Colt Blaster HDW Mk.15

"The poor man's MA5."

- ChatterNet Tagline for Online Gun Retailer.

The HDW Mk.15, referred to as a "Home Defense Weapon, Mark. 15," is a series of archaic civilian-oriented rifles. Colonial interest has kept the weapon alive for centuries, driven by the rifle's designation as a "ghost gun," a weapon without serial numbers or distribution rights and exists as a free, downloadable resource to anyone with access to devices.

More commonly recognized by its moniker, the "Colt Blaster," the Mk.15 is a commonplace firearm on distant Human colonies. Due to its long production life, the rifle has seen extensive modification and gradual evolution from its outdated production predecessor. The recent  has kept the weapon relevant in the current era through the incorporation of alien technologies.

The Mk. 15 is considered a favorite among price-gouged Insurrection groups and civilian militias on the fringe of Human space. It is a common firearm seen on frontier and on worlds of the.

Colonial Application
"What kind of skinny metal shit is that?"

- UNSC marine after seeing a Mk.15 in use with colonial guardsmen Given the last few centuries of Human expansion, aspects of firearm revolution stagnated driven by the challenge of interstellar distances. Weapons similar in age to the Mk.15 have tended to drift in basic design all over Human space. The distance helped to diversify the firearms used by colonists, however, overall evolution of weapons like the Mk.15 did not occur - space still remained a distant and barely colonized frontier.

From colony to colony, different applications and cultures gradually transformed the rifle to reflect the lifestyles and needs of the settlers on these far-flung worlds. Some weapons were oriented to home defense due to the threat of frontier criminals and roaming pirates. On more wild colonies where the local fauna, either native or seeded generations before by human terraforming vessels, posed potential threat, colonists tended to favor specialized ammunition and higher velocities to combat predatory species. While these differences created subtle changes from planet to planet, externally, the weapon changed little in appearance or usage. By the time of the, the Mk.15 had become a firearm associated with the colonial movement.

An example of colonial application of the Mk.15 rifle series before the Insurrections took place on the military colony world of where civilians in the early years, before military arms smuggling became a decently common method of firearms acquisition, would favor the Colt Blaster to hunt the planet's famous, an indigenous flightless bird known for its delectable meat.

Advantages
The individual diversification that led to the development of hundreds of different configurations of the Mk.15 is an undeniable strength in the weapon's character. It is simple and adaptable. It meets the needs required by the user, nothing more and nothing less.

Access to the interstellar communications network known as the ChatterNet helped promote the use of the Colt Blaster over most of its lifetime and made it readily available to just about anyone with the time and resources to produce the weapon. The easy availability means that the price tag, as an online-occurring resource, the Mk.15 rifle can be mass produced easily and sold for what is essentially "cheaper than dirt."

Some users of the weapon, in the case of the firearm's cost, have gone as far to say that the weapon is "the very definition of freedom." This nearly-zero price tag helped to promote the Mk.15's adoption by colonial militias and even rebel forces during the early stages of the Insurrections.

Compared to its modern UNSC counterpart, the, the Mk.15 features a noticeably bare bones and reduced profile. The MA5 series is much more bulky and obstructive in comparison. Also notable is the weight difference, in both unloaded and loaded scenarios, the Colt Blaster is nearly three pounds lighter making it less of a hassle to handle over long periods of prolonged use.

The Mk.15 is also noticeably more accurate than the MA5 series at all ranges where the weapon trades less damage and a smaller round for highly accurate firepower. Also compared to the MA5, a higher fire rate and lower recoil can make the weapon into a potentially dangerous mix. Among modern assault rifles, the Mk.15 is not the deadliest contender but with its notably higher accuracy - the weapon has been made into a proper challenger for some weapons designated in the battle rifle and designated marksman rifle categories.

Disadvantages
"Did you see that? That Spartan shrugged off everything!"

- Remark by an Insurrectionist soldier when using an HDW Mk.15 against a Spartan supersoldier. While being one of its strengths, the age of the HDW Mk.15 is also one of its most prominent weaknesses. It's a double-edged sword, the weapon has survived well enough over three centuries by being simple and completed the necessary tasks at hand, usually home defense and hunting. However, as time moves forward, so does the progress of technology and the machines and tools that do not adapt or change drastically to the times end up being replaced by more effective equipment. Just as the MA5 rifle series became commonplace on many Human worlds - the Mk.15 started to disappear into obscurity.

This transition, however, was based on necessity rather than gradual evolution. A drastic change in the rules of warfare signed the temporary death note for the Mk.15, putting the rifle to rest for a time.

During the later parts of the Insurrections, as the knowledge of became more widespread, rebel users of the Mk.15 came to the realization that their ancient cheap-production rifles were no longer enough to match the firepower of the UNSC. Government forces had changed the rules, introducing advanced powered exoskeletons and fielding intelligent and cunning supersoldiers as shock troopers, the Colt Blaster had become marginally obsolete. The weapon proved enough against UNSC regulars, but against such "freaks of nature," it just wasn't doing the job anymore. Entire portions of Insurrectionist inventories were made useless essentially overnight.

The Mk.15's smaller rifle rounds were not powerful enough to breach Spartan armor and did not have enough impact to slow them down. It was this situation that would push many Insurrectionist factions to turn to weapons capable of fielding 30-caliber ammunition or higher. The arrival of the alien also helped to put the Colt Blaster further on the backburner as the introduction of personal energy shields required a heavier bullet caliber to counteract this new alien technology. While the Mk.15 was originally very ineffective against shielded adversaries, it was still capable of breaching the energy shielding given enough ammunition much like any standard human firearm.

The later creation of the  discouraged the further development and use of the Mk.15; the mixture of supersoldiers in advanced exosuits cloaked in energy shields turned out to be a Goliath of an opposition to the outdated firearm. This distinction made the weapon unpopular for a a few years till the establishment of trade network between self-autonomous human colonies and the former Covenant races helped to blend cultures and technology. A technological renaissance ensued in the Joint Human- Occupation Zone, the Mk.15 become one such weapon to breathe new life with the incorporation of alien technologies.

Post-War Usage
Following the resolution of the Human-Covenant War, technology and culture mixing began in a infant stage. It was clear that while Mankind had been brought to the edge of extinction, inevitable relations with their former enemies and continued enemies would occur. The Joint Occupation Zone was only the beginning of a rise in independent state and interstellar nations and with working trade routes and standing foreign policies.

Within the Joint Occupation Zone, once the former human and the  regions of colonized space, alien and human technology mixed including firearms technology. While controversial, the Covenant was clearly a far technologically-superior society to Humanity; human technology however can be described as much more refined in their scope as following the end of the Great War, a number of former Covenant species immigrated to human colony worlds and even adopted parts of human technology and culture for their own use, and vice versa for the human colonies that bartered with Covenant species.

While clearly an old design, the Colt Blaster did return to some relevance in the Joint Occupation Zone; Covenant technology incorporated into the firearm breathed new life and helped push the weapon back into prominence with the movement. From the adoption of alien technology, the Colt Blaster produced a cult following on the colonial fringe - many of these Covenant-adapted human rifles finding purchase in weapons bazaars all over lawless space and Joint Occupation colony worlds. Before and after the Human-Covenant War, the Mk.15 proved to be a very effective though average firearm at all ranges. It's inability to defeat most shielded foes and power armor means that its capabilities as a frontline weapon - especially as time has gone on and shielding technology has become more commonplace - are fairly diminished. Even with upgrades, its recommended that this weapon remain specific to fighting non-shielded targets. At least now it has been given a fighting chance, the new incarnations can be comparable to that of the MA5 series, simply with more specializations and a higher fire rate.

Generally speaking, the Mk.15 has always served as an all-purpose weapon, it can function at close range as a carbine and keep up with the MA5 series of rifles. The effective range of the weapon is on par with the and  of precision rifles. It can fit the role of a carbine, an assault rifle, a battle rifle, or a designated marksman rifle.

Design Improvements
Based on the its initial design, the HDW Mk.15 is a conventionally-configured assault rifle, placing the magazine well and gas piston ahead of the trigger guard, much unlike the majority of firearms favored in the UNSC inventory. When first developed, inspired by its historically-significant ancestor, the Mk.15 still used a standard but improved system of smokeless powder propellant with a gas-operating system. This system was made specifically for an Earth-like atmosphere and could not perform similarly outside the Earth's atmosphere.New experiments with the compounds found in the rifle propellant helped the weapon function efficiently on different worlds with atmospheres other than Earth. This next to the gradual introduction of electronically-discharged ammunition helped make the weapon favorable to colonization efforts as Mankind branched out into the stars.

While further developments on far-flung frontier worlds were nothing new, the maturation of technology and systems used allowed the Mk.15 series to adopt new concepts into its design. The further development of electronically-discharged ammunition based on an electronic fuse helped usher in the use of superposed loaded ammunition, bullets that generally were stacked on top of one another and to shrink the bullet profile and increase the number of rounds per magazine. This design would further be incorporated into other human weapons such as the, a former UNSC service rifle, which is famous for stacking sixty rounds of ammunition into a typically thirty-round magazine.



This addition of an electronic fuse propellant allowed the Colt Blaster to also fire at a higher velocity and function more effectively in micro-gravity environments and in space where an atmosphere is nonexistent. This addition made it an effective weapon for Insurrectionists; the Mk.15s were notably easier to handle than the and was favored for use against the UNSC and the.

Following the combat observations of Spartan supersoldiers and a hostile first contact with the Covenant races, many users deduced that the Colt Blaster had seen the end of its lifespan, unable to counter the tough titanium alloy of Spartan armor or to puncture the shields of a.

The eventual end of the Human-Covenant War brought about a renaissance in weapons technology. Covenant alloys and weapon concepts allowed the Mk.15 the capacity to use ammunition modifiers that were popular with the more advanced Covenant military. Taking lessons learned from the Great War, the improvements of the Colt Blaster sought to improve upon the seemingly outdated firearm.

Rounds constructed of Covenant alloys are exceptionally popular for their capabilities to take down everything from a Spartan supersoldier to a, given enough ammunition. This specific modification is generally better set for balancing damage against both energy shields and body armor. Other improvements include limited experimentation with and  similar to the venerable  and the introduction of ammunition infused with the highly-reactive, high explosive material referred to as. Some controversy has been founded around the use of Blamite rounds as an act of cruelty and has been known to explode in while in the rifle magazine, harming the user of the HDW Mk.15.

Being a mix of legacies from different eras, this Colt Blaster still features its original ejection port, charging handle, barrel placement, and style of functioning piston among its universal parts. The weapon externally has changed little in comparison to its internal advancements.

Early History - "The Colonial Scramble"
"Ghost Guns: A Societal Terror's Evolution Explored."

- Book title referencing the danger of unlicensed firearms.

Referred to in technical manuals as the Home Defense Weapon, Mark. 15, the Colt Blaster has a history that dates back three centuries.

The weapon that would become known to many as the Colt Blaster did not have much relevance following its ancestor's departure from the service of twentieth century nations. The ancestral weapon had a long, checkered history of its own, however, much of that information has been left to the.

The newer Mk.15 maintained a healthy following among civilians for decades to come - it became the first and one of the most circulated 3D printed firearms in Human history. Downloaded and rebuilt from the ground up, billions of times over.

The Colt Blaster served its purpose as a self-defense weapon for those that sought to live on the fringes of civilization to the fullest extent, creating a Colonial culture reminiscent of "Wild, Wild West" and reflecting entertainment trends of a "Space Western."

The HDW Mk.15 was one of many commonplace self-defense weapons that were popular with colonists on the frontier. It was the perfect home defense weapon and great for hunting live game on planets that already had or were stocked by Human colonization ships generations before.

It's name is hypothetically derived from a number of places. Some adamant followers of the weapon see it as a weapon that was known to destroy "warm bodies," any living creature it came across as the bullets would rip a person to shreds at close ranges.

Academics reason it has much to do with the weapon's ancestor, tracing back to a famous weapons manufacturer on Earth, long since having been absorbed, forced out of business, or having a massive change in it marketing after some time.

While commonly manufactured, most users of the Colt Blaster found themselves producing their own from scratch - usually using a 3D printer to produce individual parts for self-assembly.

It would not be long before the weapon would be often seen clashing with itself between parties of unorganized crime and homesteaders living at the edge of civilized space. It would not be until the rise of the Insurrections that the weapon would receive a major boost in popularity.

Return to Prominence - " An Insurrectionist Favorite"
The Colonial Insurrections did not begin from nothing, however, the economic foundations and military infrastructure needed to support a sustained conflict - especially against a military juggernaut like the United Nations Space Command were not matured yet. This logistical difficulty meant rebel cells would have to turn to what was viable on their home worlds as the war machine that would support the Insurrections for years had not been put into place yet, civil unrest and violent squabbles against the and the UNSC on occasion were simply isolated events.

The Insurgency had yet to be born and so did any form of conventional confrontation. Rebels, once decided to actively resist the authority of the, took up arms by any means they had available. This included the reintroduction of the HDW Mk.15 as a mainstay in Insurrectionist inventories.

While the Colt Blaster was a common favorite for many rebels early into the Insurrections, the eventual development of a wartime economy and the required supply lines needed for a war machine, the deployment of more modern military equipment became commonplace. Trends start to shift away from the HDW Mk.15 toward more modern weapons such as the MA5 service rifle.

The introduction of Spartans against the rebel forces served to shut down most use of the Colt Blaster for the rest of the insurgency. The weapon did not have the penetration power required to breach the worn by. It was around this point weapons like the "," a popular .30 caliber machine gun used by Insurrection cells, replaced the HDW Mk.15. Most notably among cells who transitioned, unit of the  on the colony world of  in the 2530s.

This decrease in use was further supported by the arrival of the Covenant in over the agrarian colony of  - knowledge of Covenant energy shields meant the .22 caliber rounds of the HDW Mk.15 were insufficient against more powerful Covenant troops and proved only very effective against lesser races such as the  and. The Colt Blaster would remain a rebel weapon used against UNSC ground forces during and after the Great War.

While insignificant, there is an account from October 2552 that a civilian in Kenya, Africa, Earth used an HDW Mk.15 to down two Kig-Yar marksman and eight Unggoy soldiers before dying at the hands of a Covenant. The event was predated by a few hours when a gun retailer,, was looted during the Covenant attack - the looters moved to use the stolen firearms to fight against invading Covenant Forces.

Post-Great War Conflicts
In the post-Great War era, more focus was put into rebuilding rather than military ventures by the Unified Earth Government and its alien counterparts across known space. The UEG did not provide as much, the same funds to the UNSC war machine as infrastructure became a much larger focus. In, the United Nations Space Command released emergency martial powers and allowed the democratic processes to return to normal.

On the surface, it appeared that there was no conflict besides the ongoing Covenant Civil War, the, that went mostly unnoticed for the civilian population of the UEG. This alien conflict that would expand into the conflict, the Sangheili-Jiralhanae conflicts, and the Covenant remnant wars.

The, ONI, instead was propping up proxy wars on the fringes of Human space and beyond it in former Covenant space. These unconventional conflicts at the edge of Human space were the upset the intelligence community was hoping to capitalize on: allowing the acquisition of alien technology, promote rebuilding on Human colony worlds, and destabilize any potential power that might come to challenge the fragile power Humanity had over their little pocket in the galaxy. The Colt Blaster for a time remained forgotten, lost as a memory of another time - distant in the memories of most Humans still fresh from the horrors of the Human-Covenant War. Excavators would often find the burned frames of HDW Mk.15 rifles on glassed colony worlds, left behind by refugee owners or destroyed with their owners when these rifles failed to kill the arriving Covenant ground forces. They were treated as obsolete and overlooked by most militias who had turned to the surplus of weapons being acquired from the Great War draw-down which had proven far more effective and useful against the Covenant than the previous inventories used by militias and rebel forces alike for decades.

In the Joint Occupation Zones and glassland regions, the Colt Blaster began to have a resurgence around. Mixing of technology between former Covenant client species and Humans produced a renaissance of technology that culminated in a massive overhaul in the capabilities of the HDW Mk.15 and weapons like it. The capability for variable ammunition that incorporated Covenant technology was a game changer.

Even ONI field agents could be found on occasion to use the Colt Blaster as a substitute for their usual equipment. The Colt Blaster was the perfect "jack-of-all-trades" weapon for field agents as they were easily maintained, handled, and drew less attention that a new production model of a or an MA5D assault rifle.

5.56mm rounds made with new alien alloys have become a requirement for the HDW Mk.15 in the Joint Occupation Zone as the different material serve as a good balance in breaching energy shields and body armor, both technologies commonplace among Covenant remnants, rebel forces, and pirates that often operated in the lawless regions of space.

Official Description
'' The HDW Mk.15 is a multi-function, civilian-oriented combat rifle capable of firing small kinetic rounds at significant distances. An Insurrectionist favorite, this weapon is known for it's ageless versatility and diversification. It's use of varying ammunition types makes it a viable weapon against human and alien combatants alike. ''

Office of Naval Intelligence
" The dark underworld of the UNSC has a thing for old toys, and new ones depending on the circumstances. Following the end of the Human-Covenant War in 2553, the Office of Naval Intelligence came to a decision that it would need to maintain the utter chaos that followed the Great Schism that broke the Covenant. This policy was best practiced under pretense of 'state security' when ONI started to deploy field operatives into the Joint Operation Zone, a lawless region made up of former Human colonies and claimed Covenant space. Here pirates, rebels, and mercenaries roam free without an overbearing law to hold everything together. The HDW Mk.15, with its recent technological updates, was picked by ONI forces as a worthy substitute to typical UNSC weapon inventories as the rifle proved to perform adequately at a number of functions and created less suspicion compared to a modern MA5D. On occasion, ONI agents will be seen using this weapon in the field - presumably to maintain further plausible deniability of their actions taken to prevent the rise of a new threat to Mankind. "

United Rebel Front
" While not the military power it once was, the United Rebel Front is the public face of the Insurrectionist cause. During the early stages of the Insurrections, URF forces commonly used the HDW Mk.15 as their go-to weapon because of its availability on the frontier. Overtime, with the introduction of greater supply lines and monetary support, the URF got around to adopting the MA5 series service rifle much like their UNSC foes. The Mk. 15 didn't fall from grace until the introduction of Spartans into the war made rebel commanders rethink their combat doctrines given the sudden appearance of supersoldiers in the conflict. Today, the URF continues to use the Colt Blaster, however, to a much smaller degree that is positively correlated to the decline of the United Rebel Front as a galactic power. "

Sapien Sunrise
" The extremist xenophobic group known as is a mix between ardent bigotry and violent anarchists. While previously, terrorism and violent action had not been their ultimate goal, they eventually turned to it when public policy and alliances with Covenant species continued unhindered. Sapiens Sunrise is a minority among minorities, being disliked by both rebels and the government. Cells loyal to the group have been seen armed with both historical equipment and modern military gear. The Mk.15, unmodified by Covenant technology, has sometimes been seen in use by the members of this organization. Actual use of the weapon has not yet proven viable for fighting Covenant species beyond Kig-Yar as the rifle has trouble breaching energy shields in a meaningful way. "

Kig-Yar Pirates
" While not common, some former Covenant races have been known to pick up Human technology to augment their existing technology. The Kig-Yar, often referred to as Jackals, have been some of the quickest to adapt. in lawless zones have been known to modify their weapons to accommodate their design choices. Even aged weapons like the Mk.15 have found a place among alien outlaws. "

Kendall Ballistics Security Forces
" A known manufacturer of the Colt Blaster under a replication license, their variations on the HDW Mk.15 - referred to as the M-15 NOVA, have been proven to be, at times, different from their cheaper cousins made from scratch using 3D printers. Kendall Ballistics is a well-established firearms firm in the UNSC, but like many other corporations has been beaten out for weapon contracts by the that has dominated the firearms market for the UNSC military since the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. Kendall Ballistics maintains its own private military company, KBSF, which is known primarily to use the M-15 NOVA on the job. For them, there is no better advertising than to brandish the bling they make themselves. "

Remarks
"Go for Wrangler: This is a Mk.15. Commonly used by Insurrectionists, its an old gun. Recent upgrades in the J-OZ have made it viable for your operations. Diffuse them to your agents at your own discretion. Killing the connection, over."

- Classified ONI Section 3 Transmission to Mission Handler in the Joint Occupation Zone. "Meet the Ugliest Beauty in the galaxy. Puts every UNSC shitface you meet into an early grave."

- Rogue CMA Major, Unverified Identity.