Dr Elune slid on the gloves for the suit, glancing up at Alex, "You sure that these suits will automatically deploy the vacuum seal if you disconnect?"

Alex raised an eyebrow, proving it by triggering the doctor's suit, laughing at the startled exclamation, "I was thorough, doctor. Manual release is both buttons on either side of the helmet, should you need it."

The doctor grumbled as the thin frame peeled back, storing the segmented helmet back in the suit, "Just making sure. Everyone else ready?"

Laura, Hope and Ren all nodded, climbing aboard the tiny transport pod. The doctor squeezed in, with Alex sliding in the pilot seat at the front, "Off we go."

The pod whished out of the airlock, propelled toward the floating space platform next to the shuttle. A sprawling station, it had been designed exactly for what they were about to use it for: A large, safe place to test things, minimising the risk to the populace below. It was the second one to have been launched at the Fourth Haven.

The pod quickly docked with the platform, thudding into the receiving cradle as everyone grunted. The airlock closed bahind them, and Hope sighed, "And now, we wait. Hope this lousy place has decent pressure, or this is going to take a while."

The crew blinked in surprise as the pod creaked ominously, before the dash came up with a message, showing pressures as stabilised. Laura gaped at it, "Apparently they do. We should reenforce the pod, from the sound of that."

Alex shook their head, "Nah, the station creaked all the time. I hear it from the constant monitoring... The pod is safe." Disengaging the door locks, Alex got up to lead the way. The rest shrugged or glanced at each other, before following suit.

Alex bowed to let Dr Elune take the lead outside of the pod, Ren following behind as a man opened the door to the small hangar. Ren waved with a grin, calling out, "Ah, Thomas. Good to meet you. I have heard a lot about you from Greg."

Thomas chuckled as he leant on a cane, stepping aside to let them in, "Same to you. Your research into prosthetics has always interested me... For obvious personal reasons."

Dr Elune raised an eyebrow, looking down at Thomas's legs, one significantly more withered than the other, "You look like you could afford cellular regeneration. Why not go with that?"

Thomas shook his head, "Couldn't justify the price of a full leg. Darn thing would cost more than all the orbital platforms I own. I did have them stop the deterioration, though... The acid that ate through my leg apparently lingered after initial treatment."

Grimacing, Dr Elune nodded as they followed after Thomas, who kept a surprisingly brisk pace with his good leg. Ren glanced back with a smile, "There have been some interesting breakthroughs in that field, actually. For now though, we are most grateful you allowed us to use this station. One of Greg's old finds was just too good not to try."

Thomas nodded, looking back at Alex who had unloaded the rifle from the pod, "Doesn't look like much, but I saw the thing fire at one percent charge... Made me jump out of my skin! I will be hiding in a saferoom, as you get to use a whole ten percent."

Dr Elune grinned, "Ahh, I was wondering why you would risk your station. You are just as curious as we are."

Thomas nodded, leading them to an imposing bulkhead, starting the sequence to open it, "Yup. That must have been developed in the late stages of the Wars... And then never finalised. Probably some bored tinkerer finished it off, somewhere before Greg got it."

Nodding, Hope hefted the shield, and whistled as the door opened, "Quite the view, there."

Thomas walked in, easing into a chair by the window as he nodded, "Why have a shooting range in space... Unless you can make it worth it?" The room was fairly plain, mostly composed of thick reenforced walls and a few benches facing the one difference, a broad, thick window that overlooked the range below. And the range itself... Was obviously for show.

A scattered array of stands and tables were lined up far below the window, before a sweeping long hall. Set peices and target dummies crowded the side of the hall, with various machines to move them into place for practice. The walls were of the same sturdy material as the obervation safe-room, and so was the roof... But below, the floor was pure, unbroken glass, providing a view of the glimmering metropolis var below on the Haven's surface, the Spire visible even from this far up.

Dr Elune coughed, "I'm sure you get this a lot... But... How...?"

Thomas laughed, "Doesn't look it, but that glass is a special blend, for enhanced transperency and durability. Darn stuff is several meters thick, and you would never tell. Also, it resists shattering, so chunks can be blasted out without worry."

Nodding, the doctor grinned, "The view does kinda bend slightly... But less than it should, for that much glass. Impressive work. I assume repairs are easy?"

Thomas shrugged, beckoning them all to sit down, "Easy enough. Pout in some more of the molten material, carefully check for air bubbles... And it comes out nice and clean. Only problem is the stuff takes a lot of steps to make..."

Dr Elune glanced at Alex, who nodded at the hint, "We can look into it. This view would be nice for our own station." Turning back to Thomas, the doctor smiled, "So, how do we get down there?"

Thomas blinked, then grinned, "Oops. Continue down that hall outside, there is an elevator and stairwell on the right side. We will keep in touch from here."

Alex nodded, leading the way as Hope hurried on after, pressing a button to close the door behind them. As it rumbled closed, everyone got comfortable, chatting idly amongst themselves as they waited.

Hope and Alex soon appeared below, Alex putting the rifle down on the bench Hope picked out before running off to find a suitable stand. Dr Elune glanced at Thomas, "I don't see any cables. How are we to power these?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Thomas glanced up, "Hmm? There are ports in the walls below us, with plenty of varieties of cables. We just can't see that from our position."

Nodding, the doctor turned back to watch, humming idly as Hope set up the rifle, Alex rushing back and forth with leads to power the two devices. Looking up at Laura, Dr Elune nudged her, "So, this shield..."

Jumping slightly from the unexpected nudge, Laura smirked, "Finished last night, Hope gave it a test. Close to the original... But heavier power requirements. Also made a mod to not send the shock downwards, for obvious reasons."

Nodding thoughtfully, the doctor twiddled their thumbs. It had been a long time since they attended a test for something they did not work on... Well, them or Alex. The shuttle had even been a collaboration between Alex and Laura. Giggling suddenly, the doctor glanced at her, "I sometimes forget... There is a reason you make such a good rival. You manage the grunt work, and make my deisgns... Well, obey science!"

Blinking in surprise, Laura turned away, murmuring quietly, "The air must be thinner here... You never say stuff like that." Spotting a faint tinge to Laura's cheeks, the doctor smiled, and returned their attention below, as Alex was almost finished setting up.

Thomas grinned as Alex waved up at the box, and 'turned on' their comm unit, "All ready to go, doctor. How do we secure the room? The power isn't on until we do."

Relaying the question to Thomas, he pointed to the door down below, "Lever by the door, behind a small panel. It has been a while since I attanded a demonstration in person, so I forget you haven't been given the orientation."

Dr Elune relayed the message through back to Alex, before thanking Thomas, "No worries. We can have a full tour after, supposing this thing doesn't rip the platform in half!"

As they laughed, sirens popped up along the roof and walls of the range, indicating the pressure sealing each room. The door to the safe room whirred as well, securing them from the imminent destruction below. Alex ran to the shield, as Hope flipped a switch to begin warming up the rifle.

As the shield hummed to life, some red lines along it's surface flared on, Alex running back to behind Hope. Dr Elune glanced up at Laura, who smirked, "What? I know you. Thought you would approve."

"... I'm still amused." Grinning, the doctor watched the rifle whirr as parts of it's complex barel spun around, the view enhanced by a visor built into each person's suit. Thomas used plain old binoculars, leaning forward eagerly.

Hope glanced down at the weapon, then back up at the viewing room, talking over the comms, "Should be a minute more, to build up charge in the shot. Ten percent capacity, right?"

"Affirmative. We can't afford to go full blast. Plus, doesn't that thing take exponentially longer on higher charges?"

Hope nodded, turning back to the rifle as she locked in the maximum threshhold. Besides the coninued revolutions around the gun barrel, the rifled showed no signs of change as the shot built up power.

Laura huffed, "Boring. Need to improve that, too... Need to figure out how to make more ammunition, though. We only have a dozen shots for that thing, and we are wasting one now."

Dr Elune looked up in surprise, "I thought it was energy based? Even plasma experiments use pretty standard gasses."

Laura shook her head, "Energy for the most part, but there is a custom bullet for each shot as well. I didn't want to risk cracking one open... An A- We have been too busy analysing other things to go over scanned specs."

Nodding, Dr Elune grinned as Hope gave the word, "All ready. Shall we do a countdown?"

"Hope, you can fire when ready. We are watchign from here."

Nodding, she knelt behind the table, Alex hidden against the wall as Hope took aim, "Be warned... This thing is apparently bright."

As everyone shielded their eyes, Hope took a deep breath... And pulled the trigger. A shot whistled at the shield, visible for a split second as people watched it, expecting something more...

And then, just before the shot reached the shield, the secondary burst released from the rifle. The range went white, the entire viewing room shaking from the force of the blast as the impact reverbrated through the station, bulkhead thunking as it disengaged from the hallway, reacting to the force going through it. And then, silence.

As people pried themselved up, they looked down at the scene below. The table Hope had been leaning on was nothing but a pile of shattered embers, smoldering from the blast. a faint line of scorchmarks drew a line from the table to the target, where the shield... Used to be.

A ring of scorched glass surrounded the twisted remains of the shield, a wide hole ripping through the center. Looking up, the roof a hundred meters above had a line of destruction etched into it, not very deep but seemignly impossible from the distance from the target.

Eyes suddenly widening, Dr Elune noticed their suit had not engaged... But Hope was nowhere to be scene. Shakily reaching up to speak over Hope's channel, Dr Elune swallowed, "Hope? Can... Can you hear me?" The sound of their voice seemed dulled, ears still ringing from the blast.

After a moment, Alex's voice whispered over the comms, "Doctor. Hope is fine... Ears are damaged, so she can not reply. Mine are as well, but we can pretend I was far enough away. Other than aching eyes and hurt ears, Hope is none the worse for wear. We will meet you at the transport pod."

Sighing with relief, Dr Elune turned to the rest, who had not heard, "They are okay. Shaken, and we may need to get them... Well, get them checked over by a doctor, make sure nothing is broken."

Eveyone took a deep breath, taking a moment to rest as Thomas shakily laughed, "I wanted a show... And I didn't see a damn thing! And to think... That was only ten percent..."

Dr Elune offered a hand with a grin, "I hope the gun is okay... And in the meantime, if you found that interesting, we have a lot to talk about."