You take the half-supported rifle in hand -- and immediately feel the weight. Las-guns, by their very nature, are incredibly light, being made usually of synthetic materials, with no moving parts besides the activation trigger -- but this beast is heavy, even for you. You pull it the rest of the way from the cabinet, struggling with the cumbersome and massive weapon. You grit your teeth, hefting it up. You have to brace it against your hip to even level it down the aisle.
He tugs out a small headset with an eyepiece attached, setting it on your head and attaching the data-jacks to it. After he presses a button on the side, it begins to light up, showing coolant levels, internal heat, reactor stability, and energy percentage remaining -- along with a huge [SAFE] displayed in the corner. You glance at the man, and blink.
What you thought was a fancy collar seems to be bubbling around his neck. A small vent is taking in the breathing mix of the ship and forcing it into the water contained in the clear plastic that loops around his neck. His hair color too, is not a cosmetic choice or rather, there is genuine algae drying in his hair. He gives a nod, popping the bipod down.
"Our range wouldn't be able to handle this -- if you want to test 'er, we'll need to step outside."
This...this would exhaust me walking...at least until I got stronger. I can increase the lift on my wings, but I wouldn't be able to do much with my hands.
The young man leads you up on to the hull of the ship, setting down the bipod for you. He gestures to a cliff-face and shows you how to deactivate the safety. A targeting reticule appears on your sight, and you shut your other eye to focus on it. The cliff-face in the far distance comes into immediate focus, despite being more than a few [miles] away. The young man takes many, many steps behind you. "CLEAR RANGE!" He shouts, and then gives you a nod.
You pull the trigger and open your free eye.
A beam of light burns from the barrel, like lightning leaping free of the metaphorical bottle. Night turns to day, and even you have to shut your eyes against the heat and light that radiates from the machine. The beam cuts out across the sky in an instant -- and the cliff-face explodes, leaving behind molten slag and massive cracks that cause tons upon tons of rock to tumble down into the forest. You use the lens to focus on the destruction. A three [mile] wide, jagged hole, filling with crumbling rock and dusty debris is all that remains of the cliff-face.
The las-gun hisses, its coolant tanks clicking with the strain. The reactor approaches criticality but slowly begins to dial back down to safe levels.
80% Charge Remaining
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Topic: McCreary's Planet -- (FINISHED) (Read 252018 times)