R-infinity accelerator
- An r-infinity accelerator is a type of weapon in the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
An r-infinity accelerator is a powerful, portable weapon which draws energy from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/degenerate_matter" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:degenerate_matter">degenerate</a> core of a dead star. It is seemingly one of a class of "critical mass weaponry", of which it is the only revealed type. Swindle was selling critical mass weaponry, presumably including r-infinity accelerators, to the inhabitants of various planets when Ultra Magnus tracked him down. In a confrontation on Zull, Swindle fired an accelerator at Magnus, but missed. He was soon captured. Spotlight: Ultra Magnus
It is unknown whether the weapon acquires its energy through an intradimensional link like Megatron's fusion cannon, or if the weapon is literally powered by a small stellar core fragment housed inside the device. It is also unknown whether the collapsed star in question is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/white_dwarf" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:white_dwarf">white dwarf</a> or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/neutron_star" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:neutron_star">neutron star</a>. Since both types of degenerate matter are extremely dense and hot, it may be that the r-infinity accelerator can be powered by either.
The accelerator's barrel has a central, conical device surrounded by six smaller cones. When powering up, plasma trails from the outer cones in a display similar to that produced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Tesla_coil">Tesla coils</a>. The weapon discharges several intertwined blue-white beams. When the beams strike a stone or concrete floor, they sound like "ba-da-doooom!"
For a being of median Cybertronian size, the weapon is best fired from a shoulder-mounted posture. Smaller models may exist for use by smaller species, but if so, it seems odd that Swindle would rely on one that is larger than necessary.