Bayonet

About the Bayonet

A blade fixed to the muzzle of a rifle, the bayonet answers the oldest problem a soldier faces: what to do when the enemy is too close to shoot or the powerpack runs dry. Militaries and militias across the galaxy still mount them, because a rifle with a fixed blade becomes a short spear, and a line of them becomes a hedge of points no charge wants to meet. Wielded two-handed on the end of the weapon, it thrusts with the reach and leverage of the whole rifle behind it, and its finesse balance lets a trained trooper feint and lunge rather than merely stab. It turns a spent firearm into a lethal melee tool in an instant, keeping a soldier in the fight when the bolts stop flying. For frontier defenders and boarding parties working cramped corridors, the humble bayonet remains a brutally practical insurance policy.