With the introduction of lightwieght armor that could be cheaply made, and the appearance of nearly military grade body armor in the hands of insurgents, terrorists, and organized crime syndicates, NEMA was in need of a standardized military grade weapons line. With the US and Canadian Military having already conducted field trials for heavy weaponry, NEMA was easily able to choose a manufacturer for their line of military grade hardware.
The PLP-20 had been fielded for trial testing in 2058 by Litton Laser Research, a subsidiary of Litton/Intel Industries, but was not selected due to the weapon missing the ability to engage soft targets without vaporization of the target. However, it was a weapon able to handle the rigors of combat and easily met the needs of NEMA.
The LLR made pistol was manufactured in Grass Valley CA, at the Litton/Intel plant, and Litton quickly built satellite plants in Mexico and Canada, to easily arm those militaries, bolster the local economy, and in accordance with the 2062 NAFTA protocols.
Two changes were made in the standard PLP-20 for use by NEMA, this was the addition of a set of rails to the top and bottom of the pistol to allow various pistol modifications to be added to the weapon in accordance to mission need.
The casing is made of lightweight molecularly bonded synthetic plastic, as developed by Dow Chemical, as well as molecularly bonded neo-tungsten for the casing. The fire selector lever is available on both the right and left side of the weapon, allowing ease of use for right and left handed firers, but the discovery that the trigger guard did not allow ease of use for troops wearing body armor resulted in the trigger guard being moved forward slightly to compensate, and the addition of a "pivot pin" set being integrated into the trigger guard to allow the trigger guard to be dropped to hang free so that it could be used by those in heavy body armor or heavy cyborgs.
The crystal matrix used for laser focusing to provide a tight beam are 8-sided quartz crystals that have been factory laser cleaned to remove impurities. This provided free flow for the beam, as well as a non-degradable lasing matrix. Quartz crystal was chosen for its durability and resistance to damage when knocked around. The weapon has a 1.5cm aperture, giving it high damage capability with a tight wavelength allowing for excellent range without significant atmospheric degradation.
The handgrip uses the time proven deformable plastic grips, which have proved reliable even when the wielder is wearing body armor, bare handed with a wet grip, or the weapon is heated due to extensive use. However, the grip pads are non-removable, which lowers the service life of this pistol.
An after design mistake in the factory processing on the case resulted in the Auto-CAD program mistaking the front and rear sights as mold injection points and the sights being trimmed from the pistol during final finishing.
The pistol is a dark-blue, non reflective finish that is heat bonded to the casing materials to ensure that the pistol does not reflect light during a covert operation.
Common additions to the weapon are as follows:
The inclusion of a burst setting on this weapon has given it the punch needed to penetrate light security body armor with a pair of well placed shots, and as it has no recoil, each shot is more accurate than it would be in the case of chemical firearms. However field use has shown that on occasion the second or third laser "bolt" will be lower power than the other two, and extended us of the burst setting can cause microfractures in the crystal lasing matrix.
After the Cataclysm, the use of this pistol increased geometrically, and was found to be useful against the smaller demons. However, the ash and the microfinecrystallines in the atmosphere seriously degraded the weapons range.
In Rifts, possession of this pistol has resorted to hand me down status, but even so, there are many who purchase this pistol, as the casing is functionally identical to the Coalition States knock off version, while the pistol is more powerful than the Coalition States.
Some pistols seem to have the ability to overcome laser resistant armor, although documentation on this being an official modification is lacking, the presence of variable frequency molycircs cannot be denied.
One of the most well documented complaints regarding this pistol is the interface socket, allowing the weapon to be connected to power armor or portable power packs, has a tendency to come loose, the material used for conduction easily corrodes, or the socket breaks completely. Sometimes this results in plug insertion problems, intermittent power feeding, or damage to the internal power leads.
Weight: 2.6 lbs
Length: 7.25 inches
Caliber: 1.25cm
Maximum Range: 1500m (4500 ft)
Maximum Effective Range: 350m (1050 ft)
Typical Combat Range: <50m (< 150 ft)
Magazine Capacity: 21 shots/7 bursts for standard energy magazine, 168 shots/56 bursts with power pack.
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