Black Rose

A devastating portable fusion-powered plasma cannon created by Maytec in order to tip the balance in an arms race being won, at the time, by fullerene armour.
As Maytec had claimed mineral rights to Mars (as the first to create a permanent base there), and the CAS ignored said claims, Maytec brokered a deal with the CORE to enforce their rights, even though Maytec had their own army. At first, the CORE was not interested in the deal as a losing proposition, but Maytec offered them exclusive rights to the Black Rose, still in development, which the CORE gladly accepted.
A few years into the conflict, however, the CORE and the Anarchists were at a stalemate, with neither side able to advance over the other. The CORE, suffering great losses, was ready to withdraw when Maytec finally released the Black Rose Mk1: a two-part weapon consisting of the backpack holding the miniature fusion reactor and the gun that draws plasma from the pack and fires it with magnet-powered acceleration. The name comes from the "rose" of constantly "twitching" magnets that controls the supersonic plasma flow from the gun barrel that instantly vaporises even fullerene armour.
Of course, there were drawbacks, as a result of Maytec conducting minimal testing before releasing it to the CORE in order to keep them on Mars, and minimal training given on the Black Rose's operation. Initially, operators encountered fatal difficulties handling the weapon's massive recoil. Then design flaws revealed even deadlier problems, as—unlike in large scale fusion reactors, where a power failure would cause fusion to stop harmlessly—the miniature reactors would spill hot plasma inside the sealed confines of the backpack and superheat it, causing pressure build-up leading to an explosion, killing the operator and anyone nearby, and giving radiation poisoning to anyone who survived. Even without reactor failure, the connecting pipe tended to burst, and overall the Black Rose ended up killing more of its allies than its enemies.
Furious at the losses, the CORE left Mars despite Maytec releasing a Mk2, and the CORE's absence allowed the Anarchists to take over large sections of Maytec-controlled territory. The Black Rose was recalled and banned, although on occasion there are reports of gun nut collectors blowing themselves up in a shower of radioactive shrapnel.
The 220 model can allegedly kill you just by looking at it funny.
Category:Maytec
Category:Weapons