SKA Antipersonnel Needle Rifle

"A war crime made manifest" was how one Aeverian official described the Antipersonnel Needle Rifle and it isn’t hard to see why; the gun is capable of launching volleys of razor-sharp flechettes with the rapidity of a semi-automatic carbine. Colloquially known as the mongrel, the rifle's reputation is as intimidating as its specifications. The projectiles it fires can pierce armour, rip through flesh and tear deep wound channels which result in massive blood loss. Particularly industrious (or sadistic) combatants have been known to maximise the brutality of the weapon by using specialised ammunition that is hollow pointed to carry chemical warfare agents of even explosives.

The high lethality and gruesome reputation of the ANR has resulted in its prohibition in most of Peacekeeper space and models are zealously traced and reappropriated by law enforcement agencies. While official manufacturing has ceased, the existing stock continue to be used away from the long arm of the law. Now relegated to use by criminals, the ANRs still in circulation are as much a status symbol as they are a practical weapon for outlaws.

The popular nickname 'mongrel' comes from the history of the weapon’s design and production; upon perfecting the mechanism for a semi-automatic flechette weapon, the manufacturer Saphiel-Kalanhuma Armoury opted to retrofit the chassis of an older cartridge-based rifle rather than creating a new model from scratch. The flechettes’ elaborate firing mechanism is bulky and ungainly on the diminutive rifle frame, hence the perception of some that the design is an inelegant amalgam of previous compositions.