• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

Melee Weapons

Ray of Meep

Ray of Meep

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When attempting to capture a spaceship or space station, avoiding damage to the hull is important. Some discussions in other areas have led me to think that melee weapons will be important aspects of boarding actions. What are some thoughts on future melee weaponry? Personally, I can't see how much better it'll be than sharp dagger/shortsword like weapon, then some fancy close combat training.
 
Relevant?

Also Relevant: That scene in Planetes where they get into a fist fight in their space suits with space-criminals.

I think the first consideration is just where will you be using a melee weapon? You probably have a few different scenarios where they could plausibly come up: On a planet, When you're in a space suit, When you're in a space station.

On a planet, the only time you'll probably see a serious melee weapon is in some kinda police role. You want to subdue someone without hurting them. This means you'll probably have some kind of electric-shock apparatus or just a blunt force weapon. Weapons on space-stations might be similar but with an added thing of 'You don't want to hurt the space station if you miss' so they might be a bit more padded but otherwise fairly similar.

You might also need a melee weapon when everyone is in a space suit. Possibly for similar reasons. I think mostly in this scenario you'd be using some sort of tool you've improvised into a weapon. A space suit is basically going to be like plate-armor so you'd want something meant to pierce that like a pick-axe or similar tool.

That also brings us to Planetes: Where they use their arm thruster as part of their melee attacks. That series is SUPER HARD sci-fi and is def worth a watch, but it also brings up an idea of why not use use your suit's thrusters as a melee weapon? You could easily use it to speed up or provide momentum for a strike or just blast someone with the exhaust so that they'll have a bad day.
 

If breaching the space station or habitat is a concern, you're not going to hurt the space station enough with an axe strike. However, you're going to need to cleave through enemy armor. I think these manly men in space got it right.
 
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