Setting
The first is the storefront, which hosts a variety of firearms and other assorted weapons optics, targets, and of course, ammunition. The second is a machining area which hosts enough tools to make just about any firearm or alike weapon, with some deep space tech out of their reach, but not by much. The last but not least is the classroom, which is an amphitheatre styled room which can seat up to 110 humanoid occupants.
The basement is off limits to most folk as it is actually the owner, Isaac Schofield's home.
Out the back sits a 5 km long shooting range filled with scrap and other steel targets. Some are marked with large signs in Common, stating the range and target size. Also strewn about are flags, each flag has a set of three smaller flags on it, red, blue and white. There are also several abandoned buildings throughout, marred by bulletholes.
To the south, there lies a sparse forest like area containing a single guard post.
The round harmlessly discharged, hitting the target just below the torso. His best shot of the day.
He was silent, and radiating tension for a moment, but a low, almost rumbling whisper escaped him. "How do you sleep at night..?", the question was soft spoken, almost timid, neither quality common for the large man. It was a fleeting thing though, the calm before the maelstrom. In an instant he whirled around, dropping the gun, and standing up as straight as he could.
He was quite a bit larger than the woman, and easily at least twice her size. No doubt her military training could take him out easily, but he didn't care. He wasn't rational, he wasn't thinking clear.
"What the fuck is a monster like you doing on Terra?", his question was a demanding shout as he took a step closer, rage seething from his voice, fire in his eyes. "What exactly gave you murdering bastards the impression you were welcome here?", another angry growl, another threat. "Are you scumbags so fucking arrogant you think you can just murder, and torture, and burn away a planet, then stroll back in with a smile?" His large, powerful fists unballed, his empty hands reaching out for the wooden table beside the two.
He had to hold something, or else he'd go for her neck. He was always taught not to ever hit a woman no matter what, but this. Thing. Was no woman. It was just a monster with a feminine skin-suit.
His grip on the solid wood tightened to such an extreme it started to splinter under his strength. He may have been just a dumb construction worker, but he was stronger than an oxen. Rage was swallowing him whole. "You killed everyone!", he bellowed, furious glare locking with Elanna's eyes. "You killed Tim, and Rex, and Clane, and Hank.." His body was actually quivering with anger.
"You tortured, and humiliated Dianne, you thugs raped Claire. You burned my best friend alive!" He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't keep it in. With one swift, violent motion he jerked the incredibly heavy table off the ground, flipping it end over end as he threw it about five feet away. Spare ammo tumbled everywhere. There was now nothing between him, and it. Not lunging was a struggle, but he stayed still.
"You are the exact kind of..Monster..", he spat the last word, literally. "That I'm doing all this to learn how to kill.", It was just too much for him. The Aschen..Thing. Touched him. It smiled, and laughed, like it was a person, but it wasn't. It tried to help him, but now that just felt like a mockery. His skin crawled, he felt like he was covered in muck from her touch.
Something in him changed, his glare shifting from pure hatred, to a sort of cold detachment. The kind somebody has when they truly are about to something awful. The stare of a killer."I'm going to put a fucking bullet in ever last one of you genocidal maniacs.", he spoke cooly now, his voice almost monotone, but the raw malice behind it was obvious, and imminence. "You might want to leave, unless you'd like to be my first."
Instead of setting the weapon aside the cyborg took it along with him to his shooting lane with his rifle case and began setting the whole rig up again. He was determined to shoot today god damn it. The rifle laid sleeping in a nest of cut foam, the sharp angles and soft curves of the weapon gave off an expensive vibe in and of it's self, the optic setting ontop of it spoke nearly the same.
He couldn't help but ease drop on his guest conversation.... Issac stopped mid action and started to move to intervene ...
He closed the distance with a measured pace, something close to a stalking panther making the last few moments towards an unsuspecting pray, He slide between the two adults easily enough.
Tho he was about the same height as Gerrit Issac met the young man's hate with a calmness that warned of sudden violence.
" Easy now Gerrit. You can't blame miss Elanna for the actions of some. Soldiers do as Soldiers do. If you're upset at her you might as well be upset with myself. I've done my fair share of cruel things and you seem to be in an awful hurry to do the same boy." His tone was as measured as his steps where. An observant man might notice that while Issac hadn't moved his hand towards his weapon, he had set his feet , left about a half step behind, with his hands sitting open about waist high in a non-offensive manner; splayed as if almost cautioning a halt. The fact of the matter was Issac was more than ready to catch a bow from the young man, or restrain him should he make a move for the pistol. He had lived long enough to know what the sort of hate in Gerrits eyes lead to.
Military training and years of martial programming overtook the brief moment of shock, but through that brief moment there was clarity. Elanna's mind went from the seemingly feminine, caring woman trying to teach a disadvantaged individual to a hardened killing machine.
Her muscles tensed up, and both arms went up to about chest level, with her left foot slightly forward, right foot slightly back. She was assuming the stance that was ingrained with her CQC training. It was not unlike a boxer's stance, with the rear hand slightly higher than the forward hand, palms open and out, it was clearly a defensive stance, but one where she could react quickly.
"What happened to your friends; what happened to this planet was a travesty that is unforgivable." Elanna replied, her voice cold, careful, but assuring. "It is a travesty that goes against everything we as a people stand for, and those responsible have been made to pay for their atrocities." She added.
She caught Isaac out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her attention focused on Garrit, his hands, his stance, she hardly flinched as the table was thrown over, ammunition clattering in every direction. No she remained quiet, ready to engage and eliminate the threat should he decide to move in.
"But killing me will not bring them back." She protested. "It wouldn't make you any better than the cold blooded bastards who murdered your friends, you and me, we both bleed the same red blood." Elanna said aloud. "We have all been hurt by the actions of a brutal regime, that regime did not represent the interests of my people." She explained.
Though as hatred turned to detatchment, and indifference, Elanna made a subtle nod towards Isaac, the subtle nod that could be picked up by most military types, it was a nonverbal signal, Elanna's right hand also twitched, making a circular motion with her index finger, she was non-verbally instructing Isaac to move slightly adjacent, making a wide 'V' position with Elanna and Isaac facing Garrit, so that they could adequately respond to any escalation.
"Take a deep breath, don't so something you might regret, we can talk this over." Elanna pleaded.
And she could tell as well that even though the woman was most likely well trained; but even with issac between them Asaca knew trhat things just might not end up the right way. So thinking quckly she called out. "Madam, Do you need some aid ?" Anything to get Elanna out of the crosshairs, perhaps a drink or someone to talk to ? Her voice was soothing, almost like silk. though ith ad a very strange almost supernatural tone to it, like an accent that felt from a different realm entirely.
Asaca only knew the planets history, not its enemies, and honestly for her, if she could make more friends in that area, then by all means she'd so just that! even if it meant sticking her neck out for another and quite possibly unarming another man to do so. But with her two meter height Asaca herself towered over the other woman, hell over the other men too. But she was also scared, mostly because of others finding out what she was and sending word to one who wanted her family dead.
But of course two of that family survived, seven brothers, two daughters. Onhly the daughters survived. But Asaca didnt know that.... yet
though Issac could see an odd almost firelike spark in Asaca's normally dull grayred eyes
Something made her happy
It slows the world around you, provides shocking clarity as your veins turn to ice. It's what can change a man from humble, and honest, to a sociopath.
It was that frightening latter that had swallowed Gerrit up whole. His body was rigid, his posture almost in-humanly perfect, all the fire died out of his eyes. An absolute emotionless void replaced it. He looked like someone in a trance, or someone without a soul. Whatever the case, to humans at least, his appearance would be unnatural, the kind of unnatural that was just wrong. That made people around him uncomfortable.
Hell, maybe the Devil himself had gotten a foothold, who knows. That's what's Gerrit's mom would have said, if she was still alive.
His eyes remained locked on Elanna, narrowing as she adjusted her stance. He was right, military, plain as day. He ignored her empty apologizes, and while he didn't break eye contact he began to pay more attention to Issac. The man must've thought he was rather graceful, but Gerrit could hear him easily. Hard steps, the creaks of joints, his breath. Right now the simple human that was Gerrit was in sensory-overdrive.
"Easy now,"
Gerrit's face, though still hard as stone, creased into a hollow smirk. He let Issac finish his little rant, barely listening. That man, while obviously a soldier, and great marksmen, was wrong. When Issac finally shut up, Gerrit exhaled. "You don't know what you're talking about, Issac." His eyes stayed locked with Elanna. "Cruel? I'm in no rush to do anything cruel. I refuse to do anything cruel. Vampires, demons, bandits, slavers, Aschen..", he spoke the last word with an intense venom. "Those are my targets. Creatures, monsters. Not people. And if you really think being a soldier pardons you for the things you've done..It doesn't."
He finally broke his stare with the Aschen woman, his empty eyes locking with Issac's.
"Soldiers do as soldiers do"? He laughed. "It must be nice, to able to justify doing horrible things by blaming someone else. It must help you sleep at night, to have put yourself in a position where somebody else could decide your morals for you. Tell you what was right, and what wasn't. I had heard great things about you," he turned, walking over to his gun on the ground, and snatching it up, shoving it directly into the holster. He wasn't dumb, he made it obvious he wasn't going to use it. He was outmatched by leagues. "But if that's something you truly believe in, you're a weak coward, who admits to being unable to think for himself."
That was when Asaca spoke up. Her voice was sweet, but her attempts to aid an Aschen just made her sound repulsive to Gerrit.
It was beyond time to leave. He'd learn somewhere else, buy somewhere else. This was a mistake, Terra was the last spot he thought he'd find Aschen apologists, but here they were. He fished in his back pocket, icy eyes once again fixed on Elanna. He produced a credit slip for 2k in Terran, and placed it on the overturned table, mumbling that it was for the damages, ammo, and lesson.
"All three of you can relax. I'm not a smart person, but I'm not suicidal." He walked past the three of them, desiring a shower to get their filth off. "I wouldn't be so thoughtless as to attack someone at a gun range."
"...Range is closed, please take your gear and head out... Thank you all for comming out today, Next time is free of charge. " He said with a lethargic tone before disappearing the same direction as Gerrit. He watched the boy until he left, no sense letting him get the drop on Someone on their way out for what ever misguided reason. Who killed who during what conflict was a petty thing unless you actually saw a person doing it... just blaming it on a group of people didn't accomplish much.. Issac knew this first hand.
After Gerrit left Issac when to the far edge of the shop and unlocked a door leading to a stair case, and then wandered down stairs to his home.
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.
"I'm Going to need thirty-eight clips of 7.62x51mm USO sniper rounds. I'm also going to need 3 smoke grenades."
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.
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.
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.
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 soldier patted his rifle affectionately, "Besides, This rifle has seen us live through thousands of battles. why would I get rid of it?"
"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."
The box was easy enough to find , it had Helgan's stamp on nearly every side with a label in large black letters.
The cyborg brought the create ammunition back to the front counter and counted out the desired amount. He'd have to take one of the rounds apart later and satisfy his curiosity on the matter.
"Asaca, Would you please go grab 3 of the m18 smoke grenades from storage, they're on the top left in a green wooden box." He called to his co-worker.
" So, what brings you to this planet? I heard something about a quarry, and you don't need smoke for Elk. " he mused.
"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."
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."
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
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.
" 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 .
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?"
"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."
Piano wire, for a bow string, Can we say "one wrong move and cut your fingers off ?" Very good class!
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.