((Okay, banking on the fact that Anton is already in Tinker and therefore shall not trigger gassing by technically not entering it, I shall try to continue. With shortened clarifications for PW's benefit.))
So when you say useable by a human, does that include ones in exoskeletons and or very strong ones? Because what you're basically making here is a infinite use telsa arc and it's gonna end up around the same size. Ie big and heavy and usable only by the very strong or mechanically aided. But it's still small enough to be used by a human in the same way that a GE M134 Minigun is technically man portable.
Otherwise, everything looks good.
((I would mean "regular-man-portable", so as bulky as a minigun is a bit too much. Also, it might be an infinite use tesla arc, but it's an infinite use tesla arc with a great deal more accuracy and much more than 50 feet of effective range.
In atmosphere, at least. Everywhere else it's just an oversized laser rifle and cattleprod.))
Tinkery actions:Save the last modification (the Tesla-Arc sized bulky one) as Gungnir-M, and return to the original design with the Tesla Saber. Keep the Saber this time, but perform laser surgery (heh) on the laser's power system. Copy the battery's plug shape and construct a sort of a custom stock for the rifle, that would hold a generator powering it. Make the rifle's original stock, if it had one, detachable, and make the custom generator-stock fit into the same mountings, at the same time plugging into the battery compartment. (I'm figuring if the Red Hand's generator can fit on a gauntlet, a Laser Rifle can be fed with a sufficiently compact one too) Add an extra compartment to the forward grip, slung under the body of the rifle, allowing up to two extra batteries for the Tesla Saber to be conveniently loaded for up to three minutes of continuous fire or saber-bayonetting. Test the design, with generator, for human-usability. It should ideally be no more bulky than a SAW, like say the Minimi (Minimi Para preferable).
Basically return to the original model that paired the Laser Rifle and the Tesla Saber. Add a compartment for two extra Saber batteries, and create a custom "generator stock" for the Rifle, allowing at least it to be used continuously with minimal modification (plugging into the standard battery compartment while having the form-factor of a rifle stock) and as few custom parts as possible.
After trying out the design (should work as well as it originally did I guess), estimate the price and see how far it goes beyond my meager funds.((I'm guessing... well, by the old standby it should end up around 10 token, 2 for the rifle, 5 for the saber, 2 for the generator, 1 for the conversion parts. This is not including the two extra saber batteries, which are optional. Might maybe get 1 back for returning the battery pack, or just save a token by buying one of the no-resale rifles.
So I'm short 2 or 3 token. If anyone on the Diamond Heart team wants a prototype lightning cannon for the assault mission, feel free to contribute.
))