[RFC] Weapons of Fenspace

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Just something thats been bothering me for a while which I finally got written down.

---

====== Weapons of Fenspace ======

Whilst Fenspace is a land of wonders begging for exploration, the need to defend oneself is sadly also a part of it. Much like the historic ages of discovery back on Earth, danger from the wildlife means that arming yourself is a regular thing. Even more unfortunately, the wildlife is our fellow man.

===== Personal Weapons =====

Hand weapons

In the sometimes fragile environments of space habitats and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat is normally the safest proposition. In most cases people have knives on their person, mainly because their useful for many things other than stabbing people. Throwing weapons, swords, and clubs of various designs also proliferate, as do any number of Ninja weapons due to Hidden Asteroid's presence in the system, but the following are some of the more unique Fen weapons:

Denn'bok - The Minbari Fighting Pike used by The Rangers. This is a quarterstaff like weapon that compacts to a cylinder the size of an average hand. Anyone who carries one of these is assumed to be a skilled fighter, as the weapon is not as balanced as a simple staff and requires a lot of control to use effectively. Very few have been given to non-Rangers.

Shockrods - A simple device that was intended to be a safe riot control weapon, as they were designed to stun the recipient of the blow. Unfortunately they are so effective slavers use them regularly, giving then a brutal reputation.

Mono-blades - 'Wavetech blades that have a monomolecular edge. These are only produced by a few people, and only for specific highly skilled customers.

Projectile Weapons

Like hand weapons, most anything to be found in the 'Danelaw made it up the well. However, while there are no specific Fen made weapons, the use of specialist ammunition makes them more effective.

Gun Ammo - This has stabilised at mostly 9mm and .45 calibre ammunition. However to be effective against waved body armour they have a far more powerful cartridge, necessitating modification of the guns that fire them to handle recoil (along with the modification of some to WORK in vacuum). Certain types are 'banned' (read restricted as it's still possible to get them) on all stations and craft due to the damage they can do. These include the deadly hyper-penetrator rounds just hitting the space lanes.

Chemical Pellets - A rare but effective weapon (mainly because the resources used to create them are more useful elsewhere most of the time), and used in everything from arrowheads to paintballs to airsoft pellets.

Directed Energy Weapons

Of this class of weapon, only one type of handheld device exists. Commonly known as Stunners but officially called a neural disruptor, the stunner is a projective charge device. Using a combination of microwaves and sound waves to carry a charge to its target which induces a quick shock to a person's central nervous system. They are let down by the fact they can easily be defeated by grounding the charge.

===== Combat Weapons ======

Projectile Weapons

Military weapons are expensive, especially in Fenspace. Never the less, the type of weapons to be found are usually military surplus or black market. However the type of combat encountered by the military forces of the Factions is mostly close quarters, which makes the assault rifles normally used unwieldy. Carbine or bullpup weapon designs have gradually filtered into service. It wasn't until July 2013 that the fist Fen designed combat weapon was produced.

Whistler Custom Shop WX-18/Stark/Wayne International SWI-18 MPAW

Based on a prototype design Eddie of the SS White Stallion worked up with assistance from Whistler who then preceded to flesh out to a working prototype, this is the standard weapon of the Space Patrol FESWAT teams and is gradually becoming the standard assault weapon of OGJ and the armed services.

MPAW stands for Multi-Purpose Assault Weapon, and that is a good description. A mix of the IMI Tavor TAR-21, the XM-29 OICW, and M4A1, the SWI-18 is a bullpup format triple barrelled weapon.

The top-mounted longer barrel is a 460mm rifle. It is chambered for 5.56mm NATO rounds, accurate to 300m and has a rate of fire of 700-900 rounds per minute.
The middle barrel is a shortened 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun.
The third barrel is a permanent under-barrel 40mm grenade launcher based on the .

The bullpup format allows clips for both the rifle and shotgun to be loaded at the same time.

The weapon also sports a built in laser designator, red dot active sight, and an extendable 8"/20cm bayonet, along with the new PCAD rails developed for the XM-8 project.

Sidebar:
The Whistler Custom Shop is considered the best gun shop in Fenspace, mainly because of its proprietor. The shop only accepts jobs on appointment, and Whistler himself only works on the weapons of specific customers. This is because Whistler is the Chief Weapons-smith of Justice League International, and spends much of his time in the Supers Q Branch as the third in command. Whistler is generally regarded as the best Gunsmith in Fenspace, and his apprentices and employees some of the best in the business. Having a Whistler Custom Shop gun is a mark of respect, but a Whistler Special is something that could give a person BNF status.

Explosives

The use of explosives in Fenspace is typically a military matter. Given the nature of hulls in Fenspace, an explosive charge is generally necessary to penetrate them. Grenades are a mix of concussion, gas, and HEAP with some special Chemical grenades rounding them off. They are either the standard hand-held, 40mm shells, or the rare aerodynamic versions.

===== Ship Weapons =====

There are a wide variety of weapons mounted on ships and they break down in the following way.

Projectile Weapons

Generally these are coilguns in the 20mm - 100mm range. Coilguns have proven themselves as a good general purpose weapon, and have been around a while.
Lately the Railgun has been perfected. This is a weapon good for armour piercing and has a superior rapid firing ability as well as a faster muzzle velocity on 100 times the speed of sound. The most effective calibre currently is the 20mm round.
Currently in prototyping is the Rail Cannon, a weapon using a 155mm round weighing 5Kg with a projected muzzle velocity of 1 PSL (Percent of the Speed of Light).

Directed Energy Weapons

By far the most common of these is the Laser. Useful for many things, it wasn't long before their use as weapons became viable.
Electromagnetic Pulse Guns have proven a difficult proposition, leading mainly to various Maser devices. As a side effect, most vessels have been shielded against this due to its obvious practicality.
Particle Beams are still only a theoretical weapon, requiring power and hardtech equipment that Fenspace can't access at the moment.

Missiles, Bombs, and Mines

As it stands, most missiles are vacuum adapted versions of those found in the 'Danelaw. Only Stellvia has access to pure space designs, and these use specialist warheads (specifically Kaboomite, but rumours of other high level warheads exist).
Bombs and Mines and fairly simple, although Mines in particular have limited range and usefulness. Bombs are rarely use, as they're only good against (relatively) static targets.

[robkelk]

Sidebar: Pre-OGJ Weaponry

"Shit! That's live ammo!"

Skuld looked at Noah in surprise. "What did you think someone would attack us with?"

"Something like this," answered Katz as he tossed a grenade into the air. The grenade went off with a phrase of melody and the Japanese lyric "," and suddenly there was a cloud of large metallic-gold fluff balls between the two groups.

The gunmen weren't fazed.

"Nice pompom round," Noah commented from below the hail of lead, "but that's better against beams than bullets."

- from chapter 3 of Legend of Galactic Girls

Before Operation Great Justice, Fenspace was a kinder, gentler place to live. Many "weapons of mass amusement" were developed by the Professor and other scientific types, and were happily adopted by Fenspace's less-than-serious majority. These weapons could be divided into three broad classes: non-lethal melee weapons, grenades, and firearm projectiles.

Melee weapons could be found in all of the styles endorsed by the SCA.

Grenades provide cover by creating clouds of otherwise-ordinary items. Known examples include the pompom grenade (described above, not to be confused with a pom-pom gun round) and the pantsu grenades (popular when one needs to distract members of the Happosai Brigade). Katz Schrödinger has been known to use these grenades even in real combat.

Firearm projectiles tended to use Snurf-tech - they would hinder a target's movement by encasing him in a quick-setting foam-rubber-like substance. The substance is a solid when in the firearm, only becoming liquid for timespans measured on the Plank scale after being fired, when making contact with a solid or semi-solid substance. Human skin is sufficiently solid for the projectile to undergo the temporary transformation. Obviously, larger caliber rounds were more effective as restraints. (Nobody's sure why the Professor used the name "Snurf-tech" for this effect. It isn't as if he cared about trademarks any other time...)

---

(And that quote counts as the teaser I was going to post later this month, too...)

 
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[KJ]

FWIW... argh, I need to get off my ass and finish the writeup sooner or later, but the standard MARS weapon mix is somewhat different. This is both because
they're used in some very unusual operations, where keeping the volume of fire *way* up is on the essential side to survival, they're taught to
practice aimed fire under pressure (accidentally hitting hostages or people containing important intel being counterproductive)... and because in some of the
heavy fighting here and there, Kali has run into people in handwaved armor before forming the weapon mix, and it's proven that those aren't the only
examples of its type around.

The standard issue rifle is not much more than a shorter-barrel version of the FN FAL with some modifications performed for durability and vacuum
compatibility. These were initally commercially procured, but production has moved to VVS owned production facilities, not that they account for more than a
tiny fraction as they're only really produced for internal use, not outside sale. Overall, good simple rifles that work. Sidearms are, generally
speaking, operator preference as long as it's standardized on 45ACP. There were thoughts of going with full power 10mm, but due to the nature of the
Senshi, while some are vastly stronger than human normals, and some aren't.

The standard 4-girl fireteams have two rifleladies, one equipped with a SAW (Minimi or Ultimax; the Ultimax is entering production alongside the FALs, but
there were quite a few Minimis kicking around in storage, and some preferred it as they had experience with it from their old lives) and one with an anti-armor
weapon backed up by a submachinegun of the lady's choice. The anti-armor weapons are designed to defeat armor on the scale of well made, waved, Tactical
Dreadnought or Hardsuit armor and are either a custom design based on a bullpup 50 calibre anti-material rifle with a cut-down barrel and saboted, 'waved
projectiles or a pump action 40mm grenade launcher based off a China Lake prototype from the '60s. Needless to say the ladies in the anti-armor position
from the squad are *very* carefully trained in subjects like choosing their targets with their main weapons and being careful of backstops as a miss (or a hit
on something insufficiently armored in the case of the AMR) could result in god-knows-what ending up with large embarrasing holes in it.

There exist a few specialized fireteams within the company with heavier, or generally different, weapons and roles. To be very vague, some of them are far
more subtle and some of them somewhat less. Oh... and as all the MARS wargear was acquired at either considerable inconvenience or using their own
production facilities, even ignoring the potential for damage of some of the items, none of it is available on the fen market. Rumors that some people have
seen some members of Section 9 sometimes using very similar items are just that.

[Cobalt Greywalker]

I designed the MPAW to be a Urban weapon, more or less due to the confined quarters fighting that is part and parcel of living in Space. Bullpup to reduce
overall weapon length to be easier to move in close quarters, accurate up to mid-range, including shotgun functionality to allow extra capabilities, and a 40mm
grenade launcher for heavy targets. Yes I wimped going for 5.56 NATO rather than 7.62 NATO, but figured Fen-spec AP ammo would make up most of that.

Basically, it's a weapon designed for typical Fen actions in ships and constructed stations.

The MARS weapons mix is interesting and logical, given what they seem to be going up against normally.

It's always interesting to see what other people come up with.

[KJ]

To be honest, the MARS standard issue kit is, at least towards the beginning of OGJ, pretty conservative. I like the idea of bullpup weapons (and am watching
the Kel Tec RFB to see if it turns out to be reliable) but the idea of developing a battle rifle at the same time it's needed... well, it seems like a fair
way to get people killed. The FAL is one of the most well proven long arms around; it's known what it takes to make it go bang every time it's supposed
to. I've more advanced versions of various stuff in mind for eventually, though. The calibre issue for standard... I want to be able to defeat light armor
they might encounter with normal rifles, while every fireteam should have backup for really heavy stuff, and the SAW lends volume of fire when it's needed.

... what can I say, KJ (the guy behind the keyboard and the guy who shapeshifts into Kali) is a bit of a hoplophile and thinks about this stuff too much.

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Eddie's a weapons nut, which is why he designed the thing (don't forget he's an AI with TONNES of processor time and access to some of the best sim
equipment around). That and I figured a Shirow-like bullpup gun had to show up in Fenspace sometime (especially with Section 9 and the Tachikomas around now).

[Ebony]

Given the current trend in sidearms, especially in law enforcement, it's likely that a third non-waved caliber would be the .40, which Glock, Sig Sauer,
and others use in many of their more recent models. The .40 (also known as the .40 S&W, since Smith & Wesson makes quite a bit of it) is a round that
is heavier than the 9mm and has more knockdown power, but isn't quite as heavy as the .45 ACP (which requires a big, damn gun to use most of the time) and
isn't as likely to blow through an unarmored target and hurt hostages/bystanders. There has been, for about 10 years, a growing move to get the .40 in use
in many American police departments. I'm not sure how successful this move has been, given the ubiquitousness of the 9mm in the market.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Cobalt Greywalker]

OK, I'm giving this another go. I've incorperated a few things from the thread and done some housekeeping. I've also been playing with the layout
in Wiki, so that's why all the formatting is there (and for those who read Wiki, it needs to be laid out this way. Trust me.)

---

====== Weapons of Fenspace ======

Whilst Fenspace is a land of wonders begging for exploration, the need to defend oneself is sadly also a part of it. Much like the historic ages of discovery
back on Earth, danger from the wildlife means that arming yourself is a regular thing. Even more unfortunately, the wildlife is our fellow man.\

===== Personal Weapons =====

//"Shit! That's live ammo!" \

Skuld looked at Noah in surprise. "What did you think someone would attack us with?" \

"Something like this," answered Katz as he tossed a grenade into the air. The grenade went off with a phrase of melody and the Japanese lyric
"," and suddenly there was a cloud of large metallic-gold fluff balls between the two groups. \

The gunmen weren't fazed. \

"Nice pompom round," Noah commented from below the hail of lead, "but that's better against beams than bullets." \

- from chapter 3 of **Legend of Galactic Girls**//\

\

Before Operation Great Justice, Fenspace was a kinder, gentler place to live. Many "weapons of mass amusement" were developed by the Professor and
other scientific types, and were happily adopted by Fenspace's less-than-serious majority. These weapons could be divided into three broad classes:
non-lethal melee weapons, grenades, and firearm projectiles. \

Melee weapons could be found in all of the styles endorsed by the SCA. \

Grenades provide cover by creating clouds of otherwise-ordinary items. Known examples include the pompom grenade (described above, not to be confused with a
pom-pom gun round) and the pantsu grenades (popular when one needs to distract members of the Happosai Brigade). Katz Schr"dinger has been known to use
these grenades even in real combat. \

Firearm projectiles tended to use Snurf-tech - they would hinder a target's movement by encasing him in a quick-setting foam-rubber-like substance. The
substance is a solid when in the firearm, only becoming liquid for timespans measured on the Plank scale after being fired, when making contact with a solid or
semi-solid substance. Human skin is sufficiently solid for the projectile to undergo the temporary transformation. Obviously, larger calibre rounds were more
effective as restraints. (Nobody's sure why the Professor used the name "Snurf-tech" for this effect. It isn't as if he cared about
trademarks any other time...)\

==== Hand weapons====

In the sometimes fragile environments of space habitats and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat is normally the safest proposition. In most cases people have knives
on their person, mainly because they're useful for many things other than stabbing people. Throwing weapons, swords, and clubs of various designs also
proliferate, as do any number of Ninja weapons due to Hidden Asteroid's presence in the system, but the following are some of the more unique Fen
weapons:\

\

**Denn'bok** - The Minbari Fighting Pike used by The Rangers. This is a quarterstaff like weapon that compacts to a cylinder the size of an average hand.
Anyone who carries one of these is assumed to be a skilled fighter, as the weapon is not as balanced as a simple staff and requires a lot of control to use
effectively. Very few have been given to non-Rangers.\

**Shockrods** - A simple device that was intended to be a safe riot control weapon, as they were designed to stun the recipient of the blow. Unfortunately they
are so effective slavers use them regularly, giving then a brutal reputation.\

**Mono-blades** - 'Wavetech blades that have a monomolecular edge. These are only produced by a few people, and only for specific highly skilled
customers.\

==== Projectile Weapons ====

Like hand weapons, most anything to be found in the 'Danelaw made it up the well. However, while there are no specific Fen made weapons, the use of
specialist ammunition makes them more effective.\

\

**Gun Ammo** - This has stabilised at mostly 9mm and .45 calibre ammunition, although .40 calibre ammunition is also around. However to be effective against
waved body armour they have a far more powerful cartridge, necessitating modification of the guns that fire them to handle recoil (along with the modification
of some to WORK in vacuum). Certain types are 'banned' (read restricted as it's still possible to get them) on all stations and craft due to the
damage they can do. These include the deadly hyper-penetrator rounds just hitting the space lanes.\

**Chemical Pellets** - A rare but effective weapon (mainly because the resources used to create them are more useful elsewhere most of the time), and used in
everything from arrowheads to paintballs to airsoft pellets.\

==== Directed Energy Weapons ====

Of this class of weapon, only one type of handheld device exists. Commonly known as **Stunners** but officially called a neural disruptor, the stunner is a
projective charge device. Using a combination of microwaves and sound waves to carry a charge to its target which induces a quick shock to a person's
central nervous system. They are let down by the fact they can easily be defeated by grounding the charge.\

===== Combat Weapons ======

==== Projectile Weapons ====

The Whistler Custom Shop is considered the best gun shop in Fenspace, mainly because of its proprietor. The shop only accepts jobs on appointment, and Whistler
himself only works on the weapons of specific customers. This is because Whistler is the Chief Weapons-smith of Justice League International, and spends much
of his time in the Supers Q Branch as the third in command. Whistler is generally regarded as the best Gunsmith in Fenspace, and his apprentices and employees
some of the best in the business. Having a Whistler Custom Shop gun is a mark of respect, but a Whistler Special is something that could give a person BNF
status.

Military weapons are expensive, especially in Fenspace. Never the less, the type of weapons to be found are usually military surplus or black market. However
the type of combat encountered by the military forces of the Factions is mostly close quarters, which makes the assault rifles normally used unwieldy. Carbine
or bullpup weapon designs have gradually filtered into service, several of which are modified versions of existing weapons. It wasn't until Mid 2013 that
the first Fen designed combat weapons were put into production (including the SWI-18 MPAW, based on development done by the Whistler Custom Shop), based on
experience from these modified weapons.\

==== Explosives ====

The use of explosives in Fenspace is typically a military matter. Given the nature of hulls in Fenspace, an explosive charge is generally necessary to
penetrate them. Grenades are a mix of concussion, gas, and HEAP with some special Chemical grenades rounding them off. They are either the standard hand-held,
40mm shells, or the rare aerodynamic versions.\

===== Ship Weapons =====

There are a wide variety of weapons mounted on ships and they break down in the following way.

==== Projectile Weapons ====

Generally these are coilguns in the 20mm - 100mm range. **Coilguns** have proven themselves as a good general purpose weapon, and have been around a while.\

Lately the **Railgun** has been perfected. This is a weapon good for armour piercing and has a superior rapid firing ability as well as a faster muzzle
velocity on 100 times the speed of sound. The most effective calibre currently is the 20mm round.\

Currently in prototyping is the **Rail Cannon**, a weapon using a 155mm round weighing 5Kg with a projected muzzle velocity of 1 PSL (Percent of the Speed of
Light).\

==== Directed Energy Weapons ====

By far the most common of these is the **Laser**. Useful for many things, it wasn't long before their use as weapons became viable.\

**Electromagnetic Pulse Guns** have proven a difficult proposition, leading mainly to various Maser devices. As a side effect, most vessels have been shielded
against this due to its obvious practicality.\

**Particle Beams** are still only a theoretical weapon, requiring power and/or hardtech equipment that Fenspace can't access at the moment.\

==== Missiles, Bombs, and Mines ====

As it stands, most missiles are vacuum adapted versions of those found in the 'Danelaw. Only Stellvia has access to pure space designs, and these use
specialist warheads (specifically Kaboomite, but rumours of other high level warheads exist).

Bombs and Mines and fairly simple, although Mines in particular have limited range and usefulness. Bombs are rarely used, as they're only good against
(relatively) static targets.\

[robkelk]

The grenade went off with a phrase of melody and the Japanese lyric "," and suddenly there was a cloud of large metallic-gold fluff balls between the two groups.

I suspect that was a Yuku bug that stripped the Japanese lyric out of the quote, but that's okay. I've changed it in the story to match the official translation: "
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Pretty much. It's the fact it seems to treat < ... > as HTML tags . I've just changed my profile to FORCE the use of the bbcode editor so that
shouldn't happen again (I hope).

Also, I don't recognise the line. Stick the explaination in the concordance for the chapter and we'll be fine.

(How close are you to finishing that chaper BTW?)

[robkelk]

Also, I don't recognise the line. Stick the explaination in the concordance for the chapter and we'll be fine.

Here's the applicable acknowledgments line: Lyrics from "Motteke! Sailor-fuku" ("Take It! Sailor Uniform"), originally written by Aki Hata, translation uncredited, copyright © 2007 Kagami Yoshimizu / Lucky Paradise.

(How close are you to finishing that chaper BTW?)

Aargh... I only have ~30K (900 lines) written. That might be halfway, or it might be less than that...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Feinan]

As it stands, most missiles are vacuum adapted versions of those found in the 'Danelaw. Only Stellvia has access to pure space designs, and these use
specialist warheads (specifically Kaboomite, but rumours of other high level warheads exist).

Don't forget kinetic missiles/drones. I'm not sure if it's become wide-spread knowledge that the Jason uses such, but I imagine at least a few
people would know of it. Once Great Justice was started, he'd have passed the idea on to Noah, Buckaroo, and possible a few others, just in case they
hadn't considered it. I know it seems pretty basic, but it's amazing what people will overlook sometimes.

Likewise, the Jason also uses such as personal weaponry, for defense. His girls are quite capable of controlling a
number of model car drones each...and while they can't get up to any significant speed, a toy car weighing anywhere from a half-pound to several pounds
that's moving at 80 to 90 mph can be a quite effective weapon. Especially when they're swarming. If I ever get around to writing up some of the
more...interesting...bits of the Jason's stay at the SOS-Con, I hope to have a scene with this in play. I keep meaning to write it up, I'm just having
a hard time forcing my muse to help me.

[Bob Schroeck]

Mm. What are the Danelaw nations' reactions to the radical improvements in Fen weapons tech since OGJ? I can't imagine that the Paranoid States Of
America are particularly happy about railguns and other goodies belonging only to the Fen... maybe we need an incident or two of espionage or attempted
espionage in the history?

Come to think of it, more than a couple nations might think backing the Boskonians might be a good way to counter the Fen...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

maybe we need an incident or two of espionage or attempted espionage in the history?

Well, there is at least one "spook" in Fenspace already - Natalie Baker. I recall Valles writing some stories about her exploits "in the cold" back when we were getting started, but don't see a copy of them in the FenWiki.

Also, here's one of Lebia's lines from chapter 4 of LoGG, courtsey of Cobalt:

"Stellvia's systems are so compromised I'm surprised they haven't had a total computer core crash, let alone managed to have any success in Operation Great Justice. There must be twenty different backdoors in the system for access to OGJ records. Intel, comms, personnel, ships, logistics... Just about every facet of it has a leak of one type or another. Yoriko's got over a half dozen taps in the Interwave system herself."

Not all the taps are Boskonian...

(Once A.C. tells Noah, one of the Girls will clean the system up for him.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Feinan wrote:

Don't forget kinetic missiles/drones. I'm not sure if it's become wide-spread knowledge that the Jason uses such, but I imagine at least a few people would know of it. Once Great Justice was started, he'd have passed the idea on to Noah, Buckaroo, and possible a few others, just in case they hadn't considered it. I know it seems pretty basic, but it's amazing what people will overlook sometimes.

Well, I'd mis-remembered the limits on Speed Drives as KKV cause I've just gone and re-read The Rules. I thought drive field interactions kept impacts between Speed Drives from being relativistic so I thought of a way round that for the Spatial Missiles mentioned in the Great Wide Open thread.
However, The Rules say nothing about that, only that:

Rule #5c): Speed drives slow down significantly in atmospheres, due to vehicle mass, size, engine power, atmospheric density and local gravity. This makes entering or exiting atmosphere with a speed drive a tricky process. The reduced speed is too low to make kinetic-energy weapon strikes (for sufficiently high values of “kinetic energy”) effective inside an atmosphere.

So KKVs it is then. *Scrbbles down note*

Bob wrote:

Mm. What are the Danelaw nations' reactions to the radical improvements in Fen weapons tech since OGJ? I can't imagine that the Paranoid States Of America are particularly happy about railguns and other goodies belonging only to the Fen... maybe we need an incident or two of espionage or attempted espionage in the history?

Yes. Muchly. But there are a few coming.
Edit after preview: See? There's your espionage. Having fun in that segment Rob?

Come to think of it, more than a couple nations might think backing the Boskonians might be a good way to counter the Fen...

Hum...

[Ebony]

Feinan wrote:

---

As it stands, most missiles are vacuum adapted versions of those found in the 'Danelaw. Only Stellvia has access to pure space designs, and these use
specialist warheads (specifically Kaboomite, but rumours of other high level warheads exist).

Don't forget kinetic missiles/drones. I'm not sure if it's become wide-spread knowledge that the Jason uses such, but I imagine at least a few
people would know of it. Once Great Justice was started, he'd have passed the idea on to Noah, Buckaroo, and possible a few others, just in case they
hadn't considered it. I know it seems pretty basic, but it's amazing what people will overlook sometimes.

The Armory (aka the Rugsucker faction of the BBI) is currently working on some variations of the kinetic weapon. When asked about it publicly,
most of the Blazers simply say, "You'll have to ask Tico for details." If you know Tico (not many people do, as he is one of the less social
members of the Institute), he stares at you through his creepy prescription sunglasses before saying in a deadpan voice, "Anything moving more than two
kilometers per second will do its mass in boom." He does not elaborate further.

(Tico is based off a friend of mine, who has eye problems and wears dark glasses all the time, except in darkened theaters and similar environments. He does a
very creepy deadpan delivery and likes things that go boom.)
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Duane Peters]

Hmm. I think I see a common misconception appearing.

Cartridge-firing arms do *not* need "modification" to fire without an atmosphere. Cartridges are sealed units,and both black powder and nitrocellulose provide their own "oxidizer", just like rocket fuel. (In the case of black powder, it's sulfur dioxide, AKA "saltpetre"; I don't remember which chemical provides the same functionality for nitrocellulose offhand.)

The only thing modern firearms need to fire in space is a suffciently low-temp lubricant; Break Free CLP will work in most temperaure ranges.

Handling recoil, on the other tentacle, is a non-trivial problem. Best bet is to have your gun mounted or anchored to something *much* larger than the bullet.

The scene in Firefly where Jayne pus his beloved machinegun/grenade launcher in a spacesuit so it will have atmo to fire? Completely bogus.

Of course, that doesn't mean unscrupulous gun shops don't have some purely cosmetic mods to sell to 'Dane tourists, mind you...*evil grin*
(edited to fix spelling of "sulfur")

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Hmm. I think I see a common misconception appearing.

Cartridge-firing arms do *not* need "modification" to fire without an atmosphere. Cartridges are sealed units,and both black powder and nitrocellulose provide their own "oxidizer", just like rocket fuel. (In the case of black powder, it's sulfur dioxide, AKA "saltpetre"; I don't remember which chemical provides the same functionality for nitrocellulose offhand.)

The only thing modern firearms need to fire in space is a suffciently low-temp lubricant; Break Free CLP will work in most temperaure ranges.

OK, point taken. However, things like revolvers might benefit from housing the cylinder in a sealed box to prevent loss of the propelent gasses and thus loss of muzzle velocity. Brass catchers might be standard issue (because the casings are recyclable and we don't want to dirty up Fenspace do we?), and I can see them being modified to be sealed units.

Handling recoil, on the other tentacle, is a non-trivial problem. Best bet is to have your gun mounted or anchored to something *much* larger than the bullet.

Like say, a PERSON? Seriously, with Mag-boots anchouring you down bracing yourself will work. In free fall I think an EVA pack should do the jod if you time it right (or charge at your enemy to use momentum).

The scene in Firefly where Jayne pus his beloved machinegun/grenade launcher in a spacesuit so it will have atmo to fire? Completely bogus.

Are you sure you want to tell the Browncoats that? Besides, this is FENSPACE.

Of course, that doesn't mean unscrupulous gun shops don't have some purely cosmetic mods to sell to 'Dane tourists, mind you...*evil grin*

How many 'Dane tourists do you think would have weapons when in the Black?

[Bob Schroeck]

this is FENSPACE

Aw, c'mon. You gotta say that with the proper 300 stresses:

This! Is! FENSPACE!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[KJ]

Two things about modifications. 1, if the guns are allowed to cool to ambient temperature, there's going to be some metallurgy problems. Ignition parts
work by striking stuff; the shock loadings slightly deform firing pins and hammers and whatnot over time, but at very low temperature the normal metals used
are likely to start chipping from brittle fracture, or possible breaking more severely. On the other hand, with heat transfer to the (admittedly very cold)
environment being only through radiation, repeated firing is going to make things get very hot. I don't feel like doing math on it; suffice to say that
even semi-automatic weapons may run into issues if used enthusiastically, and machine guns would either have to use superalloy barrels setup for quick changes,
or be cooled with a heat exchanger (ala WW1 water cooled guns).

[robkelk]

Another possible sidebar, for consideration...

**Fenspace's handgun collector**

Only a particular sort of Fan is able to be a firearms collector:
* He has to be willing to spend money on something that might never be used (the "collector mentality").
* He has to have a paranoid streak to his personality, so that he'll want to collect weapons.
* He has to be wealthy enough to be able to collect something as expensive as exotic sidearms.
* He has to live in a place where the customs and rules allow private ownership of firearms, or be the person who makes the rules where he lives.
* He has to have a source, or a number of sources, for hand weapons.
This narrows the potential number of known handgun collectors in Fenspace to one. And, yes, Noah Scott //does// collect sidearms.

The Scott collection started as a pair of SIG Sauer P229s chambered for .357 Sig rounds (the US Air Marshals' pistol), intended for repelling hostile boarders of [[shipstellvia|Noah's home]. They were never used for that purpose. Noah still uses one of these (loaded with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaser_Safety_Slug|Glaser blue safety slugs]) as his personal sidearm of choice; the other was lost in early June 2013 with Yoriko Nikaido.

By mid-2013, his collection has grown to include over two dozen weapons, all of which are fully functional. The prize pieces in the collection, both on display in Noah's office, are a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet|MB Associates Mark I Gyrojet] (Kohran Li hand-makes ammunition for it) and a "Whistler Special" chambered for 9×19mm Parabellum. The largest piece in the collection is a [[http://www.hkpro.com/mp5k.htm|H&K MP5K short 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun, with the optional attache case with trigger built into the handle]; Noah refuses to discuss how he obtained it, except to say that both Sora Hasegawa and Katz Schrödinger were there at the time.

(If folks would like to suggest other firearms for the Scott collection, feel free...)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

Maybe something totally off the wall, like a magitech blaster, that Doug cobbled together for him for some unnamed emergency?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[KJ]

robkelk wrote:

---

* He has to have a paranoid streak to his personality, so that he'll want to collect weapons.

I have to kind of object to that part in specific; there's plenty of other reasons to be interested in / want to collect weapons in specific than
paranoia. That said, as far as exotic / collectors handguns go, one of the original style Automags is almost mandatory, for the sheer spacegun looking bit of
it.

[robkelk]

I have to kind of object to that part in specific; there's plenty of other reasons to be interested in / want to collect weapons in specific than paranoia.

Suggestions for re-phrasing are always welcome in this sort of endeavour.

That said, as far as exotic / collectors handguns go, one of the original style Automags is almost mandatory, for the sheer spacegun looking bit of it.

Oh, yes...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Ebony]

Suggestions for Noah:

The Calico 9mm, for the ultimate in "zapgun" styling.

A "Ned Buntline" Special. A gift from the Blue Blazers, who take Buckaroo's traditional
requirements of being able to ride, rope, and shoot with varying amounts of seriousness.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."