Firearms
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Power / Gunpowder Propelled Projectiles
Dating back to history almost completely forgotten by our history books, metal projectiles have been propelled by gunpowder for longer than human society can manage to remember. With the onset of laser and plasma weaponry, gunpowder-based projectiles still keep their relevance through stubbornness, plentiful stock, and a level of reliability that makes their rivals seem like toys waiting to get hacked. Nothing stops a bullet from firing once the powder ignites. And with contemporary armor being the way it is nowadays, bullet fabricators more than ever focus on the delicate balance between stopping power and penetration. Power-based technology comes across as nothing but brute force, but its secret lies in what is presumed to be a millennium of development. What started as projectiles made out of mere stone, have now become slugs built of multiple compartments, all designed to better have its main payload reach its destructive finish. Complexity hidden within the simplest of outcomes.
Tech / Magnetically Propelled Projectiles
Madness, they called it. Using magnets to propel a projectile so fast it rivaled then-contemporary bullets. Without having to factor gunpowder into the equation, Railguns and Coilguns are the largest competitors for the economical operation of a firearm. All you need is a slug made out of whatever will survive the travel, and complex mechanics with magnetism as its basis will reduce whatever poor sod you’re aiming at, at least partly, into viscera. Just remember that the kinetic energy needed to drive something so powerful equates to some major recoil as well, the largest limiting factor for developers of weaponry such as these. This does, however, lend itself to some powerful armor penetrating capabilities, especially when the weapons’ power is driven up considerably.
Smart / Homing Gyrojet Projectiles
At the start of this technology’s development, to believe that a bullet can change its trajectory mid-flight is often grounds to be called mad. An object in motion will stay in motion and endeavor to keep its course for as long as it has the kinetic energy to do so. To believe they can become bullet-sized rockets and chase after an opponent is seen as crazy talk. The secret to Smart weaponry does not lie in developing an exceptional bullet alone. Sacrifice some bullet mass to incorporate minuscule gyrojets spread around the projectile’s base. This added force results in a bullet that will suffer from drop-off much later in its trajectory as it continues to fly at its maximum speed after leaving the barrel, unlike a convenient firearm bullet, adding to its practical range.
With this, the only thing required is a computer to handle prediction. If an onboard computer knows how much your barrel will be off by the time you shoot, it can instruct the bullet what gyrojets to employ right before it is fired off, influencing their course just as it begins. Smart weapons are equipped with these onboard computers that scan the target, anticipating their movement. What follows is a bullet that seemingly is directed as though it were a guided rocket. A fatal assumption, as that would imply the target stood a chance of dodging it. In truth, by the time the bullet is fired, the hostile’s movement and position have already been predicted, with nothing left to save them.
This groundbreaking technology makes for a weapon that is equally deadly as it is expensive to obtain and use. Every piece in this exchange requires precise construction and careful finetuning. Any wear and tear will drastically drop the weapons’ efficiency while making repairs considerably expensive.
Laser Weaponry
To wield the strength of the sun in your hands is said to equate to wielding the power of a god. Once humble weapons that at best could burn and ignite flesh after some exposure, Lasers have taken their rightful place as fearsome weapons through extensive development. Burn flesh to cinders, ignite armor to breaking, overheat anything mechanical and melt what dares stand after all that. Its lethality and speed are almost overshadowed by the same carnage it inflicts on others, heat. Laser weapons easily stand the risk of overheating, especially when not developed or handled in anticipation of it. It is the price you pay for using the infinite resource that is light.
Plasma Weaponry
Equal parts devious and devastating. Plasma does not just burn like fire, dissolve matter like acid or destroy it like thunder. It hungers and eats what its carnage didn’t destroy. While heat is one vital part of its operation, it can easily equate to thunder, but not quite. A highly complex tool for combat and destruction, only the most complex and robust of modern machinery stand a chance at wielding it. Only wield these weapons if you are an expert or are being trained and overseen by one.
Incendiary/Explosive
When man conquered fire, it was only a matter of time before they conquered the potential of explosive power. As individuals learned to protect themselves through armor, fire and explosion easily lent themselves to counter it. Incendiary ammunition prides itself in breaking armor through small a small explosion, before having the slug that accompanied it break right through. Larger explosions serve similar, but ultimately different purposes. A frag grenade’s lethality lies in its shrapnel, or fragments, tearing through armor and flesh alike once blown. Rockets are built largely out of propellant while commonly possessing two charges that explode. One on impact to soften up anything well-armored, such as an armored vehicle, and the second to explode through the freshly-made gap, destroying and igniting anything and everyone inside.
Shotguns
Deserving a special mention, shotguns have a special place in the infantry’s armory. Classically armed with shells of varying scattering strength, they find themselves on a gradient between piercing potential and spread. The more precise a shell’s payload can be, the more likely you are to heavily damage and even pierce your target, at the cost of raising your chance of missing your target. With contemporary armor, slugs are a popular shell to defeat it. The true beauty of the choice lies with choice. If Slugs don’t fit your need, insert something else in the chamber or magazine. Dragon’s breath, FA, HE, options are the name of the game with a shotgun. Fear the Solo who looks like they know how to handle theirs.
Melee
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Heat-Blade Technology
Using the principles of a katana, but keeping in mind the elegance and long-lost traditions from New Edo, Heat-Blades started as a classified project simply known as "Matsumoto's Legacy". It soon became Matsumoto Zaibatsu's most revolutionary weapon-tech to spread influence to other weapon manufacturing megacorps.
With a slight curve on the blade and a mathematically precise balance on weight, Matsumoto's heat-blades are mostly made by hand, using a custom-made heat battery pack isolated in the blade's handle.
Precise, light, and elegant, the Heat Blades have become an item that can confer status to corporate executives, mob bosses, and members of distinguished syndicate families. But don't be fooled by their slick, stylish appearance, Heat-Blades can be considered to be one of the most violent and cruel weapons out in the market, as the intense heat signature not only cauterizes wounds and mutilations, but it starts to burn the victim by exposure alone.
High-Frequency Technology
A newer arrival on the melee scene, High-Frequency blades use a powerful alternating current. The weapon possesses an extremely high vibration frequency, the oscillation of which weakens the molecular bonds of anything it cuts, enhancing its own cutting ability. Most commonly applied to newly fabricated single-edged swords such as HF machetes, katanas have quickly found themselves part of this technology’s history. Not only that but it is said that the original quality of the katana amplifies its cutting power, making master-crafted blades from humanity’s lost past highly valuable for conversion it what may arguably be one of the most lethal melee weaponry to exist.
Gyrojet Boosted Weaponry
Not every melee weapon requires a sharp edge. Sometimes, blunt trauma is preferable. In cases like these, a weapon can be outfitted with small Gyrojets that respond to being swung, enhancing their speed in flight while helping with push-through upon impact. This causes considerably more of the kinetic energy to be transferred to the recipient, rather than the wielder, as they usually receive a smaller point of this energy. The end result makes for a blunt tool that has an easier time shaking and pushing back a heavy target than a blade would.
Cybernetic Muscles
No matter the weapon, kinetic energy is the name of the game. If your arms can do what another needs a weapon for, you will always be lethal. Cybernetic muscles not only use their mechanical operation to lethal effect but internal shiftable weights can easily double the strength of a punch. Shifting back when preparing the blow, and shifting forward at high speed, meeting its end right as they’re about to make contact. Highly devastating.
It goes further than that. Using modern combat chips, one can easily program their limbs to act as though they are performing martial arts. Even more so, a combination of high speed and agility through a combat chip can turn an opponent’s velocity to your advantage, making them trip or even meet face-first into an obstacle of your choosing.