See Also - Armaments of the Colonial Pact

The ALP-57U 'Kraus' is a polymer encased asynchronous linear chem-rail pistol employed by the Colonial Pact as a standard issue sidearm to its military and civil security forces. Its large magazine and programable output have made the weapon popular across all walks of Pact society, helped along by the general availability of parts and its ease of use. Designed as a foundation up replacement for a long line of venerable reliable conventional sidearms the Kraus is the first such chem-rail system to be applied to pistol systems. The simple matter was that chemical rounds where continuing to be less effective against more advanced forms of personal body armor. While increasing the velocity was a stopgap the issue of recoil and size made the weapons that resulted unwieldy, thus creating the desire for applying miniaturized rail technology to firearms.

While this had been done on a number of rifle or carbine systems the Kraus was the first pistol to be designed with this hybrid chem-rail setup, allowing for a higher velocity round without increasing the powder charge on the projectile. Additionally it allowed for various mechanisms including an EM buffer to be installed which reduced recoil to well within the mean average shooters capability while maintaining the needed armor piercing velocities. This combined with a myriad of other programable features has made the weapon popular among all who've come to carry it on their hip.

A sleek if grey weapon with the standard layout of most combat sized handguns; key features include red coated tritium high rise night optics, its integrated charging handle, and its under barrel rail mount. Unlike most handguns it features a flash suppressing compensator that can mount a screw on suppressor. Like other chemrail weapons it features a status screen on the both sides of the weapon and a general display on the back.

Below are listed and described the various mechanisms and interface systems of the Rudd compact chem-rail pistol system.

• Weapon Action Mechanism - The Kraus is a dual action weapon employing a electrically managed motorized blowback primary action and a secondary linear acceleration system to boost the weapon's muzzle velocity. It employs a closed cycle system using caseless ammunition, however in the event the weapon jams or needs to be unloaded a ejection port on the right side of the weapon can be opened and the action cycled. The action and rate of fire are handled by the weapon's computer system which actuates the action to be timed with when the linear acceleration system is active.
• Loading/Unloading Mechanism - The pistol feeds from a double stacked semi-motorized magazine, it is a drop free type meaning when the magazine release is pressed the magazine drops free of the weapon. When a new magazine is inserted the user must then pull back on a semi-integrated slide visible below the rear sights, this manually chambers a round, links the power system to the magazine's battery, and initiates the action mechanisms.
• Weapon Attachment Rails The pistol features a accessory mount forward of the trigger group that can accept any standard rail mountable systems, a clamp style rail can also be attached to the pistol's top to mount optics.
• SV90 Standard Lightweight Shielding - SV90 type applique is used on the inside of the pistol's frame to act as a dampener against exotic particles and waveforms which may damage the weapon's operating mechanisms.

• Firing Selector - The pistol employs an up or down ambidextrous selector switch which can be used to cycle through the various operating modes the weapon is capable of. Standard issue pistols of this type are setup as follows from bottom to top; safe, semi-automatic, burst, and finally fully automatic. However these can be programmed to user preference.
• Safety Mechanism(s)
  • Contact Grip Safety
  • ID Grip
  • Mechanical Safety
• Magazine Release - The pistol employs a simple mechanical ambidextrous magazine catch just behind the trigger, when depressed the weapon disengages its ammunition/power magazine and drops it free of the pistol.
• Weapon Charging Mechanism - The charging mechanism employs a non reciprocating charging slide at the back of the pistol above the grip, when the magazine is inserted pulling this device will manually chamber a new round and initiate the power linkage between the pistol and the magazine's power cell. At this point the slide cannot be operated, primarily to prevent double feeding the weapon, however there is a ejection port on the right side that can be activated by depressing two buttons on the slide. Thus when pressed it allows the ejection port to open and ejects the chambered round, if the magazine is present it will chamber a new round.
• Sighting System - Red coated tritium nightsights of a triangular three dot style, additionally the weapon supports smart link optics and has the ability to provide augmented reality sights.
• Weapon Status Displays - There are three hardened weapon status displays on the pistol, a general one displaying weapon power status and remaining ammunition on both sides of the pistol above the trigger. The other being mounted on the rear sight displaying remaining ammunition and firing mode.
• Weapon Digital Link System - A contact cybernetic or general interface link for said augmentations or for suit mounted hardware, it effectively allows the user to directly interface and alter the pistols function 'on the fly' via a software link rather then the pistol's own hardware interface devices. It also serves as the primary link for the weapon's augmented reality sights.

The following is sales and weapon issue information for the Kraus ALP pistol system.

• (weapon name here) - 250 CC
  • 3x 35-Round Magazines
  • Sound Suppressor/Sonic Neutralizer
  • Hip Holster
  • Repair/Spare Parts Kit

• 35-Round Magazine - 20 CC
• 60-Round Magazine - 35 CC
• Mountable Red-Dot Sight - 50 CC
• Mountable Smart Sight - 80 CC
• Carbine Kit - 200 CC
• Sound Suppressor/Sonic Neutralizer - 40 CC

• Repair/Spare Parts Kit - 30 CC
• Tuning Kit - 20 CC
• Heavy Barrel - 30 CC