Behemoth Rail Gun

the rail gun · the Behemoth's rail gun · mass accelerator

The Behemoth's immense mass accelerator can hurl rounds near light speed, but its recoil may peel the converted ship open.

Story so far

The OPA adds a massive rail gun to the Behemoth as part of turning the former Nauvoo into the most intimidating weapons platform in the system. It can accelerate magnetic rounds to a measurable fraction of light speed, giving the Belt's flagship a weapon worthy of its public image.

The installation was designed as though the hull used standard metal bulkheads and supports. In reality, the Mormon generation ship saved mass through directional ceramics and silicates. Samara Rosenberg estimates in the high eighty-percent range that test-firing the weapon without reinforcement will shear the ship's skin away. Carlos “Bull” de Baca circumvents Michio Pa's budget refusal to begin the minimum eighteen-day structural repair.

Appearance

The rail gun is a huge mass accelerator mounted along the Behemoth's exterior, tied into structural supports never intended for its recoil. Its exact barrel shape and surface markings are not described.

Role

The rail gun embodies the military conversion's central danger: a weapon intended to prove the Behemoth's power may destroy the ship that fires it.

Relationships

Behemoth — It is mounted to the Behemoth and transmits potentially catastrophic recoil into the former generation ship's lightweight structure.

Samara Rosenberg — Samara Rosenberg calculates the danger and leads the effort to reinforce its mounts.

Carlos “Bull” de Baca — Carlos “Bull” de Baca finds procedural authority for its repair after command denies him resources.

Michio Pa — Michio Pa refuses to revise the operational budget for it before seeing the mission's full repair picture.

Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 6

The Behemoth's immense mass accelerator can hurl rounds near light speed, but its recoil may peel the converted ship open.