Chienalla

The Chienalla weapons project, or more simply, the Chienalla Project or C-series, is a series of weapons both developed and in development by Hawk Industrial Solutions. The primary purpose of this project is to provide cutting-edge weaponry to the military-police forces of Magdora, and eventually the same services of the Conglomerate.

The Chienalla project's primary method of doing this is by use of "railgun" technology- where instead of using projectiles propelled by spring energy or explosive force, the projectile is instead accelerated using high-strength electromagnets. This is why it was given it's name- the word roughly translating to "Polar force", from Old Magdoran.

Given the nature of the weapons, they are much more expensive to own and maintain, compared to traditional firearms and bows, and make heavy use of heatsinks- permanent and disposable- as well as high-capacity battery packs and miniaturized reactors. As time went on, this became increasingly cheaper, and safer- however early models, especially prior to the Magdoran Space Race, were significantly limited in this regard.

## Models

### C1 Emplacement Cannon

The first "functional" model, the C-1 was a roughly 100m long cannon, firing 5m diameter slugs. Initially, it was deemed little more than "A functional example of the technology [H.I.S.] seeks to develop further," as at the time, a cannon of such size had no purpose in the Magdoran security forces. It would however see a return to actual usefulness as a defensive emplacement, once orbital defenses became a serious consideration.

Single-barreled, no major modifications or subvariants. Loaded using an automated conveyor system, based on the facility it is built into. Specific attributes vary.

### C2 - C4 Cannons

Largely minor revisions of the C-1, each being of increasingly smaller sizes. None were small enough to be man-portable, however the C-3 and C-4 were suitable as heavy and medium cannons for vehicles, while the C-2 was significantly more suitable for permanent emplacements, although it was seldom used.

Variants are available for all three models, and were generally loaded using belt feeders or autoloaders.

### C5 Hand-Cannon

The first fully portable model in the series, the C-5 was a short-range pistol that used significantly compacted variants of the existing magnetic launcher and power system designs, and was developed in parallel with other early man-portable Chienalla lines. Unlike many of its siblings however, the launchers were still unrefined when it reached prototyping stage- the accelerators were significantly bulky in comparison to the rest of the weapon, with efforts to reduce its weight directly leading to its state as a single-shot breechloader with a unique "open barrel" design.

No magazine and poor heat management, but delivers powerful blows from rounds of a higher caliber than most of its contemporaries. No revision ever saw widespread use or manufacture, but earned a reputation for the massive damage it could cause on top of its rarity.

### C6 Portable Heavy Weapon System (PHWS)

An overall improvement of acceleration methods, the sixth Chienalla line was envisioned as a fully portable descendant of the first four lines- but was developmentally superseded by the C5. The C6 was nonetheless a success in using the C5's microgenerator systems to further enhance the accelerators originally used in the C4 design to turn what was once a mounted weapon for light vehicles into a shoulder-mounted weapon comparable to a mortar. Later improvements to power systems would improve the effective range of the C6, and allow it to serve in a wider variety of heavy weapon roles.

Variable magazine and load options available, but all revisions suffer reduced range compared to other Chienalla lineages. Weight and size may be prohibitive for some users not wearing assistive armour or regolith systems.

### C7 Anti-Materiel Rifle

The first primary infantry weapon designed for the Chienalla project, the C7 is largely a blend of both the C5 and C6 designs, however in the format of a long-range antimateriel rifle. A single-round weapon like the C5, it makes up for its poor rate of fire by significantly improving on the efficiency of its accelerators and coolants. In fact, while the C5 and C6 used unaided radiators and externally-dependent coolant systems respectively, the C7 was the first to use a largely internal coolant loop- however, all variants of this weapon will require a full servicing after significant use to prevent the cooling system from failing.

Compared to other man-portable Chienalla lines, the C7 is significantly lengthy, but also boasts extreme range and across-the-board projectile performance. It is usually only fielded in spec-ops scenarios.

### C8 "Double-Six" PHWS

Though it did not start as its own lineage, the C8 gained enough notoriety both on individually and with its own branches to be considered an individual series. As its nickname might suggest, the "Double-Six" started out as a modification of the C6 platform- specifically as an experiment with interlinking a pair of duplicate and parallel upper receivers, while also lightening both their intended payloads and charge usage, in an effort to create a heavy weapon with high rates of fire for its size. The techniques and systems developed here were by and large successful, and the C8 would eventually inspire the design of the C11 SAW platform, even though the C8 itself would not see widespread popularity.

This platform has similar coverages and drawbacks as the C6, but is primarily geared towards a heavy machine cannon role.

### C9 Service Rifle

Envisioned as a mainstay weapon for friendly military and police forces across Magdora, the C9 is a highly modular longrifle platform primarily designed for mid-range combat with rounds comparable to other service rifles present on Magdora at the time. Unmodified, it is both middling in size and performance, with access to a decent number of projectile variants. As the platform was designed with modularity in mind however, it is extremely common to see cases of the C9 that have been modified well beyond its original parameters, including but not limited to short-range SMG and marksman rifle conversions.

#### CX Platform

Never intended to be used for anything other than in-house development, the CX platform is maintained as a means of unifying the development process for other mainstay platforms- specifically those that utilize or benefit from components of the C9 lineage. Broadly, the term "CX platform" refers to any purpose-built experimental variant of the C9.

### C10 Rifle

The even longer counterpart to the C9, the C10 is a less modular platform specifically designed for long-distance stealth and scouting operations. Uniquely for the Chienalla project at the time, the C10 was designed to use a partially disposable cooling system, contained in the detachable cylinder. In practice, this allowed for the gun to remain noticeably cooler in even prolonged action, and heatsink replacement was a relatively simple task- however over time it would become apparent that said heatsinks, despite appearing as if they could be recycled without any significant refurbishment, would become progressively unstable over longterm use- and in the most extreme cases, would be liable to explode.

This instability was directly tied back to the usage of experimental Ucrylium-graphite polymers being used as the actual heat storing component. Quickly after this flaw was discovered, all new and refurbished cylinders were refitted to use more traditional cooling systems, however these suffer from significantly reduced heat transfer rates and reusability, and significantly more costly field refurbishment. Heatsinks from the original design were still made available, however- a number of the more colourful users of the C10 saw potential for them as a makeshift explosive device, due to their impressive comparable payload for their size. Heatsinks for intentional detonation are typically paired with a small thermite device as a trigger mechanism.

### C11 SAW

A near-direct descendent of the C8 model, the C11 was designed as a heavy twin-barreled squad automatic weapon (SAW), with the twin barrels primarily allowing for a dramatically increased rate of fire while maintaining a tolerable degradation on both accelerator and receiver assemblies. The C11 platform was designed primarily to be belt-fed, but boxed belts come as standard, and its relatively large bore allows for a variety of exotic munitions to be employed- including semi-dumb micromissiles.

Though the concept was present in early experiments, it wouldn't be until the C11c variant where the C11 gained another notable trait: A third pseudo-"barrel" located in the space between the primary pair. By parasitizing some of the accelerators from each barrel, it was possible to propel a much larger projectile to relatively low, but nonetheless practical speeds, allowing the C11 to have what was in practice an integrated grenade launcher, although other packages and devices would be devised for use with this system over the decades.