BXBX NOVEL Chapter 49: Time to go to war.
Even the notion that every soldier carried a secondary pistol was false. While that may be true for the front lines, those on stand by or guard duty had no need for the extra weight. Having a gun didn't end with just the gun itself. You also needed the ammunition.
I now had the same problem. I had twelve guns from the armory. But they had a number of calibers. The question would be how much of each should I carry and why?
For large firearms, I had the M60 and M24 which both fired 7.62×51mm NATO. The AR15 which used 5.56×45mm NATO, and lastly a Winchester 1887 shotgun which fired 10 Gauge slugs or buckshots.
The 1887 Winchester level action shotgun with a lever loop was one of the most iconic shotguns of all time. It became famous due to the movie terminator. If you could spin cock a shotgun while riding a motorcycle you would be a badass in my book. My dad's 1887 copied the customization to a T.
For medium guns, I had two Ingram MAC-11 SMGs that used 9×19mm Parabellum as well as the HK MP5SD that used the same rounds.
The Ingram MAC-11s were machine pistols used in the 80's. They became the symbol of rebellion due to cheap and being frequently used in gang wars.
They fired 9×19mm pistol ammunition with an open bolt firing mechanism designed for large calibers. The result? The MAC-11 had a firing rate of 1200 rounds per minute. With a standard 30 round magazine that be just two seconds.
My dad had them for a different reason though. It was because of a vampire hybrid called Blade who wielded a customized MAC-11 that just looked badass. It was arguable if the customization at the front made sense but my dad didn't care.
For small arms I had two Colt 1911s with .45 ACP and a HK P30L that fired 9×19mm Parabellum. I also had a Smith and Wesson Model 629 Competitor revolver in .44 magnum and finally a Ruger MK II chambered in .22 Long Rifle.
In summary, I had seven different types of calibers I needed to load my guns with. Luckily, the normal issues that came with carrying multiple guns did not apply to me.
{Pack} turned the weight of both the gun and ammunition to nothing. While {Store} and {Withdraw} would give me the option of keeping them in subspace or having them on my person.
The only question was what happens to the stuff in my subspace when I rewinded. To test this, I planned to use the Ruger MK II Suppressed. This gun looked weird but it was the most authentic assassin gun.
Most bullets were supersonic. This means once fired they go faster than sound. Thus, even if one used a suppressor, the crack from breaking the sound barrier would always be there. The only exceptions were rounds that were subsonic or those slower than sound. These were quiet but would not have the same punch.
Subsonic rounds also had horrible range due to being more affected by wind velocity. But as I would be killing zombies. This would be the silent option when I wanted to take them down inconspicuously. Also, as I lived in an apartment building so shooting my other guns here would cause a scene.
The MK II had .45 and non-suppressed models. But my old man being a gun nut, naturally bought the MK II with the built-in suppressor. For the sole reason that it was the model used by Navy seals and the Israeli Mossad.
I needed to confirm how {Store} works with {Rewind} before I lug about all this fire power. I loaded the Ruger MK II with magazine of .22 LR and pulled the bolt from behind to prepare to fire.
"{Auto}, {Save}."
I opened the window and shot a nearby telephone pole. With {Aim} and {Snipe} I would hardly miss. A soft muffled click resounded before the bullet lodged itself into the pole. I then placed the MK II in my sub space and used {Reload}.
When I retrieved the MK II it still had a missing round. "This is going to be difficult so anything in my subspace is not refreshed. Then I need to have all the guns on me when I use {Reload}."
Maybe if I placed them all in a bag? I could put them in then take them out before reloading. Theoretically if I had everything stored in a bag, could I perhaps get a single gun from the bag? Lilly could manipulate the holes of her substance allowing her water techniques maybe I could do something similar?
I quickly got my old high school duffel bag and placed the two 1911, the MK II, the P30L and the 629 competitor. If I could specifically pull a specific gun, that would widen my options by a lot. I could switch firearms depending on the situation like a character from Call of duty.
"{Store}."
Lucky for me the {Store} family of abilities consumed souls based on weight. Storing the size of a handgun only cost 1 soul. The entire group of 10 Pelican protectors only used 30 souls for a one time store or retrieval. If each action needed something like 10 souls I would quickly go bankrupt.
"How do I do this? Visualize what I wanted to get right?"
Prior to this I stored and retrieved everything in my subspace. I was only going on what I learned from my kiss with Lilly. I closed my eyes to help picture the weapon I wanted to draw.
Theoretically it should be possible from what I know of how {Store} worked. My right hand tried to grip an invisible handle as I imagined the weapon.
"Alright, visualize. {Retrieve} 629 competitor."
I then felt a handgun in my right hand. The moment of truth would be If it was what I wanted. I opened my eyes I saw the magnificent visage of the chrome colored Smith and Wesson 629 Competitor, a beast of a revolver that fired .44 magnum rounds. Dad got it because of the action movie XXX.
"Beautiful. It worked."
Without closing my eyes I made the same imaginary finger gesture and called another gun.
"{Retrieve} P30L."
A small distortion appeared on my hands and a black colored HK P30L appeared on my left hand. The P30L was the sidearm of John Wick, Jack Bauer and Michael Weston so what other proof would you need?
'So even shortcuts worked. I didn't even need to say the right name.'
I placed the P30L and the 629 on the bed and called forth two other pistols.
"{Retrieve} Ebony, Ivory."
Ebony and Ivory were the names of a famous video game characters custom 1911's. The dude similarly hunted demons in hell. Unfortunately the results from my experiment sucked. The guns manifested in my hands one after another instead of at the same time.
"Hmm, should I try using {Withdraw} then?"
I again stored both 1911's and called them using {Withdraw} Instead of {Retrieve}.
"{Withdraw} Ebony and Ivory."
At the same moment both my hands felt the appearance of the two black 1911's. Dad actually based his 1911's on the movie the punisher. But I liked the devil hunters style better. So I intended to call them called ebony and Ivory.
Like a little kid I used {Store} and {Withdraw} in a variety of cool action poses. I probably looked stupid, but suddenly having guns appear in your hands dual akimbo was every kids dream.
"I wonder if I could pull magazines from storage as well?"
Excited in my experiment I pulled the duffel bag and placed magazines of various ammo types in. I put down one of the 1911s then pictured an Colt .45 magazine to appear in my free hand.
"Okay, that works. Now. Can I pull the magazine directly into the gun? That would eliminate the need to manually insert the thing."
Magazines were invented to be able to load a set of ammunition quickly without fuss. The weakest link in the speed of a reload naturally became the hand dexterity of the shooter.
This was why soldiers drilled themselves repeatedly to make the weakest link as fast as possible.
But I didn't have to play by those rules. If I could pull a mag from storage, why should I stop at pulling it into my hand. Might as well pull it directly into the gun to remove the gap.
"{Withdraw} .45 mag."
A load clattering resounded as the mag fell to the floor. Unlike {Store} and {Retrieve} that pulls objects directly to my hands. Imagining shit was hard. Unlike Lilly who had a range of 100 yards, my {Withdraw} could place the objects only around 10 ft from my body.
"The difference is compatibility like the rest, probably," I tried to console myself.
"{Withdraw} .45 mag."
Despite numerous attempts, the mags weren't appearing inside the empty pistol. They kept falling around a foot below from my hand.
"Maybe I am scared of it appearing inside my flesh or something?"
Well, that would be enough to now. I should practice withdrawing stuff in my spare time. I then spent the next thirty minutes loading the ammunition into magazines and placed them all haphazardly in the duffel bag.
I carried the 1911s on armpit holsters and placed the Blade MAC-11's on hip holsters. I next had the P30L and MK II on belt holsters on my sides and carried the 629 on a side belt holster on my lower back.
I then wore the AR15 and MP5SD on opposite slings over my neck, loaded the 1887 Winchester on a back holster and slung the M24 over my left shoulder. Finally, I lugged the M60 in my hands.
Everything else I kept in duffel bag. "Damn this shit is heavy. Time to go to war."