Armaments Introduction

Major Roger Hasnin here. Former American Special Operations. Yes, we do still identify with our ancestors' ideals. That's not what we're here for.

The right weapon at the right time can and will save your life. Learning this is essential.

=Melee Combat= Close quarters combat, CQC. I'd prefer a firearm just about any day of the week, but sometimes you just don't have real options.

Unarmed
When you have nothing else, this is it. Your own two hands are what you're going to use. Depending on what the other guy has, you might be better off retreating. Knives, firearms, swords, even batons will put you at a bad disadvantage. If you can't get out, first thing to do is disarm. Second thing to do is to try and use holds, grabs, or anything else to not deal with armor.

Blunt
If you can grab something, you likely have a blunt weapon. Batons, nightsticks, chairs, lamps, common everyday objects. These are pretty decent if you're short on something.

Knives
Steak knives, butcher knives, up to daggers. If you're caught flat footed in a kitchen, these are the weapons of choice. Easy to conceal, easy to use, pick up two and you're dangerous to an amateur.

Sword
Swords are a bit of an archaic choice, but preferred on some subs due to the nature of subs. Big, can be a touch heavy, but they cleave through a lot of things.

=Ranged Weapons=

Light Pistol
Your typical handgun designed mostly for target shooting or self defense is a regular sight, especially the further from a population center you go. Be careful, though, in the major areas the legal codes can vary. This is the type of weapon you want if you plan on nothing further than short range, or if you want concealment. You can try dual wielding two at once if you insist, but it's not wise.

Heavy Pistol
Banned in most civilized places, they can be concealed, but I advise using both hands. The recoil can be enough to break the wrist of a fair amount of people. A decent balance between concealment and power.

Rifles
Your standard longarms. If you can get one and don't need to conceal, I'd be using one of these. Range, power, portable. This is what you want.

Railguns
The newest major addition to the projectile family, here. I don't use these much myself, not enough experience, but I will talk about what I do know.

Mounted Railgun
They're too heavy and they require mounting to be used properly in most cases. They're mostly fortification weapons, or used on vehicles. I have heard a story or two about true giants using them. Slow to fire, with a charge up time, but incredible penetrating power. The velocity also makes these rather difficult to avoid if the shot was good.

Chu-Ko-Nu
I don't know the real name of these. Weapons technology continued after the original vessel left, and the Chinese have some of the best on Rukast because of it. They're similarly mounted, usually, but they can keep firing and don't worry too much about reload time like the normal ones do. Just have to say we're damn lucky we got most of their landing efforts in space, these things could have done some real harm. Try not to get noticed by whoever is holding it, they go fast enough they don't have to worry about accuracy, and enough penetrating power that you better know your cover will hold. No, your body armor does not count, here.