Shifting Staff

The shifting staff is a tool found most commonly among Protectorate-affiliated spacers. The staff helps the wielder move about in microgravity more efficiently - especially within the confines of a spacraft or colony's superstructure - providing leverage, propulsion, attitude control, and extended reach. In a pinch, a shifting staff can also make for an effective impact weapon.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Shifting staves range in complexity from simple shafts of bamboo to telescoping composite staves tipped with multitools and fractal robotic manipulators at the tips. Many are spring-loaded to allow for both compact stowage and pogo-stick-like thrusts against objects in the environment.
The primary use of a shifting staff is in helping a spacer move around in micro-gravity. Twirling a shifting staff helps the wielder control their own rate of spin in the manner of a reaction wheel. For this reason, a shifting staff should be balanced when fully extended. A wielder can push themselves away from more massive objects with the ends of the staff, and the extended reach provided by the staff is useful for negotiating a particularly voluminous space (as opposed to 'swimming' through the air). Staves with grippers or grapnels can be used to fix the wielder in space or pull them towards an object.

Significance

The standard-issue shifting staff for Cobalt Knights forces is the SIMG (Staff Implement, Micro-Gravity). The SIMG is a three-sectioned composite staff featuring a collapsible four-pronged grapnel at one end and a cable-actuated gripper at the other. The center section of the shaft is wrapped in grip tape and has a pair of collapsible handholds that point perpendicularly out from the shaft when fully extended. A catch on the center section allows the other two sections to extend under spring pressure, which can be used to propel the wielder through space more forcefully than a manual push against an obstacle.
The ends of the SIMG are shod in hardened metal collars to enhance their effectiveness in striking. Knight-Airmen and Knight-Espatiers recieve combatives training with the SIMG in much the same way that Knight-Infantrymen recieve combatives training with entrenching tools.

Item type

Tool

Rarity

Shifting staves are extremely common among spaceborne Evermornan populations. The features included in a given shifting staff are regional in nature, with local materials and tools germane to local needs used in their construction.

Dimensions

Up to 6' long (but see Mechanics & Inner Workings) and 1.5" in diameter