PM-32

The **Plasma Model 32,** or **PM-32**, was a small, single-handed plasma weapon used by Planetary Union personnel in the 24th and 25th centuries. Although eventually made obsolete in the military by later models such as the PM-44, the gun was still used by civilians and colonists in the early 25th century.

## Description

The PM-32 was originally designed to be a standard-issue weapon for Union officers, but it was replaced on Union starships by subsequent generations of plasma weapons, especially the PM-44, which had more precise power level settings and an optional shotgun-attachment.

The PM-32 was never entirely displaced in the Union as it continued to be used on colony planets and outposts for defensive purposes and small skirmishes; and, as late as 2420, the PM-32 was still the weapon of choice by civilians on Union worlds such as Xelaya.

### Schematics

The PM-32 contained a plasma bolt cartridge power pack in the grip of the gun, supplying energy to the weapon for its plasma bolt. Power levels were manually determined by a slide found on the underside of the thermal barrel.

The barrel itself had two parts: an outer and an inner layer. The outer layer was the thermal barrel, built to contain the immense heat of the plasma. The inner layer was the plasma emitter barrel which contained the plasma and ejected it. The majority of the energy was dissipated not through the thermal barrel but through its heat sink located at the mouth of the gun.

## History

In September 2419, Derek Ashton, a lab technician and undercover Krill spy at the Epsilon Science Station on Epsilon 2, holds Doctor Claire Finn hostage with a PM-32 as he unsuccessfully attempts to capture the quantum accelerator.

A year later, PM-32s are used by Cambis and Floratta Borrin to threaten the Kitan family on Xelaya. When Ed Mercer arrives at the Kitans' beach house, a blast from Cambis' gun overloads the gravity suit he wears to protect himself from Xelaya's gravity, reducing its time limit from an hour to three minutes. Fortunately, Alara Kitan uses the distraction to wrestle Floratta's gun from her before shooting her dead, the sound of which stops Cambis from finishing Mercer off as he returns to the house. Alara successfully eludes Cambis before catching him off-guard and shooting him as well.

## Production

Property master Bryan Rodgers designed and built the PM-32. The model does not boast the curves and "fluidity" of later Union guns like the PM-44. Creator Seth MacFarlane loved Rodgers's early designs of the PM-32 because it felt antiquated next to the PM-44. Rodgers explains:

> *In my initial pitch, Seth had picked [the PM-44], which is a beautifully designed silver and gray plasma pistol, but I had also designed a more traditional pistol-looking weapon, [the PM-32], which I pitched as an outpost weapon. He loved that idea, because our guys would carry the state-of-the-art weapon, but the PM-32 was the kind of weapon they'd put on an outpost for internal skirmishes or just to have some kind of defensive weapon.*
>
>

## Appearances

* *Episode 1x01: Old Wounds*
* *Episode 2x03: Home*

## See also

* Plasma weapons
* PM-44
* *The World of the Orville*, pages 62-63

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Prop Culture Ep 1 Pt 2 - Bryan Rodgers Sons Of Anarchy American Horror Story and The Orville". The Manstalgia Podcast. Oct. 21, 2017.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Episode 1: Old Wounds
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bond, Jeff. *The World of the Orville*. Titan Books. 2018. Pg. 62.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bond, Jeff. *The World of the Orville*. Titan Books. 2018. Pg. 63.
5. ↑ Episode 2x03: Home