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Commercial Availability
A holovid display in a Yridia IX market breaks from its Kashyyyk sitcom to commercials. The distinctive logo of Death's Head Consortium - a skull with an iron spike nailed into the cranium - appears, followed by an assertive voice-over and random infantry combat footage.
The TAW-8GP combat rifle, also known as "Reaper", is on the frontlines defending you and your homes against the merciless enemy. Reaper is a new personal infantry weapon from your friends at Death's Head Consortium, based on Yridia II. With simple construction, high rate of fire, and advanced integrated technologies, the brave soldiers of your military are rushing forward, beating back the same aliens who would enslave you. The government of the principality of Yridia encourages you to buy your own Reaper today, and protect that which is rightfully yours!
History
Shortly after the Battle of Antei, Death's Head Consortium was rewarded with a contract by the sovereign government of the Yridia System to develop and produce kinetic energy weapons which had been demonstrated to be effective against Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology. Their premier product line focused on the TAW series slugthrowing infantry weapons, with the TAW-8GP "Reaper" its shining jewel. Reaper can be employed as either an offensive or defensive weapon against Yuuzhan Vong infantry attack. After some debate about visual concealment patterns, Death's Head factories have adopted a standard slate-gray pattern to their weapons to aid concealment in city or starship terrains.
Specifications
Some have called the Reaper the "best weapon ever invented." Soldiers and civilians alike swear by its reliability, accuracy, and lethality. Inexpensively constructed from stamped durasteel parts, the Reaper is an electrically fired rifle utilizing high-density metal slugs at a rate of 750 rounds per minute. Incorporating the "Stabilizer 5" inertial compensating system, the Reaper automatically adjusts point-of-aim utilizing a tiny repulsor system to check the effects of recoil on the user. The result is a lightweight (8 lbs loaded) combat rifle able to deliver up to 92% of its 75-cartridge magazine to the target and within a 3" circular area up to 400 meters distant while firing automatically. Magazines are both reliable and disposable if necessary. Provision for automatic, single shot, and quadruple-round burst are ambidextrously located next to the trigger. Magnetic guides near the magazine well ensure easy magazine loading during high-stress combat situations.
Reaper fires a high-velocity 8mm slug made from a proprietary heavy metal mined in the Yridia system. At distances of 100 meters or less, Reaper can achieve single-shot penetrations or partial penetrations against Yuuzhan Vong armor. At further distances out to 400 meters, partial penetrations are common, and repeated impacts will eventually defeat vonduun crab armor. Built-in sighting devices enable the user to choose between a "battle zoom" (2x magnification) and infrared views. Linkups to user-worn heads up helmet displays are featured by default. A friendly-fire system links up with battlefield command nets and prevents the user from shooting his comrades by accident - a feature upon which praise has been lavished after close-combat encounters with the Vong. Users have reported relatively light muzzle flash and a sharp but brief report, which are both considered psychologically advantageous in combat.
A relatively rare subtype of this rifle features a lengthened barrel and higher magnification (8x magnification) optic and infrared zoom for distinguished marksmen of the infantry who are not snipers. Snipers use the dedicated TAW-25-LR heavy rifle.
This weapon is currently being mass-produced as the standard weapon of Tarentum infantry.
Trivia
A relatively uncommon subtype of this rifle features a lengthened barrel, single-shot only, and a higher magnification (8x) optic and infrared zoom for distinguished marksmen of the infantry who are not snipers.