As the title says, I'm getting back into running this system. I grew up playing 2nd Edition, loved it simple to make characters. Got into 3rd Edition, took a bit to make a character. However I loved the random rolls with the life path options, to me this helped give the characters more life. Now I'm reading A Time of War looks good. I good with the lore aspect of the game up till what happens after the Jihad. Read some book about the blackout of the HPG's, sounds kinda cool. almost getting back to that 3025 era vibe to me. I was thinking about running a game around 3140. Now the questions are what all source books do I need to read to catch up on the lore of this time. I was thinking Shattered Fortress and Era Digest: Dark Age. Now what book would I find out about the description of the new weapons that have come out and their stats. I see VPL Lasers, Chemical Lasers, RE Lasers, and a bunch of others. I want to be able to have a good idea on what I can throw at the PC's without having to stop and look up everything.
I'm open to any and all help in this matter. Thank you for you time.