MercTech: Particle Projector Cannon

## General overview

While in terms of general function Merctech's PPCs are virtually identical to their vanilla counterparts, a number of toggleable alternate modes was added to provide additional functionalities in emergencies:

Inhibitor disabled: This allows the PPC to fire at a target within its minimum range, although doing so brings the risk of damaging the weapon itself from feedback damage. As the ERPPC and Snub-Nose PPC don't have minimum ranges, they don't have inhibitors to disable.

Overcharge: Disables the safeties on the weapon, allowing you to charge-up the weapon to deal significantly increased damage. Bare in mind that the weapon's components were not designed to withstand this kind of output, so the radiation generated will disrupt mech systems, and damage to the weapon is likely, especially with frequent firings. Use this only in emergencies, unless you want the chief tech to give you one when he inspects the weapon.

## Weapon types

### Particle Projector Cannon (PPC):

Introduced roughly at the same time as the Mackie, the original battlemech, the PPC would prove itself a reliable and devastating weapon, often seen on heavier units. The PPC would survive the devastation of the Succession Wars, remaining a common weapon on the post-Star League battlefield. Its presence on newer units would slowly wane as newer, more specialized variants of the PPC would enter production.

### Extended-Range Particle Projector Cannon (ERPPC):

Introduced by the Star League, the ERPPC boasts greatly improved range and accuracy over the standard model. This comes at the expense of massive heat generation, greater than any other weapon in use by the Star League Defense Force, although the use of Double Heat Sinks helps to circumvent this issue. Improvements in the emitter has also eliminated the feedback issue present in the original model when fired within a certain range, eliminating the need for a field inhibitor.

While the Inner Sphere would lose the capability to produce the ERPPC during the Succession wars, with production resuming just before the Clan Invasion, the Clans would refine the ERPPC, reducing its weight and size, as well as boosting the damage output by half-again that of the original. This model would remain the only type of PPC in use by the Clans, even with the bevy of new variants introduced by the Inner Sphere.

### Light Particle Projector Cannon (LPPC):

Introduced by the Draconis Combine in 3067, the Light PPC is essentially a downscaled PPC. Less than half the weight and smaller than a standard PPC, the Light PPC allows lighter units to mount a long-ranged energy weapon, although at the expense of having roughly half the damage output. Since it is based on the original PPC, the Light PPC retains its feedback issues if fired at close range, necessitating the need for an inhibitor to prevent accidental damage to the weapon.

### Heavy Particle Projector Cannon (HPPC):

At the opposite spectrum of the Light PPC, the Heavy PPC is an upscaled PPC. Created in an attempt to match the sheer damage potential of the Clans' superior PPC, the Heavy PPC has half-again the damage output of the standard PPC, like the Clan ERPPC, but is nearly half-again as heavy, generates 50% more heat with prolonged fire, all while retaining the its range and feedback issues. Despite these drawbacks, the Heavy PPC has become a popular weapon across the Inner Sphere, as many want the extra firepower in a battlefield where mechs are becoming increasingly more durable thanks to new technologies.

### Snub-Nose Particle Projector Cannon (SNPPC):

Originally prototyped by the Star-League Defense Force, with some evidence that General Kerensky himself had one equipped on his Orion, the Snub-Nose PPC features a redesigned emitter that cuts down on the weapon's weight and bulk, at the cost of significant loss of damage over distance. Finally entering production in the late 3060s, the Snub-Nose PPC is steadily replacing standard PPCs in mechs that prefer to fight up close and want the extra weight and space for other equipment.