This classic subgun was recovered from a salvaged colony ship along with some HK parts. It sat in storage for a bit until Starside Armory accepted a "specialty" commission. The client had apparently locked his keys in his shuttle, had a malfunctioning access code receiver, and had forgotten the backup override sequence. It was adrift in some kind of gaseous nebula that prevented plasma cutting. I suggested a professional locksmith or maybe a good ol' angle grinder, but he then remembered there was some kind of radiation leak that prevented him from getting close to the shuttle. At that point I stopped asking questions about why and just asked what he needed. The end result was essentially a miniature remote mine launcher.
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The low-velocity plastic explosive rounds fuse with metal on impact, forming a shape charge suited for penetrating a few centimeters of metal. Of note is that the low yield would not be effective against military composite or reactive armor. The micro-shapecharge would theoretically be best against non-hardened materials found in civilian and cheapo industrial applications. Better against plating than a bullet, but a far cry from a .177 Parker.
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Whether or not this guy really did own that shuttle, or if any part of that story was true, I needed the work at that point in my career. I never heard from him again and it's been a few years, so I will risk posting about it because as far as I know we didn't do anything illegal. Starside Armory does not knowingly support space piracy, but this was certainly a lesson in spotting potential trouble.
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