Ares Black Mamba Sliver-Rifle
Written by: Ripshot
Ah, the Black Mamba, you died before you were really born. If you're not in the know (and I don't blame you if you ain't), Ares recently tried to capitalise on the success of the Viper Slivergun (and the CA Adder, not that Ares will admit it) by upscaling the concept to a rifle-sized design, sold as a 'companion weapon' to the Viper. What the design-team came up with after nearly a billion iterations and prototypes was the Black Mamba, a gun that by all standards was a pretty fine rifle. Too bad for Ares that a rating of 'pretty fine' by an Ork Sicario don't mean much, especially when your fancy new gun fails to sell less than a couple of thousand over a year. So before we get into the nitty-gritty of why this gat didn't sell, I'm gonna reiterate here: It's not a bad gun at all. Penetration's what you'd expect from the Viper's big brother, but this thing rips through soft tissue in ways that put most conventional expanding cartridges to shame, and thing I really like about this particular fella is the off-center feeding system that lets you check how many rounds you've got left in the mag without having to take your eyes far away from the sight. Take all this and give it an integrally suppressed barrel, enhanced ergonomics and a sleek outer-casing that keeps dirt out like a charm and you've got a dependable, reliable piece of kit.Still has the same problem with the Viper and Adder in that you're gonna be swapping barrels as much as you're swapping mags if you fire the thing too fast.So why'd this thing bomb so much, you might be asking? Truth is, for all the iterations and marketting focus-groups Ares went through, they just didn't truly understand why the Viper was popular to begin with: Outside of hobbyists and private collectors, the majority of users are corpsec that work in apartments, warehouses and server farms. In other words, People looking out for mostly low-level threats in tight enviroments filled with fragile goods. The Viper (and the Adder, heh) were both great in these areas because they were quiet, lightweight sidearms that were easy to bare and aim in cramped quarters and could reliably tag an intruder with a nasty-lookin' wound with less risk of overpenetrating through drywall, server-casings and crates full of expensive cargo. The Black Mamba was just overkill in comparison, and too big for your average corpsec to agree to lug along a whole shift.
That said, it's become a small hit with crews that go out into the The Concrete Forest. Slivers tear through critters, but it doesn't make the noise that other rifles do, which keeps other residents of the forest from paying notice.All that said though, don't expect this to be a rare sight on the streets, commercial failure or no. Ares are going all out to unload their optimistically-numbered stock by any means necesarry, and with that kind of haphazard throwing of inventory, it's only a matter of time before some slip through the cracks and into the hands of a cramhead you thought was gonna be an easy mark. Pack some gauze, chummer.
Rarity
12F
Weight
3.1 KG unloaded
Dimensions
16" barrel, 34" total length
Base Price
1,800¥
Special: Fires metallic Slivers that count as flechette rounds, which is factored into the weapon's damage/AP code.
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