P-850 Type-17 Incendiary Projector

"If it's fuck-ugly and comin' at you with more than two legs, roast it!" - Anonymous Directorate Infantryman

The P-850 Type-17 Incendiary Projector [850-17 IP] is a Directorate weapon system equivalent to a modern day flamethrower, although its operating principles are completely different. The 850-17 IP is, in fact, a plasma weapon, and takes the form of a large backpack mounted apparatus with projectors integrated into both gauntlets of a Directorate infantryman's powered armor.

Operation
The "tank" on the soldier's back is a reservoir of inert, non-explosive gas. Attached to each side of this tank are secondary chambers, one for each gauntlet, that function as essentially very high-power microwaves. The Infantryman depresses a button in the control yoke in his hand, filling the corrisponding chamber with gas. The gas is converted into plasma in less than a second, and is contained magnetically within the chamber until the weapon is fired. Once the user pulls the trigger of the yoke, a trio of relatively low-powered lasers integral to the gauntlet are activated. These lasers ionize a path through the atmosphere as well as any object they come into contact with, i.e. the user's target[s]. Once the button is relased, the plasma travels through a magnetically-shielded hose and then the gauntlet projector's magnetic coils. The result is a searing, blinding stream of plasma along the ionized path created by the lasers that lasts as long as the trigger is held down, or until the reservoir of plasma in the microwave chamber is exhausted.

Employment
The P-850 is a more advanced, wrist- and back-mounted developement of what was originally a hand-held device like a common firearm, and has itself seen considerable refinement and development in recent years. Its current iteration, the Type-17, was developed directly in response to the Mortis threat. Prior to encountering the Mortis, the Directorate only employed such incendiary projectors as specialist equipment. Now, an 850-17 IP forms part of the loadout of each Directorate infantry squad. It is a perfect weapon for combating the Mortis, who have relatively little protection against it, and is also excellent for clearing buildings and obstacles or dealing with enemy targets behind cover. However, as contemporary vehicles are almost universally vacuum-sealed with self-contained internal environments, it is essentially completely useless against them.