The Slug-Shot represents a distinct class of personal firearm within the Endless Unity's arsenal, sharing its core propulsion technology with the Bolt-Driver but differing fundamentally in projectile design. Like its more advanced counterpart, the Slug-Shot utilizes electron degenerate matter propellant (EDMP). A trigger pull sends an electric current from a neutronic power cell into a microscopic EDMP casing, causing it to violently lose its degenerate state. The resulting electromagnetic explosion propels a projectile to hypersonic velocities.
The defining characteristic of a Slug-Shot is its ammunition. A Slug-Shot projectile is stubby, not much longer than its length. This geometry is ballistically inefficient compared to the Bolt-Driver's, limiting its effective range and inherent armor-penetration capability. The primary advantage of this design is increased volume-to-length ratio, which is beneficial for some types of specialized warheads.
Examples of handheld slugshots include the @SS-1 and @SS-4 .
The Bolt-Driver is the standard-issue infantry weapon of the Endless Unity and the embodiment of its military doctrine. It operates on the same principle of degenerate-matter propellant as the Slug-Shot but is optimized for range and penetration through its ammunition design. A Bolt-Driver projectile is defined by its sliver-like profile, with a length more than ten times its diameter. This high sectional density and superior ballistic coefficient allow the projectile to maintain velocity and energy over extreme distances, making the Bolt-Driver a potent threat several kilometers away.
The trade-off for this power and range is immense recoil, which typically confines full-automatic fire to users in powered battlesuits. The Bolt-Driver is the versatile, long-arm of the Exoplanetary Guard, designed to engage and defeat heavily armored targets at the farthest possible ranges.
The most common pattern, the @SBD-120, is a highly modular platform capable of accepting numerous attachments, from under-barrel grenade launchers to advanced sensor arrays. Modern universal variants (SBD-U) can recalibrate their barrel caliber in seconds to fire a vast array of specialized bolts. These include standard Armor-Piercing (AP) rounds, Rocket-Assisted Rounds (RAR) for extended range, Cone-Fragmentation Rounds (CFR) for anti-personnel use, and high-temperature Immolator rounds. An extremely rare and potent ammunition type is the SCC (Strangelet-Composite Core) round, which fields an immensely powerful kinetic penetrator using exotic strangelet-impregnated matter (@SCC "Event Horizon" Magazine (120x1800), @SCC "Event Horizon" Magazine (4x40)).
The ability to fire a wide range of specialized rounds is what makes the bolt-driver such a potent weapon. However, the downside to this is the fact that many of these specialized rounds are geared towards a specific weapon calibre. I.e. a 120x1800 calibre magazine of rare, specialized, and powerful ammunition simply cannot be fired from an SBD-100, which uses 100x1500 calibre rounds.
A subset of the standard bolt-driver, the "microdriver" features miniaturized projectiles and a smaller length-to-diameter ratio (usually exactly 10:1, making it sit right on the technical boundary between the bolt-driver and slug-shot). One common instance of a microdriver-type weapon is the @SMD-40. Microdrivers are usually less suited to firing specialized ammunition, and are better suited for CQC encounters.
The Plasmacaster is a heavy support weapon that projects a contained bolt or stream of matter heated to a state of plasma, often exceeding hundreds of thousands of Kelvin at the muzzle. It serves as a long-range, high-intensity tool for area denial and structural destruction, effective at ranges of several hundred meters. Its key differentiator from kinetic weapons is its damage mechanism: overwhelming thermal energy that can melt through armor and render most forms of cover ineffective.
A critical technological feature of the modern Plasmacaster is its integration of magnetic guidance field projectors. These generate a manipulable magnetic envelope around the plasma projectile as it travels, allowing the weapon's operator to make slight, real-time adjustments to its trajectory mid-flight. This does not grant the plasma bolt the agility of a guided missile, but it does compensate for target movement and environmental drift, making it significantly more accurate at medium ranges than unguided projectiles would be. The weapon can be configured to fire a wide cone of plasma for clearing tight spaces or a concentrated beam for greater range and penetration. While its projectiles are slower than bolts and dissipate over distance, the Plasmacaster's ability to bend fire onto concealed targets and its immense damage output make it a fearsome battlefield presence.
Examples of handheld plasmacasters include the @HPC-1N Plasmacaster , and its heavier two-handed equivalent - the @HPC-2L Plasmacaster .
The Photonic Array, or Laser Array, is a directed-energy weapon that serves as a primary alternative to kinetic weapons within the Endless Unity. Typically taking the form of a large, minigun-sized assault weapon, it projects a coherent beam of light traveling at the speed of light, making it impossible to evade at any practical range. This instant hit probability is its greatest tactical advantage.
The weapon operates in two primary modes. In its standard "passive" mode, it emits a continuous stream of energy ideal for suppressive fire and engaging lightly armored targets with high accuracy. Its "overcharge" mode concentrates a significant portion of its power cell into a single, devastating burst capable of punching through heavier armor, at the cost of a mandatory cooldown period. The Photonic Array boasts a virtually unlimited ammunition supply when linked to a battlesuit's fusion core, and it produces no recoil. It is highly valued by troops requiring sustained, precise fire, particularly saboteurs and reconnaissance units who benefit from its reliability and silent, traceless operation in passive mode.
Examples of handheld Photonic Arrays include the @LPA-12 .
The Magna-Shot is a specialized projectile weapon system whose design was originally a trademark of the Traphon Stellar Empire. Following the Traphon War, the weapon was not only integrated into the Endless Unity's arsenal but saw widespread proliferation across Unity space in the subsequent centuries. Its blend of brute force and intelligent guidance proved highly effective, and it became a common sight among specialist units and planetary defense forces.
The weapon itself is a semi-circular launcher that fires a semi-spherical, self-contained projectile. Each Magna-Shot is an intelligent kamikaze-drone, equipped with its own propulsion system and a sophisticated AI. Upon launch, the projectile can steer itself toward its target using small maneuvering fins. Its AI allows it to choose the optimal detonation method: a direct impact strike or, if a miss is calculated, a proximity airburst that showers the target with shrapnel. This guidance system makes the Magna-Shot exceptionally accurate, as it is more likely to be physically intercepted by point-defense systems than to simply miss. Traphon Storm Warriors, and later Unity specialists, carry dozens of these potent rounds, expecting each one to find its mark and deliver considerable explosive force, making the Magna-Shot a brutally efficient and widely respected tool of war.
Gravitic weapons represent a pinnacle of applied physics, weaponizing the fundamental force of gravity itself. Unlike kinetic or energy-based arms, a gravitic weapon, such as the @XMP-1 Gravity Cutter and the @Type-1C Gravity Cutter , projects a tightly focused beam of manipulated spacetime. This beam can be configured to exert either an immense pushing or pulling force on a target point. The primary lethal application is a "cutting" mode, where the narrow, ultra-potent beam shears through armor and material by applying catastrophic stress across a minuscule area. The weapon's operation is governed by the Third Law of Common Physics; firing it generates an equal and opposite recoil force, propelling the user backward. This effect is intentionally harnessed by heavy battlesuit operators for rapid repositioning and even limited flight in zero-gravity environments.
This same advanced gravitic array technology forms the basis for starship sublight propulsion, industrial turborams, and gravity-based transport systems, making it a cornerstone of Endless technology.