Weapons Study

Posted on Thu Jun 9th, 2022 @ 9:17pm by Captain Fergus Williams

Mission: In-Between (S1:E2-S1:E3)
Location: USS Vengeance
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0000
1022 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

Rhen was at work in the ship's armory his sanctuary his holy temple so to speak studying the damaged prototypes from the rescue mission the damn Ocampa apparently succeeded in burning to a crisp. "Well, shit..." He snapped his fingers at one of his DOT-7 robots working away to hand him some tools so he could start to dismantle them for any sort of salvage.

The door slid open as the sound of marine boots echoed on the floor as well as a smoke of whiskey and cigar smoke. " Someone in here? " The devil dog yelled as he hefted the heavy bag from his shoulder.

Rhen sat up from his workstation tools in hand. "Over here."

Walking over the marine dumped the bag on the floor and began unzipping it. A collection of Kazon weapons was within. " Nice that your here ensign. I need someone to confirm something before it takes it to the captain." He said pulling several weapons out and dumping them on a workbench.

Rhen's mouth dropped clearly upset at the sight of weapons before him. "My God, I have never seen such mistreated equipment!" Grabbing a Kazon phaser he looked it over one side before flipping it over to the other. "Not even properly maintained." The Ensign looked down the sights. "Sights are decent but could use some work."

"Where did you find this crap, Fergus? It didn't come from my armory. Rhen set the weapon back down. "I can tell you that this thing is shoddy and lucky it hasn't blown up in some idiot's face."

" From that Kazon bird, we took over and a few from my marines." The marine said stripping one of the rifles and dropping the nightmare of shoddy repair work on the table. It was a miracle that it hadn't blown up in its owner's hands. " Now tell me does that look like a well-maintained rifle?" He said to the ensign.

Rhen brought over a magnifier and turned on the light to get a better look at the insides of the Kazon weapon. "Outdated phaser relay unit, bypass of the induction coil shows has a history of overheating, power cells don't hold a charge for long." He looked up at Fergus. "My best bet this was a weapon for short-term use maybe as a last resort to repel a boarding party."

" Except I pulled this rifle of one of the higher ranking Kazon on the bridge. Remember how their tech didn't seem to be in the best of shape? I'm starting to think they don't make it." The devil dog replied.

Rhen picked up a tool and looked back thru his magnifier. "Let's see..." He began to poke around the internals of the Kazon weapon. "I say the base components are original but I can tell they took parts off of other weapons not made by the same manufacturer." He looked up. "Think you are onto something, Captain."

" Look at the focus lens on this one." The marine r4sponded as he opened another one of the rifles. The lense in question had clearly been filed down to fit and not by a very skilled individual.

Rhen looked at the lens and lightly tapped it with a tool in his hand. "Indeed, but this was recently done." He leaned back in his chair. "Captain, mind if I ask why really you are having me poke around some of the worst gunsmithing work I have ever seen?"

" Making sure I'm not crazy before I take it to the captain." The marine replied honestly handing Rhen an unopened cigar.

Rhen took the cigar looked it over and set it on top of the desk behind him. "Well if that is what was making you think you were crazy I say you are not." Before he sat up putting the Kazon weapon back together. "If anything just shows the Kazon are idiots with weapons and a bit outdated."

The marine chuckled. " How long have you been in the service Rhen?"

"Fresh out of the academy," Rhen replied as he was working. "I needed the money and benefits don't plan to do this forever."

The marine chuckled. " Well, a word of advice kid. This is a cutthroat world so make sure you have someone to back you up before risking your neck."

"What do you mean by that, Captain?" Rhen asked not sure what Fergus was trying to say.

" Always have someone watching your back." The marine explained.

Rhen raised an eyebrow stopping what he was doing leaning back in his chair. "Even if chances are the guy watching your back is more than likely to stick a dagger in you?" He asked.

" Tell him to form a neat line and take a ticket from the reception desk," Fergus replied with a chuckle having done this many a times before.

"I'll try to keep that in mind, Captain," Rhen replied before resuming his work. "But I hope you don't mind if I prefer to trust you at the moment." He offered a slight grin.

" No problem. " The marine said handing him another cigar. " Just do a look over the rest of the Kazon guns and see if you can see any marks or indicators of who made them."

Rhen once more took the cigar and set it down next to the other one before turning his focus on Fergus. "I can already tell you they are all put together with a mix of multiple different mashes of manufactured components. But who made them you are asking me the wrong question as my knowledge of this part of the galaxy is unknown."

" Well list all the parts and look for any identification symbols. " The marine replied as a buzz from his combadge caused him to groan. " Back to work for me. I'll see you around Rhen."

"Right, I'll keep you posted." Rhen grabbed his magnifier and goggles taking one of the Kazon weapons in his hand and setting it on the work table. He turned to one of the robots holding out his hand. "Hydro-Spanner." He said as he got to work on the task at hand.