Steel Waste

Ramos hands back Afton's pistol before walking over to the armoury where a Knight was manning the window. He retrieved some energy cells and walked towards the long walled in stalls that held a target at the end of them, "Here, I'll show you how to stand, hold, and fire the gun. Look at my fingers." he says, Sandra getting closer and spotting that he wasn't holding the trigger.

"Unless you are preparing to fire, do not rest you hand on the trigger, the phrase 'Itching trigger finger' comes to mind, you have no idea how many times I've seen a nervous Initiate shoot the floor... I've actually been shot in back due to it once as well, luckily I was wearing armour at the time." he explains.​​

He steadies the weapon by holding his other hand under his right, breathing in before firing it three times at the target. The target was a pile of metal scrap that'd bee stood up to look like a humanoid. Ramos had hit it three times in the chest, leaving blackened marks in their wake.

He turns and hands the gun back to Sandra, "An important thing to remember is your breathing, moderated breathes leads to effective shooting, especially in a high adrenaline situation. Now, stand here, and spread your feet slightly, like that." he says as he instructs her, moving her hands into the correct positions.

"Now, laser pistols like this AEP7 usually don't come with sights, so you'll just have to judge it on instinct and practise. When you're ready, like up your shot, take as much time as you need." he explains.

...

Sandra takes a deep breath before slowing releasing it just as she begins squeezing the trigger.

*Pew!*

She fires a single shot which strays way off target, hitting the wall behind it. She frowns at this and lines up another shot based on where she'd missed.

*Pew!*

Abit closer this time but still not a hit, Ramos rests a hand on her shoulder, "It's your first time, don't worry about it. Try again but aim to the right of the target."

*Pew!*

It skims the right side of the target, still missing but significantly closer than last time. Ramos continues to help guide her, "Now slight left."

*Pew!*

Hit hits the target on the right side of its chest, Sandra is momentarily shocked that she'd hit but happily exclaims "I hit it!" when she recovers.

"Congratulations Initiate Torres, but you still have a lot of work to do... Laser pistols are relatively easy to operate, the true show of an expert is hitting all your shots with a Gatling laser... I'm not even close to that level though." he admits, scratching his head before looking at Afton, "you have a go Initiate Parker, do you need any assistance?"

Afton shakes his head, "I watched you show Sandra so let me have a go before seeing if I need help." he says, unclipping the side and sliding in an energy cell.

He stands where Sandra had been earlier and aim at the target, he wondered why no one had bothered fitting a sight on these weapons... Yeah, the spread was worse than regular ballistics but it could still help right?

Regardless he did as Veronica had taught in the past and fired a three-shot burst.

*Pew!* *Pew!* *Pew!*

He nodded to himself when he spots three black marks on the targets chest... They were a little spread out and one was even close to missing entirely, but with a little practise he'd get better.

"Great! Nice job Initiate! I have to say, you're much better than I had been on your first time." he says with a smile.

"Knight Ramos, is there a reason to why Laser weapons kick? I've looked around but the only answers I find are unsatisfactory..." he asks, no one really cared to look into why a weapon firing light would give a kick.

"Ah, well, I asked my teacher that when I was your age too. The reason is due to the lens being struck by the emitter's light, believe it or not, but the emitter produces quite a lot of power per shot, regular lasers are nowhere near powerful enough to disintegrate body parts after all."

Afton nods, that's one of the answers he'd read about, but now that he thought about it, is it really all that realistic for a small energy firearm like this to completely disintegrate someone? He'd not seen it used in this world, but in the game it was an all too common occurrence.

"Alright you two, we've still got some cells left so let's keep at it, afterwards you can go recycle the cells and deposit them into the armoury" Ramos says.

The duo continue to practise on the firing range lane, both becoming fairly proficient with the laser pistol by the time Ramos stops them, Afton had thought that they'd run out of cells, but apparently he just wanted to move them.

He stood them in-front of another lane which was longer and had a smaller target, both attempted to hit it but felt like they were back at square one again. However, with some help from Ramos they soon got back into it.

Afton pressed the trigger but instead of the typical *Pew!*, he heard a click, indicating that the last energy cell was dry.

"Is that all of them?" Ramos asks from behind them, getting reluctant nods.

"Maybe we could request some more ammo?" Sandra asks with puppy-dog eyes.

Ramos shakes his head, "You've had enough practice for today, remember what I taught and internalise it. You'll get more chances to practise later Initiates, for now I want you to recycle the energy cells and give them back to the armoury."

Afton and Sandra nod, "Yes sir." they say and go to leave the firing range, just as the other Initiates arrive with Doran. He gives the duo a nod and walks over to Ramos, probably to ask him to assist in teaching the others as well.