Primary Beam

A refinement of the Force Beam, the Primary Beam focuses the full power of the weapon on a shaft only a few centimeters wide. So concentrated is this thrust that it passes through shields or armor without resistance, and even a narrow hole is enough to disble any ship's system it penetrates. Should a magazine containing antimatter warheads be struck, the target vessel may be destroyed by secondary explosions.

The drawback to the primary beam is, first, that it is short ranged, and second, that it needs to "cool out" between shots. It has only half the rate of fire of most beam weapons. The range limitation is addressed by the later Capital Primary Beam.