P.L.A.C.E
Progress: 8/15 (1,4)
Prototype
[Efficacy: 3 Cost: 1 Bugs: 2]
The good news: the P.L.A.C.E is technically a light aetheric cannon that can be floated around by our men and used inside of other demi-spires. Unfortunately, the good news ends there. The high brass took one look at the estimated expense per P.L.A.C.E unit and immediately questioned how on earth the engineers managed to make a man-portable cannon that costs more than that of a ship cannon. The answer, of course, is that the P.L.A.C.E requires a great deal more than an ordinary cannon. She requires not only a weapons crystal, but a core crystal, a trim crystal, all the associated and all the additional wiring between the two. The deployment tripod requires construction that's sturdy enough to support the cannon's weight, but light enough to be deployed and broken down easily in the field. Not to mention how much heat protection everything needs.
Which brings us to the biggest problem with the design. The heat. Airships fire their cannons in the big sky, often while moving obscenely quickly. They typically never have to deal with the issues that generation a massive amount of hot air very quickly brings. In an enclosed space, each shot of the P.L.A.C.E superheats a swathe of air in front of the cannon, immediately causing it to expand in a massive gust. It was originally predicted that this effect might affect the gunner's accuracy. It turns out that's quite true, but the method of operation is the blast of hellish air causing contact burns with the gunner's eyeballs and permanently blinding him, not the expected (and still present) cloud of dust and debris. Even forgetting that, the heat as the unnerving tendency to trigger the lift crystal spontaneously- which can cause the cannon to begin floating at very, very inopportune moments.
It requires two operators. One to shoot, one to monitor the core crystal and adjust the mini-web that power the cannon. It takes up one TU.
Projected Unit Cost: 4 Ore, 3 crystal, 1 silk
It is now the Revision Phase. You have 3 dice left to spend.