Many thanks to Cravitus for writing these loreblocks


Taro

One of the first so-called wonder-nines, the Taro had achieved great success in the 70s and 80s among Police and Military forces, particularly with the Federation and disrupting the hold of the 'Cult of Holdt' as sidearm of choice. While later usurped by the Klauk as Eagle standard, the Taro continues to serve Accord Agents faithfully as a steel-framed, high-capacity fallback. Where the Cult of Holdt lauds perfection and stopping power, where Klauk works practically and Rubykovs lurk in the shadows, the Taro serves open and proud. Maybe because it's not very compact.

Falil

For the discerning operator of rifles and carbines, there is no discrediting the robust allure of the RK-47. Reliable, incredibly so, capable of burning to cinders as you dump magazine after magazine through it, compatible with tried-and-true rituals of percussive maintenance - for a nascent coalition seeking dependable weaponry, there was only one thing in the way - the kind of bullet it fires. The Falil answers this logistics issue by standardizing most components, and marrying them predominantly to 5.56 and 7.62 internals. Ironically, the Kestrel Falil grows inflexible by the year - especially when compared to the tactical rail-covered affairs of the Union and Federation.

KRUL Tomahawk M/50

A fat stripped piece of Federation surplus, the Tomahawk is still big, heavy, and bulky - and it may just be from the first production runs.

Union SP

A descendant of the Great Wars, the Union Special is what some may call an affront to firearms preservation. What once was the bolt-action service rifle of old has turned black, grown a pistol grip, and a detachable box magazine. Mutating into a marksman's weapon, the Union itself has long since moved on to designs that were born modern to begin with. Kestrel scout-snipers, on the other hand, can't complain. It's comfortable, shoots straight, and hits hard - and they don't need special rituals to check if the barrel's any good still.

AME-3

Heavier and hardier than her 5.56 sister, the AME-3 is closer to their forerunners and deals out full-power rifle-grade hate rather than the intermediate cartridge often found within Federation squads. Less of a SAW and more of a GPMG, Kestrels are known to forgo the ammunition boxes at times in favor of simply feeding the belts from their shoulders, though the high-power rounds used are believed to hinder tactical flexibility. While the AME-3 hits harder, goes farther than her Eagle sister, they also cannot be fed the same ammo used in the rest of the a given squad, affecting Accord infantry on a doctrinal level.

Baker 1898

A shotgun most infamous for trench-sweeps in the Great Wars, many have drifted into Kestrel armories and remain a now polymer-furnitured classic. While slower to operate than comparable automatics, it remains a light and flexible tool for both LEO and military specialists alike. From buckshot to slugs to beanbags and gas, the Baker has blasted it all, and the racking of the pump remains music to Kestrel ears.

Keller-9

A 9-millimeter rechamber of the .45 classic, the Keller-9 boasts an extendable stock as standard, and is favored for all the reasons the .45 was - and in particular, for the portability and capacity it gains in the form of a nine-mil. It can often be found not just in service with SWAT units, but security details and vehicle crews performing a PDW role. Not quite as effective, perhaps, as Federation or Union PDWs - but nothing beats a good machinegun, no matter what it fires.

Z0RG 20mm

A Kestrel operative once had a vision. He gazed out at a technical tide, roaring towards him - and through a scope, blasted them into silence, one by one. Crude assortments of steel and horsepower were stonewalled by a thundercrack of fury - and he remembers two words. 'Praise Zorg.' Thus came the Zorg 20-millimeter - an antimaterial rifle of greater heft than any before it, of absurd scale, absurd power, capable of obliterating an engine block and the filthy Magpies hiding behind it - capable of piercing immense armor, violating wartime conventions on what is legal to shoot people with, and of being used under the excuse that it was meant primarily for EOD. The Zorg is, in part due to import/export laws restricting the sale of antimaterial weaponry to the Accord, the Kestrel solution to material problems. Praise Zorg.

Garret EMR

Cast into the armories of the Kestrels beside the very rifle it had once fought against, the Garrett EMR, in similar fashion to the Union SP, has also been modernized and sees use as an EMR - an enhanced marksman rifle. One of the more tactical models within the Accord arsenal, the Garrett's polymer-furnished evolution arguably went better than the Union's, making a more natural leap to detachable magazines, pistol grips, and adjustable stocks while also boasting a number of rail mounts. There are even some marksmen within the Federation who express an admiration for what is a proven and reliable battle rifle, archaic as the Garrett is.

Taromatik

An unnecessary excess to some, a logical progression to others, and little more than a Taro with the trigger bar ground down to a select number of gunsmiths, the Taromatik is quite straightforward. Be it a true select-fire bursting original, or the cheap full-auto 'upgrades' sharing the same designation, the Taromatik is capable of putting volume of fire down in ways that the Cult of Holdt can do nothing but seethe and dream about - save for clunky, oversized magazines. While the Klauk has contested even the high-volume niche of the Taromatik, the Taromatik is actually considered more practical in certain regards - not least being controllability and affordability. The extended ported barrel has a significant part in combating muzzle flip, the optional stock offering a logical means of stabilization, and as for cost - well. It's simply cheaper to sand down the trigger bar than it is to design and integrate a whole new select-fire control system.

Of course, the loss of semi-auto is lamentable - but if you wanted single-shot, you would have just gotten a plain, old Taro.