican Gojulas, the inadequacies of the current Horn family became abundantly clear. The Empire nearly panicked when it learned that this new Republican weapon could also be mounted to Gordos. Immediately, money poured into weapons research, looking for a way to counter what might have been a Republican onslaught. The Imperial Hyperbeam Cannon was one result of this project. It, along with a few other tricks and features, was mounted to the Iron Kong Mk. II Limited in an attempt to help it survive an attack from a Supercannon-bearing Zoid. Specifically, the Hyperbeam Cannan was a counterpoint to the Hybrid Vulcan, giving some semblance of accuracy and doing all of its damage in one burst. In the design phase, it was intended to target the fragile joint between the leg and body of a Gordos. Whether or not it suceeded is a lengthy and rather boring case study in statistics. However, it proved a powerful and valuable weapon to the Mk. II over and over again. The Imperial Hyper Beam Cannon was a milestone of engineering, a destructive weapon designed solely to down big zoids in a hurry. It’s essentially a large-bore standard beam cannon with extra penetration thrown in, comparable to an AZ200mm cannon. However, the weapon is powerful but slow-firing: once per three seconds on average -- requiring that long to charge for the next shot. But the Hyperbeam Cannon never spread beyond the Kongs, as the Geno Saurer came into the fold. Even with the Republican development of the Blade Liger and the Hyper E-Shield, the Empire never saw fit to make use of the Hyperbeam more widespread, putting all their eggs in one basket and convinced that they had found the ultimate solution to the Supercannon problem... Until Mad Thunders marched into the streets of Guygalos... The Neo-Zenebas Empire fell more than a century ago, and the Imperial Hyperbeam Cannon is no longer in their hands. Harry Champ, a popular young pilot and heir to the Champ Foundation and fortune, popularized the idea of the Hyperbeam spreading to other Zoids. From there it became reality... And owners of a Horn-family Zoid or a Stealth Dragon can now own this modification, for a price... Note however, that this weapon does have its limitations. On the Horns, it occupies the place of a Hybrid Vulcan Cannon, but despite this it cannot rotate on the Horns' back mounts, instead remaining fixed forward. Similarly, on the back of the Stealth Dragon, the Imperial Hyperbeam Cannon is fixed forward, but also impairs the front ball-joints of the Dragon to turn. It also impairs the ability of the Dragon to move, reducing its speed by a full third in any mode. Last but not least, its not recommended that the Stealth Dragon fire this weapon anywhere but on land, including in the air. |
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