No Guns, No Glory
"Hey?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever wonder why we carry guns?"
No, Private Baker had never wondered why the security guards of the Pan-Pacific Defence Corps carried guns. He'd never even asked either. All he'd known when he'd signed up for the PPDC was that his family would get some extra ration cards, and he'd be given a steady wage for standing in shatterdomes for eight hours a day. Not the most glamorous of jobs, but it put food on the bloody table, didn't it? And he wasn't going to jeopardize that job by talking to Private Smith.
So, as much as he wanted to say all of the above, he kept quiet.
"Baker?"
"No."
Kept quiet for about three seconds. Both guards stood there in hallway 18, junction H-A, within the Hong Kong shatterdome, awaiting the arrival of Striker Eureka from Sydney. They, and all that remained of the Corps. But while the engineers would fawn over the most advanced Jaeger still in service, and others would press Gypsy Danger to be combat ready, they'd do what they'd always done. Stand in silence.
"Seriously? You never asked?"
Minus the 'in silence' bit. Baker actually looked at Smith this time.
"I'm a security guard. I figured guns would be part of the job."
"Yeah, but…" Smith waved his firearm in a clear breach of trigger discipline. This is a MP5. A sub-machine gun. Designed to wound or maim other humans."
"For Christ's sake, I know how guns work."
"Exactly. So what good are they going to be against a kaiju?"
Baker remained silent. Guns were no good against kaiju. Nothing but Jaegers were good against kaiju, barring heavy ordnance that included nuclear weapons. It was the reason why policemen in places like Sydney didn't bother shooting at kaiju, they herded the screaming people to shelters, or sometimes ran screaming themselves.
"So, we're security guards right? Part of the last line of defence for humanity?" Smith waved his gun again. "So why are we carrying around loaded firearms inside a shatterdome?"
"Security, I guess?"
"Security against what? You're not going to have infiltrators or anything, and if a kaiju attacked a shatterdome, we'd be of zero use."
"So…"
"So," Smith said, "the question must be asked. "Why do we have loaded guns inside a shatterdome when our enemies aren't even human?"
Baker opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it. He was going to say something along the lines of "discipline," but they were led by Stacker "Kaiju Killer" Pentecost. The man was a walking lighting rod of discipline. Not all the guns and glory in the world could match his iron fist.
"Well?"
"Morale, or something?" Baker ventured. "I mean, remind the guys and girls that a chain of command exists, or…well…" He sighed. "Yeah, I don't know."
Smith smiled like an idiot. The worst kind of idiot. The kind of idiot who was smart, but didn't realize that being smart could get them into trouble.
"Just do me a favour," Baker said. "Don't ask anyone else this?"
"Huh?" Smith asked. "Why?"
"Because we're on a budget, and if the boys upstairs realize that there's no need for security guards with automatic weapons in a fight with monsters that can't be harmed by said weapons, then suddenly I risk being out of a job."
"But who cares about jobs when we're in a fight for the future of humanity?" Smith asked.
"You might be out of one too."
His smile faded and Smith fell silent. Both men returned their gazes down hallway 18, junction H-A. Stood there, in silence that lasted a lifetime.
"Say, is it lunch break yet?"
"Fifteen minutes."
"Ah."
Or, rather silence that lasted five seconds.
Whichever came first.
A/N
So, am I the only one who watched Pacific Rim and asked "wait, why are the security guards carrying rifles?" Like, what are they actually going to use them against?