Unreviewed CTI "Monitor" Phosphor-Plasma Repeater

[Helix]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a next-generation standard weapon for Helix's armed forces
• Image Source: Link
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Helix Privateers
• Affiliation: Helix Privateers / The Dzara
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: CTI Monitor
• Modularity: Yes
• Production: Minor
• Material:
  
  • General Construction: Helsteel
  • Organic Components: Formgel
  • Internal Otherplasma Excitation Chamber: Storm Iron
  • Self-Repair Lattice: Blightsteel
  • Exterior Finish: Helglass

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Plasma/Chemical
• Size: Large
• Weight: Heavy
• Ammunition Type: X19-Tainted Otherplasma
• Ammunition Capacity: Large
• Effective Range: Long Range
• Rate of Fire: Very High
• Damage Output: High
• Recoil: Low

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Self-Repairing Structure
• Can be fired one-handed
• Melds with its user's forelimb
• Features a Chimeric cybersec suite
• Aftershock-Integrated

STRENGTHS

• Dark Star: The Monitor is a next-generation phosphor-plasma rifle, firing small blasts of X19-tainted Otherplasma at a brisk rate. It is highly effective against infantry of all shapes and sizes.
• Versatile: The Monitor features two additional firing modes, for close-quarters or anti-armor use respectively.
• Arm Gun: The Monitor partly-integrates with its user's forearm and brain, lowering recoil and allowing the user to fire with increased accuracy.
• Access Denied: Monitor rifles refuse to function in the hands of unknown users, and may even harm said users should they persist.

WEAKNESSES

• Surprise Grenade: The Monitor utilizes barely-controllable energies and substances in its firing process. Severe damage to the firing mechanism (or simple misuse) can easily harm or kill the user.
• Ran Dry: The Monitor's rate of fire is fairly high, and incautious users can easily waste unnecessary ammunition.
• Fused: The Monitor's integration with its user's nervous system ensures it cannot be easily dropped or removed. Discarding it takes a decent period of time (a worrying fact when the weapon's core is moments from detonation).

DESCRIPTION

The Monitor represents a broader small-arms trend among the Helix Privateers, namely the greater incorporation of Otherplasma into the weaponry and equipment of the rank-and-file. This high-tech terror is intended to render both the E-55L rifle and Headhunter shotgun obsolete in a single swoop, cutting logistics costs across the board and simplifying field supply.

Like many recent Helix technologies, the Monitor features a strange, semi-organic design that bears no obvious marks of manufacture. It appears grown as much as made, with every component fitting together in an impossibly-precise manner. The methods utilized to create such a weapon can only be guessed at.

Nor does disassembly help matters. The Monitor's internals are a dizzying fusion of repurposed organic matter and arcane technologies of unclear purpose and function. While the physical principles it utilizes remain mysterious, the results are perfectly clear.

Importantly, this weapon is the first to feature a phosphor-plasma energy charge, rendering traditional Tibanna gas ammunition obsolete within the Privateers' ranks. Little (if any) commonality now remains with the function of blaster weaponry.

The Monitor seemingly operates by agitating liquid X19 into an active Otherplasma state, then projecting the resultant metal-vaporizing substance as a series of small, fast-moving projectiles.

A departure from the usual Helix doctrine of power before speed where small arms are concerned, the Monitor fires a hail of smaller but (relatively) weaker blasts. The accuracy of prior models remains, however, allowing the user to place more shots on target more quickly.

This accuracy is further aided by the weapon's unusual design structure, which notably lacks such ergonomic niceties as a stock, or even sights. Instead, the user's forearm is inserted into an aperture near the end of the weapon, where the Monitor then clamps (painfully) down on the offered limb. Over the space of a few seconds, the Monitor taps into the user's central nervous system (or processor, in the case of droids) integrating the two together. This allows the user to wield the weapon as though it were a function of their own body, aiming and firing by involuntary impulse more than the usage of a traditional trigger.

Notably, this results in the weapon's internal Aftershock data being projected onto the user's senses through their own optic nerve. The user can "see" the trajectories of incoming and outgoing fire in real time, as well as "see" the exact spot where fire should be place to accurately strike hostile targets. Needless to say, this sudden flood of information can be profoundly disorienting, and first-time users frequently report intense nausea as their senses are flooded with battlefield data. Trained operators, however, instead report a vast increase in practical accuracy and ease of use.

Removing the Monitor likewise takes several seconds, and is similarly disorienting for organic users. Operators describe the experience as similar to losing one of their natural five senses. Droids (the weapon's intended users) experience no such ill effects.

Of course, this integration also allows the weapon to identify unauthorized operators. Being a Helix-designed tool, what happens next is usually cruel. Consequences can vary, ranging from a simple verbal warning to an assault on the user's central nervous system. Persistent tampering may even result in the Monitor detonating its own internal fuel core, destroying itself and potentially the interloper for good measure. No matter the case, the rifle refuses to function, rendering captured examples useless.

The Monitor features four primary firing modes, with the first and second being the standard semi-automatic/automatic fire settings. The third, however, projects a semi-automatic spray of tainted star-stuff with reduced range and penetration. This mode is roughly analogous to the function of a shotgun, offering increased lethal effect vs lightly-armored or unarmored foes, and lowers the chance of a hull breach when fighting within the halls of a starship.

Lastly, in a feature taken from the Scarecrow rifle used by the Dzara's criminal militias, the Monitor is capable of firing overcharged shots of greatly increased power but reduced velocity. These feature a significantly pronounced arcing trajectory, and a canny user might utilize them to fire over cover or the heads of their own compatriots

These charged shots detonate violently upon striking a solid surface or shield, dousing a modest area in blazing ebon Otherplasma fires and toxic chemicals. Typically, this feature is used to engage light/medium vehicles, root out entrenched infantry, or simply whenever more power is needed. It serves much the same purpose as underbarrel grenade launchers in saner militaries.

Due to a reaction between its X19 and Otherplasma ammunition sources, this weapon's energy bursts are a hazy purple, and leave a smoking trail behind them as with prior weapons of its type. The distorted wail typical of phosphor-blaster discharges is not absent here either, and the noise of many of these weapons firing can be truly unbearable to the ear.

Wounds caused by this variety of weapon are famously nightmarish, and need no introduction to the battlefield medics tasked with treating them. Quite apart from the fourth-degree burns and flash-vaporization injuries typical of Otherplasma exposure, the Monitor's relatively higher rate of fire ensures that such injuries won't be consigned to the history books anytime soon. As with its forbears, the usage of radiotoxic chemicals in the Monitor's ammunition means that said wounds are quite difficult to treat, and can lead to lingering health complications even long after the battle is over.

The Monitor is far more temperamental than its more common cousin, as well as slightly less powerful, but it is likely better-suited for the hands of Helix's droid infantry.

Still, it does occasionally find its hands into the wider Dzara, who are more likely to fall afoul of the weapon's double-edged nature. As with many small arms of this sort, damage to the munitions reservoir or internal reactor seldom bode well for the user. The Monitor is no display piece: it is a profoundly-durable and advanced piece of technology, well-suited to the rigors of the modern battlefield. Nonetheless, should it become seriously damaged, it poses a significant danger to its user's well-being. Nor can the wielder simply drop an overloading or unstable Monitor and dive for cover; the weapon's normally-convenient integration feature becomes a lethal trap in such circumstances.

If the user is lucky, they might walk away with "merely" a mass of third-degree burns stretching from shoulder to fingertip. Unluckier wielders might lose the offending arm entirely in a flash of purple-black flame, and Otherplasma detonations rarely stop there...