Chapter 3: Preparation
William placed his ballistics vest on his bed alongside his pads and gas mask. Getting onto one knee, he checked under his bed for his weapon and, reaching under, he grasped onto its hard plastic case. He pulled it out and tossed it onto his bed along with his other supplies. Popping it open, Will found his M4A1 neatly tucked away in its case. He smiled at his old friend, he had had gotten him out of so many hectic situations, that he could probably count every scratch on it and tell the story of how the weapon got it.
William grabbed a hold of the gun and popped it out of the case, getting used to the weapon’s weight. He held it up in a firing position; it had been a good while since he fired a gun. William began considering going down to the shooting range on the lower deck for some possible practice after he got back. A knock on his door snapped him back to reality. “What the…? Come in!” William said.
The door slowly eased its way open and in came an engineer dressed in a brown jump suit. He appeared to be pushing a large cart that flight attendants used to serve snacks to the passengers on a plane. “Sorry if I am interrupting, Commander, but I’m just doing what the Admiral and Dr. Hassel told me to do.”
“And what is that?” William asked.
The engineer pushed the cart into the center of the room. “I was told to give everyone who is going on the mission one of these tyvek suits.” He grabbed hold of one of the many light grey suits and handed it over to William. “Don’t worry if it fits or not, everyone on the ship has at least two specifically made for them. If this doesn’t fit, we’ll look for your other one.”
“Seems kind of pointless, don’t you think?” William said raising an eyebrow at the man. Regardless, he took the suit.
The man shrugged. “Hassel said that the planet could still be covered with radiation. Or something like that. I didn’t care enough to listen. I just work here… Sir,” he quickly added.
“Maybe you should start listening, boy,” William tossed the suit onto his bed, “Anything else?”
The engineer nodded. “Actually, there is,” he moved the grayish suits, only to reveal a stack of plastic crates that had been concealed underneath. “I was also told to give all of you one of these.”
The boy placed a crate on the ground and popped it open, revealing a pristine Russian AK. “What the hell do I need this for?” William exclaimed, pointing towards his M4, “I already have a gun.”
“Sir, permission to speak candidly.”
Reluctantly, William granted it. The engineer gazed down at William’s carbine, then back up to him with an unenthusiastic look. “Well, first off, Commander, I built weapons for living, and this AK here." The engineer patted the case. "Is a beautiful maiden compared that M4 lying on your bed." He snickered. "Besides, it’s not like we’re going to be fighting in any urban centers anytime soon.”
William jabbed his thumb back at the weapon laying on his bed. “Boy, I’ve been to hell and back with that weapon. You wanna know how many Sleepers I put in the dirt with that gun?”
“I thought they all died of lead poisoning, sir. But again; I. Just. Work. Here. So if you would please just take the weapon; I’ve got a strike team to insure the survival of.”
William sighed dismissively as he bent over to retrieve the box. “Fuck it, fine I’ll take the damn weapon. And I am choosing to ignore that insult to my manhood.”
“Thank you, sir. Now have a nice day,” the engineer sarcastically remarked as he got up and pushed his cart out. Only to stop at the door for a second. "One more thing, Commander. Just give it time, you'll come to love that weapon far more than your pea shooter, shit even my little boy could fire one of them AKs without a hitch."
William lifted the weapon box up off the ground, and placed it alongside his M4, which he then neatly packed back into its case. He placed his old weapon back under his bed. Rising up, he opened the AK's case. The light in the room shined off the weapon’s waxed surface. William couldn’t deny it, it was a rather nice weapon. He reached into the case and popped it out. It was heavier than his M4, that was for sure, but it wouldn’t be long until he got accustomed to it.
William took a quick look at the clock; fourteen minutes left till he needed to head to the hangar. William began to slip out of his civvies and into his field attire, sliding the tyvek suit over his field uniform. Next was his ballistics vest along with his protective pads. In a matter of minutes William looked as if he was prepped for war. He sighed and swung the straps of his gas mask around his neck. Opening his door, he made his way out into the hallway and towards the elevator on the far end. Going through door after door and pushing his way through the numerous engineers milling about, who were busy making sure the ship was well maintained. William reached the elevator and pushed the call button on the keypad. Seconds later the door slid open and he stepped in. William pushed the button that held the symbol of the hangar; the doors closed and he felt a sense of weightlessness as the elevator descended into the lower decks of the ship.
:[-]:
“Make sure those guns are in working condition!” ordered one of the engineer managers as he brushed past William and headed over towards the Condor that would be taking the team back down to Earth. Surrounding it were a few engineers who were mounting large Gatling guns onto its sides. William honestly couldn’t see why they were adding them, it was unlikely that they were going to have to be dealing with anything on the ground, let alone in the air. Unless... A wild thought entered William’s mind; there were some crazy mutations while they were gone– Will shook his head.
“I’ve had too much time to myself,” he mumbled under his breath.
Large metallic thumps followed by a very robotic voice came from William’s right. “Excuse me, Commander. Large cargo coming through.” Snapping back to reality, William turned and stepped out of the way of a twenty foot Panzer MEC carrying a large metal crate.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing with that?!” The same manager as before ran past William waving his arms like a madman at the MEC. “Are you blind? Storage room A is on the opposite end of the hangar you idiot!”
William shook his head and turned back towards the Condor. “-and I’m talking huge,” Looking towards the voice, William saw Deshaun, his Lieutenant, talking with his squad mates. He had perched himself on top of an ammo crate, and he was leaning from man to man, his arms gesturing as he spoke. “Like, this guy must’ve been lifting weights or something before he got infected. Next thing I know, this dude is—and I’m not kidding here—lifting this long ass metal pipe up off the ground. I’m talking forty, fifty pounds here, and he swings it at me. So I duck, right, and the tip of the pipe shatters the window behind me! I cock my arm back and punch the sucker in the gut.” Shaun cocked his arm back and punched the air, imitating the move he supposedly performed on the sleeper. “Like that,” he said, “but nothing happened. The bastard wouldn’t budge; he just looked at me and tilted his head like this.” For comedic effect, Shaun tilted his head stupidly to the side, the two men and the solitary woman who were listening chuckled.
William stopped just a few feet away from them and listened. “Right then and there I felt like I was going to start shitting bricks,” Shaun chuckled. “I thought I was done for, so right away I began making my peace with God, hoping that my life would end quickly.” Shaun laced his fingers together and pretended he was praying. “But then, as if God was watching me the whole time, he intervenes. And I'm talking divine intervention.” Shaun smirked. “In comes William with these two rifles, he jams one of them into the large fucker’s face and tosses me the other.”
William grinned and got closer towards the group as Shaun continued with his story. “I raised the rifle and I emptied the magazine into the deadbeat’s chest.” Shaun pretended he was holding his rifle. “But he wouldn’t drop! This dude was taking bullets like a fucking champ, I’ve never seen anything like it—it was like something straight of the Walking Dead. Except… he wasn’t fucking dead!”
William laughed. “Oh you should have seen the look on his face!” The soldiers glanced over at him.
“Hey Commander,” Shaun rose two fingers above his head and gave a brief salute. “I was just telling them about–”
“I know, I know, I heard the whole thing,” Will said, taking a seat on the ammo crate right beside Shaun. “And I have to say… you got half of the story right.” He smiled.
“What do you mean?” Stacy asked, running a hand through her red hair.
“He forgot the fact that he was in tears the whole time,” Will chuckled.
“Wait-what?!” Shaun eyes snapped open. “I was–I mean–wouldn’t you'd be in tears if you were this close to becoming one of them?” He spaced his thumb and index finger apart in a gesture to show how close he came to becoming a sleeper.
“Son, that very same one nearly strangled me to death with its pipe,” Will replied. “Now come on you pansy, Hassel and his coats will be showing up any second now. Start loading the rest of the supplies onto the drop ship.” William hopped off the crate.
“No need to worry about that, Commander. We already have it loaded up,” A soldier informed William
The Commander raised an eyebrow. “Well now, aren’t we ahead of schedule? Alright then,” he said, clapping his hands together. “As you were then. I’ll go check up on DeSilva,” William remarked, making his way towards the Condor, where a man in the cockpit sat fiddling with the controls.
:[-]:
DeSilva, a man of average height with long brown hair and a beard, sat back in the cockpit, sighing as he took a sip of the soda in his hand. It’d been what, over twelve thousand years since he last at in the cockpit of any aircraft? And that had probably been the most boring period of his life. He chuckled at the thought of being over twelve thousand years old. “That puts the meaning of old to a whole new level,” he murmured to himself as he took another swig of his soda and bent over to switch on the built in fan.
A thud came from behind him as the door to the cockpit slid open. Glancing out from behind the chair he saw Commander Keshiner step into the cockpit and take the seat right beside him. Resting his back against the leather seat, he gazed upwards and sighed. “You know,” DeSilva began, “you could’ve knocked.” He turned towards Keshiner as he put his soda in one of the cockpit’s numerous cup holders.
“Well… ya know, times change.” William stretched his arms out. “Goddamn! How can you sit in these things for so long?”
“You get used to it after a few years.” DeSilva reached back into the pouch he had strapped onto the side of the chair. After a few moments of digging around, he withdrew a small yellow CD. “After that,” he continued, “you don’t really notice it.” He placed the CD into the player that rested above the controls. Moments passed, then soothing orchestra music came through the speakers, “There ya go, that’s nice…–wait, no. I listened to you last time… oh– hang on... there we go. Haven’t listened to Beethoven in a while.” DeSilva sat back and smiled.
William looked at him confused. “When did you start listening to classical?”
DeSilva looked at him, a frown on his face. “Commander, I was your pilot for over six months during the war, and you’ve never noticed that I listen to this?”
William’s eyes wandered around as he shrugged. “Usually I’m not sitting in the cockpit with you, so how would I notice?”
“How did you not notice? I blare it through the damn– you know what? Never mind.” DeSilva grabbed his drink. “Speaking of you being in the cockpit with me,” he took a sip and gazed out the front windshield, “it’s not common for you to be in here with me.”
“So what?” William eyed his drink. “What are you doing with that?”
“Excuse me?” DeSilva looked at him through the corner of his eyes.
“Where did you get that pop?” William pointed at the red can completely bypassing the previous subject.
“Oh, this? I found a twelve pack down in refrigeration. Where they keep most of the canned goods, you know.” He grinned and took a large sip. Lowering the can away from his lips, he offered it out to William. “Wanna sip?”
William pushed the can away with his left hand, a disappointed look on his face. “So you’re the one who’s been taking all our pop.” His voice was stern.
“Wait, what?” DeSilva jolted back. “What are you talking about?”
“The Admiral said it himself, all luxury foods and drinks must be saved for important situations.” William crossed his arms, much like how a father would when he’s scolding his child.
DeSilva’s jaw dropped and his eyes darted towards the window, then back at the can, then back towards the window again. This continued for several seconds. “B-b-but–” he stammered, “this is an important situation, we’re about to return to Earth! And more importantly, how does soda fall under luxury?” DeSilva quickly retorted. “This shit practically kills your innards.”
Will shrugged. “Hey, I’m not the one who makes the rules. In the words of an acquaintance: ‘I just work here’.” He leaned over and reached under DeSilva’s seat to retrieve the six pack of the contraband goods. He took a can and popped the tab, and promptly chugged most of the cola. The taste felt alien in his mouth and William wanted to spit it out. It’d been so long since he had actually had soda that his taste buds had grown accustomed to water and hash. Swallowing the carbonated liquid, William clenched his teeth and rapidly shook his head. “Gah, Jesus! Whoa!” He chuckled to himself.
“You know, I like how you were just telling me it’s not right that I’m drinking this stuff,” DeSilva smiled, “yet here you are helping yourself.”
William took another swig and wiped his lips with his sleeve. “Well, what was wrong was the fact that you were drinking it yourself.” He placed his can in a cup holder. “Yes, you were right about the fact that what is going on now is rather important, and I think it should deserve a drink to go with it.”
DeSilva looked confused. “I’m afraid I’m not following what you are saying, sir.”
“You have a whole twelve pack for Christ sake! Don’t drink by yourself. Share some of it will ya!” He laughed.
“Gentlemen.” Both men in the cockpit spun around quickly, only to see Dr. Hassel standing in the doorway. Behind him both men could see the scientists loading onto the ship, the soldiers just behind them. “I’ve just gotten vord zat vee vill be taking off shortly.”
“When? I haven’t even received a damn alert 30 from mother yet!” DeSilva said.
Hassel raised an eyebrow, “Vell, Mr. Pavlovich, maybe if you’d just turn down zee music and actually paid attention to zee comms, you vould.”
DeSilva turned away. “Sorry.” He reached over and switched the music off, bending over to turn on the comm link.
Hassel shook his head. Looking at William, he smiled. “Ahh, it is nice to see you here, Villiam.”
William got up from his chair. “Hello, Doc.” He glanced over Hassel’s shoulder and back at the men and women boarding the shuttle. “I see that you and your men are ready.”
Hassel nodded and ducked back into the other room. William followed. “Indeed I haf–excuse me–have,” he cleared his throat as he corrected himself. “Ve’ve just finished loading zee supplies into zee cargo bay, so ve’re just vaiting for Johnny to give zee all clear.”
"Well, how convenient,” DeSilva grumbled as he popped open another can. He had his headset on, along with a pair of completely unneeded sunglasses. “Central has just now given me the green light for takeoff.” He flipped down the mic that was attached to the side of the headset. “I’m reading you loud and clear, Central.”
Hassel patted Will’s shoulder as he motioned back towards the seats with a jerk of his head. William nodded in understanding and followed him towards the back. Both men sat down and began to strap themselves in. The cockpit door closed at the same time as the side doors, which were now fitted with large Gatling guns. The guns automatically pulled back and folded up so that the doors could shut and seal themselves, creating an airtight seal. “Alright, ladies, I’ve just been given the all clear. In a matter of seconds we’ll begin our descent back down to Earth. Oh and one last thing, I hope ya’ll brought pillows and a pair of pajamas. It’s a five hour trip.”
“Everyone locked in?” Asked Michael, a tall, relatively thin soldier with short cut brown hair and green eyes; the man had a smile on his face, and was gazing back and forth at everybody. Everyone spoke up in the affirmative. “I can’t believe it,” Michael stated, his voice nearly trembling with excitement. “I never thought we’d be returning to Earth. When do you guys think we’ll be cracking open the vaults?”
“Probably not for another month,” replied Doug Miller, a particularly fat scientist who was sitting beside Stacy. The poor girl looked as if she was trying to put as much distance between herself and the man as possible before she suffocated beneath him.
Michael frowned. “Why so long?” The VTOL shook violently for a second as latches attached it to a cargo elevator, allowing it to slowly descend into the lower decks of the ship, creaking and groaning all the way.
“Because we need to check–” the drop ship lurched a bit to one side, startling everyone. “Dammit! When are they going to oil those gears?” Doug asked no one in particular. “Anyway, as I was saying,” His eyes returned to Michael, “we’ll have to run tests on the planetary surface.”
“What kind of tests?” Stacey asked for the sake of conversation, still trying her best to scooch away, but to her displeasure the straps kept her in place.
“Mainly biological,” Doug began to explain. “The differences in animal life, such as mutations or even just new types of species that might have sprung up over time. Same goes for the plant life. Due to us being gone for so long and the amount of radiation that organisms were exposed to, we need to check and see what’s safe and what’s not. Another thing is we’ll be testing the oxygen–”
“Why would we need to test the air?” Michael tilted his head and gave Doug a confused look.
“Well, radiation is the main reason. Another is that with all the dust and pollution that the bombs blasted into our planet’s atmosphere, we assume the Earth would have trouble restoring to it’s original self, let alone removing the chemicals that might have been whipped up into the atmosphere. If our theories are correct, we could breathe in some new type of pathogen, which could be very harmful to all of us due to our bodies not having any type immunity to it.” Doug took a deep breath and ran a hand through his short black hair.
Shaun, who was listening to the conversation just across from Doug, turned and looked at him. “So, you’re saying the Earth’s air is so dirty, that it’s harmful to us?”
“Well, I can assure you there’s much more to it than that,” Doug stated, “That’s why we’re bringing these masks and tyvek suits along, in case the air or environment is irradiated and toxic.”
“I fucking hate these plastic suits,” Stacey, who at this point had given up and moved to a different seat to escape Doug’s girth, grumbled.
“So,” Nervous at the previous thought Deshaun began to change the subject, “we’ve got to watch over you guys while you look at duckies and bunnies?”
Doug smiled. “If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll see a mutated Bugs Bunny.”
“Shit, now that’d be interesting.” Deshaun chuckled.
The speakers suddenly crackled with static, with DeSilva’s voice quickly following through. “Alright, I hope all of you are buckled in, we’re taking off in T-minus thirty seconds.”
William shifted in his seat, “Hey, Hassel,” he yawned, suddenly feeling tired.
“Hmm?” Hassel looked up from his book he had brought with him.
“Wake me up ten minutes before we land.” William rested his head back against his seat.
“Sure, sing Villiam.” Hassel turned the page and continued on reading; William yawned and closed his eyes right as the ship shuddered and shot off into the vacuum of space.
...
Editors Notes:
Well, this is my first editor’s note. HI GUYS!! Your resident Grammar Nazi, reporting in! Never knew what kind of work went into editing, until I found this sentence, and I am quoting Nebula here: “I live a bit to the northwest of east of the south in the middle.” I am the guy you can thank for not seeing that kind of sentence. Oh! And for the commas.
With love in that no-homo way,
-Wulf95
Other Editors Notes:
Yeah, there was some funky writing when I was the only editor on this, now it seems YOU get to deal with that Wulf, while I just have to clean up little mistakes such as "any time vs anytime" or "passed vs past". Ah, the easy life. It is good. Wait.... Nazi!?! Not now! It's Passover!!!!
-Isaac3924
P.S. The alert 30 and mother thing is pilot jargon I found online, I hope I'm using it right, but if anyone reading this is part of the air force and actually knows how to use these words, go ahead and rag on me as much as you want. Now Imma go eat some Matzah Ball soup! At 2 AM!
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
990 users online
102,421 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Two editors later and yet this.
Seems a bit clipped when you sound it out, no?
Wait a second... I read this before and I thought this story was dead... I couldve sworn that these chapters weren't posted in April, because I read them in December.
4260024 I was thinking more of the "know everything about everything" type of omnipotence.
And yea the worm is in Season 4, just you wait you'll get to see it.
4262680 This is a complete rewrite, therefore this is a completely different story compared to the last one you've read.
That engineer at the beginning seriously needs a good punch to the face if you ask me. A few more nit-picks, first; it's Gatling gun, with a capital G as it refers to a specific type of weapon, that and I prefer the term rotary cannon, (minigun if it fires rifle cartridges) while Gatling is correct it makes you think more of the 19th century weapons, but that's solely preference.
Also I request Octavia, because everything needs Octavia.
4262595 You need to make like a casino and deal with it. I have half a mind to just email you a snippet of the unedited jargon I deal with (no offense to Nebula).
4262846 But we are referring to the 19th century weapon. All of the modern ones were being used in the Sleeper War, so that was all they could get their hands on.
so humans have a legend too, interesting tidbit
4262930 So that means someone's gonna stand out on the side of the craft and crank like a child with an unhealthy obsession to Jack-in-the-Box toys?
4263061 and people shooting matchlocks out of a helicopter? XD
4263267 Ew, matchlocks.
Flintlocks are the way to go laddie.
4262595
Bitch, I'll cut you.
But seriously, things can slip through the cracks, either you like the story or you don't. Still, it's good to see mistakes that I didn't pick up. Makes me more vigilant.
4262930 Your defences make you and the author look bad... stahp.
Not a bad chapter. One thing though. The switch from M4 to G36 makes absolutely no sense. They would NEVER issue a new firearm immediately before going on a combat mission, potential or otherwise. Unfamiliarity with a weapon gets people killed.
That said, the G36 and M4 fire the same round. The only difference is that with the 36's longer barrel it gets about 100fps more out of the round. Not enough to make any real difference in terminal effects though. The 36 also mangles brass on ejection as it has a fluted chamber. I doubt your story is going to have the humans reloading ammunition at any point, but it is something to remember if you do.
4263354 Yes but the G36 can also go through rougher environments, that's what the engi meant by "In a dense forest you're getting nowhere with that gun" also the side that William's rifle is his personal weapon when he was with the U.S. now that he's in a multi cultural army things tend to change.
The only major flaw I see with a German G36 is the over heating.
4263413 Rougher environments? Going to need elaboration on that. I have personally seen AR-15 pattern rifles run in some of the harshest conditions on the planet. The majority of "issues" with the system were either (A) resolved by DoD and their fuckup in the first place and (B) problems caused by people who were in need of remedial training. LUBE is necessary. So long as an AR is lubed it will run. See Pat Rodger's Filthy 14 as a great example.
There is a reason that far fewer countries use the G36 than AR platforms.
The main issues with the G36 are:
-Change of POA/POI during strings of fire. After about 200rds accuracy opens up enough to be pretty much useless past 250m. Poor design as the installed the barrel trunnion into the poly frame. Steel trunnion heats up under use and the barrel can move slightly.
-Built in optics are crap. Better than irons, but not that great when compared to current issue stuff (acog, etc) and are prone to fogging up. Bad seals and nitrogen purging
-Crappy magazine design. The mags are known for having baseplates fall off so the mag loses its guts.
-Expense to manufacture
4263463 I would Like to point out to both of you, that the most enduring assult rifle in the world is the AK 47. I am personally not a fan but jeez, the goddam gun is designed to have a firing mechanism that you could stuff sawdust and rat parts into and it's still work! Also, the gun was made for WW2, whitch as we all know, had the most diverse battlefronts in the world! Ok, if you say "the AK was only used by the russians" then you'd still be fighting in taiga, coniferous and in the case of the Russian Soviet fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq (I iz a derp ar locations) (notduring WW2) desert enviroments, the gun did fine! Rebels across the world testify its hardiness. But Thats just My point of view.
Dino man Out!
Oh P.S. Did you say forests? Need I remind you that's what Russia and their invasion on the Nazi's territories warpaths were mainly.
4263324 4262930 I normally just read over mistakes but, you know, first paragraph and all
... Fun poking aside though, fantastic work you two. It takes a hell of a lot of effort to polish stories and this one is pretty darn polished.
4263061 the gun used in the a10 warthog is all so called a gatling gun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II#Weapons
4264954 It's typically called a rotary cannon. As I said, they're both correct. The full terminology is, Gatling type rotary cannon.
4263463 Unlike the M4 the G36 does not need to be cleaned often, just like the AK the gun can go through extremely harsh conditions and still fire perfectly fine. It is accurate and is easy to aim but can easily over heat.
But while the M4 is extremely accurate and well made the reliability of it's gas impingement is rather questionable. It may be able to fire few hundred rounds through every nook and cranny but in a war zone that is extremely dirt filled (by that I mean extremely dirty) just the smallest ounce of dirt can cause the entire weapon to malfunction. Thus making cleaning and maintenance an all time high, that's why M4s are usually used in urban combat, in a jungle with lots of water and mud it would render the weapon completely useless. That is why I choose the G36 not only because of the cosmetic look, but it's the most logical choice besides the AK.
Hopefully this makes sense, now please don't take this as me attacking you I'm just up for a friendly debate.
4263061 Well, I'll make sure that they are wearing their seat belt, but yeah.
4263341 Meh. I'm just starting the flame war... (Viewer discretion advised)
4263413 Wow, dislikes. Tough crowd tonight.
4265124 I thought CH pulled that video. I miss some of the music stuff they used to put out.
An alert 30 is apparently an aircraft on "alert," meaning it is ready to launch within X minutes of the order to do so; in this case 30 minutes. For example, most flight crews on a carrier would get placed on "alert fives," when expecting enemy air presence. When the order is given, the aircraft are up there in five minutes or less. In other words, you used it wrong, but hey, not all of us are PWLA.
4264973 The below is meant as debate and no insult is meant. I just meant to point something out. Don't let it affect your story, as I am enjoying it.
The M4 is proven to run past 43k rounds, PROVIDED it is properly lubricated. (See the article linked at the bottom of this post.) I myself have gone 12k+ rounds through one of my rifles without cleaning it. Just following a regular lubrication and parts rotation as needed. The AR platform is a lot less delicate than people think.
As for the "smallest amount of dust," please refer to proper lubrication. The majority of soldiers were not issued adequate lubrication for their weapons. One of the forums I am on got together to get several cases of lube sent to the 1/10 Mountain when they needed it. The AR platform is NOT designed to run dry, period. Over lubricaton is preferred and has been proven to keep a rifle working in harsh conditions.
The AR rifle is used throughout Central and South America by both military and rebel forces. I'd say it works well in jungle conditions for them. It also works well for our guys currently stationed in Korea and (after the DoD unfucked itself) well for our soldiers in Vietnam.* Historical precedence is higher rated than conjecture. Hell, I hunted in the jungles of Hawaii with mine and it worked just fine. (note I lived in very rural Hawaii, not the idealistic Honolulu/Oahu that you see on TV)
That said, I will agree that the pistol rifles like the 36 and AK pattern rifles function well. I am fairly certain that the AK will be around for the end of the world.
Should you want to change to the 36 for your story, feel free. I'm just explaining from the outside that it is a poor choice to swap weapons before any sort of mission. Being unfamiliar with a platform gets people killed.
The 36 is a decent rifle. That is about as nice as I can be about it. I have fired a true 36 and the SL8 civilian variant. Personally I found the stock to be uncomfortable and the optics were too high over bore to be very useful unless using a modified cheek wield.
*In Vietnam, the issues with the first M16 were not cause by the rifle. It was in fact the DoD being a bunch of fuckups as usual. They (A) Told soldiers that the rifle was essentially self cleaning and (B) decided to save money on ammunition by recycling powder from 7.62x51 and 30-06 lines to load in 5.56. Those powders burn much slower than required for 5.56 and create massive amounts of build up in the action. In short, bean counters got more soldiers killed as usual.
Please read the link below on Filthy 14. Last I checked the rifle was past 43k documented rounds, with one cleaning at 26k fired. Just regular lubrication and parts rotation as needed.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B20VYXOOQPQ0NjRiODI5M2MtZTdiMi00MDg5LThmZmItZTJmYjczYzFiMDJh/edit
4266063 Yeah, guess they re-released it due to popular demand
4263413
Hey OP if you want tips for military/Pilot jargon let me know...i can help you a bit with that. and if you need some marine/army jargon i know people to.
4266234 I will agree that both weapons are very nice I'll say. I personally have no problem with M4s, not saying I've ever used one. But judging by my family members who are in the military and from large amounts of research, it all depends upon the wielder.
You see I like to think of the M4, and this also goes for all ballistic weapons, as raising a child. You have got to clean him, feed him, and what not (I think you know where I'm getting at) depending on how you raised that child. Will affect on how him/her grow up, or in this case used. They can either be really dickish brats, or college graduates with a good paying job and family.
I've seen both weapons in action, and in my honest humble opinion I think I'd prefer the 36 (in a situation such as in the story) I will also agree that the last second switch. Was a... I wouldn't say mighty big fuck up, but more or less something that could be worked upon at some point later down the line. Maybe when I have a spare moment when I'm not playing Town of Salem or writing something else.
But yeah, I guess we can agree to disagree, the M4 maybe little fragile and afraid of a little dust compared to most other weapons. The G36 doesn't like getting hot, may look cool but and might take time getting use to.
But I think we can agree that the AK will always dominate all.
3.bp.blogspot.com/_xfWiOH5rOX8/TJpCI8ADCGI/AAAAAAAAB_Q/7vIxqdUDEMc/s1600/ak.jpg
I too celebrated Passover recently. I just wish I could have had matzoh ball soup at 2 AM though. That stuff is really good.
4268565 Agreed. Plus no other weapon than the M1 Garand has been able to repeatedly beat suckers down with the stock
This should be: "I've the survival of a strike team to ensure."
ΔΓ
I feel angel bunny's going to be the butt end of this joke in future events...
4265124 Now I feel like I don't contribute enough. I'm trying to upgrade from finding scientific inacuracies and correcting (badgering Dark Nebula about it with really long,and detailed PMs until he changes it) them to providing ideas for later chapters. I'm pretty sure all I contributed to this chapter was changing "Oxygen Toxcicity" to "Pathogen" via 3 long overly detailed PMs; the last of which was completely unnecessary whatsoever.
We'll at least I tried that's what matters.
"No, not really! Now get off the comments section!" Says the man in the back.
"This is a public domain I'll talk here all damn day thank you very much!" Says the anoying asshole currently ranting in the front.
4273935
WeI didn't think of that. *laughs while squinting deviously into the distance*4275633 Hey, you do a lot. I mean, I can find the scientific errors, but 9.5 times out of 10 I have no idea how to fix them. I am just the grammar guy. I also just work here.
You know, something has been bugging me for quite a while now...
Was this chapter meant to be spelled "Prepartion" or "Preparation"?
4297952 Oh shit I haven't noticed that thank you for pointing that out.
4263413
I don't know, this AR-15 did pretty well with mud, no cleaning, and 1000+ rounds.
Edit: Eh, Arxsys actually pretty much did all the arguing needed. An AR platform will work fine in a forest unless you do something stupid with it.
4332062 Like I've said in my previous comment it all depends on the person who is wielding the weapon. But if you want my humble opinion I'd choose the G36 any day. Not saying I've ever used both weapons so that I could compare. But with research and the use of the trusty Google. It appears that on paper the G36 seems to be the better choice. Again that is my opinion. Alas though, I forgot about the AK... It brings a tear to my eye knowing I had an even better choice in the end.
4348722 I don't particularly see how the person is too important, I mean did you watch that video? Those people didn't clean it, and whenever it started to get hot they literally just chucked it into a muddy stream. They didn't towel it off with a wet rag, they literally threw it into the water.
That said, yes an AK would be the better choice, or most Russian guns, as they almost universally share the feature of being reliable. Almost.
Sometimes there are exceptions...
4348848 No I couldn't watch the video (on a phone pc went to shit a month back, therefore can't write) as I said, I'm going by what I read. Which half the articles I read wiki pedia (not the best choice I know) and a few other sites, I'll see if I can find them later I have a pc available; but most in which date back to earlier models of the M4s and even a few M16s.
I personally, never used either weapons as stated before in previous comments. I'm going by what I've read and on paper, again as stated previously, seems better. Now if I ever get the chance to use either weapons in the upcoming future I'll stand by my opinion now. Still though I'm actually considering switching over to the AK, it's not too late in the story to do so.
4350127 Well, I can't speak for comparing the guns, but I have shot both an AK and an AR, and they are both a TON of fun. Second, be careful when you base your opinions off of text alone. A great example of this is that communism is freaking amazing on paper, but sucks royal in practice. Lastly, any sort of ETA on your computer repairs/getting a new one? I that you're doing well on that front, at least.
-GN
4350127 Also, I only just realized that your most 'recent' author's notes are horrible, grammar wise. Would you like me to edit those too? (Ahh... after so long of not editing, I needed that. Sorry.
)
4359174 As of lately no the PC is not doing so well, (speaking of which I'm on it now but it's running excruciatingly slow) seeing that I'm using the "family" computer I am not trusted to fix it myself (even though I know how cause I done it). My pop said he needs to wipe the system completely but due to work he's unable, but seeing that I have gotten myself a job now I'm going to be building my own soon.
On another note I have been working on my stories (including this–scratch that mainly this) but it's been going slow due to lack of motivation to do anything.
4359325 Darn you! As I am writing this, I am sitting at my dad's computer, because mine just died today. It didn't just shut down, no. It isn't just running slow. It just up and died. FUUUUUUUUUU- Oh well. Now I need a new one. Do you know any way to somehow get the files off of a dead computer?
4364181 NOPE
To: Joey.
From: Aleks.
Title: Where was I?
Message: Sorry for not being able to do my shtick. Family stuff as well as work and school got in the way, and I was lucky to be able to even read some fanfiction, let alone work on my own stories. Perhaps, now that things are calming down, and I'm nearing the end of my sixth year contract with the chAir Force, I'll be able to settle down, work on my Master's, and live off of my GI, doing stuff like this in my free time.
Peace out, and keep up the good work. don't forget to give the others Hell!
4364181 Is/was the hard drive still intact? If it is, you could hook it up to your current computer and transfer the files onto your new one (maybe with one of those double-ended USB cables? Sorry if it sounds like I have no idea what I'm talking about, but to me this is all theoretical; last time I tried to transfer anything between computers it involved a great number of CD-ROM discs...
)
They still used M4A1? Da hell man? They should at least reach M4A4 and M16A6 or something.
6116686 nah, they'd have gauss rifles :P