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"[Science fiction is] nightmares and visions, always outlined by the barely possible."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Maula Pistol | ||
| A spring-loaded projectile device. |
| Maula pistol: spring-loaded gun for firing poison darts; range about forty meters. |
| From Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1965 Additional resources -
|
One of the advantages of this weapon is relatively silent operation, but it is useless against a shielded opponent. Of course, in the desert, a shield can attract a sand worm.
When Paul and his mother are found in a Fremen place in the desert, he escapes when his mother uses her skills to take down the man facing her. This is what a battle with maula pistols would sound like.
Then Paul was into the shadows... the weapon tucked into his waist sash. He had recognized it... a projectile weapon, and that said many things about this place, another clue that shields were useless here.
There came a chorus of sharp spring-clicks from the basin. Projectiles whined off the rocks around him. One of them flicked his robe.
At his mothers first movement, Paul backed two steps... A bearded man rose up in his path, half-crouched, lunging forward with a weapon in his hand. Paul took the man beneath the sternum with a straight-hand jab, sidestepped and chopped the base of his neck, relieving him of the weapon as he fell.
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