Weapons
Standard-Issue Laser Pistol
The basic weapon used by most field operatives, designed for easy use in any situation. The shape and size of the weapon somewhat resembles that of a .45 Magnum, but it is much lighter, made of a lightweight metal instead of stainless steel. The weapon fires a short burst of energy, generated by a series of lasers within the barrel of the gun. This blast can easily tear through a human body or two, but would have little or no effect against a steel wall. The pistol generates very little recoil and makes only a faint buzzing sound when it fires. The maximum rate of fire is approximately 120 shots per minute (2 per second), but continuous fire at this rate may overheat the barrel. It is best to fire no more than 10 shots at this speed to avoid this.
The weapon is equipped with a power cell that can last through approximately 350 shots before needing to be recharged (Most transports are equipped with recharging stations). The shell of the gun is very durable, and is designed to survive a direct low-power laser or projectile hit intact. The safety switch on the handle of the pistol will power down the gun when activated to prevent accidental fire, and be warned that turning the weapon on or off requires approximately half a second for charging/discharging time.
Safety Warning: Do not touch the barrel of the weapon immediately after firing!
Standard-Issue Laser Rifle
This weapon is much larger than the pistol, but makes up for it with a stronger blast. The rifle is approximately 3 feet long, a good deal heavier than the pistol, though made of the same lightweight metal. It is capable of firing at up to 45 shots per minute (4 shots in 3 seconds), and each shot can easily tear through three human bodies before dissipating. Unlike the pistol, the blast from this weapon consists of multiple shots, causing more damage at short range and a weak spread at longer ranges, and of course this causes a much strong recoil, normally requiring a solid stance to keep the weapon steady. Needless to say, the laser rifle is intended for short-range attacks only, and is ideal for breach operations and indoor combat. Unlike the pistol, the larger size of the rifle leaves room for a more elaborate cooling system, and is therefore perfectly safe to fire at the maximum rate without danger of overheating. At short range, the weapon can put holes in a steel wall.
The rifle also has a safety switch, like the pistol, but takes approximately 2 seconds to power up and 1 second to power down. The large power cell is enough for about 450 shots (10 minutes of continuous fire), and then must be recharged. The casing of the rifle is not as strong as the pistol, because a solid shell would prevent heat dissipation. Also, the energy cells are volatile, and there is a small (approx 12%) chance that the weapon will explode when hit by a strong enough energy blast (Projectile weapons will not have this effect). If the weapon is hit by an energy weapon, it is reccommended that the user discard the weapon immediately and move outside of a five-foot radius of it within approximately 2.3 seconds of the initial hit.
Long-Range Beam Rifle (aka Sniper Rifle)
The sniper rifle is designed not for combat, but for single-shot tactics. The motto of the sniper applies here: One Shot, One Kill. Then again, a single shot from this weapon could theoretically kill approximately 25 humans if the shot is lined up correctly. Unlike the laser pistol and laser rifle, this weapon does not fire a burst of energy, but a 0.5 second-long continuous beam in the infrared range, not visible to the human eye. This beam is EXTREMELY powerful, and could easily punch a hole through a titanium wall and kill someone on the other side. The rifle has a bit of recoil, and therefore is best used with a bi-pod stand. Along the top of the barrel is an infrared scope, which alternatively can be linked to the reticule of an MP-FC or a field computer.
Due to the high-power of this weapon, each shot requires approximately 10 seconds to charge, once the rifle is turned on. The barrel of the rifle heats up a great deal upon firing, and unfortunately makes a rather bright infrared footprint, making use of the weapon inadvisable when the hostiles are using infrared scanners. The power cell can support only about 5 shots before it needs to be recharged, but a typical sniper mission involves no more than three shots. The rifle itself is about 4 feet long and a bit heavy, since the weapon is engineered toward raw power and not designed to be fired from a standing position.
Special-Purpose Heavy-Assault Beam Rifle
Meet the most powerful infantry weapon the agency has to offer. The weapon is approximately 4 feet long (As large as the sniper rifle), and over 50 lbs in weight, which makes it very difficult and clumsy for a lightweight operative to use. It is designed to be cradled under the left arm for best support and aimed with the other hand via the handle halfway down the length of the weapon. The weapon has zero recoil, due to an exhaust jet in the back which perfectly counterbalances the force of the beam. Unfortuantely this makes it extremely dangerous to stand directly behind the weapon.
The beam itself consists of three high-energy laser beams arranged in a triangle shape which spins at high-velocity to form the equivalent of a circular beam. This generates quite a bit of noise and is useless in a stealth operation. The force of the beams can easily rip through a titanium wall, carve holes in armored vehicles, and even overpower weak to medium-powered forcefields. The power cell will last for up to 10 minutes of continuous fire, but it is difficult to actually achieve such efficiency.
The weapon takes approximately 15 seconds to charge up and start the spinning mechanism, but from then on, turning the laser beams on and off is instantaneous. Unlike the other weapons, this one drains energy from the power cells even when not firing, because the beams remain active even when the trigger is not depressed.