Although they had few resources when they arrives on Chiron, the main Human factions were able to build a rudimentary infrastructure within months of their arrival. Food and shelter were the primary concerns, but once the Mind Worms began to attack, priorities quickly shifted to defense and weapons. As the years passed, the Human factions developed new weapons and while some have progressed slowly, a few factions have developed technology decades ahead of the others.
Body armor is one of the most important defenses that the colonists had when they arrived on Chiron. Body armor would slow down, but not stop, a Mind Worm from burrowing into the brain of a person and it proved the wearer full protection from the sometimes hostile environment of Chiron.
When the colonists arrived on Chiron, they possessed the best knowledge that the 21st century Earth could provide. This included state of the armor body armor built around ceramic plates, kevlar, and other materials. This armor was useful for stopping bullets and for slowing down Mind Worms, but as newer technologies became available, it fell out of favor with military forces. Simple body armor is now only prevalent among police forces, nomads bands, and independents that cannot afford to purchase armor from other militaries.
The most common armor type among the major factions is called Plasma Steel. By processing normal using special high-energy chemicals, plasma steel and it is even harder then normal metal and weighs considerably less then wearing normal metal plates. Unfortunately, the armor is more cumbersome then Body Armor even though it provides significantly more protection. Plasma Steel Armor is used by all military forces of the major factions and most independent colonies, except for the University of Planet and the Cybernetic Consciousness, which have developed even better armor.
Silksteel armor is the current pinnacle of Human armor technology. Developed from spider silk, this armor is incredibly lightweight and incredibly strong. Currently only in use in the University of Planet and the Cybernetic Consciousness factions, the process of creating silksteel armor is a highly kept secret within the two factions, not even the Data Angels faction has been able to determine its secret.
Avoiding most modern technologies, the Humans in the Cult of Planet have developed a technique of weaving the husks from dead Mind Worms into a flexible suit of armor. The armor provides a fair among of protection but its greatest feature is that it takes advantage of the Mind Worms' natural armor rating, negating damage that does not penetrate the armor. In addition, native life forms will see the wearer as a member of their own race and unless the wearer attacks the life form, the wearer will be completely ignored.
All Human colonies have the ability to produce basic survival gear from air filters to tents to sleeping bags. In general, when it comes to survival gear, if it is available on Earth, it is available on Chiron at half the price.
Next to armor, one of the most important achievements of the colonists was to build a weapons industry. To defend their homes from Mind Worm attacks, the colonists had to destroy the mind worms, and the best and easiest way to do that was with powerful weapons. However, as the Humans spread across the planet, they began to fight each other just as often as they fought the planet's native life forms. Better weapons were built, new technologies were discovered, and efficient ways of killing were rebuilt from information brought from Earth. Although the factions have diverged technologically, they still maintain many similarities, among them is a common e-clip for their weapons. Each weapon takes a standard sized e-clip for that weapon size, so there are three different e-clip sizes, but the number of shots that an e-clip can be used for depends on the type of weapon using it.
Without a huge research base, several factions are still using weapons technology that had been brought with the original colonists. Neither the Free Drones faction or the Cult of Planet have dedicated many resources to developing new weapons and most nomad bands and a few independent colonies are unable to afford to purchase newer weapons.
Nearly all factions have developed the ability to build Impact Beam weapons. Impact beams work by accelerating particles and causing damage from the impact of those particles on the target, hence the name. More powerful and with a longer range then the standard lasers, these weapons have become widespread among all of the factions, except for those that continue to use lasers, the Spartan Federation, the University of Planet, and the Cybernetic Consciousness.
Weapons are of special interest to the Spartan Federation. The ultimate gun culture, nearly every member of the factions owns at least one gun, so it is unsurprising that the faction's weapon technology is more advanced then most of the factions. Using a modified version of the Impact Beam technology, the Spartans are able to increase the rate of fire of their weapons, but each shot is generally weaker then the unmodified weapons.
As with most things, the University of Planet and the Cybernetic Consciousness has technology far surpassing the other factions. The chaos laser is a special type of laser that is hotter and stronger, giving it longer range and causing more damage. Shortly after being deployed by the University of Planet, the Cybernetic Consciousness stole the designs for the weapon and began to deploy it on its own vehicles, but not in time to have any impact on the vicious war they fought against the Progenitors.