AP-FILE #6317: PROJECT "BALLISTA"

Excellent, good to finally get the test results on the Gen-2 prototypes in. Glad to hear we were able to successfully make up for the range issue, but I'm not sure if the tradeoff in efficiency or power was worthwhile. We'll keep these statistics in mind as we move on to the Generation-3 design.

I'll need a volunteer battleship to test the Gen-3 turrets when we get the first prototypes finished and ready, have anyone in mind?

Progress on the generation 3 prototype is slow going, we've run into some minor technical problems adapting the weapon design for use on battleship-class vessels; primarily in that antimatter generation lags behind optimal fire rate. There are a number of solutions to the problem, ranging from lowering the antimatter content per blast - which also results in lower damage potential - or reducing fire rate to allow time to charge a proper, full-strength blast. Internal testing will determine which path is taken, or other alternatives if they present themselves. Until then, we've been simultaneously producing additional generation-1 and generation-2 prototypes for implementation onto several other core vessels. Being prototypes, they aren't an end-product, but they're still quite powerful and undoubtedly will give our captains the advantage they need to deal with the hostiles they encounter swiftly and decisively.

While the generation-1 prototypes were designed for destroyer-sized vessels, the generation-2 prototypes for battlecruisers, and the in-progress generation-3 prototypes for battleships, we've apparently neglected the potential these weapons might have when applied onto even smaller craft, namely our gunships and gunboats. The primary issue with implementation onto smaller craft is, as always, inadquate power supply. However, I believe that we can apply the same basic design in a miniaturized version - albeit with significantly lower per-shot destructive potential - for use on our Pleco- and Orca-Class patrol ships. While the battleship-grade gen-3 prototypes are currently a priority, I'm also working on the side to develop a variant for testing on these smaller craft.