Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Radium Weaponry

"The RAD cannon, or Black Hand, is a gamma emitter used almost exclusively by the Elsword Empire; fielding the weapon alone is sufficient for war crimes charges, but the Luresians are rather skilled in hiding it through propaganda and media manipulation. Against an unshielded target, single ignitions can inflict 3rd-degree burns and a guarantee of cancer at 100 yards, and within 50 you begin to see 4th-degree burns and spontaneous contracture. Exposure at 25 yards is a death sentence even when protected behind several inches of armor plating; liquefaction of the dermis and internal organs are common, and even if a target somehow survives exposure at that range they are permanently incapacitated.

I'm convinced the widespread deployment of this weapon by the Empire serves a more psychological than directly combat-related role. The sound of its hissing crackle is enough to panic even seasoned soldiers, and from what I've seen of these "Irradiators" in combat, particularly amongst their light mechanized forces, I suspect this weapon is also used as a form of counting coup.

Regardless, I have seen the aftermath of its use firsthand. It is a cruel and terrible weapon, and the less said about their more advance radiation weapons the better. And I shudder to think that the Voshkod could have potentially wielded such a weapon (though I feel that their Desolators are just as bad), at least the Luresians are on our side."

- A classified Spy report on the Irradiator weapon test

Radium Weapons, also known as Rad Weapons, are deadly and highly dangerous personal weapons that are used exclusively by the forces of the Elsword Empire, particularly in the nuke-happy Castanic Nuclear Division. Many weapons wielded by the Luresians are so deadly to the wielder that they're widely condemned by the rest of the Guardians. Their baroque beauty belies a singularly vile function -- not only to strike but to render the battlefield as deadly as the wastelands of Embry.

As dangerous as they are to their wielders, Radium Weapons are far more deadly to the enemy. Armor may repel the solid rounds, but only the most heavily reinforced armor can protect the target from the energy given off by the hyper-irradiated bullets. As more and more shots are fired, the area becomes increasingly saturated with radiation until a localized radiation zone occurs, striking down the enemy with radiation sickness and leaving the ground beneath their feet saturated and lifeless.

Radium Weapons are so volatile that they are rumored to eventually kill their wielders, though the Empire claims that the suits made for the soldiers wielding them and the intense radiation scrubbing they go through after every mission means that none of them suffers from radiation sickness. The specially made hazmat suits worn by the wielders of these weapons, combined with their radiation-leeching equipment and lead-line gear, go some way to protect them from the harmful feedback generated by these weapons, though inevitably some still seep through. Over time their bodies become so saturated with radiation they become weapons themselves, their mere presence enough to leave an enemy soldier reeling with nausea and a hacking cough laced with bloody phlegm. Death follows soon after.