Chp. 6: Arms Show
Shooting Range
February 7, 2020
The next day, General Ironwood, the Ace Operatives, Keaton, Alex, Cassandra, Bulldog, Missionary, Ice Pick, and Steel were all gathered inside a large shooting range. They all stood next to a couple of tables with weapons placed on them. The first table had various Atlesian weapons, and the other table had various American weapons placed on it.
"Today, we will all be introducing weapons from our nations explaining how they function and trying them out," Ironwood explained.
"So in other words, we try out your weapons, while you try out our weapons?" Steel asked.
"Correct," Ironwood answered.
"Right. Let's see your weapons first," Keaton said as he walked up to the table with the Atlesian weaponry placed on top of it.
"Our cartridges and rounds contain three different kinds of Dust: Fire, Ice, and Lightning.
Keaton picks up an Atlesian rifle and examines it for a moment before looking up at the Ace-Ops' leader.
"That is Atlas's standard issue rifle. It fires 5 and 45 millimeter cartridge rounds and can fire up to up to four hundred to five hundred meters," Clover explained. "Go ahead and try it."
Keaton picks up a clip from the table and loads it into the rifle. He aims the rifle at a target and after a short pause, he fires off several rounds before lowering it.
"It handles okay," he said as he set the rifle back onto the table.
Bulldog approaches the table and picks up a large pistol.
"Sidearm?" he asked.
"Yeah. This pistol here fires 9 millimeter cartridge rounds and fires up to forty-five to fifty meters," Harriet answered.
Bulldog grabs a clip and loads it into the pistol before cocking it. He took aim at a nearby target and fires off a few rounds at it. He lowered the gun and placed it back onto the table.
"Slightly heavy for a pistol," Bulldog said.
Alex notices a rocket launcher on the table and picks it up and puts it over his shoulder.
"Rocket launcher?" Alex asked.
"This rocket launcher fires off rockets containing a good amount of Fire Dust. Make a very nice explosion upon impact," Elm said.
Alex grabs a rocket off of the table and loads it onto the rocket launcher. He aims it at a far away target and launches the rocket, destroying the target in an explosion. Alex sets the rocket launcher back onto the table before looking back at Elm.
"Sweet boom," he said.
Cassandra looks at all the Atlesian weapons for a moment before spotting a short sword. She picks it up off the table and examines it for a moment before looking up at General Ironwood.
"Do all your men carry these swords here, General?" Cassandra asked.
"They are for up close combat, Sergeant," Ironwood answered.
"Do you guys not carry swords?" Vine asked.
"No, we either carry knives, small shovels, and/or hatchets," Ice Pick answered.
"Some of Earth's militias do use machetes and other weaponry. Even makeshift weapons made from random objects in some cases," Steel said.
"We used to use bayonets, but not anymore," Missionary added.
"Now let's see your weapons," Ironwood said. "And since you don't have any Dust, What do you use to fire off your ammunition?"
"We use gunpowder, but for our modern weaponry, we use nitrocellulose," Missionary answered.
"Gunpowder and nitro-what-now?" Harriet asked.
"Gun powder is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. And nitrocellulose carries the majority of the chemical energy used to propel a projectile from a gun barrel. It is the result of treating cellulose with nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid," Ice Pick explained.
"I... don't understand any of that," Marrow said.
Clover walks over to the table with the Terran weaponry. He picks up a rifle and examines it for a moment before turning around to face Keaton.
"Can you tell me about this?" Clover asked.
"That is an M4 Carbine rifle. It's our standard issue U.S. military rifle. It has semi-automatic and fully automatic firing modes, and fires 5.56 and 45 millimeter cartridges and its firing distance is up to five hundred to six hundred meters" Keaton explained.
"Go ahead and give it a shot," Ice Pick said.
Clover picks up a clip from the table and loads it into the rifle before cocking it. He aims it at a target and fires a few rounds into it. He then switches the rifle to automatic and then fires a couple streams of bullets at the target, emptying the clip.
"Nice ain't it?" Alex asked.
"Not bad at all," Clover replied.
General Ironwood approaches the table and picks up a pistol.
"How about this?" Ironwood asked.
"Our standard issue sidearm, the M17. It fires 9 millimeter caliber rounds that go up to fifty meters," Steel answered.
The Atlesian General examines the pistol for a moment before grabbing a clip from the table and loads it into the pistol and cocks it. He aims the pistol at a nearby target before firing shot after shot until he empties out the clip inside the gun.
"I take it that you like it?" Keaton asked.
"Not bad. But I prefer my pistol," Ironwood answered.
Vine picks up a sniper rifle and examines it for a moment before looking up at the marines and army men.
"Your long distance weapon?" he asked.
"The M24 SWS. This bolt-action sniper rifle fires 7.62 and 51 cartridge rounds that go up to 800 meters," Cassandra explained. "Try it out."
Vine loads a clip into the sniper rifle, and then aims it at a far away target. He soon fires off a few shots at the target before lowering the rifle down.
"It seems to work well when you master it," Vine said.
As Vine sets the sniper rifle back down onto the table, Marrow looks down at the weapons for a moment, and soon picks up a shotgun.
"So how about this thing?" the dog Faunus asked.
"The Mossberg 590A1 fires off 12 gauge rounds, effective at forty meters. This thing does some serious damage to up close targets," Bulldog answered.
Bulldog takes the shotgun out of Marrow's hands and picks up a shotgun shell from the table. He loads it into the shotgun and pumps it. He hands it back to Marrow and points at a nearby target.
"Shot at that target there," Bulldog said.
Marrow aims the shotgun at the target, and after a short pause, he fires off the weapon, leaving behind a large hole in the middle of the target. He widened his eyes at the results.
"That's some serious damage," he said before setting the shotgun back on the table.
Elm looks around at the table of weapons for a moment before noticing a rocket launcher on the table. She picks up the large weapon and mounts it over her shoulder.
"I'm guessing that this is your military's rocket launcher?" Elm asked.
"Yes. This here is the Mk 154 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon. Its rockets reach up to five hundred meters when fired. And it costs thirteen thousand dollars to fire a rocket from this motherfucker," Alex explained.
Elm lowers the rocket launcher and picks up a rocket, and loads it into the launcher. She raises the rocket launcher at a far away target. Elm took careful aim and fired the rocket at the target, destroying it. Elm sets down the rocket launcher onto the table. She turns her head back at Alex.
"I like this thing," Elm said with a smirk.
"Your weapons are fascinating," Ironwood said.
"Too bad you can't have them," Missionary said.
"Unless your leaders allow it," Harriet said.
"Which they haven't," Steel replied.
"So what now?" Cassandra asked.
"We're gonna see if we can get into contact with the Happy Huntresses tomorrow," Keaton answered.
"Well this should be fun," Marrow said.
"Just let us do the talking and I'm sure she'll be willing to work with us," Cassandra said.
"Honestly I don't think this is a good idea," Harriet said.
"Would you rather that they go vigilante and steal supplies for Mantle?" Ice Pick asked.
"Either way, they're gonna find out about this one way or another. So we might as well tell them now, or risk them working against us," Vine said.
"Zeki is right. Besides, this might prevent them from turning on Atlas," Bulldog said.
