Catching Up
Posted on Sat May 20th, 2023 @ 9:27am by Major Cornelius Tremble & Captain Edmund Merrick
Edited on on Mon May 22nd, 2023 @ 5:37am
2,295 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 14 - The Poseidon Adventure
Location: Armory 2A The Snakepit - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 1900
They were back from the missions, and Edmund hadn't gone to seek out the Major as of yet. Edmund basically had a hard sleep when they got back. Now though, it was time to go check in. Tapping on his combadge, he called for Tremble.
=/\=Major Tremble, what's your location? Are you avaliable for a meeting?=/\=
Neil looked up from the workbench and tapped his comm badge. "Sure Ed. I'm in the Morgue, Armory II." The rifle he'd been working on was archaic. Older than old, the design was traced back to the old Earth USMC. Neil had taken to studying such things.
Laid out on the central work table was a dissembled weapon. Completely broken down there were over sixty parts. He picked up the weapons stock, turning it in the light. He'd sanded it over the past month and gotten it down very smooth. Following an ancient recipe, he'd begun coating the wood with linseed oil.
Stepping into the morgue, Edmund caught a familiar scent, an oil he's used plenty of times . When he used to paint with oil paints, he'd thin it out with a mixture of turpentine and linseed oil to make the paints more easier to work with.
He looked to see what Tremble was working on and he gave out an appreciative whistle. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Maybe," Neil chuckled. "M-14 rifle in 7.62x49mm with walnut stocks. Reproduction based on Springfield Armory T-44 concept rifle, refined with Rock Island Arsenal nation match specs." He handed the stock over to the other Marine and said, "I won't go into the metallurgy specs. Archaic weapon to say the least but elegant in its own right."
Edmund held the stock with some reverence. "This is a thing of beauty, a work of art." feeling the smoothness of the stock. "You've certainly got talent in restoring something to its former elegance. Its been awhile since I've held one of these." gently handing the stock back to Neil. "Can't beat the classic lines of the M-14."
Neil ran his fingers over the stock, checking for rough or uneven sanding and said. "I chose to remake this one, even though the '03 Springfield was its grandfather and the M1 Garand the father, so to speak." He set the stock down and eyed the rest of the components, mentally going through the process for rebuilding the weapon.
"Talking with Ambassador Larta about the Klingons' preferences for hand to hand combat, we've decided to do a test at some point. FMC bayonet drill against her Bat'leth." He grinned as he met Ed's eyes. "I'm not going to use this one. I'll put together something that is metallurgical comparable to their bladed weapons and a stock that can take it. But the M-14 is the last of the true bayonet rifles. After that, doctrine moved away from that sort of thing and weapons reflected that."
Neil thought about his words for a few beats then amended, "The rifles of the time could lug a bayonet, but they weren't really made for a prolonged fight. More of a last ditch kind of system."
"Well that sounds like it will be a rather interesting test to find out the results" he answered. "Tell me something, what do you plan on doing for shoreleave? And its interesting that we're going to be heading for that station that had that Breen fleet go after."
Neil eyed the Cure's second in command. "Well, a birdy told me there's a good chance that the General Sobel is going to be about. Maybe. So there will be some of that. I intend to snoop around the Breen situation some. We should be incorporating their tactics into our work shops."
Then he grinned. "And, of course, take advantage of as much I&I as I can get away with. What about you?"
"I intend on taking a look at the station, see what they have to offer as well. Just, getting new perspective on things. May end up going down to the planet, would love to see what it is like as well." Edmund replied. "And I would like to see how the marines operate on that station as well. Heard that the XO of the Kingsmen, had just returned to service after having kids, I do know she is married but, just what made her decide to come back?"
Neil began assembling the weapon as they talked, trying to do as much of it as he could without actually looking at it. "You can take the Marine out of the Corp but it's hard to get the Core out of the Marine. Once you're in, it becomes an identity that's hard to shake off. "
Neil had to glance down to seat some of the smaller screws and then looked back up again. "And service on a StarBase is a lot like Detachment service. Mostly. Not quite tip of the spear depending on what's going on. You never know what's going to roll up on your doorstep. But you have a doorstep...station isn't a bad place to bring up curtain climbers, I'd guess."
"Well she has my curiosity, so I'll see about finding out more." He watched, as Neil put the rifle back together, it was like a three dimensional puzzle, each screw, each part integrel to the weapon. "That will be interesting to shoot. I've been out hunting with my uncle, but not with a fine piece like that." he looked up, and gave a bit of a smile. "Only hunting rifles"
Neil finished grinned at Ed as he finished seating the bolt. Then cycled it and locked it back while his hands ran over every surface of the weapon from flash guard to butt plate, only trusting touch to make sure everything was in place.
"Same concept and science," Neil said as he finally looked the weapon over with a critical eye. Then he retrieved a small vial and lubed all of the moving parts. Finally he the slapped in a short magazine loaded only with a snap cap. Checking the weight for a minute, Neil worked the bolt, charging the weapon and pulled the trigger.
Smiling at the loud snap that echoed as the firing pin struck the snap cap, he said. "Well, it works after all of that." He handed the completed weapon over to Ed and moved a bin of accessories to the bench top.
Edmund's nostrils caught the sulphuric scent of gunpowder rising from the snap cap, bringing to his mind the fireworks or when the old time cannons had been fired back home. "A familiar scent to this." holding the rifle carefully, feeling its weight and balance. He was careful not to touch the metal surfaces, just to keep them clean. "What made you decide to bring this to life. Do you have some plans for it?"
Neil thought about that and winked to the Cure's XO, "I'd like to put a couple of thousand rounds through it, so don't worry about being delicate with her. A marine's rifle should be like their significant other: Not put up on a pedestal but well cared for and handled often."
"Oh I agree, however I am wondering about an indoor firing range, and also my uncle was rather firm in not touching the metal parts unless I've got a cleaning cloth. Just to wipe off the corrosive oils from the skin." Merrick said. Then he chuckled. "Yup I've heard that before. Gotta be able to know they are near, even when sleeping." Edmund giving a wink.
"Applause to your uncle, but she isn't an antique Ed," Neil smiled. "I'll clean her up when we're done for the day." Thinking for a moment, he said, "We'll want a two part range...one for target shooting and one for ballistics tests. The former will, ideally, be good out to 700 meters with the propellants I plan to use. And it'll need to be programmed for Maggies Drawers."
"Yeah well he said even if the gun wasn't an antique he said keep it clean. It was driven in my head so to speak." he laughed. He gave a nod, "Okay that sounds like a good plan, and would be good to find a planet we can do some phyiscal training as well. Can't really depend on a holoprogram to be able to deal with actual weather changes and wind direction. Need to be able to feel, said environment. " Edmund running his hands over the whole being of the rifle. "Feels pretty nice."
"So, what you're recommending in a whole Detachment Field Exercise. E&E course with low to no tech?" Neil asked, considering the idea.
"What better way to improve on our skills. I had noticed that when we were our mission to get our people back there were some things that needed improvements on. We are used to being on a ship, sometimes the skills tend to gst a little bit of rust. Even I need some polishing up as well. They had a sharpshooter, some of us got pinned down. We got out of that situation, but it was a bit of a squeeze."
Grunting Neil said, "My fault. I should have insisted on drone air and arty, with a pair of marines in suits as a reaction force." After brooding fo few beats, he continued "I do agree a return to basics...fundamentals isn't a bad thing."
Reaching out, he tapped the M-14, "Like this. Old ways."
"Then we need to plan to do something about that. Okay so, anything you'd like to point out that needs to be improved on? Also will we be partnered up with security for different details on the ship as well?" With Edmund having been part of the Security team before he joined the marines, he'd wondered about that combination.
"As requested," Neil replied. "We can see if Security would like some company. Typically, the Cure guards the SCIF and other no-lone zones like Engineering, the Combat and main bridge during full alerts, with a QRF standing by. The suits in minimal deployment configuration are handy in SAR/damage control situations."
Edmund nodded, "Indeed that is true, so looks like there will be some planning to do and see if the Chief of Security would be up for that as well." another look at the M-14, then he set it down upon the table. "How are things going for you with being the XO?"
Chuckling, Neil began affixing a sling to the rifle. "Like everything else. Lots to get used to and keep on top of. Maybe it's like riding a wave: you're going along fine until you lose your balance and a wave washes you out. You just hope you don't get pulled too far under ."
"Yeah that is something a person has to worry about, is getting caught in the undertow. Wiping out isn't a good thing, I've done that myself surfing and real life. Was glad there was someone to help pull me out." he watched for a few moments as Neil worked on the sling, it was interesting to watch, as Neil definitely had skills.
Noting his XO's interest, Neil subvocalized a few key commands and a holo display popped into view. "And since we're speaking of weaponry. The suits are getting updated over the next few months," he said offhandedly, waiting to see Ed's reaction.
This got Ed's attention even more. "Upgrades? I am liking thesound of that. What is in the works that you've got in mind?" The thing of it was, Edmund certainly liked what he's been involved in since he had joined up on the Pioneer.
"Updated body sleeves, improved HUD flicker controls and we're updating the backpack hardware to include drone and ordinance delivery systems for localized control. We'll also be testing an ablative armor shell," Neil related, as the room's projector brought up a series of schematics, then exploded them into a globe, circling the two marines. As Neil talked about the features, the holo-panes would blink and glow red. "The ablative shell is a spray customizable camouflage outer shell, which will also serve as a heat sink, helping mask our emissions even more."
"Ablative shell spray, how long will it last? Or just reapply it after the suits are done with the mission?" He looked at the body sleeves, "More flexibility and body heat index to lower it somewhat?" Ed asked.
"Mission customizable," Neil confirmed. "The coating disburses in micro increments that are supposed to spoof sensor tracking." Tapping the indexing displays legend, Neil brought up the legend and cycled slowly through the templates. "New, higher learning curve for some aspects, especially the command suits."
Edmund nodded, "I am looking forward to looking at the new upgrades that will be coming up. And trying them out."
"There's always something," Neil half chuckled as he gave the rifle another once over, then opened a drawer in the work bench and nestled the weapon away. "
"Being the tip of the spear means we get to test bed some things...not everything may make it to the final cut, but if it works we'll keep what we like," he commented, leaning a hip against the workstation. "I'm about finished here. Want to grab a drink and continue to solve the Galaxies problems?"
Edmund gave a laugh and nodded his head. "Sure, sounds like a plan."
A Joint Post By
Major Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Commanding Officer, The Cure
Captain Edmund Merrick
The Cure Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
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