A Gauss Pylon armed with a Gauss Annihilator
A Gauss Annihilator is a type of Necron Gauss Weapon that can strip a target down molecule by molecule through the release of unknown Gauss energy, reducing it to its constituent atoms in a matter of seconds. Gauss Annihilators are far larger than any other type of Gauss Weapon, with the possible exception of the Gauss Obliterator, and are only ever found mounted on devastating Necron Gauss Pylons. A Gauss Annihilator consists of a single focusing crystal which leads to transparent tubes containing the unholy and unknown viridian energy the weapon fires. This is combined with several focussing arrays and a pair of particle emitters mounted on the Pylon's crescent shape to further empower the Gauss Annihilator beams. Unlike more conventional directed energy weapons, a Gauss Annihilator does not deliver a cutting beam or pure bolt of electromagnetic force or subatomic particles. Instead it emits an emerald, lightning-like molecular disassembling beam capable of reducing flesh, armour and bone to almost nothing. In the case of more powerful Gauss Weapons, this process occurs so rapidly and completely that the emerald beam of energy may appear to punch through its target, though it may be more accurate to think of it as "digging" its way through armour.
Gauss Annihilators can only be fired when a Gauss Pylon is able to draw energy from a primary Necron power matrix, before discharging it through its hard-wired weapon systems. Gauss Annihilators fire a tight-beam version of Gauss energy capable of engaging targets at extreme ranges. Sophisticated guidance and target-lock systems are combined with a rapid rate traverse to allow Gauss Pylons to engage ground targets and incoming aircraft alike with unparalleled ease; thus also making the Pylons extremely effective air-defence turrets. Gauss Annihilators can also be fired in a flux arc similar to the Gauss Flux Arcs mounted on a Monolith. However, a Pylon's version of the Flux Arc is stronger and can even destroy heavily-armoured Space Marine units with comparable ease in a larger radius as Gauss beams lance out all around its emitter.
Gauss Annihilators are supremely powerful weapons, capable of a relatively fast rate of fire that can penetrate even Titan armour with ease; let alone vaporise smaller main battle tanks. The Imperium of Man is confounded by the nature of the energy used by these weapons, not only because the weaponry of the Necrons can cause great harm to even the most advanced vehicles deployed by the armed forces of the God-Emperor, but also because by all the physical principles known to human science, these weapons should overheat and malfunction as a result of the tremendous energies they unleash, destroying the platform from which they are firing.
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 electrical currents, which form the potent magnetic fields that strip the target's constituent atoms even as the target is attracted towards the weapon.
The design of a Gauss Weapon, with all its parameters kept dynamic to achieve maximum efficiency, is a seeming mathematical impossibility. The greatest problem encountered by the Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus in replicating 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 their design will 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 and 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, which is what Imperial forces have witnessed on the battlefield.
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 Necron troops and their equipment reveal a fascinating level of interaction between the Gauss field and the target's atomic structure. It appears that the unknown energy 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 Imperial 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 biological components involved and their dissipation into vaporous form.
Sources[]
- Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition), pp. 14, 54-55
- Codex: Necrons (5th Edition), pp. 81,
- Deathwatch: The Outer Reach (RPG), pg. 119
- Apocalypse, pg. 164