I'car-saluuman battle pike

Unlike Starfleet, the Zarnac military still uses melee weapons. The weapon of choice is the I'car-saluuman battle pike. This weapon dates back to the days before the warrior caste was exiled from I'car-saluum, and even of the course of a thousand years the design has remained virtually unchanged.

The pike is a collapsable quarterstaff composed of a light but durable monotanium/ceramic composite alloy. The battle pike has two modes, retracted and extended. In its retracted mode, the pike is a tube 6 centimeters in diameter and 15 centimeters long. In extended mode, it reachs a length of approximately 1.5 meters. It has two small buttons, one of which extends the pike to its full length, and the other which retracts it.

This weapon is not used by everyone in the Zarnac military, as it takes great skill and years of training to use one properly. A male or female proficient enough to use one in combat is looked upon with great respect by his or her peers. While it is rare to see a Zarnac use one, it is even rarer to find one in use by a member of one of their subject races, as the techniques used when fighting with a pike are easier to learn for someone of small stature who has a tail.

Because of their common ancestry, this weapon is also used by members of the Baraban Confederate military. Very few of these weapons are produced every year, as most are passed from generation to generation within a family.