Z - 6 rotary blaster cannon / Legends The Z - 6 rotary blaster cannon was a powerful rotating blaster cannon chaingun developed by Merr - Sonn Munitions and used during the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War . Description . The Z - 6 rotary blaster cannon was a heavy weapon that fired a massive spray of blaster bolts at a target . It was similar to a heavy repeating blaster , except it was light enough to be operated by a single heavy weapon specialist without a tripod . The Z - 6 was large and unwieldy and required training to use effectively . Working around a basic limitation in capabilities inherent in typical man - portable blaster weapons , the Z - 6 incorporated a rotary assembly of six barrels , each with its own actuating chamber , wrapped around a coolant - lined core . The galven circuitry used in the blaster meant that the Z - 6 had both a high cyclic discharge rate and good cooling , allowing for a tremendous sustained rate of fire ( up to roughly 166 discrete full - powered shots per second ) . Despite its impressive firepower , the weapon had several notable limitations , specifically the high rate of energy pack consumption , significant weight , and powerful recoil . The weapon is thus considered a special - issue arm deployed in specific situations , rather than a general purpose weapon . Efforts by Merr - Sonn to counteract its limitations were not completely successful , and variants that addressed those issues tended to end up being trade - offs . Clone trooper Hevy used the Z - 6 during his training as well as on the Rishi moon outpost . When approaching the command center , the gun had jammed on him . The rotary blaster cannon required a power pack to operate ; after 200 shots , the power pack must be replaced . This weapon could also be attached to a power generator for longer use . It weighed 16 kg and cost 5 , 500 credits , but its sale was restricted for military use only . History . Coming to prominence at the dawn of the Clone Wars , the Z - 6 rotary blaster cannon was popular among the clone troopers of the Galactic Republic because it allowed the wielder to cover a greater fire arc with a single burst . A member of the Muunilinst 10 operated a Z - 6 cannon during the mission to rescue a Jedi from General Grievous on Hypori during the Clone Wars , as the weapon was usually issued to ARC heavy gunners . Jek brought his Z - 6 to the Battle of Rugosa . During a counter - terrorism operation , Corr wielded a Z - 6 to great effect . At least one more was wielded during the Separatist invasion of Coruscant in 19 BBY in order to defend Sector Four against masses of battle droids . Furthermore , a member of the Black Ops task force used one to destroy landspeeders on Coruscant . During the Kamino Uprising , many ARC Troopers wielded it against the Empire . A clone rookie named Hevy used a Z - 6 as his weapon of choice . The Z - 6 was also used heavily by elite soldiers of Jedi General Rahm Kota ' s Militia . Master Kota , who was distrustful of the Clone Army during the Clone Wars , chose to make use of his own specially trained militia . Many of these elite soldiers would effectively utilize the Z - 6 repeating blaster in many of their raids after the Great Jedi Purge , including the Battle of the TIE Fighter Construction Facility above Nar Shaddaa . The Rebel Alliance also made use of Z - 6 rotary blasters . Behind the scenes . The Z - 6 is essentially a blaster equivalent of real - world miniguns found aboard combat helicopters . They use multi - barrelled assemblies to achieve incredible rates of fire , sometimes up to 10 , 000 rounds - per - minute . The notion of a soldier - carried minigun was popularized in the film Predator , which inspired numerous other movies and video games featuring burly soldiers hefting along " chainguns . " In reality , the recoil , weight and ammunition consumption of such weapons make it impossible to be carried by a soldier . Karen Traviss first named this weapon . In " " , there is a variant called a " Chaingun " used by the clone commander class , but it is a shoulder - mounted weapon instead . In the book , the Z - 6 rotary blaster cannon was incorrectly called a quad cannon . In the game , the Z - 6 rotary blaster cannon was also incorrectly called a minigun . In " " , the Z - 6 rotary cannon is referred to as the chaingun .