A blazer bayonet.
The term 'blazer', an amalgam of 'bullet' (or 'blade') and 'laser', refers to a hot SET field, used to enhance the destructive capabilities of bladed and projectile weapons.
History[]
While pure directed-energy blades were useful, they were also limited by the (proportionally) immense amounts of power required to operate. Also, when that power was depleted, the soldier depending on the blade would be left helpless. The answer to these problems was blazer technology.
Initially, blazer tech was developed for weapons: the formation of a limited, low-powered SET field around a bullet could give it that extra 'oomph' to make the difference between life and death for many a soldier in the field. During the Xenocide War, blazer technology came along in time to ensure the survival and eventual victory of humanity.
Blazer technology was next applied to bladed weapons. Rendered partially obsolete by the advent of SET blades, traditional blades were now resurrected and made useful once more. Blazer technology was applied to bladed weapons by means of SET emitters which blanket the blade in a field, much akin to the way vehicular shields function.
The benefits of blazer swords are twofold: when the energy for a blazer sword is depleted, the sword is still useful on its own; and the sword itself can cut through certain energy- or heat-resistant armor meshes which would otherwise resist the blade (this includes Mahlok skin).
Projectile Weapons[]
Blazer technology was first applied to projectile weapons during the Xenocide War in an attempt to create a weapon capable of actually killing a Slashrim. The result made such an effective weapon that it became standard among all military forces.
Blazer technology was made possible in large part due to the development of the HPG caseless firing system. The SET field initially generated by the firing mechanism of the weapon is compressed around the bullet by the repulsive forces created by the HPG firing system, and is then maintained by the nanoscale superconducting shell with which all modern bullets are equipped.
Blazer bullets are capable of burning through non-shielded armor of most types and (due to the fact that they are bullets rather than pure energy) can punch through ablative and heat-resistant armor as well.
It is noteworthy that while the blazer field-generation function may be disabled to conserve energy, only a few blazer weapons are capable of disabling their bullet-firing mechanism to fire pure-energy laser blasts. For this purpose, an energy-only weapon (raygun) is usually employed.
Bladed Weapons[]
Due to the high energy consumption and occasional malfunctions associated with early SET blades, military scientists began researching the feasibility of enhancing standard bladed weapons in a manner which would grant the benefits of SET blades in a more efficient and dependable form. The result was the expansion of blazer technology to include blades.
Blazer swords function along principles similar to both blazer bullets and SET blades. A series of small projectors around the base of the blade create a hot SET shield over the blade; which can also be maintained for short periods if the power source is interrupted due to the inclusion of a nanoscale superconducting shell along the lines of the one incorporated into bullets.
The benefits of blazer swords are twofold: when the energy for a blazer sword is depleted, the sword is still useful on its own; and the sword itself can cut through certain energy- or heat-resistant armor meshes which would otherwise resist the blade (this includes Mahlok skin).