Chapter 3

Weapons

History:

Fire arms in the Empire are not exactly fire arms. More Ice arms, the basic idea comes from the ice spike spell. In 271, 3C, 5E the college of Winterhold developed the Stalrim Spike spell. Originally the spike was the same size as the original spike used for centuries. Unfortunately it was a master level destruction spell and absorbed stupid amounts of mana to create so it was not very viable option unless done by a Master of Destruction.

Three decades later after in 301, 4C, 5E a group of Scholars from the Enclave of Magi in High rock presented the first rechargeable soul gem, also known as mana gems. These were similar to soul gems but could be recharged by essentially casting a healing hands spell on the gem. It would absorb the incoming magic and transfer it back into raw mana that could then be used as a soul gem. This revolutionized the school of enchanting, now weapons would have a mana gem installed and allow for recharging of enchantments without the need to use the power of a soul.

313, 4C, 5E lead to a shift in the use of staffs. Multiple runes and enchantments lead to staffs being able to fire more than one kind of projectile. Or more commonly an ice spike spell chained to a telekinetic push enchantment, speeding up the spike but also adding a recoil to the staff, lowering accuracy.

314, 4C, 5E an enchanter from New Orsinium crafted a new more efficient form of staff, Now day would recognize it as a musket analogue. The wooden staff was altered to be braced against the shoulder, allowing for greater accuracy, the enchantment would be activated by the pressing of a rune to activate, and mana gems were used to fuel them, leading to the idea of a clip.

372, 4C,5E Heralded the invention of the Aether gem a deep green gem with an internal structure that can open or close off a connection to the aether. Instead of transforming cast magic into mana it was open to the power of the aether, the source of magic. The effect on the Aether gem on the staffs was not positive, the wood was not designed to handle that much power, so through trial and error the spiker was born. The original five and a half foot long staff as reduced and the power of the push enchantments increased, the ice spike was replaced with a Stalrim spike and the wooden frame was exchanged for a composite of corundum and moonstone. Since then little has changed in the realm of ice arms save for the size of the spike being shot, they were reduced from arm long spears of ice to thumbnail sized shards. Soldiers will often mod their weapons with other enchantments that can add burn or lightning damage. The barrel is usually carved to look like the head of a dragon, harkening back to its origins as a staff and a fireball mod used in place of grenades.

Handheld guns:

These are the guns currently in use by the Imperial armed forces:

Yein IV Assault rifle:

This is the standard assault rifle, same size as a citadel rifle it has and array of sixty Stalrim runes that are fired in sequence at a fifteen revolutions a minute. Therefore a firing rate of nine hundred rounds a minute. The range of this rifle 350-400 meters it is a midrange weapon with "bullets" traveling at 300m/s. Often moded by soldiers with fire enchantments that coat the non-melting ice in a sheet of flame to burn through the armour, or more recently with shock to overload armour systems, a gun can hold two shot mods and one performance mod. The gem can fire 94 shots before opening briefly to the aether to recharge, this takes four seconds. Made of Orichalcum, corundum and moonstone alloy, it is a light weight workhorse weapon with a weight of 9.5 LB

Iiz Strum IX Shotgun

Again, standard shotgun, it has a larger barrel than the Yein, this allows for several runes to fire at once causing a shrapnel effect, the distance is reduced as the push runes effect is spread over more items. This gun has a "clip" of seven shots before it needs to recharge, takes 4 seconds, has an effective range of 37-45 meters. Same basic mods apply to this gun like the Yein. Made of Orichalcum, corundum and moonstone alloy.

Yol Strum X Energy shotgun

Direct energy weapons are also used, though not as good for long range as a Stalrim shot it takes pure mana and though the application of the runes: contain, pressure, burn and harm is translated into bolts of superheated energy that it then propelled using a push enchantments. Once the bolt leaves the barrel it leave the containment and pressure runes, this leads to the energy expanding outward, cooling and dissipating. Devastating at close range the energy shots are similar to the Krogan shotgun. Made of Ebony, Quicksilver and Dwemer metal alloy, this is a Nightingale grade weapon.

Kinz XX Pistol

Same basic specs as its citadel counterpart it has a basic shot count of 27, is a close range weapon. Made of Orichalcum, corundum and moonstone alloy.

Zuth IX Sniper

The sniper of the legion is a long barreled weapon that is lined with densely packed push runes in a spiral pattern along the barrel and a larger spike. A rotating cluster of four runes can shoot nine spikes before recharging. Most of the energy in the gun is going to the push enchantments to accelerate the spike to speed rivaling and even surpassing those using mass effect technology.

Armour

History:

In Shape and form armour has made only a few changes over the centuries. The main addition was with the under armour body suit. With the invention of synthetic fibers the body suit was at first a simple body suit made of a substance called oak weave. This was made of a flexible polymer that is then enchanted for added strength, comfort and adaptability, air tight and strong, without the added armour it has become the standard environment suit, with its own temperature controls that allow the wearer to survive harsh environments. As the Arcane tech became better so too did the under armour. With varying grades for strength many would argue that the under armour is what made the legion so strong. Both the under armour and the outer armour are sealed units with the outer armour attached to the under armour by use of vacuum and latches, making it a suit over a suit. Redundancy saves lives is their standard. The under suit connects to the actual armour which contains its own aether gem that powers the armour's wards which are connected to a proximity ward. This detects items moving at speed towards the armour and increases power to the wards, activating them milliseconds before the blow and sustaining until either the onslaught stops or the gem is drained and needs to open and recharge. The basic helm is shaped like an ancient steel plate helmet but the wings are replaced with a small metal crest similar to the Dwemer helm. The officers are given coloured horse hair crest to denote them.

Under Armour (aka skin armour)

Air tight and made of an enchanted weave polymer it is comprised of several layers that have specific runes for healing that can deliver a localized burst of restoration to a wound. The under armour is usually black or grey with a small pack five cm by five cms and three high on the back between the shoulder blades, this houses the under suits Aether gem, usually low powered. Is iconic for the visible energy lines that pulse with the wearer's heat rate (think Star craft ghost suit) the suit not only covers the body but also has a hood that can be deployed from the suit to cover the head, a face mask seals to the hood making it the ideal environment suit. The hood contains a basic HUD that takes info from the under suit and armour and showing it to the user, measuring ward strength, power levels, a basic compass along the top, personal mana levels, ammo count and com signals. The visor is usually only over the eyes, not full faced, to reduce the risk of shattering. The grade of weave are as follows from weakest to strongest:

· Oak-civilians

· Iron-civilians

· Steel-civilians

· Quicksilver-civilians

· Moonstone-civilians

· Corundum- Guards/Justicars

· Malachite- Soldiers

· Dwemer-stealth units

· Ebony- Nightingales, blades, eyes

· Daedric- for the skalds

· Dragon- reserved for the queens and the other monarchs

The following armours use Malachite grade under armour

Angaar V Heavy armour

Looks like the lovechild of ancient glass armour and Dwemer armour it is usually gold in colour with either green or red cloth accents according to preference. The eye slits are connected to the under armour hood, making it one of the weaknesses to penetrate both suits simultaneously. Usually given to the heavy hitters. The two handed specialists and the juggernaut class use this

Haar VI Medium armour

Similar in pattern to the heavy armour, the plates are thinner and lighter allowing for greater movement but sacrificing safety. This armour is given to the sword and shield users as well as the dual wielders. Archers, and most spell swords.

Vokun III stealth armour

The lightest in terms of armour, this armour has small plates to cover the essential areas but leave much of the under armour exposed. This armour is designed to allow free movement needed for rogues, thieves and assassins. It sacrifices protection for agility. Typically wearers of this variety have a higher grade of under armour, usually Dwemer grade, more expensive but worth it.

Verin VIII mage armour

This is a combination of master mage robes over the under armour with an added cuirass, graves, shoulder guards and gauntlets. Very similar to Ancient carved Nordic armour without the bear motifs. This is in between the stealth and medium armour, making it in the light category. Used by mages and some spell swords.

Vahlok police armour

Built to resemble Stalrim armour it uses a corundum grade under suit with a crestless helmet similar to ancient Skyrim guard helm. This has a lower power levels, congruent with C-sec grade armour.

Nightingale armour

Shaped like ancient ebony armour it is divided into the same categories of Heavy, Medium, Mage and stealth using ebony grade under armour and an ebony malachite, quicksilver, Dwemer alloy. A nightingale is denoted by a letter N followed by their level on the right breast and the coloured stripe down the right arm that denotes their Prolus.

Skald Armour

With dragon grade under armour and Armour so heavily enchanted as to be nigh on unstoppable, the Skalds are the Spartans of the empire. Each set of armour is heavy but flexible, and enchanted to Sovahngard and back. Older models have a minor machine spirit (Nirnian VI) melded with the armour. But new developments have been looking into connecting the armour to the wearer on a mental level as well as merging in a greater machine spirit to boost efficiency. As this is experimental it is a volunteer only option at the moment. Current volunteers include Skald Lieutenant Commander Cortana Shepard.

A/N Hello Everyone! Hope you enjoy. I've had the idea of the under armour in my head for a while. I like the idea of armour within armour. It's more of a precaution so that in cases where a soldiers spaced and the outer suit is punctured then they can still survive *cough cough Shepard Cough cough* the under armour is skin tight and whilst it is not as strong as the usual armour it can take a beating Also when off duty on a ship the wear that, it never comes off allowing for a ships atmosphere to be vented and not kill the crew. I also like the idea of an AI in Shepard's armour chatting at her as she doing a mission. I like halo don't judge.

I imagin that it would sound like this:

AI-"Shepard DUCK!"

Shep-"I know Shut up"

AI-"rocket launcher!"

Shep- "I see it!"

AI- "left, left, LEFT LEFT, LEFT, LEFT!"

Shep- "I SEE IT!"

I'm opening up a poll for whether or not to put the AI in her armour and If yes then what should it's name gender and avatar be? EDI is going to be running her ship so she needs one for her armour.

Cheers! Mystborn!