Clacker

According to the internal statistics of various Peacekeeper law enforcement agencies, the Clacker is the most popular firearm in Alliance space – with criminals. The proliferation of the model is owed to the unusual nature of its production; no manufacturer officially owns the design and many make and sell them as an economical alternative to military-grade brands. The gun’s specifications are freely available via ‘open source weapons schematics communities’ and years of tweaking and perfecting by countless anonymous online designers has resulted in the most easily-reproduced handgun in known space. The fact that even the cheapest of gunsmiths can produce Clackers has made them ubiquitous in the lawless areas of the sector and the typical armament for petty criminals and guns for hire.

Clackers are characterised as disposable sidearms. The term ‘Clacker’ began as a pejorative nickname for such guns, mocking the tendency of copies made with cheap materials or imperfect assembly to make precarious noises or even break apart entirely when used. Common wisdom among buyers is to ask to test a Clacker before purchasing it in case it shatters the first time it is fired. A familiar joke among pirates alludes to the Clacker’s fragility and posits that if someone smuggling a Clacker expects to be frisked for illegal weapons, they should simply crush it in their hands and swallow it.

The exact specifications of Clackers vary because of the thousands of minutely different versions in circulation. Generally, Clackers are small pistols that can be easily concealed and fired using one hand. They are ballistic weapons that fire metal slugs and require conventional ammunition. Most Clackers are of a modular design, meaning that they are amenable to the addition of peripheral components to modify their functionality. Some Clackers are made from plastics to allow for smuggling through low-tech security systems like metal detectors.