Colt Blaster HDW Mk.15



"The poor man's MA5."

- ChatterNet Tagline for Online Gun Retailer. The HDW Mk.15, referred to as the '''Home Defense Weapon Mark. 15''', is a series of gas-operated or electronically-discharged rifles produced by a number of different weapon firms but notable for being one of a few weapons more commonly 3D printed instead of acquired by purchase.

More commonly recognized by its moniker, the "Colt Blaster," the Mk.15 is a commonplace civilian-oriented firearm with a service history that can be traced back three centuries. Given its long period of existence, the rifle has seen extensive modification and moderate evolution with time and a general drift in basic design past the end of the Human-Covenant War.

This weapon is a favorite among price-gouged Insurrection cells and civilian militias.

Early History - "The Colonial Scramble"
Referred to in technical manuals as the Home Defense Weapon, Mark. 15, the Colt Blaster has a service history that dates back to ancient weapons of the twenty-first century but doesn't become relevant till a decade or two after the end of the Interplanetary Wars and the drafting of the 2170 Castillo Treaty that served as the birthright of United Nations Space Command the creation of the Unified Earth Government.

While 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 21st century nations, it 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 Interplanetary Wars and the Castillo Treaty helped push Humanity toward the stars and made colonial settlement a priority for just about every human. Wars were uncommon for a time during the era some historians refer to as the Colonial Scramble, a period of history that occurred between the mid twenty-second and late twenty-fourth centuries.

The only committed users of archaic weapons at this point in Human history were the explorers moving out into the uncharted cosmos with the intent of discovering a new colony to settle and striking it rich away from the overcrowded cities and material luxuries of the Sol System.

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 served for home defense, helped to catch live game on planets that already had indigenous fauna 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 and ammunition before the weapon was committed to self-construction. It was a diffusion of ideas, the weapon for the every-man and allowing anyone who wanted one, could acquire one - given time and effort.

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.