I slink into the firing range, setting the small plastic case onto the back table. What’s in this thing, anyway?
Assorted Backup Pistol Ordnance Box Contains one of the following: AMT Backup, Ruger LCP, Ruger LCR, COP, PSS, Steyr M1909, Walther PPK, Liberator
Huh, that’s quite a list of guns, and I don’t know half these names, but the PPK sounds nice… Oh, shit. The Liberator. I’d like to finally be able to have a sidearm, but if I got handed a Liberator I’d probably be better off throwing the damn thing than reloading it.
I sigh. Let’s get it over with. I pop open the latches, but then I pause. I wonder if there’s some sort of stupid trick to these to make sure you don’t get garbage, like all those myths about throwing your grenades at specific areas to get better guns from the mystery box in CoD. Well, I don’t have any grenades and it’s too late anyway. I open it the rest of the way to find a pistol that definitely wasn’t a Liberator. “Now what's that supposed to be?”
I pick up the gun. It’s pretty small. I can only manage to get two fingers around the grip, and barely even that. “Who the hell is this gun for, hobbits?”
Someone walks into the gun range, wearing a pair of earmuffs. It’s the dude I unlocked during my last session, though he now has an MP5 on a one-point sling. “Oh, hello, Commander.”
“Oh, hi… Who are you, again?”
Tai Archetype: Assault [3-Star] Former Occupation: SWAT Armaments:
MP5A4 RAS
-Vertical Grip -Flashlight Attachment
Glock 19 Special Traits:
Burst Drilling-Significantly increased weapon control in burstfire mode. Small increase in full-auto weapon control.
[F]Violence of Action-Increased deployment speed and throwing accuracy of flashbangs and stingball grenades.
Huh, that’s a pretty convenient little info screen. “I’m just here inspecting this pistol that we’ve been issued. I just can’t believe it’s so goddamn small.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s one of those ankle guns some of the old-timers at my previous department kept around. Not normally the kind of thing that SWAT teams go for, though.”
“Ankle guns?”
“Yeah. You just strap ‘em to your ankle, hide it under your pant leg, in case you lose your primary pistol or whatever.”
“That… would explain why this gun feels like it’s meant for a 10 year old’s hands.” I examine the gun closer. On the left side of the slide, ‘AMT. 9MM KURZ. BACK UP II.’ is printed in simple text. “Maybe I could tolerate this until I get a real pistol. Let’s see how bad it could actually be.”
I try aiming downrange, but the irons look so damn weird. I take another look and figure out why; it’s like a trench was made in the slide with a pair of cutout walls at the back and front forming the sights, instead of simply being on top of the slide like a normal pistol. “Jesus, who designed these sights?”
I settle my sights again, as my left hand slipped around in confusion, not knowing how exactly to support such a tiny gun. I simply let it drop at my side, pulling the trigger on a conveniently placed silhouette target. The pistol kicks up to an almost painful degree in my hand. I hold my breath and re-settle my sights, firing out the rest of the mag. All of five shots was what I had, and my accuracy wasn’t exactly ideal.
I shake my hand with the pistol still in it. “How can a baby gun like this kick so hard!?” Tai just chuckles, like he knows something I don’t. I turn to the table behind me to find some spare mags already loaded for me. I press my thumb into where I’d expect the magazine release to be, but the magazine doesn’t come out; the lever on the frame just clicks upward. I click it back down. I guess that’s the safety, but if so, where’s the magazine release?
I sweep the pistol with my eyes until I find a suspicious-looking little tab on the bottom of the frame. I press it away from the magazine, and it drops free, clattering onto the table. So, that’s it. That actually makes sense, but at the same time… I find it to be disgustingly abominable. I can’t even do cool reloads with this! What’s the point of this damn thing if I can’t even do cool reloads?
I slam a new magazine into the pistol and rack the slide—that’s right, it doesn’t even have a damn slide catch. I turn back to the range, sighing. “What a piece of shit this is!” I hurl the gun at the silhouette target. “If I’m lucky, at least I can use it as a throwing weapon.” The gun whirls in the air, sailing through the paper target and clattering onto the floor.
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I turn to see Tai chuckling. “Oh, I bet you must be feeling so smug, having a real sidearm.” He just laughs more. I walk by him and out of the range.
Walking back into my office, I drop myself into my chair, looking at the menus. I click on Operatives and look closer at Tai, before seeing a short list of other operatives I haven’t unlocked yet. There’s no one-stars listed.
Tutorial: Stars
Stars are a way of grading Operatives based on their general degree of quality of aptitude. More stars will generally mean higher starting stats, higher potential stats, and an overall better worth ethic as well as (usually) higher intelligence. Though any rank of Operative can be trained extensively, their star ratings are not based on this and are unaltered by training and experience. Star ratings can range from two stars to six stars. One-star Operatives do not exist; personnel of one-star rating are instead usually classified as Grunts and count as one-star units for the purposes of determining any effects.
Oh. That’s helpful to know. If Tai’s got a whole three stars, that’s gotta mean he’s pretty good then. I switch over to the missions menu. There’s two missions available, both for different apartments. I click on one in particular. Apparently, it allows for 2 Operatives plus the commander, and there’s expected to be between 4 and 8 hostiles inside. I put Tai into one slot, and a generic grunt in the other slot.
Confirm.
It's not long before the darkness takes me.
When the darkness disappears, Tai, a Grunt, and myself stand in an apartment building hallway, right outside the door to apartment number 206.
“So, what’s the plan, boss?”
“Tai, I want you to take point. I wanna see what you’re made of.”
He chuckles. “Got it, boss. Should we stack up normally, or…?”
Stack up? By crouch-jumping on each other? This isn’t exactly Counterstrike, dude. I pause before I open my mouth to incriminate myself on charges of grand stupidity. Oh, he’s talking about that thing they do where they line up to enter. “I’ll cover the door from across the hallway as you boot the door. You enter first, I’ll follow...” I look over to the Grunt, who hadn’t spoken at all yet. “Oh, right. I forgot you’re here with us. Fall in behind me.” He nods wordlessly, not even shouldering his weapon.
We take our positions as I shoulder my rifle at the door, flicking my gun to full auto. “Go for it.”
Tai kicks the door open, revealing nobody in front of it. The small room was devoid of any major details, and merely had a bend going left. Tai steps into the bend and moves his muzzle left, and I follow to find a hallway with doors lingering claustrophobically on either side .
On the other end of the hallway was what appeared to be some sort of kitchen or dining room. A suspect walks into sight on the other end only to be gunned down by a burst of rounds from Tai’s MP5. He starts advancing down the hallway as my eyes fixate on the doors to the sides. “Tai, wait, get back here!”
“Oh, alright.” He glanced behind himself to me. Beyond him, I saw movement, so I fired at it and clipped a suspect wielding an SMG in the shoulder as he clutches it, growling. The gunfire seems to snap Tai back to attention as he finishes the target off with another burst of rounds walking neatly up his chest in a line before backpedaling towards me. “Shit! Good catch, chief.” Tai huffs, shaking his head.
“Alright, you see this door to our right? I want you to go in and clear it. I’ll cover the hallway.”
“On it. Time to prove myself!” Tai opens the door, stepping in boldly as he fires a burst, and then another. Then, I hear a different gun firing in the same room. “Agh, fuck!”
I dart into the bedroom, already aiming to the left side of the doorway as I step in. I find a target shooting a handgun in Tai’s direction and I pull my trigger, watching as a spray of bullet-holes erupt on the man’s body before he drops his weapon. “Tai, you still alive?”
“Yeah.” Tai awkwardly clambers up to one knee, blood leaking from his left arm. “I just got a little clipped, that’s all.” I step over to look closer at him, but the hair-raising feeling of bullets flying from behind interrupts me and I feel a stray round graze my shoulder.
“Shit!” I whirl around to discover that the door across from this one had opened and that a suspect was now firing at us. I raise my weapon, but he’s quickly sprayed by someone else’s weapon entirely. I can’t believe I almost died to that bullshit. “Took you long enough, asshole!” The Grunt advances forward enough to be seen through the doorway before waving to us briefly.
“Guess he’s gotta be fashionably late, huh?”
I snicker, even through the pain now in my right arm. “No shit, Tai. Let’s go.”
The mission completion screen opens.
Apartment 206: Mission Complete! Reward Acquired: 15000 Credits, SWAT-T Tourniquet [Continue Wandering] [Exit Level]
Wait, that's it, really? I decide to head back to base.