User:OxxStevoxxo/Type-87/A Imperial Energy Rifle

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The Type-87/A Imperial Energy Rifle, more commonly known as the Imperial Plasma Rifle, is a UNSC/SI military ground firearm in use during the Swarm War.

It is a very common weapon in the Imperial military, being the standard issue rifle of the Allied Empire’s infantry corps. It is an evolution of the plasma weapons used by the Covenant during the Great War, and is styled after Sangheili weaponry. The weapon uses super-heated plasma as its ammunition source, meaning it requires a battery to function. The battery, along with the gas required to form the plasma, is available as a removable Power pack, unlike the older Covenant plasma weapons, which could not have their power source replaced. A Power pack is good for about three hundred rounds and is used in the same manner as a magazine on a projectile weapon. Despite this, the Plasma Rifle is still prone to overheating.

Like older human projectile weapons, the Type-87/A has the ability to switch between semi automatic and fully automatic fire modes. The semi automatic mode is rarely used though, as the weapon maintains a high degree of accuracy even while blasting away on fully auto.

The weapon has been highly effective when fighting the Swarm, able to down a Worker in a single shot. When facing more heavily armoured foes though, it takes considerably longer. Even the basic Warrior can resist several shots before its exoskeleton is penetrated.

The Plasma rifle is mostly effective when fighting more conventional foes, such as the Gargantanus War tribes of the Kig-Yar pirate fleets. It can pierce energy shields with ease, and is a weapon of choice when fighting Jiralhanae forces.