Niagara Cannon

The Niagara Cannon (ナイアガラキャノン) is a cannon originally designed and created by Diver as a mounted component of the Niagara Base. It was the main weaponry of the base until on Lio Convoy's orders it was upgraded and reworked into a portable weapon by Drill Nuts. This was done to make Angolmois Energy its fuel and therefore the cannon strong enough to be wielded against Nemesis. Along with this upgrade, two decoy Niagara Cannons were built—one big, one regular—to draw attention from the real one.

Fiction

Beast Wars II cartoon

Diver finalized the conversion of Arimon Falls to the Niagara Base just in time to deal with a copy crisis. When Copy Convoy and his soldiers attacked, Diver used their lack of knowledge on him to bring out the Niagara Cannon as a surprise counterattack. With the exception of Copy Convoy himself, all Copy Maximals were destroyed by the cannon's laser beams. The Black Lio Convoy

At a time of an even bigger crisis, a plan was formed to rework the Niagara Cannon into a weapon separate from the Niagara Base. That way, it could be brought over to an Angolmois Energy source and be hooked up to create a beam strong enough to destroy Nemesis. Knock Out Nemesis Lio Convoy studied the schematics for the Niagara Cannon upgrade alone, trying to quell his worries. When asked by his soldiers, he admitted there was a means to take down Nemesis, but kept the details to himself for the time being. The Lio Convoy Assassination Plot Drill Nuts was in charge of the construction part of the project and with the other Maximals away, Lio Convoy inquired how the work was proceeding. Drill Nuts's reply was one of unenthusiastic commitment to see it through. The Great Angolmois Freezing Tactic Only once the Niagara Cannon was finished did Lio Convoy, Diver, and Drill Nuts let the other Maximals know about their plan to blow up Nemesis. The reception was one of hope, even when NAVI revealed that they had seventy-two minutes to set up the cannon to have optimal aim. This was doable, because while the best Angolmois Energy source around required some travel and the activity was certain to catch the Predacons' attention, Lio Convoy had elaborately prepared for that. Two more fake cannons had been constructed to serve as decoys. One was very big specifically to draw attention, while the other one was akin in size to the real one and transported secretively to satisfy the suspicions of the smarter Predacons. Diver, Bighorn, Tasmania Kid, and Apache were in charge of the big decoy while Lio Convoy hid inside to surprise any attackers. Their journey took them through the jungle. At the same time, Scuba boarded the Tako Tank and moved the regular decoy through an underground river. As expected, the Predacons took note and attacked. Dirgegun and Thrustor went after the big decoy and Hellscream and Max-B discovered the regular decoy. Both groups destroyed the decoys too easily, which tipped them off that they were tricked. Stuck in battle, however, they could do nothing as Magnaboss rushed the real Niagara Cannon to the Angolmois Energy hotspot.

Magnaboss succeeded in laying the tube to pump Angolmois Energy into the Niagara Cannon, but was attacked by Galvatron and Gigastorm. Outnumbered, Magnaboss split up so that Skywarp and Santon could defend Lio Junior while he manned the cannon. They failed to keep Gigastorm from slashing the tube, which Lio Junior countered by charging the Niagara Cannon with his Angolmois Ball. Not long thereafter, a powerful beam went up into space, but due to a miscalculation on Drill Nuts's part the cannon burned out before the beam had gained enough power to do anything to Nemesis. Knock Out Nemesis

Toys

Beast Wars

• Diver & Niagara Base (Playset, 1998)

• ID number: X-2
• Release date: March ??, 1998
• Accessories: Large red missile launcher
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist){{#if: |, {{{2}}}}}

The unnamed large red missile launcher with a green top that is part of the Niagara Base playset is the toy inspiration behind the Niagara Cannon. When first introduced in the cartoon, the cannon is grey and located behind the waterfall whereas the toy is positioned atop the Niagara Base. When upgraded in the cartoon, the Niagara Cannon is red with grey and yellow accents, which is more alike to but still different from the toy.