Meson Guns

The Meson gun is starship weapon that utilizes subatomic particles with a short half-life. These particles, called mesons, are formed by a quark and an antiquark bound together by strong interaction. They are accelerated and flung toward a target by the weapons system. The most damage occurs once the particles decay inside the target; they cause internal explosions and give off radiation. Energized shields can stop these particles along with the fact that atmospheric conditions will render this weapon ineffective.

The mesons are generated by colliding of electrons (matter) and positrons (antimatter), resulting in a stream of pi neutral mesons. Being electrically neutral, these particle beams are not deflected by magnetic fields, and do not disperse as fast as charged particle beams.

History

Meson Cannons were first used in the Hemmoian First Class light cruiser design, as well as the Gigerdian Confederal class medium attack destroyer. Later, they were used by the Texian Hive in the Algernon class medium cruiser.