Nathaniel Edison's Story

The sound of a hoverboard approaching the exterior gun shop was the only warning on that particular morning. The front door opens to admit the first customer of the day, a young man in his mid-teens with medium length golden hair, a boyish regal face and simple glasses. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white hoodie, with a hoverboard folded up under his arm.

The boy, who seemed to be looking around expectantly, made his way around the room to look at the many different fire arms and ammunition types. He didn't seem to know what he was looking at as an expression of confusion followed him wherever he went.

Stopping in front of the hand guns the kid yawns from the early morning hour before leaning in to inspect them further. He takes a holo-pad out of his pocket and holds his board in his armpit while he swiped the screen to find a picture of a handgun. He had no idea what the gun was called, but soon enough he found the same one in front of him in the shop.

Comparing the two guns the kid begins reaching for the real one while closing his holo-pad and putting it away in his pocket.

" You got an I.D on ya?" Issac asked, his head pocking up from behind a counter not to far from the young man, his guess had been correct, the young man's foot fall had betrayed a good bit about him, his tone really wasn't all that inviting compared to his normal demeanor, he had ,had his fill of young men for the week after yesterdays indecent... he moved to attend to the young man's needs regardless; he was in business to sell firearms regardless of his mood when a second set of foot fall caught his attention. His eyes narrowed catching sight of a weapon in low ready, and shifted his body ever so slightly to a defensive posture, but relaxed seeing the carelessness of the weapon's wielder. "Pardon, let me see to this fellow real quick and I'll get ya squared away ,sir." he said moving to intercept the solider.


He watched the young stud waltz into the store, the uniform making it plain he was, or at least was posing as, a Helgast solider. probably on leave. Issac hadn't personally ran into the group but he had dealt with their weapons before, the VC32a1 ( as named by the cartridge request of the rifle rather than the original .338 USO) was an interesting mix of the bullpup concept and the gas sealed revolver action, personally Issac found the weapon lacking in several key points, but every force was different and this weapon suited Helgan's needs and doctrine well enough.

The old marksmen looked over the weapon rather apathetically.
" Vektan surplus or are you looking for something else? ISA 200gr APBT? 155gr palm? 168 a-max? Burger?" Issac mused examining some of the wear and tear on the rifle. Common nicks and scratches of the normal field work, a few dings to the ocular housing, finish ware under the handguard from resting it on surfaces.
" 228 rounds of USO isn't cheap in any-flavor; however you wanna slice it. As for the smoke are you looking for anything other than visual concealment or will standard WP do it for ya ? " the cyborg pressed, shifting to a more alert seated position, his leg was bothering him today.

The door opened and anpother set of footfalls rang on the floor, these were softer thasn most, lighter, liek a youjng ewoman with purpose. However those footfalls were also entering with a low crusing in a strange langauge as the woman forgot to duck {again} and deanted the doorframe. The two meter tall woman had her bow in one hand and her free ghand was holding back a small flow of blood.

She went right to the counter but saw two customers that day, and Issac working with a soldier type that made her nervous, She looked briefly to Issac and nodded just barely noticable by the soldier, but the store owner she worked with clearly understood, she'd see to the boy. Setting her bow on her right wrist where it collapsed on itself a few times until forming what looked like an armored fist she turned to the boy "Do you need anything ?" Her soft voice had a tone to it that meant 'business first then pleasure'

She took in the boy, compared to her height he was pretty much a dwarf or a hobbit or something, maybe even shorter. Then again she towered over even Issac.

As the blonde boy was about to carefully grab the handgun, he was startled by a voice asking about an ID. He jumps his hand back and switches his attention to the gruff looking store clerk. He can only blink in astonishment at his sudden appearance. After a moment he reaches into his pocket and brings out a gold and forest green business card, flashing the insignia of an upper class political family known as the Edison's.

With his family crest in hand he looks around to the sound of another person entering the shop. Instantly his heartbeat increased, as the sight of a full blown soldier wielding a rifle walks in. He keeps his expression clear, but having this guy make him look like an amateur set off the kid's temper.

His fingers clentched onto his crest tighter until a woman now gets his attention. He exhales to clear his emotions and points at the handgun he was interested in. He didn't know what kind of gun it was, but he thought it was called a Glock or something.

He says nothing to this woman but puts his identification on the counter, which when scanned would reveal most of his personal information and the personal firearms permits he had bought to legally buy guns, but they had only just been activated the day before.

Outside the lone gunshop in the middle of nowhere, what could be described as a jet engine cut through the silence outside.

Elanna had ordered a personal request of the pilot before they returned to the Nightraven, She wanted to swing by On Target and say goodbye to Isaac, an individual of whom she had been acquainted with while she was on Terra.

"Swinging around now, sir." The Pilot chimed in, as he guided the Imperial Aschen Condor VTOL around the building below, the back hatch opening as Elanna held on, wind kicking round her hair, while her right hand kept her service cap secure atop her head. Unlike the colorful sundress she had on prior, she was in the dark grey and blue trim uniform of the Imperial Aschen Navy.

The VTOL made touchdown, her engines idling as Elanna stepped off.

"One Millicenton!" Elanna shouted, before she made her way to the front doors of the ship, which opened with a chime.

There was a handful of people, she remembered Asaca from their previous encounter, but this time Elanna looked the part, done up and ready for battle it seemed.

She waited quietly for Isaac to finish with his customers, before greeting him with a smile.

The Lieutenant looked at the weapons dealer, his tone cold and without remorse, "If I wanted another weapon I would have asked for another weapon. as for money I have enough to pay for what I need." he set a holographic data chip on the table that basically did the same thing as a Debit Card. "As for the smoke grenades I need visual concealment only. I don't need my quarry choking to death before I take him in."

The soldier patted his rifle affectionately, "Besides, This rifle has seen us live through thousands of battles. why would I get rid of it?"

Issac's brow furrowed, he hadn't suggested a replacement weapon for the man, merely asked which type of ammunition he required, odd thing of a marksmen of any sort.

"Let me rephrase ;what sort of ammunition are you looking for in the 7.62x51 uso? I've got standard military surplus USO, but if you were looking for something with a bit much punch or a tad more accurate we could probably find something."

Issac grinned hearing Asaca curse , he hadn't been around her very long but had started picking up her langue pretty quickly thanks to the linguistic's software he had installed. The cyborg waved her over to the youngman.

The door chimed again, and Issac had to do a double take.

Miss Elanna all in uniform, that was a change of pace. In the back of his mind he knew she'd be leaving soon but he had come to enjoy her company. He gave a small wave and saddened smile before returning his attention to his customer.

"I've got a couple m18's in the back for your smoke, but i've also got some old 3ns' , tho that is tear gas."

he stared at the cyborg blankly through his helmet. "im looking for high velocity armor piercing rounds. and for the smoke, the m18's will work. and do you happen to sell gun cleaning kits?" he stood back pulling out a few holographic currency cards setting them on the counter as well. I believe this should cover it?"

"You sell all kinds of things don't you, Isaac." Elanna commented as she moved up to the counter, looking down at the box, and then to the strange armored man beside her.

"Haven't seen your kind around here before." She said, addressing Cristopher directly. "You're not Heg, or Coalition, and you're not from any armed forces I've come into contact with." She said, before turning her attention to Isaac, producing a small wad of Aschen currency, 500 cubit denominations mostly.

"I wanted to repay you for our friend's destruction of everything, and of course me vaporizing your targets." She said, placing the currency on the counter.

"I'm going back to Langara tonight, I'm headed to the Nightraven right now; actually. Probably won't see you again, but I'm glad there are at least some people on this world who don't judge us."

Cris loaded a clip, pulling the bolt back and loading a round into the chamber. "I was a Helgen soldier. though I work now as a private soldier for hire." he replied as he slung his rifle over his shoulder.

his voice turned cold, "my quarry, is whoever someone hire's me to kill. and if you're not going to hire me there need be no further info given on the matter."

He quickly pocketed the rounds and grenades and turned to walk out. "oh and if you ever come across anyone who needs an armed guard or assassin, tell them Cris says hello."

Fortunately someone there knew something was up; Something felt off, With a nod towards the boy Asaca went and retrieved the grenades desired. But whe nthe man turned to leave the shop after so blatenly speaking about himself. It made her worried for the outside world. So she simply stood in front of the only way out. Her towering form blocking the only exit as her bow formed on her right hand with a low hum ready for use, the Pretahuman wasnt going to let this guy rain hell on innocents unless it was required.

After all, assassins never went around telling others they were killers for hire, that was bad for business, And Asaca knew that businesses in sucvh a field kept their killers completely secret, most didnt know they were killers until they got their orders. She blocked the exit, but she saw Elenna there, the woman from the day before. A kind lady, someone Asaca actually enjoyed the company of

The Preta didnt know about the Aschen other then word of mouth, and to meet one to dispell the rumors that they were cold hearted killers was actually a wonderful thing because after meeting Elenna, Asaca found her view of the Aschen was actually right on the money, only a small group of them were cold hearted killers, not all of them. It all depended on which one she met, in this case Elenna wasnt mean; she could defend herself sure, but she wasnt outright mean. She was actually quite nice and good natured

So if Elenna wished to leave, Asaca could let her by without a problem, but this soldier type made her nervous. What made things worse that, this was a gun store, and she doubted the man had been there before very much if even near one whatsoever. Infact, if it came to blows, she could easily put him on his ass, but there was the boy in that store too wishing to puirchase a gun, his permits were all up to date with no errors, so if it came to blows, the boy was at risk. She was not going to allow that

Nathaniel waited for the woman and the gun he wanted to look at. But as he stood there arms crossed the energy in the room seemed to change. He recognized this tension, he felt it every time his parents were about to have another argument. Turning around he sees the girl who had been helping him standing in front of the door, a strange woman at the counter just a few feet down from him, and that odd soldier loading his rifle.

He wasn't trained in the use of weaponry yet, nor had he been around many firearms, but he always thought that it was customary not to load a firearm indoors, especially in a store and doubly so in a gun store. Maybe he was wrong, but the sight of it made the hair on his neck stand on end.

He turned back around to face the hand gun counter but didn't feel comfortable and kept shifting his weight and the placement of his hands. He took this time to look through the other handguns, but for the most part he had no idea what he was looking at.

Issac collected the currency from the Helgan and slipped it under the register to be converted later; it was always a pain in the ass to convert the electronic currency into hard cash , but hey money was money.

" You know, it might just be a cultural difference, but folk in Terra don't take kindly to those simply proclaiming they kill folks for currency." As if to answer Issac's statement Asaca moved to block the Helgan's path. This was not a place to have a fight...

" Asaca, let him by, please." The old cyborg's request almost sounded like an order until he added the please. He'd have to talk to her later about this whole mess. Yes the Helgan was likely going to kill someone, but then again so was almost anyone who ever entered this store. Hell Issac had been responsible for a number of one-way tickets.. But this wasn't their job to stop anyone, if she really felt like he needed to be stopped he'd show her how they had to deal with this sorta thing.

Issac moved to go chat with Elanna, in doing so he passed by the case the boy had been looking at. He paused only a second to unlock the glass case. In one fluid motion Issac took the glock 19 the boy had been looking at out of the case, and cleared the weapon before setting it on the mat infront of the boy.

"Pardon sir, tad busy today, If you need anymore help, give us a shout." The grizzly cyborg offered the young man a friendly smile before moving passed him.

" Don't worry about yesterday, shit happens." He offered , leaning against a counter to talk with Elanna .

Nathaniel took a step back as the sudden appearance of the shop clerk taking out the gun and placing it in front of him was a bit fast. He felt a little out of his league already from the trained movements of this man. Reaching for the gun, it felt awkward and heavy in his hand. As he tried to aim it with one hand the nose of the gun dipped with his wrist from the weight, his finger on the trigger as if he was to shoot an imaginary target on the wall.

He clentched his teeth in defeat and pulled his arm closer now, looking down at the fire arm with frustration. He knew he couldn't use it properly, and it showed. But that was partially the reason why he came here. Setting the gun down on the mat again he takes a look at a poster on the wall, advertising the gun range out back. He looks over to the nearest employee and jestures them over.

He spoke now for the first time since being here, his voice whispery from disuse and young to the sound but still identifiably male. "How much for the... gun, ammunition and some time at the range?"

"That it does." Elanna replied, leaning on the counter and watching her surroundings.

"You've got quite the clientele here." She said, keeping her eyes on Nathaniel. "Looks a little young to be buying a gun; either way I wanted to give you this before I shipped out." She said, gesturing for a Staffer to approach with a large briefcase.

He set the briefcase on the counter, before turning it to Isaac and opening it. Inside the briefcase was a rifle, it was not a typical Aschen disruptor rifle, and while it had the same design features of an Aschen weapon, it appeared more closely related to a coilgun-firearm hybrid.

"This is the first time someone outside a laboratory has set eyes on this weapon. Project Darkstorm." She said, pulling the weapon out of the foam mold it was in. "Eight, point eight Micrometron tungsten tipped ferric projectile accelerated to exceptionally high velocities, can put a round clean through steel plate at a hundred metrons." She said.

"Not as powerful as a Disruptor, but theoretically more reliable."

Asaca nodded when Issac asked her to let the man by, as much as she hated doing so she did just that. Stepping over to the counter she heard the boy speak. She went thoughtful fgor a brief moment. "I am not sure how the currency here works. But for the range and training should you need it can be figured out later." His papers were all in order. she could let issac handle the rest. As she didnt know how Issac handlked the range other then letting her use her bow, which she wanted to strengthen the poundage, the piaon wire she had bought that morning still needed installation

Piano wire, for a bow string, Can we say "one wrong move and cut your fingers off ?" Very good class!

Issac nodded thoughtfully looking over the rifle, interesting indeed, a question tickle din the back of his mind however as she spoke.
If no one else had seen this outside of aschen military personal wouldn't this be consider classified, eh best not look a gift horse in the mouth...

He over heard Asaca, " We've got a currency converter at the register, Range fee's are posted under the register Asaca, but go a head and just charge him for the ammo, if you'd like, you can observe him while me and ms Elanna Discuss some things. " The old cyborg suggested.

" I'm sad to hear you're leavin, it's nice havin folks to chat with, more so when their company is enjoyable" He gave her a sly smile, but it quickly vanished as he moved on." Anyhow since you brought something I might as well give you what I have been workin on follow me?" He asked as he started towards the stair way.