Gauss Rifles
The Gauss Rifle: A Pilot's Worst Enemy | |
|---|---|
| In-Universe Media by Matthew Cross | |
 | |
| Publication | |
| Published | 15 September 2020 |
| Published in | Shrapnel Issue 2 |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Pages | 4 |
| Chronology | |
| Era | Dark Age era |
| Timeline | 18 September 3125 |
{{#set:Era=Dark Age era}}{{#set:Start date=18 September 3125}}{{#set:End date=18 September 3125}}
The Gauss Rifle: A Pilot's Worst Enemy is a transcript of an in-universe lecture held by the New Avalon Institute of Science's College of Military Science on the Inner Sphere-grade Gauss Rifle and its derivatives. It was written by Matthew Cross and published in the second issue of Shrapnel.
Plot Summary
Dr Kiran Suzuki hosts the fourth of a series of lectures as part of "BME 210: Advanced Weaponry Engineering for MechWarriors" this time discussing the ubiquitous Gauss Rifle. Suzuki touches on the history of the weapon, its "LosTech" construction and basic operating principles as well as warning of both its benefits but also negatives to the firer; the sheer electrical power required to fire the weapon being problematic for BattleMechs not designed to properly support them let alone the issues caused for ICE-powered combat vehicles.
Suzuki then moves on to talk about the BattleMech-scale variants of the weapon developed by Inner Sphere, briefly discussing the Light Gauss Rifle before focusing on the problems and complexities of the massive Heavy Gauss Rifle and its expensive and even heavier Improved version. Next Suzuki discusses a less well-known variant of the weapon, the Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle, and the reasons for its lower popularity over the standard model.
The transcript concludes with Suzuki preparing the cadets for laboratory exercises with real 'Mechs and weaponry so they may learn first hand of things like the "power-loss stutter" caused by firing Gauss Rifles not quite adequately evident in simulators, but not before they undertake an in-depth review of the design specifications of the NAIS Mk. I Gauss Rifle first.
Featured Characters
Featured BattleTech
BattleMechs
- AS7-S3 Atlas (mentioned)
- Blackjack OmniMech B (mentioned)
- Stinger (mentioned)
- CRN-7M Carronade (mentioned)
Vehicles
- Demolisher Heavy Tank (Gauss Variant) (mentioned)
- Yellow Jacket Gunship VTOL (mentioned)
Featured Places
- New Avalon
- Solaris VII (mentioned)
Notes
- Dr. Kiran Suzuki was a canon character created by 2019 Clan Invasion crowdfunding campaign backers Jonathan Lung..