DEW: Direct Energy Weapons

== The Direct Energy Weapon Series ==
=== The History Of DEWs ===
DEW’s were first made when 'Fedorlite' was discovered in the aftermath of the first resource war. Thanks to the discovery that the AEGIS Research Division (ARD) made at an undisclosed location, Fedorium seemed to solve humanity’s problem. However, some things have another purpose and Fedorlite’s other purpose was weaponry. Fedorlite was a precious and near unlimited resource, and thus, ARD set to make weapons with the newly acquired resource. The Advanced Weapons Development Project and multiple other projects were created to make weaponry using the newly acquired resource, with the AWD project being one of the more well-known and successful ones. The early prototypes made during the projects were called DEWs (Direct Energy Weapons) as they fired powerful plasma beams. These weapons did not have any of the problems that a regular firearm would have, such as worrying about the bullet's weight, trajectory, distance, or even firing power. These weapons were powerful and would revolutionize the world for years to come.
=== How DEWs function ===
==== Power Management ====
DEWs are powered by energy cells that use a more volatile form of Fedorium created through a special refining process. Although this power source is less efficient overall, it can output insane amounts of energy over a short period. Once the trigger is pulled, a signal is sent through the gun that starts a reaction, charging up the energy cell. Once that built-up energy passes the EXB threshold, it releases that energy, either all at once, like in the DEW-1S or in tiny increments, such as in the DEW-4HM. Fedorlite energy works uniquely, as it builds up power exponentially, rather than adding onto power. Once an electrical current strong enough is pushed through Fedorlite it will immediately blow up with an explosive blast. This point is called the EXB threshold. To prevent accidents when firing the DEW, Specialized training was required but in the aftermath of the wars, the specialized training was simplified to an advanced manual on how to use it. 
To prevent the energy cell from completely blowing up once the trigger is pulled, two safeguards were kept in place, one being two power suppressors which are found in the energy cells themselves on both sides, and the other being mini batteries (MBs). 
The MBs store the electrical current in a small, capsule-like container which is loaded into the energy cell. Once it is locked in place and the trigger is pulled, the outer layer of the battery disintegrates, and the energy starts to run through the Fedorium which, as stated before, exponentially increases the Fedorlite in the energy cell, but, when do the power suppressors come in? If the Fedorlite was left unchecked, the energy cell would easily cross the EXB threshold, but power suppressors completely solve this issue. Once they detect the EXB threshold is about to be breached, they fire a signal, which counteracts the energy in the energy cell, effectively stopping it from building up. This may sound like a complicated process, but it is all done in milliseconds of time. Now, this may be how the gun fires, but why do some guns only fire one shot while others fire hundreds of shots? The simple answer is splitters, and it does exactly what it sounds like. 
Once the trigger is pulled and the energy cell is charged up, the energy cell pushes the charged up energy through something called a splitter. For primitive DEWs like the DEW-1S the splitter was never added, which is why it can only fire one shot. For more advanced DEWs like the DEW-4HM a splitter is primary for function. Each splitter pushes a different amount of energy which gives the DEW its ammo count.
==== Heat Ventilation ====
With the immense amount of energy a DEW discharges, even if just a minor percentage of the energy was lost and converted to heat, it would still reach temperatures far exceeding the melting point of most materials. To solve this, DEWs have a chamber near the beginning, where the plasma beam is fired, that extracts all the thermal energy as well as any superheated air that comes into contact with the beam. As the heat released by the DEW is so immense, there is no effective material medium to conduct it. To solve this, air is used to direct the heat into the chamber mentioned earlier, where it will be vented when needed. Two air compressors manage the ventilation of the air, however only one of them is on at any given time, if both compressors were to fail, the DEW would melt in your hands and likely explode. DEWs have specially designed heat vents on both sides which are clearly marked to ensure that you steer far from them. 
On different models, the threshold until ventilation is required changes. On the DEW-1S, it is required after any discharge, and on DEWs like the 5SS, it could go through 3 cells before needing to be vented. With all of this aside, however, almost all DEWs are vented while they are being reloaded, as that is simply more convenient. Although rather horrifying, the heat ventilated from DEWs can easily melt bone, scorch concrete, and can even cauterize wounds, one of its emergency uses if all other efforts fail on a life-threatening wound.
=== Direct Energy Weapon Lore ===
==== DEW-1S: The Eminusque ====
The DEW-1S isn’t like any other weapon, it isn’t even like the other Direct Energy Weapons. The DEW-1S holds only one shot, but this shot is enough to destroy a VTOL, and go through any surface known to man, but why? The DEW-1S was never meant to be used on a living, breathing person, but rather it was created as an anti-tank weapon. Unlike other DEWs which split the Fedorlite power source (thus allowing these DEWs to fire multiple shots), the DEW-1S uses all it’s Fedorium energy to fire one powerful shot, with the only downside being that the Fedorlite must be cooled down and replenished before being used again. The DEW-1S is also known as the father of all DEWS due to it being the first of its kind. The DEW-1S was never meant to be a small sniper, as its original intent was to be a tank armament. 
The first working Prototype known as DEW-PA9 resembled the shape of a tank turret and for a while, this was its purpose, it tore through everything and its explosive power could destroy any substance of its time. As time went on, as more DEW-PA9 copies were made, it started to become more and more expensive, and since replenishing the massive Fedorlite power source after every shot put too much strain on resources, the DEW-PA9 project was put on hold and eventually discontinued. This soon changed when a researcher with the name of [REDACTED] started to look into the DEW-PA9 design and found out that the power source could be minimized into a smaller version which, after many attempts, gave birth to the DEW-1S.
Buy here: [DoD] DEW-1S - The Eminusque
==== DEW-2R: The Goliath ====
The DEW-2R is the first pistol weapon in the DEW Series to have multiple plasma beam shots and be lightweight thanks to breakthroughs at both the projects and the prototypes. Unfortunately, due to it having to split the Fedorlite power source and its firing of deconcentrated plasma beams, the effectiveness of the weapon dropped significantly. It was the first DEW to fire deconcentrated plasma beams unlike the DEW-1S, and the DEW was meant for personnel rather than being used against armored vehicles. 
It would be common, with both raider factions and officers, until an unknown more advanced weapon found at [REDACTED] was modded significantly with the 2-R components.
Buy here: [DoD] DEW-2R [The Goliath]
==== DEW-3C: The Centurion ====
The DEW-3C was the first mass-produced DEW thanks to recent breakthroughs in prototypes, and it was more efficient due to advanced energy accelerators. It was the fastest firing until the DEW-4HM was created, which boasts the second-highest damage by plasma beams before the DEW-1S. Thanks to the mass production of the DEW-3C, the DEW was common with AEGIS and even more common with the combat divisions. 
The blueprints, schematics, and the weapons themselves were transported to the 34B Bunker (Gamer Bunker). When VRAXIS took over the 34B Bunker, all of the schematics, blueprints, and the DEW itself was later found and used by both VRAXIS and other Wastelanders.
Buy here: [DoD] DEW-3C [The Centurion]
==== DEW-4HM: The Vulkan ====
The DEW-4HM was based on the M61-Vulcan in both design and performance. The DEW-4HM surpassed the DEW-3C in fire rate and although the over splitting of the Fedorlite power source causes the 4HM’s fire rate to drastically increase and its DPPB (Damage Per Plasma Beams) is higher than any other DEW. It has only been used as heavy armament due to the 150 Plasma Beams and the high fire rate creating heavy recoil. Some raiders have however modded the DEW-4HM to be lightweight and AEGIS also has a number of the portable DEW-4HMs both in its storage and in the hands of AEGIS Personnel. 
After finding out the success of the raiders’ modded DEW-4HM, AEGIS ,to this day, are still trying to modify the DEW-4HM to be lightweight on their own with no success currently. In terms of usage, the DEW-4HM is rarely used by both AEGIS and raiders and although it is a powerful DEW, it still has limits.
Buy here: [DoD] DEW-4HM - The Vulkan
====DEW-5SS: The Obelisk ====
The DEW-5SS was the first DEW to have both an Energy accelerator and a prototype of a plasma beam splitter that wouldn't make all the Fedorlite energy focus into one plasma beam, but split the plasma beams as soon as it fired, creating multiple smaller plasma beams, though this would decrease its effectiveness. The DEW-5SS was created for a reason to penetrate steel and laser shields, topple monuments and destroy automated defenses. 
The DEW required specialized training due to it having high recoil when fired and the experimental plasma beam splitter that could overheat and possibly explode, which happened once during the testing phase of the DEW-5SS. It is the (currently) last in the DEW series and the rarest DEW as it was created in the aftermath of the second resource war, and most of the leftovers from the second resource war were either destroyed, missing, or were taken by raiders during border raids. 
It is the most expensive DEW in the series due to its scarcity and the DEW-5SS uses a special and rare plasma beam splitter that is especially rare and hard to recreate without blueprints or schematics. There’s currently no known surviving blueprint or schematic from the second resource war.
Buy here: [DoD] DEW-5SS - The Obelisk