Babylon 5 Ballistic Weaponry
Ballistic Weaponry
[edit]Like the slugthrowers of old Earth, ballistic weaponry uses a solid projectile hurled at massive speeds through internal combustion. Unlike matter weaponry, which uses magnetic coils to speed its payload to the target, ballistics have a preset charge or similar force that send a dense slug, or stream of slugs, toward the target. Since all of the energy for propulsion for a ballistic weapon is found as part of the ammunition itself and not siphoned off from the ship’s energy cells or fusion reactor, there is very little drain to the ship at all. This leaves energy to be routed to other systems, like engines or steerage.
Originally created by a dozen different races, it was the Hurr who stayed with the idea of ballistic science, as they loved the ringing sound in their ears from long duration of being in the gunnery turrets. They created many different scales of these weapons, and while they lack the punch of most energy weapons and are expensive to maintain and continually reload, they are a solid weapon technology for the shipbuilder looking for more bang for less credits.
| Ballistic Weaponry | |||||||||
| Name | Origin | Type | Scale | Cost | Space Range | Atmosphere Range | Qualities | Damage | |
| Light Ballistic Gun | Hurr Republic | Projectile Cannon | Starfighter | 8,000 | 1/2/3 | 10-100/200/300m | Fire Control: -1D | 3D+2 | |
| Ballistic Gun | Hurr Republic | Projectile Cannon | Starfighter | 12,000 | 1/3/6 | 10-100/300/600m | Fire Control: -1D | 4D | |
| Heavy Ballistic Gun | Hurr Republic | Projectile Cannon | Starfighter | 17,000 | 1-2/5/10 | 10-200/500/1,000m | Fire Control: -2D | 5D+2 | |
| Ballistic Cannon | Hurr Republic | Projectile Cannon | Capital | 60,000 | 1-6/15/30 | 2-12/30/60km | Fire Control: -2 | 4D | |
Light Ballistic Gun
[edit]Ballistic Gun: Fire Control: -1D
Heavy Ballistic Gun: Fire Control: -2D
The favored weapon of the Hurr Republic fighter pilot; light ballistic guns are designed with sheer mass of fire per trigger pull in mind. Streams of armor piercing slugs pour out of flare-ended muzzles with the accompanying roar of machinegun fire and the blaze of exploding cordite.
Unmistakable to witness, the light ballistic gun is lightweight and easy to manufacture for anyone who understands firearm physics.
Ballistic Gun
[edit]Fire Control: -1D
A step up from the fighter-designed gun, the true ballistic gun is a large-bored weapon originally designed for use on Hurr capitol ships, but has since fallen into many raider or black market hands. The ballistic gun is capable of tremendous rates of fire, using the void of space to cool the rapidly heated barrels of the mechanism.
Ballistic Cannon
[edit]Fire Control: -2
Whereas the idea behind the original ballistic weapons was the advent of massive rates of fire, the ballistic cannon is all about sheer caliber. A single ballistic slug the size of an escape pod is ejected via a massive internal blast toward the enemy, causing catastrophic impact damage when it collides with the target. However, it takes quite some time for the round to reach its target, making the ballistic cannon a tricky weapon to fire accurately.
Source
[edit]- Babylon 5 Ship Builder's Manual (pages 46-47)
- thedemonapostle