//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 - Resupplied // Story: The Freelancers // by OverHeart //------------------------------// Star joined Access in the doorway and above them was a small domed camera placed so that it’d always be able to see the faces of the ponies that wanted entry. A ring of white light formed around the lens for a brief moment which quickly shifted to green as the door slid open automatically. Inside, firearms of all shapes, sizes, and optimized for many of the major demographic inhabitants of Equestria lined the walls secured inside thick glass cases. From dragons to griffons and from Thestrals to Unicorns, it seemed as if there was a weapon for just about anyone here. “Oh look who it is! Don’t cause any trouble, you hear me?” called a light beige colored stallion from behind the shielded counter. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Ammo Can. I’ll be good as gold this time, I promise.” assured Access. “Don’t believe a word this stallion says, he’s pure trouble.” Ammo Can said to Star jokingly. “Noted. I’ll be sure to keep him in line if I have to.” Ammo Can let out a mischievous chuckle. “So what can I do you for? Looking for anything in particular?” “The lovely mare here needs a weapon, but she’s brand new to shooting. You got anything easy to wield? Preferably concealable, if you’ve got anything like that.” Ammo Can thought for a moment and smiled, he gestured for them to wait and left through a heavily armored door behind the counter, and through the small bulletproof port hole they could see him sorting through boxes upon boxes of weaponry. “I’m not so sure about this, Access.” “Chill. Everyone feels the same way before they fire a weapon for the first time. Fact of the matter is unless you’re armed, you’ll get fragged before you know it in our line of work.” Ammo Can returned from the backroom with a small caliber concealable pistol along with a holster that’d fit under Star’s suit quite nicely, and he slid it over to her. “Thirty eight caliber, concealable and a perfect starting weapon.” Star stared down at the weapon. The words ‘Crystal Dynamics PDW .38’ was stamped on the side of the slender silvered frame, and she picked it up with her wing and noted how light and dainty it was. “You’ll have to wear a hoof harness to use it properly as well, there’s a few in the range if you want to grab one to try out.” Access cleared his throat roughly. “Can I ask you a favor, Ammo Can? I need the things on this list, they’re a little exotic but if anyone can get it, you can.” Access said cryptically, producing a small chip from his jumpsuit pocket. Ammo Can took the chip and slid it into his terminal, and his eyes went wide as he read Access’ list. “By the sun, Access, are you going to war or something?” “Let’s just say someone is incredibly pissed off with us, and that someone has access to some serious hardware and we need the same.” Ammo Can whistled disapprovingly. “I dunno, Access, some of this is pretty hard to come by. I can give you the sidearm and the sub-machine gun. But the rest of it’s gonna take some doing.” “Please do. Can we use your range, Star here needs some practice.” “By all means, Ammo vending machines are fully stocked so just help yourself.” Access walked away with Star in tow and they made their way toward the firing range directly opposite the counter, the door to which was just as heavily armored as the stockroom door, if not more so. Beyond was a four lane firing range, completely devoid of other ponies which settled Star’s nerves somewhat. She placed the weapon down on a small steel table and awaited instruction. Ammo Can poked his head in through the door and placed a set of cases down on the floor and wordlessly left with a small gesture to the cases. “Okay, first things first, your harness.” “My what now?” Star asked with a strange look on her face. Access sighed as if it was obvious. “Your hoof harness. It’s a device that clips over your hoof to allow you to pull triggers and reload your weapon, without having to use your mouth like in the old days.” He picked up one in his hoof and gestured for her to hold her hooves out, she did so and he set about attaching the harnesses to her hooves. They looked like thin metal frames with connection points for a wide range of firearms and their accessories. “How come you don’t need to wear these?” “Me and Sheet are Unicorns after all, we can just pull the triggers with our magic. Dragons and Griffons have fingers. So ponies like you are stuck with methods like these.” “Better than holding it in my teeth, I suppose.” Access picked up Star’s new weapon in his magic and attached it to her new harnesses, where it stuck out awkwardly like the metal lump it was. He went over the most basic of the basics, how to load the weapon, how to stow and draw it from her new holster, and finally how to fire it. “Look down the sights, stay calm and will the harness to pull the trigger.” She looked at him strangely. “What?” He remained polite and courteous but pointed out the obvious. “That harness is similar to the ones ponies have installed as cyberware, and it has a neural interface that can detect things like your intent to pull the trigger. Just trust me, try it out.” “Okay.” Star said, the lack of confidence hung heavily in her voice. She stepped into one of the lanes and a target materialized at the far end of the range, the system having sensed her presence. With a certain level of apprehension, she raised the weapon downrange and gently willed the harness to pull the trigger. She felt the weapon jump up in her hoof as the weapon went off, sending the round out of the barrel and downrange straight into the back wall, missing the target completely. “See, you can do it!” Access said happily. “I missed though.” Star said with disappointment. “Only time that’ll ever matter is if someone’s shooting back. Just keep trying.” “Famous last words.” With renewed confidence Star raised her weapon once again and with intense focus she squeezed off another few shots, each rang out in quick succession and the bullets landed with a thud in the target’s base. “At least I hit something this time.” she sighed. “Keep practicing, I’m going to see how Snowy is doing. I almost forgot that he’d been following us.” Star nodded. “It’s pretty easy to do that isn’t it? He’s always been so quiet, so obedient.” “Isn’t he supposed to be? He is a synthetic after all.” “Snowy is a bit special in that regard actually, he’s not just a regular synth. My father built him as a pet project, a sort of family butler if you will.” “Completely custom personality?” Access inquired. “Yep. From the ground up. Obedient but fully capable of independent thought and feelings.” Access looked through the porthole and out into the shop floor where he saw Snowy having a weapon fitted to him by Ammo Can, the Synthetic’s normally stoic expression twisted into one of intense worry, “I’ve noticed you’ve started calling Snowy a ‘he’ and not ‘it’ like you used to, Access.” “It seemed disrespectful. Given what we’ve been through and how worried he looks right now, I thought it was about time to pay him some long overdue respect.” “What did he do to deserve that?” “Nothing in particular, other than keeping our new fixer safe until she could meet us.” “You’re too kind, I’m nothing compared to you and Sheet though. I don’t know anything at all about who you are or why you do what you do.” “Time for a crash course then!” Access poked his head out the firing range door. “Hey Snowy! We need your help carrying some cases!” The Synthetic turned to Access with a strangely pleasant smile. “Right away, Access. Bare with me a moment, I’m having a weapon fitted courtesy of your account!” “You better not bankrupt me!” Snowy tried to hide the rather large saddle mounted rifle from view, but its sheet length was hard to handle let alone conceal. Fortunately it was foldable, though not in its current half-assembled state, parts still strewn about haphazardly among the grime and dust coating the floor. “Hey, Snowy, did you want armor piercing or explosive rounds?” Ammo Can said discreetly into the synthetic’s ear. “Both.”