Barghest Durendal MonoSword

Written by: Ripshot

Another day, another deepweb trid of some brainless razorboy swinging around a monowhip and dismembering something they wish they hadn't. Don't get me wrong chummer, monowire is cool and all, but trying to use it as an actual weapon usually does more harm to you than the guy you're trying to hurt. Seems like the chummers at Barghest think the same, because they've been brainstorming a better way to slice up dudes with the Spicy-String^TM. Wouldn't you know it, they've finally come up with one that doesn't suck, and they're calling it Durendal.
So get this: instead of flailing around a loose length of monowire, it's been stretched taut across a collapsible strut mounted onto an ergonomic hilt, with a spindle in the pommel winding up the wire when you collapse said strut. Kind of like a collapsible jewelry saw, only bigger and made for lopping off limbs. Sounds simple, but it took Barghest a whole drekload of R&D to make it strong enough to handle being used like weapon, and even then, that wire's so taut that if it snags even a little you're gonna snap the damn thing, but the spindle'll pull the rest of it in before it whips your fingers off. It ain't a perfect solution omae, but hey, if you know how to use a sword or machete then you know how to use this bad-boy, and you're way less likely to slice your own arm off doing a stupid trick, so win-win to you!

Kind of ironic they named it after an indestructible sword considering how fragile the 'blade' is, but I guess that's marketting for you.

— Nocte

In all fairness, it wasn't really made for a full-sized sword design to begin with: Barghest had made some earlier smaller-scale prototypes around the same principle but for smaller cyberweapons, like spurs, only they stopped that particular line before it could even hit the shelves after a local ganger stole a set and gutted some people on the news with them. Not like they'd call it the 'Barghest Flimsy SnappableSword', anyway.

— Null Kit

Manufacturer

Barghest Precision Machining

Rarity

14F

Weight

0.9KG

Dimensions

22" when extended, 9" when collapsed

Base Price

6,300¥

Type

Club

Accuracy

5

Reach

1

Damage

S+3P

AP

-6

The Durendal has a concealability of +4 when extended and 0 when collapsed. Extending or collapsing the sword takes a simple action.

Glitch: The monowire snaps and the sword is useless until a new 60cm length can be installed (1,000¥ per meter, 14R (Chrome Flesh, pg154)). Replacing the monowire requires a simple action to eject the old wire and a complex action to attach the new one.

Critical Glitch: The monowire snaps as above, and whips the user before it can safely retract, dealing 3P damage, resisted normally.

Wireless Bonus: Extending/collapsing the sword is a free action, instead of a simple action.