Hardware (comics) - Weapons

Weapons

Curtis Metcalf has designed and employed an extensive arsenal of weapons as Hardware. These weapons range from hand-held armaments to much larger systems that are mounted on his armor's gauntlets and shoulder pads.

Hardware's arsenal has yet to be fully cataloged since he continues to develop weapons to counter new threats. The following is a list of his more notable armaments.

• Omnicannon: The Omnicannon is Hardware’s weapon of choice on most missions; it is rare that he goes into battle without at least one Omnicannon. This forearm mounted cannon fires a blast of compressed air capable of knocking down an opponent at a distance of 12 feet. However, these blasts are primarily intended to propel special cartridges or “shells” of Curtis’s design that create various effects.

At any given time, the Omnicannon is loaded with six shells loaded in a rotating drum the base of his gauntlet. (Hardware naturally carries more shells than he could load as needed.) The cannon is linked to DOBIE, which provides targeting and tracking. DOBIE can also spin the rotating drum to fire any of the shells currently loaded in any order.

When the Omnicannon is engaged, a protective shield slides over the back of his wrist. This shield deflects the cannon’s air blast from Hardware’s hand as well as preventing him from accidentally bending his wrist upward while firing the weapon.

Curtis employs an ever-increasing variety of Omnicannon shells for any possible situation. These include the following: Stun (that disorients with a blinding flash of light along with a deafening popping sound): Explosive/Incendiary (a high explosive charge accompanied by a blast of heat); Octanitrocubane (Earth's most powerful non-nuclear explosive that can breach enemy fortifications); Tear Gas; Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot (releases a solid sharpened rod of depleted uranium); Nanoacid (releases a swarm of armor-consuming nano-robots); Flame Retardant; HEAP (High Explosive Armor Piercing); Flechette (releases dozens of tiny razor-sharp darts); Anesthetic Flechette (releases darts coated with a fast-acting anesthetic drug); Bolo (releases a nylon-corded steel ball bolo to entangle opponents); Knockout gas (that renders anyone whoever inhales it unconscious for several minutes); Neural Net (releases a cohesive electrical field that painfully disrupts the nervous system of anyone it touches); Complex Polymer (a powerful adhesive that sticks to and immobilizes an opponent); and Cryonic (generates intense cold to place an opponent in suspended animation.).

• Plasma Whip: Hardware's whip is perhaps his most versatile weapon, which he can employ offensively, as a grapple for climbing, and as an extended arm for grabbing. The whip is composed of magnetically conducted metal segments shielded with a non-magnetic housing. When a reverse magnetic charge is applied to the collapsed segments, magnetic repulsion instantly extends the whip and keeps it rigid. The whip is 15 feet in length when fully extended. By reversing the polarity of the magnetic charge, the segments collapse to a mere 10 inches due to magnetic attraction. Including the power supply and housing, the retracted whip is slightly less than 18 inches long.

Under normal circumstances, the power pack in the whip's handle has enough power to extend or retract the weapon for hours. The whip is equipped with a specially-constructed step transformer that when activated by Hardware amplifies the power pack. This causes a small burst of high-energy plasma to be released from the power pack and race to the tip of the whip. Hence, the destructive plasma charge can be delivered to a specific target.

The whip delivers an amount of plasma equal to the mass of matter converted on contact. Put simply, Hardware can employ the whip to disintegrate virtually anything it touches via a matter-to-energy conversion triggered by its plasma charge.

Hardware's whip can maintain its charge for a maximum of 10 minutes and no more than four minutes at any given time. Any longer than that will completely exhaust the power pack and burn out the mechanism. An energy-ablative coating of Curt's design protects the whip from being consume by the plasma is generates.

When not in use, the whip is carried in a holster on the right side of Hardware's belt.

• Retractable Sword: The retractable sword consists of four magnetized blade segments of varying length. When a reverse magnetic charge is applied to the segments, magnetic repulsion pushes the segments from their housing. The sword's full length is 30 inches when extended. By altering the the charge's polarity, the segments are retracted into their housing. The sword has double edges that are kept razor sharp by an automatic sharpening mechanism that edges the blades every time they retract.

The sword is reinforced with a special sleeve composed of a variation of Hardware's shell alloy. As a result, the blade is highly flexible while retaining an extremely hard edge. Such qualities are necessary since the retractable sword would likely break due to the strain placed on it by Hardware's superhuman strength.

• PLASER: The Plasma Laser or PLASER for short is a large scale plasma delivery system that is easily the most devastating weapon in Hardware's arsenal. When activated, the Plaser creates a fist-sized globule of super-heated plasma that is trapped in a magnetic bottle and then propelled to its target via a high-intensity laser beam. Upon striking matter of sufficient density, the magnetic bottle ruptures and releases the plasma, which causes the target's temperature to increase by 10,000 degrees F in under 0.1 seconds. Most targets are effectively vaporized by the Plaser's blast.

The Plaser's great destructive power comes with some drawbacks. It consumes an enormous amount of energy, requiring Hardware to use an external auxiliary power supply. The Plaser also can only fire three shots before its circuitry is fused by the extreme temperatures it produces. Naturally, Hardware has designed the weapon as well as its power supply to be disposable.

The blast radius of the Plaser is uncontrolled, meaning that Hardware could be seriously injured or killed if he fires it at too close a target. Thus, DOBIE's tracking and targeting sub-system will not engage the Plaser against a target closer than 60 feet unless it receives Hardware's override command.

• Energy Field: Worn on his forearm, this device creates an energy barrier that protects Hardware from incoming fire. The field can easily protect Hardware from armor-piercing bullets, energy blasts, and even small explosions at close range. Despite this, the field is not indestructible: sustained heavy weapons fire will cause the field to lose power and eventually collapse.

Hardware can adjust the shape of the energy field depending on the amount of protection he requires. The default setting for the field is a triangular shape ("delta configuration").

• Fluid Gun: This weapon shoots streams of various liquids under high pressure to impair the movement of opponents. Originally a handheld weapon, Hardware has redesigned the fluid gun so it can be comfortably worn on his wrist.

Typically, the gun is loaded with Hardware shell alloy in a fluid state. . When polarized and applied to the ground, the liquid metal will adhere to and immobilize anyone who steps in it. . The shell fluid can only be removed if it is depolarized with the proper electrical charge.

Hardware has also loaded the fluid gun with a lubricant composed of tetrafluroethylene microspheres which are virtually frictionless. Hence, it is virtually impossible to get traction on a surface coated with this lubricant; even powerful speedsters like the Flash are vulnerable to this substance.

• Flow Gun (Hardware #29) – One of Hardware's more unique weapons, this handgun is constructed by specially programmed nano-assemblers stored in the pods in his armor's shoulder pads. When activated, the nano-assemblers leave their pods, travel down Hardware's arm, and assemble the flow gun in his hand. This process occurs so quickly that the nano-assemblers look like silvery liquid flowing down his arm, hence the name of the weapon. Hardware loads the flow gun with non-lethal ammunition like stun pellets.

• Holographic Projection System: This device projects convincing holographic copies of Hardware that he can use to distract or confuse opponents. He can also reconfigure the holographic system to project DOBIE's computer displays.

Other weapons Hardware uses less frequently include tasers, timed explosives, shoulder-mounted tranquilizer dart launchers, a liquid oxygen-fueled flamethrower, a micro-rocket (a small rocket that attaches to an opponent's back and then launches him helplessly into the air), a remote-controlled thruster unit (a miniature jet thruster that latches onto a fleeing vehicle and causes it to spin wildly out of control), a rocket pistol (that shoots explosive mini-missiles), a kusarigama, a high-powered laser pen (that temporarily blinds opponents), a neural net cannon (that produce effects like the omnicannon’s neural net shells), a machine gun that fires explosive bullets, a "nova burst" (an extremely powerful energy beam weapon), a heavily armed Hardware robot (that Curtis could control from miles away via a telepresense rig), a power source shield (that protects his armor from energy-draining weaponry), and a field of supercool atoms that can trap and immobilize energy beings like Doctor Light.