MX4 Light Support Weapon

The MX4 LSW is the second UNSC directed energy weapon issued to their personnel. The MX4 is used by regular and special forces in the light machine gun role, allowing a platoon to engage shielded infantry with ease. 
==Uses==
The Weapon was first issued to frontline troops fighting Brutes in the Remnant forces. The weapon was well liked because of the punishment it could bring down on their shielding. It is increasingly issued in a position similar to the M122 LMG. Since it was accurate and had a hefty rate of fire it was used primarily in supporting roles. It is issued to at least one automatic rifleman in a platoon. The weapon is used to lay down swathes of suppressing fire. 
==Operation==
The MX4 is made from lightweight polymers, with ceramic barrel components to resist the heat. The gun is built around a computerised firing assembly, long barrel and a folding stock, allowing it to be compacted for manoeuvrability. The weapon features a Misriah Rail along the receiver, underneath the barrel and on either side of the barrel. The magazine fits inside the rifle just in front of the trigger, with a magazine release catch just above the magazine well. The trigger grouping is above the trigger, with a safe setting, semi-automatic/over-charged setting and fully automatic. The cocking handle to load the first pellet is located above the magazine well.
 
The MX4 uses Camium Telluride pellets in a 120 round magazine, which is fed into a ionization chamber where a impulse laser ignites the pellets and vaporizes them into super heated gas. The weapon's barrel is laced with magnetic coils which creates a magnetic 'tunnel'. The plasma is volleyed down the tunnel and spat out a 800 m/s. Each magazine carries both the pellets and the battery pack necessary to power the weapon, making ammunition requirements totally self sustained within the magazine.
The weapon can fire continuously for between fifty-sixty shots before it overheats. The laser cuts off, the magazine is sealed off and the cooling fins open up, allowing the magnetic tunnel to ventilate and cool down. The barrel is chilled by a electronically controlled temperature control system, utilising a number of heat absorbent sinks, utilising Doppler Cooling to capture heat produced from it and cool them via the doppler shift. The magazine is sealed off to prevent it potentially catching fire and exploding.
The weapon can also be over charged, by dumping twenty pellets into the ionisation chamber and withholding the magnetic field, causing the plasma to form into one large munition, which has sufficient power to penetrate the armour of light vehicles, though not necessarily destroy them and generate a short term, low range electro-magnetic effect. This allows the LSW to effect light armour. This charged mode has a similar explosive yield to a 40mm grenade, allowing it to effect light armour and exposed infantry. 
==UNSC Comments==
"When we knew we were going up against Jackals with shield gauntlets, we sent our plasma jockey on point, with our rifleman on overwatch. We flushed them out and fucked them up!"
"That Prowler was barrelling around like a bat out of hell, spitting plasma. Lewy charged up his plasma rifle and shot off a round. Penetrated the armoured between the plates, hit the turbine engine. The entire thing exploded, the gun shut down, it flipped twice and rolled off the cliff. Fucking epic!"
"Who the fuck needs tracers, with this thing during a night fight? We were half a click outside the spaceport, we could barely see them. Then Jackie boy opens up with that plasma rifle, and the entire place lights up with red death."
Category:UNSC Weapons