Pulse Rifle

"I find it amazing that what the Conglomerate consider an ancient weapon is really an advanced piece of technology that has saved my quills on multiple occasions." -Nithonian General, Enochia

History
Pulse Rifles were standardized Conglomerate weapons even before they had begun the journey into space. The first versions were very long in size and were less portable than a modern Earth sniper rifle. However, as newer technologies were invented and drastically improved upon, the Pulse Rifle not only changed in aesthetic appearance, but in operation. In the modern galactic age, they are a standard weapon in almost all Galactic Armada operations. The weapons kept the name "rifle" as a tribute to their earlier use by ancient Conglomerate soldiers. Pulse Rifles can be modified to have flashlights, bayonets, grappling hooks, and other devices incorporated into their design.

Construction
The bulk of the barrel is surrounded by coils of conductive material, visible in some patterns along the top of the weapon, which produce a solenoid. When current is passed through them, these coils generate a magnetic field oriented along the barrel. At the front of the weapon are the weapon's two muzzles, just behind which is a circular apparatus that serves s a recoil stabiliser. Behind the barrel mechanism is the primary magazine, and behind that the trigger assembly and stock.

Operation
The Pulse Rifle works by electromagnetically accelerating a plasma shell down its barrel. In effect, it is a miniature mass accelerator. On firing, a ferromagnetic, solid slug is chambered from the magazine and turned into a plasma via electromagnetic induction. The solenoid is then charged fully, propelling the newly produced plasma out of the gun at an extreme velocity while keeping it cohesive. Though this field continues to keep the plasma together until impact, residual plasma is expelled from the barrel to produce the weapon's considerable muzzle flash. The power required to generate these immense fields comes from the zero-point generator, which is effectively a very powerful and dense battery, also acting as a method to control the recoil of the Pulse Rifle. The gravitic field also holding the charge together flattens on impact slightly before breaking, which causes the resulting impact to spread over a wider area than would otherwise be possible. The speed at which the projectile is launched is so extreme, that in some cases, it has been known to "light the air on fire", due to it's velocity being somewhat close to the speed of light.