Bullpup Rifle
Service rifle of the Sovereign Colonies
The Bullpup Rifle was the standard issued rifle of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces. Carried by Legionaries during the expedition to Tau Volantis, it was a fast firing, accurate weapon that long outlived the soldiers who first fielded it.
The Bullpup Rifle was the standard issued rifle of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces. A fully automatic weapon built for line infantry, it armed the Legionaries who garrisoned the secret installations on Tau Volantis, and it remained in use generations later in the hands of soldiers and fanatics fighting over the same frozen world. (Dead Space 3)
Design and service#
The Bullpup Rifle was the weapon the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces issued to its rank and file. It was fully automatic and favored a high rate of fire over raw power, firing in rapid, accurate bursts that suited engagements at range. Where it could put a heavy volume of fire onto a single point, it was at its most useful, cutting down all but the largest Necromorphs in short order, and its precision made it especially dangerous against human opponents. Its lighter strikes told against the heaviest creatures, those that could only be brought down by tearing apart specific points, where its fire was less suited to the task. (Dead Space 3)
Use around Tau Volantis#
The rifle armed the Sovereign Colonies Legionaries during their expedition to Tau Volantis. It was seen in the hands of S.C.A.F. Privates Tim Caufman and Sam Ackerman during the Sovereign Colonies' last days on the planet, when the Scenario Five purge was carried out. (Dead Space 3)
Two centuries later the weapon was still in circulation. The abandoned installations and the debris fields left by the flotilla held great stores of old S.C.A.F. equipment, and survivors and zealots alike recovered and reused it. The EarthGov soldier John Carver carried the same rifle throughout the Tau Volantis crisis. The Circle also fielded a near identical weapon, the Assault Rifle, which closely resembled the old service rifle apart from its coloring. (Dead Space 3)
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Bullpup Rifle?
- The Bullpup Rifle was the standard issued rifle of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces. It was a fully automatic weapon valued for a high rate of fire and accuracy at range, which made it effective both against massed Necromorphs and against human targets.
- Who used the Bullpup Rifle?
- It was carried by S.C.A.F. Legionaries during their expedition to Tau Volantis two centuries before the Tau Volantis crisis. Privates Tim Caufman and Sam Ackerman were seen with it during the Sovereign Colonies' last days on the planet, and centuries later it remained in use by the EarthGov soldier John Carver.
- Why was a 200 year old rifle still in service?
- Large numbers of S.C.A.F. weapons remained in the abandoned installations and debris fields around Tau Volantis. Survivors recovered and reused this equipment, so the old service rifle stayed in circulation long after the Sovereign Colonies themselves had collapsed.
Sources
- GameDead Space 3, Visceral Games, 2013
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
EarthGov
EarthGov was the centralized regime that replaced the Sovereign Colonies after the Secession War, ruling humanity from an Earth-centric core. Its decision to revive the Marker program and harvest the artifacts' energy spread the Necromorph threat across the colonies.
John Carver
John Carver was an Earth Defense Force sergeant who lost his wife and son to a Necromorph outbreak on Uxor and joined Isaac Clarke on the expedition to Tau Volantis to destroy the apparent source of the Marker signal.
Necromorph
Necromorphs were aggressive creatures formed when the Markers' electromagnetic signal reshaped dead tissue into monstrous new forms. Driven to kill the living and gather corpses for Convergence, they were the recurring plague that destroyed the Aegis VII colony, the USG Ishimura, and Titan Station.
Samuel Ackerman
Private Samuel Ackerman was a Sovereign Colonies soldier who survived the 2314 Necromorph outbreak on Tau Volantis long enough to help retrieve the Codex before he was killed by falling wreckage.
Sovereign Colonies
The Sovereign Colonies was the global government that united Earth and its early off-world settlements, custodian of the Black Marker and architect of the secret Red Marker program. Its discovery of the Brethren Moons led it to purge all Marker knowledge under Scenario Five.
Tau Volantis
Tau Volantis was a frozen planet where, two million years ago, an alien civilization flash-froze their own world to halt a Convergence Event. Mistaken for the Marker homeworld, it became the site of the final clash over the Brethren Moons.
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