Starstruck

Glossary Entry: Hyon Beam

Ionized Hydrogen Beam; a destructive  beam generated by a neutral particle beam weapon that ionizes hydrogen gas by allowing each hydrogen atom to capture an extra electron, so that the hydrogen molecules form anions. The weapon  accelerates anions by using a traveling wave-type particle accelerator, which releases negative ions inside a cylindrical chamber. When the chamber’s alternating electric charge is positive, the ions are attracted to the negative charge on the electrode, and thus gather around it. Then, the alternating voltage switches the charge to negative, electrostatically repelling the negative ions, thereby accelerating them to something close to the velocity of light. The resulting beam passes through a chamber filled with low pressure gas, where collisions with the gas strip the extra electrons from the anions, transforming the particle beam into a neutral Hyon Beam, which speeds to its target, and obliterates it by disrupting the target’s structure with kinetic energy. A word of advice: Don’t stand in front of one.