I'm guessing you take a huge interest in modern military, weapon design?

I did notice that. Arms & Armament booklet that came with the limited edition describes the magazine on the scout rifle as a "Smart Mag" and is one of the kinds that has a magazine that attaches *under* the triggerguard. I'm not sure why having guns that shoot conventional bullets(mostly) not behave like guns that shoot conventional bullets is desirable, but if there is a method behind them it's never been described unlike in Halo which has intensive detail into each individual weapon. But it's also inconsistent. See: Thunderlord Hypervelocity, Borealis; both of them charge a conventional round in the barrel with energy before it is emitted. It's even backed up in this [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/459622702509195274/514278410500177937/joseph-cross-jc-exotic-sr.png]concept of Borealis[/url] as well as fairly likely given the barrel design of Thunderlord [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/459622702509195274/514277878880403456/11152018_header_frontpage.png]pictured here.[/url]