2806 Pattern Infantry Sword
The 2806 pattern sword is the ceremonial pattern (piquet weight) of the 2754 pattern infantry officers sword. The 2754 sword was introduced as a stop-gap measure for officers to defend themselves against the Furies whilst the EM-5 was being developed. This was replaced in 2806 with the piquet weight variant due to obsolescence on the front line.
History
The choice of designing a new sword could be seen as a bit strange, in the era of Faster-than-light spacecraft and gigavolt personal laser weapons, as the last had been deemed obsolete even for ceremonial purposes 450 years before (2300), and the last practical use was nearly 400 years before that.
However, decision to re-equip officers and men, with sharp steel was driven by the furies tendency to enter into close combat and fight with their bare claws and so it was felt that giving a weapon that gave a defence against other edged weapons as well as finesse was vital. So in 2752, a committee was set up to design a blade and, in a remarkable show of rapidity, by the end of that year the committee had settled on a pattern that had a straight, single-edged blade between 820 and 900mm in length. The hilt was constructed with a titanium-carbon alloy, symmetrical bowl guard, whose heat treatment caused it to take a gold colour, and a grip wrapped in black, artificially grown, shark-skin and bound with Gold-carbon nanotube wire.
This 2754 pattern was prototyped from 2 examples chosen from the Royal Armouries (Leeds) archives. The first was an 1897 thrusting sword and the other was an 1845 cut-and-thrust sabre. In the end, a straight fullered, diamond section 1845-like blade was chosen, rather than a pure thrusting weapon, such as the 1897 blade. This was because it was felt that having a blade that could cut was advantageous to dealing with an enemy like the Furies. The 1821 pattern was not thought to be strong enough, even with modern manufacturing, so the bowl guard was taken from the 1897.
As with everything, there was an unexpected side effect. Officers of the regiments issued with the 2754 pattern started digging out the old protocols for drill with a sword and started performing parades with them. Instead of fighting this trend, the Army made parade with a sword an official marker of regiments which had fought against the Furies.
For nearly 50 years full weight swords were issued to those regiments, but in 2800 they were again deemed obsolescent for fighting as the issued EM-5 had more than enough power to kill the furies. Due to this obsolescence, the MoD started issuing a lighter weight piquet sword called the 2806 pattern. At 17mm it is just over half the width of the full sword. This makes it 650 grams as opposed to the full 900-1000 grams.
Just under 150 years later the MoD extended its order to include those regiments who had fought the
Tarquin due to the particularly brutal assaults they inflicted in the beginning. This extension means that a little under half the 1000 regiment strength of the Army has the honour to parade with swords. This number is increasing every day as the Tarquin push harder and harder and the Furies sense blood.
Significance
Issued to officers as a battle honour to those regiments and individuals who fought the Furies or the Tarquin.
Item type
Weapon, Melee
Creation Date
Full Weight: 2754; Piquet Weight: 2806
Current Holder
Subtype / Model
Used by
Manufacturer
Owning Organization
Rarity
Relatively Common, with approximately 490 regiments issued with swords.
Weight
670g
Dimensions
Blade dimenson: 875×17×4mm
Base Price
£1600
Raw materials & Components
Single-edged 820-900mm, steel composite blade, engraved with the royal monogram.
A titanium-carbon alloy symmetrical bowl hilt and a grip wrapped in black, artificially grown, shark-skin and bound with Gold-carbon nanotube wire. The guard has the regiment's cap badge moulded into it.
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