A Gatalon Photon Cannon, oftern refered to as Gatalon or Photon Cannon rather than the two converged together, and abbreviated GPC, is a type of weaponary produced soley by the Gammetan Civilization. They are used prominently in the four main military fields: For vessels, for craft, for vehicles and for hand-held weaponary, more above any other weapon. The four uses are split up in to three levels: Light-duty for hand-held, medium-duty for vehicles and craft, and heavy-duty for naval vessels. There are several classes identical throughout each duty, as well as the beam cannon variant called a Gatalon Photon Beam Cannon (abbr. GPBC). The primary missiles used by Gammeta are Trailhead Missiles. They use a similar technology to GPCs.
Classifications[]
Light-duty[]
Within light duty there are a further two sections: Hand held and mounted. The two are not literal terms. Mounted classes are heavier than hand held, and are more of a pseudo between medium- and light-duty. Hand held weaponary includes the following. Most models are MG-class, however there is the occasional star-class
- Pistols were single-handed little fellas. They were almost always semi-automatic and fired more damaging rounds at a lower rate compared to other hand held weapons.
- Assault Rifles were mainstream rifles. They usually fired 5-20 rounds per second (delay of 0.05-0.2sec) and dealt alot of damage.
- Carbine Rifles had a shorter firing tube than mainstream rifles, making their rounds move slower (300m/s and under) and do less damage. However, this made them lighter and smaller. A good use of these rifles was in recon and scouting.
- Mainstream Rifles were the main rifles. They fired fully automatic rounds that moved at a normal velocity: 320-500m/s.
- Mechanized Rifles were used for long-range assault. They were semi-automatic but fired in bursts of 2-5.
- Repeater Rifles were guns that shot repetetivly for long amounts of time. Usually, they fired 5 rounds per second but models were known to vary. They also dealt a higher amount of damage compared to mainstream rifles, making them an optimal choice for medium to long range combat.
- Light Mechanized Cannon (LMCs) were similar in design to Light Machine Guns. They fired repetedely, faster than most other hand held weaponary (20+ rounds per second)
- Heavy Cannons were usually adons to Rifles and Repeaters. They mounted underneath the cannon and fired when the user wanted to deliver a large explosion. Some guns were known to just have the Heavy Cannon without the rifle.
Medium- and heavy-duty[]
These two duties used more variant weapons than those on the ground due to the fact that comabt is so centered on craft and vessels (these days...).
- Mounted Main Cannons (MMC) are used against lightly armored targets and close groups of infantry
- Stager Flash Cannons (Star-class) are powerful, mostly stationary, high-velocity cannons. All placements on a bank usually fire together and with syncronized targetting for maximum effect. They are increadibly accurate and high-velocity, making them good for anti-craft duties. Their properties make them narrow rectangular in shape and deep red in color, and about 2× the size of other lasers in width. The resulting impact effect on any target is usually a kind of flash that spreads out relatively slowly then disappeares. There is usually no visual explosion or regular hit effect. The hit effect usually expires in a full second, if not shorter. Any contact with the blast wave, that only travels along surfaces, could incapacitate a heavily-armored infantry - a more powerful cannon or weaker armor would almost certainly kill. Jumping is a good method of avoiding it's effects, as it leaves no residual effects on it's surface, however fast reactions are needed due to it's high velocity. Similar effects occure to craft. They are either disabled if heavily armored, or destroyed when not. Conductive materials such as metal increase the blast radius, therefore making it primarily anti-armor. They take a few seconds depending on the model (usually 11) to cool down, and using them uses quite alot of power, demonstrated by the HelAux GT2.}}
- Mechanical Compound Cannons (MG-class) are relatively standard cannons that served as offense versus most, if not all stationary and mobile targets. They are generally an all rounder. They aree medium-high velocity cannons that shoot "cone" projeciles.
- Flash Cannons (Flash-class) are mediocre velocity, almost heavy projectiles used primarily for anti-armor and minor anti-air duties. Their physics makes them in, comparison to star-class (which they are closest to), high damage but also much more short range, as they expire much faster than standard GPCs.
- Stinger Cannons (Stinger-class) fire physical ordnance but use GPC technology to enhance the primitive bullets, although this causes them to have a slightly more visible tracer. They are much more high-velocity than standard GPCs, and emphasize splash damage over direct damage. They are more commonly used against light targets and infantry, and are rarely used on anything other than craft.
Beam weapons[]
Currently, the only Gatalon Photon Beam Cannon is the Speca-class. The Speca-class fires a beam almost identical in nature to Yulairian beam weapons used on the Radiant, except they have a more creamish color like most tracers produced by GPCs. Although they are refered to as beams, the muzzle produces more of a long-lasting projectile than a beam. One can visible see the projectile move rather than it being sustained due to the fact that they don't travel at the speed of light. A new class is being developed, which will be more of a sustained beam, for the HelAux B13. Current plans use the first medium-duty Speca-class beam cannon.
Caliber[]
- Wiki note: Section links can either be #Caliber or #Calibre (American English and British English, respectively).
Increasing competition and diversity of weapons used in the Gammetan Civilization has lead to the term "caliber" being loosly and incorrectly used to refer to the strength of the cannon, sometimes as opposed to the standard medium- or heavy-duty. Currently, the values are typically anywhere from 1 to 600, with 600 being of the beam cannons used on the surface of some planets for orbital defense. The unit used is ".ce," being short for caliber energy.