Magnetic Acceleration Weaponry [MAW]
Despite the incredible technological progress that the humanity and other species achieved both through their own effort and through the analyze of found supertechs, the most basic weaponry technology remains very similar to this used in times when ships sailed through sea's rather than between the stars. Just as hundreds of years ago, majority of weaponry launches solid rounds, hoping to hit and destroy enemy ships.
What changed was the type of technology used to propel such rounds. Rather than chemical reaction, MAWs – as the name itself entails – use electromagnetic fields, that allow rounds to achieve much greater speed (up to 0.3 or even 0.5c), making it possible to hit objects a million kilometres away. With even best evasive maneuvers being able to at best slightly lower the chance of the hit connecting.
MAWs are a basic weaponry simply because they are versatile. They can throw rounds capable of disrupting and weakening particle shields for much larger distance that all its competitors (for example plasma cannons, not much different from MAWs in terms of method of propulsion). They are relatively easy to produce, easy to use, cheap in maintenance, and constructing rounds for them is equally easy and cheap. Their versatility and effectiveness made them one of two most wide-spread weapon system (the second being rockets and missiles).
The small calibre MAWs (20-75mm) can be used as Anti-Voidcraft Defense, which means both defense against fighters and corvettes, and against rocket salvoes. They are incredibly fast shooting, with 20mm MAWs reaching up to a hundred thousands rounds per minutes, capable of shredding small objects to pieces from hundreds of kilometers, with 75mm MAWs tending to fire flak rounds, very long compared to their calibre, filled with proximity detectors that allow such rounds to literally explode midflight, using magnetic generators to propel created shrapnel towards enemies with deadly efficiency.
Medium calibre MAWs (100-250mm) tend to be internally constructed with much smaller fire rate in mind, instead focused on launch speed and round velocity. They are no longer created to deal with nearly unarmored fighters and rockets. Their prey are escort ships, armored with many layers of extremely resistant composite and ceramics, with equally strong shock dampeners. Their fire much slower (up to 200 rounds per minute), but each round has enough kinetic speed to tear apart asteroids.
High calibre MAWs (300-500mm) are an expansion of general principles of medium calibre MAWs. They fire slowly (relatively), since their electromagnets need a while to power themselves again, limiting the average fire rate to ~10-15 per minute for 300mm MAW to 2-3 for 500mm. The difference between them in terms of firepower, however, is massive, with high calibre MAWs tending to be armed with NASP (Nuclear Anti-Shield Projectile) rounds, bigger, tougher, and with on-board nuclear warheads whose detonation is supposed to burn out projectile shield's granulate. On the other hand, NASP rounds are incapable of causing notable damage to battleship armour, their sole task weakening projectile shield.
High calibre MAWs are created with destroying capital ships in mind. Each of their rounds, if fired against a planetary target, would cause a truly apocalyptic destruction. Of course, their accuracy is severely limited especially against moving target, making them a weapon unfit to target escort ships, even if each of their rounds would pierce through heavy cruiser armour with ease. After all every ship has limited ammount of ammunition on-board, and it isn't guaranteed that he isn't going to run out of it before enemy runs out of granulate.
Very rarely encountered – but nonetheless existing – are ultra high calibre MAWs (750-1000mm). They tend to be mounted as spinal gun (in short, with their barrel going 'through' the ship, launching rounds through the ship's bow, costing an insane ammount of power to fire. They are armed with equally expensive sequential rounds called NAAPs (Nuclear Anti-Armour Projectile).
NAAPs are two part rounds. Their frontal part is nuclear warhead with it's own microengine, while the back part is penetrative part. The front is ejected prior to hit, its detonation temporarily creating hole in projectile shielding, used by the penetrative part to reach the ships' armour and – hopefully – pierce it.
As such every round from spinal mounted MAWs is a notable threat for even the most armoured targets. On the other hand, their fire rate is abysmal (one round per minute, at best), their accuracy is limited, and its spinal mount means that ships they carry has a notable hull weakness that can be exploited, with especially frontal hits into the barrel with even 250mm MAWs causing the ship to literally rip into pieces. As such, they aren't often encountered.
The popularity of MAW weaponry is so great, that it is oftenly encounted as a variety of supertechs with variety of special effects and traits.
LIST OF SUPERTECH VERSIONS
Archeotech
Altertech
Xenotech
Voidtech
Discovery
Circa 2040.
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