Small Arms & Equipment

          The small arms and equipment of the Ceres Regency were identical to what the Solar Empire used due to the fact that Ceres and the other former UNSC planetoids housed large manufacturing plants dedicated to the production of the combat armor and infantry weapons of the Solar Empire.  It was cheaper and easier for the Ceres Regency to simply produce the same weaponry and armored suits that the Solar Empire had used rather than expend the time and resources to develop new ones.

LC-73

       The LC-73 laser carbine was an energy weapon developed at the same time as the LR-73.  The LC-73 was intended for use by Solar Empire spacenavy personnel, mecha pilots, and officers.  This carbine was a six-kilowatt, thirty-caliber selective fire (shoots single and tri-shot bursts) laser beam weapon with an energy-magazine capable of holding one hundred blasts.  The LC-73 was first put into production in 2073 AD and was used to replace the ailing RR-51 rail rifle and RP-55 rail pistol weapons still in use by many UNSC armed forces throughout the Solar System.  This weapon was also manufactured by the Ceres Regency and the Union of Solar Republics during and after the 1st Interplanetary War.


LR-73:

          The LR-73 laser rifle was the main infantry weapon of the Solar Empire ground and spacemarine forces.  This weapon was put into production at the same time as the LC-73 and was the replacement weapon for the RR-51 rail rifle and the EMG-01 Euro-machine gun used by UNSC exosuit soldiers up until the 2070s.  This 8-kilowatt, thirty-caliber select-fire (single and tri-burst) laser rifle was extremely popular with spacepirates and was the main weapon of both the Union of Solar Republics and Ceres Regency forces both during and after the 1st Interplanetary War.


PL-74:

          The PL-74 plasma rifle was a Solar Empire knockoff of the USSN PG-62 plasma rifle anti-armor infantry weapon.  This fifty-caliber plasma grenade rifle served as the main exosuit rifle and also as a crew-served light infantry assault weapon of the Empire.  The PL-74 was not produced in very large numbers by the Solar Empire.  However, the Ceres Regency and Union of Solar Republics mass produced this weapon and built millions of them for their space infantry and spacemarine forces.


ECA-45 (Enhanced Combat Armor):

       Actual combat armor for infantry did not come into use until the beginning of the Asian-Pacific Conflict of the late 2040s. Prior to that conflict, body armor consisted of full suits of Kevlar armor and other ballistic fabrics and plastics. However, the UN ground forces that faced the cyborg legions of the Cyber-State Society required a suit with the ability to withstand considerable punishment and be used in nearly any environment including regions that had been contaminated by nuclear, biological, or chemical attacks. After numerous defeats at the hands of the Cyber-State, the European Union developed and produced a new combat armor capable of meeting the standards necessary to deal with the cyborg nation. The ECA-45 combat armor was reissued almost immediately after the Asian-Pacific Conflict to their GIs when the militia/USA began equipping their general infantry soldiers with a combat armor. The ECA-45 was used by the UNSC, the Solar Empire, and the Union of Solar Republics well after the Great War and 1st Interplanetary War.