Calibration

Posted on Sun Feb 16th, 2020 @ 6:00pm by Lieutenant Sovar

Mission: Mission 2 - Fallout
Location: Deck F - MACO Quarters
Timeline: Before Rescue Mission
1014 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

The smell is offensive but manageable.

It was the same thing Sovar thought to himself every time he entered a space with a concentrated group of crew members. With the state of their irradiated water and food supplies, hygiene was a secondary concern at best for most the crew. Personally, he'd been forced to remove the sandy substrate from the decorative succulents in his quarters and use it as an abrasive exfoliant to reduce the dead skin and bacteria that might contribute to his own odor. The plants had been a small sacrifice to make.

"I am looking for Sergeant Chang," Sovar said abruptly to the first MACO he saw.

Minna had been down on the planet loading algae canisters into shuttles for a few hours, but when word came that the XO was missing she hitched a ride back to the ship in anticipation of the inevitable search party that would be forming. Nobody asked or ordered it, but she knew that not even the major had more actual combat experience making her the natural choice for security on that team.

She had laid out six phaser rifles and six phase pistols, and just in case the energy weapons didn’t function as expected in whatever environment they were headed to she had plan B in a shoulder holster; an ancient revolver chambered in .44 magnum with an optical scope. It was crude, loud and slow to reload, but in Minna’s expert hands it was devastatingly effective.

She heard the doors to the armory open and quickly caught site of the Vulcan science officer who asked for her by name.

“You found her” Minna replied as she gave the cylinder on the revolver a gentle turn, clicked it closed and then holstered the archaic weapon.

The click drew the Vulcan's eyes to the weapon, and he watched her holster it. It was a non-standard issue weapon, which made it an anomaly. Anomalies were curious.

"I am Lieutenant Sovar," he said, and then immediately, "I am not familiar with that weapon. What is it?"

"An antique firearm. Chemical propelled projectile. Loud, messy, difficult to master and no stun setting, but it requires no power and ignores most modern shields designed for energy weapons. It came in handy more than once during the Xindi campaign."

Sovar lifted an eyebrow but kept his remarks on kinetic weaponry - crude but effective - to himself.

She stood up and looked at him more closely.

"What can I do for you Lieutenant?"

He lifted an object in his hand to present to her. It was a Vulcan phase pistol, elegant but clearly designed with efficiency in mind. It was a triumph of function with a minor concession to form and aesthetics.

"Given the protocols for ground-based operations, it seemed wise to correct a minor misalignment with my sidearm. I believe you can assist me."

"That shouldn't be a problem" she replied as she took the proffered weapon. "I'll set up the range" she said as she picked up her own rather battered-looking phase pistol and clipped it to her belt before leading the science officer out of the armory proper and into the adjacent vent shaft that was also set up as a target range with proper shielding and armor to absorb most low-powered energy blasts and even projectiles. She made no effort whatsoever to conceal her limp as she moved, though the external brace on her left leg made attempting to conceal it irrelevant anyway.

Sovar had noted the state of her phase pistol and wondered if it would pass a quality control inspection. Humans often had an irrational attachment to items with so-called 'sentimental value,' and it was sometimes compromising. "Your sidearm appears to be... well-utilized."

"It's the one I was issued on reporting to USS Enterprise when we went after the Xindi. Like me, it's been through quite a lot."

The Vulcan lifted an eyebrow but didn't pursue the line of questioning any further. The armoury and MACO barracks were not in his portfolio, and it hardly seemed his place to inquire after the sergeant's injury.

"Alright lets see what's wrong with it."

She activated the smallest target at the far end of the shaft; a 3 centimeter disk fully 25 meters away. Those without perfect 20/20 vision wouldn't even be able to see it. She then adjusted the weapon to standard "kill" setting, but at the lowest power level, aimed and fired, all in barely two seconds.

"It's off a bit, looks like about 4% low and the left" she said without even bothering to take a second shot.

Sovar made a low noise of disapproval. "Perhaps we should obtain some quantified data..."

"Trust me" was all she said. A few seconds later she had flipped down a small shelf built into the wall, removed a small tool that was built into said shelf and popped open the weapon's access panel. A few quick adjustments later, but with the panel still open she again brought the weapon to firing position and let off a shot, again in barely two seconds, and this time the target vanished with a dead-center hit.

"Reset, 10 printings, random position, high speed" she ordered the computer and quickly targets appeared at the same 3cm size and 25m distance, but at different positions on the far wall. This time she only took roughly a half second between shots and hit each, dead center, every time.

"That should do it" she said as she closed the weapon's access port and handed it back to him.

"I appreciate you bringing your proficiency to bear on my behalf," Sovar said, taking the weapon back from her. He gave it a critical look - as if to suggest he wasn't entirely sure it would perform as well as he'd just seen. "Will you be accompanying the away teams to the surface?"

“That was the plan” she replied as she closed the workbench and turned off the range. “Hopefully weapons won’t be needed, but if they are, at least yours is now properly calibrated.”

 

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