"Salamander" Exhaust Whip

An exhaust whip (also known as a "Salamander") is a heated anti-infantry melee weapon used primarily by assault auto-armor units hailing from Craterhold in the Coalition of Breakaway Colonies.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

In combat, the wielder of an exhaust whip pulls in the trigger to activate the weapon. The wires along the chain's length heat up to ignite the fuel spritzing out of jets drilled in the core of each link. The chain quickly becomes red with the heat of combustion. The user then lashes or sweeps the weapon across the intended targets, whereupon the red-hot, sharp pipe ends on each segment bludgeon and rip away chunks of the targets in rapid succession. Skilled users can even crack the weapon like a whip, causing an extra-rich fuel condition culminating in a small burst of fire at the tip for additional damage against soft targets; this is inadvisable, however, in wooded or grassy areas.
While this weapon is terror-inspiring and incredibly destructive against living, unarmored targets, it has a number of limitations which prevent it from seeing widespread use. For one thing, the wind-up of the weapon requires a lot of room to complete, meaning that it is better for clearing wide trenches, alleyways, or bunker corridors of enemy infantry that it would be for attacking infantry in a more tightly confined space such as a garrisoned civilian building, skystation, or airship. The Salamander must either be supplied with its own fuel cell or, alternatively, be set up to draw from the wielder's auto-armor's own fuel supply. Because the Salamander uses pressurized fuel, it shares many of the risks of other dieseltech innovations - namely, that it can 'run away' if damaged in the right way, with serious repercussions for the wielder. Finally, while the bludgeoning, slashing, and burning qualities of the Salamander are strong against soft targets, they are much less effective against auto-armor and vehicle components.

Significance

The brutal, disfiguring injuries inflicted by an exhaust whip have stirred up ethical controversy among many in the Coalition states. While the Craterhold militias spare no pity for the Voxelian invaders laid low by the weapon, as those two nations share a long-standing enmity on cultural as well as resource-based grounds, the other coalition states seldom willingly employ the weapon. There are also concerns that the weapon, if improperly 'jetted' or used against certain types of vulnerable targets, might de facto violate the Medial B Accords due to the risk it prevents of igniting flammable materials.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Related Technologies

• Dieseltech

Related ethnicities

• Elovisian

Owning Organization

Craterhold

Rarity

Exhaust whips are uncommon outside of Craterhold, where it is typically used by assault units and mercenary crews with a flair for the dramatic.

Weight

40 lbs

Dimensions

10' long

Base Price

1400 NGC

Raw materials & Components

An exhaust whip is, in broad terms, and evolution of a chain whip or flail for the dieseltech age. The weapon is a ten foot length of interlocking segments extending from an oversized, insulated grip.
The the grip features fiberglass cloth wrapping and a thick, ceramic guard to protect the hands of the user from the heat of the weapon itself. The base of the handle is connected to an auto-armor socket via an armored, flexible conduit. This conduit contains both a biodiesel line and electrical wiring which feed the weapon's heating system. In lieu of a pommel, a thick ring around the base of the handle allows the user to adjust the a tension cable which allows the user to set the overall flexibility of the chain - turning the ring clockwise makes the chain more ridgid as the segments are pulled closer into one another, making the exhaust whip more like a club or flail, while turning the ring counterclockwise makes the chain more whip-like. A trigger near the guard allows the user to only activate the weapon's heating effect when desired, while a valvular conduit in the handle provides extra protection against flaming fuel washing back into the user's auto-armor's reserves.
The segments of the chain have a 'cheese grater' appearance, with each segment consisting of four pipes cut at an angle and welded together in a tetrahedral pattern so that the sharp edges rake back towards the handle. At the inside and outside of the apex of this angle are welded mounting lugs to connect the segments to eachother, while holes permit the fuel line, wires, and tension cable coming through the handle to traverse the entire length of the weapon.