Gauss Flayer

A Gauss Flayer is type of horrifying Necron Gauss Weapon that can strip a target down molecule by molecule, reducing it to its constituent atoms in a matter of seconds. Unlike more conventional energy weapons, a Gauss Flayer does not deliver a cutting beam or pure bolt of force. Instead it emits a molecular disassembling beam capable of reducing flesh, armour and bone to almost nothing. Gauss weapons have been known to hurt monstrous creatures that similar weapons have no hope of even scratching, and have also been known to tear at the armour of even the most heavily armoured of tanks with ease. The Imperium of Man is confounded by the nature of the energy used by these weapons, not only because the most basic weaponry of the Necrons can cause great harm to even the most advanced vehicles deployed by the armed forces of the Imperium, but also because by all the physical principles known, these weapons should overheat and malfunction as a result of the tremendous energies they unleash, destroying the warrior who is firing it. Gauss Flayers are the most common of all weapons carried by Necron soldiery, in no small part due to the fact that every single Necron Warrior is armed with one of these potent weapons. However, both Doomsday Arks and Ghost Arks mount linked arrays of five Gauss Flayers on their sides to repel would-be flankers and assaulters. Tomb Stalkers also are commonly armed with two Gauss Flayers on their forelimbs so as to better engage with the enemy at range.

Operation
At their most basic level, Gauss weapons can be described as linear induction motors. When fired, they appear to produce focussed bipolar magnetic fields so that anything the weapon is targeted at, such as a human body, will be 'pulled' (at the sub-atomic level) towards the gun. Gauss weapons appear to pulse with intense currents, which form the magnetic fields that strip the target's constituent atoms towards the weapon.

The design of a Gauss weapon, with all its parameters kept dynamic to achieve maximum efficiency, is a mathematical impossibility. The greatest problem encountered by Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus with Gauss weapon design is devising a means to safely generate and release the power of the energy discharge; which runs in the multi-megawatt range. Because the power required for Gauss weapons is extremely high, even microscopic imperfections in design will generate massive energy losses. Imperfections in design can generate massive energy losses. If a mechanical trigger is used to deliver the firing pulse, the moment the firing mechanisms come into contact, microscopic irregularities in the material will dissipate so much energy as to completely vaporise the gun and its user. If the trigger then somehow manages to close, the vaporised surfaces ant the molten metal beneath them weld together, and the trigger is thus ruined. How the Necrons overcome this technological conundrum is unknown. Assuming these firing difficulties can be overcome, the final effect would be a beam capable of stripping a target down it its constituent atoms extremely rapidly.

Extensive study by the Imperium of Gauss weapons and their effects on both organic and inanimate matter has, thus far, been hampered by the lack of a working device to examine. Investigations into the remains of soldiers and their equipment reveal a fascinating level of interaction between the Gauss field and the target's atomic structure. It so appears that the field generated by the weaponry is capable of breaking the bonds of the target material at a sub-atomic level and energising them with an opposing magnetic charge to that generated by the weapon itself. This accounts for the 'flaying' effect noted in many after-action reports from commanders in the field. As each layer of skin or muscle is exposed, it is broken down by the weapon's beam and carried towards the gun. This obviously results in catastrophic failure of the bodily components involved and their dissipation into vaporous form.