Because an idea was too oddball to waste.....
And so, stuck for money after the FDF screw up, and struggling to sell off the hardware, it appeared as if the Friggans would not be able to afford a project for the 2023 convention. Jet was most dismayed at not getting in to the exhibition hall early, while for Mackie it was a point of pride to say he was involved in the whole thing. Kotono enjoyed showing off at the booth while Daryl wanted something new and exciting for the armoury. Searching for something to do to keep the Friggan name on people's lips and not fold like some many other small garage builders, they set down to work.
Out of the mess, fuelled by hours of tea, coffee and a low fat snacks. came the idea.
Nobody can quite remember where the it came from. The original sheet of paper has names such as Kzinti Cannon, Fusion Rifle, Plasma Gun and Orion Cannon written on it, but in such a tangled mass of handwriting that nobody can tell who originally wrote it. The basic concept was to take a standard slughtrower cannon, and replace the chemical propellant with a nuclear fusion reaction. Prime advantages were listed... ringed by a coffee stain... as being adjustable on the fly, and being less likely to explode if shot by an enemy.
The first prototype was built into one of the unsold Havocs, replacing the 30mm cannon. It was, ugly, overweight and unreliable. It was little more than a light fusion thruster with the remass injectors and drive field assemblies ripped out, and a new narrow-angle collimator added in to focus the energy from the fusion reaction into a tightly confined beam. The beam would strike the back of an aerogel pusher plate, turning it to plasma in an explosive reaction that would hopefully propel a projectile out of a barrel.
The first prototype fired at less than a hundred meters per second, but with a really cool light show as the still-glowing projectile sped through the atmosphere riding a column of dissipating blue plasma with a wet warbling sound described by Mackie Jaguar as liquid blue death'. The action jammed solid before it could fire a second shot. Another test firing managed to get two shots out of it, before the third round stovepiped.
Weeks of refinement followed, steadily increasing the muzzle velocity and firing rate to match the original cannons. Power consumption was a problem, firing the cannon also ate into the chopper's precious fuel reserves. Reliability was an even bigger issue, with the 'Fusion Cannon' struggling to fire through more than thirty rounds before malfunctioning. Problems with feeding and fusion beam collimation were never properly solved. The aerogel pusher often shed debris which would ultimately jam the action of the cannon. With the 2023 convention date looming, a backup plan was needed.
The first Fusion handgun was finished with a week to spare. Based on the same operating principal, it used a spark fusion initiator taken from a cutting torch mounted to a six-shooter-style revolver frame to propel a modified .45ACP round backed by an aerogel pusher. Power came from an integrated battery in the grip, alongside a small fuel flask containing He3 fuel for the initiator. An adjustable dial on the initiator itself allowed the shooter to select the muzzle velocity of the weapon, from 'safe', to less-lethal velocities, increasing to a rated maximum of just over 400m/s. It requires a chambered round to fire, for safety reasons.
The simpler, six-shooter based weapon proved itself to be much more reliable, limited only by battery life, fuel and the availability of the specialised ammunition. The Cosmo Dragoon name came from a Lejiite who noticed the unintentional similarity to Tetsuro Hoshino's weapon. Not wanting to miss out on a money-making méme, Ford happily announced she would build more, adding a note that 4, and only 4, replicas would ever be constructed.
Each one found its way into the hands of a private collector, individually serial-numbered from one to four. The original unnumbered prototype is kept on Frigga's public firing range for general hire. Daryl Haur uses it as her personal side-arm with her SAM dress uniform. It's rather stylish.
Plans to construct a whole series of Cosmo Guns were quietly shelved when someone actually looked at the costs involved. The five Dragoons and their fusion action would remain unique curiosities. Pursuing the technology in larger-scale was beyond Friggan reach.
Cosmo Dragoon #001 'Kohran' (A Gift to Kohran Li from Noah Scott)
Cosmo Dragoon #002 'Antilles' (Bought by Jeph Antilles, who called in a favour to own one.)
Cosmo Dragoon Sabre:
Cosmo Dragoon #004:
Meta: If anyone wants one of the four originals for whatever reason, they can have one, either by buying one outright or by being close enough to Ford that she'll build you one. There're only four and will only ever be four. Ford sees them more as a halo project to demonstrate what she's capable of achieving, to sell either more Caster replicas or plain-old custom modified handguns.
Anyone who wants to develop the technology further can do so.... Ford thinks it's too unreliable and complex to take further herself and will share details with someone she trusts. It's only real advantage over conventional chemical-propelled weaponry is that the ammunition when stored is effectively inert....and it can be turned down to lower powers. It's not that much faster in muzzle velocity, and is a lot less reliable, while also reliably giving the shooter's exact position away and firing very hot projectile. It's a wild idea....and like most of Friggan hardware... currently being born out of ideas generated by the Battletech Crossover, washed through a filter of 'what do these people know about'.
Anyone with appropriate skills can improve on it and make it work as originally intended, if they should wish to do so that is.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
And so, stuck for money after the FDF screw up, and struggling to sell off the hardware, it appeared as if the Friggans would not be able to afford a project for the 2023 convention. Jet was most dismayed at not getting in to the exhibition hall early, while for Mackie it was a point of pride to say he was involved in the whole thing. Kotono enjoyed showing off at the booth while Daryl wanted something new and exciting for the armoury. Searching for something to do to keep the Friggan name on people's lips and not fold like some many other small garage builders, they set down to work.
Out of the mess, fuelled by hours of tea, coffee and a low fat snacks. came the idea.
Nobody can quite remember where the it came from. The original sheet of paper has names such as Kzinti Cannon, Fusion Rifle, Plasma Gun and Orion Cannon written on it, but in such a tangled mass of handwriting that nobody can tell who originally wrote it. The basic concept was to take a standard slughtrower cannon, and replace the chemical propellant with a nuclear fusion reaction. Prime advantages were listed... ringed by a coffee stain... as being adjustable on the fly, and being less likely to explode if shot by an enemy.
The first prototype was built into one of the unsold Havocs, replacing the 30mm cannon. It was, ugly, overweight and unreliable. It was little more than a light fusion thruster with the remass injectors and drive field assemblies ripped out, and a new narrow-angle collimator added in to focus the energy from the fusion reaction into a tightly confined beam. The beam would strike the back of an aerogel pusher plate, turning it to plasma in an explosive reaction that would hopefully propel a projectile out of a barrel.
The first prototype fired at less than a hundred meters per second, but with a really cool light show as the still-glowing projectile sped through the atmosphere riding a column of dissipating blue plasma with a wet warbling sound described by Mackie Jaguar as liquid blue death'. The action jammed solid before it could fire a second shot. Another test firing managed to get two shots out of it, before the third round stovepiped.
Weeks of refinement followed, steadily increasing the muzzle velocity and firing rate to match the original cannons. Power consumption was a problem, firing the cannon also ate into the chopper's precious fuel reserves. Reliability was an even bigger issue, with the 'Fusion Cannon' struggling to fire through more than thirty rounds before malfunctioning. Problems with feeding and fusion beam collimation were never properly solved. The aerogel pusher often shed debris which would ultimately jam the action of the cannon. With the 2023 convention date looming, a backup plan was needed.
The first Fusion handgun was finished with a week to spare. Based on the same operating principal, it used a spark fusion initiator taken from a cutting torch mounted to a six-shooter-style revolver frame to propel a modified .45ACP round backed by an aerogel pusher. Power came from an integrated battery in the grip, alongside a small fuel flask containing He3 fuel for the initiator. An adjustable dial on the initiator itself allowed the shooter to select the muzzle velocity of the weapon, from 'safe', to less-lethal velocities, increasing to a rated maximum of just over 400m/s. It requires a chambered round to fire, for safety reasons.
The simpler, six-shooter based weapon proved itself to be much more reliable, limited only by battery life, fuel and the availability of the specialised ammunition. The Cosmo Dragoon name came from a Lejiite who noticed the unintentional similarity to Tetsuro Hoshino's weapon. Not wanting to miss out on a money-making méme, Ford happily announced she would build more, adding a note that 4, and only 4, replicas would ever be constructed.
Each one found its way into the hands of a private collector, individually serial-numbered from one to four. The original unnumbered prototype is kept on Frigga's public firing range for general hire. Daryl Haur uses it as her personal side-arm with her SAM dress uniform. It's rather stylish.
Plans to construct a whole series of Cosmo Guns were quietly shelved when someone actually looked at the costs involved. The five Dragoons and their fusion action would remain unique curiosities. Pursuing the technology in larger-scale was beyond Friggan reach.
Cosmo Dragoon #001 'Kohran' (A Gift to Kohran Li from Noah Scott)
Cosmo Dragoon #002 'Antilles' (Bought by Jeph Antilles, who called in a favour to own one.)
Cosmo Dragoon Sabre:
Cosmo Dragoon #004:
Meta: If anyone wants one of the four originals for whatever reason, they can have one, either by buying one outright or by being close enough to Ford that she'll build you one. There're only four and will only ever be four. Ford sees them more as a halo project to demonstrate what she's capable of achieving, to sell either more Caster replicas or plain-old custom modified handguns.
Anyone who wants to develop the technology further can do so.... Ford thinks it's too unreliable and complex to take further herself and will share details with someone she trusts. It's only real advantage over conventional chemical-propelled weaponry is that the ammunition when stored is effectively inert....and it can be turned down to lower powers. It's not that much faster in muzzle velocity, and is a lot less reliable, while also reliably giving the shooter's exact position away and firing very hot projectile. It's a wild idea....and like most of Friggan hardware... currently being born out of ideas generated by the Battletech Crossover, washed through a filter of 'what do these people know about'.
Anyone with appropriate skills can improve on it and make it work as originally intended, if they should wish to do so that is.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
