Category: Weapons

NPB Neutralizer OXZ


== Galcop's Open Secret ==

Galcop reports that its Neutralizer NPB, now being retrofitted to Police Vipers and Viper Interceptors, is a '''Neutral Particle Beam''' weapon that works by accelerating hydrogen atoms to near-light speed and then neutralizing their charge. Upon hitting a target, the high-energy particles penetrate deep into a ship's structure, depositing their energy '''inside''' critical systems like electronics and power conduits.

This causes '''catastrophic internal damage''' - frying computers, disabling power generation, and knocking out weapons, engines, and other critical systems - while throwing relatively little energy as surface heat. In complete contrast to the external burning and blasting effect of a conventional laser, the NPB leaves its target a '''powerless, drifting derelict''' without triggering fatal explosions in fuel supply or ordinance. 

Such '''soft-kill''' capability, where the ship is disabled but intact, was a key factor and a spur to Galcop, whose Black Labs invested considerable time and resources into developing and perfecting it. 

Because NPB <i>is</i> the perfect first-strike and last-resort enforcer. A sustained well-aimed burst can render the offending vessel essentially salvage. The resulting derelict, along with its surviving crew, can be boarded or towed back to Station for processing and penalties. No funerals (or not so many). Win-Win.

Rights to mount NPB Neutralizers are granted under Galcop contract. Such a license is issued solely to members of the Police SDD-Network, along with permissions to deploy Ship Defence Drones (SDD). 

It scarcely needs emphasizing that an applicant's legal record must be Clean. And yes, that's a Capital C. Galcop's Civilian SDD Authority's screening and vetting border on merciless. Relatively few applicants are accepted for final consideration. And this technology is not particularly cheap. Galcop is not 'giving away' its Neutralizers (unlike their SDDs).


