... And it is for fun

Posted on Sat Jul 2nd, 2022 @ 12:34am by 1st Lieutenant Josephine Keller & Captain Jason Tahana

Mission: Jumping Right In
Location: Main Armory
Timeline: MD 0003, 0800 hours
2142 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Lucas once against stood with White and Black in the armory. Things had been pushed back a little counting for some of the drama and need for the people involved. So he had set up the actually final test for today, the Gunny was sure most of them would pass with flying colors, they were quite proficient with firearms. But he knew some pencil pusher could come and say 'These forces aren't certified for this... bla bla bla.' He refused to let some bureaucrat come and stop what had to be done to protect the planet. Since he had pushed a part of the entire thing to the next day, he had added the EU P90 to the test to make it more efficient, naturally. Those who are not experienced with firearms would use the time to train with the handgun, they would only be using that one most of the time anyway. Lucas hoped that one day he could get them up to speed to use one or more rifles and maybe a shotgun. Though that was the long-term plan.

Each booth had the Berretta M9 with ammo like before, but next to it was the P90 as well. He was very impressed by most of them, but he also understood that everyone started off as amateurs at one point so he didn't really think about that.

This time around Captain Jennifer Simms arrived alone, nodding to the three sergeants waiting in the armory. "Sergeants, I think I am the first to arrive. I am rather eager to get certified so do we start now or wait for others to arrive as well?" She asked with a smirk on and a relaxed attitude.

Lucas and the two other sergeants saluted back "Yes ma'am, you can take booth one. Your targets are prepared." Sergeant black took a step forward to follow her, just to be sure she didn't cheat.

Saluting back out of respect, Jennifer grinned. "Alright, let's hope I get a good score then!" Going to booth one, she took the Berretta first, checking it over and picking a headset for noise cancellation. Taking aim, Jennifer started in earnest. She had spent the past sixteen years in the marines as infantry and AAV, so shooting has been more or less her main occupation. Given that she had served in enough tours to last her a long while, her aim was rather good. Not perfect, but it clearly showed great comfort and familiarity with the pistol and good aim.

Emptying Berretta, she placed it carefully down and picked the P90. This time she took a bit more time getting familiar with it. She had not used it in active duty before, so for her, this was a new gun. However, after taking two shots to correct her aim, she did admirably, for someone who was using the P90 the first time. There was room for improvement of course, but for an active marine, she still got it, not that she ever lost it. "I think I am done. Anything else Sergeant?"

The black man smiled and handed her a signed certificate that she had passed the certification. "Congratulations Captain."

Chuckling she accepted the certificate and salutes crisply. "Thank you Sergeant. This was fun! Does this mean I can use the range from now on to have some fun and keep my skills up to par? Wouldn't want to get rusty you know?"

"Yes ma'am. We have reserved the first five booths in the next three days." Sgt Black informed the captain.

"Good to know. Well, keep up the fine work Sergeant." Saluting, Jennifer walked past him stopping to salute both Gunny and sergeant White, before leaving and heading out to the shooting range.

Mouse was the next to enter the shooting range. Silent and watchful as she had been since her arrival, Lieutenant Keller stopped exactly in the proper place and saluted. "Lieutenant Keller reporting," she said, though her voice was not at all excited to be there.

"Please use stall two." Lucas said and saluted back, White stepped up to inspect the shooting.

The Lieutenant seemed to shrink slightly as she moved to the stall. Robotically, she went through the steps of assembling the weapon and loading it. She was not an eager gun holder. But she was competent enough. She paused and sighted the target as she raised the handgun into line. Her first shot was well off-center, in fact, it was in the outer ring.

The youngest instructor took a note on her clipboard and waited for the lieutenant to continue.

Last, to arrive, Jason waited just inside the door to be addressed. He figured it would be better not to simply barge in and start playing with the Gunny’s toys.

Lucas noticed Captain Tahana. "Booth three please." he gestured. He would observe the captain.

Giving Lucas a nod, acknowledging his order, Jason stepped up to booth three, “so where do you want to start? Pistols? Rifles?”

"You tell me sir." he held up his clipboard. He was mostly there to make sure they didn't cheat. He highly doubted that they would, but this was important and a slip of concentration could have dire consequences. The actual important part was the score on the targets once they were handed in.

Looking around at the others, Jason nodded to himself, "let's start small and work our way up" he said before picking up the 9mm pistol and giving it a quick check over. After he was satisfied the pistol was in working order, he placed it back down on the table in front of him and started to load a single magazine for the pistol. As he did, Jason looked over his shoulder at Lucas, "Hey Gunny. I'm afraid I've never used a P90 before. Can I get you to give me a rundown on it?"

"Then we focus on the M9 sir." Lucas looked at the papers he had on the captain, he had several other weapons that he had experience in. So showing it ones would probably be enough. He sighed, walked up to the table, calmly picked up the P90, checked the magazine as was standard, and slowly but fluidly slotted the magazine into place followed by pulling the racket back. "Excuse me captain," he said and waited to step up to the actual firing range itself. There wasn't a target there, so just unload it to show how the basics were and so that the captain could see how it was held and how it behaved during fire.

Stepping to one side while watching Lucas closely, Jason was actually quite fascinated by this compact weapon. A top loading design using a transparent magazine with an impressive fire rate. He would have to study this weapon closely, specifically how to disassemble and reassemble it. "hmm, seems simple enough"

Lucas stepped up, placed the weapon against his shoulder, and flipped the safety to a single shot. He fired five shots in a close group at the end wall before placing it to full auto. he emptied the rest of the twenty-five rounds in a circle around the range, it wasn't a perfect circle but it was close enough. Now that the magazine was empty, he placed the weapon back to safety, pulled back the small button at the back of the magazine, and removed the magazine itself, placing it next to the table. There was a spare magazine that the captain could use. He tried to do it slowly so Jason could observe enough to operate the weapon safely.

"alright, i'll give it a shot" Jason said, receiving the weapon from Lucas before picking up the spare magazine. Taking his time, he carefully loaded the magazine into the top of the 'rifle', though to Jason this barely qualified as a carbine. hearing a click as the magazine slipped into place, he looked over at Lucas before proceeding, "is that right?"

Lucas stepped back and let the captain fire the weapon. He was keeping a close eye on the whole thing for safety reasons.

Taking Lucas' actions as a 'yes', Jason pulled the racket back, shouldered the weapon then flicked the safety switch to single fire. Taking a deep breath, Jason gently squeezed the trigger to it's firing point in order to get a feel for the recoil, "hmm, not as much as I expected." he said before letting off a couple more rounds then flicking the safety back on and placing the P90 back onto the table.

"Put a target downrange if you want to be certified with the weapon," Lucas said, what he could see the captain had a good aim, but maybe not used to the shorter weapons, all the weapons he was used to were long-barreled weapons. A submachine gun is a different beast altogether.

Looking at Lucas for a second, Jason gave a sigh and shrugged, “sure why not” he said, grabbing a target sheet from beside the table, unrolling it, clipping it to the overhead rail then hitting the button to send it downrange. Giving the target a moment to make its way down, Jason picked up the P90 again, put it to his shoulder, and took aim, “right, so 26 round magazine and I’ve fired 5 rounds. So I’ve got 21 rounds left. Let’s use them” he said to himself before flicking the safety back to single shot, taking a deep breath and opening fire.

Lucas observed closely, going single fire was a smart move when you don't know the weapon very well. Having it run away at full auto wasn't exactly safe. He made a few notes as he waited.

Throwing another 5 rounds down range, Jason flicked the safety back on then hit the recall button. After a moment, the target returned with a loose grouping a little left of centre. “Hmm, I think I’m holding it too tight”

"Your not used to it, but it's still a pass. I'll give you the manual and test you as soon as possible."

"well if that's a pass, I should also pass with flying colours with the 9mm" Jason said, putting the P90 down onto the table and picking up the baretta. Giving it another quick check over, Jason put it back on the table so he could replace the target sheet. Hitting the button to send it down range, Jason waited until the target reached it's furthest point before quickly picking up the pistol, flicking the safety off and unloading the entire magazine. Pausing for a moment after he was empty, Jason cleared and unloaded his weapon before placing it back onto the table and pressing the recall button. After the target returned, it showed a tight grouping in the middle of the body along with a smile and a pair of eyes on the head. "hmm, I didn't quite get the eyes level"

Lucas was impressed and signed the certification papers. "Congratulations Captain, you have no reset your timer of the two year time period and I have a good handle of your skills with the weapon itself." he handed the captain a paper that showed that he had top marks for the weapon, maybe it wasn't standard but he felt they should take pride and maybe display it somewhere. "I will forward the results to the General's staff."

Taking the paper, Jason nodded in approval, “thanks you Sergeant. Now unless there are any other weapons you want to certify me on, I’m going to check out this facility’s gym”

"Is there any weapon you wish to be tested on sir?" Lucas asked.

Aftrr a moment of thought, Jason shook his head, "not that I can think of. thanks anyway."

"Then I will not keep you sir." Lucas said and started to set up the weapons for the next person.

Keller, took a breath "Sir" She said casually. "Finished" Her groupings were not excellent but they were all in the target range.

Gunny Sergeant Matsson got visually rigid as he turned to face the Lieutenant, she had said the forbidden 'S' word to him. He put on a smile that didn't hint of the future 'fun' they would have improving her skills. He calmly flipped the clip board papers and found her file, he observed her target and signed the certificate before handing it to her. "Congratulations Lieutenant, I am looking forward to improve your skills." He offered her the paper with a smile, a devilish smile badly hidden under it.

She saluted took the paper and moved to the exit. She had done worse in her time.

Standing off to one side, Jason had decided to stay behind and see what the sergeant did. He'd heard Keller call him 'Sir' but the gunny didn't really react so Jason assumed that he must be planning something.