Overview
Ever since the First War, humanity has strived for more powerful weapons. All of those efforts have culminated in the creation of the fusion cannon. Till this day, nothing has surpassed it. In principle, the theory behind them is not complex, but the execution of that theory proved beyond the reach of even the greatest weapon designers for many centuries.
A fusion cannon fires a 5000 ton projectile at 5% the speed of light. It achieves this in a manner very similar to a gunpowder weapon, but on an apocalyptic scale. A standard fusion cannon has eight sub-chambers that lead directly to the firing chamber where the projectile is housed. In each of those chambers is a 200 megaton nuclear warhead. Upon firing the nukes are detonated, their explosions directed to the mythril-tipped, affectionately named “Starcracker” projectile. The starcracker is then propelled at immense speeds towards its target. But the fusion cannon is not done. With the help of magnetic rails and welds inscribed throughout the weapon, the plasma from the nuclear detonations is further funneled into a deadly beam, all but ensuring the destruction of the target.
Only through the blend of the sorcerous with the technological is such a weapon possible. Even with mythril plating, firing such a weapon would devastate the host ship. The welds fulfill two roles. They protect the ship with supernaturally strong silver, lining the inside of the barrel and the firing chambers, while also guiding the plasma to become a destructive beam.
The complexity of the weapon and the material cost prohibit this weapon from mass use. Only mighty battleships and dreadnoughts have the honor of wearing such a weapon into battle.
Development
The design for a fusion cannon was drawn up long before an initial prototype was built. Such a deadly creation was once again conceived of by the famous Yarron Ra. He sought to outdo his creation of the mag-cannons that had proliferated throughout every stellar navy by 133 A.E.G. But he was limited by his time. The largest warship of the time barely broke past 400 meters in length. Such a craft would be launched into the nearest solar system if it attempted to fire a fusion cannon. Yarron had Blackwall Offense conduct research into the design, but no meaningful progress would be made during Yarron’s lifetime. He would die, and his idea shelved in Blackwall’s archives, waiting patiently for its time.
As ships grew bigger, and experimentation of integrating welds with warships increased, the idea of a fusion cannon once again gained interest. In 507 A.E.G., a four-chambered prototype was built by Blackwall. The nuclear propellant was of only 50 megatons in strength. This past design had no plans of using the plasma generated as a beam. That would come later. Initial tests were promising. With the projectile achieving a speed of 300 km/s. But the project was once-again shelved. The lyshan crystal, gold, and silver cost, along with finding experienced weld crafters for a single weapon system was deemed too expensive for the result. With the generation of the quad-rail mag-cannons, firepower was already ahead of current energy shielding. The development cost was not deemed worth it, when one could achieve a similar result by simply putting a bigger mag-cannon on a vessel. Combined with the concerns of the containment for the nuclear propellant failing after multiple uses, or stress under combat, the idea was once again shelved.
But in 986 A.E.G. all of that changed. The new warden shield systems were developed. The mightiest of battleship cannons could break them. Even the new octa-railed mag-cannons proved inefficient. Both KrakenArms and Blackwall Offense scrambled to come up with a solution.
Demetrus Ra, descendent of the famous Yarron Ya, desperately wanted to win this new arms race. The Ra’s had long-since held a position on the board of directors for Blackwall, but their influence had begun to wane over the centuries. Demetrus saw this as an opportunity to win back his family’s status.
And the final piece of the puzzle came about when Geyser Corp successfully found a heating process capable of shaping mythril. Demetrus had the supporting metal necessary for the fusion cannon’s firing chambers. Demetrus Ra headed the project, which would spark off a conflict changing the trajectory of the galaxy.
This next part requires a bit of context. Over the centuries the megacorps had grabbed more and more power. By 990 A.E.G. The most influential ones had private militaries rivaling the dominant superpowers at the time: the Ostrus Kingdom and the Haskur Empire. The megacorps had several planets under private rule. The Ostrus Kingdom and the Haskur Empire had also weakened themselves during the 2nd Bastard War in 976 A.E.G., leaving over two billion dead, and both countries on shaky footing. The perfect time for a power grab.
Silas Venture, head of KrakenArms, knew Blackwall was well ahead of them in this new arms race. Both companies rushed to purchase the mythril necessary to complete the prototypes. KrakenArms long thought the concept of a fusion cannon was a ridiculous fancy. And now they were paying for it. To make matters worse, Demetrus Ra had poached several of KrakenArms’s top engineers. Most Demetrus took were willing, others required some persuasion to come along, all under Venture’s nose. Silas wanted to get even.
Silas made an expensive deal with the Eclipse Transporting Company. KrakenArms would get access to a secret tunnel through the purple mist, which would lead to the facility the prototype fusion cannon was being worked on. In exchange, KrakenArms would outfit Eclipse’s latest trading fleet with weapons. The deal was set.
Silas was tired of the competition with Blackwall, having to share the market space with them. This would mark the end of mere corporate espionage and sabotage, to full blown war. KrakenArms mobilized its forces. They had two targets: the first being the industrial world of Juatan, where the fusion cannon was being tested, and the luxury world of Cresting Sun. Cresting Sun was where many of Blackwall’s executives lived, including Demetrus Ra’s family. Silas hired some of the best metaphysicals money could buy, and the fleet of KrakenArms set forth into the void.
Meanwhile at Blackwall’s laboratories, development of the prototype was progressing smoothly. Blackwall was under contract to design the weapon for the Haskur Empire’s newest Era-class battleship. A functioning prototype was completed under Demetrus’s leadership and engineering prowess. In the middle of 1006 A.E.G. a successful four-chamber launch was completed. It was also under Demetrus’s design that the plasma from the nuclear-charges be repurposed into a beam. This was due to estimates that even under full power, the projectile would merely crack the warden system on battleships, and not do much damage to the target itself. The beam was added as a tandem operation, so that even if a target’s warden system absorbed most of the damage, considerable destruction could still be levied on the target. While these results were promising, the prototype was still plagued with issues. The welds still needed much refining, and the firing chambers required a great deal of work to retain integrity even under combat.
Not eight days later, KrakenArms struck. SpecOps teams flooded onto Cresting Sun, killing Blackwall executives in mass, along with kidnapping Demetrus’s family. Simultaneously, KrakenArm’s fleet arrived over Juatan. They destroyed huge swathes of orbital refineries and construction facilities. A specialized invasion was conducted, solely for the purpose of laying waste to the planet below before bugging out. KrakenArms stole the fusion cannon prototype and left. The first shot of the Commerce War was conducted.
The ten year Commerce War is too long, and mostly irrelevant to this story. However, the ending is. The war ended with Demetrus and Blackwall kidnapping Silas, and retaking the fusion cannon prototype. KrakenArms worked to bring the fusion cannon to full readiness during the Commerce War, but the immense costs of the conflict slowed down development considerably.
But in 1020 A.E.G. The prototype was complete. The cannon was mounted onto a testing station above the planet of Lukut. Demetrus had the fusion cannon aimed down onto the world below, and by his instruction, he had Silas Venture chained to the front of the starcracker projectile. The planet below was uninhabited with intelligent life, but still had plenty of unintelligent life to showcase the destruction of the device. Demetrus gave the order to fire.
In a blink, destruction rippled from the point of impact. The force was so powerful that chunks of rock were sent into orbit. The engineers were forced to raise the energy shields on the platform to ensure no damage was done. Not a second later the beam came down. The oxygen ignited in the atmosphere. A firestorm raged from the point of impact, which over the course of several weeks consumed the continent. Demetrus was satisfied with the results. While the Commerce War had weakened the megacorps, allowing the state superpowers to put themselves at the head again, Demetrus was now firmly in charge of Blackwall. And the age of the fusion cannon had arrived.
Deployment
Due to their expensive nature, and the size of the vessel required to hold a fusion cannon, only a few select platforms can mount such a weapon. It is standard practice among every navy that their battleships are equipped with a fusion cannon. How they are employed is different based on doctrine, but a modern battleship is not considered one, unless one of these behemoth guns is mounted on them.
On heavily defended worlds, these weapon systems can make appearances on star fortresses. Though navies are more apt to simply give these weapons to a more flexible platform like a battleship, rather than something that can only defend one world.
Dreadnoughts, the largest ship category, will make use of multiple of these weapons in turreted form, at the expense of a lesser amount of capital-ship grade weapons. The 18 kilometer Deity-class Ashuan dreadnought employs three, turreted fusion cannons. While this does limit the flexibility of such a vessel, the higher fire rate can often compensate for this, in being able to destroy a fleet before it even gets within range.