005 - Just Point and Shoot

Publish date: 29th Oct 2019

Perspective: Romov

Romov couldn't wait to show off, but Tom was busy droning on about how his oh-so-useful QX works.

Tom: -this is the safety latch, the gun won't fire unless it's set to "live".

Loe: Alright, I still don't know what it does though.

Tom: Right.

That shut him up, Loe knows what she's doing around Tom. Romov starts to wonder if his arm is related.

Tom: All you really have to do is point it at what you want to hit, and pull the trigger.
It's just like a plasma rifle, except smaller.

He aims at the closest target 50m out.
Pop! Loe flinches at the sound, but it's nothing compared to what's coming later.
A couple cm to the left, Romov quickly exhales out of her nose.

Tom: Romov, if you have something to say, say it.

Romov: I thought we were supposed to impress Loe?

Jackson desperately tries to conceal his laughter, amazingly Tom doesn't notice...or he has a great poker face.

Tom hands his QX to Loe.

Tom: Here, you try it.

Loe: What? No! I'm just observing!

Tom: Did you really think this was just a show and tell?
I want the Oda to be as prepared as possible for this war, which means you're going to use my QX so we can work out if it's suitable.

Loe: I...I suppose that makes sense.

Loe gingerly aims at the 50m target, and slows her breathing.
Pop! Dead centre, and everyone is momentarily stunned, Tom's going to be chastised for this later.

Tom: You're a natural!

Loe starts examining the QX, as if to glean what she can, before quickly pointing at the 100m target.
Pop! Dead centre again.
Pop! 250m, a couple mm low.
Pop! 500m, dead centre, having compensated for gravity.

Loe: This is great! It's so easy!

Tom starts laughing, Romov and Jackson are just staring like a deer in headlights.
She shoots better than any Human. Faster, too.
Pop Pop Pop! Three more perfect shots, in rapid succession, all on the 500m target.

Tom: You're better than all of us...

Loe: What?

Confused, Loe looks at Romov and Jackson, and realises just how surprised they are.

Tom: Romov, you're the best shot out of the rest of us, why don't you try and match her?

He did that on purpose, after his god-awful 50m shot.

Romov: Don't think for a second I'm going to let you get away with how well you performed.

Romov pulls out her own QX, checks the chamber and magazine, flicks off the safety, and aims for 250m.
Pop! A hair to the right.

Tom: Not bad, but Loe's better.

Romov: Shut it!

Romov aims at 500m, and breathes slowly. Romov doesn't want to be out-done by an ambassador, an alien.
Pop! Dead centre, an even match so far. Romov moves to 750m, and relaxes once more.
Pop! Barely high.

Romov: Think you can match that?

Loe smiles, and does her best fake sarcasm voice.

Loe: Oh, I dunno...that's soooo far...

Without a second thought, she casually aims at 1000m instead of 750m.
Pop! Dead centre yet again.
Jackson bursts out laughing, and collapses in his fit of hysteria.
Tom has the biggest shit-eating grin Romov has ever seen.
Romov is, understandably, miffed. She tries to maintain a neutral voice, and shifts the subject.

Romov: Since Jackson is...preoccupied, we can skip his little toy and move on to the main course.
This is the LB-SA, or as I like to call it, the Longbow.
5+1 capacity, semi-auto, 50x scope, and it can tear you a new one from up to 20km.

Loe can tell she wants to show off, having already failed once, but lets Romov have her fun for a moment.

Romov: You may want to cover your ears.

Tom dons some earmuffs, hands one to Romov, and tosses one at Jackson. Tom also offers one to Loe.

Loe: I, uh, technically don't have ears.
I hear with my entire body.

Romov knows Loe said something, but with the earmuffs on, she doesn't know what it was.
All she knows is that Loe is uninterested in hearing protection, and lines up her shot on the 5km target.
Romov tweaks the scope, adjusting for the shorter-than-usual range.
The targets beyond 2km are thicker, and a screen shows where on the target a given shot landed.
'15 zoom, 5 range, relax. Relax...' Romov thinks to herself.
BOOM! The target shatters, leaving shrapnel everywhere, and a new one takes its place.
After half a second, the screen lights up with a green indicator. 1mm to the right, not bad for a standing shot.

Loe starts realising the implications of this kind of warfare.

Loe: I can barely see the target you hit, is this what it's like to be in a war on Earth?
One minute you're sitting in an outpost looking for hostiles, and the next you're dead?

Romov: Something like that.

Tom: Alright, how about something to eat?

Loe: Um...

Tom: I'll make sure you don't get anything...unsuitable.

Romov thought the Oda could eat anything, they certainly look like they could.
Romov starts packing up her Longbow. Jackson huffs, and prepares to take a few shots of his own.

Jackson: I'll have something later, I need to get some practice in.

Tom waves on his way out, but Jackson is busy lining up.
B-B-Bang! He loves using burst fire, but it's such a waste of ammo...


As they're making their way to the mess hall, Romov figures this is probably the best time for a few answers.

Romov: So what's up with your arm?

Tom: This?

Tom wiggles his burnt arm slightly.

Tom: I'll defer to Loe on that one.

Loe: Can I trust her?

Tom: That's up to you, but I trust her.

Loe: I can...um...

Loe obviously doesn't trust Romov, Romov knows she isn't going to get the full picture.
The question is, how much will she get?

Loe: I can share thoughts with another being, and allow them to share theirs with me.
I'd shown Tom on the way here, he took the chance to show me the problem with plasma rifles, and you've since cemented that.

Romov can tell she's trying to deflect, something happened on the way here. He's never arrived awake before.

Romov: That sounds interesting, and useful.

Loe: Yes, well...
The reason his arm is like that is because I had to remove the top layer of skin in order to...connect with him.

Tom: It's really not an issue.

Romov: How bad is it?

Tom: Felt like sunburn at first, but it's fine now.

A gentle waft of steak makes its way to the three of them, disrupting their train of thought.
Tom and Romov are excited, but Loe looks somewhat uneasy.
As they round the next corner, they find themselves in the mess hall, about a quarter of them notice Loe and momentarily stop eating.
Looks like there's plenty left.

Tom: I know you said you're not a fan of meat, but this is lab-grown and should have no nerve endings.

Romov: Nerve endings?

Loe: I don't have a choice with melding...uh, connecting, with other beings.

Tom: Can you at least try some?

Loe: I...ok. This is your fault if it's a problem.

Tom heads over to the canteen to procure three meals, Romov motions Loe to an empty table nearby.
They sit in silence for a couple seconds, before Romov lets out a sigh.

Romov: Did Tom let you do that to him?

Loe: Yes...I wouldn't do it without his consent.

Loe is somewhat embarrased about it, but it's an honest answer. It's not the whole truth, though.

Romov: What did you share with Tom?
What did he share with you?

Loe: I don't-

Tom arrives in time to spare Loe further awkwardness, and shoves a meal in front of her.

Tom: Here! Steak, peas, mash, and gravy! Go on, try it!

Tom sets the jug of gravy down in the middle of the table, and starts working on his own meal.
Loe prods the mash, before taking a small chunk and testing it. She's satisfied, and tries it dipped in gravy.
Both seem to be fine, given that Loe took the chance to smother her meal.
Next, the peas come under scrutiny. Apparantly they're easy to discern, and they go straight in.

Loe: It's nice, reminds me of home. Fresh, too.

Tom: We have a greenhouse on-board, frozen veg is awful.

Loe turns her attention to the steak taunting her on her plate.
Tom takes the opportunity to take a chunk out of his, and enjoys it.

Tom: They did a good job this time, you got lucky.

Loe: Hah...yeah...

Loe slowly carves out a tiny piece, trying to minimise the amount she's forced to eat before she can declare it to be awful.
She carefully lifts the piece of steak to herself, closes her eyes, and shoves it in.
Her eyes open again, her face contorted with confusion, she was expecting a problem but got something else.
Tom smiles at her.

Tom: Like I said, lab-grown.

Loe: I prefer the peas, but it's nice.

Romov smirks, she can't help but think that they look like a cute couple, even if Loe is a massive slug.