"Nobody gets it. The time, the money, the research that goes into it. That’s before the range time, of course.
You see, if you are running into the kind of conflicts our team gets into with no combat powers, and you want to make it long enough to swing the fight, you need something.
Most of the time, I favor a heavily modified .45. My main handgun started life as a Colt, standard seven round magazine, nothing fancy. I inherited it from my grandfather. He was a Naval officer and did competition shooting both for the Navy and as civilian once he retired, and this was his carry, rather than a competition gun.
At first, I just polished everything to make it feed smoother. Then I started tweaking until it’s this monster that can take very high powder loads while still cycling with subsonic rounds for poo and giggles. The magazines I make for it hold fourteen, though I had to expand the frame and if a mag gets trashed, it takes a couple of days to replace.
But that’s my “oh crap, I gotta run” gun. I keep it on me 24/7 because I never know when the alarm will go off, and Shift has been known to pull people out of bed into the briefing room, or even into the field.
I have the usual assortment of versatile long guns too, plus a modified revolver that can take an assortment of calibers because of some springs and careful machining. I favor 5.56, 12 gauge, .308 and 300 winmag because they’re easy to find if I run out of my custom ammo. There’s better options, of course, but I can think of a dozen times in the last decade where I had to buy from local stores during extended fights.
But it’s the ammo that makes me effective in normal fights. Between knowing some top notch molecular manipulators and inventors, added to my willingness to experiment with propellant and materials, I can usually keep a few magazines in every caliber for common threats.
Like my Ragnarok stuff. All of those villains take unusual gear to even scratch. Nuke can be taken down by depleted uranium in a pinch, but he regenerates so fast, and can use them in his own way to power up his explosive nature. So I have a custom round just for him. Can’t share the specs, but it’s a laminated round, layers of different materials including some enchanted metals. As the round does its job, it neutralizes parts of his powers.
Back before we had to permanently put Rabid down, I had an exploding round that spread nanobots to counter his infectious range enough to get close and secure him. He hated me something fierce. Not just because I shot him a lot. The nanobots left him weak and confused for weeks after he’d heal up physically.
It’s mostly about prep time."
“But, Eternus, the question was how you can survive so well without powers, but let’s table that for now. You said no combat powers, does that mean you do have them? What can you do?”
“Well, Ms Kincaid, that’s classified. All I can say is that it allows me to have prep time and room to develop both my gear and skills”
“So, time manipulation?”
“That’s classified”
“Classified by who?”
“That’s classified.”
“Eternus, you agreed to this interview, why won’t you answer the actual questions?”
"That’s classified.
No, contain yourself. That one was a joke. I am answering them. Where operational security allows. But I’m a person. I don’t necessarily answer things the way you want because I largely go with the flow of consciousness. I also don’t have an obligation to answer things I don’t want to. If you ask me boxers or briefs, I’m walking out because it’s none of your business, nor anyone else’s.
But here, the way I survive without combat powers is trusting my team, and them trusting me to not shoot until I’m certain it will achieve a goal. I only shoot a person if there’s no other choice, even with less lethal ammunition. I only shoot animals, or any living thing, as a last resort. I have no issues dumping rounds into machinery, spirits, or other non living, non human entities that are a threat to humanity.
But when I need to shoot? I don’t miss, and I use the right tool for the job. Which loops us back around to where this particular subject started. Time, money, research, practice. That’s how I do it."
“That is still evasive. What people want to know is how you do it, and now that we know you have some kind of power, they will want to know that too.”
"Ms Kincaid. After everything I just said, including that the information is classified, do you really think I chose to say it that way by accident? A slip of the tongue? No, ma’am, it’s ammunition being sent to a target. You’re the rifle. The information that I do have a non combat power, and that I am a fantastic marksman is the ammunition that will neutralize a target.
This is my first interview, ever. You, of the entire list of journalists that have requested one, got picked because you are the right weapon for the job. So, if you’ll be kind enough to help me off with this microphone, I’ll be on my way.
Unless you need to be oiled and cleaned."
“Key-rist Eternus, did you really need to add that last part?”
"Well, yeah, General. It wasn’t an accident. That was the sixtieth version of things, and I needed something to snap her out of her laser focus on my power. That it also bumped her anger a little, and worked as a pickup line just helps make sure things work this time around. Maybe. I’ll have to see.
All I know is that we need to recruit Generator instead of fighting her. Can’t do that if her sister gets killed. Can’t keep her alive if she doesn’t trust me. She hasn’t trusted me because she thinks I can’t protect her.
So far, even telling her everything hasn’t worked. The closest I got was when I lost my temper after the fifth run through and she tore into me after the camera was off, but cooled down enough after an apology to at least listen when I showed up at her door with the usual “come with me if you want to live” bullshit that Streak hates.
So I called an audible. And I think it worked, Max. After the mic was off and I was leaving, her approach was totally different this time. More open, less aggressive. She just asked what I meant by it. I told her “That’s classified” and she laughed. I haven’t gotten a laugh out of her in, what; a hundred years of subjective time?"
“Eternus, this plan of yours, stopping the Kitain, how many times have you come back? I know I’ve asked before, but this is the first you mentioned how long you’ve been at this one step, and you’ve never even said that much before.”
"I don’t know. Max, I just don’t know. I’m barely hanging on here. Trying to keep track of every fight, every little encounter, pinning down that Generator is the only one that can let future us make the next step. Fuck Max, I think it’s maybe a thousand years now? Maybe more. Back and fucking forth, eating a damn bullet every year or two, having to redo every fucking fight, sometimes multiple times to get a different outcome than my first cycle back to see if that works?
I can’t even write the shit down because it won’t come with me. And I think I love her now."
“Eternus, let it out man, let it out, I got you brother, just cry it out.”
I never thought I would dip back into that world again, mainly because the first trip was so specialized. But this prompt made my brain flash hard, and I had to.
And now I’ve got this idea bubbling around with five others I never get around to expanding lol.
"Nobody gets it. The time, the money, the research that goes into it. That’s before the range time, of course.
You see, if you are running into the kind of conflicts our team gets into with no combat powers, and you want to make it long enough to swing the fight, you need something.
Most of the time, I favor a heavily modified .45. My main handgun started life as a Colt, standard seven round magazine, nothing fancy. I inherited it from my grandfather. He was a Naval officer and did competition shooting both for the Navy and as civilian once he retired, and this was his carry, rather than a competition gun.
At first, I just polished everything to make it feed smoother. Then I started tweaking until it’s this monster that can take very high powder loads while still cycling with subsonic rounds for poo and giggles. The magazines I make for it hold fourteen, though I had to expand the frame and if a mag gets trashed, it takes a couple of days to replace.
But that’s my “oh crap, I gotta run” gun. I keep it on me 24/7 because I never know when the alarm will go off, and Shift has been known to pull people out of bed into the briefing room, or even into the field.
I have the usual assortment of versatile long guns too, plus a modified revolver that can take an assortment of calibers because of some springs and careful machining. I favor 5.56, 12 gauge, .308 and 300 winmag because they’re easy to find if I run out of my custom ammo. There’s better options, of course, but I can think of a dozen times in the last decade where I had to buy from local stores during extended fights.
But it’s the ammo that makes me effective in normal fights. Between knowing some top notch molecular manipulators and inventors, added to my willingness to experiment with propellant and materials, I can usually keep a few magazines in every caliber for common threats.
Like my Ragnarok stuff. All of those villains take unusual gear to even scratch. Nuke can be taken down by depleted uranium in a pinch, but he regenerates so fast, and can use them in his own way to power up his explosive nature. So I have a custom round just for him. Can’t share the specs, but it’s a laminated round, layers of different materials including some enchanted metals. As the round does its job, it neutralizes parts of his powers.
Back before we had to permanently put Rabid down, I had an exploding round that spread nanobots to counter his infectious range enough to get close and secure him. He hated me something fierce. Not just because I shot him a lot. The nanobots left him weak and confused for weeks after he’d heal up physically.
It’s mostly about prep time."
“But, Eternus, the question was how you can survive so well without powers, but let’s table that for now. You said no combat powers, does that mean you do have them? What can you do?”
“Well, Ms Kincaid, that’s classified. All I can say is that it allows me to have prep time and room to develop both my gear and skills”
“So, time manipulation?”
“That’s classified”
“Classified by who?”
“That’s classified.”
“Eternus, you agreed to this interview, why won’t you answer the actual questions?”
"That’s classified.
No, contain yourself. That one was a joke. I am answering them. Where operational security allows. But I’m a person. I don’t necessarily answer things the way you want because I largely go with the flow of consciousness. I also don’t have an obligation to answer things I don’t want to. If you ask me boxers or briefs, I’m walking out because it’s none of your business, nor anyone else’s.
But here, the way I survive without combat powers is trusting my team, and them trusting me to not shoot until I’m certain it will achieve a goal. I only shoot a person if there’s no other choice, even with less lethal ammunition. I only shoot animals, or any living thing, as a last resort. I have no issues dumping rounds into machinery, spirits, or other non living, non human entities that are a threat to humanity.
But when I need to shoot? I don’t miss, and I use the right tool for the job. Which loops us back around to where this particular subject started. Time, money, research, practice. That’s how I do it."
“That is still evasive. What people want to know is how you do it, and now that we know you have some kind of power, they will want to know that too.”
"Ms Kincaid. After everything I just said, including that the information is classified, do you really think I chose to say it that way by accident? A slip of the tongue? No, ma’am, it’s ammunition being sent to a target. You’re the rifle. The information that I do have a non combat power, and that I am a fantastic marksman is the ammunition that will neutralize a target.
This is my first interview, ever. You, of the entire list of journalists that have requested one, got picked because you are the right weapon for the job. So, if you’ll be kind enough to help me off with this microphone, I’ll be on my way.
Unless you need to be oiled and cleaned."
“Key-rist Eternus, did you really need to add that last part?”
"Well, yeah, General. It wasn’t an accident. That was the sixtieth version of things, and I needed something to snap her out of her laser focus on my power. That it also bumped her anger a little, and worked as a pickup line just helps make sure things work this time around. Maybe. I’ll have to see.
All I know is that we need to recruit Generator instead of fighting her. Can’t do that if her sister gets killed. Can’t keep her alive if she doesn’t trust me. She hasn’t trusted me because she thinks I can’t protect her.
So far, even telling her everything hasn’t worked. The closest I got was when I lost my temper after the fifth run through and she tore into me after the camera was off, but cooled down enough after an apology to at least listen when I showed up at her door with the usual “come with me if you want to live” bullshit that Streak hates.
So I called an audible. And I think it worked, Max. After the mic was off and I was leaving, her approach was totally different this time. More open, less aggressive. She just asked what I meant by it. I told her “That’s classified” and she laughed. I haven’t gotten a laugh out of her in, what; a hundred years of subjective time?"
“Eternus, this plan of yours, stopping the Kitain, how many times have you come back? I know I’ve asked before, but this is the first you mentioned how long you’ve been at this one step, and you’ve never even said that much before.”
"I don’t know. Max, I just don’t know. I’m barely hanging on here. Trying to keep track of every fight, every little encounter, pinning down that Generator is the only one that can let future us make the next step. Fuck Max, I think it’s maybe a thousand years now? Maybe more. Back and fucking forth, eating a damn bullet every year or two, having to redo every fucking fight, sometimes multiple times to get a different outcome than my first cycle back to see if that works?
I can’t even write the shit down because it won’t come with me. And I think I love her now."
“Eternus, let it out man, let it out, I got you brother, just cry it out.”
I never thought I would dip back into that world again, mainly because the first trip was so specialized. But this prompt made my brain flash hard, and I had to.
And now I’ve got this idea bubbling around with five others I never get around to expanding lol.
That was a great read. Thank you for sharing :)
Don’t know if you’re interested, but I had another scene work it’s way out of my head, and posted it here as a second comment
Thanks :)