Lance weapons or Lancers refer to weapons exclusively fielded by the Solarian Kingdom in its navies and armed personnel.
Lance weapons all operate with the same principle. The weapon is fed condensed Aetherium energy, which is then fired out of the weapon via a beam of light, which creates a small explosion at the point of impact. The Aetherium can be fed directly into the weapon via cables, or more commonly fed using reusable battery cartridges inserted into the gun that can be cycled out after firing.
Smaller handheld versions of Lance weapons are generally referred to with an L designation followed by its generation number and weapon class, for example the Solarian L-3R (Rifle) issued to all Royal Solarian Marines. They are used by Solarian military personnel as an offensive weapon or for personal defense.
These weapons resemble a traditional gunpowder weapon, however they have one or multiple capacitor tubes that protrude from the receiver. The Aetherium energy is fed into the weapon using battery cartridges. Once inserted, the user mechanically draws power from the cartridge into the capacitors (such as using a cocking hammer on later lance rifles), and pulls the trigger to fire the weapon. The energy is shot out of the barrel of the weapon and has extremely fast travel time, almost arriving at its target instantly (for infantry engagements). Upon impact, a fist sized explosion is created that can easily kill or maim a person, though it is rather weak at penetrating armour.
Since the battery cartridges are reusable, they aren’t ejected out of the weapon automatically after firing, such as the case with breech loaders and self loading rifles. Instead the user manually extracts the cartridge from the weapon and stores it away for later recharging, which can be done by plugging them into charging boxes connected to an Aetherium generator. This rechargeable nature eases Solarian military logistics and also reduces worry of ammunition shortages, provided the weapons are maintained properly.
The first generation of lance rifles and guns are breech loaders, requiring the user to manually insert and eject each cartridge before and after firing. The weapon was unreliable and had inconsistent damage. The second generation incorporated a revolving cylinder to house up to 6 cartridges that only needed to be reloaded after firing all 6 shots, though the user can choose to reload each cartridge individually as they are used. The third and current generation of the rifle improves reliability and allows for the usage of speedloaders, though rarely used due to the speedloader and the cartridges’ bulk.
Lance weapons need regular maintenance such as cleaning capacitors and injection ports, and it has a reputation for jamming or firing weakened shots easily if not diligently maintained, much to the annoyance of Solarian infantry.
Larger versions of the handheld lance weapons are mounted on Solarian void ships and fixed defensive emplacements. These weapons function similarly to their smaller cousins, but are usually fed Aetherium energy directly via cables and have much larger destructive power.
The most common lancer found on navy ships are mounted on swivel joints at several points throughout the ship and can fire one shot every 10 seconds. Heavier lancers are mounted on turrets with limited up and down traversal but are well protected from enemy fire.
Some larger Solarian navy ships have a lancer mounted along the centre of the ship that require up to one or two minutes of charging to fire, but can destroy entire sections of larger ships in one shot or engulf a smaller ship in its explosion entirely. Using such a weapon requires large amounts of Aetherium energy, so some power from engines and other systems are diverted to supply the lancer with sufficient energy within a reasonable charging time.