A Fight at Parallax

Summary

A handful of Ludlows storm into Parallax while the characters are waiting for the Bedlam's new paint-job to be completed. They are pursued by station/Hephæstus security, and a fight ensues. The Ludlows are subdued in short order. They had raided a nearby security-station, and made off with an prototype weapon, one of which had been issued to that station.

The Conflict

The conflict was over within a matter of maybe a minute, with Reg Barnett (one of the bartenders) shooting one of the intruders, Cerys bludgeoning another with a bottle after Grax put them down initially, and security taking care of the others.

The Weapon

The weapon was some sort of rifle, that super-heats and applies an electrical charge to small volumes of helium, yielding a helium/air plasma charge (at approx. 420° C) of maybe 15-10 mL volume, which can be “thrown” by electromagnetic effects along the barrel, with a muzzle velocity of perhaps 150 m/s. Since the “projectile” is plasma, it will dissipate on impact with anything of any real durability — like walls in a ship or in most belt facilities construction. However, between the temperature of the charge and it’s velocity, it will cause considerable damage to organics, and would probably be extremely uncomfortable even to armored targets, due to the burst of heat that would result, even if the armor itself was not prenetrated.