NPB Neutralizer OXZ

Galcop's Open Secret

Galcop reports that its Neutralizer NPB, now being retrofitted to Police SDD Mambitas, and planned for Vipers and Viper Interceptors, is a Neutral Particle Beam weapon that works by accelerating hydrogen ions 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 off 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 reserves 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 is 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 cheap. Galcop is not 'giving away' its Neutralizers (unlike their SDDs).

NPB in Depth (Real World)

Neutral particle beam (NPB) weapons are directed-energy systems that accelerate subatomic particles, typically hydrogen ions, to near-light speed and neutralize them before firing to prevent deflection by magnetic fields. Unlike lasers that burn surfaces, NPBs penetrate deep into a target’s interior, causing catastrophic damage through kinetic penetration, thermal superheating, and ionization that destroys electronics or triggers nuclear fission.

The theoretical mechanics involve three key stages:

Acceleration and Neutralization: Charged particles (like negative hydrogen ions) are accelerated to high energies (100–1000+ MeV) using particle accelerators. Before leaving the device, they pass through a neutralizer cell or gas stripper to remove an electron, creating a beam of electrically neutral atoms. This neutrality allows the beam to travel in a straight line without being deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field.

Target Interaction: Upon impact, the neutral particles capture electrons from the target material, becoming charged ions. This allows them to penetrate deeply into the vehicle’s shell or exterior, depositing their kinetic energy internally.

Destructive Effects: The energy deposition causes near-instantaneous superheating of the target material, potentially melting it, igniting fuel supplies, or frying onboard electronics. For nuclear warheads, the particles can induce fission processes and neutron generation, leading to premature detonation or structural failure.

Historically, the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative explored NPBs as anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile weapons capable of intercepting targets in their boost phase. While the Beam Experiments Aboard Rocket (BEAR) project successfully tested a prototype in space in 1989, significant technical hurdles remain, including the need for lightweight, high-power accelerators and methods to maintain beam coherence over long distances. Despite recent interest in testing space-based variants, NPBs remain largely in the research stage due to the immense power requirements and engineering challenges involved in miniaturizing the necessary accelerator technology.

So, to summarize the NPB event-sequence:

1. Hydrogen atoms are ionized to create negative hydrogen ions (H⁻).

2. These ions are accelerated to near-light speed using a particle accelerator.

3. The accelerated ions are then neutralized (by stripping away the extra electron) to form a beam of neutral hydrogen atoms for firing.

The beam is accelerated as charged ions, not neutral atoms. The neutralization happens after acceleration to allow the beam to travel in a straight line.

Download

Download Version 1.1 of NPB Neutralizer (zipped OXP):

https://wiki.alioth.net/img_auth.php/2/24/Neutralizer.oxp.zip

Simply unzip to your Oolite AddOns folder.

OR

Download Version 1.1 of NPB Neutralizer (OXZ):

https://wiki.alioth.net/img_auth.php/f/f7/Neutralizer.oxz

Place this file in your Oolite AddOns folder.

OR

Get the latest version in-game from the Oolite Expansions Manager.

Recommended OXPs

Advisable if you intend to hunt for Offenders:

Police IFF Scanner Upgrade

Police Player

The most notable observed effect of this tiny tweak is that ships of class Pirate no longer openly threaten or attack the player's ship. You are essentially transformed into a police vigilante, or proxy copper. Best results with an Asp or Viper!

Small Ships

Flyable and essentially unaltered versions of the Asp Mk II, Constrictor, Fer-de-Lance, Gecko, Krait, Mamba, Sidewinder, Viper, Viper Interceptor, Worm, and Transporter. Those ships originally sans Hyperdrive now have one; those without cargo space remain without. Newly rationalized prices applied.

Versions

	Version 1.1
		* Fully implemented Galcop License-granting conditions.
		* OXP now distinguishes when the NPB Neutralizer is causing the damage to a victim.
		* NPB can be effected either from the world script or ship script (see NOTE).
		* Changed the 'kill text' and many strings in the log entries.


/*
 NOTE: there are now two options for where the NPB logic fires from:
	1. This world Script's shipAttackedOther ($npbNPCScript=false);
	2. The individual NPC NPB ship script's shipBeingAttacked ($npbNPCScript=true);
	Both work equally well, with a possible efficiency gain using (1).
	The main difference in behaviour is in the number of log entries: (2) has more. (1) is the default.
	But the logging can be toggled too ($log=true/false).
	There is also the option not to disable the victim with $npbDisabling=false.

*/