The Captain's gaze hardened. Generally, small rag-tag outfits like theirs didn't look for trouble with other outfits, even in remote areas and especially not in jump ports. Jump ports are a government facility and are maintained and staffed by government employees. Even in remote areas, outfits usually try to follow the rules to the best of their abilities. This is why this situation was suspicious to the Captain.
They weren't just mocking them, they were actively aggressive. Some of the black tattooed members even had a hand on their holstered pistols. Something was off and the Captain needed to keep on his toes to ensure no harm came to him or to Dae.
All these thoughts whizzed through his mind in a fraction of a second. He kept on guard against the taunting gang members and shifted in front of Dae.
"We aren't looking for trouble, we're just here to get some supplies, and then we'll leave" The Captain calmly spoke with a deep undertone to convey the fact that he was on guard about the situation. Despite the Captain's abilities, against 8 people with pistols out in the open, while defending a kid, he was undoubtedly in serious danger.
"Hehe well sure you are. Go ahead get your supplies then!" One of the skinny members teased, even going as far as to move to the side. The rest of the gang members shifted as well, leaving a path between the two separated groups where the Captain and Dae would have to walk through to get the required supplies.
At this point the Captain definitely knew something was wrong, this would be the prime scenario for an ambush. He looked back in the direction of the reception, only to meet the gaze of a smirking receptionist with her arms crossed.
"She won't help you bud!" the leader of the black tattooed gang sneered as he pulled out his pistol.
BANG
He suddenly slumped to the floor.
Before the gang leader could even fully unholster his gun, a hole appeared in the middle of his temple. As he fell, the gang members were revealed to the Captain aiming his gun at the leader's head.
"Get him!" One of the gang members shouted. They all started to unholster their guns.
'Tch, I was hoping they would give up after their leader was dead but it seems there is no honor among these bandits' The Captain thought.
The Captain ran while pushing Daemon ahead to the adjacent scavengers' shop. They ducked and weaved among the tens of shots fired, many of them hitting the scraps of valuables that were on display upon pillars in the shop. Together they moved through the shop, continuously stopping and rushing through depending on the timing of the loud piercing shots. As they neared the store counter where a poor clerk was hiding balled up, the shots intensified as they were concentrated on the one pillar about half a meter long where both the Captain and Dae were behind in parallel.
The unyielding barrage blasted chunks out of the pillar, constantly thinning it out.
"Damn, we need to get through" the Captain muttered while huffing.
"What are we going to do?" Dae asked worriedly.
The Captain steeled his gaze. He quickly swapped out his base clip for his blast magazine.
"Don't! It might explode!" Dae blubbered but the Captain smiled in response.
The Captain then dismantled the back of the gun while the blast magazine was still in, exposing a long metal pipe. Then holding the gun by the barrel, he turned around and quickly peeked out from the top of the pillar. He drops back down in a fraction of a second as a bullet narrowly misses his ear but he already has the information he needs.
Readying himself, he throws the gun towards the gang members.
"Did he just throw his gun away? Is he an idiot or is he giving u?" One of the scrawny gang members gruntled.
The gun lands on the silver pipe directly between three members, who while weren't focused on the gun were immediately blown up.
BOOOM
A small explosion occurs right at the spot the gun landed. The three gang members were instantly liquified while the remaining four members were violently thrown away. As soon as the air calmed a few seconds after the explosion. The Captain grabbed Dae by the hips and threw him over the counter before he himself jumped over as well.
Dae was completely rattled, unable to understand what happened.
"How did you do that?" Dae stuttered between his bated breaths.
"I just exposed the firing pin, the thing that sets off the bullet primer. Once it's exposed, it's much easier for the gun to go off when it touches the ground. If you were right and the distorted barrel would truly cause the blast bullet to explode, then when it would, it would also blow the rest of the blast magazine"
"And that's what caused the massive explosion!" Dae finished. Such clever quick thinking had actually impressed him quite a bit.
The Captain started searching the underside of the counter. While he managed to get some cover and get out of the sticky situation, he only managed to kill three, meaning there were four left. As he threw document papers and miscellaneous scrap from the cabinet, he came across a locked safe. He had expected this. Most shop owners, even in Jump ports, carried guns.
Jump ports were generally strict towards weapons. People could bring in a personal pistol, but they couldn't bring in any other weapons like rifles or grenades. It was even stricter for shop owners as they could only keep a pistol in a gun safe for emergencies.
In this case, the Captain had found the shop owner's gun safe. He turned towards the shop owner who seemed far too scared to comprehend the situation.
"What's the key code" He shouted at the shop owner. The shop owner didn't respond, seemingly unaware of his surroundings.
'Damn I need to pull him back in' The Captain thought as he crawled over to the shop owner and started violently shaking him and repeating the same sentence. The shop owner finally returned to reality and while startled, squealed out the keycode. The Captain left him and returned to the gun safe and inputted the key code. The gun safe clicked, and its door automatically opened, revealing a sophisticated gun on a gun stand.
The Captain's eyes widen for a second before he suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
"What is it? Dae asked confused.
"It's a laser gun!"