Chapter Ten - Done Dirt Cheap

“Samurai have catalogues for nearly everything. Some are more broad than others, while some focus almost entirely on a single narrow field. Those latter ones tend to be dangerous at higher classes.

The Protectors make the business of killing xenos fun and easy.”

-- Excerpt from an AMA by ‘Salamander Storm’

***

It didn’t take all that long for everyone to start getting ready to move. Say what you will about kids, when shit hit the fan, most of them were damned fast to adapt. I left the remaining adults and the older teens like Marie and Lucy to figure out how to get everyone moving. In the meantime, I stepped out and into the corridor.

“Myalis?”

Yes?

“I’ve got thirty-seven points, right?” I asked. “I need something to defend myself, and the kids, with.”

I see. There are two readily available solutions. Acquire a decently powerful weapon for yourself; this will allow you to take care of large sums of enemies on your own. Obtain a batch of weaker weapons for your allies. You can perhaps afford six very simple kinetic handguns from your Class I Kinetic Handguns catalogue. Every alien killed with one of these weapons, even if it's not by your hand, will afford you a small number of points, perhaps even refunding the weapons over time. There is always the middle ground, a combination of the two.

I looked around the entrance of the vault and took in the group. I wouldn’t trust the kittens with a gun. But some of the older folk? Baldy was a bit of a wimp, but I bet he could pull a trigger, likewise for the teacher lady.

“What kind of guns do you have for cheap?” I asked.

Might I suggest the Foxteeth Model D. Small, reliable, easy to aim and with semi-automatic action. Its magazine holds fifteen rounds of 9x19 parabellum. They come with a single magazine. Five points each.

“Okay,” I said. “Cool, yeah. Can they take out those,” I gestured to the corpse of the alien I’d shot deeper in the corridor.

A well-aimed shot can. Most smaller Antithesis models are surprisingly fragile. They rely more on numbers to overwhelm rather than individual strength.

“Is that going to be a problem?” I asked.

As soon as the Antithesis have secured the area immediately around their landing site, they will begin to send out forces in droves. It will be a problem, yes. I would advise either obtaining equipment to fight off large numbers of adversaries, or leaving the area.

“Damn. Okay, I need a gun for myself. Something in the, uh, twenty point range, I guess. No point in saving anything if it’s the choice between having something that can save me and not.”

For twenty points, I would suggest the Trench Maker. It's a heavy-duty universal feed handgun. You can load any standard ammunition between five and twelve millimeters. The barrel and chamber expands after scanning each individual round, allowing you to fire nearly any type of standard small-arms ammunition.

“That sounds a bit gimmicky,” I said. Not that I know shit about guns, really.

It comes with an ensuite targeting system, an extra magazine of incendiary armour piercing rounds... and a laser pointer!

I snorted. “Sold. Do I get a holster with that?”

I’m afraid you would need Class I Simple Garments to obtain a suitable holster. The Trench Maker does have a comprehensive safety mechanism.

“Right, right, that’s... for later. Clothes aren’t a priority.” I sniffed, running a hand under my nose. A glance into the vault showed that they seemed ready to move. “Right, let’s do this. Give me two of those Fox guns, and that Trench Maker.” I said.

New Purchase: Foxteeth Model D
Points reduced to... 27

New Purchase: Foxteeth Model D
Points reduced to... 22

New Purchase: Trench Maker
Points reduced to... 7

Three boxes appeared at my feet. Two were relatively small, the third was rather larger, maybe a handspan and a half long. I flicked one of the smaller boxes opened and stared at the gun within.

It was... a gun. Square, boxy, gun-like. I pulled it out of its case and twisted it this way and that. There was a switch on one side labelled safety, and another labelled sights. I flicked the latter and a pair of arms snapped out of the top. A hologram of three little red circles appeared in its centre. I hefted it. It was light, which felt about right for the quality of the thing.

Flicking the sights switch again folded them away. “Simple enough, I guess,” I muttered as I pushed the gun back into its case.

The other gun was a work of art. Seven inches of chrome, with a barrel as thick around as my wrist that swept into an angular grip with a guard that would cover the user’s entire hand. I carefully pulled the gun out of its box. It was hefty. Not heavy, exactly, but not light either. It fit into my hand like it was meant to be there.

The gun is preloaded with 9x19 parabellum.

My eyegear filled with a loading screen, and then a small element appeared in my HUD, the profile of a gun’s magazine, each round with a label next to it. A hovering circle appeared wherever I pointed the Trench Maker, the word ‘safety on’ next to the reticule.

“Okay, yeah, worth it,” I said.

“Cat?” I turned to see Daniel rolling out of the room. “You okay?” he asked. Then his eyes landed on the gun in my hand, and the two before me. “Oh, shit, it’s true?” he asked.

“What’s true?” I asked right back.

“Well, you’ve either been smuggling guns around without anyone noticing, or you’re a samurai.” He grinned. “This is pretty awesome, you know. ‘Cept for the whole apocalypse thing. Could do without that. Hey, can I get one of those.”

“I’m giving them to mature people,” I said as I slipped the Trench Maker in the back of my pants. The extra magazine in its box went into a pocket. “That means anyone but you.”

“You wound me Cat,” he said. “Uh... is it Miss Cat now? Lady Cat? Catmurai?”

“Try that last one again and I’ll be testing my new toys on you,” I growled. I was putting on a show, but I was kind of glad that Daniel was still himself.

“You know I’m always up for testing toys, but, ah, maybe I’ll pass on those.”

“C’mon, dumbass,” I said past my grin. I plopped the two Foxteeth onto his lap. “You can help me hand those out to useful people.”