The… Ahem.. *Scrounges through files to find HCPPCAS information*.
Highly-Charged Photon.Pulse.Cannon Assault Station is the most powerful VAU currently in service for the CW4 Universe and that includes surpassing the R-Fighter. This however is just in shear crude firepower. A HCPPCAS can make an ocean of Creeper 2,000 units deep look like a joke. It will also make Crimson 2,000 units deep look like a joke. However, we don't know if 2,000 units of PURE crimson is still a joke to the HCPPCAS. The amount of Creeper this Assault Station can annihilate is a 10/10 using a PPC firing so rapidly it might as well be considered a laser even in the realm of Vertu with a time scale of 0.00001 seconds per relative second (because time is just a relative concept we as an intelligent species thought of)¹⁾.
In short, when the HCPPCAS fires, NO amount of Creeper will be left at the affected area.
Oh I forgot to mention, it prefers to hang out in space.

• Uses only energy.
• Slow rate of fire.
• Penultimate devastation to Creeper within the targeted area. Not one piece of Creeper even if perfectly Crimson will survive (except maybe 2,000 depth Creeper that was perfectly Crimson… Just.. Maybe..). Don't see a reason to test that.
• Can only ever sustain damage when armed. (At least, that's the intention).
• Base cost: 1,000 Liftic
• Has AI (only Hunter for a full AI mode). There has however been some talk within Vertu in enabling Rouge AI.
• 16 HP.
• 1,000 Ammo capacity.
• Heavily impacted by atmosphere dynamics (when not in space, it moves painfully slowly).
• Moves to the other side of the map in seconds when in space.
• Creates contaminated land at the area exposed to the laser cannon's wrath. Will not override any special terrain at the location.

Past this point will include less game mechanics and more lore.
Summaries will be provided in Yellow text.
This is because the HCPPCAS goes extra deep into the realms of SCIENCE!!! compared to the other VAUs. Consider that the LORE part of this page and the yellow text actual game mechanics.

The HCPPCAS will not sustain damage while unarmed.
When set to armed, the HCPPCAS will open to expose its HC-PPC and begin targeting the deepest Creeper within range, which is a large 2D circle around the station, ignoring verticality. When the HC-PPC is exposed, the HCPPCAS is vulnerable to damage as the outer shell of the HCPPCAS is designed to withstand high-speed debris orbiting the planet in the event the civilization has sent things to space and began constructing a debris field self-prison for their planet. This robust shell is also immune to Creeper. Lets be real here, certain silicates appear to be immune to the Creeper, some tests have found the Creeper to actively selectively dissolve certain materials and can be fooled with some clever engineering and material properties, the HCPPCAS has those qualities but the HC-PPC will trigger a dissolve response if exposed to Creeper and result in sustaining damage if in Creeper.
That is, if for what ever reason, it is not currently in space.

The HCPPCAS is PAINFULLY SLOW when not up in space.
Very much like most VAUs, the HCPPCAS is MEANT FOR SPACE. So flying around in a median is not ideal for their achievable velocity. The HCPPCAS however is particularly poor in aerodynamics compared to all other VAUs (not that any VAU can brag about going fast in any capacity while in atmosphere) for it uses Internal Propulsion Systems (IPS) as the primary form of movement. IPS's are very weak and require significant overdrive to work in atmosphere against any major gravity of 0.3-5.6 G's. Fortunately 99% of civilizations and Creeper Worlds are 0.85-1.8 G's but most atmospheres are 0.9-1.2 Atmos.
Statistics aside, when the HCPPCAS is in atmosphere it moves PAINFULLY slow. The HCPPCAS CI knows this very well and when in control, will very eagerly begin ascending to the exosphere when stocked with Energy.

The first shot of the HCPPCAS after firing once causes devastating damage and will instantly vaporize massive amounts of Creeper in a large radius.
When the HCPPCAS has not seen action is a good long while, the HC-PPC will need to warm up. When not warmed up the HC-PPC will act as a normal “laser”, gradually increasing in intensity as it sustains fire, being able to vaporize more and more Creeper as well as in a larger radius until “overheating”.
After warming up from completing a firing cycle, the HC-PPC can show the “Cannon” part of its name. When the HC-PPC “overheats” it actually stores the built-up thermal energy (guess it really was a WARM UP) and instead of “reloading”/“recharging”, the HC-PPC re-cycles itself (not “recycling” which is reusing wasted material, just redoing a cycle or conducting a cycle reset or transition) while the thermal energy is absorbed into the HC-PPC's core and the PPC initiates a tactical recharge to “position itself” for an optimized future firing cycle. So technically the HC-PPC doesn't actually overheat or run out of energy while firing, it is just an optimal time to stop firing which will yield great benefits for when it is time to fire again, such as an internal energy efficiency of 30%. Nuclear Fusion by the way is 1% energy efficient, yet it powers stars… E=MC² baby!.
After warming up and the HCPPCAS is ready for another firing cycle, the first Photon Pulse released by the Cannon will include all the stored thermal energy accumulated by the last firing cycle and was transferred into the PPC's core. As you may guess, the HC-PPC releases a lot of thermal energy and with Vertu Insulation technology that thermal energy is not going to leave the HC-PPC, so what ever energy was lost in the form of thermal energy in the previous firing cycle is then fired out of the first Photon Pulse. This initial Photon Pulse is devastating (and quite radio active) and can instantly vaporize a massive amount of Creeper, even Crimson, in a massive radius as the released energy on impact by this thermally charged Photon Pulse as it super heats the surrounding atmosphere and especially the terrain it just “slammed” into, leaving no amount of Creeper in liquid form and a massive pressure wave quickly expanding just like any normal explosion.
The HCPPCAS is a fine weapon of destruction.

Now keep in mind it is firing Photons, not any particles. So be sure to not confuse terminology as a photon can not absorb thermal energy the same way atoms do or transfer that energy the same way as super heated particles in a plasma state of matter can. It is a far more complex process but in the context of explanation, it is acceptable but do not take those words as 100% accurate in a literal sense. They are only accurate in cause - effect. Not accurate in the mechanics of physics at word value.

The HCPPCAS drifts around and is constantly in motion 99% of the time.
The HCPPCAS as said before uses Internal Propulsion Systems (IPS) which means it can not make sudden movements even in space, causing it to instead drift around and be constantly moving. Luckily the HC-PPC is long range so this is not an issue what so ever. Whenever the HCPPCAS goes to a restock location, Rift Lab or RESOTCKv, it will be sure to slow down due to the effects of aerodynamics and usually will come to a complete stop at the restock location and await a complete recharge. Due to the drifting being extreme while in space, the CI will go directly to the restock location even if it seems like a very inefficient movement path.

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