Pew pew vs Bang bang

Posted on Tue May 19th, 2020 @ 5:30am by Staff Warrant Officer Reo'thanra Sandtail & Lieutenant Commander S'hib

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Phaser Range
Timeline: Prior to Episode 4
2111 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The Air of the Phaser range seemed uncomfortably cold to Warrant officer Reo'thanra Sandtail. Not that the rest of the ship was much better to the desert born alien, but for whatever reason, the Air here felt colder than the rest of the ship. He exhaled and leaned into the buttstock of his Coil carbine and closed his right eye his left eye pressed to the Scope, the Metal Target at the other end of the range Getting Highlighted in as the Ultraviolet laser Mounted on the underside of the Carbines barrel Pierced out invisibly through the air. He Gently squeezed the trigger mechanism and braced himself for the snap.

With a loud Crack that reverberated through the bulkheads, a Small thin Dart of Ferric tungsten Shot out and pierced the target before shattering against the Hardened Wall of the Range.

"Nice pea shooter," S'hib snorted loudly as he walked up behind Reo, his hooves echoing inside the large firing range as he checked the battery pack in his rifle.

"Pea shooter?" Reo huffed quietly not removing his eye from the scope. "She'll drop a shuttle on full power, with the Sabot rounds..." he added calmly as the Coil rifle hummed back to full power.

"Very impressive, however, Starfleet would prefer you not to do that." He replied, shoulder his rifle over Reo and firing three bolts downrange, hitting the target Reo had previously shot at.

Reo smirked as the phaser bolts washed the Target with UV light. "This a challenge Lieutenant?" He asked as he Squeezed off three shots of his own, the Thunderclap of the coil gun firing Echoing through the range as all three darts slammed through a small vertical line of holes on the targets head.

"Do you want it to be?" S'hib snorted, moving to another firing lane. "Because you're gonna need a bigger gun." He smirked, changing the settings on his rifle before taking aim and firing.

The single bolt that shot down range filled the air with a high pitch roar, impacting the target with enough thermal energy to tear it apart, violently shattering and exploding as if it had been made of nothing more than glass.

"Yep..." He snorted proudly, opening the casing of his rifle to check the battery pack. "Think I made a bigger hole than you..." he teased, glancing at the Vulpine with his tongue stuck between his smirking lips

"Some times it's not about how big it is, but how deep you can sink your teeth into it," Reo said softly his tail flicking softly. "Besides, I didn't want to use Explosive rounds on a practice range," he said quietly as he fired a second burst. "Or gods forbid, Depleted Uranium rounds."

“Well it would be beneficial for there not to be a hole into space, I doubt the Captain would be impressed with either of us if you did that.” He said softly, clicking his rifle back into operation.

“Computer please activate the firing range subroutine, start us off at level three.”

Reo stayed quiet, his eye pressed to the scope as he lay there prone, his carbine clutched tightly to his paws. "Shall we set a wager?" he said snapping a shot off in quick succession as soon as a target came into view.

"Wouldn't be much of a wager if I know I'm going to win." S'hib teased, stomping a hoof suddenly before watching a stray round from Reo miss its mark and impact the far wall. "Nice shot." He laughed, filling the range with a loud neigh like chuckle.

Reo huffed quietly, and Fired a shot, smacking the target out of the air with an air splitting crack. "Give me An RKKV cannon and I'll knock a s'vanc off your snout," he muttered as he smacked the next target in a single shot.

"Oh, you do have fangs after all..." S'hib quipped before snapping the rifle into his shoulder and firing a torrent of shots, swapping to multiple targets as he drained the battery pack into the range.

The aggressive rate of fire seemed to upset the rifle, bleeping in protest as it initiated a safety cooldown of the fuel cell, not that this would stop S'hib, letting it fall to his side on its sling as he quickly unholstered his hand phaser and continued to fire.

By now targets flared brightly as hit markers indicated whether they had been direct or glancing blows, some, however, were a little more obvious as to whom had struck the blow, the small hover targets standing no chance to the kinetic rounds gutting the internal gyroscopes as they fell from the air like very expensive rocks.

Reo snickered softly and quickly reloaded the humming carbine, its microfusion cell whining as it spooled up the supercapacitors. "Just wait till you see these," he said quickly as he started firing again, the Darts detonating mid flight in a mono-directional cone of shrapnel. The First one bored a hole directly through one of the targets, eviscerating it in a single shot.

"I can do that too ya know!" S'hib snorted as the two continued the size comparison of their respective weapons, firing his phaser on a wide beam that washed over a handful of targets with an expanding cone of energy.

"Computer Pause simulation," Reo Said quietly before he looked up at the Equine. "Wanna try mine?" he asked eagerly, his tail wagging rapidly.

"You sure I won't break it?" S'hib asked politely, still trying to tease the vulpine as he walked over to him, his hooves clicking loudly on the armoured floor.

"I'm more likely to break those Fiberglass Plastic phasers then you are to break Arten Titanium Carbide," Reo scoffed and Slowly started to stand his Assault pack shifting on his body.

Upon hearing this S'hibs throat erupted with laughter, his top lip curling as he placed his phaser rifle down against the firing range.

"I will admit, they aren't very practical in close combat." He admitted, reaching for his belt and the short metal stick that hung on his belt. "And that's why I have this..." He snorted, sliding a digit along the buttons hidden on its surface.

In a blink and you miss it moment the small dark grey metal extended tenfold, it's elegant design cutting through the air with a very distinct sound. "It's only fair you try something of mine in return." He bowed, extending one hoof out in front as he offered the two meter long staff to the small vulpine.

Reo Stared at it, his tail wagging slowly. "Melee weapon?" he asked as he offered the Carbine and three mags his other paw extending out to accept the staff that was Much taller than him.

"I admit, it might be a bit unwieldy for your size... But nevertheless, my people make weapons purely for defence... they are never intended to kill, though the can if applied with enough force." He spoke softly, exchanging the weapons of both of their respective people, both seemingly at odds with the size and function of the others cultural practices.

"So...does it have blades on it like that ridiculous hunk of steel the Klingons worship?" Reo asked as he lightly inspected the staff his sharp yellow eyes darting over it, large ears twitching as he examined the weapon.

“It doesn't need any, Its use is to disarm and disable an opponent... not to kill.” S’hib stated as he examined the miniature rifle and its more mechanical nature.

Reo tilted his head and gave the staff an slow experimental swing. "Good," he Said slowly as he handled the Weapon, trying to find its balance. "what's it made of?" he asked.

“Its made from a black duranium alloy that is only found naturally on Sequella, though the properties can be replicated synthetically to a similar quality...” He said, staring at the Arten rifle, afraid to touch anything other than the grip. “As a result, the alloy is just as strong as standard duranium though it is lighter and far more flexible.” He said as the magazine fell from
the rifle to clatter onto the floor. “Oh...”

Reo laughed softly and pulled a fresh magazine from his Assault pack. "here, Dummy rounds aren't as cool as the smart Submunitions, but they work Great on Single targets," he smiled as he offered the mag to the Larger male. "Slide the magazine into the magazine well and change the selector lever to the Symbol that looks like a Clenched paw, that will charge the coils a bit harder for the solid rounds." he smiled as he juggled the staff between his paws.

Taking the strange box from Reo and doing as requested S'hib figured the magazine acted as a form of miniature battery, similar in nature to his phaser rifle. "This lever?" He questioned, flipping the rifle upsidedown with a finger pointing towards what he assumed Reo meant.

"Yeah that one," Reo smiles happily his tail wagging about. "That Magazine carries one hundred Preformed Ferric Tungsten darts."

"What's there effective range?" S'hib asked, clicking the small lever twice before attempting to shoulder the rifle, a task he soon found to be impossibly impractical.

"For the Dummy rounds, two thousand meters, for the smart submuntions one thousand," Reo said as he stepped forward. "The stock can extend out if you need it too."

"I should be fine." He snorted stubbornly, pointing the rifle as though it were no more a pistol and firing, unaware of the recoil a single round would yield into his arm. "See..." He said, composing himself and shifting his stance slightly.

The Vulpine snickered softly and stretched slightly his tail swaying. "Well...I suppose that works if you don't want to use the Scope and laser sight," he shrugged gently.

"It's a little small for me to utilise its functions Reo... Even if I extended the stock."

Rounds rattled out of the rifle before Reo could respond, the Stubborn Sequus firing downrange with little grace or finesse as he emptied to the magazine, hitting the targets by sheer volume alone.

Reo Stood still as the Sequus sprayed all one hundred darts downrange, the rounds denting and bending the bulkhead when they missed his targets, and obliterating any target they did hit with Raw kinetic power. "I...take it Star Fleet security forces don't put a value on Accuracy for Competition's sake." He hummed.

"Of course... but, that wasn't my rifle." He snorted as the firing range concluded the game, the smug grin on his face all the more apparent as the accuracy results displayed overhead.

Reo eyed the Display and shrugged. "Fair game," he said cheerfully with a grin on his muzzle. "Maybe next time I'll let you play with the anti Tank settings," he giggled and held his paw out to accept the Carbine back.

"Maybe planetside, I don't think it would be wise to punch a hole through the range wall." S'hib grinned back, offering the Arten back his... toy.

"True," Reo hummed and accepted the carbine back while offering the staff back to S'hib. "If you'd like I could probably fabricate a Flechette Cannon for you to try out," he hummed softly as he cycled the carbines power cell to standby. "on Me it looks like a rocket launcher, but it would probably fit you like a regular Rifle," he Chuckled as he stared up at the Equine.

"I'll fabricate a Pulse Staff for you to try... been meaning to get hold of one anyway." S'hib smiled, looking back at the firing range. "You should volunteer for security training, we could probably do with you helping us next time something happens."

"Funny," Reo chuckled. "On the CDF ships, every member of the crew is considered a Marine in the event of boarding."

"I don't suppose you get boarded much." He grinned, moving a hand above Reo's head before moving it back to his body, intentionally moving his hand lower so as to pock fun of the obvious height difference one more.

"Well, it helps that we haven't Poked the hornets nest with every single one of our neighbors," The vulpine shrugged and shook his head, seemingly not caring for the short jokes.

"I suppose nine out of ten isn't technically everyone... close though." S'hib smirked as he twisted his staff, the two ends rapidly folding back into the handleguard.

"Anyway..." Reo shrugged. "Thanks for the Challenge, I look forward to our rematch," he said cheerfully.

"You should challenge the marines, I'm sure you'll have fun with some of them," S'hib smiled as he walked away. "See you around."

OFF:

Lieutenant S'hib
Security Officer
USS Elysium