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Weapons

Personal Weapons

The consequences of a hull breach shape personal armament in space. Slug throwers and other projectile weapons are not used by personnel aboard spacecraft or in habitats that aren't surrounded by rock — nobody wants to put a hole in their hull.

The common weapons for shipboard and habitat use are:

  • Stunners: Non-lethal, no hull breach risk. Standard for security and personal defense.
  • Blades: Knives, batons, and other melee weapons. Practical and low-risk.
  • Martial arts: Hand-to-hand combat training is valued, especially in cramped shipboard environments where weapons may be impractical.

On planetary surfaces and in rock-enclosed installations (such as Lunar Warrens or Belt stations carved into asteroids), projectile weapons are more acceptable, though still regulated.

Fleet Ship Weapons

Modern Fleet munitions include:

  • Slug throwers (usually railguns)
  • Missiles
  • Lasers
  • Plasma throwers

Ship-to-ship combat is relatively rare. Engaging Fleet vessels is usually a question of "can you outrun or outsmart them, or do you surrender?" — firing on a Fleet vessel is considered suicidal. Fleet ships are better armed, better armored, and rarely operate alone; even if you won the engagement, reinforcements would hunt you relentlessly. This does not, of course, stop a certain class of criminals.

Civilian Ship Weapons

Weapons are strictly regulated on non-Fleet vessels by law. However, anything with a fusion drive is itself a weapon, and "mining equipment," "meteorite defense," "communication lasers," and similar systems are permitted. Small-scale defensive munitions are allowed for protection against pirates.

Enforcement becomes looser farther from Earth — space is vast and Fleet can only patrol so much of it.