Prototype Arsenal: The Portable Railgun
Not long after, an invitation arrived from the Australian Army. They'd developed new equipment and wanted them to come for a demonstration. These were prototypes meant for use in the United States.
"Can't we just stick with what we're using?"
"Yeah. Even if it's 'new,' it'll probably just be unfamiliar and a pain in the ass..."
The prototypes were being provided entirely free of charge by the developers. For ammo and consumables, they'd even handle regular resupplies all the way to the US. It seemed like they were aiming for real-world testing and some advertising on the side. Either way, if they could use good gear for free, it was a win for them.
But would it really outperform their standard issue? Did a pistol good enough to replace his MY GUN even exist in this world? Cheol-woo was skeptical. Even the Five-seveN, which he favored for its penetration, often got swapped out for his MY GUN because it was just so damn inconvenient.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. David Min. I'm Nick, Vice Minister of Defense."
"Hello. Thanks for the invitation."
"We're the grateful ones for having you here. We'd heard the rumors. I was expecting some muscle-bound giant, so my assumptions were off the mark."
"Hahaha."
In a dim corner of the Canberra Air Base hangar, a gate slowly opened ahead of them, forming a passage wide enough for a few people. As Cheol-woo and Yuri stepped through with the Vice Minister, it sealed shut behind them just as quickly.
Inside the vast hangar, booths from various companies were packed in tightly. It looked just like any ordinary expo.
"Take your time looking around. You've got priority access to the prototypes, so no need to worry about other teams snatching them up."
Personal firearms, sniper rifles, machine guns, armored vehicles, tanks—the variety in types and sizes was staggering. He'd figured Australian defense contractors weren't much to write home about, but they'd prepped this much in such a short time? That meant the US setup would be even crazier. Suddenly, heading to America felt a lot more promising.
"What's this?"
"Ah, that's a protective suit specially made by the Ministry of Defense. We were impressed seeing your wife fight in that outdated EOD suit. EOD gear was designed for bomb disposal, not combat, right? So we made one with way better mobility and enhanced ballistic protection."
"Oh... How much does it weigh?"
"About three times an standard EOD suit. Compared to one with extra armor plates, it's around double."
"Sis, this thing's twice as heavy as what you usually wear."
"What? Only twice? This feels super light."
"..."
Yuri's face lit up as she inspected the black protective suit from every angle. Twice the weight of that monster suit, and she calls it light? Cheol-woo was just stunned. For his sister, with her insane strength, weight wasn't a compromise—she'd wear anything if the performance was top-notch. It was perfect for her tastes.
The old EOD suit was already bulky as hell, and piling on extra plates made you look twice the size. The new one was much slimmer and sleeker. The joints looked flexible too, so it'd be great for running or fighting—especially indoors or in vehicles.
"What about the ballistic protection specifics?"
"Excluding the minimal joint areas, it's well beyond NIJ Level IV across the board—what folks call Level V. The abdomen, chest, and helmet can stop five .50 cal sniper rounds without deforming."
So it can partially shrug off heavy machine gun fire? The performance matched the ridiculous weight. This is good. Yuri looked like she'd already made up her mind. Two sets of the new suits were added to their US-bound gear list.
"Cheol-woo, check out those guns over there. See if there's something for you."
"Hm..."
The booth lined with personal firearms had the most options by far. As Cheol-woo went through them one by one, his takeaway was the same: disappointing. There were plenty of high-performing guns, but did any measure up to replace what he already used? Not really. Logistics, parts compatibility—the AR-15 platform was still king.
Pistols were even worse. "Improvements" amounted to barely noticeable muzzle flash reduction or recoil mitigation. Recoil was something Cheol-woo crushed with his wrists anyway.
Has every gun in the world already converged on perfection? No more innovation left?
"What's this?"
"New ammo. High-pressure AP rounds based on 9mm Parabellum. Not many pistols can handle the pressure. It was developed to penetrate a mutant's skull at 25 meters, so it's way stronger than existing high-pressure rounds."
"Can a P226 take it?"
"Civilian models? No. Military spec? Yes. We've only tested up to a thousand rounds, though, so we can't guarantee no serious wear beyond that."
Ammo that punched through a mutant skull at 25 meters. The Five-seveN already lost penetration past 30 anyway, so no more reason to cling to that damn relic from Han Sa-jang. Finally, goodbye to this cursed heirloom. It felt refreshing.
"We'll take this ammo too."
"Got it. We'll load it up."
Anything else? Leaving Yuri distracted at the melee weapons booth, Cheol-woo wandered around. His eyes caught a shuttered booth. A gun barrel poked out from under a tarp-covered box.
"What's that?"
"Wasn't originally meant for demo here, but... if you can keep it confidential, I'll show you."
The Vice Minister called over the booth attendant, who rushed up asking if it was really okay, confirming multiple times before pulling off the tarp.
What emerged was a shotgun-looking beast straight out of a sci-fi flick. Hefting it once made him grunt—it was heavy. Even shouldering it took real effort. No way a normal person could lug this around. Heavier than a rocket launcher?
"It's a portable railgun."
"Pardon? What?"
"Railgun. Uses electromagnetic force to fire projectiles. Takes these depleted uranium-tungsten hybrid rounds."
"Railgun... like the one I know? Portable and miniaturized?"
"'Portable' is relative—it wasn't designed for man-portable use. More like mounted like a machine gun. But we added a stock and foregrip to the prototype just in case. With all these super-strong ability users around, maybe they could shoulder and fire it."
"Specifics?"
"Single-shot, no magazine—load one into the chamber at a time. Twelve shots per full charge, one hour to recharge from empty. Muzzle velocity around Mach 5—1,800 meters per second. Here's the penetration chart."
Cheol-woo took the table listing penetration by distance and gaped. 100mm steel plate at 500 meters? Is this real? A .50 cal AP did maybe 30mm at that range—this was artillery territory. Effective range 5,000 meters...?
"These specs—all accurate?"
"Yes. In ideal lab conditions. ESS system reliability testing isn't done, so repeated discharge-recharge cycles might degrade performance—we can't promise otherwise."
"Let me test it."
"Mr. David Min, a few caveats. We can't provide this one free. Rental only. Since it's a loan, we have terms: absolutely do not lose it, no matter what. Return it intact if possible, but if not, disassemble and destroy all core components. No charge even if destroyed, so don't worry."
The Vice Minister jumped in with the warnings. Unlike the other prototypes, fully corporate-sponsored, this was an exception. Not just classified—top-secret.
"Can't let enemies capture it?"
"Exposure during use is inevitable. Recommend eliminating all witnesses."
"Impressive tech... new materials?"
"Not supposed to say, but... sigh. Yes. You know the red ore from rifts? Superconductor or perfect conductor properties. That's what made naval railguns portable. Thanks to it."
"..."
The blue drug overshadowed it, but other rift materials were game-changers too. Superconductor? Perfect conductor? Dream stuff engineers chased forever. And this, just two months after rifts opened: a portable railgun. What came next with more research?
Cheol-woo's pupils dilated.
"Sis. No time. Open your stock app now."
"Huh? Why? Suddenly?"
"Buy defense stocks."
"Didn't you say they're already way up? Buying now won't triple."
"Nah. This'll rocket higher. Has to."
They'd surged once on global arms demand hype. But the red ore's true value—and rift-tech weapons—hadn't hit public yet.
"What sword bullshit? A pissant factory hammering iron—what profits? This railgun's rift-made, performance nuts. US probably researching secretly too. When it goes public?"
"Defense stocks explode?"
"Exactly."
"Ooooh!"
Yuri's eyes sparkled with excitement. This is moonshot material!