Chapter 23: Shooting Range

Leaning against my beautiful blue vixen as the sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the hover vehicle, I scratched her back gently while she buried her muzzle against my neck. She let out a contented sigh as her ears entered my view when she shifted into a position that felt more comfortable to me, and most likely her. While the vehicle continued to bring us closer to our destination, our home, I felt her arms snake behind and across my abdomen as she pulled herself closer to me. Our wedding date was in a few days from now, and as soon as we got home, we would be going our separate ways until that day.

Even though I didn't want to know how soon Krystal and I were going to be separating from one another, I took a glance out the vehicle's window and saw our home approaching. I felt a twinge of disappointment as I knew our time was coming to a close. The last few days seemed to stretch on for so long, but in those few days, my love for Krystal had been rekindled into a flame. Yet while we would, unfortunately, be separating, this would be an opportunity for me to learn of the culture I was soon to become a part of.

I wasn't sure what the Cerinian method of celebration was before a party, but I couldn't exactly have a bachelor party as I was effectively the only human on Cerinia. Yet, that didn't necessarily mean I couldn't participate in activities like a bachelor party, yet I only knew two other people on this planet; the shop keeper whose life I saved, and the squirrel I ran into during my first time into Iris. I didn't know either of them exceptionally well, and that left me only one other option; finding some guards that were off duty. Yet from prior experience, getting the guards of our home to socialize was a difficult task. Yet that still left me only one option, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was true; it was time for me to make some friends...

...

Looking in front of me as I observed the four guardsmen in front of me, I felt a solitary thought bounce around in my mind, What happens now?

While I had thought of what could all happen after I gathered some Cerinians to celebrate with, I hadn't necessarily thought of what to do once I met some. I had asked dad for some male guards, and while I had gotten my request granted not long afterwards, I wasn't sure how to go about starting a Bachelor party. However, I did know it probably wouldn't involve thick armor, heavy weapons, or wire tight nerves... something each and every one of them seemed to have. And in the luxurious lounge we were in, they seemed so out of place...

The guards themselves seemed unsure as of what they were to do now, and I wasn't particularly enjoying the silence any more than they, so I cleared my throat as I thought of what I wanted to say. As they gave me their full attention, I smiled weakly as I began my explanation, "As you all most likely know, I am going to be marrying Krystal in a few days, and usually, before a marriage, the Bachelor has a party with his closest friends and such. However, as I am the only human here on Cerinia, and I have never attended a bachelor party before, I have one route in which to take; the Cerinian version of a bachelor party." Looking around at the somewhat surprised expressions I was receiving, I asked, "So... any ideas on what to do?"

After I asked that, the guards looked at each other, complementing on how to answer as they all must've been thinking about all that I just said. While they began to converse quietly between each other, one of the guards suggested, "Sir, can't we just take him to the range?"

The conversing died down, and one of the senior looking guards, a German Shepard look-alike Cerinian, glanced in my direction, though he looked at the younger guard and said, "Under most circumstances, no. Yet seeing as he will be marrying the Govana's daughter, it would be best to have him properly trained; as he has been responsible for her safety on more than a single occasion..."

His reply was all it took for the internal grin I had been holding back to become visual to all of them, eliciting a few chuckles from them as well as their own grins or smirks. While we all stood up, one of the other guards, a canine breed of some sort, reached into his pocket and produced a thin credit card like item as he asked, "Should I go purchase some beverages for any activities afterwards sir?"

The elder guard looked at the card momentarily, and when he looked up at the other guard, he nodded as he said, "Sounds like a plan. Bring it back to the Barracks. If anyone gives you trouble, have them send me a call, I will keep my transceiver active." As he finished, he tapped the flat screen that was strapped to the underside of his forearm.

One of the other guards, a blue and white husky, walked up and clapped a firm hand onto my shoulder as he steered me down the hallway, and he chuckled as he asked, "Wolf, was it?" When I nodded, his smile only widened, and he said, "Well Wolf, name's Greg! I have heard some pretty impressive things about you, along with reading some of the reports, but before we go into details, I just want to know; how exactly old are you?"

While we walked, the elder guard stepped in front and kept the pace, with the other guard stepping to my other open side, yet somewhat behind me. Yet I looked back towards Greg and said, "Eighteen. How old are you?"

His eyes widened a tad bit as he smiled even wider, but I noticed the elder guard in front of us looked over his shoulder at me as he looked a bit confused, before he asked, "What kind of combat training do you have?"

"None, the only guns I shot before my arrival on Cerinia were at shooting ranges. I don't believe there is training for kids where I'm from." His question brought a little interest to my mind, as I don't know exactly what was in those reports, but I was sure they must contain errors if they suggested I had some form of training.

Greg laughed loudly as he gripped my shoulder even tighter, "Wolf... you saved Cerinia twice, and you claim to have no training whatsoever? Yet you even say you are only Eighteen years old?" He shook his head before he added, "So, really... what training do you have?"

"I don't have any training. I was merely in the right place at the right time. When I first saved Krystal, I was lucky I had arrived when I had. I had only managed to save her and her family because I knew how to shoot accurately." My answer was all honesty, and I felt my smile drop as I remembered that day painfully clear, as I still had the occasional pain issues from the events that had transpired.

Turning and looking over my shoulder at the other guard, I saw him giving me a curious if not questioning look as he asked, "What of the space flight...? I heard you saved the governors shuttle in a captured venom ship."

Letting out a tired sigh, I shook my head as I said, "As I said, merely in the right place at the right time. I was merely trying to escape the station with Krystal, she saw a ship that had our friends and parents in it, and I managed to shoot them down before they shot down the friendly ship." Looking back in front of me, I wasn't sure what to feel as the elder guard nodded as he looked back forward.

Just as Greg was about to say something else though, he spoke up, "Whether that is a coincidence or not, Wolf, you need training." We turned and walked down another corridor that had more guards in it, and he said over his shoulder, "Being in the right place can and will only get you so far. Having the right skill set will provide a better means of survival should you ever need it though."

...

Looking at the various firearms that were resting atop the counter in front of me, I recognized two of the weapons from previous use, yet the others were either completely foreign to me or I had only seen. Reaching forward, I grabbed a stocky looking blaster. It appeared similar to the other blaster, yet the appearances were obvious in appearance, as were when I was holding it to my hands. It was thicker than a blaster; the barrel was wider and had what looked like a grip near the narrow end of the neck. Its weight however, was more akin to a cars battery than a book.

The blaster was slowly taken from my hands, and I looked over as Clark, the guard that had acted as my rear guard, held it close to him as he got into a stance. He pointed the blaster down the range as he said, "This is a standard issue Scatter Blaster. It fires a tight cluster of micro blaster bolts that shred light armor and decapitates hostile personnel. This is the kind of weapon you would use in the close quarters such as hallways or alleys in a city." He grinned as he presented the weapon to me, "Do you want to give it a try?"

The Cerinian version of the human shotgun. I didn't think I would ever see the day...

Grinning myself as I reached out and took the Scatter gun from him, I rolled it around in my hands and observed every inch of the weapon that I could. It's grip was metallic, but it felt like it melded perfectly with my fingers; almost like a plastic matieral instead of the metal it appeared to be. While human weaponry had stocks that one would press into your shoulder to compensate for the recoil, the scattergun had no stock which to speak of; though I hadnt encountered a blaster based weapon that had considerable recoil.

Leaning forward slightly as I brought the scattegun up to bear towards a target that had popped up down the range, I decided I would treat it like it had the power of a Human based weapon, but with the hold of one wielding a regular blaster. Bringing my finger to the trigger, I felt the gun hum as it somehow knew it was about to be fired.

When I pulled the trigger, I wasn't prepared for the arm jarring kick it had released, but the after effects were invigorating, but also awesome. The flash of light and loud pop that had issued as a result of the Scattergun being fired had momentarily covered the sight of a dozen micro-plasma rounds that had raced to and then peppered the target and the wall behind it. Where the shots had hit were burning black dots that I could see lightly smoking from where I stood.

"Well done Wolf! You did better than most of those that we train to use that weapon... half of them usually end up throwing the thing with how careless they hold it."

Smiling as I looked at the gun, I looked it over again, before I set it down and turned back to my guard entourage. They were smiling as well, and I shrugged as I said, "I can only attest to my prevouis expierences using human weapons. All human weaponry use bullets instead of laser energy... the Scattergun sounds like and shoots like a human Shotgun." Looking back at the array of weapons in front of me, they all looked appealing, but there was one weapon I had seen before that wasn't present. I had seen many of the varouis blasters present before, used a few, but only one of them looked interesting to try and fire, with the other one not currently being present. "Clark... when I had seen the Governor... before the successful negotaitions, I saw four guards in the room. What was it they were holding?"

By the end of it, I had looked back over at him, and I saw his muzzle smirk as he shook his head; a light chuckle sounding out of his throat. It wasn't him that spoke however, rather it was the eldest guard that spoke, Derick I believed he said his name was, "Those weapons are only assessable to twenty of the guards stationed in Iris, and those weapons are bio-coded to only have access and use to those twenty guards. Simply, none of us are high enough rank or specialized in its use to be granted access to them. If you wish to see one of those weapons in use, I would recommend you speak with the Govana' yourself, and see if one of those guards can meet you at the firing range for a demonstration." He shrugged his shoulders as he pointed a finger towards the sniper like blaster and added, "I had to pull some strings and ask for a favor just to get you that there weapon to try out."

Looking towards the sniper, I felt a bit disappointed, though I still felt incredibly honored to be allowed to shoot their version of the fifty cal sniper. Nodding my head, I smiled a bit wider as I said, "Thanks! But one more question, those guards... why does their armor seem so much more complex than those I saw at the gate?"

Derick smiled a bit wider, but he pointed at the guns behind me as he said, "Why don't you stick to practicing your shooting with them there weapons instead of asking questions, that, I technically shouldn't be answering."

My smile dropped a bit, though I still chuckled a bit as I shrugged it off that I was being granted more freedoms than any other would, and I merely replied with, "Yes, sir." Before I reached over and picked up the long and slender rifle. I would work my way up to that sniper before I aimed to use it, but I would first make sure I got to enjoy using these weapons while I could. I could only hope nothing more problematic or even dangerous would come up where I would need to use my shooting skills again...

A.N.: I apologize for the long wait, and I must say I can't promise that it won't happen again, but I have finished moving to a new location...