So, somewhat inspired by the Assassin's Creed series, I've been designing a vambrace weapon for my character Nicky (concept here). This is substantially bulkier than that version (which is basically concept #1), and I've also realized that there are a few unnecessary things in this design that'll be removed for concept 3 (the Arsenal Subspace Shunt mechanism, for those wondering). Now for some explanation.

This is a custom-built weapon made by Nicky to serve as his gimmicky sidearm (his description, not mine). It's basically designed to serve as a backup weapon to whatever else he's wielding at the time. It's a bit bulky in this concept and I'm gonna slim it down for the next version, and there'll be some added armor to protect the mechanisms. Okay, now to make the descriptions of the various design elements easier to follow, I've numbered a bunch of the systems as 1 through 7, so it should be easier to find them. Okay, here we go!

1. A compact hydraulic system used to deploy and retract the kinetic blaster and switchblade, mounted on the vambrace's underside. It's controlled by a three-way switch mounted near the elbow, for the two weapons and an off setting, and power is supplied by a set of topside power cells.
2. A thumb trigger mounted on a glove attached to the vambrace. The trigger is mainly designed to activate the kinetic blaster, though it can also activate the other two weapons.
3. The power cells. Not sure what they are, probably some form of high-energy capacitor because the kinetic blasters need to draw off of them. There'll be more of them in the next version because the ASS won't be taking up as much space, and arranged differently because I'll be putting the opening hinge up there.
4. The retracting "switchblade." Hydraulically powered, of course, once activated it is deployed by angling the hand and wrist downwards. I think the tip is actually a vibro weapon so that it actually has a chance of doing some real damage, in which case it's powered by the cells. It's mainly designed as an off-hand or quick-strike weapon, not a principle melee weapon.
5. The kinetic blaster. It's either a misnomer or an actual kinetic blast weapon: if it's a misnomer, it uses an advanced electrostatic projector to make a high-powered plasma shot that knocks people back from the shock of it hitting the air (it also charges air, so it might be a high-energy laser coupled with a static weapon). If not, well, it actually imparts kinetic energy to a target, sort of like punching them except no fist. Yeah, very descriptive, I know. This one is activated by angling the wrist upwards (as shown in the diagram), and it's positioned thanks to the spring in the hinge. As mentioned above, it's trigged by, well, the trigger. Again, descriptive.
6. The Arsenal Subspace Shunt, a portable technological hyperdimensional pocket system. I'm gonna save this for later, so it's off of the next version and replaced by more power cells for the vambrace and an actual magical bag of holding (it's that kind of story).
7. Out of scale and in the bottom left-hand corner, this is an idea for a collapsible buckler shield that I'm thinking of adding to the vambrace, since Nicky usually wields his sword in his left hand and he could use an offhand shield. If I add it, it'll also be hydraulically powered and mounted over the switchblade on the outside of the arm. At this point, though, it's just a thought and a sketch.

Okay, I think that's everything. So there's the vambrace weapon. Major ideas for next concept improvements is more power cells, a slightly slimmer design, some armor for the vital components, and overall being a little easier to understand. Oh, and a way for it to be actually taken off and put on. :\ Can't believe I forgot that. So, any questions, constructive criticism, or advice? It's all appreciated.

Oh, and congrats for getting through all of that.