by Jay_NOLA » Sat Jun 25, 2016 8:49 pm
They are from the Dorsa!i (Childe Cycle) series of book, which as you know the game drew stuff or was inspired from.
"Each man carried a handgun and knife in addition to his regular armament; but they were infantry, spring-rifle men. Weapon for weapon, any thug in the back alley of a large city had more, and more modern firepower; but the trick with modern warfare was not to outgun the enemy, but carry weapons he could not gimmick. Chemical and radiation armament was too easily put out of action from a distance. Therefore, the spring-rifle with its five thousand-sliver magazine and its tiny, compact, non-metallic mechanism which could put a sliver in a man-sized target at a thousand meters time after time with unvarying accuracy."
-Dorsai!, by Gordon R. Dickson
The series doesn't give any other detail on them except for that, but they are a type of "needle-gun" in the few other mentions of them in the series. Usually it is just a mention that a character is equipped with one, but we do get to see how deadly one is one book.
"Silence!" snapped the Force-Leader from his. "Hold your positions. If you don't—" But he had no time to finish, for, at that moment, the first serious assault of the Friendly infantry mounted the slope against us. And a sliver from a spring-gun took the Force-Leader high in the chest, just at the base of the neck, so that he fell back, choking on his own blood."
-Soldier Ask Not, by Gordon R. Dickson
Also of note for those reading the thread who don't know, the Rigel and Videni were also based off of heavily from the Dorsai and the Friendlies from the series. (I usually picture Videndi in black military clothing of a similar type of the Friendlies.
Last edited by Jay_NOLA on Sun Jun 26, 2016 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.