Armory
Grand Fox
Enroute to Titania
1712 Hours
Kyle let out a breath as he leaned on the center table, examining the prototype weaponry laid out before him. Tomorrow would be the first true field test of his designs, he had every bit of faith that they'd work but still felt nervous. Blaster technology worked flawlessly on tanks, fighters, and huge warships, but the tech had two major flaws when manufacturers scaled it down to the size of an assault rifle: The gas canister could rupture, turning the weapon into an improvised plasma explosive, and unless you wanted a sniper blaster, the blaster would have a fire cone of up to 15 degrees. So even a professional marksman would be shooting like a Stormtrooper. No one was to blame, the tech simply couldn't work with that small of a package.
A MAC Assault Rifle, on the other hand, was extremely accurate and powerful and did not pose a risk of blowing up on whoever carried it. By utilizing electromagnetic fields projected in several coils, the weapon hurled a solid metal bullet through the barrel with a muzzle velocity over one and a half times greater than Earth's current powder and primer system. Best of all, since there were no bullet casings to get rid of, the MAC rifles only had three moving parts making them incredibly reliable: The trigger, the magazine, and the bullet.
The ground team for the upcoming operation would be made up of six operatives, Fox, Krystal, Kyle, Slippy, Wolf, and Panther. The last three were busy trying on their new armor and Krystal had retreated to her quarters to meditate. Well, she had tried to meditate, but all she could think about was how her homeworld was rendered uninhabitable and how for years she was certain she was the last of her kind. Now she had learned that some of her people did infact survive but lived in cages at the mercy of pirates, she had every right to be stressed. Thankfully Fox was willing to drop what he was doing and comfort her immediately, hinting at their growing relationship.
Refocusing on the task at hand, Kyle double checked that he had grabbed the right weapons for everyone on the ground team.
The M-20 Warden was a hybrid design of human rifles and Lylat technology combined to create a reliable, powerful coil gun. It's full metal jacket bullets would completely bypass personal shields and even penetrate some materials. Add in the fact that there was a rail system on the top for sights and another one in an underbarrel position for an attachment, and the Warden was almost the perfect assault Rifle.
On the other hand, the M-13 Survivor was a lightweight and portable carbine. It still accepted the same magazine as the Warden, holding 32 rounds, but it's shorter barrel and compact design reduced the number of coils installed. It wasn't the heavy hitter the Warden was and it didn't have any rails installed, but it was easier to carry around and maneuver with in some situations.
The M-40 Equalizer shotgun was the only weapon that still had to eject spent cartridges, that being 12 gauge buckshot but leave it to the genius Slippy to reinvent the classic Boomstick. Somehow Slippy had designed the shotgun so it could be top loaded with stipperclips of shells, but still incoperated the classic pump action to eject one shell and load the next. There wasn't any reason to waste time loading shells one at a time anymore. Slippy was quite proud of his creation.
And then there was the big brute, the M-63 Hellstorm Light Machine gun. While it did shoot the same sized bullet as the rifles, it's massive barrel allowed far more coils to be wrapped around the bullet's path, multiplying each round's velocity. Combine it's increased field generation with full automatic fire fed by a massive drum magazine and the Hellstorm was more than capable of living up to its name. The only real downside to the Hellstorm was that it was too powerful for a soldier to fire from the hip without having the kick rip a limb off. Hence the large bipod that hung from the barrel to quickly set up.
And lastly a number of M-11 pistols lay next to the bigger coilguns, their magazines could hold 7 rounds, but their short barrels made them rather lacking at mid to long range. Up close, however, the pistol's rounds would still ruin an enemy's day making it a reliable sidearm.
For weapon attachments, Kyle had chosen to bring out the "Thoop tubes" Grenade Launchers and the "Skeleton Key" Shotgun attachment. He was tempted to bring out the "Dragonbreath" flamethrower attachment but decided against it, making the first impression by lighting a guard's fur on fire did not sound like a good way to earn the prisoner's trust. Setting out smoke canisters for the Thoop Tubes and some shells for the Skeleton Key, Kyle began to check the rest of the gear.
The MK II Fragmentation Grenade was an almost direct adaptation of the frag grenades currently used back on Earth. While using far more primitive methods then the current Lylat hand grenades everyone who tried them agreed that the MK II was far more effective, safer, compact, and easier to handle then the softball sized alternatives, the simple inclusion of the pin was what really got people's approval.
The MK III Flashbangs had also been a nearly direct adaptation of it's Earth inspiration, almost shaped like an hourglass with some holes in it. The flashbang was able to nonlethal stun anyone who looks in its direction when it detonates. Surprisingly, the MK IIIs were able to render volunteers temporarily blind and deaf for over 15 seconds, whether it was the design or simply that Cornarians had much more sensitive eyes and ears was a matter of debate.
The Self Contained General Purpose Remote Detonated Demolition Charges, SCGPRDDCs, or "Detcharges" for simplicity's sake were a result of Lylat's improved chemistry laboratories might have been an unpronounceable name but it's usefulness on the field was unmatched. Small, lightweight, but incredibly powerful, one well placed Detcharge could blast a clean hole into most surfaces or easily disable any Lylat made ground units. Perfect for attacking from an unexpected direction.
And then, of course, there was the industrial grade thermite torch that they were going to use to cut through the outer shell of the base. But the exact same model was standard issue for Rescue crews all across Lylat so there was nothing special there.
Pleased with his inspection, Kyle placed the ground team's weapons into the rack with the operator's name. Tomorrow, there was going to be a lot of action, and this time, he wasn't going to enjoy it from the safety of in front of the TV. . .
