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Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon


AlHazred

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This is a question that has as many answers as there are sci-fi fans, but nevertheless I feel compelled to ask: what is your favorite sci-fi weapon? There have been many weapons in science fiction (especially in the military fiction subgenre of sci-fi) and some are truly innovative.

 

For instance, the Luxan qualta blade (from Farscape) is a sword that can also be used as a blaster rifle. It's an artistic weapon for a warrior race.

 

I'm curious to find out what people consider the "ultimate" sci-fi weapon. Some guidelines: I'm thinking man-portable weapons - no black-hole weapons or particle-beam spine-mounts, if you please. (Well, unless there's an author who makes them man-portable. I'd want to hear about that, anyway.)

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I liked the original Type II hand phaser from Star Trek TOS.... No bloody movies, TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise.

 

It had several settings including stun, heavy stun, kill, and disrupt. It could be fired on wide beam or narrow beam. It could be used to heat things, or as a cutting torch, and finally it could be set to overload and used as a very powerful explosive device.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I cannot say it is my singlemost "favorite" or anything, but I have always liked the disc from Tron. I don't know why, but that just struck me as a kid as so cool. It sure as heck isn't the fastest, most practical or whatever, but that always struck me as just being sharp.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I liked the original Type II hand phaser from Star Trek TOS.... No bloody movies, TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise.

 

It had several settings including stun, heavy stun, kill, and disrupt. It could be fired on wide beam or narrow beam. It could be used to heat things, or as a cutting torch, and finally it could be set to overload and used as a very powerful explosive device.

Yep, Phaser Type II. Can't argue with the classics.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

Nerve Disruptor from the Miles books.

 

It is like a (slightly unpredictable) remote control for people -- and it only has an off button.

 

For those who haven't read the books (or haven't heard me blabbering about it on here already), the Nerve Disruptor is some sort of electrical weapon which fires a bolt described in the book as "crackling purple lightning." It has no affect on most materials, however, if it strikes a person...

 

Those struck by this weapon are in trouble. The bolt completely fries the nervous system of its victims. Near misses cause numbness or "pins and needles" like the area had "fallen asleep." Glancing blows can cause permanent nerve damage in the location struck, repairable only by artificially replacing the nerves. A solid shot... you are dead. Or, if not dead, a paraplegic or total vegetable. Head shots are the worst -- as with most weapons -- since if you live you'll have permanent and severe brain damage.

 

They are very popular for fighting on ships and space stations as they cause no structural damage. They are also a far more effective deterrent or "threat" than stunners or conventional firearms.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

Wow. This is actually pretty tough for me. I most certainly have to give a nod (and my first thought) to the Phaser Type II. It looked cool, and it was very representative of the race that designed it. Here's the swiss army knife of energy weapons. Hard to argue with that. Their rifle design was horrid, but that's another story.

 

Whenever I think Sci-Fi, I often think Space Opera, and as both a die-chucker and a thumb-flying button presser, nothing says "sci-fi" to me like the Star Wars Lightsaber. A more elegant weapon from a more civilized aged. Only usable by those who freely let the force guide their actions, it's a cutting tool, a killing attack, a deflector vs. energy weapons, and the only thing that isn't cut it in half by a Lightsaber is another Lightsaber.

 

While later iterations of the series would make Jedi look like bumbling fools, you can't say much bad about the duels in Episodes V, VI & I (Obi-Wen & Qui-Gon vs. Darth Maul is still one of my favorite fight scenes).

 

Man portable multi-power energy disperser? Phase II.

Man portable multi-power melee weapon? Lightsaber.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I've got to go with Reason. It kind of stretches the term man-portable, but hey....

 

Reason (weapon system)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Reason is a fictional weapon system from the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It is a multibarrel needlegun, similar to a Gatling gun, that fires small heavy fragments at super high speeds that will penetrate nearly anything.

 

Name Plate

The name plate reads:

 

REASON

Version 1.0B7

Gatling type 3mm hypervelocity railgun system

Ng Security Industries, Inc.

PRERELEASE VERSION-NOT FOR FIELD USE

DO NOT TEST IN A POPULATED AREA

-ULTIMA RATIO REGUM-

 

Ultima Ratio Regum

Latin for "The Last Argument (literally "reason") of Kings", the phrase Ultima Ratio Regum was engraved on all of Louis XIV's cannon (referred to in Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle). This simple declaratory statement reflects the sentiment that ultimately, in the anarchical world of society between sovereigns, force is the final arbiter when parties cannot agree to adjudicate conflicts or contracts.

 

Composition

It shoots 3 mm depleted uranium fragments at very high velocities and a very high rate of fire. It is composed of several different pieces:

 

A large, black, wheeled suitcase weighing somewhere over 300 pounds (140 kg). This contains the ammo for the weapon and becomes considerably lighter as it is used. It also has a control panel inside containing important information such as ammo left and the subsystem statuses.

A set of around two dozen 3 mm barrels around three feet (1 m) in length, attached together in a Gatling gun configuration. This is connected to the suitcase via a wrist-thick set of flexible cables and ammo feeds. These barrels spin so quickly when fired that they become a blur. The barrel system can be mounted to the firer's body to absorb the recoil.

A nuclear isotope power system that is cooled via a large chunk of heatsinks that glow white hot when in the open air. However, when submerged into a large body of water, it cools the system quite well. It is connected to the suitcase via a 3 in (75 mm) flexible cable.

The initial operating system needed a hotpatch, as it crashed in the field at a very critical time. The weapon was new and had not yet been rigorously tested in the field.

 

Menu System

HELP

Getting ready

Firing Reason

Tactical tips

Maintenance

Resupply

Troubleshooting

Miscellaneous

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

Niven's Tasp. Hit somebody with it and their brain overloads on instant ecstacy. Hit them with it often enough and they become an addict. The very threat of one can bring down a Kzin...

 

The puppeteer addressed himself to Speaker-to-Animals.

"You understand that I will use the tasp every time you force me to. I will use it if attempt to use violence too often, or if you startle me too much; you will soon become dependent upon the tasp; if you kill me, you will still be ignobly bound by the tasp itself."

 

"Very astute," said Speaker. "Brilliantly unorthodox tactics. I will trouble you no more."

 

"The puppeteer is right," said Speaker. "I would not risk the tasp again. Too many jolts of pleasure would leave me his willing slave. I, a kzin, enslaved to a herbivore

 

I also liked the flashlight laser, also from his Known Space stuff. very cool.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

To throw out a couple of personal favorites...

 

First, the pistols carried by the Sandmen in the book version of Logans Run. Dial up your choice from a variety of rocket propelled munitions carried in the gun and have at. The direct ancestor of the Lawgiver from Judge Dredd.

An idea that I used (with variations) repeatedly in my first Star Hero Game, back before Star Hero came out.

 

Second.... The Spetsdod, from Steve Perry's "Matador" series. A small gas powered dart gun worn on the back of the hand, with the barrel extending down over the index finger. Fired by a contact patchon the underside of the barrel, it's just what the name says... the ultimate point & shoot weapon. When combined with the ammo seen most often in the books, it's always struck me as a brilliant non lethal weapon... Spasm is a bioengineered self replicating viral toxin that locks all voluntary muscles into painful contractions for 6 months. With proper treatment, completely non lethal, but EXPENSIVE to tend to spasm locked victims, and it certainly gives someone a lot of time to consider if violence is REALLY the best course of action for their life. The perfect non lethal revolutionaries weapon.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I'll throw in a mention to the "Blazer" of Armor

 

This is a rather impractical weapon if thought of realistically, but in the context of the book it made perfect sense.

 

 

The Blazer is a continuous beam weapon that cuts/burns through nearly anything the beam comes in contact with. Like a lightsabre, only... with a blade up to a kilometer long (I forget the range but it was disgusting.)

 

The weapon was used to fight the "Ants" of some weird planet. Like the arachnids of Starship Troopers, these creatures attacked in massive hoards. They did have some simple technology ("heat guns") but mostly would just try and overwhelm their foes and rip them limb from limb. The "Blazer" was used to cut them down by the thousands.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I've always had a fondness for the monofilament wire weapon described in the ubiquitous short story in William Gibsons 'Burning Chrome' - garotte, whip, nunchuk, urumi - just don't mess up your timing when using it :)

 

I'd also have to put in a vote for the BFG-9000 for when you just have to kill everyone in the room...

 

Lastly, the knife missile from Ian Banks' 'Culture' novels. Small, incredibly fast, good for single targets or annihilating entire armies.

 

no black-hole weapons or particle-beam spine-mounts, if you please. (Well, unless there's an author who makes them man-portable. I'd want to hear about that, anyway.

 

Ah well you should read Banks novel 'Look To Windward'. Therein is a very intriguing use of a man-portable wormhole weapon ;)

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

the ZF-1

 

that's the multi-function BF gun from FIFTH ELEMENT :smoke:

# It's light; handle's adjustable for easy carrying; good for righties and lefties; breaks down into four parts; undectable by X-ray; ideal for quick discreet interventions. A word on firepower. Titanium recharger; 3000-round clip with bursts of 3 to 300. With the replay button, another Zorg invention, it's even easier. One shot... ..and replay send every following shot to the same location. And to finish the job, all the Zorg oldies but goldies. Rocket laucher...arrow launcher with exploding or poisonous gas heads, very practical...our famous net launcher...the always-efficent flamethrower, my favorite...and for the grand finale, the all-new 'Ice-cube System'."

 

# "Tell you what I do like though: A killer. A dyed-in-the-wool killer. Cold-blooded, clean, methodical and thorough. Now a real killer, when he picked up the ZF1, would have immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun."

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I've always had a fondness for the monofilament wire weapon :)

 

Niven had the similar monofilament sword in the Known Space Universe (includes Ringworld)

 

Monofilament swords do have a weakness that lightsabers don't:

- - - - Lightsabers EASILY cut your way out of a sealed room.

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

The Secret Disintegrator Button from the "Mirror, Mirror" universe in Star Trek.

 

That's the one where Kirk can open a panel in his quarters, spy on anyone undetectably--and wipe them out of existence with the touch of a button.

 

 

My favorite NON-man-portable sci fi weapon will always be the Ringworld meteor defense. First you use magnetic fields to cause a solar flare--then you use the solar flare to generate an ultraviolet laser beam a mile wide that will vaporize mountains....

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

from the old space opera RPG, the infamous 3 meter flechette pistol, that was supposed to be a holdout weapon, this was a definite typo, but still fun to consider

 

theres a one shot holdout weapon from the March Up Country/To The Sea/To the Stars series thats design to make soup out of the insides of a set of power armor, I cant think of the name of it, it operates on the spalling principle

 

from Warhammer 40K, the Harlequin Kiss, another really messy weapon to turn the insides of armor into canned human soup

 

for starship combat a couple come to mind

 

Detonation Laser nuclear missiles, David Weber, Larry Niven, and modern scientific theory

 

Minbari Neutron Lasers and the Shadow Planet Killing Cloud from Babylon 5

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Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

 

I'm definitely a fan of Niven's Variable Sword (or monofilament sword). The removal of the red pingpong at the end collapsing the stasis field, and it being a bright visible marker for where your sword reaches to, being quite cute ideas.

 

But - you can't beat the Federation Blaster from Blake's 7. It opens doors, it closes doors, it locks doors, it wounds characters you want to talk with, but kills flunkies. It's a swiss-army-blaster.

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