บท 38: I'm Looking For Some Guns
The door for the weapons store that was aptly named 'Bang Guns Store' slid open as we stepped up to it.
Honestly, I was expecting the place to be a little different, maybe filled with neon lights with metal cages filled with guns and stuff but… It was a normal gun shop I guess?
It was a rather small store and they had various guns on display in glass cabinets and mounted on the walls. The store was empty save for one person that stood at the end behind the counter.
The person looked… Well… Unique?
I mean, he actually looked like an ogre with his red skin and red horns poking out of his messy long black hair.
I almost thought I stepped into some kind of fantasy world if not for the fact that he was wearing what looked like a bullet proof vest with several magazines and combat knives strapped to it.
The ogre guy grinned when he saw us, displaying two long tusks that jutted out from his lower jaw.
"Amber! Been a while hasn't it? Here for your order?"
Amber waved at him, "Hey Bang. Looks like you modded yourself with something new again huh?"
His name is literally just Bang? And here I thought the 'Bang' on the name was supposed to be an onomatopoeia.
The ogre grinned, "Yeah, I was reading some fantasy novels lately and I got the itch to turn myself into an ogre, so here I am."
Amber turned to me, "He's a human by the way. Just likes to mod himself with various different Gene mods to turn himself into different stuff. The last time I was here, he was some kind of blue lizard thing."
"They're called lizardmen you uncultured-- Ahem… Who's your friend there?"
Amber wrapped her arm around me, "She's my lover, jealous?"
The ogre raised an eyebrow, "Ha? What are you blackmailing her with? She's too good for you."
"Ahahaha! Mara said the same thing!"
"I would think she would, that woman has much more sense than either of us."
Amber then took a step forward and gestured at the ogre, "Tera, meet Bang, self proclaimed best gunsmith on this side of the city. Bang, this is Tera, my girlfriend and Merc partner."
"Tsk, what do you mean 'self-proclaimed'? I'll let you know that there was actually a poll made and I came out as the first so it's official now!"
"Yeah sure, that poll was only held in your store and you basically just asked your customers only. Don't think I didn't know that."
Bang rolled his eyes before nodding at me, "Hello Tera. So you're a Merc huh? I don't know if I should count you lucky or unlucky to be partnered with this fiery little minx. Though I suppose you are the first that's partnering up with her as her lover so I guess things should be different for you as compared to those other Mercs she partnered with."
"Err… That bad?" I asked.
"Hmph, don't you know? The last guy she partnered with tried to hit on her so she broke all his--"
Amber punched his counter with her fist hard enough to leave an imprint on the surface, "Hey… You're having fun talking about someone else's past aren't you?"
A bead of sweat rolled down Bang's forehead, "Right… Ahem… I think the both of you look good together."
Amber's demeanour quickly changed, "Hahaha! At least you have good eyes!"
Bang sighed, "Right, right. Your shield is at the back so I'll go and get it, feel free to browse in the meantime and let me know if anything catches your eye."
The ogre ducked through a door behind the counter and left us alone, which I guess was an indication for me to look around the place.
I didn't really have an exact weapon I wanted in mind so I simply took a look around with Amber following behind me.
"What weapons are you using? I remembered seeing two pistols, right?" I asked the blonde haired Merc.
Amber grinned and pulled out her dual pistols to show me, "The Nebula Nighthawk and the Phoenix W2 Magnum. Been using it for a long time and they have yet to fail me."
"Cool~ Anything special about them?"
She first showed me one of the pistols that had a design that was similar to my blaster except that it was black in colour with a yellow trim.
"Nebula Nighthawk, it's an energy pistol with a variable energy setting so you can change from a non-lethal stun to energy rounds that can punch through steel plates."
Hmm? That sounds a little bit like mine?
I took out my blaster from its holster and hey, what do you know? They actually look the same except mine was completely white.
Amber gasped, "Oh wow, you have one too! Hehehe~ I guess we have something we share now~ The colour matches you too~"
She then showed me her other pistol which kind of gave me the impression of a hand cannon.
"The Phoenix W2 Magnum, this one's a ballistic pistol and has enough firepower to punch through most ballistic armour and even the armour plates of the less protected power armours."
So it really is a hand cannon.
Amber then kept her pistols back in her holsters and nodded at me, "Is there anything specific you're looking for?"
I holstered my own blaster as well, which I now know its name at least.
"I'm fine in the sidearm department so I guess I'd like something for my main weapon. I'd prefer it if it's something heavy hitting though… Maybe even enough to punch power armour? But not like a rocket launcher or something explosive…"
She tilted her head at me, "Is this because of Voidshade?"
I nodded.
Amber pinched her chin with her hand, "Hmm… Long range or short ranged? If you want long range I would recommend a ballistic rifle and if it's short range, a shotgun might do. But for something that can punch through power armour… Well, let's just see what he has around here first."
She pointed at one of the walls that had the larger sized guns so I went to see what was on display there.
I definitely don't recognise any of them so none of them were from the game, which also meant I have no idea what their specs were.
Thankfully, Bang returned right at that point of time and saw me looking at the rifles.
"Got your shield right here, Amber. Go on and test it out. See something that caught your eye, Tera?"
Amber strutted over to the ogre, "She's looking for something that has enough kick to punch through power armour but isn't an anti-armour explosive."
He raised an eyebrow, "That much firepower? Hmm… I don't think I have something like that… Oh, wait, yes I do. Hold on a moment."
He ducked back into the back of the store again while Amber picked up the shield device and inspected it.
She gave it a few taps before trapping it on her belt, hopping a few times as though to test its weight.
She then started doing side to side hops just as Bang returned with a relatively large rifle in his hands.
"The Nimbus Tactical Shotgun. It's highly customizable and can even be switched on the fly if you carry the parts around."
He then leaned under the counter to take out three different coloured shells to place on the countertop beside the gun.
"Red one's the normal buckshot ammunition. Effective up to forty metres. Green ones are energy cartridges that are effective in shredding shields, effective up to thirty five metres. The black one here is the armour piercing slug round. You can punch through most power armour with this except for the really heavy ones if you shoot from within five metres. Otherwise for normal targets, you can pretty much punch a hole through them within a hundred and fifty metres. Now I'm not going to lie, this gun is high tier and the ammo is also going to be quite expensive too. I'm only showing this so that you know the options."
"How much?" I asked.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand Credits for the gun itself. Six hundred for a hundred buckshots, eight hundred for a hundred energy cartridges and a thousand for the slug ones."
Ok, he's not kidding when he said they're expensive… But I think it's worth it especially given the fact that it seems like it's quite versatile too.
I could use them for both short and medium range engagements and I would not find myself with inadequate firepower either like the time with Voidshade.
I suppose after working a little bit more as a Merc, I could then consider getting some specialised equipment but I would say that this shotgun was perfect for me right now.
I nodded at him, "I'll take it. As well as three hundred of each type of ammo."
Bang blinked at me, clearly not expecting me to decide to buy it immediately but quickly recovered, "Umm… Would you like to test it out first? I have a range at the back."
Oh, even better! Let's shoot some guns!
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Draekai
Draekai Captain's Log:
There's a lot of guns here I don't recognise, but I'm not sure if this was because I was in the fringes of civilised space or the guns I was used to using just don't really exist here...
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