Babylon 5 Antimatter Weaponry

Antimatter Weaponry

Almost solely the area of expertise of the Vree, who learned how to harness and utilize antimatter from salvaged Minbari hulks found around the 12th Century (according to the Earth calendar), antimatter weaponry is advanced well beyond the understanding of most other races. These weapons are deadly, powerful and far more than what a normal vessel should even try to handle as standard weaponry.

Antimatter is a highly-energised substance held in retention by anti-gravitic shielding, then propelled by a number of means toward the target; which conversely, is made of matter. When the two substances collide and instantly react, the resulting chain reaction is explosive and quite satisfying to the Vree. It may leave very little behind for salvage, but the Vree do not commonly care about inferior technologies. If it was worth keeping, their antimatter armaments would not have destroyed it so utterly.

Notes: Antimatter weapons that roll a 6 on their wild die for attack, add 1D extra damage to the damage roll. Also, any wild die that comes up 1 during an attack roll suffers a minus 1D to damage for the damage roll.

Antimatter Weaponry
Name	Origin	Type	Scale	Cost	Space Range	Atmosphere Range	Qualities	Damage
Antimatter Converter	Minbari Federation	Antimatter Weapon	Starfighter	220,000	1-3/7/13	10-300/700/1,300m	Antimatter	5D
Light Antiproton Gun	Vree Conglomerate	Antimatter Weapon	Starfighter	24,000	1/3/6	10-100/300/600m	Fire Control: -1D	4D
Antiproton Gun	Vree Conglomerate	Antimatter Weapon	Starfighter	38,000	1-3/7/13	10-300/700/1,300m	Fire Control: -1D	6D+2
Antimatter Cannon	Vree Conglomerate	Antimatter Weapon	Capital	600,000	1-3/8/15	2-6/16/30km	Antimatter	4D
Antimatter Shredder	Vree Conglomerate	Antimatter Weapon	Capital	1,200,000	1-2/6/11	2-4/12/22km	Antimatter, Fire Control: -1D	6D
Heavy Antimatter Shredder	Vree Conglomerate	Antimatter Weapon	Capital	4,000,000	1-15/38/75	2-30/76/150km	Antimatter, Fire Control: -1D	11D+2
Antimatter Torpedo Launcher	Vree Conglomerate	Antimatter Weapon	Capital	320,000	1-6/15/30	2-12/30/60km	Antimatter	4D

• Antimatter: Antimatter weapons that roll a 6 on their wild die for attack, add 1D extra damage to the damage roll. Also, any wild die that comes up 1 during an attack roll suffers a minus 1D to damage for the damage roll.

Antimatter Converter

• Antimatter

The original source for all of the Vree’s antimatter research, the antimatter converter is an older weapon used by some Minbari warships during the last Shadow War. The weapon is a powerful atomic energy emitter that essentially breaks the bonds of matter, reverses their polarity and creates a tiny amount of antimatter which then reacts explosively. The Minbari seldom use it any longer due to its extremely short range compared to their normal armaments and because of the random and uncontrollable nature of antimatter. When the Vree obtained several of these weapons, they miniaturized them and made them integral to many of their weapon systems. They also made much larger varieties for use in secret ‘antimatter forges’ where they create the massive supplies they use for ammunition in their numerous warships.

Antiproton Gun

• Fire Control: -1D

While not technically an antimatter weapon, the antiproton gun serves as the basic building block for them. Antiprotons are essentially one half of true antimatter, targeting and nullifying the protons in whatever matter they touch. Projecting them via the standard antiproton gun or its rapidly firing lighter version is a simple affair of gravitic pushes and magnetic coil aiming mechanisms. The antiproton gun creates a small bundle of antiprotons from surrounding stores, wrapping it in a neutrally-charged field before hurling it toward the awaiting protons of the enemy.

Antimatter Cannon

• Antimatter

The truest form of antimatter weapon the Vree have created, the basic cannon is little more than a turreted emitter attached to a large antimatter storage and loading chamber and protected by a number of gravitic fields. When the fields are fluctuated in a certain manner, the antimatter is fired at amazing speeds toward a target. Eventually the field surrounding the antimatter is no longer able to be sustained and the payload will be able to react accordingly upon impact.

Antimatter Shredder

• Antimatter

• Fire Control: -1D

One of the most frightening sights an enemy of the Vree can ever see is the neon green hailstorm of antimatter bolts that the dreaded shredder emits. Using a very large amount of antimatter, pushing it through a rapidly changing gravity ‘net’ to carve it into tiny antimatter fragments as it showers a nearby target with the deadly rain, the antimatter shredder can erode even the largest of vessels into component parts in seconds.

The antimatter shredder has only one true drawback – its massive ammunition usage. Even the largest of the shredder equipped vessels can only launch so many barrages, as the antimatter batteries of the vessel will soon be dry.

Special: The antimatter shredder will run out of its ammunition after the first shot on a natural roll of a ‘1’.

Antimatter Torpedo Launcher

• Antimatter

The longest ranged weapon in the antimatter arsenal, the antimatter torpedo is essentially just that; a propelled shell carrying a large portion of antimatter in a gravitic warhead. The torpedo is launched towards an enemy, homing in on harder to strike vessels and impacts. The crumpling of the thin torpedo shell should deactivate the containing field, projecting the antimatter warhead deeper into the vessel so as to not waste any of it eating through outer hull layers.

Source

• Babylon 5 Ship Builder's Manual (pages 59-60)
• thedemonapostle