The Jihad Herald

NEW WEAPONS DEVELOPED IN M.A.U.L. LABS

New line of Skittle Weapons released from M.A.U.L. Labs by LitBolt
Corporal, Mechanized Heavy Infantry M.A.U.L.
Apprentice, Jihad Praxeum Verificus

SkittlesBlaster Basic (Pistol):
The SkB pistol is similar in appearance to a Colt .45, with a thin, circular barrel extending from the front of the pistol, and a small, 9 ounce CO2 tank extending from the back. The skittles are kept in a storage tank, behind the trigger. It holds roughly fifty skittles, which are fed into the firing chamber by a spring-loaded platform at the bottom of the storage tank. Whenever a Skittle is fired, the used volume in the tank decreases, and the platform moves further up due to the spring, compressing the skittles into an inverted funnel in the top of the chamber, which leads to the firing cylinder. The firing cylinder is a narrow tube at the top of the gun, just behind the barrel and custom-fitted to the dimensions of an average skittle. Just behind where the skittle enters from the storage tank below is a valve that leads to the CO2 tank. When the trigger is squeezed, the firing cylinder is closed off from the storage tank. When the trigger has been completely pulled, the CO2 valve is opened and the Skittle is shot out of the cylinder and through the barrel, hopefully impacting a minion of B'harnii. The safety on the gun is a simple bolt-lock behind the trigger. The gun is meant to be used as a last-resort weapon for MHI units "caught with their pants down", when tanks are disabled, or artillery units are victim to a surprise attack. The long barrel in the front can be unscrewed from the gun itself, as can the CO2 tank, making the gun compact and excellent for last-resort warfare.

SkittlesBlaster Shotgun cartridges:
These cartridges are available in a variety of shotgun types, from the 4/10 on up. The 4/10 cartridge carries five skittles, and the other types carry varying amounts, per gauge. The skittles are lined up in a row in the front of the gun, with the gunpowder/wad in the back. The non-skittle designed barrel of the shotguns helps the skittles to disperse varyingly once fired, creating a small cloud.

SkittlesBlaster Frag grenade:
This weapon is composed of a grenade core, surrounded by a densely-packed layer of skittles, and finally a thin aluminum shell. When the pin is pulled and the grenade detonates, it transfers it's explosive pressure to the aluminum shell, which shatters. The weapon disperses itself in a thin layer of aluminum shrapnel, then high-speed skittles, and then the central grenade fireball itself. The skittles extend the furthest in the area of effect zone, followed by a zone of skittles mixed with aluminum shrapnel, and finally the central fireball of the grenade itself.

SkittlesBlaster anti-tank shell:
The tank shell is a cone-shaped armor-piercing bit, followed further to the rear by the central ammunition dispersal, and finally the shell's gunpowder propulsion. Upon impact, the bit pierces beneath the outer layer of the tank. The next layer is similar in design to an SkB frag grenade, simply on a much larger scale. When it detonates, the razor-edged shrapnel slices through wires and smashes circuitry. The Skittles themselves also assist in wreaking havoc on internal systems, but the explosion created by the detonation pushes the armor-bit further into the tank, tearing into the inner shell of the tank followed by a wave of high-speed skittles. The wave hopefully desponges any of the occupants of the tank, but if the spongin manage to escape despongification, the armor-piercing bit and skittles will damage any computer terminals in the way.

SkittlesBlaster artillery shell:
This is a weapon designed to spread a rain of skittles over a battlefield area. The shell is composed of an aerodynamic outer layer, hollowed to accommodate a huge tank of skittles. The back of the tank contains the gunpowder propulsion, as well as two stabilizer fins which snap out during the exit from the firing tube. Located just between the gunpowder and the skittles tank is a rather small CO2 tank. The gunpowder's detonation during the propulsion out of the tube damages the CO2 tank, which explodes mid-flight. The top of the shell is thicker than the bottom, which is shattered directly below the CO2 tank. Once the tank drops out of the hole, the skittles slide to the back and also fall out, dispersing over the battlefield during the flight, and aided by gravity, fall on the spongin in a colorful hail.