I'd say it's actually plausible and realistic, only suffering from the "too dammed complicated" syndrome.
Anyway, I wanted you guys to give me your opinions as to whether I'm correct, if it's as much bullshit as Babylon 5's PPGs, or somewhere in between.
and...When the aliens need a sidearm, they don't screw around.
This plasma pistol is a nasty piece of work, Commander. Its operation is extremely complex and inventive, requiring a great deal of technical skill to create. The power pack alone is hundreds of years ahead of our technology. It stores enough power to heat several charges of hydrogen to a plasmatic state inside the miniature fusion chamber, which are expelled as plasma using the ionised particles' own velocity.
Unlike human firearms, the projectiles themselves are not stored in a magazine or reservoir. They are generated inside the pistol from hydrogen contained in the magazine, powered by the magazine's power-pack. Once the plasma is heated, a thin film of liquid plastic is created between the two 'spinnerets' located vertically opposite each other in front of the grip. The plasma particles are then rapidly fired into the film so that the plastic deforms into an orb or 'bolt'. The plastic contains and protects the plasma, keeping it from dispersing until it reaches the target. By the time a bolt reaches the target, the inside of the plastic will be so eaten away that it will burst upon impact like a soap bubble, splashing its payload across the target. The maximum range of a pistol bolt -- the point it can reach before the plasma eats into open air and disperses -- is approximately 20 metres.
A bolt fired from the plasma pistol is so hot that even a near-miss can be lethal. The effects on a victim are truly horrific; I will try to list them all here.
Any unarmoured human sprayed with this plasma will suffer extreme pain and injuries all across the splash zone. Adipose (fatty) tissue will melt like water. Blood and other bodily fluids boil in place. The plasma will actually eat its way into a human body, causing bone-deep charring in a large region around the splash zone. A large chunk of the body will be literally burnt to a crisp.
Any kind of tough fabric will provide some protection against a plasma hit. High-tech armour in particular will disperse the heat as best it can, and will resist the burning plasma for a time. Hopefully this will be enough time to allow air-cooling to take place, bringing the plasma down to non-lethal temperatures.
I won't pretend to know how the aliens managed to squeeze all this stuff into a pistol, but it does look as though they've made the same tradeoffs between power and size that we have done with our handguns. It's almost certain that larger, more powerful versions of these weapons exist and will appear against us in this war. However, my team and I have figured out the control scheme of the pistols, and we've written an appropriate field manual for human use. Our soldiers will now be able to employ the plasma pistol in a combat scenario as they would any other weapon.
--Cdr. Navarre
ommander, here's my report on our alien plasma rifle research.
At its most basic level, the plasma rifle is little more than an upscaled version of the plasma pistol. However, as any firearms fanatic will tell you, pistols are pistols and rifles are rifles. Handguns are small, personal defence weapons. Rifles are weapons of war. The disparity in power is remarkable.
Rifle plasma is over 20% hotter than pistol plasma and capable of burning through even heavy armour. The plastic globes containing the rifle's plasma shots are much thicker than the pistol's, only beginning to disintegrate at distances between 80-100m. This is a short maximum range for a general-purpose assault rifle, but ideal for urban infantry engagements and other close-quarters work. The bolts do not suffer from projectile drop and they're far too massive to be affected by wind conditions. This makes the plasma rifle highly accurate at all ranges.
The scariest new feature of this weapon is the fact that it is capable of automatic fire. Its rate of fire on full-auto may not be very high -- approx. 180 rounds per minute -- and the recoil is difficult to handle, but it more than makes up for these failings with sheer power. Two or three solid plasma rifle hits are usually all it takes to kill a human in light or medium-grade armour. An unarmoured soldier has no hope at all.
We've figured out the controls on the rifle and written up a manual for field use. Our troops should be able to make good use of it.
There can be no doubt that this weapon was designed and manufactured for war, and not in any defensive capacity. The aliens clearly know armed conflict very well. The rifle's power and lethality do not imply that they invaded us because of some mistake or misunderstanding. They came to Earth with a plan, Commander, and that really scares me.
--Cdr. Navarre
So, thoughts?
