Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Aug 19, 2018 19:20:36 GMT -6
The Cruiser Hidalgo weapons range consisted of merely two firing lanes so crewmen had to inscribe one day ahead of time to make use of it. There were two armorers on station working in shifts so there was always someone at the entrance keeping record, handing out ammunition and doing tool work on the side if anyone needed to get parts fixed or replaced. Even with maintenance guns broke like any other tool so it was important to have someone on station to take care of such needs.
Brenda Cantrell parents hailed from a small town of the rural mid west so she'd been surrounded by firearms, learning how to handle a handgun since she was seven teen. She wasn't an avid gun collector, instead she'd bought a reliable 9mm FNX Tactical in black with the treaded muzzle. If she was going to own a gun she had to make sure it was one of the best. At this point she'd owned that handgun for a few years and frequently put rounds through it since it gave her something to do.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 20, 2018 6:23:45 GMT -6
Jacob had grown up between both the Upper South and Lower South and had been surrounded by firearms from a young age, learning to handle a bolt action rifle at age twelve. By the time he had entered the academy at sixteen he become a decent shot with most types of weapon available on the Texas civilian market with a preference for bolt actions or semiautomatic handguns.
While he was something of a collector he had left the majority of his firearms back home lent out to friends and family. He had brought along his modified SIG Sauer P320 9mm Tacops which he had personally fit with a replaced trigger and added a threaded barrel. While he was familiar with the weapon’s reputed drop problem he had seen to fixing it himself. It didn’t match the standard specifications af this point but he felt like it was an improvement to the original. The fact it could be converted to hold .45ACP was a bonus; he liked the kick from that round.
It was one of those days he had converted it to the.45 configuration that he was at the range, the other components tucked away safely in the conversion kit.
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Aug 20, 2018 13:25:35 GMT -6
Brenda arrived shortly after Jacob, her Smith and Wesson anti glare ballistic glasses already on, a pair of ear plugs already stuck inside her both ears to prevent any long lasting damage.
With all the patience in the world she placed a paper target and went over to load her handgun with a full magazine of pure standard issue FMJ.
The Lt. fired a round every few seconds or so, not wanting to make too much of a ruckus by unloading down range. She would take a shot and then send the target paper five yards further in order to make corrections after each successful shot. The first four rounds she fired one handed since the grip allowed for this at short ranges. As the target got farther she switched for a two handed stance, needing that extra stability to line up each shot.
Most of the targets landed square on the upper shoulder and head area. Brenda wasnt too amazed since she had time to spare to get her aim straight which might not happen in a real fire fight.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 20, 2018 18:11:46 GMT -6
Jacob was not quite as hesitant as Brenda about unloading down range, firing at a rate of about one shot every second to a half second. He could have fired faster but the larger caliber bullets had a lot more recoil than the standard 9mm. As much as he might like the feeling of firing the larger rounds they were not as easy to control so he had to use a two handed grip
Most of his shots had been towards the center of mass on his own paper target at a starting range of about nine meters, with the target set to move at approximately the same speed as a run. Each landed roughly where he had aimed with four to the center of mass, two in the head and one into the throat. The last one had been something of a trick shot instead of something he would actually take. He was actually kind of impressed that he had managed to make that one. He replaced his target and ran through two more magazines of .45 before he lowered his weapon, satisfied after going through two more advanced drills with the ammo including one with the target receding in a zigzag pattern. That one hadn’t been his best shooting but it was not a beginner’s drill.
Now it was time to reconfigure his Sig Sauer back to the 9mm. Fortunately an aftermarket kit made this a fairly simple task.
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Aug 21, 2018 13:05:02 GMT -6
Brenda cleared the breach and unloaded the empty magazine prior to holstering the handgun back. From her tunic breast pocket she produced a zip lock bag in which she deposited all the 14 spent brass casings. Since Jacob and her frequently visited at the same hours she encouraged the young man to keep his station clean after he was done shooting.
It was then when she saw him tinkering with his handgun, a nice expensive Sig. Brenda had originally wanted to buy a Sig but the FNX was a few hundred dollars cheaper and it was still a fire arm of fairly excellent quality.
" Doesn't take long to convert it, huh?" She would ask, removing her earplugs shortly after.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 21, 2018 18:57:12 GMT -6
Jacob looked up when he had a voice behind him and looked over his shoulder. “What? Oh, hold on.”
He pulled out his earplugs and put them in the same bag as his cases. Setting it down by the half disassembled Sig, he nodded. The firearm had been expensive but he had been fortunate enough to use his stepfather’s military discount and his biological’s credit card. There were some benifits to who his old man was even if he hated him. The feeling was mutual after all.
“Yeah, at least compared to other firearms. I couldn’t have taken care of the trigger problem myself but I can at least change out a barrel.”. The process wasn’t exactly that simple but it wasn’t exactly that different to how you would strip a pistol to clean it. “The important part is to have everything clean before you reassemble it.”
He held up the custom made threaded barrel for her inspection . “Technically that part’s nonstandard, but you never know when you will be given a silencer, you know?”
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Aug 22, 2018 10:33:23 GMT -6
Jacob like any other men was fascinated by dangerous toys. It was no surprise to see someone as technically capable as he was become a pilot.
" I got a treaded muzzle as well for the exact same reason." The FN tactical came with a universal muzzle capable of mounting any standard issue "can".
Anyone needed a hobby on this long journey or else die of boredom. These cruisers weren't particularly known for housing much entertainment options even if men and women lived in cohabitation.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 22, 2018 12:13:40 GMT -6
“I noticed that about yours a couple of weeks after I got here; that’s why I ever bothered to pursue it, remember?”
While he might have grown up around guns they had been more of a tool in the southwest than in the American Midwest where Brenda had been born. That area has beenm devistated by the colony drop of Operation Stardust and a great deal of American farmland had been destroyed in the process. While firearms were useful in the Texas area for defending cattle and home defense they had not become a means of survival. Even if he was familiar with guns, he would defer to someone with more experience.
Jacob’s father in law had been able to connect his son to a list of local gunsmiths who had been able to take care of whatever upgrades or modifications that he had wanted done to his sidearm. Getting the replacement barrel for his Sig had been simple. All he had to do was send the contact in question his original unthreaded barrel and then wait.
Jacob was pretty handy with guns but in truth his main hobby was music even if he spent a good bit of time at the range.
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Aug 23, 2018 13:16:12 GMT -6
Brenda was convinced it would take her a good hour to do a conversion of her own. She was much more skilled manning an instrument panel so complex it made an airliner pilot scratch its head in confusion. Not surprisingly she had been fond of the idea of starting their own band and joined as the sound designer, even bringing her own keyboard to their practices.
" I can't wait until we run into the Edelweiss. It's the only way we'll get enough time to learn a few new songs." Level 1 battlestations was not the best time to do rehearsals in the mess hall.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 23, 2018 14:29:01 GMT -6
Jacob nodded, taking the barrel back and placing it alongside the rest of the parts to his Sig. He had been cleaning and handling firearms for a long time and found converting the P320 to be not that much different than cleaning it and rebuilding it with different parts. There was more to it that but it was easier to think of it like that.
“Maybe the Boss will let us put on a show for the guys. Unlikely but you never know. We might as well ask.” He was doubtful she’d let them because it was important that the crew stayed focused but he liked the idea. It never hurt to put people into a good mood before they had to risk their life for you.
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Aug 26, 2018 18:19:21 GMT -6
" Might be worth a shot." Brenda was not opposed to the idea, feeling confident that they could easily convince Carolina. During Brenda's brief career as an specialist she had meet all kind of commanding officers and straight away she could tell their's was not exactly strict. The young Lt. commander still operated the Hidalgo efficiently even if she was lax in some other regards.
Oddly enough Carolina of all people walked through the range door, waving at her two subordinates as they discussed matters of their own. Newtype or not she hadn't been aware of their conversation a few minutes prior, regardless she too was there to fire a few magazines down range from her MAC Mle 1950- a French manufactured semiautomatic handgun in 9mm which became the "official" handgun for France's military and law enforcement agencies. The blue haired acting Captain was obsessed with French culture, reciting their poems in it's original tongue while sipping Cognac in her spare time and of course this also translated to fire arms. Since she had been a member of the elite ruling class she had always access to nice range toys and that pistol was only a part of a much larger collection.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 26, 2018 20:17:58 GMT -6
Jacob turned to watch the Captain after he pulled the slide back into place on his Sig with a look of surprise on his face. She handled the antique pistol like a pro, letting her shoulders and back absorb the brunt of the recoil. This also lead the sniper’s eye to catch further move toward her front which he tried not to stare at.
“Carolina sure is something. I mean not many people can easily afford such a vintage piece as that.” he muttered half to himself as he stroked his chin watching. He leaned forward next to Brenda and raised an eyebrow as he continued to watch. He wasn’t a newtype so instead he had to study her posture and the look on her face to try and gauge her mood. All he did get though was an impression of an old memory of a girl he had met on the range when he was in high school.
Back before he had made up his mind to have become a pilot or a marine he had ran into a young woman who had said her name was Hattori. Hattori... Something. He couldn’t remember what was her first name as she had introduced herself in the Japanese fashion and he’d always addressed her as such. The asian girl with the short cropped hair and piercing eyes had explained how she was the niece of one of the earliest mobile suit pilots of the federation and had happily made the rest of his high school days until he enrolled in the academy one of the fondest memories of his life.
He tried to keep the somewhat untoward natural reaction to those thoughts to wind up interacting with his analysis of the Lieutenant Commander’s stance. This was the problem with being surrounded by newtypes for a young oldtype man like himself.
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Post by Oberst on Aug 29, 2018 14:17:43 GMT -6
Brenda was not well versed in the world of handguns. That pistol their CO was carrying resembled old worn out ones she had seen for cheap at pawn shops all over rural USA.
" Doesn't look that fancy from here. Doesn't even have rails..." Little did she know French military fire arms never made it to the commercial market and were scrapped after concluding their service life, to this day only a handful remained in private collections or lost to time. The side arm was a simbol of the Federation officer Corp and Carolina was not afraid to show the great power and influence her family exerted by carrying such weapon.
The blunette released the empty magazine, securing it in the holster before loading a fresh one which she emptied in rapid succession to practice a more rigid two handed stance. The original MLE used one hand grips but she had changed then for a more modern ergonomic design out of convenience and the need to fire quickly and accurately.
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Post by vgraumann on Aug 29, 2018 14:57:29 GMT -6
Jacob shook his head and suppressed a chuckle. He might not have any truly antique handguns himself but he had certainly read up on them and even managed a little hands on time with a couple of them. The MLE is not one of those, however. Those old handguns you found in pawn shops were like goldmines for the young man who had enough connections to be able to restore them. Had he been able to he would have brought a restored 1911A2 with the original wooden grips he had found in such a store. It wasn’t a terribly impressive handgun overall but it had been one he wanted for a long time. There was a restored Lee Einfield hanging among the range’s weapons, one of the jewels of his collection.
“handgun rails weren’t a thing back when that was produced. That, and it’s rare to see one of those in the civilian market.” He recognized the MLE but he wasn’t familiar with it.
He watched their CO empty the seven round magazine and grinned, impressed. He had read about the grips before and was pleasantly surprised to see that she had replaced them. He hoped she still had the originals because she would have devalued the piece otherwise.
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Post by Oberst on Sept 1, 2018 17:08:25 GMT -6
Carolina gathered she spent brass that was laying around the booth, pressing a button that would bring the paper target back so she could inspect her grouping. Her accuracy was consistent even rapid firing the pistol. The blunette went over to talk to her subordinates who seemingly had their eyes on her as soon as she walked in.
" How would you guys like to play us a few songs later today?" She would inquire knowing they would enter potential enemy territory, The way Carolina saw it there was little to no reason to get really strict with the on board regulations. They were all relatively young officers or not and she preferred to aim for a greater unit cohesion regardless of strict military code.
Later that day ...
With a little bit of help, Brenda had set up the sound system on the Hidalgo caffeteria. All of the instruments had been connected and the speaker system volume was fully optimized. The rest of the band was tunning their instruments when Carolina called out to Jacob, having matters to address with him beforehand.
They would go to her quarters which meant this was important. Once there she sat him down and handed Jacob a datapad with information regarding a new arrival: The Gundam F90 unit one was to arrive soon and she had decided to ask him if he would be willing to become it's pilot.
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