Originally posted by Knight Templar
what else would we call them? aren't the cap ones photons and the fighters particle?
In science fiction, it's often shown that photon cannons and particle cannons are all different. But in actual fact, a photon is a particle, therefore a photon cannon is a particle cannon as well as an electron cannon, neutron cannon, p
roton cannon, etc. But the admiral was refering to the type of particle beam cannon they were using - photons.
I didn't know fighters had beam cannons (yet).
Here some descriptions of some weapons:
LaserThe Laser is the basic idea behind all beam weapons. The focusing of light through the correct crystal matrix can make it into an efficient tool or a deadly weapon.
Nuclear MissileThe Nuclear Missile was in the past one of the most feared weapons known. The nuclear missile is a great force for destruction.
Rail GunThe Rail Gun uses the basic principle that if you throw something at your enemies fast enough, it will hurt them. While this principle has been refined in other ways, the rail gun is still an effective way to harm your enemy. The fact that you are only accelerating simple matter and not charging it means that this type of weapon is especially useful because it can pass through almost any shields that your enemy may use.
Plasma BeamThe Plasma Beam uses differing states of matter to form and project a focused ray of plasma at your enemies. When this matter reaches its target, the reaction is quite deadly.
Crystal LaserThe Crystal Laser uses crystal manipulation to purify the focusing component of laser weaponry. This focused beam is more deadly and more accurate than its predecessor. This new lens does not cool as fast as the originals though, which means you cannot fire as often without risking dangerous temperatures.
Fusion MissileThe Fusion Missile is a logical progression from the nuclear missile. Fusion power can be used for many things. One of these uses is to make more deadly weapons.
Gatling Rail GunThe Gatling Rail Gun is a more effective version of the rail gun. It uses an understanding of inertia in order to direct a larger amount of matter toward your enemy. This means that when you hit you should usually do a greater amount of damage to your enemy. The fact that you have greater control also means there is less heat built up during the shot, so you can fire more often.
Mass DriverThe Mass Driver uses a strong electromagnetic field to propel a projectile towards your enemy at amazing speeds. This weapon does not have as much restraint as the gatling rail gun, however the greater speed and mass allow this weapon to be somewhat more effective both in hitting your enemy and in causing damage.
Graviton BeamThe Graviton Beam is actually a focused projection of many graviton particles. As this projection moves it gathers both speed and mass through attraction to objects in its path. This means that when it hits it has much speed and mass, this, along with the actual effect of the particles on the target itself allow this beam to crush your enemies.
Psi BlasterThe Psi Blaster is a weapon that can go from merely dangerous to outright deadly if used correctly. Powered by someone's own ability or by machines cleverly created for the purpose, the psi blaster destroys your enemies with forces that cannot be seen but only felt.
Neutron BlasterThe Neutron Blaster uses the understanding of sub atomic physics to assemble neutrons which are tailored to rip through hull components. These are then projected along the path of a guiding laser to the enemy. Upon contact, they interact with the hull and can often cripple if not destroy an enemy ship.
Nova TorpedoThe Nova Torpedo is the final stage of the evolution of the nuclear missile. This missile takes initial science of fusion to a new height. With the use of each of these missiles a temporary star is created out of the component atoms of the target. This force can be of great help in a battle, but be warned, the weapon takes a long time to prepare before it can be used again.
Kamikaze Conscious TorpedoThis weapon uses the very force that lies behind all living things to track your enemy. Of course, this link is rarely one way, so when this weapon is activated, those who can notice are often said to cringe at the shock this device sends thru the unconsciousness. Some people have begun to argue that this abuse will have repercussions, but few rulers head this. The weapon is too efficient to avoid using it because it gives some sensitive people headaches.
Death SporeThe Death Spore might not sound like the most threatening weapon. However, this device has it uses. In this time when more and more people are turning to artificial life forms for many things, the death spore is merely the destructive use of this trend. This weapon is tailored to damage your enemies, and woe be to the enemy who tries to use any sort of living shield to protect themselves, as this life form will use such shielding to fuel itself to even greater destructive heights.
Gauss CannonThe Gauss Cannon uses compressed material for the projectile. This material has much greater density and mass, so the force is exerts on its target is much more focused. This means that not only will this weapon pass through shields, but it will even penetrate a portion of your enemies armor.
Phased LaserThe Phased Laser is a deadly weapon that can alter the way in which space-time and the target interact. This can cause a high range of effects, from almost no damage, to complete destruction/dissolution of the component materials of the effected target.
Tachyon BeamThe Tachyon Beam is a force which alters the probability of the target structure. The desired effect is to cause all of the particles of the structure to "randomly" repel each other. If this can be achieved for even an instant it can cause the effected area to explode as all of the particles attempt to put distance between their neighbors.
Anti-Matter MissileThe Antimatter Missile seems simple enough. As one developer said while working on this project, "just imagine what this material will do when it comes into contact with regular matter, without the proper controls.. In fact this scientist witnessed it first hand when a containment mistake was made during prototype construction. It goes without saying that there was not enough of him for a proper burial.
Reflexium MissileThe Reflexium Missile is the use of an interesting property of reflexium. For some reason any interaction between this metal and most shielding causes great stress to the powering component of shields. This makes this weapon quite effective against those who utilize shielding to a great extent. Of course, the effect of a strong material impacting an object at high speed is nothing to laugh at either.
Psionic Pulse ShockerThe Psionic Pulse Shocker a deadly method of using psionic forces. This missile is in fact a focusing device for the psionic energies of your crew. They then use their abilities to hasten the entropy within your enemies to dangerous levels. If the enemy is unprepared, this can easily be their undoing.
Anti-Matter CannonThe Anti-Matter Cannon works on a combination of the principles used to create the rail gun and the anti-matter missile. Firing shots as though they were normal rail gun charges, the projectiles fired are much more deadly.
Autofire Gauss CannonThe Autofire Gauss Cannon improves on the gauss cannon in one significant manner, speed. By using knowledge of space/time you are able to remove the heat from this weapon much faster and thus fire it at a greatly increased rate.
Psi Storm LauncherThe Psi Storm Launcher is a weapon often feared not just for the obvious damage it can do to matter, but also for the effects upon minds that survive it. This weapon creates a temporary vortice to the fourth dimension allowing psionic apparitions to manifest in our physical space. They do not always choose to do great damage, but the mental storms this living thoughts create can cause the bravest commanders to retreat.
Time-Wake Homing MissileThe Time-Wake Homing Missile is a tricky weapon to figure out. Whether it is in fact tracking its enemies future path, or if it tracks its own future to determine the best path, this missile can be quite deadly and effective. There are even reports of it relocating itself through space/time and thus penetrating enemy shields and armor.
Homing SingularityThe Homing Singularity is easily the single most powerful weapon ever created. This missile calls into being a temporary and small black hole, which can destroy fleets of vessels and cripple some of the largest ships in existence. The only drawback to this weapon is that it takes a long time to bring the next shot online.
Distortion BlasterThe Distortion Blaster is one of the most deadly weapons ever to be created. Of course, it fires at speeds almost ten times faster than many missiles, which is why it is so feared. This weapon works by projecting small pieces of material from other dimensions into your enemies midst. These particles have a horrible effect on the enemy as they try to make anything they contact conform to their dimensional laws.
