Weapon of world destruction (A1-0)
A weapon of world destruction (WWD) is any device that can render a world totally uninhabitable to its current residents by destroying the world's structure and/or living environment. WWDs more powerful than weapons of mass destruction by several orders of magnitude and similarly weaker than theorised weapons of system destruction.
(OOC: please note that some of this might be unknown to other civilisations.)
Types
Warp ramming
Any object that can fold space and travel relatively faster than light will release an extreme amount of energy when they collide with an object. This is utilised by projectiles such as torpedoes and missiles. The speed of the projectile and the mass of the target will decide the size of the explosion.
Antimatter
When antimatter gets into contact with normal matter, they annihilate each other. As they do, extreme amounts of energy is released, causing further damage. Antimatter can be delivered by many systems, including torpedoes, missiles and bombs. The severity of the explosion is decided by the amount of antimatter and degree of pressure build-up on the target.
Arsenals
Treecuu Star Empire
The Treecuu Star Empire has warp ramming and antimatter WWDs. As they typically have programmable yield (meaning they can cause as little damage as a rifle or as much as many larger nuclear devices combined), they are also used as conventional weapons in e.g. ship-to-ship combat. It is likely that every ship of frigate size and above have active WWDs, but the devices can also be launched from any platform, such as planetary defence batteries. WWDs doubling as conventional weapons is controversial, as it may be impossible to distinguish between a conventional strike or a WWD strike, increasing the risk of premature retaliation.
Attested uses
Suspected uses
Treecuu Star Empire
Both the Treecuu Star Empire and the Aryyt't government (Yim-Lootuu III) are suspected to have deployed WWDs on the Aryyt't home world five standard years ago, although with limited yield or contained explosion. There is evidence of one or two antimatter explosions on the planet's surface that destroyed a continent and disrupted the atmosphere. [1] The planet is currently under quarantine.
The Treecuu Star Empire is also suspected to having destroyed a planet near the Zelvan border on the Treecuu side. [2]