Nakata'vho-pattern plasma repeater

The Type-51 Directed Energy Rifle/Improved (T51 DER/I), more commonly known as a Plasma Repeater, is a plasma-based Directed Energy Weapon used by the Covenant Empire, specifically the Sangheili, during the Battle of Reach in August 2552.

Description
The weapon's rate of fire will slow as it is fired and the weapon heats up. This can be solved by manually venting the rifle with the reload button, which can be done all at once or gradually. However, as the weapon overheats and the rate of fire slows, the accuracy of the weapon will increase.

It is very likely that the Type-51 DER is either new to the Covenant arsenal or it is a branch specific weapon, as it has only been encountered by the UNSC very recently and only in very limited numbers.

Trivia

 * According to Bungie, the Plasma Repeater is the Covenant's equivalent to the UNSC's MA5 Series.
 * The weapon's front end has a striking aesthetic similarity to the Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle. The weapon's targeting reticule is also similar to the Plasma Rifle.
 * The weapon was designed primarily for Multiplayer for balancing purposes.
 * The Plasma Repeater actually never overheats, building up heat to simply fire at its maximum accuracy until it is either vented or runs out of energy. This makes it one of the few Covenant weapons to not be burdened with a necessary cooldown.
 * There appears to be a red version of this weapon used in campaign, as demonstrated in the recent E3 2010 Campaign video released by Bungie. This could be either a variant of the normal Plasma Repeater, or alternatively, a new weapon all together.