Brutal Prototype

The Brutal Prototype is an experimental handheld railgun, using accelerated plasma fusion as ammo. It was designed and by Gerian engineer and arms specialist Yver Brutal, and its main purpose is shooting down small crafts from within a planetary atmosphere.

Specs
The Brutal Prototype is 1.5 meters long from the back of the stock to the front of the barrel. Each clip contains a tank filled with two compressed nuclear plasmoid substances, which quickly fuse when a button on the side is pressed. The resulting "heavy plasma" and the energy created in the fusion process are both released when the trigger is pulled.

The trigger mechanism causes the tank capsule exit to open, releasing the plasma and energy. Then superconductors accelerate it through the barrel. The resulting projectile looks like a glowing ball trailing hazy purple fire, which is really just plasma remnants and fusion energy. Due to the long speed of the barrel and the strength of the superconductors used in the gun, the projectile moves extremely fast and does devastating damage to ships.

However, as the gun is a prototype, it has its dangers and drawbacks. There is a one second delay between the button press and when the plasma has finished fusing. This by itself is not much of a problem. However, if someone pulls the trigger too early, too much uncontrolled energy is released at once and the clip explodes. Additionally, if someone hasn't pulled the trigger after 5 seconds have gone by, the clip can't contain all the energy and it explodes. This explosion is far more dangerous than the one created by pulling the trigger too early, and can even destroy the gun itself. So there is a 3 second window (2-4 seconds after the button is pressed) where the trigger can be safely pulled.

There is a dangerous but effective manuever that takes advantage of the clip overloading to kill enemies at a close range. It involves pressing the fusion button, then quickly ejecting the clip and throwing it like a grenade. The explosion is more than powerful enough to kill an adversary at a range of 1 meter or less. However, if not timed properly, whoever is executing it can be killed by the blast itself, or the opponent could notice it and get out of range.