Banned for use in ordered space by the Fifth Accords, Firebird Torpedoes are nevertheless known to be stockpiled and used by several signatories. The Firebird is so named because of its perceived relation to the mythical phoenix, because matter affected by it is not rearranged in any meaningful way, but rather moved through a temporary rift into another alternate reality.

Given the random and unpredictable nature of such rifts, as well as the violence with which they open and close, it is doubtful that the effect upon targets is any different than standard high-energy weapons. It is also probable that any alternate reality so entered would not be conducive to life from ordered space.

The major impetus for this ban was the so-called Ra’Irb Incident, in which the use of a similar weapon in an alternate skein caused a battlecruiser-like vessel to slip through into ordered space. This vessel, originally but inaccurately believed to have been dubbed the Ra’Irb, destroyed a combined fleet of 117 ships sent against it before it crashed. Thorough examination of the wreckage was impossible due to exotic extra-dimensional radiation, but it is now believed that the ship was adrift and derelict, with its “weapons systems” being reactions to a new and exotic environment.

Nevertheless, Firebird Torpedoes were rapidly banned thereafter and, aside from one possible but unproven case on Vela XII, have not been used in ordered space since.

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