The doors open and i was introduced to a large room, the room looked like a gun range and looked as if it went far and far with no end. There was a barrier that divided us and some sort of makeshift house in the possible end of the range, probably for target practice, the room had some other huntsmen but they minded their own business, Stephen had his back turned to us with his black hair covering his head
We saw Stephen tending to a different rifle than he had before, it was big and looked bulky but was pure black.
"Here it is, the killer sniper rifle. Capable of destroying targets at absurd ranges, has large caliber bullets to fire," Stephen pulls out a bullet and indeed it was big, "I just got this as a prototype, it has a very confortable rest for the shoulder. Mainly to compensate for the great force, a sturdy bipod," He pulls out a bipod which which was thick and also black. "Magazine carries a new type of bullet called 'Annihilator rounds' which were better than the strongest sniper round, scope can reach impeccable distances with a special thermal scope built for it. The barrel is longer than normal and from new advancements hides all muzzle flash from each shot, it includes this beast of a muzzle brake which makes it almost impossible to feel the barrel move left or right. The stock has a cheek rest and the shoulder pillow which i call it if anyone but me uses it, because i already have a shoulder pad, and this stock is very confortable making it great when it comes to assasination missions. This is the only sniper rifle of its kind, the scientists want me to test it out and gave it to me. I love this school so much." Stephen explained.
Stephen rested the rifle on the barrier with the bipod on, Sebastian went closer and picked up a pair of binocoulars and earmuffs resembling those used in gun ranges resting on the barriers. I stepped next to Sebastian who lended anotehr pair of binocoulars to me as well as headphones, i placed the earmuffs in my ears, after this i placed my eyes inside and saw the house. It had a dummy in the middle with a paper that had a bullseye printed on it taped to the head, Stephen cocked the rifle and squeezed the trigger.
Even through the headphones the shot rang out like a thunderclap, after this the dummy's head was blown off clean with portion of the upper torso gone as well. A cloud of hay hovered over the dummy which then dropped to the ground, i looked back and barrel had smoke coming from the end of the barrel, Stephen cocks the gun and the casing fall out into the ground. I looked back and everyone with earmuffs on looked at us in shock.
"Damon try it first then Sebastian, i want to see if you two also have good aim with a rifle." Stephen said stepping away from the rifle with his arms crossed.
I rested the stock of the sniper on my shoulder, indeed it was comfortable and felt pretty light even though.
"Forgot to mention, its made from a rare material called 'Diathinium' weird name, tough as a diamond but very light." said Stephen who was still behind me.
The scope had info all on the sides, such as wind direction, distance of target, and other things. As i measured the sniper to get the perfect shot, the house began folding down into the ground. The dummy also went down and went up again with a new head, the dummy suddenly went farther and farther and stopped. I readjusted my aim and squeezed the trigger, the shot rang out like lightning as my shoulder immediately felt the shot. Instead of pain though the stock abosrbed the recoil with the cushion absorbing the most, as the bullet flew a streak of light foloowed it like an asteroid. In my scope the dummy exploded in a cloud of hay as the shot met its target, i looked out of the scope and the barrel was smoking like before.
"Impressive, didnt know you were good at rifles Damon" Stephen said as he patted my back.
"Now you Sebastian, i want to see if the captain also has the spirit." I walked back feom the rifle to let Sebastian fire.
Sebastian put the stock to his shoulder and prepared to fire, he waited for a couple of seconds to calibrate the aim.
Sebastian pulled the trigger and just like before, the bullet shot out like thunder and a streak of light followed the bullet until the end, with my binocoulars i saw the dummy. Now a cloud of hay engulfed the top of the dummy as the entire torso is now gone, looking back Sebastian stood up from the rifle with a suprised expression on his face.
"Holy hell, the push was strong!" Sebastian exclaimed.
"Yeah because the round is big, dont worry the cushion is strong enough to absorb the force. So your arm is not broken, anyways if you didnt notice the bolt that removes the spent casings is in the middle and not on top as it should be. The reason why is, just so the sniper can do this."
Stephen removes the magazine of the rifle and puts in another one, he rests it on the barrier and pulls the trigger. The rate of fire was constant and fast, something i though i would never see on a sniper rifle these days.
"It was a method soldiers used way back, using the middle finger to fire while the pointing finger was on the bolt. It was designed to be long enough to reach the pointing finger to do this method, its quite effective in suppressing fire i guess. But some stuff were changed, due to the size, a finger wont move it fast. So instead, once a bullet is fired flip your hand below the bolt and just rack another round in, still keeping your pointing finger on the bolt for stable firing and a faster reload with this method." Stephen explained.
"Thats what you learned from hunting? I guess you learned alot then." Said Sebastian.
"Hunting gives you good skills, like conserving ammo, shooting animals while running, and so much more." Stephen explained.
"I thought i can catch bigger targets in the huntsmen, maybe human targets but only the terrible ones." Stephen continued.
Stephen pulled out his original rifle and started to shoot it.
"I may have a new gun but i am not gonna leave this one." Stephen said as he was firing.
By this time the range was empty as everyone left, probably because of the rifle shots, next to the resting rifle though were more attachments. After Stephen was done shooting he placed his rifle back on the barrier, he begins attaching something to the new rifle.
"Another thing, they gave me new tech for my weapons that i already use. Here," Stephen throws us some tools for the weapons, "A more effective compensator where has effectively stops most if not all recoil climb, they got the weird electric thing we bought and turned it to a taser, shoot it and the bullet wont kill them but give them a bad shock, a folable grip for two uses instead of removing it and putting another one in, maximum grip and easy to handle. It seems our research teams are getting newer and newer modifications by the day, i just want to see the day we have tank or a stronger personnel carrier we can use." Stephen explained.
Stephen finishes attaching whatever was there on his new rifle and starts to fold it like paper.
"Folds like paper into a square, twist the barrel and fold it then move this switch above the stock and fold it the opposite way the barrel went." Stephen finished folding the rifle into a square and carries it like a baggage, using a handle that the rifle probably has for convenience.
"Now the show is done what did you twk do the whole day?" Stephen asked looking at us with his rifle in the shape of a briefcase.
"Well i talked to the guy we met for planning, turns out we will have a plan to kill all protesters, but that's the last order to be given. We land on a different country and support a riot police detachment in the area, government fucked up and made the protesters mad. While i was discussing with him Mary and Damon went in, we went out shortly after and Mary brought me to a lounge to calm down, meanwhile Damon just styed next to the door reading, Mary left probably to tend to her garden." Said Sebastian.
"Oh so its a date? well thats nice, what about you Damon?" Stephen looked at me.
"I talked to Nora yesterday on the ship, played games with Thalia last night, went to Alina for something and talked to her in the lab, conversed with Mary while she showed me the garden, all those." I replied.
"Damn ladies man much Damon? Dont take all of them now." Stephen jokingly said, "Lets see Marcel probably has new stuff to do, we should stop by." Stephen continued, he walks out and we follow him.
We got to the elevator and watched as the doors close and we go to another floor.