Exec Two Exec

Posted on Thu Jan 25th, 2018 @ 4:50pm by Major Hailey Weston & Commander Rostra Tang

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Fleet Shooting Holoroom
Timeline: Three days before Mornin'

Hailey had studied, at least read over, the files of the senior officers of the ship even before the bulk of them had gone up in flames on that damndable shuttle, then the new ones, the former assistant department heads as they stepped into their roles, then as even newer senior officers came aboard and newer. Now, she thought, as the new Second officer, third in command of the entire ship, she would have to work on going through every one. Twenty-five hundred, give or take, files, many of them civilian, ranging from a seventeen year old crewman in the astrometrics section all the way up to reviewi g the Commodore's as well. It would occupy her for several weeks, that was for sure.

But one thing she and the Executive Officer had in common was skill with shooting and if she'd read it right, an enjoyment even. Which was why Hailey had checked previous range logs and was on her way to the Fleet holorange rather than use the one assigned to the Marines and now underutilized. Her rifle was slung over her shoulder, fully unloaded, magazine inserts facing outward to show it.

Upon entering the range, her eyes saw only four figures on the firing line, the twins of the Exec the only ones not in seperate lanes. "Two mags pulse, two seven mike mike, two fortyfive pistol, one pulse pistol." She requested from the rangemaster, a security NCO on duty here. Collecting the rounds, she made her way over to the lane next to Rostra and set them all down, unslinging her rifle and setting it down, inspecting the openings and ensuring they were unfouled. "Good afternoon, Madams Exec." Using the plural for Rostra, still somewhat confused on how to adress Dalacari.

The pair were in the lineup for the ranges, but their target range was set to extreme. In the hands of one of the twins, held up to her face, was a scope of sorts. Species to species, moon to moon, system to system, a rangefinder was a rangefinder. In the hands of the other was a rifle of sorts, the kind of which no Federation officer had laid eyes on. Rifle configuration, powered by a backpack battery unit, and with every squeeze of the trigger there was a soft blue glow that started at the back of the barrel, and ran up the entire length of the weapon in about the time it took to notice the glow in the first place. The report was less than one would expect, but there was still a report.

This was a coil gun.

The Rostra with the scope adjusted her glance, and silently the Rostra with the weapon adjusted her aim. A pause, an exhale, and a squeeze of the trigger. Another pulse of blue, and another report. When Hailey made her presence known, the two forms relaxed. One returned the scope to the table in front of them, while the other disengaged her rifle before placing it on the table. "Oh, hello. Sorry, just wanted to clear the test." one said, both with a smile on their muzzle.

"Oh, and it's just Madam Exec. Or Rostra. Please." she corrected, offering a hand. "My name is Rostra Tang. I can understand completely the..." and the speaker just up and stopped. Her twin picked up exactly where the pause left off. "... instinct to address in the plural. Dalacari are unique like that, I suppose. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind, ma'am." Hailey took Rostra's hand andmade mental note of it, then realized it was basically a shared mind as the switch of speaker bodies. "Major Hailey Weston, as of oh... A couple hours ago by now, pretty much forever, no?"

Rostra's forms each gave a giggle, "It'll feel like forever, that's a certainty. And don't worry, I promise I won't take offense at the culture shock. Believe me, we were all just as shocked when..."

"... we first encountered outsiders and they were singular life." she excused any of Hailey's confusion casually. It was to be expected.

"We evolved from swarm predators that formed a sort of cloud consciousness. A group empathy, really. Gotta surprise the whole swarm to surprise one of them..."

"... and they could more effectively hunt larger animals with the advantage of coordination their group empathy offered. Little things, hardly a half meter long..."

"... each, but full of teeth and almost always hungry. Fast forward a few thousand generations, and as they got smarter the swarm got smaller until, boom..."

"... we're just a pair each." she took the time to educate Hailey. Knowledge was the universal weapon against misunderstandings. "So, what are you using here today?" she asked, curious.

The weapon in front of Hailey was obviously non-standard, and Hailey lifted it, offering it to Rostra in case she was interested, "Custom build, high intensity pulse phaser with alternative seven millimeter slugthrower, dual magazine so it's literally just a flip of the switch, twelve millimeter laser-fused grenade launcher, all with a scope that can be set to low light, infrared, bioelectric or if required, manual lens with up to a twenty magnification." She grinned, "Brought it with me when I left my team, I'm still technically Raider special operations, despite where I am now."

Rostra indeed examined the weapon, looking at it from two perspectives as Hailey explained the design and function of each piece. "Fascinating. This would seem the ideal armament for the mid-range recon drones back home." one commented. "See, as I'm certain you recall Dalacari use..."

"... drones for our starfighter wings. We also use them for internal security, external defense, and military operations. For long range harassment and denial..."

"... though, Dalacari take a personal interest, and we use this." and she motioned to her rifle. "The GX-80. It's a third generation coil gun with an optimal range of 3 kilometers and..."

"... a field swap-able matter magazine for the internal fabricator. Spotter designates the target, signals range and variables to the shooter, shooter chooses the..."

"... most optimal round, fabricator generates the round, squeeze the trigger and the coils do the rest." she sounded quite pleased with the pinnacle of her people's long range harassment technology.

"Everything from non-lethal rounds to the bubble busters. Those are osmium tipped anti-armor rounds with an iridium core." she paused, and then motioned again, "Want to..."

"... give it a few rounds?"

Adapting to foreign technology was something Raiders had to do here and there. Klingon? Yup. Romulan? Oh yeah. Dominion? Like the back of her hand. This would be massively different, but she nodded to Rostra, "Absolutely! Three klicks is a lot further than I typically deal with, for me, if I have to engage over a hundred meters away, I'm in trouble. Normally I'm within twenty." She looked again at the coil gun, "But, how do I put it on?"

"Well, the backpack power supply is two straps here and here..." she handed it and helped Hailey put it on. It was like a backpack in any military engagement. The straps and padding helped equalize the weight distribution. "Then just hold the gun with the shoulder stock here and..."

"... look down the sight here. I'll play spotter, but just bear with me, I've never had to play spotter for someone else."

"I'll admit, I'm not used to being the shooter on something like this." Hailey rotated her shoulder to make sure it settled properly, then tucked the stock into her shoulder and sighted down the sight, "Should I assume 'll be getting targeting data through the sight?" She swung the rifle left and right experimentally, always careful with where it was pointing.

Rostra reset the targets down range, then took up position as the spotter. Training the viewer on the first target, the sights started to track the designated target as the spotter kept the scope trained on it. Distance to target, wind, air density, and then a list of suggested munitions. "You should be seeing the telemetry now. The system knows it's not a living target, so it defaults to heavier penetration rounds." she advised.

"Dalacari technology won't ever suggest lethal force against a living target as its first course of action. To take that life, you have to choose." she continued. Without actually having to look at her as she spoke, it was easy to forget that she was a binary creature.

The adjustments for changing environmental conditions were visible as they occured across the reticle and lined up the targetting dot with the crosshairs, drew a slow breath, then fired. The slightest kick to the shoulder, nothing really, and the round rnn through the target, the only evidence being the hole appearing. She released the breath, then triggered five more in faster fire, the shots scattering on target, but none in the center. "Well, no one said I was a sniper, that's for sure." She looked up from the sight, "Three kilometers, you said?"

"Nice grouping." Rostra complimented as Hailey looked up. At her question, Rostra gave a nod, "Well, I'm certain there are stories of snipers using the wind to knock out a..."

"... comms tower at double that, but three kilometers is the weapon's optimal range." and Rostra handed Hailey some thin, rectangular objects that looked dangerously parallel to clips for a large rifle like this. "Matter reserves, in case you..."

"... wanted to squeeze off a few rounds more. Just avoid the bubble busters. They might pierce through the walls of the range."

"And the hallway past that."

"And the walls past that."

Hailey turned the 'magazine' over in her hand, "While I would enjoy it, perhaps some other time. That wasn't rather well done, to be honest... That sight is remarkably accurate, however. As I said, I'm more a closer-in gal, think tactical team and short range combat, I leave the sniping to the real pros at it."

The pair gave a nod each, "I can respect that, and I have to say that I find that very brave. I'll never understand the willingness to run INTO danger, but then again you and I are literally..."

"... worlds apart. Here, let me help you out of the gear." and with that, Rostra helped Hailey remove the simple backpack unit. Mostly just ensuring that the Marine didn't get tangled up in the cord. "And while I'd hardly consider myself a pro, if it's me at the scope..."

"... I'll watch your back." she offered, more of a solidarity between crewmembers deal.

"And I'll cover your shoots." Hailey grinned, "But, would you care to try mine, since I tried yours? Rather simpler than yours, I think, but still rather effective."

The Dalacari took a look at Hailey's armament. Simpler, but still it looked effective. It didn't seem to have the range of the GX, it seemed more intimate than anything she'd used outside of a Federation issue phaser. Though, Hailey was adventurous enough to try the GX, so why not.

The pair gave a nod, "Certainly, but don't think of it as simpler. I mean, a ROCK is as simple as it comes and yet, there's a certain elegance to it wouldn't you say?" she said with a smirk while the other body moved to accept the weapon.

"Though... if you'd walk me through how to use it properly? Outside of the Federation standard phaser I've never handled a firearm that wasn't a Dalacari firearm."

"Not a problem." Hailey replied, guiding Rostra'sbhands into the right spots, the right onto the grip with the trigger, guiding the trigger finger to outside, "It's not loaded at the moment, but we'll fix that in a moment, but we always treat them like they are. You bring the stock to your shoulder and either sight through the scope or there are karats above the scope for manual sights or if it's broke. It's set to standard scope, so it's just magnified." She stepped back a quarter step, "Using your right thumb, you'll feel three switches, the one closest to you is the safety, the middle switches from phaser to slug, the third changes from single shot, three round burst or fully automatic." She let Rostra feel where they were, then visually verified the safety was on, expertly inserting the magazine from an odd angle and then stepped back, "Pull back on the lever above your right hand, it'll load the slug. Then flip the safety and you're live."

Rostra was uniquely attentive, to say the very least. Hailey may even notice that the Dalacari was hanging on every word, processing and almost absorbing each motion. Truth be told, Rostra was just thrilled at the prospect of new knowledge and the chance to learn it. With every explanation, with each instruction Rostra was a very eager student. Her thumb slid over the three switches when told about them, and all in all she held the rifle very well. The differences between it and the GX were legion, but the basic fundamentals of their design were close enough.

Though, while one form held the gun and learned all the tactile motions, the other just stood nearby and watched. Learning from another perspective. With the magazine loaded, all that was left was for the armed-and-dangerous Rostra to pull back the level as shown, and flip the safety. This was done with all the reverence belonging to a loaded weapon. There was a very minute quiver in Rostra's handle on the weapon, not in the sense that she was going to drop it or lose control, but the realization of what she was holding. Of what this was.

She looked downrange through the sights and squared up her target. Her other half looked downrange as well, though without the assistance of a scope or a sight. The choice was made: Single Shot. With that, Rostra squeezed off a round.

Off, and to the left. The next shot rang out. Off, but less. She was correcting her aim based on the perspectives from each of her forms. Two shots later, she hit her target. Hardly a hit worth celebrating, but it was something she was proud of. Safety on, hand clear of trigger, weapon down. Rostra knew how to handle a weapon.

"That was something else. The kick in the shoulder, the sound the smell... Thank you." she said to Hailey. "It's a marvelous weapon, and it terrified me for a moment to hold it." she said, in a tone that sounded of respect.

Hailey accepted the weapon carefully, then verified the safety was on, "She's pretty well behaved usually, but I wouldn't go into combat with any other rifle if I could help it, I love her versatility."

Rostra couldn't help but nod. "I'm a fan of versatility myself. Not so much in the violence down range department, but I never believe there's just one way to do something." she considered the weapon again, then returned her dual glance to Hailey. "Thank you."

"It's been wonderful to meet you, and educational to boot. I honestly don't know if I'll ever use such a mid-range weapon but it's good to know how to." she commented, before her twin took over, "Education is the greatest weapon, and it's hard to take back knowledge gained."

"I agree entirely, and the best teacher is experience, especially if you survive it." Hailey smiled, "But, ma'am, getting that experience WHILE surviving it is one of the hardest things to do, especially on any closer-in work." She switched the holding of the rifle to her left hand, then extended her right to each part of Rostra in turn, "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon and often, ma'am."

One of the forms that comprised Rostra Tang took Hailey's hand and shook it, though the other didn't. "Oh, sorry. Dalacari only shake hands once. Our standard greeting involves both forms, so.. sorry." and she corrected the social mixup by breaking tradition and shaking Hailey's hand again, with her other form.

"Oh I completely agree. It's dangerous out there in the field, close up to the action. That's why we use drones, and most of us think humans are crazy." she had a smile on, though. No offense was intended. "As for..."

"... anything else, looking forward to working with you, and yes I'll be around. It's hard to miss me." she giggled.





========

Comm. Rostra Tang
Executive Officer / Mission Advisor
USS Wellington

Major Hailey Weston
Second Officer / Marine CO
USS Wellington