Human Weaponry

Chapter 4: In Action

"Oh, right. Most human weapons are capable of rapid-fire. All those machine guns mounted on the tank over there, this rifle, and many others. The difference is that on small arms such as this," Sergeant Gerrick gestured toward the rifle, "it is select fire, meaning you can choose to switch between one shot per trigger pull, or continuous shooting until the trigger is let go."

Not only are these weapons accurate, but they are capable of rapid-fire too? Just like our plasma weapons?

I looked over at the target dummy we had been shooting at. The rifle round fired by Gerrick had torn a large hole in the middle of it. I can only imagine what it would look like after only a few seconds of sustained fire. There must be downsides though.

"I assume that rapid-fire significantly reduces accuracy?"

"You are correct, the recoil makes it much harder to accurately aim the weapon, so when it's used, most soldiers elect to burst fire. This is when they hold the trigger down for three to four shots, before resetting."

Thomas interjected, "Additionally, less precision means in combat, constant use of rapid-fire will deplete a soldier's ammunition supply quicker."

That would seem to be the main downfall of physical ammunition. Human soldiers would have to carry hundreds of these projectiles on them, plasma storage is much more compact.

Gerrick turned to me, "Now, this will sound a little strange, but you might feel less recoil shooting the rifle, rather than the small pistol. You have three points of contact, two on your hands, and one in your shoulder. Additionally, this model is equipped with recoil dampeners in the stock."

I was starting to have second thoughts about trying the larger weapon. It clearly was not built for me. I picked it up, testing its weight, not too heavy. I walked over to the testing range, "It's already loaded and ready, correct?"

"Yes, all you have to do is flip the switch on the side to the semi-auto setting."

I found the switch, moved it once, and brought the weapon up to my shoulder. This time I was trying to aim. I took a deep breath, looked through the sight, this one was much easier to use. It had a shape with a dot in the middle, signifying where to aim. I put my finger on the trigger.

I never did get to fire the weapon. It happened rather quickly, a loud alert system began blaring and the doors to the testing area closed. A robotic voice came over speakers mounted in the wall, "ALERT. INCOMING CRAFT. TAG DESIGNATION: HOSTILE."

Sergeant Gerrick looked to Thomas, "Get to your quarters, Thomas." He nodded and jogged out of the room. Gerrick then walked over to the table, took the fabric article off his head, and put on the helmet I had seen earlier. It clicked into place, connecting to his chest armor, it made a sound almost like pressurization. He turned toward me, his once cheerful face now an emotionless reflective material. He spoke, his voice now muffled: "We need to move, possible boarding craft or attack incoming."

I assumed he was receiving communications through his helmet, which was confirmed when he spoke again: "How many? No, I need to escort the VIP, have Sergeant Edwin take my place. I'll get them to the bridge, and help hold the bulkhead there." I had no idea what to do, I just stared at him, I didn't know anything about this ship. Why would there be an attack on our station? We're on outskirt territory, we picked a station to meet the humans that is close to their space. We had no records of space-faring hostiles in this area.

Gerrick now addressed me, as he picked up another rifle from the display: "Three Floriacian boarding craft incoming, one frigate out of point defense range. We're docked in your station so we can't rear the ship around to use the main cannon. They obviously know this," he loaded a magazine into the rifle, "so they're dispatching boarding parties."