The standard energy sidearm of the United States Armed Forces, the AEP7 replaced the AEP5 model. Boasting redesigned internal components, including a new photonic focusing chamber and completely redesigned focusing crystal pattern, the AEP7 offers a respectable damage output, excellent accuracy at range, and generous battery size. By taking advantage of new manufacturing techniques developed shortly before the Great War, it also boasted reduced weight and bulk compared to previous models.[1]
It's entirely likely that if wartime logistic troubles did not delay development and deployment, the AEP7 and its superior version, the AEP9, would have entirely superseded the N99 10mm pistol as the standard sidearm of the U.S. military. As it stands, the Great War prevented it from being widely deployed, despite a large number of units being produced. Repair and calibration are generally recommended whenever a functional laser pistol is found.[1]
Visually, the upper casing of the weapon has been colored red, and the focus adjustment knob on the rear of the gun has a regular Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle cap with a crudely drawn star attached by a screw. Underneath the bottle cap are the words "Had it coming" etched into the casing, along with eight hash marks. Thirty three additional hash marks also appear along both sides and the underside of the main body of the pistol.
On top of the main body is a wooden plate with what appears to be two capacitors attached by nails, strapped on by electric tape and wired into the main body in series by a red and blue wiring, hinting at its extra power output. It fires a distinctly bright orange beam, with the flare from the muzzle being far more intense than that of a normal laser pistol.
Pew Pew does drastically more damage than the standard laser pistol, but at the cost of 5 energy cells per shot, resulting in only 2 shots before reloading. It is considered an improved holdout weapon, and can be concealed so long as your sneakskill is 50 or greater.
Pew Pew has the same trademark colors (red and yellow) as the Sunset Sarsaparilla Corporation, further highlighting the obsession of its previous owner, Allen Marks.
Prior to patch 1.3.0.452, Pew Pew had a 30-round magazine and used 15 energy cells per shot.
When fired, the first laser will cause a yellow-orange burst of light from the barrel, yet the second shot will most often be red, with no flash, just the laser.
If you have less than 5 energy cells Pew Pew can still fire.
It may be called Pew Pew because of the fact it fires two shots per magazine.
It is the most powerful improved holdout weapon that is not an explosive, thus making it useful for assassinations within casinos or other venues where only holdout weapons can be taken (e.g. The Fort).
"Pew Pew" is a commonly used onomatopoeia representing the sound of a laser.
KNOWN ISSUE: If the player has one charge left in the pistol and fires, the gun will fire twice and pull the ammo for the second shot from the player's reserve, before playing the reload animation. As soon as we have a way to check ammo, I'll set this up to not fire the second shot if there's no ammo left in the gun.
”— Script comment
There remains and unused script in the Fallout: New VegasGECK, WeapPewPewScript, that was meant to be associated with Pew Pew. According to the script, Pew Pew was meant to quickly fire twice with every pull of the trigger and use up two charges, instead of only being able to fire twice before having to reload. While the script does achieve this desired affect, an issue arises when only one charge is left in Pew Pew and when fired will still fire two shots. The issue was never resolved as the GECK's limited scripting capabilities made it impossible to track the player's ammo count in a magazine. Thus the original design was abandoned for the one seen in-game.
Butt of Pew Pew with a pseudo star bottle cap and "Had it coming" with 8 tallies.
Sounds
References
↑ 1.01.1Citadel terminals. Terminal, AEP7 Laser Pistol: "The AEP7 Laser Pistol was put into service to replace the AEP5, a model which was notorious for its problems with overheating. The AEP7 features a new design in the photonic focusing chamber as well as an entirely redesigned focusing crystal pattern. The bulk and weight have both been reduced over previous models and it was likely that within the new few development cycles, the successor to the AEP7 would replace the n99 10mm as the standard issue sidearm for all forces.
The AEP7 took advantage of new manufacturing techniques developed shortly before the Great War. Although many were produced, most did not make it into field service because of logistics problems concerning their deployment during active wartime.
The AEP7 can be a rare find in the Capital Wasteland, and any models that are produced should be returned to the Citadel for repair and recalibrating before field deployment."