Plasma beam

Plasma beams are a type of primitive directed energy weapon manufactured by the Trident Foundries, used in shipboard installations, vehicle mounts and even personal weaponry.

Description
A slower-than-light energy weapon, plasma beams are unlike Lasers in that they need more advanced targeting equipment to compensate for the (short) length of time required for a beam of plasma to impact a target. However, plasma beam weapons are inherently more powerful than lasers due to their use of the same forms of weaponized plasma as the closely related Plasma cannon weaponry.