Babylon 5 Matter Weaponry
The next stage in weapon evolution beyond the invention of ballistics, matter weaponry uses the Gauss Principle to accelerate ferrous matter toward a target with tremendous force, speed and accuracy. The weapon systems are designed around an ammunition feeding system that sends the object rolling down a series of polarised magnetic coils or rings. Each magnet pulses at a precise moment, exponentially increasing the speed and force behind the shot. By the end of the accelerators, the object has enough momentum to do significant damage to anything that gets caught in its path.
The Centauri Republic and the Earth Alliance are the galaxy’s leading users of matter weaponry, choosing them as efficient and destructive secondary weapons. Ammunition tends to be cheap for these systems, as they are able to basically use any piece of ferrous material as a missile.
There is a significant power drain involved whenever the matter weapon system fires, in order to power the magnetic coils, but many shipbuilders simply route more couplings to these systems from the reactor to compensate. They do leave a very distinctive electromagnetic signature behind when they fire.
| Name | Scale | Space Range | Atmosphere Range | Rate of Fire | Damage | Notes |
| Matter Accelerator | Capital | 1-3/12/25 | 2-6/24/50 km | 1 | 3D+1 | |
| Matter Cannon | Capital | 1-15/35/75 | 2-30/70/150 km | 1 | 5D+1 | |
| Railgun | Capital | 1-15/35/75 | 2-30/70/150 km | 1 | 4D+2 | |
| Mass Driver | Death Star | 1-15/35/75 | 2-30/70/150 km | 1/3 | 8D | Attack -6D+2 |