Sapphire Streak/Modified Rikti Rifle
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
The Liberator Pulse Rifle
A variety of pulse rifles have been used by the SLA since the Rikti War. The ironic name 'Liberator' was coined by Sven Bjornisson, a member of the First Company of the SLA, because they were originally tools of oppression, and the SLA turned the Rikti's own weapons against them in the name of freedom.
History
When Tyler Anderson, who goes by the moniker Sapphire Streak, started his guerilla campaign against the Rikti from Stockholm, he realized that ammo would quickly become scarce. To counteract this, he decided that the only way that had any chance of even being half-way effective was to use the Rikti's own weaponry against them.
The Mark I
The 'Mark I Liberator', which was utilized by Scandinavian forces in the early stages of the Rikti War, was essentially a repainted and slightly modified Rikti pulse rifle. However, it was still a highly effective piece of equipment, even more so after shoulder stocks were fashioned by enterprising soldiers, significantly improving accuracy. When it became apparent that the SLA would be fighting at close range often, soldiers began attempts to attach bayonets to their weapons. However initial attempts failed because of the strange design of the rifles as well as the fact that the bayonets that were successfully attached proved vastly inferior to the protometal swords and armor that were wielded by Rikti. To counteract this, soldiers were organized into teams, with half wielding stolen Rikti power swords and the other wielding pulse weaponry.
The Mark II
The Anderson Mark II 'Liberator' Pulse Rifle wasn't used until midway through the Norwegian Liberation of the Rikti War. After Sweden was completely liberated, they instantly assigned many of their greatest minds to work on reverse-engineering some of the captured Rikti pulse weaponry. With the majority of the nation's scientists working together on developing their own version of the rifle, an effective alternative was quickly churned out of the weapons labs of FOI, complete with bayonet mounts that could adjust in size, allowing for soldiers to attach almost anything with a sharp end and a handle to their guns. However, due to the rushed development, the Mk II initially had a number of flaws, namely the overheating problem. The Mark II was called the 'Fwoosh gun' by soldiers because of it's tendency to overheat .
Mark III
The Mark III was developed to be more reliable than the Mark II, because of the Mark II's overheating problem. It is far easier to use than any of the other Liberator models because of it's streamlined body and the fact that it was designed specifically to be the kind of weapon that someone could just pick up and shoot. It was released at the start of the Finnish Liberation, and remains the standard weapon of the SLA and official Scandinavian militaries.
The Mark IV
The Mk IV Liberator energy rifle that is utilized by the elite of the Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish militaries is the most highly advanced handheld weapon on today's market. It costs approximately one million American dollars to produce and maintain a single Mark IV Liberator. Due to the fact that it is so cost-prohibitive, only about 40 are available to each army, combined with the fact that it is an incredibly difficult weapon to master, because of the vast array of features it includes. However, once mastered, it is considered to be possibly the most potent handheld weapon on today's market.
Features of the Mark IV
Pulse Intensity Modifier- This feature allows a user to modify the power of each blast, from non-lethal knockdown to full intensity, which can blow a hole in the side of a Sherman tank.
Pulse Size Modifier- This feature can be used to adjust the size of each blast, but this feature is typically only used by snipers.
Sniper Scope- This feature is essentially a typical sniper scope, except that it includes a wide array of vision modes, ranging from thermal vision to night vision.
Renewable ammo packs- Unlike the previous models of the Liberator, the ammo packs on the Mark IV are rechargeable. On previous models, the clips could last for weeks of constant fighting, but once exhausted they became completely useless. At the time of the Rikti War, it wasn't a problem, due to the massive amount of weaponry stolen from Rikti, but after the first War was over, the cost of producing ammo for the rifles sky-rocketed. Thus, the renewable power pack was developed. While they are relatively light, each pack can last for approximately 450 shots each, and can be recharged with thermal energy. however, the exact method in which this process is accomplished remains highly classified.
Beam Fire- The most notable feature on the Mark IV is it's ability to fire a beam of energy, rather than just a pulse. However, this is very draining on the ammo packs, and is usually only used when traditional power packs are available for use.
