Heartbreak117

Not gonna lie, this range day chapter was heavily inspired by the Youtube channels of Brandon Herrera and Forgotten Weapons. Especially the latter because I need to learn more about the H&K familiy lol

With Part 16 of this Side Story arc already on Patreon, I can safely say that it will end on Part 18, and maybe an Omake or an epilogue due to the voting from before. And boy, I hope can make things go boom then :D

Yuki Kimono

Spoiler

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"Eh... Wow?" SCAR-H found herself at a loss for words when she saw SCAR-SC seemingly blend into the background. The carbine T-Doll is currently checking herself out while wearing Morgan's improved thermoptic camouflage cape. With an excited grin on her face, SCAR-SC suddenly dash around the firing range. Surprising the other T-Dolls and Gentiane, the new cape is still able to adapt to the fastly changing environment around the range instantly, not breaking into weird and noticeable artifacts. Being a sniper herself, SCAR-H is most impressed by the upgrade. Swiveling around on her feet, SCAR-H clamps her hands on Morgan's shoulders with a heated expression.

"How much is it and when can I get one!?"

Being stared at hungrily by SCAR-H, Morgan just chuckled, not surprising that the rifle T-Doll would react this way. Slapping her hand a few times on a strong box, Morgan answers with a cheeky smile. "I have enough for all of you."

SCAR-H shouts in a jubilant tone before rushing to the box, opening it, and claiming a cape as her own, eager to test it out for herself. The other T-Dolls of Echelon 1 also approach, checking the capes out while offering their thanks. But seeing her older sister losing herself in the mood SCAR-L  just sighs, coming closer to Morgan and apologizes. "Sorry about SCAR-H, Morgan, she tends to lose herself sometimes."

Morgan smiles, not displeased in the slightest. "It's fine, her being casual like that is a breath of fresh air for me."

SCAR-L sighs in relief. Gentiane then takes the chance to ask, clearly impressed now that she is seeing more of Team FN testing them out. "Say, what did you do with the capes?"

"Magic, I added a bit of magic." Morgan answered jokingly, making Gentiane roll her eyes good-naturedly. "To put it short, I revamped the OS for the capes, and the exoskeletons too, in fact. Added on top of that, I imbued the equipment with sets of runes. For the capes, I give them present concealment and durability runes. The former to lower the chance of them being detected and the latter to improve the protection level the capes themselves offered. They should be able to take multiple hits from the energy weapons equivalent of 9mm and .45 ACP, and a few hits from .357 Magnum."

Morgan then motions for SCAR-L to help her open another big box. Hold inside the box is a general-purpose exo. "Try wearing it, SCAR-L, see how it feels in motion." As Morgan and Gentiane watch SCAR-L putting on the exo, the former adds. "I have experienced working on mechanized armor suits and exos before, but not one that is this barebone and basic. Due to its skeletal design, it's very hard for me to engrave runes onto an exo. Aside from the fact that the durability is enhanced, there's not much I can add. I did, however, change the OS to a better one, making the movement smoother and responsive and lessening the energy consumption. Other than that, I was barely able to squeeze in a passive energy conversion rune. It's not much but the rune should passively recharge the exo by converting kinetic energy and sunlight. The efficiency is a bit bad for my taste, however."

With Morgan finishing her explanation, both Gentiane and SCAR-L turn at her, clearly impressed. "You clearly did a stellar job, Morgan. The exo feels very natural to me and is not hampering me from doing precise movements." SCAR-L gave a compliment after moving about with the exo equipped.

Nodding with a light smile, Morgan then pulls out a modified armor plate from a carrier. "Hey, Gentiane! Catch!" Suddenly being tossed a supposedly heavy armor plate, the pink-haired Commander caught it on reflex, only to almost drop it because she remembered about the weight of these things. However, Gentiane stops herself in time, having noticed the easier-to-handle weight of the plate in her hands.

"Morgan, did you lighten the plate?" Gentiane asked, impressed that she could actually toss the plate in the air and catch it with visible ease. SCAR-L also approaches and lifts a plate to see what's going on. "From the look of it, the plate's protection level and density are still the same but now it's very light compared to before."

Morgan nods, explaining. "Weight reduction rune should help lessen the strain on your body should you want to equip it. Can't add much else, however, as the material composition is not very conducive to mana and I will be needing specialized equipment, which you don't have."

Both SCAR-L and Gentiane nod. "We're already mightily grateful that you have been able to do this. Asking you to do the impossible will be a disservice. Thank you so much, Morgan."

Smiling, Morgan replies. "Don't sweat it, girls. I will hate to see you girls without proper gear against the odds you will be facing. Adding to that, HiPer helped me a lot and you should also show your gratitude to her. On a side note, the runes are running semi-permanently as I have included in them self-repair and self-recharge functions. As long as the critical runes are not destroyed or the whole chassis they're on is lost altogether, they will be able to run without maintenance thanks to the ambient mana in the air."

They all let out a smile, but hearing Morgan mentioning mana once again, Gentiane is curious and asks. "You're saying that this world has mana? Does that mean we can use magic also?"

Nodding, Morgan answers. "Technically, yes. The mana of this planet is particularly dense and plentiful, meaning you, as a being with a soul, should have the necessary requirements to cast magic already. Yet, it surprised me that magic as a whole exists only in media for you. I have an inkling as to why but it will be needing further research on my part if I have the time for that."

Both SCAR-L and Gentiane share a look before shrugging. While it's interesting information to learn, it changes nothing for them as of now. In the future, maybe, but definitely not now. After that talk, the group then continue testing the effectiveness of the upgraded equipment and ironing out any bugs. This persists until Aria appears with Kalina in tow. As for Helian, the Chief has gone back to G&K headquarters to handle administrative duties. She did leave behind a note that she will be back regularly to check up on Base 794.

Waving at Aria and Kalina, Morgan greets them with a smile. "Hey! I see that you've been able to join us at last. Inventory check gave you trouble or something?"

Aria smiles at Morgan, moving to a table and depositing two duffel bags on it. "Somewhere along that line, the influx of materials and supplies held up Kalina more than she expected."

Kalina nods, slumping her shoulders as she pushes a cart carrying ammo boxes to the side. Kalina complains with a groan. "Urgh... You gals have no idea how bad it was to handle the logs with nothing but a crappy fifty years old PC. If it weren't for Aria helping me out with sorting through the supplies, I wouldn't be able to join you guys at all!"

Hearing the complaint, Aria and the T-Dolls that are gathering around them sport a wry smile, having seen Kalina's shoddy workstation. Seeing that, Morgan can't help but turn to Gentiane, raising an eyebrow in silent questioning. Facing that, Gentiane can only let out a wry chuckle before trying to explain. "Well, our funding is actually not much. Most of them are pooled into maintaining our current combat force and important equipment such as our data storage. We have little surplus to get Kalina the PC she has wanted so much."

Kalina can only mourn her fate. "That I know too. We have been saving up but trouble keeps propping up left, right, and center, so we have to regularly expend our savings."

Gentiane moves to pat Kalina on the shoulder, comforting her by saying. "But at the very least, with the company raising Base 794's important, we can request more funding to get Kalina a new computer at last."

At this, Kalina throws her arms in the air, visibly excited and grateful. "Hallelujah!" Her action earns exasperated smiles from everyone, though they're glad that Kalina won't be experiencing blue-screen hell in the near future.

Moving on to that, the group then disperse to the shooting stations. With the ammo brought over by Kalina, everyone will be having a go at a live-firing exercise. As the T-Dolls start loading up their namesake weapons with Gentiane and Kalina picking up their favorite primaries, Morgan and Aria start pulling out their own SMGs too. Standing by the sides, the others eye their weapons with obvious interest.

"Is that an MP5 I am seeing?" P90 asked but HiPer shook her head, saying. "While it's visually similar, the dimensions are different."

Operating her new and improved visor, SCAR-SC scans the gun Morgan is holding. "HiPer is corrected on that, the gun is chambered in 9mm, yes, but the cartridge itself has a longer length. It's also integrally suppressed too, unlike the MP5 we're used to."

Morgan nods, smiling. "I see that you're already putting your tac-visor to work, SCAR-SC. Yes, this is not the MP5 you're familiar with. On Gaia, this is designated MP9 and is chambering in the more powerful 9x25mm. This particular variant is the SD variant and is outfitted for Special Operation teams and pilots in their survival package."

Gentiane whistles, eyeing the workmanship of the familiar yet, foreign SMG. Featuring a low-profile design with night sight, the matte black design of the MP9 evokes a sense of novelty in others. They're eager to see how it performs. After all, 9x25mm is a rare caliber, even by their standard.

Seeing their inquisitiveness, Morgan just smiles and switches the gun to semi-auto. Slapping the charging handle in a patent maneuver, Morgan aims down the steel target a hundred meters away. Quickly pulling the trigger five times, Morgan sends the supersonic projectiles with an adept aim, hitting squarely in the ten-point circle of the target. Not finishing yet, Morgan flicks the lever to full-auto before firing control bursts at the steel target. Even with the more powerful 9x25mm bullets being fired at 700 rounds/min, Morgan can still easily manage the recoil pattern of the MP9, causing SCAR-H and SCAR-SC to be wowed at the surprisingly tight groupings. After finishing her mag, Morgan changes the setting to safe, pulls the charging handle back into its recess, and pulls out the empty magazine. She turns around, saying.

"Due to the power packing in the 9x25 cartridge, we have taken special measures in the fabrication process to ensure the reliability and ease of handling of the gun, starting with the magazine itself. There's also a neat little feature we added for the SD variant." Morgan turns to Aria. "Your turn."

Without further words, Aria fires a few bullets at the steel target. Only this time, the astute T-Dolls notice a key difference. "Wait a second... There's no supersonic cracking?"

Morgan nods, smiling. "A keen observation, and before you say anything, the 9x25mm we're packing is supersonic-loaded. The trick lies in the MP9 itself." Morgan then points at a feature near beneath the front sight post. "There is a knob here that controls the 2-position gas setting of the SMG. The first one is suppressed supersonic and the second is suppressed subsonic. To achieve the latter, you can just turn the nob and the propellant gas will be vented, lowering the velocity to subsonic and around 300 m/s."

HiPer interjects softly with an excited undertone. "Oh, that is so cool!"

"It's one of the major reasons why our Special Forces greatly favor the SD variants of our arms, as we have made sure that they're practical and reliable. Of course, if a pilot is stranded behind an enemy line, the MP9-SD will give him a better survival chance until rescue. Though I sincerely hope that none of my flyers will face that situation on their own."

Gentiane nods, adding from the side. "Right, you still have a war to fight over there." The other nods as well, not sure what to say while Aria moves to pat Morgan on her head, comforting her.

Smiling, Morgan says. "With any bit of luck, we can just decimate our enemy with our technological advantage alone. But before then," Morgan smirked before loading a new magazine in her MP9. "Let's just have some fun on the range."

The others laugh before they ready their weapons also. For now, they can just have fun blasting unmoving targets before the big mission in two days.

Heartbreak117

As usual, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! Please, leave a like, a comment, or a review if you have the time to motivate me further!

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