Neutron Laser Weaponry

An advanced Dark Age weapons technology, Neutron Lasers are by a large margin the most potent weapon the Trust can deploy en mass, with entire armies of grenadiers being equipped with them as standard. With armor penetration approaching that of plasma, and a truly staggering range, Neutron lasers are the most deadly weapon fit for mass use in human hands, with even the humble Neutron pistol exceeding the armor penetration of an autocannon. Many have noted that as Neutron weapons propagate, the overwhelming dominance of Astartes is beginning to be eroded, as it is the first mainline weapon able to truly threaten a power-armored foe seen since the Dark Age of Technology.

Neutron Laser weapons work by flooding the firing chamber of the barrel with a soup of excited neutrons, before firing a powerful laser pulse. The exact nature of the interaction is a closely guarded Mechanicus secret, but the effect is that the excited neutrons will lock to the photons of the laser beam, and be carried along with it to the target. Through deeply guarded techno arcana, nanoseconds before the laser fires an exotic energy envelope is created, pushing aside air and discouraging the beam from interacting with most particulate matter. This is the key to the Neutron laser's range, as without it the beam would dissipate quite quickly, it is also the key to its accuracy. The energy envelope can to a degree shape the path of the shot, allowing for fine control over the vector. by default an aim assist will allow solders to make full use of the weapons range, but patterns exist that allow soldiers manual control over the envelope, allowing from elite troops to achieve seemingly impossible feats of marksmanship.

Most Neutron weapons can be fired in either pulse or beam mode. Pulse will fire a single bolt of searing emerald light, and is typically used when engaging heavy infantry, vehicles, or targets near maximum range. While this mode posses staggering penetration it is often overkill against lightly armored foes. Beam mode fires a longer duration shot, spreading its energy out over several seconds. Allowing for a soldier to sweep a searing beam over their foes, burning a swath through targets to lightly armored to call for a pulse shot. Many models of Neutron weapons come with preset sweep patterns for longer ranges, where the envelope will tilt the beam, allowing for narrow sweeps even against distant targets.

## Pistols

### **Neutron Laspistol**

The smallest Neutron weapon in the trusts arsenal, the Neutron Laspistol is a shockingly potent sidearm, able to easily burn through carapace at rifle ranges and do significant damage to power armor at close range. It is particularly deadly in cramped quarters, as a close-range beam sweep from it has been known to turn hallways into steaming charnel houses.

### **Neutron Lascutter**

Instead of increasing the already acceptable power of the weapon, the increased power to size ratio was instead used to make the Neutron Lascutter far less unwieldy. Reworking the ergonomics and reducing the weight to only somewhat more than a chainsword, thereby turning a breaching tool into a true melee weapon.

## Rifles

### **Neutron Lascarbine**

A weapon for second-line units and milita sharpshooters by DAoT standards, the Neutron Lascarbine was created to be a weapon light enough to use without power armor capable of breaching Trooper armor. Optimized for pulse settings, it is adequate at this task, able to breach all but the most protected sections of trooper armor on a clean hit. By modern standards, it is a devastating rifle, with almost as much punch as an autocannon shot, able to burn down light vehicles and even Astartes with massed volleys.

### **Neutron Lasrifle**

In brighter ages, the Neutron Lasrifle was the mainline weapon for the professional soldiers of established human powers instead of limited only to the elite. It was built from the ground up for a power armored soldier, using either a direct power tap into its user's armor, or an extremely dense and heavy power pack. This gives the weapon a massive ammunition capacity allowing it to maintain a high sustained rate of fire. Most patterns include an electronic scope designed to interface with its wielder's armor, allowing it to maintain accuracy even at sniper rifle ranges. It is the weapon of choice for the marines of the Imperial Trust, as well as the fearsome Helguard. Many rogue Astartes have found, to their brief surprise, that this weapon is capable of leaving their accursed armor fatally compromised in only a few hits, something that the marines of the Varangian guard have taken full advantage of. Against lesser foes, the carnage wrought by the constant killing sweeps of this weapon is almost beyond belief.

### Neutron stormer

Advanced armor is notably stronger than its predecessor, allowing marines to easily carry more than a single heavy rifle as a main armament. Taking inspiration from the storm bolter of old, the Neutron stormer is essentially two neutron rifles in a single case. The weapon weighs somewhat less than two Neutron rifles, though costs somewhat more. Most examples of this weapon that exist are master crafted, though more mass producible variants for widespread use among veterans have entered service.

### Twin storm rifle

a derivative of the Neutron stormer, the twin storm rifle takes the same concept in a different direction. Instead of adding a second Neutron rifle, it adds a volkolite charger. While the initial intention was to create a weapon able to easily deal with either armored foes, or masses of softer targets, the marines soon realized firing the weapons in sequence would often allow the volkite to strike a recently compromised section of the enemies armor. Latter designs would work to maximize this by closely aligning the barrel, though using a single firing point so far is limited to masterwork versions of this weapon. Much like the Neutron stormer,

### **Wind-Rider Pattern Neutron Rifle**

Designed by the White Scars for use by their biker formations. The Wind-Rider is a high precision sniper rifle that takes advantage of an Astartes incredible reflexes to maintain a high rate of fire, a feat previously only achieved by the Tau’s own Sniper Drones and legendary figures such as Sergeant Telion of the Ultramarines. Combined with the advanced targeting systems pioneered by the Catachan Plasma Commandos’ own snipers, the Wind-Rider has proven to be a formidable weapon.

### **Heavy Neutron Lascutter**

A further refinement of the Neutron Lascutter, the Heavy variant scales the weapon up, creating a potent but surprisingly small close quarters combat weapon. It acts as a secondary weapon for walkers, enabling an arm bearing a ranged weapon to be equipped with a potent melee weapon, or a last resort breaching tool should a walker find itself faced with fortifications beyond its more long ranged armaments capabilities

## Heavy Weapons

### **Neutron Repeater**

Similar in size and function to a multilaser, the Neutron Repeater is optimized for rapid-fire. Using a neutron chamber optimized for rapid refilling, it is meant to gun down masses of power armored infantry. By default, the Neutron Repeater fires in quarter-second sweeps with almost no gap between shots. The length of the sweep is easily adjustable, with a minimum length of a tenth of a second, while at maximum length the beam fires continuously, arcing madly through its foes. With penetration equal to a lascannon at minimum sweep length, a rate of fire on par with a multilaser, and an impressive range, an emplaced Neutron Repeater is capable of burning down entire squads of Astartes over open ground. While intended as an infantry killer, its impressive penetration allows it to effectively engage up to medium tanks. Patterns exist which are optimized for engaging aircraft, using the extreme range and accuracy of the Neutron Repeater to wipe entire squadrons of light and medium aircraft from the sky.

### **Neutron Cannon**

A heavy weapon similar in many respects to a lascannon, the Neutron Cannon is a devastatingly effective anti-tank weapon. The Neutron Cannon uses a more complex energy envelope to better suit its role as a tank hunter, though this does mean that it cannot be fired as a beam. Thanks to its complex energy envelope, the pulse of a Neutron cannon is less than a finger's width across and can be delivered with pinpoint accuracy from kilometers away. The extreme compression of the neutrons serves to amplify both armor penetration and damage. Milliseconds after impact the envelope will fail, and the neutrons will begin to repel each other, resulting in an explosion of energized neutrons. Against most targets this results in a devastating blast within the vehicle's internals, incinerating crew and cooking off munitions. Against super heavy targets, this results in the blast occurring within its armor plates, often compromising a large section of its armor to create openings for follow up shots. Much like the Neutron Repeater, patterns exist that are optimized for engaging airborne targets, exploiting the Neutron Cannon's staggering range and accuracy to strike them down. When used in this pattern the energy envelope is modified to fail at set distances, with shots expanding into deadly thermal blooms should they miss their target, allowing it to threaten light and medium aircraft with even near misses. However, its intended prey is heavy and super-heavy aircraft, as almost no flying designs bear armor heavy enough to survive a direct hit from a Neutron Cannon.

### **Neutron Talon**

While the Neutron Talon nearly mirrors the las talon, exchanging range for rate of fire, the increased punch has caused a notable shift in its use. While it remains a deadly dog fighting weapon, the increased potency and range has widened its niche. While still only somewhat useful for ground attack, the increased punch has made it incredibly effective against super heavy flyers such as landers or thunder hawks.

## Very Heavy Weapons

### **Heavy Neutron Repeater**

A scaled-up Neutron repeater, the heavy Nutron repeater uses a complex firing chamber to feed three arrays from a single large neutron chamber. While incapable of pulse fire, it can achieve a similar effect by focusing all three beams along the same path, achieving armor penetration beyond that of even a battle cannon shell. The Neutron repeater is equally effective against both fallen Astartes and medium tanks, with its arcing beam able to reduce both to burned-out semi-molten husks. Against lightly armored targets the beams diverge, each sweeping in wide arcs as the energy envelopes send them scything wildly through their foes. While not intended for the role, the weapons range and broad sweeping fire make it an effective AA weapon, and units bearing them can often provide a degree of personal protection against aircraft.

### **Heavy Neutron Cannon**

A scaled-up Neutron cannon, the Heavy Neutron cannon is a staggeringly potent anti-tank weapon, able to destroy heavy tanks and damage super heavy targets. Incapable of beam fire, it is limited to pulse mode though it has a surprisingly high rate of fire for its role. Forsaking the complex energy envelope of the smaller neutron cannon, it instead relies upon thermal blooming. Once a shot punches through a vehicle's armor the energy envelope degrades, allowing the beam to interact with the atmosphere inside the target, often resulting in a conflagration as the air flash ignites. Even the vaunted armor of the mighty land raider offers only limited protection against the Heavy Neutron Cannons furious light. While by no means intended as an anti-infantry weapon, its relatively high rate of fire for an anti-tank weapon, and staggering penetration and accuracy make it surprisingly well suited for picking off super heavy infantry such as terminators in small numbers. More than one squadron of terminators have found themselves picked off one by one by the weapon that destroyed the land raider carrying them.

### **Neutron Destroyer Array**

This quad barreled weapon that focuses all four barrels upon a single point to achieve overwhelming penetration. The upgrade to neutron has dramatically increased both range and damage of this weapon. The initial weapon's penetration was sufficient to allow a rapier mounted weapon to threaten heavy tanks. Enhanced with neutron technology, it is now able to pierce even titan armor with some reliability. However, the limited damage means a full battery is needed to significantly threaten titans.

### **Lernean Neutron Cannon Array**

While over strength and overpriced to cost effectively engage lighter airframes, this array of 4 Neutron cannons can obliterate even the most durable super heavy aircraft in seconds. While this leaves it remarkably specialized, within its area of focus it is without peer

## Ordinance Weapons

### **Neutron Destroyer**

A Neutron weapon sized to be a tanks main gun, the Neutron Destroyer is designed from the ground up to obliterate heavy and super heavy targets. While heavily optimized for pulse fire, it is capable of short duration beam sweeps, though this is primarily intended to maximize damage against targets whose armor does not merit a full-power shot, such as Leman Russ tanks. The ability to use the energy envelope to make minute aim adjustments gives the weapon staggering accuracy, allowing a skilled operator to strike weak points on targets kilometers away, or fire accurately on the move. Able to reliably penetrate a land raider's armor in a single shot, and deal major damage to most super heavy targets, the Neutron Destroyer is quite possibly the most potent anti-armor weapon for its size in use by humanity.

### **Arachnus Neutron Cannon Array**

A surprisingly simple upgrade, the signature las cannon of the Deredeo Dreadnought seemed to use a number of design elements found in many neutron weapons, as such converting them was surprisingly simple. Some wonder if this suggests the STC for it was an incorrectly reassembled neutron weapon design, but it is equally likely to simply be a case of convergent design. Whatever the truth, it has been buried under tens of thousands of years of history, and is likely to remain a minor point of contention for argumentative Magos indefinitely.

## Heavy Ordinance Weapons

### **Neutron Annihilator**

A massive weapon scaled for usage by knights and heavy tanks, the Neutron Annihilator is one of the most deadly sub titan weapons known to mankind. Able to vaporize a land raider or cripple a baneblade with a direct hit, it's lethality is further enhanced by its staggering accuracy. The Annihilator's energy envelopes possess finer control than any other neutron weapon over the trajectory of the shot, something Dark age targeting cogitators take full advantage of. At long range most patterns are capable of plunging fire, striking their foes from above to attack the thinner top armor. When supplemented by forward observers, and striking from maximum range, skilled gunners are able to achieve seemingly impossible feats of marksmanship. In one now-famous case, crippling an oncoming warhound by arcing a shot up the barrel of its plasma blast gun. While far less lethal at close range, it remains a deadly accurate and overwhelmingly powerful anti-tank gun. A common variant enlarges the Neutron firing chamber to achieve yet greater power and penetration. However such overcharged Annihilators are extraordinarily power hungry and have a notably slower firing rate, they are however even more deadly as a longe range anti super heavy weapon.

## Titan Weapons

### **Neutron Obliterator**

The largest Neutron weapon recovered from the sword of surtur, intended for use in superheavy units it is an immensely powerful and long-ranged super heavy killer. While it lacks the finesse of the Neutron Annihilator, it still poses sufficiently fine control to maintain extreme accuracy up to its respectable maximum range, with skilled gunners able to reach slightly over the horizon by expertly curving the beam. Despite being approximately the size of the turbo laser, the Neutron Obliterator is only slightly less potent than the massive volcano cannon, allowing for a weapon worthy of a warlord to be mounted on super heavies as small as a baneblade without issue. Warhounds packs carying this weapon have become a terror on the battlefield, able to engage and destroy larger titans that would once be utterly beyond them.

## Naval Weapons

Found in one of the Data-Jewels on Roskilde, these weapons are complex with an enormous power draw. The designs are prototypes intended for use with an annihilation reactor. The designs found were works in progress, riddled with flaws making them non-viable as combat weapons, although with the potential to be a powerful and exceedingly long ranged weapon for those ships able to supply them with power, once the flaws are worked out.

After decades of effort the Paragon of Las, Archmagos Lataminus of Callamus Forge Empire, has managed to surpass the scientists of the Dark Age of Technology and apply the Neutron Laser principles in void combat. Peer in power to the dreaded Phased Plasma Projector Batteries mounted on the Deus Superdreadnought, the Neutron Lance is to it what a mundane lance is to weapon batteries. It is larger and even more power hungry, but in exchange its more powerful shots can penetrate even heavier armors, and its considerably higher accuracy makes it a great boon for long ranged Hypercapital ships. This technology was shared with the rest of the forces of Sanity during the third Grand Conclave.

## Hive Neutron Guns

One of the offshoots arising from the development of the Naval Lance are these massive naval-scale Neutron Weaponry intended to take full advantage of a hive’s far superior reactor capacity to mount truly gargantuan Neutron Weaponry intended to take full advantage of the unique properties of Neutron Laser for a truly extreme range. One of them being that at this scale, pulse-firing can effectively strike ships bombarding the hive for considerable effect, or simply joining the hive’s artillery against far-off targets, forcing enemies to close in lest they be slowly picked off by gigantic bolts of searing emerald from afar.

There are several issues inherent to the Hive Neutron Gun, however. First, it has a considerable effective minimum range arising from the modifications needed to achieve its extreme maximum range to begin with (it effectively only fires in pulse mode), with shots within that minimum losing a huge amount of concentration and power, as well as it’s scale and power requirements, which means that even hives cannot build very many of them.

## Force Neutron Guns

A difficult weapon to produce, the Force Neutron Gun allows a psyker to apply their psychic power through the lens of a ranged weapon as opposed to a melee one. There are some odd limitations, most notably needing an unbroken ‘beam’ contact with the target for the psyker to fully channel their psychic power against an enemy, leading some to consider this weapon as strictly speaking an extremely extended force melee weapon.