A^3 (“A-Cubed”) Eliminator- Caliber 22 mm, length 54 inches, wt. 20 lbs, feed bolt-action with 5-round magazine. This remarkable weapon is the most powerful of a long line of rifles using .50 Browning machine gun cartridges. By modifying the geometry of the cartridge, its designers were able to create a round of over 20 mm that still be fired by a weapon with a standard .50 BMG action. It was intended to compete in the military anti-vehicle weapon market with weapons firing full-sized 20 mm cannon shells, but attracted more interest from police users. Original ammunition was air-burst and smoke shells, but inert rounds were later built by request. In theory, it can be owned by civilians in most western nations, but the procedures and regulations that would-be owners must follow are prohibitive.

.38 Tactical- Caliber 9.65 mm, length 36 inches, wt. 5 pounds, feed semiautomatic with 10-round clip. The Tactical is a modernized paramilitary version of the H&H .375 hunting rifle. A titanium barrel and plastic frame reduce its weight to about half of the H&H original. A hinge between barrel and chamber allow it to be folded for storage. The intended market is snipers, usually known euphemistically as “tactical marksmen”. It was a disappointment in the military market, in spite of widespread demand from potential front-line users, because bureaucratic hurdles prevented the approval of the .375 round as a “standard” cartridge. It still saw considerable use among elite military personnel who purchased rifles and ammunition at their own expense, and won official approval from many police and wildlife management departments. Classification as an assault weapon by UNCOST has prevented significant penetration in purely civilian markets.

“Tyrannosaur pistol” (Thompson-SSK model 49) - Caliber 14.5 mm, length 18 inches (no stock), wt. 4 lbs, feed hand-loaded, single shot. This is the most powerful handgun that can legally be owned by a civilian. Because of regulations in force since 1970, this weapon would not be legal even in the US, where it is manufactured, if not for its single-shot mechanism and the lack of conventional cartridges. Thompson-SSK is therefore able to manufacture and sell it under a loophole originally made for historic muzzle-loading firearms. The silencer, retractable stock and scope described by Ted Flockman are not features of the factory model, and are in fact illegal. Investigation into audiovisual records and Robertson’s effects has not corroborated the account. Robertson has not responded to personal inquiries.

4-gauge shotgun- Caliber 25 mm, wt. ca. 7 lbs, feed pump-action with 3-shot tubular magazine. The official designation of this weapon is not known at this time. It was manufactured around 2050 by at least two different private contractors for the South African military. Records of the development, manufacture and original deployment of this weapon were lost in the chaos of civil war, in which 5 distinct administrations were set up and overthrown. It is long out of production, but at least three companies manufacture ammunition to order. Several hundred working specimens are known to exist in the hands of paramilitary users and private collectors inside and outside of South Africa.

12-gauge combat shotgun- Caliber 18.5 mm, length 30 in, weight 6 pounds, feed pump, semi-automatic or burst-firing action, with 10-round revolver-type magazine. This is a standard-issue weapon of the EU. To minimize length, it is a “bullpup” design, with the magazine behind the grip.

“Silenced .50” (heavily modified M16) - Length ca. 42 inches, feed semi- or fully automatic. These weapons are made from M16s and similar 5.56 mm rifles using conversion kits. Some kits are professionally made and marketed legally to military users, but those used by the “Keystone Kommies” were bootlegged kits of diverse origin and wildly varying quality. Creating such a gun may prove less difficult than acquiring the necessary ammunition, which must be made to order using exotic hand loading equipment. Loads used by the KK came from a single source, and included highly-restricted tungsten-cored or high-explosive armor-piercing rounds.

“Boing stick” (H&K Submersible Defensive Device Mk. 7) - This device was ordered by the US military from Heckler and Koch in 2032. Field tests conducted after mass-production had begun led to a curtailment of the original order in 2035, leaving H&K with at least 30,000 unwanted units. These were sold at slashed prices to paramilitary users all over the world, in whose armories they remained a ubiquitous but unwelcome sight in paramilitary armories as late as the ‘50s.

Caseless assault rifles- Details various. The first caseless assault rifle, the H&K G11, was manufactured in the 1980s, but weapons of this type did not achieve widespread use until well into the 21st century. As a rule, modern types are substantially the same as the G11. The most distinctive feature, carried over from the G11, is a breech that recoils and rotates inside the stock in mid-cycle, allowing for three-shot bursts with no felt recoil. Typical 4.9 and 5.56 caseless rifles are fixtures in the Naughtenny Moore armory. Carlos Wrzniewski used his own resources to obtain a rare Israeli 7 mm model. Its rounds were adequate against any body armor short of a combat exoskeleton. Even an exotrooper may be disabled by a hit to certain relatively lightly protected points in the back.

“Things” (General Purpose Composite Vehicle) - Length 14 feet (standard), wt. ca. 1000 lbs. The vehicles nicknamed “Things” are successors to the Humvee, but considerably smaller in size. The body is a framework of aluminum tubing, covered by composite armor panels that can be changed according to the mission. Standard armor is plastic/ceramic with strength comparable to its thickness in steel, but with less than half the weight. The sloping frontal plate, which is mainly responsible for a modern Thing’s resemblance to its 20th-century namesake, is actually the vehicle’s fuel tank. A minimum thickness of 50 mm on each side is necessary simply to keep the hydrogen fuel from leaking out. The hydrogen turbine engine is in the center of the chassis; several different sizes can be fitted. It is connected to the fuel tank by a hydrogen line in the floor. The most conspicuously strange feature of a Thing is its large wheels, nearly 3 feet in diameter. The tires are divided into segments; if one is breached, it will be sealed off from the rest. The outside of the tires are covered by cleats. Cleats are varied according to mission. All have a combination of rigid and flexible components, with retractable ridges or spikes which deploy on more difficult ground. The wheels function as the vehicle’s primary shock absorbers, though some shock-absorbing components are also present between the chassis and the body. Steering is performed by varying the speed to one side, in the manner of a tracked vehicle. A highly modular design allows for almost limitless variants, notable examples being the “Swim Thing” and the “Bus” configurations.

Ora- Length 30 ft, wt. 12 tons. The Ora was built in the late ‘40s for the United Secular Republic of Indonesia, as a joint venture between state armories and western interests. Ora personnel and weapons carriers were used extensively for internal “peace-keeping” operations, some of which are described as comparable in intensity to the eventual clash with the United States. Bitter experience showed the Ora in all forms to be incapable of holding its own in head-to-head combat against western AFVs. However, it distinguished itself for communications capabilities. Ora self-propelled guns, capable of well-directed fire from distances of over 50 kilometers using data from airborne drones and satellites, were genuinely fearsome foes. In 2062, the manufacturing plants of the Ora were reopened and production resumed. The new Ora line emphasizes reconnaissance, command and logistics functions. They have achieved modest success in the international market.

Gossamer Starship- The Gossamer Starship is a product of Caproni Aircraft, Ltd. It is sometimes confused with a true hovercraft, but it is in fact a pusher aircraft, entirely conventional in all respects save its shape. The propeller is unusually large relative to the craft’s size, and spins inside a short duct, which can be tilted downward to turn some of the propeller’s thrust into lift. As Caproni himself observed, its only advantage over a helicopter in terms of performance is that it generates less noise.

“Tortuga”- One of the largest aircraft ever built, and one of the slowest. It was commissioned as a supply carrier for the US Army, used as a fire-fighting plane by the forest service, and then sold to other nations. Its own designers and original military users repeatedly stated that it was never used in a combat zone, warnings which were disregarded by Columbia’s Ministry of agriculture. It was quickly nicknamed the Tortuga volute, or flying tortoise. It has a wingspan of 180 feet. Power is supplied by 4 turboprop engines. Engines, cockpit and cargo space are all accomodated in its tremendous wing. Theoretical top speed is 350 miles per hour, but a craft with a maximum six-ton load will be lucky to top 200.

High-Speed Trainer- The antithesis of the Tortuga, this is the fastest turboprop airplane ever built, with top speeds of well over 500 miles per hour. Two coaxial propellers each in the nose and tail provide approximately the same thrust as a WW2 vintage four-engine bomber to a craft no larger than a fighter-bomber of the same era. It can be fitted with virtually any armament. Craft as heavily armed as those of the “Black Baron” will be relatively slow, but their armament will make up for the difference against anything short of another fighter plane.

311A Combat exoskeleton- This is the heaviest variant of the Russian 300-series exoskeleton. The 300-series was first deployed in 2039. In theory, it was obsolete even before then, but exotroopers in 300-series armor are to this day a terror of the battlefield. The motorized components are sturdier than in other, more advanced exoskeletons, but still demand daily maintenance. Safe and effective use of this or any other exoskeleton requires advanced training. Development and deployment proceeded along different lines in Russia and its affiliates than in other nations. Elsewhere, exoskeletons were reserved for Special Forces units, and the swift “hit-and-run” style of operations reserved for Special Forces. While the 300-series is frequently used in such operations, it is designed for fighting side-by-side with conventional infantry. This demands a higher level of protection. Drones and troops in high-mobility rigs are used to support the full-fledged exotroopers, with the beneficial consequence that exotroopers in training can be used to good effect in the support role. In the tactics pioneered by the Russians, exotroopers are used to penetrate enemy lines, destroy a few key targets, and then hold their ground while regular infantry advance.

By far the heaviest use of 300-series exoskeletons in combat was in the Serb-Albanian War. Serbian exotroopers repeatedly inflicted serious reversals on Albanian and EU troops, including a spectacular raid that put an entire air base out of action. However, the toll taken in exoskeletons and especially in qualified operators was worse than the damage inflicted on the enemy. As early as 2043, planners were reporting that there were more exoskeletons than men to run them. This led to a bizarre experiment in which military convicts were given training as exotroopers. As a rule, the results were predictably disastrous to men and machinery alike. But one spectacular exception was produced in the German convict Zaratustra, who became not only a skilled exotrooper but a talented commander of men. Zaratustra is believed to have taken part in several highly successful coordinated actions, ending in the defense of Omega Facility. The limited and unverifiable information available at the present suggest that his last action was a sally with two other exotroopers against Long-Range Reconnaissance Team 557. Team 557 suffered major losses in men and equipment before killing two exotroopers and cornering Zaratustra in a cave on a cliff face. At least one EU exotrooper went in after him, in one of the only known engagements of exotroopers against each other. Zaratustra was either thrown out of the cave or jumped out in an attempt at escape or suicide. When taken (briefly) into custody, he had two broken legs. It is hoped that further investigation will reveal more about the Omega Facility incident.