Ian ignored the Infrared gun sight mounted atop of his lasgun. Although he took great pride in his creating that particular piece of tech, it was useless in this situation. Peering across the weapons own mounted sights he lined up and, taking a moment to control his breathing, he completed the pull of the trigger.
A slight crack sounded the sudden increase of temperature along the path of the ionized particles as the discharge of the weapon zipped on its way to the target. One that Ian had selected both for its distance and size.
The sudden explosion of a small, empty mind you, bottle of wildsnake announced Ian’s success in hitting his target. Adjusting slightly to his left he brought his weapon to bear on another bottle even further along. The results were the same, as they had been all morning.
“I don’t get it,” he said to himself. “I know that in the heat of battle little things can move one’s aim, and a little change here, is a big change out there. Allowing for even a fifty percent miss rate I should have had more success in taking down my targets lately.”
Ian shook his head. This puzzle was messing with his head. Ian liked to tell people that he was not a perfectionist, but he also liked to gauge his results. The truth was he did not like to fail, at all.
Walking back towards the Steel Spider’s lair Ian fiddled with the sides of his lasgun. He knew every inch of that weapon inside and out. In his ever ending search for knowledge of tech and gadgets Ian had disassembled and reassembled this particular lasgun well over a hundred times. It was a standard construct pattern that House Van Saar produced in the millions for Lord Helmawr and the Imperium. The weapon performed flawlessly. He had never experienced one issue with the functionality, and he was always sure he charged the powercell whenever he had more then a half hour to himself. And yet he was not getting the job done when it came to keeping watch over the rest of the Spiders in his role as sniper.
“It needs more power, that’s what it needs,” Ian thought to himself. “But how to do it?”
As Ian walked through the halls of his gang’s home it was mostly deserted. Boanerges had managed to find a video feed of a Hive City slaughter ball game and was crashed out on a couch in front of it. Even the medical bay was empty.
When he got to his workbench he moved several half completed projects to the back of the bench and set his rifle down. Before picking up any tools Ian disassembled the weapon in his mind trying to figure the best way to go about it. He was no weapon smith, but he loved to tinker with the tech. If Boanerges knew how much he messed with his lasgun he would probably receive an ‘education’ from the team’s heavy.
The optics? No, they were too easily ruined. Even a scratch would render them useless.
That left the power supply. Ian ran through the mental picture of the power system of his lasgun. The wiring and circuit boards should be able to handle the additional charge, probably the optics too. Dropping the power supply out of the magazine well he turned it over in his hands. It was completely sealed. If he broke it open Boanerges would know the next time he turned it over to him for servicing. Not a good idea.
Ian continued to stare down at the lasgun. What were those things called? Hotshot power cells are what they are called. What could Bo say? Those cells were made for las weapons. “Nothing to do but to do it,” he told himself and with that he headed out to the trading post.
-=-=-=O=-=-=-
They were all the same. How could they not be? The Imperium provided the template to the factories of Necromunda and they churned them out by the millions. Ok, some had longer shoulder stocks, some had folding stocks, a few had a forward charging handle to grip, but none of them had what Ian was looking for. It was the results that Ian was looking for, not cosmetic differences.
In the end Ian learned that there were ‘juiced’ up power cells available for the lasgun and the las pistols, but he could not get s single vendor to even show him one.
“If you are looking for a little more stopping power, maybe you would be more interested in this?” a Guilder finally said.
The man held up a fine looking Bolt Gun. Manufactured by House Delaque by the look of it, smooth and crisp line, simple but effective design, and the gun metal had been made to diminish reflected light.
“The shells are easily obtainable,” the guilder injected quickly seeing the whirling thoughts pass across Ian’s face. “This weapon is the weapon of choice of our Emperor’s finest. Plenty of stopping power for any enemy you might meet.”
Ian turned the bolt gun over in his hands. It was slightly heavier, and a whole lot more bulky, than his lasgun. But that is not what bothered him. The weapon was wholly mechanical. There were no integrated circuits, no real tech to speak of. It was a simple mechanical tool. Once the weapon was discharged it used the gases generated from the explosive charge to force the bolt mechanism back when it would then load the next shot as it returned back forward. It felt… beneath him if that was an accurate word.
Not that such a fine weapon did not have its uses; it was just that the Van Saar were masters of producing quality and high technology. Simple mechanics were best left to the less sophisticated.
In the end Ian opted to just pick up a few pieces for his various projects. He even picked up a lasgun power cell to see if might be able to play around with the power discharge.
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