With some members of Starfleet, and the Federation preferring projectile weapons over energy weapons, Starfleet's Corps of Engineers decided to take a different approach to weapon design, using the early 21st century Ruger P345 .45 caliber handgun as a base.
The gun is modified so that the only metal parts are those that endure heavy stress during the process of firing projectiles. All remaining parts are made of a reinforced, space age polymer plastic, and custom isolinear circuits.
For the projectile enthusiast, the original gun design, and functions remain the same, allowing for the use of hard-nosed, soft-nosed, incendiary, and sedative rounds.
For the energy enthusiast, or those who want an extra firing option, a pulse fire attachment, and 2 specialized energy magazines are included with your package. The pulse fire attachment is 3 inches x 1.5 inches x 1 inch, and attaches to the attachment rail on the bottom front of the weapon. A small electrical connector in the rear of the attachment connects the pulse weapon to the rest of the components needed for pulse fire.
The specialized energy magazines look identical to projectile magazines, except that the projectiles are replaced by energy cells. At the top of the magazine is a small isolinear connector, which connects the energy cells to the other pulse weapon components. NOTE: Pulse weapon will not fire without one of these energy magazines.
Near the top of the grip, on both sides, a small string of LED lights have been added. These lights indicate the remaining energy left in the energy magazine. Each energy magazine holds a charge of up to 100 shots on the lowest pulse intensity. The higher the pulse intensity, the quicker the energy magazine is depleted.
As part of the modifications made to the Ruger P345, the safety switch now doubles as a selector switch, when the pulse fire weapon is attached. The selector switch has only two settings: Projectile fire (Safety off), and Energy fire (Safety on). Attached to the selector switch is a small isolinear connector. In energy mode, this connector turns on the pulse fire weapon.
In order to allow for ease of use, isolinear lines are strung into the bottom trigger guard, and into the grip, leading to the selector switch, energy magazine, and the trigger. This allows the trigger to be used as the firing mechanism for either firing mode.
The attachment has a string of LED lights, which indicate pulse intensity. Right below these lights are two small buttons, used to respectively increase, or decrease pulse fire intensity. NOTE: The buttons, and all lights will be disabled in projectile mode.
Metal parts included in the gun's design are as follows: Barrel, Chamber, Firing pin, Ejector, and all springs. These parts endure heavy stress when firing projectiles, and are the only metal components in this gun design.
While this attachment is designed so that it never has to be removed, those who choose to remove it can easily switch to pulse fire. Switching to pulse fire is as fast as sliding on the attachment, switching to an energy magazine, and changing the selector switch to energy mode.
An example of where this attachment might be useful would be situations where a sedative round has no effect on the target, and the shooter does not want to use lethal rounds. In this case, the shooter can attach the pulse fire weapon, insert the required magazine, and select the pulse intensity to fit the situation.
