Created by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane on Aug 16, 2016 @ 3:11pm

CALNARIAN TECHNOLOGY

Although their starship weapons technology is on a par with the Federation, the Calnarians had one important advantage in ground combat - a multiphasic personal shield. This incredible device, mounted between their shoulders on the rear of their battle-armour, rendered an individual Calnarian Warrior impervious to all known energy weapons, including disuptors and phasers. No amount of beam frequency modulation seemed to matter - this multiphasic shield stopped them all, giving the Calnarians an enormous tactical advantage.

But it had a weakness. For all its power to disrupt various types of complex energy particles, the Calnarians' personal shields did not work against simple kinetic energy. Their shields were completely vulnerable to historical weapons like arrows and bullets.

During the Siege of Gateway in 2418, the Federation took the unprecedented step of issuing its Security and Marine detachments with replicated kinetic weapons, such as flechette grenades, machine guns, compound bows and arrows and even swords. Although bizarre, the historical weapons enabled Gateway's defenders to hold the station and inflict heavy casualties on the Calnarian Warrior squads that boarded the station.

Since the ending of the conflict, the Federation has been working to reverse-engineer the Calnarian shielding technology, but to date have been unable to replicate it. The shields do not seem to work when embedded in Marine armour, leading researchers to theorise that they may be personalised to each Warrior. Research continues.