Approved Ranged Weapon LPD-79 Thunderbolt Static Blaster Rifle

[Gir Quee]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a larger version of the Astrapi miniaturized static blaster to issue as a mainline weapon to troops
• Image Source: Aemon Grimm Blaster Rifle art created by Sergei Kolesnik
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Lucerne Personal Defense
• Affiliation: Directorate, The High Republic, Lucerne Personal Defense customers
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: LPD-79 Thunderbolt Static Blaster Rifle
• Modularity: Underbarrel attachments; sights/scopes; ammunition; grips
• Production: Mass-Produced
• Material: Dallorian alloy barrel, receiver, and internals, permex furniture, Magnatomic Grip Panels, miscellaneous static blaster components

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: static blaster rifle
• Size: Average
• Weight: Average
• Ammunition Type: blaster gas / power pack
  

  	Static Blaster Mode	ARC Caster Mode	Lightning Rifle Mode
  Ammunition Capacity:	Average	Low	Average
  Effective Range:	Average	Personal	Long Range
  Rate of Fire:	High	Average	Very Low
  Damage Output:	Low	Very High	High
  Recoil:	Average	Average	Average

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Electrical Weapon: The Thunderbolt, in any of its fire modes, fires raw electrical energy that appears as some form of lightning to most users. This means that the weapon does not need any sort of blaster gas (despite its name) and that some defenses engineered specifically to impair most energy weapons may not necessarily affect the Thunderbolt. The electricity fired from the rifle also automatically moves to the nearest (especially metallic) object on its path, meaning that it is somewhat self-guided in ways that most weapons are not.
• Variable Fire Modes: The Thunderbolt can release in its electrical attacks at different rates of fire and intensities, allowing it to effectively mimic a number of existing electric weapons. In its standard mode, the Thunderbolt works like a typical electrical static blaster – firing bolts of condensed electricity and making it largely the equivalent of a typical fast firing blaster carbine in raw performance. However, the Thunderbolt's static blaster mode does less concentrated, direct damage and instead spreads it apart in narrow areas at a high strength. For example, against flesh, the entry wound is likely to appear small and almost insignificant, but it may cause electrical burn injuries with surprisingly deep subdermal tissue burns along with cardiac dysrhythmias. Similarly, a droid hit by this weapon may initially appear to be almost intact from the outside, but have its circuits fried internally, rendering it inoperative. In its Arc Caster Mode, the Thunderbolt fires sustained high voltage electrical currents that have the potential to jump to several other nearby targets, though damage to these secondary targets is usually to a less severe degree. While its effects on targets are in general very similar to that of the static blaster, the sheer power difference involved typically makes damage severely more grievous, potentially causing arc burns that can create internal pressure wave that rip apart an organic target from the inside out or ignite the target on fire. Lastly, the Thunderbolt can charge up to and change the frequency of its energy discharge to mimic a heavy lightning rifle, making it reasonably powerful and long-range weapon at the cost of a very slow fire rate.
• Accessory Rails: The Thunderbolt does have small, recessed top and bottom rails situated above the receiver and underneath the large cylindrical power pack, which allows it to use a variety of over the counter weapon's attachments such as tactical lights, grappling spike launchers, underbarrel weapons, scopes, bipods, and other similar devices.

STRENGTHS

• Heavy Hitter (Arc Caster Mode): The Thunderbolt releases an intense burst of electricity when in Arc Caster mode, making it extremely effective at quickly putting down most nearby threats.
• Long Range (Lightning Rifle Mode): The lightning rifle mode heavily condenses the electrical discharge to make a large lighting bolt that can travel across great distances before dissipating.
• Versatile: The Thunderbolt's ability to release its electrical attacks in different ways allows it to be used to fulfill a variety of roles, whether its high rate of fire as a static blaster makes it an effective suppression weapon, or its excellent range in Lightning Bolt Rifle mode allow it to be used a designated marksman rifle.

WEAKNESSES

• Short Range (Arc Caster Mode): Like other Arc casters, the Thunderbolt's Arc caster mode is fairly short-ranged, ranging in the dozens of meters.
• Low Rate of Fire (Lightning Rifle Mode): The time needed for the Thunderbolts Capacitors to fully transfer and coalesce its large bolt is not inconsiderable, taking almost three times as long as traditional blaster to fire.
• No Stun Setting: Unlike conventional blasters, the static blaster has no stun setting, meaning that its users have no less than lethal options.

DESCRIPTION
Out of all of the wrist and gauntlet weapons Lucerne Personal Defense has made over the years, the Astrapi Miniaturized Static Blaster was among one of the most popular options, leading Lucerne Personal Defense designers to wonder if a full-sized rifle version may have similar success as a niche weapon. Unlike conventional blasters, static blasters do not need blaster gas and are simpler to build and maintain. With those thoughts in mind, the company set about to make a larger static blaster based on the Astrapi that might appeal to individuals and groups with limited logistics such as explorers or clandestine rebels or those who had to hunt creatures like Veermoks which are highly resistant to conventional blaster weaponry. To that end, the designers concentrated on making the weapon simple and durable. Reasoning that the electrobolt mode found on the original Astrapi would be less useful on a more offensive weapon, the team instead worked on making a longer-range mode which could be useful as a hunting weapon, ultimately settling on emulating the little known heavy lightning rifle. Combined with the other original two fire modes of the Astrapi, the resulting Thunderbolt Static Blaster Rifle is a reasonably versatile weapon, capable of dropping big game prey at close ranges in arc caster mode, hunting many smaller targets in static blaster mode, and capable of hitting large targets far away with precision in lightning bolt rifle mode.

While designed first as hunting and defensive weapon, the Thunderbolt has drawn two separate groups with a military interest in the weapon. The Thunderbolt's lower initial cost and simpler logistical backend compared to blaster weaponry has tempted some cash-strapped and far-ranging military units to adopt it. The second group are those specifically looking for an electrical based weapon output, such as those facing creatures like the aforementioned blaster-resistant Veermok or many Yuuzhan Vong based blaster resistant technology such as Vonduun Skerr Kyrric personal armor. As with the original static blasters, some energy shielding technology is similarly designed specifically to protect against blasters, but not common electrical discharges, giving the weapon another niche use against opponents who like to use cheaper or simpler versions of personal energy shielding. Consequently, the Thunderbolt is looking to have a small, steady production run likely to cater to these niche markets for some time to come, but it seems unlikely to ever supplant any blaster rifle in common use.

 

[Darth Prazutis]

Under Review

 

[Darth Prazutis]

Gir Quee

Looks good. Approved.