GEAR

“Marine—you are only as good as your wits and your weapon. Sometimes that weapon is your own foot, sometimes it’s your pulse riflfle and sometimes it’s a goddamn nuke. Whichever it may be, be sure to clean it regularly and stick it way up the enemy’s ass.”

—SGT. PHIL WLODARCZYK, 5TH COLONIAL MARINE SPECIAL OPERATIONS REGIMENT’S “SIN EATERS” CHARLIE TEAM

You are going into the shit—and what you carry in better be something that can help get you out. You don’t want to bring a knife to a gunfight, now, do you? You don’t step into the rain without your rubbers on and you don’t go to church with your fly open. So step-up, zip-up, and see what’s what, Marine—peruse these pages and get to know your own battlefield options—as well as what the enemy’s likely to bring along to fuck your day up. Assuming they aren’t sporting metal teeth and a spiked tail, of course.

If they are, screw it—just throw a grenade and run.

WEAPONS

PISTOLS

BIONATIONAL TX-9 CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL INJECTION AIR PISTOL: This short-range pistol fires darts that can be loaded with a variety of pharmaceuticals or toxins, including bioweapons in serum form. The pistol can also be used to deliver biochemical tracers. The tracer lasts for D6 days and can be detected with a CBRN kit from up to 30km away. Any AutoDoc can flush the trace elements out of your system, so find one and flush fast—who knows what’s tracking you out there. Armor is doubled against this weapon, and it can never cause more than one point of damage—which it also needs to do in order to deliver its payload.

VP-70MA6 SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOL: This pistol is a time-honored weapon dating back nearly two hundred years. For nearly seventy years the VP70 series was only found in the hands of USCMC officers from key influential military families. Over the past decade, it has begun to supplant the outdated M4A3 as the standard Marine sidearm.

WEYLAND ES-4 SEMI-AUTOMATIC ELECTROSTATIC PISTOL: Developed a century ago, this electrostatic kinetic energy projectile weapon uses charged elements to fire high-speed armor piercing rounds. Each bullet carries a charge that has a stunning effect. Any human target that suffers damage from an attack must make a hard STAMINA roll (–2, doesn’t count as an action) or be stunned for one Round, unable to act.

The ES-4 has a tell-tale blue muzzle-flash when fired. While a quality weapon, the pistol fell out of use before the Weyland-Yutani merger due to its cost and upkeep requirements—if not cleaned properly each day (takes one Turn), a shot fired will sometimes—if two or more Stress Dice turn up facehugger symbol—stun the shooter as well.

While it can mostly be found in use amongst high level corporate security teams from the ICSC, a select number of colonial marshal offices are testing out a newer model as their standard sidearm on the Frontier—along with a pair of insulator gloves.

NORCOMM QSZ-203 SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOL: A short recoil operated weapon, this Chinese manufactured pistol has been the standard sidearm of the UPP since they absorbed the CANC in 2164. Rarely available for sale on the black market, the QSZ-203 fires 5.8mm rounds that have excellent armor piercing capabilities. Also the producers of the AK-4047 Pulse Rifle, Norcomm is the UPP firearms production division of the People’s Army. Like the 4047, the 203 can be thrown off a three-story roof and still function just fine. Norcomm builds them to last.

PISTOLS

WEAPON	BONUS	DAMAGE	RANGE	WEIGHT	COST	COMMENT
Bionational TX-9 Chemical and Biological Injection Air Pistol	+1	1	Medium	1/2	$300	Delivers toxins or bioweapons, armor doubled.
VP-70MA6 Semi-Automatic Pistol	+2	1	Medium	1/2	$250
Weyland ES-4 Semi-Automatic Electrostatic Pistol	+1	1	Medium	1/2	$1,000	Stun effect, armor piercing.
Norcomm QSZ-203 Semi-Automatic Pistol	+1	1	Medium	1/2	$400	Armor piercing.

RIFLES

ARMAT P9 S.H.A.R.P. RIFLE: The prototype Sonic Harpoon Artillery Remote Projectile is currently undergoing field trials by the USCMC. The P9 fires an array of dart types, including the 9X-E which releases a sticky explosive charge upon contact.

No roll is required to shoot a dart into a combat zone of the shooter’s choice. The charge will explode after one Round, triggering a Blast Power 9 explosion. If anyone or anything in the zone, except a fellow Marine (identified via their PDT), moves before the time runs out, the charge explodes immediately.

If the dart hits an enemy target directly (requiring a normal attack roll), it detonates within a fraction of a second. A target directly hit by the dart suffers two additional points of damage, and their Armor Rating is halved (rounding up).

NORCOMM AK-4047 PULSE ASSAULT RIFLE: The UPP equivalent to the M41A Pulse Rifle, the AK-4047 is a cheap and reliable substitute. As such, the weapon often winds up in the hands of mercenaries and insurgents. While not as accurate as the M41, the AK-4047 is sturdier than the USCMC weapon. An AK-4047 still works after being thrown off a cliff and left underwater for a month.

NORCOMM AK-104S PULSE ACTION SUIT GUN: This UPP weapon is a pulse grade AK-104 rifle reconfigured and built into an armored exoskeleton forearm and shoulder housing. Worn standard with the CCC5 Combat Compression Suit, this semi-automatic weapon is mounted on the user’s wrist to allow for flexibility in the field. An internal ammo belt feeds the gun from a stored ammo pack right next to the suit’s O2 tanks.

The ammo pack is the suit gun’s weakness. Take it out (–2 to hit) and you’ll not only ignite the ammo but feed the explosion with the suit’s stored oxygen, triggering a Blast Power 9 explosion and destroying both the gun and the suit.

RMC F903WE AUTOMATIC ASSAULT RIFLE: Another reliable gun that has been around for a century, the RMC F903WE was issued to Weyland-Yutani’s first major colonization efforts at the start of the century. Today it is often found in the hands of colonial militias or mercenaries. It was most recently made famous as the weapon of choice for the Australian rebels. The F903WE is not a pulse weapon, but don’t let that fool you. While its armor piercing abilities are limited, it can still fuck up your perfect composure.

WEYLAND-YUTANI NSG23 ASSAULT RIFLE: A successor to the old Weyland Storm Rifle of a century ago, the NSG23 or “New Storm Rifle” has a high capacity ammo drum and an underbarrel ID23 incinerator unit attachment. The primary assault rifle of the 3WE Royal Space Marines, the NSG23 is also sometimes used by W-Y troops. While the USCMC tested the weapon in the late 2170s, the corps decided to stay with the armor piercing M41Pulse Rifle—prompting W-Y to sell the design to the 3WE.

WEYLAND-YUTANI ID23 UNDERBARREL INCINERATOR UNIT: While it has a shorter range and reduced fuel supply compared to the M240, the ID23 flamethrower easily connects to the undercarriage of an assault rifle, making it convenient in the field. Any target hit by an incinerator unit also catches fire, Intensity 7.

RIFLES

WEAPON	BONUS	DAMAGE	RANGE	WEIGHT	COST	COMMENT
Armat P9 S.H.A.R.P. Rifle	–	Blast Power 9	Long	2	$15,000	Detonates after one Round, or when an enemy within the zone moves.
Norcomm AK-4047 Pulse Assault Rifle	–	2	Long	1	$500	Full auto.
Norcomm AK-104s Pulse Action Suit Gun	–	2	Long	–	–	Armor piercing, full auto, included in the CCC5 Combat Compression Suit.
RMC F903WE Automatic Assault Rifle	–	2	Long	2	$500	Full auto.
Weyland-Yutani NSG23 Automatic Assault Rifle	+2	2	Long	1	$1,500	Full auto, I23 Incinerator Unit included.
ID23 Underbarrel Incinerator Unit	–	2	Medium	–	$700	Fire Intensity 7, included in the N23 Assault Rifle.

“We got tactical smart missiles, phased plasma pulse riflfles, RPGs. We got sonic, electronic ball-breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks…”

—PRIVATE FIRST CLASS WILLIAM HUDSON

HEAVY WEAPONS

ARMAT U4A2 REPEATING GRENADE LAUNCHER: Designed for CBRN sterilization teams, this rapid-fire dedicated grenade launcher is most often equipped with the U4 QTC Firebomb ammunition but it can also fire other varieties.

M5A3 RPG ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE LAUNCHER: This shoulder-fired rocket launcher is equipped with a telescopic targeting sight.

NORCOMM RPG122 ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE LAUNCHER: The 122 is a bare-bones rocket launcher without a sophisticated sight, that requires a reload after each shot. Armor piercing.

WEYLAND 72A LEW LIGHT ENERGY WEAPON: This portable directed energy cannon consists of a sighted shoulder-mounted weapon and a 15mW power pack. The LEW fires vaporized pellets of cadmium telluride. The LEW packs a serious punch at close range and slices through armor very well, but the damage done is reduced by one step for each range band beyond SHORT. It has several other disadvantages, including being cumbersome and having to recharge for two Rounds after each shot, effectively meaning it can only be fired every other Round.

M78 PIG PHASED-PLASMA INFANTRY GUN: The USCMC favors rocket launchers over light energy weapons, but do have their own model, the M78 PIG Phased-Plasma Infantry Gun.

UA-102-20 INDEPENDENTLY TARGETING PARTICLE BEAM PHALANX: The UA-102-20 is a close-in weapon system (CIWS) composed of twenty independently targeting particle beams working in close formation. Similar to starship-to starship combat laser arrays, the particle beam phalanx is a vehicle combat scale offensive/defensive solution to multiple incoming aggressors. The UA102-20’s computer module can instantly calculate the probability of the phalanx taking a target out, as well as what fire rate and pattern is needed.

Like a shipboard laser array, the Particle Beam Phalanx can also be focused to fire on a single target with devastating results—base damage is increased by 3 (to 7) and range to Extreme, but without the full auto option. The twenty independent particle beams are limited by their power source—on its own battery power or that of a vehicle, the PBP must recharge for two Rounds between firing cycles and cannot safely draw the power needed for a concentrated blast.

If the user attempts to do this anyway, the UA-102-20 starts to emit a high-pitched whine. Roll a Stress Die. On a facehugger symbol, the weapon explodes, triggering a Blast Power 12 explosion. If not, it fires as planned (STRESS LEVEL +1 for the user). Tapped into a city’s power grid, the 102-20 is nigh unstoppable.

You can’t buy one of these. They are illegal for civilians to own in all territories. As the firing signature of each 102-20 is unique and traceable, even the black market doesn't want to deal in them. Either your unit is assigned one or you steal it.