JL-48 Pain Blaster

[AutoFox]

- JL-48 Pain Blaster -

- Affiliation -
Various.

- Ownership -
Frex Calix, various.

- Intent -​

The Pain Blaster is intended to serve as a personal weapon my present character (and possibly a future one), and eventually as the standard personal defense sidearm for a faction I am planning. Its concept is based in part on the real-life pain beam concept, but this version is considerably smaller, and has more lethal settings.

- Model -
JL-48 Pain Blaster.

- Type -
Microwave based hand gun.

- Size -
Compact pistol.

- Composition -
Agrinium (casing), plastoid (grips).

- Range -
30 meters.

- Ammunition Capacity -
5 shots at lethal power, 10 shots at burn power, 20 shots at sting power. 10x all shots with external power supply.

- Description -​

The JL-48 "Pain Blaster" is a unique, microwave based hand weapon. Built into a relatively compact package, the JL-48 is comparable in size to a small standard blaster pistol, but rather than firing plasma bolts, its operation is based on the principle of dielectric heating.
Using a beam of microwave energy, the Pain Blaster is capable of being just that; when focused on most beings, the JL-48's beam is capable of flash-boiling the moisture within the skin, causing a sharp, stinging, burning sensation which causes an instinctive recoil in most beings, besides being extremely painful. This "sting" setting is normally quite harmless, and is ideal for beings seeking an effective, non-lethal personal defense weapon.
For beings looking for something not so harmless, there are other settings as well.
The Pain Blaster also has "burn" and "lethal" settings, the former setting the weapon to fire lower frequency, higher energy beams which can cause more substantial radiation burn damage. This is still not lethal, but unlike the sting setting it inflicts a lasting surface wound on the target where they have been hit.
The latter setting is exactly what it sounds like. Using powerful microwave bursts, the JL-48 can inflict gruesome, often deadly wounds on many beings, bubbling flesh and literally cooking internal organs in the area struck. Though the beam is only instantly fatal if it is aimed at a vital part of the target (such as the brain or heart), shots aimed at other parts of the body can rupture blood vessels and sometimes cause gaping burst wounds in soft tissue, which explodes when the moisture inside is superheated.
In addition to their effectiveness against organic foes, Pain Blasters also provide a measure of effectiveness against mechanicals. Unshielded droids hit by a JL-48 will experience an electromagnetic pulse directly to their circuitry, often destroying the unit's operating system and leaving more sensitive components badly damaged. Though not as dramatic as an ion blaster, it can leave droids stumbling around in confusion, often with their most basic programming wiped.

Unlike normal blaster bolts, beams from a Pain Blaster have the advantage of being invisible, as well as having little to no recoil, though they do produce a high-pitched whine. They also have some effectiveness against armor; materials such as plastoid may warp, bubble or even melt, and metals without electromagnetic resistance, such as durasteel, may become superheated and uncomfortable to wear if used as body armor under sustained fire.
Beams from the JL-48 are also tightly focused, affecting a spot on the target about an inch across.

In appearance, the JL-48 resembles a small, snub-nosed blaster pistol, with a button-style trigger mounted on a straight, rectangular grip. This grip contains a standard power cell which provides up to 20 shots at sting power. The weapon's grips are made of rugged plastoid, and the main casing of radiation-resistant agrinium, protecting the wielder from any potential harm by the Pain Blaster's powerful microwave emitter.
For extra firepower, the JL-48 can be connected to an external high-capacity power cell, which can be clipped to the wielder's belt, and connects to the grip of the weapon via a long cord. This attachment can extend the Pain Blaster's ammunition capacity to 50, 100 and 200 shots at lethal, burn and sting settings, respectively.

Of note, many beings have found more utilitarian uses for the JL-48. Popular with scouts, the weapon can double as an impromptu microwave cooker for rations, as well as being useful for quickly boiling water and other liquids.

 

[Jiang Winters]

The ammunition capacity will have to be roughly halved for all settings - additionally, you're going to have to clarify the extent of damage the 'lethal' setting can do, particularly its ability to bypass armor. It's a neat concept, but right now it seems capable of literally cooking a character to death with just one or two pulls of the trigger.

 

[Dmitri]

The ammunition capacity will have to be roughly halved for all settings - additionally, you're going to have to clarify the extent of damage the 'lethal' setting can do, particularly its ability to bypass armor. It's a neat concept, but right now it seems capable of literally cooking a character to death with just one or two pulls of the trigger.

One shot: heat coffee. Two shots: pop popcorn. Three shots: Give pain to person. Forty shots: death by popcorning!

 

[AutoFox]

Thanks for the feedback; went in and explained how the different settings work a little better, as well as more on how the armor penetration works. If it's still at all confusing, let me know.
I also dialed down the ammunition capacity, as per your request.

Basically, though, the Pain Blaster isn't any more deadly to an unarmored opponent than a regular blaster bolt would be. It works a little bit differently, of course, but the area of effect isn't different; you don't get shot and instantly fall dead, it affects the target in pinpoint spots. It could nuke your brain or heart with a well-placed shot, of course, so that could ruin your day. To be killed this way, though, the blaster would have to be on "lethal".

Also, regarding the shots, bear in mind that the "sting" function is essentially like the "stun" on a regular blaster, though instead of rendering the target unconscious, it just makes the feel a sharp pain and flinch away. It's also a really low-energy function, so it wouldn't drain the battery much.
The "burn" setting would be like burning someone's skin, and does actual visible damage, though it's only skin deep. It's still not hugely power intensive.
The "lethal" setting would be like a regular blaster's standard "kill" setting. Would consume about the same amount of power, too.
Honestly, I think my initial ammunition figures were pretty conservative already, given the norms. Your call though.

 

[The Sentinel]

One shot: heat coffee. Two shots: pop popcorn. Three shots: Give pain to person. Forty shots: death by popcorning!

I want you to -really- imagine that last one there. Hilarious.

 

[AutoFox]

Pop pop, mother****er! XD

Also, I've refined the descriptions and such a bit more, and I've removed the gun's overt armor-piercing capability; it can still heat up most metals and melt plastics, however.

 

[Kiro]

I'm curious as to how a tiny little gun like that would be able to create enough radiation, directed in a tiny, specific area, and cause lethal levels of damage... when people lived for decades in front of -giant- WWII era radars that emitted microwaves for several hours, on a daily basis, with mostly minor health complications... and that is a tiny little gun if the image is anything to go by.

And I studied up on damage caused by microwave radiation... so, explain to me, just how can a gun which emits microwave radiation, be modified to deal various forms of damage? Microwave radiation is microwave radiation, and will always behave in the same way when striking the same target. Yes, you can change the hertz frequency, increase the time the target is exposed to said radiation... but it would still cause the same levels of damage. Which would not be the flash boiling of liquids within the target. Microwave radiation causes electricity burns within deep muscle tissue, blindness, etc.

 

[AutoFox]

In Star Wars, I doubt creating radiation on the level required would be much of a challenge. A normal blaster can convert compressed gas into plasma in an instant, and make it electrically charged to boot. If blasters work, then so would this thing; it probably wouldn't even consume that much power, relatively speaking.

As for its effects on tissue, it works on the same principles as the real-world Active Denial System, which works by emitting microwave frequencies that specifically excite the water molecules within a target's outer layer of skin. My thought was that by dialing up the power or using lower frequencies for other settings, deeper penetration and more dramatic effects could be achieved.
Ever seen a hotdog explode in a microwave oven?
If I'm incorrect about this, I'll be happy to change how this thing works.

 

[Vencu]

Why not just use a blaster with a range of power settings?

 

[AutoFox]

Probably a better idea...

 

[Vencu]

Like Jiang said, it has merit, but I'm just not sure that anyone would go through the effort to make a specialized device such as this when a blaster can do the same things with very little to no modification. On the lowest power setting, and at close range, a blaster will only cause pain. That wouldn't have much recoil or be all that loud to begin with... and then setting it a little higher would cause burns... full power would obviously result in death... same principle, more common device.

 

[AutoFox]

Yeah, I'm thinking you're right about that. You can archive this, if you like.

 

[Vencu]

Alright. Archived.